I'm fine-tuning an NPC, to be used in space combat, and one of the "advantages" he will get is a deviation in ship design; his will have a droid socket, like the X-Wings of the Rebellion/Resistance. Well, give TIE Fighters their lumps, but they are hella-fast, very agile, and flown by one man, who seems very capable of both handling that sped/maneuverability, AND firing the lasers at enemy fighters, in dogfights. So, what advantage would he get from having an astromech plugged in, where TIE Fighters don't? In the game, PC pilots often seem to start with the Y-Wing. It's older, but durable, and means the party has less assets allocated to them, early on; there's better to "level up" to. If the one player is handling flying/shooting, what is the other PC doing? What Job/Talents are a good fit? Is their ship getting whole extra Actions, because of the second PC? When you get up to an X-Wing, you'll lose that co, but gain an NPC Astromech (unless someone is playing one, and then maybe it'll join you). My memory says they usually have Galaxy Mapper, and Hold It Together, but what else are they doing, PC or NPC, to assist the pilot, where the TIE doesn't really seem to need it, or too bad doesn't get it?

I'm sort of trying to make my own take on a Jagged Fel, and while I wouldn't want him to scream "BROKEN!", I do want to give him every fair advantage, to illustrate his best of the best aspect, so I'm curious what his astromech brings to the fight, or what a co-pilot would, if they used two-seater craft? Thanks much!

With two PCs, yes, you can be taking actions. If you are facing Reds on piloting rolls, the Co-Pilot action can be a lifesaver.

Stay on Target has rules for Astromech, as well as NPC astromechs, with some dedicated actions and manouvers.

Astromech, co-pilot, or navigation droid brain should all be able to take the co-pilot action and reduce the difficulty of any piloting checks required. The Astromech and co-pilot have other options available too.

Well offhand

SoT pg 73 says what a boring supporting NPC astromech can do.

They are always assumed to be doing the assist maneuver and an action. They can assist any 1 skill check the pilot makes.

They can also do the actions: Damage control, plot course, copilot, boost shields, scan enemy, and spoof missiles.

Additionally they get the special actions:

Watch your back: provides defenses

Target lock: provides boosts to gunnery

Boost power: increases speed, take a system strain hit and reduce handling.

A more PC played astromech can do a bit more of course.

So yeah, beefing up a TIE and slotting an astromech can help, but isn't an "I win" button...

In the game I'm in those of us who have astromechs use them for target locks, and damage control. Mostly healing strain as we tend to push our fighters to the limit 😁

On 7/21/2019 at 1:27 PM, Aggressor97 said:

In the game I'm in those of us who have astromechs use them for target locks, and damage control. Mostly healing strain as we tend to push our fighters to the limit 😁

This is the biggest one I can see being immediately useful to the pilot. Strain restoration. Most of the "tricks" the pilot will be doing, will cost Ship Strain to accomplish, as they push the ship to it's limits. This causes the vehicle to quickly break down, if the strain isn't restored. This, is what the Copilot can do, among many other things. This allows the pilot the freedom to focus on flying and fighting, without having to use up an action one turn, to restore some strain. Chewie/R2/BB8 can handle that, while they stick to doing atmospheric maneuvers in the vacuum of space.

1 hour ago, KungFuFerret said:

This is the biggest one I can see being immediately useful to the pilot. Strain restoration. Most of the "tricks" the pilot will be doing, will cost Ship Strain to accomplish, as they push the ship to it's limits. This causes the vehicle to quickly break down, if the strain isn't restored. This, is what the Copilot can do, among many other things. This allows the pilot the freedom to focus on flying and fighting, without having to use up an action one turn, to restore some strain. Chewie/R2/BB8 can handle that, while they stick to doing atmospheric maneuvers in the vacuum of space.

Watch your back is also useful

1 minute ago, Daeglan said:

Watch your back is also useful

Not familiar with that one, but I'm guessing it's some kind of defensive talent/ability that gives the pilot bonuses to their defenses in some way. As they have a second set of eyes to watch for threats?

It is in stay on target. I forget the specifics. I am away from books

1 hour ago, Daeglan said:

It is in stay on target. I forget the specifics. I am away from books

That's fine, I'm not really worried about the specifics. From the name I'm guessing it's some kind of way to reduce the chance of taking damage, because you've got someone helping you maximize your defensive stuff in a narrative way. Which makes sense. Copilot watches the radar and actively redirects the shielding while the pilot flies. Giving up to date information about enemy movements "Han! There's two more of them gaining on us!" kind of stuff. Which helps the pilot act accordingly to prevent asploding.

1 hour ago, KungFuFerret said:

That's fine, I'm not really worried about the specifics. From the name I'm guessing it's some kind of way to reduce the chance of taking damage, because you've got someone helping you maximize your defensive stuff in a narrative way. Which makes sense. Copilot watches the radar and actively redirects the shielding while the pilot flies. Giving up to date information about enemy movements "Han! There's two more of them gaining on us!" kind of stuff. Which helps the pilot act accordingly to prevent asploding.

Yes. Watch your back is a Astromech action. Because they are plugged directly into sensors. But basically yes

The Y-Wing also has that turret up top so the Co-Pilot Gunner also doubles your firepower. Plus they can harri and attack anyone attacking from any angle.

That Co-pilot could also angle the deflectors and/or reinforce shields.