Imperial First Impressions

By Ronu, in X-Wing

So what is everyone’s initial impressi9ns about some of the ships now that you have had a weekend to play with them?

Phantoms:

Intercepters :

Aggressors:

Punishers:

Other Ships:

For me the Phantoms are still in that grey area, instead of VI stapled to the. It’s Juke till something better comes along. I do like the I4’s though it provides pretty good flexibility. They are also not as prone to crumbling because someone gave them a dirty look.

Strikers I am not surprised by as they are basically a direct port over. Certainly does seem as though you can be as aggressive without the LWF but that is also just a matter of getting used to them in this new life. Intercepters, on the ther hand, have been rock stars in early matches for me. They don’t really need to be outfitted with anything at all to be effective and have been to this point able to survive fairly well in matches so far. Only lost 1 in 4 Flights.

The Agressors this poor ship is still being slept on even with the gunners. They are basically your double tap Defenders or an S/F TIE with VTG. Not sure The Aces are anything to be overly excited about but then again still early.

Punishers, I love er no I hate, er well it’s not bad having the Medium base. It Certainly looks better on the field with a bigger base under it. Redline is bonkers end of story thanks for reading. The Medium bases actually seem like super blockers at the low end while leaving bombs behind in their wake.

All I’ve had time for so far. Wanting to check out some crew options so perhaps others who have. Can talk about their experiences.

I havent flown any 2.0 yet, but i have 2 list built upp and ready to go.

In one, Rac / whisper

the other one , Whisper, Redline,Vermil

I hope that the Phantom, due to TLT vanishing ? , I hope to use Juke whisper with Krenik to effect,

We will see , Il play a few games and get back to you!

I have only played the one game with a bunch of tie fighters, interceptor and a support Lambda shuttle.

Tie fighters were OK I guess.. they didn't do much and evaporated when the enemy looked at them wrongly.

The Lambda shuttle was as unmaneuverable as always, but the back gun did a lot of work and is a very welcome edition. Also the white coordinate is great.

The tie interceptor was awesome and having the double re position is great.

My opponent had three tie punishers and a shuttle. The tie punishers melted quickly but their trajectory bombs were a massive pain in the ****.. I just hate bombs.

20180913_194826.jpg

Best Imperial Ships:

  • TIE Bombers
  • TIE Punishers
  • TIE Phantoms
  • TIE Defenders

I'm a bit uncertain about any of the rest. I think the metagame is incredibly hostile to fragile AGI3 low-health ships, and Soontir's really not happy that Trajectory Simulators and Palob are good.

What those 4 ships above share is that they're pretty tough and they can deal a decent amount of damage. I don't think there's anything else in the faction that measures up to those.

Edited by SOTL
1 hour ago, SOTL said:

and  Soontir  's really not happy th  at  T  rajectory Simulators and Palob are go   o    d   .  

Funy, i was having a problem concerning the queue of ability soontir/palob. I finally understood the "first player resolve ability first" rule. So I keep 4pts bid in my squad and choose to be the player two if I want soontir to be efficient against scums

It's not just soontir fel disliking tragedy simulator I'd say it's all ships.

Classic tie fighters are fine

23pt academy is great

As a Rebel player and flying against these:

TIE Fighters are a moderate threat. Between their abilities and numbers fielded, you can't just ignore them like you used to.

TIE Interceptors are the killers of hope. "I got you this time... oh... okay, sure, just double reposition out of my arc for the 5th round in a row..."

TIE Phantoms great hit and run against small ships. It was interesting playing someone who never flew them before learn how to use them as the game went on.

TIE Defenders are slightly over costed, but powerful. Rexler Brath is the devil and MELTS large base ships with his ability.

VT-49 - same as it ever was if not easier to take down thanks to mobile arcs.

7 hours ago, Ronu said:

Phantoms:

TIEd imo for THE BEST SHIP IN THE ENTIRE FACTION. I mean, jesus christ almighty, it's as affordable as an X-wing but FAR more maneuverable and comes packed with evade + juke! It could not (reasonably) be better. The new stygium array is also fun as all ****, making them incredibly involved ships to the point that even spending a measly evade token is a monumental decision

Intercepters :

Green dice

Aggressors:

Lt. Ketsal is a ridiculously potent ace hunter at a mere 49 points (ruthless, ICT, barrage rockets). She is a perfect compliment to Jonus or Jendon.

The others?...no thanks

Punishers:

You literally cannot have more fun in this game than with Deathain. The new Punisher is a fatcrobat that puts interceptors to shame while delivering a payload that would make a bomber blush. They are, however, expensive and squish as ****, making them one of the more skill dependent ships out there. Amazingly well designed, love em!

Other Ships:

The TIE Bomber is the other best ship in the entire faction. Barrage Rockets jonus + co is ridiculously scary, but there's also plenty of variety offered through bombs, sat salvo, and Rhymer

opinions in red , mostly

I LOVE second edition empire because all the maneuver shenanigans make every game different from the last

Edited by ficklegreendice

Only had one 2.0 game so far. 5 interceptors, one being Soontir against Sloane in a Phantom with a tie swarm. Lost Soontir at range 3 trough a rock, 5 green blanks. The rest of the interceptors did not manage to take down a single Tie fighter before they crumbled... Dice might not have been with me that day!!!

My thoughts so far;

-Lone Tie Fighters can do good work if flown skillfully, but still pop under sustained fire. I haven't seen any swarms locally, so I can't comment on their performance yet.

-Tie Bombers are amazing, although Jonus's interaction with Barrage Rockets needs to be looked at, since his ability is disproportionately powerful with them compared to other ordnance.

-Tie Punishers are great, but melt fast if your opponent focuses fire on them.

-Tie Phantoms are a blast to fly, and seem very good.

-Gunboats need to be careful about overextending, but are still a lot of fun.

-Tie Defenders do not go down easy. Ryad and Rexler are both solid.

-Lt. Vermeil is a lot of fun with the right crew, but should not be flown into the jaws of death.

-The generic Tie Aggressor is interesting, but probably overcosted for now.

-Pure Sabaac is still good.

-The Inquisitor can do good work if you can reliably dodge arcs, but melts if caught in a joust with multiple ships.

-Vader is good, but not the terror he's been built up as by some on these forums.

That's the extent of my personal observations.

0Two games of 2.0 note I have played xwing 1.0 for 3 years so my opinions are from long gone metas.

Flying feels good ships are way more squishy. Love there are no 360 arcs. Need to be way more cautious with all ships . Bombers are very strong with weapons and jonus. Vader feels squishy with no evade or boost built in must fflt him safe but he hits harder.

Phantoms: I was used to 1.0 style, so it took me a few games to warm to them. But once you learn how to maximize them, they’re good. Whisper with Juke, Vader, Collision Detector is amazing, and can get places you wouldn’t expect.

Interceptors: Naked Soontir is a thing. Baked in PTL is amazing. They feel right, doubly so since not every blasted ship can boost-barrel roll, and especially not at PS 10 in a bomber, anymore.

Fighters: can be effective, but good lord is Luke hard to damage with one. Take several, add named pilots to taste. Iden is strong, so is Howl, and each worth the 40 points.

Bombers: effective. But the crit deck is nasty, not that I have memories of a range 2 unmodded shot from a U-wing knocking 6 health off.

Lambda: Sai is great. Jendon can set a nasty alpha. Still a space cow, but the right one for the right squad can do work. Coordinate is a really nice touch.

Advanced x1: keep it cheap or keep it Vader. Marek with FCS and Debris gambit (with coordinate Sai along) is a solid ship for 55 points. Might even be better than Vader for points, but having something to boost action efficiency is really helpful. But done right you can token stack and have double nodded shots every turn. Crits kill.

Defenders: get pricey fast. Are incredible when done well, but don’t screw up or half your list dies.

Decimators?

Defenders. I’m frankly amazed. In 3 games with a defender, each one it felt worth half my list but totally not unbeatable (in fact, I lost 2 of those games).

Decimators. Very different. The mobile arc and changes to upgrades makes them not work the same. May be able to adjust and still get use out of them, but not impressed so far.

Basic fighters. Exactly what they should be, cheap distractions that might do some damage. I was using 2 as disposable filler to block and just gum up the works for my opponent. They did that and also survived longer than expected and were able to do a bit of damage naked. Just really with the had given them s-loops.

Striker. Didn’t feel like it was pulling its weight, but that may just be me not knowing how to fly one effectively. Was definitely a threat the opponent couldn’t just ignore.

Bombers and punishers. Haven’t played yet. Ordnance requires more forethought and strategic planningj now and I was just tossing lists together. Excited to try them though.

2 hours ago, Kehl_Aecea said:

TIE Defenders are slightly over costed, but powerful. Rexler Brath is the devil and MELTS large base ships with his ability.

Man, I've been using him a lot and that ability is brutal. It's basically playing with house money. You're not expecting a lot, but the upside is so huge.

I've been enjoying gunboats quite a bit. Gunboats with ion cannons, to be exact.

RAC!

3 hours ago, mazz0 said:

Decimators?

I flew a naked patrol leader along with similarly bare-bones Soontir Fel and two Alpha Sq. Pilots. The Decimator charged in, drawing fire while the TIE interceptors got into a following position on Redline and Deathrain. It took 3 rounds for the Decimator to die, which means Redline died about the same time. I think this was a case of mistaken target priority - my opponent should have ignored the Decimator. But then it would have sat in his way and blocked the TIE punishers from taking actions, so it was a judgement call. He also had Maarek Stele, who was hunted down by my interceptors. All three interceptors to survived.

I think the short answer for Decimators is you either kite or dive in. Even taking a Patrol Leader, though, that's a lot of points for a sacrificial ship. Haven't come up with a strong opinion, but I want to keep exploring these picket ships.

6 minutes ago, Parakitor said:

I flew a naked patrol leader along with similarly bare-bones Soontir Fel and two Alpha Sq. Pilots. The Decimator charged in, drawing fire while the TIE interceptors got into a following position on Redline and Deathrain. It took 3 rounds for the Decimator to die, which means Redline died about the same time. I think this was a case of mistaken target priority - my opponent should have ignored the Decimator. But then it would have sat in his way and blocked the TIE punishers from taking actions, so it was a judgement call. He also had Maarek Stele, who was hunted down by my interceptors. All three interceptors to survived.

I think the short answer for Decimators is you either kite or dive in. Even taking a Patrol Leader, though, that's a lot of points for a sacrificial ship. Haven't come up with a strong opinion, but I want to keep exploring these picket ships.

This seems too expensive but between bombs, blocking, and coordinate could they be a control/support piece alongside a damage piece?