I am going to try to "jam-up" my defenders:

Tractor Beam is Just Better on your top PS /d.

Every tournament I go to I run into Vessery.

I am currently flying:

Ryad

PTL

Tie/D

Mk. II

PS 1 Tie/D

T-Beam (switched from jamming...tractor I like more)

Mk. II

Tie/D Title

Rho Squadron Veteran

Homing Missiles

EM

Title that adds extra missile and torp slots

Trickshot

ASlam

So far, it's lots of fun to fly...haven't taken it to a tournament yet.

18 hours ago, DR4CO said:

Fairship was a problem, but it wasn't the problem. Paratanni was the problem. Defenders just couldn't compete in a straight joust with it, particulary once the nerf hit and Asajj went from problematic to nightmarish, and once you tell Defenders that they can't joust, they don't really have a lot of tricks to fall back on. Then Paratanni got powercreeped out by Nym, which was even worse for Defenders.

I'd forgotten about Fenn Rau, since "nobody" plays Fenn anymore. I feel like he was really strong at taking advantage of Defender predictability with those 5-dice attacks. Not every ship can really exploit that weakness that well. Fenn was a different sort of arc dodger, one who liked to be close rather than long-range, and I feel like that matters a lot against Defenders.

6 hours ago, Sciencius said:

I am going to try to "jam-up" my defenders:

Colonel Vessery — TIE Defender	35
Veteran Instincts	1
Jamming Beam	1
TIE/D	0
Ship Total: 37
Countess Ryad — TIE Defender	34
Push the Limit	3
Jamming Beam	1
Twin Ion Engine Mk. II	1
TIE/D	0
Ship Total: 39
Omicron Group Pilot — Lambda-Class Shuttle	21
Kylo Ren	3
Ship Total: 24

Do jam tokens stack? And are not discarded at end of round? Cause then this list could cripple the token-action-economy of a ship.

Correct, they stack and they're only discarded when you get a token to match up to them.

12 hours ago, thespaceinvader said:

Simply put, they got predictable, and when you're predictable, you're dead. People got used to how they fly and how to block and dodge them, and they lost out.

They didnt get predictable, they were always predictable, it was just a matter of "What the **** are you gonna do about it?" Cause if you blocked them they got the evade anyhow. Now you can block their 4k, stress them, bombs are everywhere, ships in play now have multiple arcs or PWT and Defenders have no autothrusters. And when Nym and Miranda where/are boss, low PS single arc ships had no chance so those style of ships started to get replaced by S/Fs, Decimators, etc. Now that more non-repositioning ships like Wookiees are becoming more prominent, and single arc ships like gunboats and silencers. Defenders could be making a comeback. Then homing missiles will make a comeback, and the circle of meta life continues.

Because people are COWARDS.

At game night this past week I ran 2 ion TIE/D Deltas with Soontir Fel. I'm very comfortable running generics. So much so that when I lost initiative to my opponent, I put Soontir right into block-mode. After getting hit by a Harpoon Missiles, Soontir cut off Fenn Rau, and the Delta's tore him apart. Next, Soontir got a great block on both Genesis Red and Torani Kulda, denying then a shot to trigger the Harpooned! condition. Ions won the day, allowing Soontir to escape, and letting the Delta's get behind and finish the game.

I guess I'm trying to say that I am loving TIE/D defenders now that/x7 has been balanced because I don't feel like I'm handicapping myself. And, of course, Ion Cannons and Tractor Beams are tons of fun!

My wife is just getting into flying them and the SF. She traditionally flew Interceptors, the Inquisator (now there is a guy that isn't played anymore) and Vader. But she's branching out into the more shielded imperial ships.

I flew Defenders because they we're my only favorite ship to make it to the tabletop from the simulator games.

Allllllll that changed once the Gunboat got announced.

NOW I FLY EM BOTH LIKE A MADMAN MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

After the x7 change you had to actually learn to fly, I guess alot of players didn't like that and went on to the next thing.

2 hours ago, jocke01 said:

After the x7 change you had to actually learn to fly, I guess alot of players didn't like that and went on to the next thing.

That is incorrect, they moved on when the ship was no longer cost efficient/was overtaken by powercreep.

Defenders are very forgiving ships for an unexperienced imperial player like me. Shields give you an "peaceful" state of mind you don't have with interceptor (who die if you look at them oddly)

I'm going to fly Ryad in my red Defender, till nausea!

I still find that fluff-wise, the stress shutting X-7 title is unfair.

If you get an evade for going too fast, speed doesn't care about stress. I agree with the bump.

But, gameplay>>fluff as master FGD says...

I find x7s much more fun after nerf, because they give you actual choices to make and consequences to consider

if only turrets were so nuanced...

but if you want fluff justification, flying fast isn't necessarily enough to avoid things. If you're freaking out, you're probably flying predictably enough for leading shots to nail you

4 hours ago, Malasombra said:

I still find that fluff-wise, the stress shutting X-7 title is unfair.

If you get an evade for going too fast, speed doesn't care about stress. I agree with the bump.

But, gameplay>>fluff as master FGD says...

[Pushes up nerd glasses] Actually, according to the lore, Flechette Torpedoes were employed specifically to fight defenders by gutting that ship's maneuverability. Making stress take away the title's evade token is both good for the game and consistent with the lore. Fluff ftw!

On that note, while I'm a huge fan of TIE Mk. II, it seriously diminishes the effect of stress on TIE Defenders, making it actually detract from the lore. However, this is one instance where I can clearly see that game play >> fluff.

Paratanni happened. Then nerf happened. Then Nym happened. Lately cruises and harpoons made imperial alpha the flavor of the month and I suppose gunboat and silencer will do the same for this wave. They're still pretty good ships. Very tough as long as your luck with dice holds. But they're also very predictable, have low PS, get shut down by stress and work best when flying in formation with other defenders. In the age of harpoons, hyper-mobile high-PS aces and stressbugs their flaws are all too apparent.

People stopped flying Defenders at the very moment one of it got roflstomped by Hera in a T-65.

Everyone knows T-65s suck.