I actually like the fact that astros aren't so good that they're an auto include. X-wings are totally fine without astros and I love that.

That being said they are still one of the more useful slots in 2.0, they are simply toned down to be like the rest of the slots in that they create options without being a necessity.

R2 astro - Regen plain and simple is still good. Particularly on run and gun ships like X-wings and E-wings. On an X-wing a shield upgrade is 6pts, and on an E-wing its 8pts. R2 easily proves its value there. R2-D2 is more efficient if you only need 1.

R3 astro - 2 locks for the price of 1 is pure economy. Mileage will vary depending your need for locks. If its on a ship that likes locks e.g. VTG Y-wings or the E-wing its worth it, especially at only 3pts. For the slower Y-wing it keeps the options open. For the faster E-wing it allows you to lock on round 1 and adjust or fake your approach without giving away a clear target. It's even ok on ARC-170s if you can line up the tail shot.

R4 astro - Its not as good as the rest, but it is the cheapest. It can be helpful if you have 2pts to spare. Not as useful on X-wing with their updated dial, but can free up the use of red actions on Y-wings and E-wings (linked) for pittance.

R5 astro - Being able to repair hull is really nice for those bulkier ships like the Y-wings, ARC-170s and Kimogila. At the price of an action this can be worth it especially with the added bonus of still being useful after the charges are spent. These new crits hurt. R5-D8 is more efficient if you only need 1.

Chopper - Looks good on Y-wings as they can simply reload the charges on bombs or torps that he eats for shields. He also has a place on ships without reload to recover some extra charges if need be. Chopper best attribute as he gives more than one option and can be used differently as the game progresses.

R5-TK - Is one I just see no value in. Attacking your own ships is just bad no matter the weird combo you may be able to set up.

Genius - Has its merits now that bombing has been moved to the systems phase. Especially for 0pts.

R5-P8 - Is ok.. Free re-rolls are always good, and a 1/8 chance to take damage isn't huge, but you will curse it if you do roll that crit.

Bringing back this thread to ask if anyone has any first hand experience playing with or against Chopper Astromech? I can't decide if he is really good or just a trap. A few options to consider:

• Elusive makes for potentially unlimited regen without needing to invest in munitions or ever taking a weapons disabled disarm token.
• Crack Shot gives you a shield for the cost of 3 points and one action. That ain't terrible.

It seems like it will boil down to how and when you get an opportunity to regen. If your butt is to the enemy anyway, the disarm token don't matter and the ability to focus would be much more valuable. If you have the action efficiency and want to regen while staying in the fight, Chopper could be gold. Fortunately, the one pilot who could really abuse Chopper, Luke, can't abuse him with Elusive or Reloads.

Anyone got some stories to tell about actually running the little guy? Or running against him? (Does he get a little booster seat to see over the edge of the droid socket?)

I've tried Chopper and Elusive on Gavin, but not got much use out of it. The problem is action economy. Either he wants to focus, or he wants to sloop to recharge Elusive and get back in the fight. With Gavin you generally want him pointed the enemy to boost the rest of your squad. Maybe this combo is better on Corran, but ouch, his cost.

Ive done theorycrafting on Chopper- there is no single use I looked at where he stands out from the other astros (though that crackshot-regen might work)

What he stands out for is his toolbox aspect- Reloading torpedos in one game, regening shields in another, repairing tealth device or some other modification in another.

i see most people use the regen mechs and fail to learn when to disengage to regen, because theyre used to regen just being a passive thing.

Regen now eats your action/disarms you so you REALLY dont wanna do it midfight unless you feel you absolutely need to. Joust, kturn if unharmed, disengage otherwise and get shields back, then go back in.

This is amazing, 50% of the time...

Ibtisam (50)
Elusive (3)
Seasoned Navigator (5)
“Chopper” (2)

Total: 60

On 9/27/2018 at 12:10 AM, BVRCH said:

R4 astro - Its not as good as the rest, but it is the cheapest. It can be helpful if you have 2pts to spare. Not as useful on X-wing with their updated dial, but can free up the use of red actions on Y-wings and E-wings (linked) for pittance.

The more I think about it, the more I like these on X-Wings. It only affects two maneuvers, sure, but those two maneuvers are amazingly useful.

12 minutes ago, Jarval said:

This is amazing, 50% of the time...

Ibtisam (50)
Elusive (3)
Seasoned Navigator (5)
“Chopper” (2)

Total: 60

I am not a mathematician or even that competant at math, but I assume one could figure out a formula to determine if the regen astros are efficient or not relative to a build. Basically, R2 is good on Luke because its okay to spend 6 points to protect the 83 points you already spent. However, R2 may not be as efficient on a 41 pt Generic due to the fact that you are paying a greater portion of your ship's cost than you are with Luke. Does this make sense to anyone else? Basically I'm trying to solve when it mathematically makes sense to take a regen or not.

this is the nice thing with 2.0 right? Nothing seems to be too overpowered in terms of upgrades. Astromechs can absolutely work, but it depends on the rest of your list. You need pilots and ships that can take advantage of these astromechs. Astromechs themselves don't make or break.

I've basically abandoned astromechs, gunners, and EPTs in most of my Rebel lists. Not worth the points, in my opinion.

3 hours ago, gamblertuba said:

Bringing back this thread to ask if anyone has any first hand experience playing with or against Chopper Astromech? I can't decide if he is really good or just a trap. A few options to consider:

• Elusive makes for potentially unlimited regen without needing to invest in munitions or ever taking a weapons disabled disarm token.
• Crack Shot gives you a shield for the cost of 3 points and one action. That ain't terrible.

It seems like it will boil down to how and when you get an opportunity to regen. If your butt is to the enemy anyway, the disarm token don't matter and the ability to focus would be much more valuable. If you have the action efficiency and want to regen while staying in the fight, Chopper could be gold. Fortunately, the one pilot who could really abuse Chopper, Luke, can't abuse him with Elusive or Reloads.

Anyone got some stories to tell about actually running the little guy? Or running against him? (Does he get a little booster seat to see over the edge of the droid socket?)

I've used Chopper with Porkins and Elusive and that has been working alright. Porkins can do his red maneuvers without much consequence with Chopper and in the event you do take a damage you can choose to use Chopper if you feel don't need the action for defense or for when retreating.

2 hours ago, Jarval said:

This is amazing, 50% of the time...

Ibtisam (50)
Elusive (3)
Seasoned Navigator (5)
“Chopper” (2)

Total: 60

This... actually makes me want to fly Ibtisam for the first time in 2.0. I had been wondering about trying Chop w/seasoned navigator while reading through here, glad somebody else thought of it too.

Can you add Ablative Armor to the ARC for more things for Chopper to munch on?

1 hour ago, MikeEvans said:

Can you add Ablative Armor to the ARC for more things for Chopper to munch on?

The ARC-170 is a medium base so you can put Ablative Plating on it.

I thought Weps Engineer on Norra in 1.0 was slightly useful, although much better builds were available. I really liked to just burn the lock and focus on offense and go all in, so never really used it.

Does R3 not perform a similar role for Shara in 2.0? Add PerCo for extra mileage?

Feels like a lot of points for a kind of clunky effect.

I really like the R4 on X-wings. Granted, the upgrade is minimal, but I find they are K-turning a lot in games (or certainly focus-linked-boost) so end up stressed. 4-LOM and 000 being in the meta means a lot of stress is being thrown out. A blue hard 2 is important to keep them in the fight, and turns them into very efficient dog-fighters.

1 hour ago, The Penguin UK said:

I really like the R4 on X-wings. Granted, the upgrade is minimal, but I find they are K-turning a lot in games (or certainly focus-linked-boost) so end up stressed. 4-LOM and 000 being in the meta means a lot of stress is being thrown out. A blue hard 2 is important to keep them in the fight, and turns them into very efficient dog-fighters.

Kullbee Sperado is just awesome with an R4. Blue 2 hard, focus, boost an open your foils. It so good!

On 9/26/2018 at 10:42 PM, MasterShake2 said:

R5 and R5D8 is good on a ship that routinely has an action it doesn't care about (Luke in particular) and is one of the few ways to fix structural damage, a card that is a massive problem for your finisher ace to draw. It's not the best, but it's cheaper than R2s and most ships that can take astro's traded a shield or 2 for hull making it more likely they'll have cards on them. On top of that, it's easier for generic or cheaper ships to lose actions than attacks especially if it means more work to kill them.

That's actually what i was meditating about. Luke is indeed very tanky with only his ability, using R5 for repairs, and i much prefer wasting his action over wasting his shot. If you wanna play the disengage game, R2 might be better, but often you don't get the opportunity, or you can't run from an enemy, or have to support the squad there and then, which makes R5 units very interesting.

Has anyone played Elusive + Chopper though. It's a cheap infinite regen, even if it takes 2 turns to do. I have used it on the ARC with Norra. Drove my opponent nuts. using elusive for its effect or for choppers, adding evade results with Norra. She survived way past what she should have survived. I coupled her with Luke and R2 that game. They both really tanked it out that game.

4 hours ago, ForceM said:

Has anyone played Elusive + Chopper though. It's a cheap infinite regen, even if it takes 2 turns to do. I have used it on the ARC with Norra. Drove my opponent nuts. using elusive for its effect or for choppers, adding evade results with Norra. She survived way past what she should have survived. I coupled her with Luke and R2 that game. They both really tanked it out that game.

I played with it a little on Jek, that lets you do Chopper's ability the same turn you K-turn or tallon roll if you end up taking damage from Jek's ability or need to recover.

Well the ones that decrease movement difficulty are radical on Y-Wings and whatnot, especially if you're rocking Expert Handling and a good Gunner.

The astromechs aren't autoincludes, but they are all useful. On T65 aces, I love the R2s, because there's always a round or two in which I'm going to run away. Same goes for the others. Specific tools. Do the job, but you need to know what the job actually is.

On 9/26/2018 at 8:23 PM, MasterShake2 said:

This is what you think R3 will do. Playing with and against him several times, this is not what he actually does. You will get far more value out of extra blue maneuvers and pay less points.

Probably depends on the ship, the pilot, and the other upgrades. On a Y-Wing or Sheathipede, the R4 really opens up the dial. I like R3 with FCS on the E-Wing though, gives you a sort of pseudo predator ability for the same amount of points in 1.0.

On 9/26/2018 at 2:37 AM, skotothalamos said:

Dicta Boelcke #7: “When over the enemy's lines never forget your own line of retreat.”

a pilot who learns the right time to disengage and regenerate will live longer and take more quality shots than one who constantly k-turns for snap shots.

lol, your advice is excellent for real ground wars, but doesnt consider a 3'x3' 2d plane as the battlefield. lines of retreat and falling back are both tactics used by armies with supply lines who can dig in to fortifications or regroup with reserves. In dogfights those concepts dont exist. you can only run if your plane is faster AND you still risk getting lit up by the enemy who can essentially fire at will through your tail. **** in ww2 the bombers wouldnt even try to run once fighters intercepted, theyd stay in formation and try to finish the mission because they knew a B17 couldnt escape a Bf-109, and prayed friendly fighters could save them. the othe Boelke edicts actually contradict running

in X-wing its doubly true, as your opponent can just follow you until the board edge forces you to turn back into their volley. in my experience the only time running works reliably in x-wing is if your pursuers have crap dials and you dont. occasionally you can bluff somebody, its just such a coin toss though. when disadvantaged youre generally better off knife fighting and hoping your opponent screws up, or making a random movement theyre less likely to predict in the hopes of overshooting their arcs and coming in at a better angle

After watching a frankly appalling number of Xwing matches, I've found the greatest difference between the people at top tables and myself is this:

I'm almost always looking to get shots, they are not. It is possible and highly advantageous to use obstacles and angles to create engagements with clear lines of retreat where your opponent cannot immediately follow. You won't learn it by watching me though.