Just wanted to share two thoughts on the Phantom II builds.

1) Ezra with PTL, R2 and Jan Ors. Focus, get Evade token instead, Coordinate off PTL, get Stress and "auto-Focus" for defense, shed stress on 1-2 maneuver next turn, repeat. It might not be as good as the Stressbot Ezra, but much harder to crack. Question remains if 23 points is justifiable for what is mostly just an action dispenser.

2) AP-5 with R5-X3 Astromech. I normally dismiss that 1-point disposable droid, because other options are just so much better on most ships. However, since the main focus here is the low cost for the Coordinate/Inspiring Recruit utility, this one won't hold it's ground half as good as Ezra, and must instead be able to get out of tight spots with ease. For 1 point, you get the "get out of jail free" card, that allows the following: crossing an obstacle without damage and action loss, mitigation of debris field Stress, being able to shoot, getting cover (we all know how strong the +1 Agility from Countermeasures can be when used at the right moment) while not having your own shot obstructed. It's like having Dash pilot and crew abilities at once for that one critical turn , pretty neat!

AP-5 really needs to get rid of stress to keep coordinating others, So I think R2 + Inspiring Recruit.

Ezra really wants to have R3-A2 and Gunner, in my opinion. Makes for a cheaper stress both that may be more durable. But he's not coordinating anyone.

I just felt it's about **** time they added the shark fin antenna to their MPV shuttle offering.

57 minutes ago, Boba Rick said:

Ezra really wants to have R3-A2 and Gunner, in my opinion. Makes for a cheaper stress both that may be more durable. But he's not coordinating anyone.

4 hours ago, Mef82 said:

1) Ezra with PTL, R2 and Jan Ors. Focus, get Evade token instead, Coordinate off PTL, get Stress and "auto-Focus" for defense, shed stress on 1-2 maneuver next turn, repeat. It might not be as good as the Stressbot Ezra, but much harder to crack. Question remains if 23 points is justifiable for what is mostly just an action dispenser.

This is something I'd not considered before. My preference for ARCs had always been to run R3-A2 Braylen with Tactician rather than Gunner. It was cheaper, gave Braylen actions, and could still double stress semi regularly. This new version with Ezra is interesting. To be effective, he wants:

- To not be stressed during the activation phase so he can coordinate.

- To be stressed during the combat phase so he can defend against higher PS attackers.

- To double stress people.

But you can really only pick two.

PTL, Inspiring recruit and R3-A2 has him coordinating, being stressed at the start od the combat phase, single stressing an opponent and clearing two stress with a green to coordinate again, but double stressing is out.

R3-A2 + Gunner has him perma stressed, so the combat phase is fine for defence, double stressing his targets, but he'll probably never coordinate after the first round.

R3-A2 and tactician means he has a decent chance at a double stress, and he should coordinate each turn, but he won't be stressed until he attacks at PS5.

I wonder if there's a place on that third configuration for the Decoy EPT. Assuming you have a PS9 or higher ship in your list you could choose to snag their pilot skill and deal out stress early if you knew Ezra was going to be shot at that round.

The problem is, all the best high PS Rebel ships (Wes, Cracken, Ahsoka etc.) all really benefit from their high PS. The best combo I can think of is this:

Ezra Bridger (Sheathipede) (17)
Decoy (2)
Tactician (2)
R3-A2 (2)

Fenn Rau (Sheathipede) (20)
Veteran Instincts (1)
Flight-Assist Astromech (1)

Total: 45

Flight Assist Astromech means Fenn will be able to trigger his ability almost always, but his ability relies on the opponents PS, making his PS11 much less valuable in the combat phase. This means Ezra can snag it to double stress at PS 11.

Obvious downside is obvious, however: I've just spent half my budget on a pair of sheathipedes to debuff my opponent, with no really substantial damage output of their own. Fenn Rau will pop the second he fails to arc dodge and Ezra, despite his pilot ability, is only slightly better. Not sure it's worth it.

1 hour ago, MacchuWA said:

This is something I'd not considered before. My preference for ARCs had always been to run R3-A2 Braylen with Tactician rather than Gunner. It was cheaper, gave Braylen actions, and could still double stress semi regularly. This new version with Ezra is interesting. To be effective, he wants:

- To not be stressed during the activation phase so he can coordinate.

- To be stressed during the combat phase so he can defend against higher PS attackers.

- To double stress people.

But you can really only pick two.

PTL, Inspiring recruit and R3-A2 has him coordinating, being stressed at the start od the combat phase, single stressing an opponent and clearing two stress with a green to coordinate again, but double stressing is out.

R3-A2 + Gunner has him perma stressed, so the combat phase is fine for defence, double stressing his targets, but he'll probably never coordinate after the first round.

R3-A2 and tactician means he has a decent chance at a double stress, and he should coordinate each turn, but he won't be stressed until he attacks at PS5.

I wonder if there's a place on that third configuration for the Decoy EPT. Assuming you have a PS9 or higher ship in your list you could choose to snag their pilot skill and deal out stress early if you knew Ezra was going to be shot at that round.

The problem is, all the best high PS Rebel ships (Wes, Cracken, Ahsoka etc.) all really benefit from their high PS. The best combo I can think of is this:

Ezra Bridger (Sheathipede) (17)
Decoy (2)
Tactician (2)
R3-A2 (2)

Fenn Rau (Sheathipede) (20)
Veteran Instincts (1)
Flight-Assist Astromech (1)

Total: 45

Flight Assist Astromech means Fenn will be able to trigger his ability almost always, but his ability relies on the opponents PS, making his PS11 much less valuable in the combat phase. This means Ezra can snag it to double stress at PS 11.

Obvious downside is obvious, however: I've just spent half my budget on a pair of sheathipedes to debuff my opponent, with no really substantial damage output of their own. Fenn Rau will pop the second he fails to arc dodge and Ezra, despite his pilot ability, is only slightly better. Not sure it's worth it.

Forget coordinate on ezra as a stressbot. Gunner/ tactician r3a2 is his strength

If you want a coordinate bot use the above ap5 build. Pair with a ptl ace and laugh at the triple actions.

If you want coordinate with more utility take fenn with m9g8 and weapons engineer

That's 2 ships of predator or defenive red rerolls on your 2 biggest threats which then also boosts fenns ability + you can coordinate every turn you dont need to move the locks( the green on the dial can handle this until you need to turn/u turn.

1 hour ago, Ralgon said:

Forget coordinate on ezra as a stressbot. Gunner/ tactician r3a2 is his strength

I'm not convinced stressbug Ezra is going be any good. He doesn't have any defense until he shoots at PS 5. People lament the stresshog Y-wing dying before it shoots. Ezra is going to do that even more often with the defensive power of a HWK. In the ordnance filled meta these days, I have a hard seeing him get to shoot more than once in a game.

And that's beyond the fact that you're buying a ship that's presumably costed with coordinate in mind and then designing a build that wastes that cost AND will rarely do damage. At least the stresshog Y and Braylen can actually do damage as well as inflict stress.

My main issue is that now the Rebels get Coordinate, on a much much cheaper base. Not happy about that.

1 hour ago, Sekac said:

I'm not convinced stressbug Ezra is going be any good. He doesn't have any defense until he shoots at PS 5. People lament the stresshog Y-wing dying before it shoots. Ezra is going to do that even more often with the defensive power of a HWK. In the ordnance filled meta these days, I have a hard seeing him get to shoot more than once in a game.

And that's beyond the fact that you're buying a ship that's presumably costed with coordinate in mind and then designing a build that wastes that cost AND will rarely do damage. At least the stresshog Y and Braylen can actually do damage as well as inflict stress.

and an ept. he can easily be ps 6/7, or if you have points to waste take elusiveness to guarantee it.

As for damage output rebel jank has already proven several times over reb's can take poor damage support ships and do well

29 minutes ago, Ralgon said:

and an ept. he can easily be ps 6/7, or if you have points to waste take elusiveness to guarantee it.

As for damage output rebel jank has already proven several times over reb's can take poor damage support ships and do well

With R3-A2 and gunner he's already 24 points, only 2 less than a stresshog for considerably worse offense and considerably worse defense until he's stressed. Increasing his pilot skill certainly would help mitigate being considerably worse than a stresshog but he's essentially the same cost for no noticeable improvements.

Elusiveness is just bad. Yes it helps his defense, but considering you can't use it when stressed, he'll only use it once before he's buried in stress. 2 points for one forced re-roll is a bad investment. A textbook example of throwing good points after bad.

As for damage output, I can't think of a single example of anything successful with damage output as awful as Ezra's. Cpt. Rex only has 2 attack dice, but he'll be able to focus so his attack quality is better and he's 10 points cheaper. Everything else that shows up in a fairship rebels has 3 attack dice or a TLT. Am I missing something?

What about Ezra, snap shot, Gunner, r3a2?

6 hours ago, Crimsonwarlock said:

What about Ezra, snap shot, Gunner, r3a2?

I like it.

Gotta keep the shoe cheap and maybe he'll be a cheap Biggs. I wouldn't go over 24 poins on Fenn.

Ezra, R2 Astromech, Wired, Jyn Erso, Experimental Interface is where my head is at so far. Maybe VI instead of Wired.

18 hours ago, Blail Blerg said:

My main issue is that now the Rebels get Coordinate, on a much much cheaper base. Not happy about that.

Well the design approach is to test it with Empire and improve it for rebels!

16 hours ago, Crimsonwarlock said:

What about Ezra, snap shot, Gunner, r3a2?

I actually had a similar idea with the snapshot deal and operations specialist, jank as heck, but just might work. Op spec is good considering this thing is gonna be missing a lot of the time, and on fen you get a focus to throw around wherever needed at ps9.

theres also Finn, with a target lock, the shuttle almost has 3 attack. Of course you are gonna be coordinating, but with a loaded Dutch vander and chopper regen, heck it just might work.... casually of course.

20 hours ago, Blail Blerg said:

My main issue is that now the Rebels get Coordinate, on a much much cheaper base. Not happy about that.

I'm still waiting for Scum to get the Jam action. No not the jam token the jam action from the GR-75.

20 minutes ago, Marinealver said:

I'm still waiting for Scum to get the Jam action. No not the jam token the jam action from the GR-75.

I'm still waiting for Imperial shuttles to get the Jam action.

18 hours ago, Crimsonwarlock said:

What about Ezra, snap shot, Gunner, r3a2?

I like the idea of snap shot as there is a realistic chance to trigger it with many potential higher PS pilots on the board, but on the contrary, this means that R3-A2 triggers not early enough and therefore Ezra's ability won't protect him when he needs it the most.

For Ezra, in my opinion, only two options make sense.
1. Some EPT that gives him stress - PTL, Elusiveness, Rage. Though, the latter one will prevent him from doing coordinate action.

2. Experimental Interface with either an 'Action' Astromech or 'Action' EPT. This would limit it to R2-F2 or R7-T1 on the Astromech side, and could potentially be Expose or Marksmanship on the EPT side.

However, when using Experimental Interface Ezra is getting pretty expensive for a bad damage output. I would prefer a build of Ezra with PTL, Jan Ors and R2 or maybe M9-G8.

What's the best Droid for a Phantom II, if you are not trying to stress your opponent?

Is R4-D6 good?

Speaking of the Sheathipede expansion, do you think they will errata Maul not to work on epic ships?

2 hours ago, Boba Rick said:

What's the best Droid for a Phantom II, if you are not trying to stress your opponent?

Is R4-D6 good?

The two pilots who don't have EPTs don't need them. Best choice is definitely the classic R2 astromech for 1 point.

I like the idea of Flight Assist Astro on Fenn.

Best Ezra I could come up with. Pair w/Lowhhrick and an ace. Elusiveness + ability + Low should be pretty tanky.

Also, he provides +1 action and 2 offensive (or defensive) rerolls.

Ezra Bridger (Sheathipede) (17)
Elusiveness (2)
Weapons Engineer (3)
M9-G8 (3)
Phantom II (0)

Total: 25

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

You could add Pulsed Ray Shield for only 2 points. It keeps him stressed, which means he loses the coordinate, but still provides rerolls which is cool, and still keeps his ability activated.

17 hours ago, Boba Rick said:

Is R4-D6 good?

15 hours ago, GreenLantern1138 said:

The two pilots who don't have EPTs don't need them. Best choice is definitely the classic R2 astromech for 1 point.

Sorry mate, just realised I was thinking of R2-D6.

7 hours ago, HanScottFirst said:

Ezra Bridger (Sheathipede) (17)
Elusiveness (2)
Weapons Engineer (3)
M9-G8 (3)
Phantom II (0)

You could add Pulsed Ray Shield for only 2 points. It keeps him stressed, which means he loses the coordinate, but still provides rerolls which is cool, and still keeps his ability activated.

You'll always, always get more use out of Lone Wolf than Elusiveness. Heck, even PTL for an evade token is statistically more than double as good for a point extra. A Pulsed Ray shield is a tad superfluous, as if an opponent wants to focus Ezra down in a turn (which they will if you put PRS on him) then they can easily do so.

I think Fenn Rau and AP-5 are the standouts of the shuttle. Hit ability is pretty absurd, especially given the aux arc. I think the following will be the top builds:

Fenn Rau (27)
Weapons Engineer
M9-G8
Wired

You get a solid support ship with some nice rerolls to boost his dice, an his action is free for coordination. M9-G8 and Weapons Engineer combines solidly with his pilot ability to deny enemy ships any kind of decent attack.

AP-5 (16)
Inspiring Recruit

He's cheap enough to be a blocking filler, yet has an awesome ability that lets him buff Corran Horn or any other Rebel ship that desperately needs to lose stress, which is an awful lot of them.