I started thinking about this and for a while I’ve been accepting the collective thought that R5-P9 is not synergistic with Advanced Optics on Poe. But why not use it?

The more I think about it it’s a very decent build. 1 point cheaper than R2-D2, and allows for another ship to use R2-D2.

AO banks the focus so you can still pull a T-roll and use the focus to mod your shot with Poe’s ability, then use it for defense and then at the end of the round, regen a shield.

Sure you need to recharge Advanced Optics next round, but you’ve also regened a shield after a tallon roll!

It frees Poe from R2-D2’s boring green moves.

This leaves room for Regen Norra, Regen Freighter, or regen Luke!? Or it simply saves a point.

What do you guys think?

As someone who has been playing AO Poe since it dropped, you really, really, do not want to take focus actions. It hurts your action economy, ability to boost, limits target locks. I pretty much never spend it unless it's winning me the game. If I see 3 eyeballs on an attack, I'll usually just take the single hit from his pilot ability, that's how big of a deal it has been.

Personally, I think it's just because of how rapid the switch in builds for Poe have been. There was the alpha build, with R2-D2, and then the beta build, with R5-P9. Then it hit v1.0 with BB-8 and PTL, then v1.5 with BB-8 and Intensity, and finally 2.0 with BB-8 and Advanced Optics. It morphed so rapidly from version to version in the last year that one just kinda became "outdated" compared to the new version.

I think it could be perfectly viable. I try to avoid Poe because I kinda feel cliché and somewhat of a jerk whenever I fly him (and my usual playing partners are kinda burned out on Poe after I played him for 2 months straight when I first got the game. And now Poe is EVERYWHERE anyways, so it's a moot point) but whenever I play him, I always fly him with R5-P9 (with or without Optics) I love the combinztion and getting three uses out of a single focus makes me feel good every time.

Is it necessarily the best combination? Probably not, in terms of action economy or output or anything like that.

Is it hella fun? Of course. This is X-Wing. Everything is fun!

Especially when you have R5 Poe and BB-8 Snap in the same list.

Best,

Cow

Poe is everywhere so I’d assume that HotCop, tactician and R3A2 are going to come back in a big way. I don’t think R5P9 is a good call at the mo.

R5-P9 is still plenty good but not with advanced optics. I think pattern analyzer is much better because he needs to ensure a focus every turn. Advanced optics gives you one free focus action, but the turns where you T-roll or K-turn, (or do a green maneuver through debris), you won't have it. Pattern analyzer keeps the focus consistent.

I especially like pairing him with AP-5, because Ap-5 not only gets to give him a focus at PS 1, but also to pull the stress off those red maneuvers and keep the dial open for the dreaded successive T-rolls ala Ello Asty.

Paying two points to keep the token at the end of the round and 3 points to spend it is a terrible idea. If you want to use P9, don't use Optics and vice versa.

13 hours ago, BlodVargarna said:

I started thinking about this and for a while I’ve been accepting the collective thought that R5-P9 is not synergistic with Advanced Optics on Poe. But why not use it?

The more I think about it it’s a very decent build. 1 point cheaper than R2-D2, and allows for another ship to use R2-D2.

AO banks the focus so you can still pull a T-roll and use the focus to mod your shot with Poe’s ability, then use it for defense and then at the end of the round, regen a shield.

Sure you need to recharge Advanced Optics next round, but you’ve also regened a shield after a tallon roll!

It frees Poe from R2-D2’s boring green moves.

This leaves room for Regen Norra, Regen Freighter, or regen Luke!? Or it simply saves a point.

What do you guys think?

I don't think it'd be bad, per se. Whether it'd be better, well, hard to tell. Personally, I'd want R2-D2 elsewhere in the list to try it, rather than just saving a point. I actually think I saw a list like this the other day on ListJuggler, with a Regen Norra.

Likewise I might consider running VI R5-P9 Poe with Pattern Analyzer instead of Optics. You lose the opening ability to start with a pre-stacked, but you'd be able to keep focus/regen each turn even when red. I figure that once you're into the thick of things, you likely wouldn't be able to restack Poe reliably, and would be spending his token most turns for R5-P9. AdvO lets you start stacked and can easily get at least one red/focus turn. PA gives you focus whenever you red, but you'll miss out on a few early-game TLs and Boosts. If the number of Reds you're able to pull with PA is greater than the number of Boost/TL you can do with AdvO, then PA can gain more value. I'm not sure if that's always going to be possible.

If M9-G8 is elsewhere in the list, perhaps that's a point in favor of a PA build. You won't need to TL as much, and with white moves, boosts aren't always needed.

//

As to what you give up versus R2-D2, that's the ease of using Black One. AdvO R5-P9 won't be able to boost as freely in the midgame, where you're spending Focus to regen. If it's just for positioning, white without boosting seems perhaps better than green while boosting. However, those green boosts can delete TLs, which might matter.

And that makes me rethink Pattern Analyzer. Early-game TLs are often the most important ones to shrug off, and being able to have boost/focus early is probably more important than red/focus late.

The very point of Optics, is that you practically never have to do a focus action again, so you can do other things, like boosting or TL-ing. If you use R5-P9, you must have a constant supply of tokens.

On the other hand, P9 can be useful on Norra with Recon Spec. But then again, the EPT of choice for Norra is PTL, so you pretty much have to go green every turn anyway, so you don't gain much, other than the single point in the list.

R5-P9 still regens though and that’s decent. The idea is that AO holds the focus for when you need to use it for regen later.

R2-D2 is arguably better, but he can’t regen a shield after a 2 or three bank/turn, kturn, or troll. Whereas R5-P9 can.

The more I think about it, the more I don't dislike it. I mean, if you'd still run Advanced Optics on a ship other than Poe if you only ever got one stored charge out of it, then it'd still be fine here. I figure Quickdraw with AdvO only recharges once in a while anyhow, since she has to spend her focus to use it, and AdvO still good on her. Getting a few early Boost/TL early seem strong for Poe, and if in the mid/late game, the thing rarely accomplishes anything, well, hopefully you got value from it.

//

Sample list idea, with a flex point which could be VI on Fenn, or a 1-point crew for him, or swap Rey for Kyle or C-3PO, or so forth. If they go for Poe, Norra can possibly stack more Rey focus. If they go for Norra, Poe can keep his AdvO Focus stacked and Boost/TL. Dropping to PS 10 is possibly scary, but the list is tight for points.

Norra Wexley (38) ARC-170 (29), R2-D2 (4), Push the Limit (3), Rey (2), Alliance Overhaul (0)

Poe Dameron (PS8 Version) (40) T-70 X-Wing (31), Black One (1), R5-P9 (3), Advanced Optics (2), Veteran Instincts (1), Autothrusters (2)

Fenn Rau (21) Sheathipede-class Shuttle (20), Adaptability (0), Flight-Assist Astromech (1)

I like that list. One thing I like about the list is that some of the risk of PS10 is mitigated by PS11 coordinate from Fenn.