4 hours ago, the1hodgy said:

Does R2-D2 need a nerf? Just take ion or Bobby Fett if he's a problem in local meta

Maybe that should have been the plan against Nym and Miranda in the first place. Makes me wonder why noone thought about that before.

Oh yeah, Ions do jack **** damage and cost an attack, while Bobby is strictly inferior to just make a Kylo Ren crit build and get much more value of the points spended on the crew. The main issue with little Boba is that he needs to deal an open card instead of just critical damage. Remove R2-D2 from Corran instead of killing him downright 23% of cases via direct hit or major explosion. That doesn't leave a huge use case for Boba Fett Crew, especially as up to that point he ain't for anything at all, unlike crew options like dengar, k4 or even Zuckuss.

15 minutes ago, SEApocalypse said:

Maybe that should have been the plan against Nym and Miranda in the first place. Makes me wonder why noone thought about that before.

No need to get snarky like.

But here is what a think about R2D2 is a) expensive and b) limited to greens.

4pts eats a lot of a build

41 minutes ago, PhantomFO said:

Isn't it now part of the base rules that you can't Regen above your shield value?

Just found it and you are correct. (I wondered why this wasn’t an issue with Miranda!)

But even Pulse Ray Shield has the “up to your shield value” phrase... so it’d be nice if it were on there for consistencies sake.

1 hour ago, mithril2098 said:

Pretty confident that the answer is NO. Because extra munitions tokens are tokens, not upgrades themselves. You could however discard the extra munitions upgrade card, and based on the Jabba crew errata, the tokens would not vanish.

You are incorrect. Extra Munitions says “When you are instructed to discard an Upgrade card, you may discard 1 ordnance token on that card instead”. By your interpretation EM doesn’t work at all.

The Black One T-70 title is a good card as well. Doesn't break the balance, and it is useful and fluffy.

10 hours ago, Marinealver said:

Well, we also wanted X-wings to be a viable part of the competitive meta too, that is... until we didn't.

X-Wings were simply pushed out of the genuine meta once B-Wings came into the fray, period. Biggs does not count as X-Wings being competitive.

But yeah. I do want more Y-Wings flying around.

Just now, Captain Lackwit said:

X-Wings were simply pushed out of the genuine meta once B-Wings came into the fray, period. Biggs does not count as X-Wings being competitive.

But yeah. I do want more Y-Wings flying around.

lol, the battle cry of yesteryear.

(prenerf) Biggs Darklighter is not an X-wing!

Kind of in the same category as The Jumpmaster is Not a Ship, Not my Emperor, No Defense for those that play TIE Defenders (post Imp vets).

Just now, Marinealver said:

lol, the battle cry of yesteryear.

(prenerf) Biggs Darklighter is not an X-wing!

Kind of in the same category as The Jumpmaster is Not a Ship, Not my Emperor, No Defense for those that play TIE Defenders (post Imp vets).

That's not even good bait. So I will say it again.

One pilot does not an entire ship meta make. Simple as that. Biggs is an X-Wing pilot sure, but he doesn't make Luke, Wedge, and any of the other guys viable. That is what I said plain and simple, but you're just trying to goad me and it's a bit...

Well.

On 11/11/2017 at 8:16 AM, MacchuWA said:

It's easy to complain when FFG makes a bad card, but it's also important, I think, to make note when they design a really good card. I think there are plenty of good cards in the Sheathipede expansion, but this one is, in my opinion, the best of the bunch:

Now, I'm not saying that Chopper is the best as in the most powerful or that he's going to define the meta in some way. Rather, I think he's a great example of a card that's powerful but balanced while retaining thematic elements.

First of all, he's balanced. Regen is a powerful ability - we've known that since the core set. Chopper lets you regen at a lower point cost than any other upgrade in the game, but it costs you your action to do it. That's balanced. But moreso than that, Chopper can't really ever be broken, because there's a hard limit on the number of shields you can regen based on the number of upgrades you have equipped. Sure, in theory, there might be some extreme corner case where a future expansion lets you put Scavenger Crane or the reload action on the same ship as Chopper allowing for (theoretically) infinite regen, but it'll always be tricky, and cost at least two actions to do - which'll make it expensive. I don't think that'll ever be a problem. Plus, there's plent of counterplay - you can stress him, bump him - even just choose not to shoot him until the end.

Beyond game balance, there's also theme, and it's here that Chopper really shines. Both this card and his crew card emphasize Chopper's tendency to hurt you while helping you, which is pretty much dead on to his character in the show. Beyond that basic point though is my favourite aspect of the card - Chopper's best fit isn't on the Sheathipede he came in - rather it's on the Y Wing, where you can combine him with a total of three 0 point cards (BTL-A4, Guidance Chips and Bomb Loadout). Better yet, in all three cases, removing these upgrades either has no detriment (bomb loadout) very likely no detriment (guidance chips since you almost certainly aren't bringing torpedoes int his configuration), or can actually be a benefit (BTL-A4 when you're not going to get a shot). And, of course, given how TLT works, sacrificing your action is less of a big deal on a TLT Y Wing than it would be on something that throws fewer red dice. This is brilliant, because Chopper's original purpose was as an astromech on a Y Wing during the Clone Wars.

I don't know for sure that this stuff was all intentional, and really I don't care. Whether they meant to or not (and honestly I have no reason to assume this wasn't done deliberately), FFG have made a fantastic card here, and they should get the recognition for doing so. Bravo designers!

Don't know. Filling an Y-Wing with a lot of useless cards (in this scenario) at point 0 just "because of chopper" seems far for a good designed card for me.

16 minutes ago, Captain Lackwit said:

That's not even good bait. So I will say it again.

One pilot does not an entire ship meta make. Simple as that. Biggs is an X-Wing pilot sure, but he doesn't make Luke, Wedge, and any of the other guys viable. That is what I said plain and simple, but you're just trying to goad me and it's a bit...

Well.

Uhh, what game have you been playing?

Given the set up that pilots are attached to their ship and the order which favors the extremities of pilot skill instead of simply the higher pilot skill often times when a ship is released it is only a single pilot that makes the ship viable. If it is cheap then it is usually the lowest skill generic. If the ship is a little more costly then the highest skill tends to be better off and having a good pilot ability just makes it better. For the longest 5 pilot skill was seen as one of the weakest of the unique thus had to most mediocre of abilities save for Biggs who was unsuspectingly good. But what was also unexpected was how handicapped pilot skill 5 was against lower skill generics and since pilots tend to pay for pilot skill with their squadron point cost this was broken by the game play. Which is also why you now start to see better pilot abilities on pilot skill 5 pilots.

So yeah a single pilot does a ship make in X-wing, and you need look no further than the pilots that you always see in conjunction with the ship. An E-wing will generally be Corran Horn. 9 out of 10 of the lone TIE Interceptor pilots will be Soontir Fel despite several other TIE Interceptor pilots out there. If a ship has one good pilot be it a generic Syndicate Thug or a Super Dash then it is in the meta. If it has two like the Decimator with RAC and Oicun then that is better for it. IF a ship has none such as the TIE Bomber then that is a ship that is unmade.

Well...

What I'm saying is that there's a difference between pilot and platform.

I love how Chopper is now capable of picking off other members of the Rebels crew.

Here is a pseudo-17 HP ship that costs 25 points. 1.4 times more efficient than Lambda shuttle, which currently has the most hp/point efficiency.

Gold Sqd. Pilot (18

• Auto turret (2
• Chopper (astro) (1
• EM (2
• Bomb Loadout (0
• Ion bombs (2
• BTL-A4 (0
• Guidance Chips (0

That's 9 discardable upgrades for chopper to eat, although A. probably not all of them will be 'eaten', B. some will be discarded for their normal effect, C. it's not going to be amazing.

Side Note:

I like the idea of in a casual "attack of the clones" game, you could have chopper and chopper on the same ship, do Chopper astro action while stressed with chopper crew, take a damage, then regain a shield by discarding the card you used to do the action you discarded the card with!!

So funny...

On 11/10/2017 at 11:24 PM, Astech said:

It doesn't say "your" upgrade card...

<cue guitar solo personal intro theme>

I am Chopa Fett!

22 hours ago, FlyingAnchors said:

That also asks the question, Chopper is an equipped card, can Chopper discard himself?

Now if only Bomblet Generator was designed this way...

21 hours ago, the1hodgy said:

I think there is an unrealistic expectation that all cards have to be competitive or inheritanty great just because of perceived "power" or "complexity" creep in the game.

A cards "usefulness" is realative to its environment. a game has to move forward or it will stagnate and die.

So some cards won't shine for awhile till right combo or pilot comes out to take advance & some will shine bright and then go away.

and you know what? That's ok.

Some cards won't ever see competition you know what? That's also ok.

just like people, not every card will be a winner.

Well said .

And while I do understand that there is a big tournament scene, I do believe that FFG is also trying to cater to casual players who don't necessarily care about costs of upgrades or the utility or the synergy but more like "Hey! What a cool card! I'm gonna try this one out!"

I also see a lot of folks pointing out that this costs you your action, but the ship he actually comes with has Coordinate. I'm guessing the Sheathipede dial will be such that it may have a hard time staying near faster/more maneuverable ships, but I'd lay pretty good odds it can keep pace with Y-Wings.

Plus, until they errata Extra Munitions to read that you must equip another missile or torp upgrade, you can equip an X-Wing with Chopper, Extra Munitions (thus giving itself the token) and guidance chips, which is good for three regens. Same thing for E-Wings, but throw in Collision Detector at 0-points, and you're good for four.

Basically, I feel like it encourages Rebel players to build squads around synergy again - the Sheathipede's Coordinate action, Kyle passing out focus tokens, Dutch Vander giving his wingmates Target locks, etc...

Is it an exciting card? No. Is it a good card? Time will tell, but I'm thinking yes...

9 hours ago, Marinealver said:

Uhh, what game have you been playing?

https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/xwing-miniatures/images/3/38/Carnor_Jax.png

https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/xwing-miniatures/images/8/8d/Leebo_pilot.png

orran I will grant.

I love it, I think they did a great job with Chopper. Being able to balance regen by using his theme is indeed genius.

He's not R2-D2 but he is a fantastic 1pt addition to ships that don't really benefit from the high tier astros. Which made me immediately think of Dutch when I saw his ability. I always liked Dutch, but all the astros so far were 'ok' on him. With Chopper however I have a Y-wing I can joust with and gain a benefit from his 'alpha' type loadout.

Dutch Vander w/ Chopper, Plasma Torpedos, Extra Munitions, Synced Turret, Guidance Chips, BTL-A4 = 33pts (2 torp shots, and an easy 3 opportunities for regen on his off turns.)

Having this regen means Dutch might actually survive the second round of combat whilst jousting, and I'm excited to give it a go.

On 11/11/2017 at 3:36 PM, ficklegreendice said:

Remember, you take em just for chopper you're just taking a strictly inferior r5p9

At just one point, the two shields you get from bomb loadout and gchips is perfectly fine

It also has a marginal use on a torpedo-loaded X-wing; because you can take Guidance Chips and then bin it once the torpedoes have been fired for a shield recovery, you don't lose out that much compared to packing Integrated Astromech - not being able to take IA and GC simultaneously is often pointed at as one reason people are hesitant to field torpedo-armed X-wings.

For that matter if it all goes horribly wrong, you can even disassemble the torpedoes in their tubes and use them to patch the hull....

2 hours ago, Magnus Grendel said:

It also has a marginal use on a torpedo-loaded X-wing; because you can take Guidance Chips and then bin it once the torpedoes have been fired for a shield recovery, you don't lose out that much compared to packing Integrated Astromech -

Alternatively in the same vane as a less good variant (because telegraphing intention [but: mindgames :)] and no GC mod, slight workaround is self modding Proton, or damage enhanced Plasma) use LRS for that long range lock. Once the torp is away, LRS is sometimes more of a hindrance, use it as shield instead.

1 hour ago, Managarmr said:

Alternatively in the same vane as a less good variant (because telegraphing intention [but: mindgames :)] and no GC mod, slight workaround is self modding Proton, or damage enhanced Plasma) use LRS for that long range lock. Once the torp is away, LRS is sometimes more of a hindrance, use it as shield instead.

Can anything equip both? I'm not sure I can think of anything with [Missile], [Torpedo] and [Astromech]...

This build looks fun:

Ezra Bridger (Sheathipede) (17)
Push the Limit (3)
Courier Droid (0)
"Chopper" (Astromech) (1)
Guidance Chips (0)
Phantom II (0)

Total: 21

Coordinate PTL for Chopper, with 3 zero point cards to discard. Then you are stressed for Ezra's ability. It will be an annoying 21 point ship to kill, while giving you enough points to put something scary offensively.

On 11/10/2017 at 11:56 PM, CRCL said:

It's still a bad card. It's just underpowered regen, instead of overpowered regen.

If it was: "After executing a maneuver, you may discard 1 other equipped upgrade card to recover 1 shield (up to your shield value)." Then you'd have a decent card. The fact that it has 2 costs (especially the action cost) kills it for me.

I think it'll be DOA. I could be wrong though.

Cheap regen will never be DOA.

Making use of chopper just once will be worth it. And with 0pt EPTs, that will be easy. Score to Settle is a great card to pair with chopper. After ADTP carrier is destroyed, you dont just have a useless EPT, its now a shield!

T-70's have boost. Boost out of combat, spend an action to regen, then come back into the fight. I have done this many times with r5p9 and snap wexley. Maybe ello atsy can use it:

Ello Asty (30)
A Score to Settle (0)
"Chopper" (Astromech) (1)
Primed Thrusters (1)
Integrated Astromech (0)
Black One (1)

Total: 33

Also, you could see other ships start to come back into the meta like Airen Cracken (who is alpha striking his way into the meta as we speak) who give free actions.

On 12.11.2017 at 8:19 AM, Marinealver said:

Uhh, what game have you been playing?

Carnor is still great too.
Leebo won a continental. (The outrider title is what makes or breaks the ship)
And Corran, well, yeah, E-Wing example fits, but everyone is asking for E-Wing and X-Wing fixes + more Y-Wing pilots (or at least EPS for them).