6 minutes ago, HolySorcerer said:

Sure, but you have to keep in mind that this is the design team that brought us the Phantom, Lowrick, Miranda, Jumpmaster, Scurgg, etc. They've had problems with high level balance, you really think they're going to tackle ship specific upgrade pricing proactively? They're just hanging on to this tool as a way to fix busted combos.

I had started down the path of thinking they would have a lot of preset fine tunings, but the more I thought about it, the more I think the same thing you do. They probably know enough to say that Engine Upgrade will be more expensive on the Falcon than the HWK, and they probably know that Afterburners should be more expensive on Vader than an Academy Pilot, but more granularity than that is probably beyond design manhours, so it will just be to patch holes.

I'd imagine they would use it proactively.

This is the team that had a lot of mistakes to learn from, one that I assume is staffed by human beings capable of learning from mistakes.

Then again...gunner Luke

Still, I think they'll implement it. Varying cost upgrades according to ship and PS has been an idea that's been tossed around for a long time now, given the rise of the PS wars. Would be very surprised if the designers had not tested and/or implemented it.

Based on the previous precedents, I expect that they will be using the application quite conservatively.

The costs would be probably very close to 1.0, and they will not go crazy with the dynamic costing rules.

And the erratas would probably come in every few months, and not after every tournament.

Of course, they have the option to do a quick fix if some unexpected combo comes up, but they have demonstrated the restrain when it comes to doing changes (which is generally a good thing).

I will be interested to see the /ln generics.

With the rumblings about squad abilities (hey, the squad identifiers are there in the pilot titles) it looks like /ln includes obsidian, inferno and black squadrons - with 4 in a conversion set and black squadron at I3 with a talent, I'm curious where the others will fall.

Obsidian at 1 and inferno at 2 with no academy pilots? Or is inferno the special forces at 4?

On the other hand, if squad abilities do exist, there is some justification for squadrons sharing initiative values. Interested to see what they do with this space.

11 minutes ago, Shoulder of Orion said:

Obsidian at 1 and inferno at 2 with no academy pilots? Or is inferno the special forces at 4?

So far we have seen Academy at 1, Obsidian at 2, and Black at 3. No Inferno generic yet (though I hope we get one).

We do know that Iden, Del, and Gideon all have cards though.

Just now, Aaron Foss said:

So far we have seen Academy at 1, Obsidian at 2, and Black at 3. No Inferno generic yet (though I hope we get one).

We do know that Iden, Del, and Gideon all have cards though.

Yeah I saw the spoiled content just after I posted that.

inferno as a squad of uniques would also be interesting.

1 minute ago, Shoulder of Orion said:

Yeah I saw the spoiled content just after I posted that.

inferno as a squad of uniques would also be interesting.

I flew a TIE swarm at Worlds and called it Inferno Squadron. I have no problem busting out a label maker and slapping "Inferno Squadron Pilot" over the nameplates on some cards

7 hours ago, Aaron Foss said:

So far we have seen Academy at 1, Obsidian at 2, and Black at 3. No Inferno generic yet (though I hope we get one).

We do know that Iden, Del, and Gideon all have cards though.

We won't, at least not in the Conversion Kit. Three generics is already one more than I was expecting. That's either 12 tiles with 12 uniques and 12 generics or 8 tiles with only 4 generics - the former seems more likely and the devs mentioned there's a snotload of TIE pilots available. But we may see more pilots come out with the new core set and/or the 2.0 TIE.

TIE Ace swarms were a thing I faced one. Those can be nasty as you never have good priorities for targets. @Biophysical brought up Pocket Aces. With the compression of the Initiative, question will now be what really defines a pocket Ace? Are they3-4? Is there going to be enough separation to really define them now? If point cost allow it what’s going to be the preferred option. 2-3 smaller Aces with a few Generics to fill in as a 4-6 ship swarm? Or something like the Vader mini swarm we saw? Basically you choose your super Ace and then mini swarm of Generic ships?

I’m personally hoping the 2-3 Aces mixed with Generics is the optimum option. Mainly because we know swarms were powerful against multiple list. The Aces should give some flexibility to deal with what an opponent throws while protected by the swarms and perhaps the other Aces. Even if one of those Ace ships is a support ship this really feels like where the Empire should be. A blend of their Aces and Generics to maximize their firepower and numbers.

I always thought of a pocket ace as a ship that could do ace-type things in a more limited set of circumstances.

21 minutes ago, Biophysical said:

I always thought of a pocket ace as a ship that could do ace-type things in a more limited set of circumstances.

ie duchess

25 minutes ago, Biophysical said:

I always thought of a pocket ace as a ship that could do ace-type things in a more limited set of circumstances.

And is cheaper because of those limitations: Omega Leader, Duchess, VI Pure Sabaac, etc..

32 minutes ago, Biophysical said:

I always thought of a pocket ace as a ship that could do ace-type things in a more limited set of circumstances.

Seeing as most Aces are limited in their abilities I always seemed to see them referenced as cost and pilot skill in 1.0. Like I don’t think anyone would dare call Echo or Whisper pocket Aces just due to cost alone.

3 minutes ago, Ronu said:

Seeing as most Aces are limited in their abilities I always seemed to see them referenced as cost and pilot skill in 1.0. Like I don’t think anyone would dare call Echo or Whisper pocket Aces just due to cost alone.

I think pocket aces are just more limited. Pure Sabacc shares a lot of strengths that the Phantoms do, but doesn't have the durability or action efficiency, and so isn't as widely useful.

6 minutes ago, Biophysical said:

I think pocket aces are just more limited. Pure Sabacc shares a lot of strengths that the Phantoms do, but doesn't have the durability or action efficiency, and so isn't as widely useful.

Pure Sabaac? C'mon, we all know you really meant the under-appreciated beauty that is Fel's Wrath.

22 minutes ago, Biophysical said:

I think pocket aces are just more limited. Pure Sabacc shares a lot of strengths that the Phantoms do, but doesn't have the durability or action efficiency, and so isn't as widely useful.

Difference of opinion and outlook aside. Are these mid tier Aces what is going to be the real powerhouses for the Empire? Especially if they are priced aggressively enough to field them in numbers? Just starting the thought process on list building once were able to see points and such. Obviously the entire conversation is speculation and thinking about mechanics that we do know from 1.0 that should port over.

14 minutes ago, Ronu said:

Difference of opinion and outlook aside. Are these mid tier Aces what is going to be the real powerhouses for the Empire? Especially if they are priced aggressively enough to field them in numbers? Just starting the thought process on list building once were able to see points and such. Obviously the entire conversation is speculation and thinking about mechanics that we do know from 1.0 that should port over.

It all depends on points, of course, which means they could be. If you can get 4-5 independently effective ships, which can beat superior jousting lists with positioning and superior Initiative lists with jousting power, you have a pretty interesting list.

It's an interesting alternative to an all Ace squad (which relies more heavily on Inititative) or an Ace/Miniswarm squad (which has combined arms abilities but can struggle after the loss of a lynchpin).

At the very list a single solid mid-tier ace gives you more flexibility. Maybe you could do 3 lightly equipped aces in the new regime, but you'd rather get one or two of them with more seripus equipment, so you sub out a 3rd "normal" ace for a "pocket" ace, but spare no expense on Vader, for example.

On 5/23/2018 at 10:47 PM, Ronu said:

So now we know what the ships now look to be in 2.0. Swarms and squads could really become varied. So what will be your following:

Staple Ship: that ship you find ways to build around again.

Not sure about: that ship you’re looking at and still need to see some stuff before it’s your new OMG Play ITZ NAOW fools?

Wild Card: what’s the ship people are not talking about or ignoring that will be a secret weapon for you?

for me:

TIE Phantoms specifically Echo. I miss Echo. I pull Echo out for a fun game recently was like riding a bike and you forgot how fun it was even with a sub optimal build that actually kinda worked.

Not Sure: TIE Punisher. Still not sure it’s going to be more than a cool model. Compared to the TIE Bombers for cost and abilities. It’s still not separated enough to see use till I see more things.

Wild Card: TIE Agressor. I’m really curious about the Aces for them. They start I3. With new mobile arcs do they get the mechanics to use their Turret and primary weapon together? Is there a unique Imperial Turret in “Synced Turret”? It didn’t get to really make a splash because of when it came out. I see this one being the sleeper.

so let’s hear your thoughts Imperials!

- Staple: Omega Leader... sry, i mean Quickdraw :-) I really have high hope for the Decimator. Big tanky ship with reinforce could be fun.

- Not sure: I think well have a lot of Tie Punisher here. Like you said the model is so nice, it has to be good now.

- Wild care: same as you, Tie Agressor. I own 4 of them. The primary+turret attack would be amazing.

34 minutes ago, Thormind said:

- Staple: Omega Leader... sry, i mean Quickdraw ?

Funny you mention this. Both are fairly popular staples currently. What does become the filler ship of choice going forward?

1 hour ago, Ronu said:

Funny you mention this. Both are fairly popular staples currently. What does become the filler ship of choice going forward?

Neither of those ships are Imperial.

1 minute ago, HolySorcerer said:

Neither of those ships are Imperial.

Yeah i though it was evident i was joking with the :-) ... Im really curious to see what will rise and what will fall.

1 hour ago, HolySorcerer said:

Neither of those ships are Imperial.

Earlier in the thread there is a discussion about what fills the role the /SF had. So was aware @Thormind was joking.

However there is is a real question to be asked. As it stands in 1.0 if you have 27-30 points left and ask what’s a good filler. Inevitably Omega Leader is mentioned. You get some other random things but Onega Leader is just the reach for many many many players.

With that staple gone what is going to be that popular filler? Duchess? Sabacc? An interceptor Ace? Perhaps the TAP Inquisitors if costed in the right range?

15 minutes ago, Ronu said:

Earlier in the thread there is a discussion about what fills the role the /SF had. So was aware @Thormind was joking.

However there is is a real question to be asked. As it stands in 1.0 if you have 27-30 points left and ask what’s a good filler. Inevitably Omega Leader is mentioned. You get some other random things but Onega Leader is just the reach for many many many players.

With that staple gone what is going to be that popular filler? Duchess? Sabacc? An interceptor Ace? Perhaps the TAP Inquisitors if costed in the right range?

For all we know, a Bomber or Punisher might fit nicely into that spot. There's also the old pair of TIE Fighters that used to be a common choice at 24 points.

15 minutes ago, Biophysical said:

For all we know, a Bomber or Punisher might fit nicely into that spot. There's also the old pair of TIE Fighters that used to be a common choice at 24 points.

Also a Gunboat!