I would like to confirm whether my understanding is correct:
[1] Shyla is using her ability Mandalorian Whip and as final result she can perform attack. In this situation Electrostaff allow her to choose Reach or Cleave. Right?
[2] Shyla is using her ability Sword Dance which allow her perform additional attack. Also in this situation Electrostaff allow her to choose Reach or Cleave. Right?

2 minutes ago, rider4 said:

I would like to confirm whether my understanding is correct:
[1] Shyla is using her ability Mandalorian Whip and as final result she can perform attack. In this situation Electrostaff allow her to choose Reach or Cleave. Right?
[2] Shyla is using her ability Sword Dance which allow her perform additional attack. Also in this situation Electrostaff allow her to choose Reach or Cleave. Right?

correct on both counts.

Performing an attack includes all steps on an attack, including declare target, and if attacking with Electrostaff she may choose Reach or Cleave 2 for the attack.

(Shyla is a monster with Electrostaff, especially if she already has Reach from her reward Mandalorian Heritage.)

The Electrostaff is a brokenly Overpowered weapons. Personal I would house rule it to remove the option for cleave 2 and it just always has reach.

The base Electrostaff deals 5 damage vs a standard black dice. with the auto cleave 2 this goes up to 7 total damage which is 50% more damage than the best T3 weapons for the same cost.

Once I saw Verena with DDC defender comboing and killing 5 units in one activation while moving toward the objective. Shyla with cleave 5 is about the same power level.

I notice a power creep in equipment for heroes. more options means more unpredictable power comboes. But I suppose same can be said for Imperials, more units to choose from means more synergies with class decks.

Then again, the Shyla player I am facing is saving for the electrostaff, so I may regret my words pretty soon, and scream for a nerf.

On 9/13/2018 at 5:44 PM, Mr Licorice said:

Once I saw Verena with DDC defender comboing and killing 5 units in one activation while moving toward the objective. Shyla with cleave 5 is about the same power level.

I've seen her do that with a DL-44... on Gaarkhan's activation.

I think the difference is that, while Verena can do this stuff with a good enough weapon under the right conditions, Shyla with the Electrostaff just does it. Every time.

20 hours ago, Uninvited Guest said:

I've seen her do that with a DL-44... on Gaarkhan's activation.

I think the difference is that, while Verena can do this stuff with a good enough weapon under the right conditions, Shyla with the Electrostaff just does it. Every time.

Oh yeah. I knew I was gonna regret my words. Yesterday I faced Shyla with her full combo for the first time. Round 1, she kills an eJet and an eProbe. She can consistently do 14, 15, 16 damage in one activation. And it doesnt matter how you position your troops, she *will* have her cleave. Needless to say I lost that mission. Now I worry I may never win again.

I don't want to nerf the staff. That player is having a lot of fun murdering my guys. I'm thinking maybe I should just focus fire and threaten to make Shyla widthdraw. I had the option to do that last mission, and opted not to because I had traces of compassion left in me. As a result I lost. Badly. But a near death experience from Vader's Choke has shown me the path. I was weak. Next mission, Shyla *will* widthraw.

Exactly, currently top tier damage dealers (Onar, Drokkotta, Wildfire) can deal roughly 16 damage with an all out attack turn (and no starting strain). Shyla with Electrostaff will dish out 16 damage every turn and can bump it up to 21 damage in an all out attack.

an alternative may be to just bump it down to cleave 1 from cleave 2 which will still make it a great weapon and not demoralize the shyla player.

On 9/13/2018 at 12:46 PM, kyo55082 said:

The Electrostaff is a brokenly Overpowered weapons. Personal I would house rule it to remove the option for cleave 2 and it just always has reach.

The base Electrostaff deals 5 damage vs a standard black dice. with the auto cleave 2 this goes up to 7 total damage which is 50% more damage than the best T3 weapons for the same cost.

I think the fact that you get to choose reach or cleave would be a fun part of the Electrostaff if it was a real choice. If you can set it up so that you don't need the reach (as Shyla often can) then you just pick the cleave. It seems like you usually only use the reach if you have to.

So you could make the cleave weaker by making it Cleave 1, as you suggest, or you could make it weaker by making it -(1 or 2) damage to the primary target and Cleave 2. Actually, that would make it kind of like Maul's attack. Maybe you could even give it Reach + "When you declare an attack, you may remove one die from your attack pool. If you do, this attack gains: Cleave 2"

My Shyla player was upset when I brought up the possibility of a nerf. He had the combo in mind since the moment he picked Shyla.

How about, as a compensation for an above the curve Rebel opposition, grant yourself a boost during the missions? I am thinking of sneakily replacing a couple of regular units with their elite version. I saw @a1bert do something similar in a PBF game on bgg.

This way the Shyla player gets full satisfation with the combo they thought would break the game, and you still get a game. I am trying this on my next mission.

Nerfs are like Subversive Tactics. It reduces the fun - i.e. preventing you from doing what you can do. I think adjusting the amount of credits would be an easy way to balance, but reducing/withholding rewards is also psychologically worse than giving extra to the other side.

I'm very reluctant to house-rule in general, but the more I play, the more receptive I am to on-the-fly adjustments, as long as you know what you're doing - i.e. make it in small enough increments and/or when you know the mission.

Switching Stormtrooper to Stormtrooper didn't slow down Shyla at all, but is still gives a warm feeling that at least Shyla needed to activate to finish them before they could activate.

(I also use +1 Threat Level now for experienced rebels. It sounds larger than it actually is.)

(In the PBF we agreed that I can try to adjust things to not be a total rebel domination.)

House rules should be established before the campaign starts or after its finished. Changing the rules midway through the campaign to benefit yourself is disruptive and can make it feel like you are moving the goalposts and playing Calvinball.

Also I’m pretty sure the Electrostaff is the most expensive weapon in the game, it better **** well be good. If they were saving up for it, that means they sacrificed upgrades for a mission or two and took a handicap to do so. I’ve never had enough credits to buy one when it came up.