I don't get the shtick of the Aggressor. It is rather squishy compared to the Y-wing, especially with the Evade nerf, the lack of LWF, and the fact that it cannot naturally evade, only after a barrel roll.

So I'm not sure what the selling point on this ship supposed to be? A mediocre turret platform? Sure, but turrets are not all the rage now. Maybe it has a gunner slot (it supposed to have one), but even then, the Empire probably lacks unique gunners like Ezra, Han or Luke. Sure it can double tap with primary and an Ion with Veteran turret gunner, but everyone and their mother can do that, and it probably won't be worth it on such a fragile chassis.

So, why should we take this ship? Turrets are not all that amazing anymore, especially on such action starved ship that is supposed to survive by evading, or focusing.

I'm just not sure. Will they be that much cheaper? A swarm of turrets? Back in 1.0 its pseudo 3 agility and evade made it a difficult ship to remove, thus had some appeal, and the larger range of mobility... But but of those things are less unique to it.

It is supposed to be an advanced, so maybe a system slot? That would sure help, being able to roll before move would make up for the changes... But I don't believe that will happen. It doesn't have a ship ability either, which is disappointing. I sure thought that it would have the ability Synced turret built in, which would help it in case of overlapping arcs. But as it is now, it is a Y-Wing lite, with less functionality and health.

absolutely nothing!

Say it again!


Anyway, we don't actually know so... ?

if it keeps missiles, though, you can at least load it for a five die procket in some poor guy's face (bullseye arc provided). Otherwise, it's just a squisher but more maneuverable Y. If it's cheaper too (one can hope), it'll be a very nice ion spam platform

Given the TIE Bomber and TIE Punisher are traditionally both supposed to be single crew craft (As in always have only ever required 1 Pilot) the TIE/ag will probably one of the main vectors for Imperials to get Gunner/Turret wombo-combos. So they can veteran for double taps, or Hotshot for token stripping, probably be real annoying. This is without I'm sure some Imperial-only Gunners since the Conversion kits do seem keen on filling out upgrade slots.

I'm not one for fluff > gameplay at all, but idk how you'd thematically justify a gunner on an Aggressor.

Only TIE that makes any sense to get one is the Phantom, but we've seen zero evidence of any Gunner worth a **** on anything but a turret (or in scum, because Bossk and Dengar seem legit).

Might get one on the deci, but I doubt the Aggressor will have it. In an ideal world, this'd be balanced out by making the Aggressor cheaper (ie more...aggressively priced )

It’s wait and see territory currently. We haven’t seen the Aces. We aren’t sure of the upgrade slots. It might still have its synced Turret upgrade. I’ve had success using them as mid level filling to give me some flexibility so they have uses though may require a bit of an adjustment going forward.

2 minutes ago, ficklegreendice said:

but idk how you'd thematically justify a gunner on an Aggressor.

Fickle, I'm not sure how you think the rear turret fires. There's a guy back there, he makes it swivel, just like in a BTL-S3 Y-Wing.

Somewhat of a side note, but can an Aggressor with a Talent slot equip Debris Gambit, and do barrel roll to linked evade and not get a stress?

Aggressor has broll->red evade, and Debris Gambit states: While you perform a red evade action, if there is an obstacle at range 0-1, treat the action as white instead.

Does the wording “perform a red evade action” apply to a linked action? I would think so...

10 minutes ago, UnitOmega said:

Fickle, I'm not sure how you think the rear turret fires. There's a guy back there, he makes it swivel, just like in a BTL-S3 Y-Wing.

My mistake, I thought it was just the dude and an auto-turret like the shadowcaster

Hence why you had to be so good at flying it ?

That's what I get for assuming things, gunner it is!

Which is actually pretty great. Vet Turret Gunner might potentially let the gressor double tap if its turret is forward facing.

Just gotta somehow combo it with Sloane

EDIT: hold up...

1( Without an RRG/FAQ clarification a Linked action doesn't follow normal red action rules somehow, I'm pretty sure Debris Gambit works. We don't know how pilot talents will shake out, but I'm hoping that given the ability to be flexible with upgrades, Ys get more Talents, so hopefully the TIE/AG can be good there too.

2nd thing, just thought up, unlike TIE/LNs, X-Wings and Fang Fighters (so I think 2 mods is a baseline for all "core" type ships) Y-Wings don't have ANY modification slots shown on their threat card spreads. But given how traditionally all TIEs are very upgrade lean (even the TIE/AG just has two types by default, only it can double up on one) and the Y-Wing still has Astros and Bombs, it's possible the Y-Wing has 0-1 Modifications, whereas I expect the TIE/AG to have 1-2. I'd need to double check all the mods we have, but if they are cheaper than the Y (again, should be because of the lower health pool) could give them more flexibility.

aww, but I want afterburners on my Norra

46 minutes ago, UnitOmega said:

1( Without an RRG/FAQ clarification a Linked action doesn't follow normal red action rules somehow, I'm pretty sure Debris Gambit works. We don't know how pilot talents will shake out, but I'm hoping that given the ability to be flexible with upgrades, Ys get more Talents, so hopefully the TIE/AG can be good there too.

2nd thing, just thought up, unlike TIE/LNs, X-Wings and Fang Fighters (so I think 2 mods is a baseline for all "core" type ships) Y-Wings don't have ANY modification slots shown on their threat card spreads. But given how traditionally all TIEs are very upgrade lean (even the TIE/AG just has two types by default, only it can double up on one) and the Y-Wing still has Astros and Bombs, it's possible the Y-Wing has 0-1 Modifications, whereas I expect the TIE/AG to have 1-2. I'd need to double check all the mods we have, but if they are cheaper than the Y (again, should be because of the lower health pool) could give them more flexibility.

Astros are not equivalent of mod slots. I've been looking at the revealed cards, and so far not impressed. Maybe we keep some of the TIE only mods, which would make sense, given how there is an extra mod slot on some TIEs. Munitions failsafe makes sense on the aggressor, but other than that? Shield and hull upgrade are not upgrades the Empire wants to equip generally, since it goes against their core principle. (They are all about efficient ships, and these upgrades make them a lot less efficient).

We'll see, I guess, but unless there are some serious, as of yet unrevealed contenders for mods, I doubt the double slot will make too much of a difference. Gone are the days of EU, AT, GC, which is nice, there is no autopick modification... There are some "never pick" ones however.

I mention the Y has astros and bombs because technically, with gunner slots added and keeping it's relevant secondary weapon slots, the Y-Wing actually has a fairly diverse upgrade bar. The TIE/AG is literally just an Imperial Y-Wing, this is why it exists, so I would reckon it might have some more diversity of upgrades of its own. That said, Imperials do have like three different "Workhorse" ships to truck secondary weapons around (of which the TIE/AG is least interesting, but again, those two probably won't have gunners) so maybe the diversity is in different ship combos. No app, don't know. Failsafes would be good for missile builds, TIE Mk II I feel like should make a return and would give it some more flexibility, etc. But actual diversity of upgrades is super unknown, the Rebel kit was oddly weighted to options for, say, Missiles and Cannons.

My hope is that they introduce more named pilots for the Aggressor as that seems to be what is happening over on the Rebels side. New pilots with new abilities may make them worth adding to your squad.

As they seem to be now, there isn't too much interesting going on here. Maybe Unguided Rockets will get a buff of some sort and/or/if we get Lightweight Frame in 2.0 it may make this little ship more appealing.

Poor Synced Turret. It might have even been good in 2.0, but it never had a chance.

51 minutes ago, Commander Kaine said:

Astros are not equivalent of mod slots. I've been looking at the revealed cards, and so far not impressed. Maybe we keep some of the TIE only mods, which would make sense, given how there is an extra mod slot on some TIEs. Munitions failsafe makes sense on the aggressor, but other than that? Shield and hull upgrade are not upgrades the Empire wants to equip generally, since it goes against their core principle. (They are all about efficient ships, and these upgrades make them a lot less efficient).

We'll see, I guess, but unless there are some serious, as of yet unrevealed contenders for mods, I doubt the double slot will make too much of a difference. Gone are the days of EU, AT, GC, which is nice, there is no autopick modification... There are some "never pick" ones however.

Honestly, Astros aren't that great either.

They're a scant shadow of their former selves and are mostly now just amounting to benefits on future turns (apart from r4's immediate dial improvement). R3 just gives two locks, r5 and r2 eat into your action/attack efficiency respectively and the name astros are just big versions of those. They're no longer 1.0 r2-d2 which just infinetly regenerates without cutting into action or attack efficiency.

The 2.0 astros could be useful in the 2.0 environment, but they require a highly specific play-style (most likely "get hit and run," so you don't get mulched while you're r5ing or r2ing your damage away). Afterburners just seem sweet as ****.

In that context, adjust expectations appropriately. Aggressor ain't missing out on that much, esp if Ys end up not having a mod slot.

(Mechanically it might not be ideal, but I do love the idea of like, Debris Gambit+Burners AGs, maybe with like VTG. "**** you I don't need to rotate my arc I rotate my TIE instead. I can boost out of a 4K")

15 minutes ago, UnitOmega said:

(Mechanically it might not be ideal, but I do love the idea of like, Debris Gambit+Burners AGs, maybe with like VTG. "**** you I don't need to rotate my arc I rotate my TIE instead. I can boost out of a 4K")

If I were a TIE pilot in a 'Gressor, it's probably what I would do.

Or, as I often put it:

" 5 speeds were given to us for a reason. Let's use them. "

23 minutes ago, ficklegreendice said:

Honestly, Astros aren't that great either.

They're a scant shadow of their former selves and are mostly now just amounting to benefits on future turns (apart from r4's immediate dial improvement). R3 just gives two locks, r5 and r2 eat into your action/attack efficiency respectively and the name astros are just big versions of those. They're no longer 1.0 r2-d2 which just infinetly regenerates without cutting into action or attack efficiency.

The 2.0 astros could be useful in the 2.0 environment, but they require a highly specific play-style (most likely "get hit and run," so you don't get mulched while you're r5ing or r2ing your damage away). Afterburners just seem sweet as ****.

In that context, adjust expectations appropriately. Aggressor ain't missing out on that much, esp if Ys end up not having a mod slot.

I don't know about Y-s not getting a mod slot. Do we have confirmation on that?

First of all, there are several versions of the Y-wing floating in the lore. It is obviously a highly moddable ship. It just wouldn't make too much sense, not to have it have at least 1 mod slot.

Second, most ships in the demo games lacked a modification upgrade. They were pretty lean, most of them having just 2-3 upgrades, including ordnance and the configuration cards. So maybe the lack of mods on the Y-wing is maybe more due the Devs trying to keep the demo games simple, rather than a lack of the slot altogether. The absence of evidence and all that.

I'm not saying it can't happen. We just don't have solid evidence.

Quote

I don't know about Y-s not getting a mod slot. Do we have confirmation on that    ?

I’m a little puzzled by our assumptions about mod slots. I get where it’s coming from, the threat cards showing TIEs with 2 mods and all, but that seems horribly backwards. The Empire is supposed to be all about conformity and mass produced cookie cutter ships and pilots, while the rebellion is a bunch of ad-hoc freedom fighters and hotshots with heavily outdated equipment that requires constant tinkering to keep functioning. So why would they be giving the Empire multiple mod slots while denying them to some rebel ships?

1 minute ago, Forgottenlore said:

I’m a little puzzled by our assumptions about mod slots. I get where it’s coming from, the threat cards showing TIEs with 2 mods and all, but that seems horribly backwards. The Empire is supposed to be all about conformity and mass produced cookie cutter ships and pilots, while the rebellion is a bunch of ad-hoc freedom fighters and hotshots with heavily outdated equipment that requires constant tinkering to keep functioning. So why would they be giving the Empire multiple mod slots while denying them to some rebel ships?

The whole point of the TIE series is that they are modular. There are more TIE variants than any other ship. Being able to swap out the engine module or add on the torpedo launcher module makes perfect sense for such an industrialized ship.

16 minutes ago, Forgottenlore said:

I’m a little puzzled by our assumptions about mod slots. I get where it’s coming from, the threat cards showing TIEs with 2 mods and all, but that seems horribly backwards. The Empire is supposed to be all about conformity and mass produced cookie cutter ships and pilots, while the rebellion is a bunch of ad-hoc freedom fighters and hotshots with heavily outdated equipment that requires constant tinkering to keep functioning. So why would they be giving the Empire multiple mod slots while denying them to some rebel ships?

12 minutes ago, HolySorcerer said:

The whole point of the TIE series is that they are modular. There are more TIE variants than any other ship. Being able to swap out the engine module or add on the torpedo launcher module makes perfect sense for such an industrialized ship.

Not to mention... it is what seems to be happening, for example with the Inferno Sqd. TIE fighter.

It is a normal TIE, with added systems. I doubt they built it from scratch. In the old EU, they had similarly many versions of many variants. Maybe instead of representing it with different configurations, they opted to give them mod slots.

Yeah, your average academy pilot never flew anything fancy, but then again. Your average rebel or imperial squadron didn't contain their respective high command either.

And finally: Imperials still lack their own slot. They need every slot they can get. I'm really hoping some new TIE only mods.

5 minutes ago, Commander Kaine said:

Not to mention... it is what seems to be happening, for example with the Inferno Sqd. TIE fighter.

It is a normal TIE, with added systems. I doubt they built it from scratch. In the old EU, they had similarly many versions of many variants. Maybe instead of representing it with different configurations, they opted to give them mod slots.

Yeah, your average academy pilot never flew anything fancy, but then again. Your average rebel or imperial squadron didn't contain their respective high command either.

And finally: Imperials still lack their own slot. They need every slot they can get. I'm really hoping some new TIE only mods.

Systems should have been Imperial only. The Imperial Navy should be the only side with the high end tech.

Yeah, it's not like the Rebel Alliance ever developed highly advanced and expensive war materiel on their own. Those terrorists can only fight in their pajamas in caves and jungles, am I right?

(Since it's not patently obvious I'm being sarcastic, put a big /s on that)

39 minutes ago, Commander Kaine said:

Do we have confirmation on that?

No, just a rough guess based around how none of the threat cards in the Y-Wing set we've seen show off modifications, as opposed to like, X-Wings, TIE/LNs and Fang Fighters (as I mentioned earlier, it seems like every faction gets a "core" ship with 2 mods). It might just have one slot unused because it has so many other slots to hang hats on, but that still leaves room for 2 on a TIE/AG. But again, a known unknown.

Just now, HolySorcerer said:

Systems should have been Imperial only. The Imperial Navy should be the only side with the high end tech.

At least as Imperial only as Illicit. Those dirty rebels steal our tech all the time.

But at least all the Advanced line should have a system slot.

TAP (although, excusable if its missing, given it is an early prototype)
Advanced (This one is checked)
Aggressor (its the same ship, with extra stuff in it. plus its boring)
Defender (Because come on. The most advanced starfighter in the galaxy SHOULD have the system slot)

Other than that, the PUnisher is a logical ship for it, since its an advanced bomber. The gunboat could take it... but I see why that might be a problem. But being cousins with the Lambda, which also has a system slot, I think it is reasonable.

These are high tech ships, all of them, used by special forces, inquisitors and elite pilots. They should be all excellent, high tech ships.

Interceptors, LN-s, Bombers, Strikers and Reapers are fairly common ships, and should be swarmable. But these other ones are elites.

TLT .... Wait I feel like that is wrong in about 4 months....

My store kit is a X7Defender/ TLTAggressor/ Tie Striker/ Mangler Cannon-Gunboat. This is stupid fun.