Poe Dameron: A Beginner Guide

Before I get started, a brief disclaimer. This is probably not the first or the best guide to using Poe. There are a number of marvelously talented and well-informed folks who frequently produce high quality content for this X-Wing Miniatures game. This guide is also by no means sanctioned or sponsored by Fantasy Flight Games, and is really just here as a way for me to share some of my musings about one of my favorite pilots. Finally, even though I bought my first core set sometime in August 2012, I am by no means an expert at this game, and you probably don’t know who I am, because I do not usually attend the high-level competitions.

Anyway, to get started, I just wanted to say that Poe is one of my favorite Star Wars characters. There’s nothing more thematically pleasing than flying him around destroying stuff, and he has his share of bad luck in the movies, so it’s also ok to blow up without doing much at all. His personality and skill makes him a really interesting character, and he has a number of great quotes that you can annoy your opponent by unleashing at the most inopportune times.

I think the best place to start this is with the second you pull Poe’s card out of your binder. Because there’s actually two options there already.

Two points for an extra level pilot skill can seem a little steep. But at this current state in the game, PS9 is pretty much a neccesity. A number of deadly opponents such as Kylo Ren and Quickdraw will use their elite pilot talent for something other than Veteran Instincts, and thus Poe might have a chance of either firing before or moving after such opponents, which, depending on your build, can be absolutely essential. I highly suggest only ever using the PS9 variant of Poe. Yes, you can use the other one if you’re really strapped for squadpoints, but it’s ill-advised.

Why? Poe is very, very weak when it comes to dice spam. In a game with Heavy Laser Cannons, Mangler Cannons, Cruise Missiles, and Harpoon Missiles, and a number of cheap carriers for all those weapons, Poe rolls a shockingly small number of dice for his cost in squadpoints. His only hope is to have tricks up his sleeve that keep him from getting hit by those dice-spamming builds. Poe is basically the exact opposite of a “glass cannon” archetype.

Speaking of archetypes, Poe is a very flexible pilot, fitting into a number of common list-building archetypes. The first is “Rebel Poe”, who fits into the ancient and approved Rebel strategy of jousting the enemy at slow speeds and relying upon cool upgrades and squad-based tactics to overcome the enemy with sheer dice count, concentration, and modification. As discussed in the preceding paragraph, Poe is a little weak for this kind of list now that Harpoon Missiles and XG-1 Starwings have changed the jousting game forever. The next is “D’Qar Poe”, named such because this archetype closely matches his strategy at the battle over D’Qar at the start of The Last Jedi, i.e. flying very quickly and seeking to outmaneuver his opponents. This is likely the most powerful of all Poe archetypes and thus will be discussed in great detail in this guide. You can pronounce it “ArQ-D’odge Poe” if you like. The final Poe archetype is “Ace Poe”, which is a mixture of the previous two but mostly relies on high pilot skill to get in devastating shots before his opponent can react, and to a lesser extent relies on moving dead last to get some reposition.

Now to pick upgrades. “Rebel Poe” works well with a number of shield regeneration-type droids. The best regeneration droid is R2-D2, but Poe’s real skill here is that he works very well with R5-P9.

The idea here is that R2-D2 is free to go help a different Rebel ace, and Poe refuses to ever use his focus token until the end of the end phase, at which point he regenerates a shield. If there’s a place for PS8 Poe, this is it. This Poe merely relies on the fact that the T-70 X-Wing is a decent ship with a good dial and three attack dice. Getting free dice modifications is always good, and combined with Predator, Crackshot, or Lone Wolf, this Poe can have a pretty deadly attack while still being very survivable. Lone Wolf is not very highly recommended, because this Poe likes to fly in a pack. Sadly, the loss of Biggs Darklighter’s ability due to a much-needed errata very negatively affects this Poe archetype.

Next, “D’Qar Poe”. This is a very thematic and specific Poe combination that requires two very specific upgrades, namely, Push the Limit and BB-8.

These upgrades allow for a shocking amount of maneuverability, which will be discussed later. This Poe has no room for Veteran Instincts and thus must be run in his PS9 version to get his full worth. Other upgrades are fairly intuitive, but there are a number of options here so flavor to taste. Another, lesser, type of Poe build is encompassed by “D’Qar Poe”, which is any of the myriad builds using Intensity. Intensity does have its uses, and can be used in conjunction with BB-8, but generally is not as useful or powerful as Push the Limit and thus will not be discussed much in this guide. One interesting trick to mention here is the use of Comms Relay and Intensity to get an evade token that stays with you. This can be very useful, but with the rise of Advanced Optics (discussed later), the Comms Relay is generally less effective.

Finally, “Ace Poe” is any Poe that uses Veteran Instincts (or, in rare cases, Adaptability). This is generally a difficult choice because there are a lot less options for repositioning without the tricks “D’Qar Poe” has up his sleeve. But being at PS11 is nothing to sniff at, and Flight Assist Astromech can add some nice options for this Poe. Perhaps if a more powerful torpedo comes around that allows for a powerful torpedo alpha-strike, this Poe might gain a bit more traction.

All builds of Poe have a few options for the other upgrades. Almost any Poe really wants the Black One title, especially in a missile-heavy meta. For modifications, the only really great options are Autothrusters and Integrated Astromech, and only a very specific Poe would forgo the Autothrusters. The torpedo slot will usually go empty. There just aren’t any torpedoes that are that cost-effective, even on Poe. Finally, for tech, Primed Thrusters and Pattern Analyzer will both help Poe be more maneuverable and easier to fly, because he’ll be more forgiving of stress. However, the best upgrade for Poe right now is certainly Advanced Optics, and it is what I would suggest for almost any Poe build.

To finish up this section, I’d like to suggest what I think of as the “optimal” builds for each archetype. Note that using some of the upgrades from the "D'Qar Poe" archetype will probably help the other two more in today's meta, but here I'm just trying to show three very different Poe builds.

Rebel Poe (Cost 40)

D’Qar Poe (Cost 43)

Ace Poe (Cost 39)

Now for the tactics. “Rebel Poe” is certainly the easiest to fly. Basically, move him with the rest of your squad, picking mostly speed-1 maneuvers and using the basic Koiogran turn to reverse direction. This Poe always wants the focus action, because he’ll be using it to recharge shields. If you alternate red and green maneuvers, Pattern Analyzer means you will always get your action and Predator means target locks probably aren’t that necessary. So boost when necessary, otherwise focus, and remember to never, ever spend your focus (unless you’re dealing with the rare case where you somehow roll three or more focus results on the defense for the last attack your opponent makes against Poe).

“Ace Poe” is also rather forgiving. He typically flies away from the rest of your squad, cutting through the asteroids. The goal is to joust your opponents with the rest of your squad while Poe flanks them and cuts them off from the rear. His entire advantage is being able to boost when he doesn’t have a shot, so if you’re always staring down the barrel of every gun on your opponent’s fleet, you’re doing something wrong. Also note that this Poe just does whatever maneuver he wants as long as you remember to never actually spend that focus token, because he can still boost when he has a stress token.

I’ve saved “D’Qar Poe” for the last because this one is very, very complicated. Do green maneuvers. I can’t stress that enough. Also note that if you have BB-8 trigger PTL, you can still do an action after you move, for three actions total per round, with no stress. And please remember that even if you use this build to do three actions per round, you can’t do the same action twice per round, or your opponent will get very, very mad at you. The best way to do this is using the D’Qar Poe Flowchart, or Poechart for short.

This means that D’Qar Poe can really get almost wherever he wants on the board. Here’s two of D’Qar Poe’s favorite maneuvers, the 3-straight and the 1-bank-left. Each base with a cardboard template on it is a different place Poe can end up, with that same exact maneuver.

With Advanced Optics, it’s not uncommon for Poe to end up with a boost, barrel roll, target lock, and focus when he’s done, assuming he saved that focus. So Poe actually ends up doing his entire action bar. You might also consider putting primed thrusters on there, just to help you out if you do actually get stressed. Tactics-wise, he's a lot like "Ace Poe", and wants to cut through or around the rocks while the rest of your squad fights them head-on.

Finally, listbuilding. “Rebel Poe” loves to fly in a squad, and he’s very sad that Biggs is gone. Lowhrick and Jess Pava are two of his favorite squadmates, but he works pretty well with just about anybody. Really, just have fun, because this isn’t a very meta-competitive Poe anyway. B-Wings, ARC-170s, X-Wings (old and new), Y-Wings, really any arc-locked slow-flying Rebel tanks like having this Poe as a partner-in-crime. And his occasional lock-shedding shenanigans can be very helpful.

Both “D’Qar Poe” and “Ace Poe” love to fly with something else that jousts and does damage, but doesn’t mind flying on the other side of the board from him. Usually, this ends up being a single, pricey large-base ship such as Rey or Dash Rendar. A mini-swarm would be the right call here in some cases as well, and you could try a bunch of Z-95s with Harpoon Missiles and Guidance Chips or a couple Y-Wings or K-Wings (or a couple Auzitucks, if you absolutely have to).

Really though, the best part about Poe is that he can fit in wherever you want him to go, and he can be very flexible in his uses.

I hope you found this guide helpful! Please let me know if you think of any other cool Poe-related advice!

PS9 VI, Optics, R2D2, AT, title or gtfo.

3 minutes ago, tortugatron said:

PS9 VI, Optics, R2D2, AT, title or gtfo.

That one's interesting! Definitely a cross-archetypal Poe build, because you're not getting as much reposition and you're not the biggest tank ever, but it lets you approach various opponents with very different strategies and it's also a little more forgiving. I'll have to think about that!

12 minutes ago, Kieransi said:

That one's interesting! Definitely a cross-archetypal Poe build, because you're not getting as much reposition and you're not the biggest tank ever, but it lets you approach various opponents with very different strategies and it's also a little more forgiving. I'll have to think about that!

It's basically the meta Poe right now, and should be in the article. Intensity Poe / Plot Armour Poe probably should be too. With intensity Comm relay makes Poe tanky, and primed thrusters makes him immune to stress lists and just a completely badass boosting through debris and after tallons etc.

33 minutes ago, tortugatron said:

PS9 VI, Optics, R2D2, AT, title or gtfo.

R2-D2 is for saps. BB8 or GTFO.

3 minutes ago, wurms said:

It's basically the meta Poe right now, and should be in the article. Intensity Poe / Plot Armour Poe probably should be too. With intensity Comm relay makes Poe tanky, and primed thrusters makes him immune to stress lists and just a completely badass boosting through debris and after tallons etc.

It's sort of in there. Basically, my thoughts on that one are that you've got "Ace Poe" with a regen droid. The three builds are meant to show the three most different but still solid Poe builds, so that you can pick your own favorite by mixing and matching those upgrades.

I mentioned the Intensity/Comm Relay combo a little. I don't think it's bad, but I think if you're not taking VI, you're better off with PTL (with or without BB-8).

The meta definitely changes which builds do best. My hunch is that there's so much high-PS Cruise Missile stuff now that PS11 does better as a reaction. And the Comm Relay trick basically helps Poe tank one extra damage, which is also important because there's so many 3 and 4 dice turrets our there. As the meta continues to shift, I think Intensity Poe might start disappearing. Just a hunch.

I disagree with your comment that PS8 Poe is ill-advised. Adv optics is an absolute game changer for Poe because it completely frees up his action after the first turn and moves us away from reliance on builds that attempt to gain multiple actions (ie, invariably a focus and then one other action). In turn this lets us use the ept slot to increase his PS which is important in the current meta.

PS8 Poe becomes ps10 Poe. Is it worth 2 extra points to go to PS11? Possibly, PS10 will do just as well in many circumstances, and if your opponent is bringing PS11s with a bid and you haven't got one then you mights as well be down at ps10 anyway. Applying that logic means that the jump to an effective PS11 *possibly* costs 3 points, if not more, and you can begin to question whether those points are better spent elsewhere.

This is my favoured Poe build at the moment:

Poe Dameron (31)
Veteran Instincts (1)
R2-D2 (4)
Advanced Optics (2)
Autothrusters (2)
Black One (1)

Total: 41

3 hours ago, asters89 said:

I disagree with your comment that PS8 Poe is ill-advised. Adv optics is an absolute game changer for Poe because it completely frees up his action after the first turn and moves us away from reliance on builds that attempt to gain multiple actions (ie, invariably a focus and then one other action). In turn this lets us use the ept slot to increase his PS which is important in the current meta.

PS8 Poe becomes ps10 Poe. Is it worth 2 extra points to go to PS11? Possibly, PS10 will do just as well in many circumstances, and if your opponent is bringing PS11s with a bid and you haven't got one then you mights as well be down at ps10 anyway. Applying that logic means that the jump to an effective PS11 *possibly* costs 3 points, if not more, and you can begin to question whether those points are better spent elsewhere.

This is my favoured Poe build at the moment:

Poe Dameron (31)
Veteran Instincts (1)
R2-D2 (4)
Advanced Optics (2)
Autothrusters (2)
Black One (1)

Total: 41

One thing to keep in mind is that if you're both PS11, no matter what happens, they don't get the full ace advantage, because you're either moving last or shooting first. You may be right that if you're going with VI, PS8 Poe is perhaps better because you're saving two points for just the difference between PS10 and PS11 - Vader will sometimes take Adaptability rather than VI just to save one point, for example. My idea was that if you're already sinking 40+ points into this ship, why would you skimp on those last few points if there are going to be cases where PS11 is better than PS10 (Rey frequently runs at PS10, for example).

I personally think VI can be a waste of Poe's EPT slot. Like I showed, PTL/BB-8 Poe has more maneuverability and action economy than most other aces. We'll see what happens though. Kylo is PS9 and needs PTL, and plenty of Scum things are PS7 and take VI, so Poe can easily out-bid a lot of stuff at just PS9. Perhaps I'm wrong, but I think we might start to see more things at PS9 rather than PS10 and PS11.

I also think regen might be starting to disappear, because we're now in the era where you either won't get hit or you'll be dead. Harpoon Missile swarms mean that Poe will likely be taking two or three damage per attack when he's targeted by them. So three Harpoon Missile hits will kill him. What that adds up to is that the games are getting shorter, and regen will save you maybe one or two hitpoints over the course of a game. That's good, but if there's a different droid you can take that gets you hit with one or two less missiles, that's probably a lot better.

1 hour ago, Kieransi said:

I personally think VI can be a waste of Poe's EPT slot. Like I showed, PTL/BB-8 Poe has more maneuverability and action economy than most other aces. We'll see what happens though. Kylo is PS9 and needs PTL, and plenty of Scum things are PS7 and take VI, so Poe can easily out-bid a lot of stuff at just PS9. Perhaps I'm wrong, but I think we might start to see more things at PS9 rather than PS10 and PS11.

I also think regen might be starting to disappear, because we're now in the era where you either won't get hit or you'll be dead.

I wanted to think as you, but I've been sorely disappointed by my regular opponent who usually brings Kylo, Defenders and Whisper.

The problem isn't exactly with Poe, it's with the chassis. AGI 2, even with autothrusters, is simply not enough against the firepower a 40+ points ace has to suffer from the opponent. I thought I either need regen for more staying power, or arc-dodge. I chose the latter, and flew Intensity Poe + BB-8. But I found that it sorely lacks in offense, with having usually only 1 focus to modify dice. I simply couldn't push damage through stealth device x7s or cloaked and tokened up Phantoms.

I came to the conclusion that Poe lives or dies by initiative. He either needs elevated PS or a sure bid, preferably both. In that case, BB-8 isn't as useful as Artoo, since reposition is less of a priority than survivability.

X-Wings aren't Interceptors, their dial isn't good enough for consistent arc-dodging, no matter how much I wanted to.

I really like sensor cluster on Poe. As long as you focus it’s a gurunteed evade. If you roll and evade, greasy. If you roll eyeballs then your pilot skill kicks in and if needed you can spend the focus and if you roll a blank then sensor cluster let’s you spend the focus to switch it to evade. It’s perfect.

15 hours ago, Kieransi said:

why would you skimp on those last few points if there are going to be cases where PS11 is better than PS10 (Rey frequently runs at PS10, for example).

The short answer is that it costs at least 2 points which might be better used elsewhere. A second consideration is that if you have another ship at PS10 then its useful to be able to choose the order in which they move and shoot (Rey actually being a good example). I approach it from the opposite side of saying, if you have the points free then go ahead, but I wouldn't skimp on other things to get that ps increase to 11.

15 hours ago, Kieransi said:

I personally think VI can be a waste of Poe's EPT slot. Like I showed, PTL/BB-8 Poe has more maneuverability and action economy than most other aces. We'll see what happens though. Kylo is PS9 and needs PTL, and plenty of Scum things are PS7 and take VI, so Poe can easily out-bid a lot of stuff at just PS9. Perhaps I'm wrong, but I think we might start to see more things at PS9 rather than PS10 and PS11.

VI is probably the most meta dependent card in the game. Given that at the moment we are seeing a lot of kylo at ps9 with a big bid I think being able to pip him at ps10/11 is invaluable.

I'll skip on commenting on your content (as that is already being debated heavily), and instead comment on how you made your guide.
Two things that stand out:,
1) The font you use is unpleasant to read, it is too 'gray' and almost fades with the white background. Consider changing it, maybe even to the same font that the forum uses?
Unless you have copy-pasted it from a different forum all-together, even then I would use the same font.
2) When naming 'arch-types', you should consider sticking to what the arch-type is actually called in consensus, instead of re-naming them.
It creates confusion on a well-established subject. Your 'rebel poe' is normally called regen-poe, and your... whats-its-name-poe is called archdodger poe. Poetensity have become popular enough, and different enough to be of its own arch-type. The name 'ace-poe' associates with 'the best poe' which would indicate the fattest, most expensive build out there, but in your guide, this means he has PS 11, but is in fact the cheapest of them all.

I get that you want to name things, it's your guide, but I think you are a bit late on the name-creation part (2 years to be exact).

There's also two flavors of Poetensity: (the good flavor and the bland) BB8, Primed Thrusters or R2-D2 Comm Relay

Then there's new Poptics, with AO, VI, and BB8 (or R2-D2 for the saps).

Then there's dancing Poe (bb8, PTL)

Not sure the name of R5-P9 Poe but there's that as well.

There's so many Poes. He is the many-faced god!

I also fly quite a bit of Poe.

What about Intensity Poe with FAA and Optics or Comm Relay based on preference??

Pros? Cons?

On 1/10/2018 at 6:34 AM, asters89 said:

PS8 Poe becomes ps10 Poe. Is it worth 2 extra points to go to PS11? Possibly, PS10 will do just as well in many circumstances, and if your opponent is bringing PS11s with a bid and you haven't got one then you mights as well be down at ps10 anyway. Applying that logic means that the jump to an effective PS11 *possibly* costs 3 points, if not more, and you can begin to question whether those points are better spent elsewhere.

I think the reason you want PS11 Poe is so you beat the PS10s like RAC, Rey, Boba, Kulda, Nym and the Wes/Cracken Harpoon list and you at least have a chance to beat the PS11s if they don't bring a bid. Winning the PS war is so much more important with Poe because of Black One being so integral to his usefulness. PS10 is actually quite common these days.

3 hours ago, ModernPenguin said:

2) When naming 'arch-types', you should consider sticking to what the arch-type is actually called in consensus, instead of re-naming them.
It creates confusion on a well-established subject. Your 'rebel poe' is normally called regen-poe, and your... whats-its-name-poe is called archdodger poe. Poetensity have become popular enough, and different enough to be of its own arch-type. The name 'ace-poe' associates with 'the best poe' which would indicate the fattest, most expensive build out there, but in your guide, this means he has PS 11, but is in fact the cheapest of them all.
I get that you want to name things, it's your guide, but I think you are a bit late on the name-creation part (2 years to be exact).

It's difficult to name stuff, and there's no one "accepted" name. Rather, I intentionally had completely different names for all of the stuff that I was talking about, to purposely accentuate that these are my own opinions and a very specific way of breaking Poe builds up into three buckets. It was probably at least three years ago that the game started being described as a rock-paper-scissors bout between arcdodgers, jousters, and turrets, so calling a thing "arcdodger poe" is a little too vague in my opinion because so many Poe builds fit into that very broad arcdodging archetype. There's also many many forms of regen and I think that it can be confusing to call something a "regen Poe" when a lot of the more arc-dodgey Poe builds can also take regen droids. And I think I would avoid calling anything "best" for obvious reasons. My idea with the nomenclature was to break up Poe into three distinct ways to fly him - so I purposely picked weird names for all three variants that I knew wouldn't have been chosen before, in an attempt to avoid confusion.

8 hours ago, asters89 said:

The short answer is that it costs at least 2 points which might be better used elsewhere. A second consideration is that if you have another ship at PS10 then its useful to be able to choose the order in which they move and shoot (Rey actually being a good example). I approach it from the opposite side of saying, if you have the points free then go ahead, but I wouldn't skimp on other things to get that ps increase to 11.

VI is probably the most meta dependent card in the game. Given that at the moment we are seeing a lot of kylo at ps9 with a big bid I think being able to pip him at ps10/11 is invaluable.

Yeah, perhaps I'm wrong in general, and I know for sure that I'm wrong when it comes to certain metas. I think my point with the comment was that if you take PS9 Poe, the way the game's set up, you are much more likely to be able to succeed with a different EPT than VI.

2 hours ago, ccjacks3 said:

I also fly quite a bit of Poe.

What about Intensity Poe with FAA and Optics or Comm Relay based on preference??

Pros? Cons?

I personally think that's a very solid option. I think if you're taking Intensity, you should probably be taking Comm Relay no matter what. The idea is that you'll use Intensity on the first round to get an evade, and then carry it with you into battle, using next turn's focus token to recharge the Intensity. FAA is a good option on anything with high Pilot Skill, so if you take PS9 Poe, there's at least some chance that you'll be able to outmaneuver plenty of things with it. If you run into a lot of Vader, Quickdraw , or other PS11 builds, you might not have a chance to use the FAA that much, but that's definitely part of this game. In a more casual setting, you will have a very good list, because other people might be flying more things like XG-1 Starwings, Scum, and other lower-PS squads.

14 minutes ago, Kieransi said:

I personally think that's a very solid option. I think if you're taking Intensity, you should probably be taking Comm Relay no matter what.

This is why Poe is such a fun ship, there are so many ways to build it. Personally, I would always take Primed Thrusters with Intensity. Being able to barrel roll or boost while stressed is essential for Intensity in my mind.