What is Tomax Bren good for?

By beardxofxdeath, in X-Wing

I loved him in X-Wing 1.0. Now that I have the first few games of 2.0 under my belt I begin to wonder: What is he actually good for... beside IN5?

His ability not only sucks (you barely ever get the chance to do a red reload action), there are nearly NO Talent-Upgrades that are useful to him.

- Crackshot? Cheap, but hard to line up with a Bomber. More luck to activate that then actual skill. But does not work for Torpedos or Rockets. So why even bother.

- Elusive? 1 Reroll on a green die and I have to recharge that with a red action? Why not just take a focus that offers approximately the same in defense``? And you can recharge it anyway with a red maneuver (which you are going to do a lot - because often you don´t need to spend your TL - because of your buddy Jonus).

-Lone Wolf? Recharges anyway.

Did I forget anything? Maybe we see a few more worthwile taking in the future. But as it stands now it they just make no sense and I think they were a little bit to harsh with nerfing his main ability. :(

I just keep playing him for my alpha strike list because of IN5... which makes me sad. His ability description could be empty and i would not notice any difference.

Nothing. They wrecked his ability when they tied it to Reload.

Obligatory 'Absolutely nothing!'

I’ve been thinking this all week. He was my favourite pilot of 1.0 and I got my first tournament win with him in a squad. That ability has been truly wrecked.

IN5 is pretty much it. What are you flying him with?

10 minutes ago, Smudger13 said:

I’ve been thinking this all week. He was my favourite pilot of 1.0 and I got my first tournament win with him in a squad. That ability has been truly wrecked.

IN5 is pretty much it. What are you flying him with?

Colonel Jendon (46)
ST-321 (6)

Tomax Bren (34)
Saturation Salvo (6)
Barrage Rockets (6)

Captain Jonus (36)
Saturation Salvo (6)
Barrage Rockets (6)

Major Rhymer (34)
Saturation Salvo (6)
Adv. Proton Torpedoes (6)
Cluster Missiles (5)

Total: 197

View in Yet Another Squad Builder 2.0

New list. Did not fly it yet. But looking forward to it.

There will probably be something pretty cool in the future. Charges are a here to stay mechanic and they are on almost everything now. It would have been cool if you could have flipped a charge on any equiped card so a reload for him was potentially a double reload. That would have at least had some value right now. But always in motion the future is. Epts will come out that will probably synergies with him quite well.

OP is not wrong about his ability being bad, but super cheap I5 torpedo carrier is it's own kind of good, even with no ability. 43 points for an I5 proton feels pretty good in my book.

He’s only useful for I5. He has no ability.

1 hour ago, Biophysical said:

OP is not wrong about his ability being bad, but super cheap I5 torpedo carrier is it's own kind of good, even with no ability. 43 points for an I5 proton feels pretty good in my book.

Let us see how long the Bombers stay cheap. The crows already start picking on them in the forum! :D

8 hours ago, Nyxen said:

Obligatory 'Absolutely nothing!'

Say it again!

His I5 is best thing right now. I5 alpha bomber swarm.

Captain Jonus (36)
Swarm Tactics (3)
Barrage Rockets (6)

Tomax Bren (34)
Swarm Tactics (3)
Barrage Rockets (6)

Gamma Squadron Ace (30)
Swarm Tactics (3)
Barrage Rockets (6)

Gamma Squadron Ace (30)
Swarm Tactics (3)
Barrage Rockets (6)

Scimitar Squadron Pilot (28)
Barrage Rockets (6)

Total: 200

View in Yet Another Squad Builder 2.0

When we see more EPT's with charges he might improve beyond being I5

Inititiative 5 merchant.

6 hours ago, beardxofxdeath said:

Let us see how long the Bombers stay cheap. The crows already start picking on them in the forum! :D

And yet a 2 ship Boba Guri build handled bombers no problem in the Gold Squadron Classic.

Even if the bombers, Barrage or Jonus goes up I’m not sure anyone is gunning for for Tomax.

I think that if you are wanting an alpha strike bomber with proton torps, he is better than Rhymer, as the I5 is a big deal. But I think in most other applications, other bombers are better.

Man! I just love 2.0!!!!!