Hi new here and looking to run a phantom for the first time this week in a casual 2.0 game.

Would someone be able to explain the mechanics of cloaking including firing then decloaking etc

Looking to run whisper with Vader and juke I think

CLOAK
Ships can cloak to become difficult to hit, and they can decloak to move unpredictably.

When a ship performs the (cloak) action, it gains one cloak token. A ship is cloaked while it has a cloak token. Cloak tokens are blue tokens.

A cloaked ship has the following effects:
• Its agility value is increased by 2.
• It is disarmed.
• It cannot perform the cloak action or gain a second cloak token.

During the System Phase, each cloaked ship may spend its cloak token to decloak.

When a small ship decloaks, it must choose one of the following effects:
1. Barrel roll using the [2 straight] template.
2. Boost using the [2 straight] template.

When a medium or large ship decloaks, it must choose one of the following effects:
1. Barrel roll using the [1 straight] template.
2. Boost using the [1 straight] template.

• Decloaking does not count as executing a maneuver or performing an action but does count as a move.
• A ship can decloak even while stressed.
• When a player declares to decloak a ship, that player must declare which type of boost or barrel roll it is going to perform before placing a template on the play area.
• If a decloak fails, the ship is returned to its prior position before it attempted the decloak and the cloak token is not removed.
• Each ship cannot drop or launch a device during the same phase that it decloaked.

Cloaking is an action, first time you cloak you will do so because you took that action after moving.

While cloaked you can not shoot at all, there is no way go into the engage phase and say that you want to decloak so you can shoot.

Decloaking is done in the system phase, that is after setting your dials but before any ship moves. Decloaking is not an action so it can be done even if stressed. When you decloak you do a 2 straight forward or 2 straight barrel roll. If there is no room in the chosen direction you stay cloaked.

When you decloak you get to perform an Evade action. Note that it's an action so if you for some reason are stressed you won't get the evade token.

In the end phase if you still have an evade token you can exchange this for a cloak token to become cloaked again, this is not an action so it can be done even if stressed.

If you decide to not decloak as said above you can not shoot at all and get +2 evade dice when defending.

or, in other words, cloaking is an action that assigns you a cloak token. when you have a cloak token your agility is increased by two and you cannot perform attacks. you cannot have more than one cloak token.

during the systems phase (after planning, before activation), you can declare a ship with a cloak token is decloaking. if you do, you have to perform a boost or barrel roll effect with the chosen ship using the speed two straight template. if you succeed, you remove your cloak token. if you fail (by overlapping an obstacle, another ship or the board edge), you stay where you were and do not remove your cloak token. this is a good reason to run collision detector on whisper.

Thanks guys. So there is also strategy for not decloaking if not in a good position to engage as it grants you extra green dice?

Yes. But it breaks the cycle of free actions that keeps you alive, so it's very rarely worth it. 2 dice plus an evade is almost always better than 4 if you're only getting attacked once.

18 minutes ago, thespaceinvader said:

Yes. But it breaks the cycle of free actions that keeps you alive, so it's very rarely worth it. 2 dice plus an evade is almost always better than 4 if you're only getting attacked once.

Thanks that makes sense.

2 hours ago, player3592876 said:

Thanks guys. So there is also strategy for not decloaking if not in a good position to engage as it grants you extra green dice?

As you're playing with whisper, PV5 you can do this:

System: decloak, then perform The free evade action (if not stressed)

Activation: move and if.you're ending The maneuver in a bad place (into the fray) or if you believe your oponent's 5's-6's will catch Whisper, you can either try To dodge arcs with a barrel roll or even perform a cloak action to be safer

If it is.clear that you won't have a good engagement. You can stay cloaked during system phase, and then maneuver and perform a focus action, to change eye dice To Evades.

This is what i've tried, but I'm still learning how To play both Whisper and Echo, myself.

If someone could explain a bit better how to fly phantoms efficiently, I'd be very grateful too.

11 minutes ago, txousman said:

As you're playing with whisper, PV5 you can do this:

System: decloak, then perform The free evade action (if not stressed)

Activation: move and if.you're ending The maneuver in a bad place (into the fray) or if you believe your oponent's 5's-6's will catch Whisper, you can either try To dodge arcs with a barrel roll or even perform a cloak action to be safer

If it is.clear that you won't have a good engagement. You can stay cloaked during system phase, and then maneuver and perform a focus action, to change eye dice To Evades.

This is what i've tried, but I'm still learning how To play both Whisper and Echo, myself.

If someone could explain a bit better how to fly phantoms efficiently, I'd be very grateful too.

Great stuff thanks mate

4 hours ago, thespaceinvader said:

Yes. But it breaks the cycle of free actions that keeps you alive, so it's very rarely worth it. 2 dice plus an evade is almost always better than 4 if you're only getting attacked once.

Altho.... I’ve misplayed my Whisper before into 4 attacks by X-Wings and gave up shooting and stayed cloaked. Took a cloak and crossed my fingers.

I lived that time. Lucky greens.

ok, having not played phantoms in 2.0, but having played quite a bit against them, and also having helped a close friend fly them better by observing and trying to hand out good advice, here are some tips and tricks.

flying phantoms can be broken down into three different categories, based on the types of lists running them.

first off, there is the quad sigma list. this is simply four sigma squadron aces with juke for 200 points. it's a very good list. they're all i4 - and with good repositioning options, they can quite easily focus down their opponents with juke. staying in formation is optional, as it's not very difficult to make excellent kill boxes with their crazy repositioning. when getting shot at, it's normally worth spending a shield or in some cases even two just to keep the evade token to juke with and cloak with during the end phase via the excellent stygium array ship ability. the best maneuver is often a hard one turn, after having decloaked with a barrel roll. if the game goes longer, it becomes harder, since you may need to spend your evades to survive and thus having to either take the cloak action or evade action next round to get back in the stygium array evade cloaking loop. fly defensively, take your time and make sure you get a good opening engagement. this list is perfect if you want to get good at flying phantoms.

next up is echo, who is normally run with admiral sloane as crew. echo has some of the craziest repositioning in the game. this is a completely different beast to control. the most important priority for echo is just keeping sloane alive and keeping her in range to use her ability. this is normally easier if you actually decloak, to get out of arcs. especially with echoes insane amount of options for decloaking. sometimes, it's more surprising to not decloak, though, but it's always a gamble. remember you still get actions if you stay cloaked, so if you feel safe, take a lock, if you're risking it, take focus. sloanes ability always works, cloaked or not. four green dice is great and all, but they're just green dice - and green dice are terrible. you need mods to make them work - and that means focus. evade is also an option if you stay cloaked, which is probably better if you're only expecting to take a single shot. if you're expecting to take two or more shots, focus should be better. getting good with echo takes a lot of practice.

and then we have whisper. whisper with vader and juke of course. just as with echo, collision detector is a nice boost if you can afford it. remember that you don't have to decloak with whisper to activate vader. in almost all cases, it's worth decloaking, though. if you attack and hit, you get an extra evade, which means you can spend one while getting shot back. vader is amazing. even more amazing than whisper. vader on whisper is a nightmare. most players will try to focus this ship down as soon as possible. vader works even if you stay cloaked. just like with sigma squadron, your best bet is normally barrel rolling decloak into a hard one turn. if you can do this either way (collision detector is great! or even run a punisher with trajectory simulator and seismic charges just to clear the obstacles before you get in there), it's very hard for your opponent to focus you down, which means more vader and more shots with juke giving you a free evade. you want to fly whisper last, so some kind of bid is almost mandatory. it won't save you versus a fenn rau outsmarting you and one-shoting you at range one with outmaneuver, but it will save you versus guri.

remember to always cloak first round with you phantoms. you almost always want to spend the evade to cloak during the end phase with stygium array. if you set up diagonally in a corner, you can stay very defensive and not move a lot by doing the signature barrel roll decloak into hard one turn. you still have to be careful though. good players will know what to expect. practice your mind games.

3 hours ago, meffo said:

next up is echo, who is normally run with admiral sloane as crew. echo has some of the craziest repositioning in the game. this is a completely different beast to control. the most important priority for echo is just keeping sloane alive and keeping her in range to use her ability. this is normally easier if you actually decloak, to get out of arcs. especially with echoes insane amount of options for decloaking. sometimes, it's more surprising to not decloak, though, but it's always a gamble. remember you still get actions if you stay cloaked, so if you feel safe, take a lock , if you're risking it, take focus. sloanes ability always works, cloaked or not. four green dice is great and all, but they're just green dice - and green dice are terrible. you need mods to make them work - and that means focus. evade is also an option if you stay cloaked, which is probably better if you're only expecting to take a single shot. if you're expecting to take two or more shots, focus should be better. getting good with echo takes a lot of practice. 

Just a reminder... TIE Phantoms do not normally have the Target Lock Action.

19 minutes ago, emeraldbeacon said:

Just a reminder... TIE Phantoms do not normally have the Target Lock Action.

You're right, but thanks to you I got a nice idea for my next game with phantom, if vader goes nice with whisper, will Krennic Fit in Echo? I hope he does.

2 hours ago, txousman said:

You're right, but thanks to you I got a nice idea for my next game with phantom, if vader goes nice with whisper, will Krennic Fit in Echo? I hope he does.

I ve flown several variations of this list more than 10 times now and the more I play it the more I love it:

“Whisper” — TIE/ph Phantom
Juke
Collision Detector
Darth Vader
Ship Total: 75

“Echo” — TIE/ph Phantom
Juke
Fire-Control System
Director Krennic
Ship Total: 62

Major Vermeil — TIE Reaper
Admiral Sloane
0-0-0
Ship Total: 62

I used to fly phantoms from 1.0 and my fav pilot was Whisper but now she has fallen behind Echo.
In action here:

Setup the phantoms at the corners and use Whisper to draw your oponent towards the rocks.

Wait for him behind the rocks with the phantoms and flank with the reaper.

The reaper bank boosted and went full speed this turn, dodged the first two bombers and got in r1 of Rhymer, who died this turn.

Next turn the bombers had to loop to turn around so no worries for missile attacks.

The gap in the middle marks the position where the shuttle used to stand...
After that taking on lower PS bombers was a trivial task.

Now a few pointers.
The most important thing to remember and do every turn is to take an EVADE action. Evading is what gives you your cloak token back on in 2.0 instead of attacking even when you are stressed .
If doing a loop will put you in a favorable position for next turn do it and take evade as your action after you do a green maneuver.
The evade token is not to be used unless its the last hull point you have and need to stay alive.
Collision Detector is by far my favorite upgrade on them, and I will occasionally downgrade the crew on the Reaper to have both phantoms with it.
It allows you to decloack over a rock, which is usually the last place your opponent will think you ll be next turn.
Stay close to the rocks with the phantoms, they are your best friends and never take them into open space unless you are running away from combat for a turn.
Do the "Phantom dance" i.e. always decloack get an evade and cloack back at the end of the turn even if your opponent ships are still out of range.
It requires a lot of practice not to get a phantom one-shoted in a turn but once you get a hold of how they fly its the most fun ship to play for the Imperials.

6 hours ago, emeraldbeacon said:

Just a reminder... TIE Phantoms do not normally have the Target Lock Action.

(pic)

you're right. fooled byt krennic. echo with sloane definitely doesn't have the lock action. thanks.

Cheers all some great stuff. Let me just check so if I decloak with whisper I get an evade during system phase. I can then undertake my move and also choose another action (another evade or is that now allowed as already performed? So a focus?) If then I get a hit on a target I get another evade and can spend to decloak?

1 hour ago, player3592876 said:

Cheers all some great stuff. Let me just check so if I decloak with whisper I get an evade during system phase. I can then undertake my move and also choose another action (another evade or is that now allowed as already performed? So a focus?) If then I get a hit on a target I get another evade and can spend to decloak?

You can not take a second evade action as you will have already performed one but otherwise correct yes.

On 1/20/2019 at 12:23 PM, thespaceinvader said:

Yes. But it breaks the cycle of free actions that keeps you alive, so it's very rarely worth it. 2 dice plus an evade is almost always better than 4 if you're only getting attacked once.

i agree, never break the cycle, never get stressed.

i use 4 different 'tactic' each turn :

Offensive : decloak, broll/boost in the best offensive position, evade token, offensive action (focus, broll), shoot, cloak again with evade token. Only 2 green dices for defense, the evade is saved for cloaking (except crits), the spot had to be safe ...

Defensive/block : decloak, broll/boost in a good defensive or blocking position and preparing next turn , generate the free evade token, make a cloak action. So you finish activation phase with 4 green dices and the evade token free to use in defense because you are already cloaked (but no attack).

Bunker : same as Defensive but in a rock with collision detector. 5 green dices + evade token + opponent surprised + psychologic ascendant if u roll 5 or 6 evades 😛

Koriogan : 3 last options are too bad → mistakes were made last turns ...

i prefer Echo to Whisper because Echo need less koriogan. Whisper is a school-ship for new phantoms pilots.

you decloak and get an evade action during systems phase.

during activation, you perform your maneuver and get your regular action. this will be focus or barrel roll, since you've already performed an evade action this round. (phantoms cannot lock, lol)

during engagement, if you perform an attack that hits, you are assigned an evade token thanks to whispers pilot ability. being assigned an evade token is different from taking an evade action.

during the end phase, you can spend an evade token to cloak.

Hello, guys, I used to play with a whisper, Rexler (defender) and some others (Soontir or Turr on interceptor or Gideon on Tie/in or Alfa Starwing generic pilot). I'm really new to the x-wing and thanks fort all your advices. I'll try to rebuild my squadron to take two phantoms, and one with Vader. I flew with Vader several times without decloacking and made some damage to my oponent, enjoying long life during the game even two or three opponents wanted me to shoot down. It was effective to put some Vader's power to ships with stress and taking shields and hull points from them one by one. I think more effective is to have an offensive option to attack but when I tried it, a whisper was eliminated too quickly for me (apart from that combat when my opponent tried to eliminate rexler first). Bare in mind that if you didn't use the force of Vader you can change one focus die result to an evade 🙂