So the new big bad of super ships is coming soon in the form of the TIE Silencer.

Big question though really has to be is it going to be worth it’s cost? It does come with auto Thrusters but a very average dial. In fact the only difference between it’s dial and that of the FO TIE is trading sloops for Talon Rolls, and only uses Talon Rolls and has a green 5 when compared to the Intercepter. Yes it’s going to be an arc dodger similar to the Intercepter, but will it truly matter? More hull but less shields than a Defender, a less mobile dial. Yes it’s base is a good bit cheaper as a result only 56 instead of 72.

Don’t get me wrong Intercepters have been amazing in 2.0 again. Yet since these will not be swarming, will they be effective enough to survive and lift the weight their points are currently showing?

Soontir has been amazing, in 2.0, interceptors are garbage otherwise.

When did the Silencer get spoiled? Theres only 2 articles on the conversion kit and neither of them show a full Silencer card that i can see.

2 minutes ago, Vineheart01 said:

Soontir has been amazing, in 2.0, interceptors are garbage otherwise.

When did the Silencer get spoiled? Theres only 2 articles on the conversion kit and neither of them show a full Silencer card that i can see.

Alphas aren’t garbage and are seeing play, but Soontir is still the most prevalent interceptor.

Conversion kits are out in Poland (system open) and UK (early release).

The Silencer dial is not average.

20 minutes ago, dsul413 said:

The Silencer dial is not average.

^ This. While it's been very slightly downgraded from 1st Edition, the Silencer still has one of the best dials in the game. Anything with 2-5 forward and hard turns in blue can't be called average.

I'm really interested to see how it flies with Autothrusters. I used the generics a lot in 1st Edition, and them being able to reposition more freely really has my interest.

Personnally, the only thing it misses with the silencer is init 6. But I understand that FFG haven't put a PS6, because the cost would be astronomic, and everyone would play with it, as a PS 6 Defender.

I see perfectly fitting Blackout with proton torps and trick shot. That is a far superior firepower than soontir. And it has the hull, shields and defense dices to be alive for a long time. The Xs will have a a hard time to fly against him.

34 minutes ago, Vineheart01 said:

Soontir has been amazing, in 2.0, interceptors are garbage otherwise.

Uhn?.. I had a Déjà Vu...

Well, why wouldn't it be?

The defender is tankier, the Silencer is arcdodge..ier?

I can't find the dial, though. If it's nerfed too hard from 1st Ed, then there may be some issue (primed thrusters exist but are expensive)

9 minutes ago, ficklegreendice said:

I can't find the dial, though. If it's nerfed too hard from 1st Ed, then there may be some issue (primed thrusters exist but are expensive)

My pilot and upgrade card browser has the dials. Below the pilot card, hit the button that has maneuver arrows on it. 

 infinitearenas.com/xw2browse

2 minutes ago, J1mBob said:

My pilot and upgrade card browser has the dials. Below the pilot card, hit the button that has maneuver arrows on it. 

 infinitearenas.com/xw2browse

Neat!

Well, if it has blue two turns and that isn't the FO dial, it'll be fine

There's nothing "average" about having blue turns, that's the mark of an excellent dial OR extra points spent on r4

Defender still can't slow turn for ****, so the silencer has it beat there too

12 minutes ago, ficklegreendice said:

Well, why wouldn't it be?

The defender is tankier, the Silencer is arcdodge..ier?

I can't find the dial, though. If it's nerfed too hard from 1st Ed, then there may be some issue (primed thrusters exist but are expensive)

Basically the only change from `1st Edition is that the green 3 banks are now white - a loss, but it's still a very good dial.

Just now, Jarval said:

Basically the only change from `1st Edition is that the green 3 banks are now white - a loss, but it's still a very good dial.

Yeah, there's nothing "bad" nor "average"

Great dial; great arc dodger with some beef to pad out inveitable green betrayal

A large part of why the Alpha Interceptor is good is because it's cheap. It's squishy, but it has a lot of firepower for it's point cost.

A Seinar-Jaemus Engineer is 1 point lower than an Alpha with an added Hull Upgrade, and two Shield Upgrades. So it's not squishy, but it doesn't have a lot of firepower. At 56 per, is this just a slightly saner-priced E-Wing? Better dial and linked actions, but pretty much the same statline. A kind of ship which might struggle with getting in enough offense.

First Order Test Pilot is 62 points, one point cheaper than the Rogue Escort Init 4 talented generic E-Wing.

//

TIE Defender is a different beast entirely. It's far more predictable, lower initiative, more expensive. It's also a beast of a tank with a free Evade and 4 shields. An Init 1 Delta is the same cost as an Init 4 Silencer with Fanatical and Primed Thrusters. That's a lot more mobility and arc-dodgyness for the same points, but it can't tank anywhere near as well.

A Silencer really isn't like a Defender. They both say "TIE" in front, but they're really nothing like each other.

//

But here's the thing: Is it an E-Wing, or is it a Fang Fighter? The Fang Fighter is an arc dodger with a bit more durability than an arc dodger should have. Concordia Faceoff can be immense. What is a Silencer? It's an arc dodger with more durability than an arc dodger should have. Toss on either Primed Thrusters or Pattern Analyzer, and that's an extra boost of mobility.

I've played a little 3x Fang. It's at least decent. Not sure it can handle four ship scum control, but it's OK. So clearly, there exists a niche for mobile ship which can take a few more hits. But a huge part of that is Fenn Rau's ability to absolutely delete stuff at Init 6.

I've been killin' it with Saber Squadron pilots. The Interceptor is effing awesome. The Silencer is just a beefy Squint - I have no idea why anyone would think its dial is bad - it's the same as it ever was. It was fun to fly with Defenders in 1.0. Now it seems like it will be fun to fly with couple other Silencers - I'm just hoping they shrink the model down. It actually has massive potential as it can arc-dodge or joust, but not in the same way as a Defender.

Have any of the other pilot abilities been spoiled?

3 minutes ago, Bad Idea Comics said:

Have any of the other pilot abilities been spoiled?

Kylo and Blackout are the same as in 1st Edition, although they're both now Initiative 5. There's two new Silencer pilots:

"Avenger" - I3. After another friendly ship is destroyed, you may perform an action, even while stressed.

"Recoil" - I4. While you are stressed, you may treat enemy ships in your (front arc) at range 0-1 as being in your (bullseye arc).

9 minutes ago, Bad Idea Comics said:

I'm just hoping they shrink the model down.

I actually bought my 3rd Silencer with the current model, so that I don't have to worry about two different sizes.

4 minutes ago, theBitterFig said:

I actually bought my 3rd Silencer with the current model, so that I don't have to worry about two different sizes.

Haha, I'm think 1 big one for Kylo's silencer and 2 proper sized ones for the other pilots

1 hour ago, Jarval said:

Kylo and Blackout are the same as in 1st Edition, although they're both now Initiative 5. There's two new Silencer pilots:

"Avenger" - I3. After another friendly ship is destroyed, you may perform an action, even while stressed.

"Recoil" - I4. While you are stressed, you may treat enemy ships in your (front arc) at range 0-1 as being in your (bullseye arc).

Recoil sounds awesome! Predator and FCS means he can reroll 2 dice nearly all the time, as long as you're using Autothrusters. I4 isn't bad either.

Just proxied 3 games with silencers. Kylo is better than ever at his shenanigans, but his missing title and 1.0 autothrusters mean you must be extra cagey, or bring along a biohex squad leader Null. Recoil is cute, but that predator proc ability is ok (slapping on prockets oddly enough seems not worth it). Blackout is playable now, and elusive and PA feel good on him, and I'm contemplating throwing stealth on him in my Edgel0rd 2x Silinzerzzzz420gitgud list.

I like the addition of the torp slot for purposes of a targeting sync Midnight, but haven't tried that yet. And primed thrusters is still awesome (especially with SNR) despite only 67% of the old stress limit to use at 400% the squad cost.

Just miffed that there is no sensor slot. Blackout would love it, especially with Poe nuking him in the game I played for salvaging a massive amount of MOV.

21 minutes ago, Bad Idea Comics said:

Recoil sounds awesome! Predator and FCS means he can reroll 2 dice nearly all the time, as long as you're using Autothrusters. I4 isn't bad either.

No sensor slot, lol.

Cost of silencer is worryingly similar to cost of E

But E can't autothrust, so meh

2 hours ago, player3010587 said:

No sensor slot, lol.

Whoops! Haven't given a close look at the slots. LOL.

Will admit, now a little more worried about cost given how important initiative is for arcdodging

Still, Recoil is interesting as he fully mods himself relatively easily with predator (just focus and boost/roll)

Alas predator is primary only, else we'd have a **** of a time with prockets!

Another idea, though, Advanced Optics with kylo. Generally, you should be focusing because of your three greens with or without the force. Now, if you don't spend on defense, you can combine optics and FORCUS for mo mods!

But yasb v2 shows the silencer as having a torp slot...that a thing?

4 minutes ago, ficklegreendice said:

But yasb v2 shows the silencer as having a torp slot...that a thing?

Oh it's very a thing.

I feel like they're going to be really great, especially super Kylo and tricky Blackout. But I'm not sure it's very easy to get a great blend of stuff in a squad with 2.

Kylo and Blackout with a couple FOs might be awesome. Or Recoil instead. I think it's doable. Really, Silencers look like fun. Of course, we get one thing, but that makes me want another thing - the new red Squint from Resistance. Gimmegimmegimme.

2 hours ago, ficklegreendice said:

Will admit, now a little more worried about cost given how important initiative is for arcdodging

Still, Recoil is interesting as he fully mods himself relatively easily with predator (just focus and boost/roll)

Alas predator is primary only, else we'd have a **** of a time with prockets!

Another idea, though, Advanced Optics with kylo. Generally, you should be focusing because of your three greens with or without the force. Now, if you don't spend on defense, you can combine optics and FORCUS for mo mods!

But yasb v2 shows the silencer as having a torp slot...that a thing?

Sounds good, but thrusters mean that Kylo has near 0 restraints on SNR. I like optics on my fanatical midnight, as one I lose the shield, my focus can turn all but double blank into 2 hits. 15/16 of getting 2 hits is dope.

To bypass the bid wars, squad leader Null can i7 coordinate, and make that any range with a lock on Kylo and biohex. But with his silly talon rolls and speed, against nearly all i5's, I'm fine with moving first. After all, in 1e, Quickdraw was supposed to be and was the super effective bodyguard. As of now, I rock her with juke, gunner, and fcs. Muse gives her an evade or what not and then removed the stress from coordinate.

And yes, silencer torps are real. Makes me consider targeting sync on midnight