Got my first ever Epic game tomorrow. We are playing a team match. Two teams of three. Each player gets 250 pats for small and large base ships. Then, each team gets three epic ships with no point limits on the build. My team gets a CROC, a Gozanti and a Raider. I’m running the Raider.

So, I’m looking for a good unlimited points build for the Raider. Any tips?

Unlimited points...!!!

Normally, the hard part is keeping it down to around 125pts. The big question is whether you want to use ordnance or energy weapons?

49 minutes ago, drail14me said:

Got my first ever Epic game tomorrow. We are playing a team match. Two teams of three. Each player gets 250 pats for small and large base ships. Then, each team gets three epic ships with no point limits on the build. My team gets a CROC, a Gozanti and a Raider. I’m running the Raider.

So, I’m looking for a good unlimited points build for the Raider. Any tips?

Raider

Impetuous title

Ordnance tubes

Weapons engineer

Harpoon front

Harpoon/homing rear

Concussion/proton rear

Or

Raider

Tactician

Tibanna gas

Quad laser front

Quad laser rear

Quad laser rear

27 minutes ago, Gilarius said:

Unlimited points...!!!

Normally, the hard part is keeping it down to around 125pts. The big question is whether you want to use ordnance or energy weapons?

I thought of mixing ordinance and energy. Thought two ordinance and one ion. Wasn’t sure how to dontarget locks for all the ordinance though.

18 minutes ago, Darth Meanie said:

Noticed the Title cards say aft section only. Do they apply to the whole ship?

13 minutes ago, drail14me said:

I thought of mixing ordinance and energy. Thought two ordinance and one ion. Wasn’t sure how to dontarget locks for all the ordinance though.

Weapons engineer and impetuous title keep the locks flowing.

4 minutes ago, drail14me said:

Noticed the Title cards say aft section only. Do they apply to the whole ship?

It does affect the whole ship.

Can't say I recommend mixing ion battery and missiles.

Losing the mod slot in order to fit missiles really makes ya wanna get the most out of infinite firing missiles.

If you really just wanted to do ion tokens paired with missiles try ion pulse missile alongside the 2 damage dealer missiles.

That's 1 damage 2 ions(IPM) for half the price of 1 critical 1 ion(ion battery).

2 hours ago, Dabirdisdaword said:

Can't say I recommend mixing ion battery and missiles.

Losing the mod slot in order to fit missiles really makes ya wanna get the most out of infinite firing missiles.

If you really just wanted to do ion tokens paired with missiles try ion pulse missile alongside the 2 damage dealer missiles.

That's 1 damage 2 ions(IPM) for half the price of 1 critical 1 ion(ion battery).

I don't have any experience with Epic so I really don't understand them yet. Looking at the Energy Weapons, they just don't seem very good. Single Turbo Lasers have great range but defenders get to double their agility. Doesn't seem like you could ever hit a 3 agility ship? Soontir with Stealth Device would just dance around these. And ordnance doesn't sound real reliable without a focus token. Seems like the best way to kill small and large based ships is to just ram them.

4 hours ago, Dabirdisdaword said:

Can't say I recommend mixing ion battery and missiles.

Losing the mod slot in order to fit missiles really makes ya wanna get the most out of infinite firing missiles.

If you really just wanted to do ion tokens paired with missiles try ion pulse missile alongside the 2 damage dealer missiles.

That's 1 damage 2 ions(IPM) for half the price of 1 critical 1 ion(ion battery).

Also, when it comes to target locks, with Weapons Engineer, the Raider can have two Target locks but has three ordnance tubes. So, one tube won’t have a target lock to use unless it’s a Harpoon or Homing and the target lock isn’t spent, right. So, would it be good to throw in a Single turbolaser to have that long range shot without target lock?

20 minutes ago, drail14me said:

Also, when it comes to target locks, with Weapons Engineer, the Raider can have two Target locks but has three ordnance tubes. So, one tube won’t have a target lock to use unless it’s a Harpoon or Homing and the target lock isn’t spent, right. So, would it be good to throw in a Single turbolaser to have that long range shot without target lock?

Ion pulse holds lock like the homing/harpoon. Impetuous title let's you acquire a lock when you kill a ship.

Captain jonus bomber flying next to him gives some free rerolls so you can hold locks easier.

Holding the lock from a front missile with jonus reroll also allows you to use that lock for your primary attack. That gives 4 modded andd 1 unmodded 4 dice shots each turn

1 hour ago, drail14me said:

I don't have any experience with Epic so I really don't understand them yet. Looking at the Energy Weapons, they just don't seem very good. Single Turbo Lasers have great range but defenders get to double their agility. Doesn't seem like you could ever hit a 3 agility ship? Soontir with Stealth Device would just dance around these. And ordnance doesn't sound real reliable without a focus token. Seems like the best way to kill small and large based ships is to just ram them.

Quad lasers with tactician throw stress like crazy and burn down high agility ships fast. It is also less energy hungry than ions or turbos

Well when doing gunship corvettes remember that <focus> results give you no hits without support (you do not get focus tokens). So first order of business should be how do I make sure I hit.

Rerolls are often the solution but with the rule that no dice can be rerolled more than once it can wear off. But you will want to have at least as many rerolls as you have attacks. Weapons team can act as a semi focus token only is that it changes a <blank> result to a hit. If you are using Ord Tubes Proton Torpedoes might work since you get a <focus> to <crit> and gunnery team gives you a <blank> to <hit> making it impossible to wiff a roll.

Or you can look at upgrades that forget if the attack hits and just do damage. I like to use Vader and with the last FAQ he has sort of had a nice buff where you don't have to go after the section with the least shields. Just be sure to take a Shield Tech or something to recover the damage you would be doing to yourself.

My philosophy with the Raider is that it has this beautiful, range 2-4 primary weapon which can fire twice for 2 energy, so I like to maximize that. Optimized Generators let's me power up weapons and get 2 free energy for that double shot with primaries. Now, usually I like to go for ranged hardpoints so that the Raider isn't a target, so Single Turbolasers and Ion Cannon Battery are fun. Sure, Soontir won't get hit, but that's what you have the rest of your squad for. It's just so nice being able to blast Y-wings at range 5 before they unleash their TLTs.

But @Dabirdisdaword is spot on about the Tactician-Quad Laser Cannons being absolutely devastating. Throw on Operations Specialist (or have it on a ship nearby), and you can double as a focus generator for the rest of the squad. And they are potentially less energy hungry than the other hardpoints.

13 hours ago, drail14me said:

I don't have any experience with Epic so I really don't understand them yet. Looking at the Energy Weapons, they just don't seem very good. Single Turbo Lasers have great range but defenders get to double their agility. Doesn't seem like you could ever hit a 3 agility ship? Soontir with Stealth Device would just dance around these. And ordnance doesn't sound real reliable without a focus token. Seems like the best way to kill small and large based ships is to just ram them.

You need to decide what role your Raider will play.

Huge ship killer? Single TurboLasers. Secondary weapon, built in focus effect. Defenders with 1 or fewer agility die very quickly.

Ace Hunter? Very tricky. Not sure how to build this, maybe Ion Cannon Batteries to get 4 dice attacks, with Jonus nearby.

Close Quarter Brawler? Cluster Missiles, Harpoon Missiles, Cluster Bombs, Ionization Reactor (normally a waste of points, but since you have unlimited...)

Ramming only works against noobs, generally, since huge ships are easy to avoid once you realise the danger. And against other huge ships, in which case use a cheaper Gozanti to ram an expensive corvette.

26 minutes ago, Gilarius said:

You need to decide what role your Raider will play.

I second this statement. Often we try to build our Huge ships for all eventualities, but it's much more effective to pick a role, and build the rest of your squad to handle the other possible challenges you may face.

Here’s what I’ve put together.

The plan is to just slow roll across the board and bank energy. I’ll use the primary weapon and the Quad for approaching ships. Then the Protons with gunnery team and thug droids on craft on my flanks.

I’ll be supporting this with:

2 Harpoon Gunboats

4 Harpoon Tie Bombers

3 PTL Saber Sqd TIs

4 snap Black Sq Ties

(143)

Raider-class Corvette (Aft) (80) - Raider-class Corv. (Aft)
Weapons Engineer (3), Shield Technician (1), Proton Torpedoes (4), Proton Torpedoes (4), Gunnery Team (4), IG-RM Thug Droids (1), Tibanna Gas Supplies (4), •Instigator (4), Ordnance Tubes (5)

Raider-class Corvette (Fore) (63) - Raider-class Corv. (Fore)
Quad Laser Cannons (6), Sensor Team (4), Backup Shield Generator (3)

1) have you read the tournament rules for epic? All huge ships start with full energy on themselves and any weapons. Only Ionization Reactor needs filling up.

2) Put some of your harpoons (or Ion Pulse Missiles) on the Raider. Unlimited harpoons which don't require spending the target lock are far better than unlimited torpedoes which don't. It means you can shoot the same enemy more than once and focused fire is better than splitting targets.

3) I've never found the Shield Technician worth its slot. The only time I've ever used Recover is when I'm not being shot at and wasting a couple of energy isn't important. WED-15 repair droid, on the other hand, I've found essential. That's a matter of personal preference though.

1 hour ago, Gilarius said:

1) have you read the tournament rules for epic? All huge ships start with full energy on themselves and any weapons. Only Ionization Reactor needs filling up.

Also in the new rules:

You can only have four copies of any EPT, torpedo or missile. So you cannot have 6 ships with Harpoons. Gotta switch something, maybe Ion Torps on the bombers. They wreck huge ships and splash Ions to its neighbors.

1 hour ago, Gilarius said:

1) have you read the tournament rules for epic? All huge ships start with full energy on themselves and any weapons. Only Ionization Reactor needs filling up.

2) Put some of your harpoons (or Ion Pulse Missiles) on the Raider. Unlimited harpoons which don't require spending the target lock are far better than unlimited torpedoes which don't. It means you can shoot the same enemy more than once and focused fire is better than splitting targets.

3) I've never found the Shield Technician worth its slot. The only time I've ever used Recover is when I'm not being shot at and wasting a couple of energy isn't important. WED-15 repair droid, on the other hand, I've found essential. That's a matter of personal preference though.

Thanks for the tips. I may make some changes.

12 minutes ago, pickirk01 said:

Also in the new rules:

You can only have four copies of any EPT, torpedo or missile. So you cannot have 6 ships with Harpoons. Gotta switch something, maybe Ion Torps on the bombers. They wreck huge ships and splash Ions to its neighbors.

Is this in the new Epic FAQ or regular FAQ. I’m sure I’ll need to show this to the guys at the store.

1 hour ago, Gilarius said:

1) have you read the tournament rules for epic? All huge ships start with full energy on themselves and any weapons. Only Ionization Reactor needs filling up.

2) Put some of your harpoons (or Ion Pulse Missiles) on the Raider. Unlimited harpoons which don't require spending the target lock are far better than unlimited torpedoes which don't. It means you can shoot the same enemy more than once and focused fire is better than splitting targets.

3) I've never found the Shield Technician worth its slot. The only time I've ever used Recover is when I'm not being shot at and wasting a couple of energy isn't important. WED-15 repair droid, on the other hand, I've found essential. That's a matter of personal preference though.

I originally had harpoons on the Raider. I was concerned about die mods without spending the target lock. Thought I’d get more out of the mods from Proton or concussion. But, I guess continually slinging harpoons would be better.

1 hour ago, drail14me said:

Is this in the new Epic FAQ or regular FAQ. I’m sure I’ll need to show this to the guys at the store.

Yeah there were two new things since about the middle of January. A huge ship rule update and a new tournament update. Cant link them from my phone sorry.

But it may only be for more structured tournaments whereas your thing sounds a bit casual so you may want to see with whoever is organizing your event.

1 hour ago, drail14me said:

Is this in the new Epic FAQ or regular FAQ. I’m sure I’ll need to show this to the guys at the store.

Huge ship rules and FAQ

https://images-cdn.fantasyflightgames.com/filer_public/3d/45/3d4558ad-1116-4ec6-a1a9-a4b5bd961520/x-wing_huge_ship_rules_40.pdf

Epic regulations

https://images-cdn.fantasyflightgames.com/filer_public/69/b4/69b4c647-c5a9-443d-823c-d8805cecb663/x-wing_epic_tournament_regulations_v10.pdf

Here’s our Epic brawl! Was a lot of fun!