I guess?

Better than screwing up the Phantom completely by removing the crew slot and adding in a gunner slot for a ship that can't drop bombs, doesn't have a turret, and, well, you get the point.

Certainly not well thought out that move.

Flip side?

3 E-Wings. Jamming Beam stapled to almost every ship, and Poe neutered with daftly expensive Primed Thrusters.

Hmm, a bit too heavy-handed there FFG?

Was the prior cost really why no one was/is using this?

5 minutes ago, Damo1701 said:

Better than screwing up the Phantom completely by removing the crew slot and adding in a gunner slot for a ship that can't drop bombs, doesn't have a turret, and, well, you get the point.

Certainly not well thought out that move.

Maybe they were just making the point that the Phantom, as a fighter should be fighting, and should leave the shuttling to shuttles? I guess the alternative would be to remove the crew slot and not have any slot in its place.

5 minutes ago, Damo1701 said:

Better than screwing up the Phantom completely by removing the crew slot and adding in a gunner slot for a ship that can't drop bombs, doesn't have a turret, and, well, you get the point.

Certainly not well thought out that move.

I was actually expecting that move TBH. As for gunners, Fifth Brother should be a decent option, especially now that he's down to 9 points. BT-1 also isn't bad for 2 points when paired with Hate Vader.

1 hour ago, PhantomFO said:

I was actually expecting that move TBH. As for gunners, Fifth Brother should be a decent option, especially now that he's down to 9 points. BT-1 also isn't bad for 2 points when paired with Hate Vader.

Fifth Brother just turning a focus to crit? Yeah, great use for 9 points, on one Phantom. What about the others?

The ones that were carrying Kallus, Krennic, or whoever wasn't a 2 crew option, but would work well.

"Fix" an issue, break a whole ship. Good times...

1 hour ago, Frimmel said:

Was the prior cost really why no one was/is using this?

It would see use if they dropped it by one more point. Granted, nobody will ever use the beam, but they would equip it.

1 hour ago, JJ48 said:

Maybe they were just making the point that the Phantom, as a fighter should be fighting, and should leave the shuttling to shuttles? I guess the alternative would be to remove the crew slot and not have any slot in its place.

They did remove the crew slot and put nothing in its place.

4 minutes ago, Damo1701 said:

Fifth Brother just turning a focus to crit? Yeah, great use for 9 points, on one Phantom. What about the others?

The ones that were carrying Kallus, Krennic, or whoever wasn't a 2 crew option, but would work well.

"Fix" an issue, break a whole ship. Good times...

They will put out more gunners, and some of those gunners will not require mobile or auxiliary arcs.

Just now, HolySorcerer said:

It would see use if they dropped it by one more point. Granted, nobody will ever use the beam, but they would equip it.

They did remove the crew slot and put nothing in its place.

Jamming Beam at -1 points would still never be used, but would also be a 1-point tax on all other cannons. It's similar to how first edition A-Wings effectively paid a 2-point tax to equip Proton Rockets instead of Chardaan Refit. Jamming Beam is now solidly in the category of, "I was just going to leave the slot empty, so I may as well" class of upgrades.

1 minute ago, PhantomFO said:

They will put out more gunners, and some of those gunners will not require mobile or auxiliary arcs.

Jamming Beam at -1 points would still never be used, but would also be a 1-point tax on all other cannons. It's similar to how first edition A-Wings effectively paid a 2-point tax to equip Proton Rockets instead of Chardaan Refit. Jamming Beam is now solidly in the category of, "I was just going to leave the slot empty, so I may as well" class of upgrades.

Sure, but they still aren't worth the opportunity cost. Its an extra card to carry and a few more grams of weight added to your bag. Still not worth it.

3 minutes ago, HolySorcerer said:

Sure, but they still aren't worth the opportunity cost. Its an extra card to carry and a few more grams of weight added to your bag. Still not worth it.

Suit yourself. I'm gonna add those grams, and the extra weight is gonna get me swole like Kylo Ren.

23 minutes ago, Damo1701 said:

Fifth Brother just turning a focus to crit? Yeah, great use for 9 points, on one Phantom. What about the others?

The ones that were carrying Kallus, Krennic, or whoever wasn't a 2 crew option, but would work well.

"Fix" an issue, break a whole ship. Good times...

Not having crew doesn’t break the phantom. The real reason it is and should be good is cloak shenanigans, not a random crew slot.

Losing Krennic is losing a fun, but not super critical, upgrade. Kallus is good, but I like him better on some Reapers anyhow.

Sloane swarm is dead for Phantoms, but people hate that so I don’t see much shed tears.

I will miss it, it made the Phantom more unique. Fifth Brother at 9 might get looks, but won’t be something you build a list around.

I will say that them dropping Tarkin to 6 is very good, and needed. And dropping ST-321 to 4 also is nice. I’ve run shenanigan lists with those before on a Lambda. It was ok, but at the new costs might need a new look.

3 hours ago, Frimmel said:

Was the prior cost really why no one was/is using this?

Short answer: yes.

With this change, if you have a swarm firing at the same target which happens to stack tokens (Tie Phantom, Tie Defender), it can make sense to have the one ship with the cannon fire first to force the opponent to drop tokens. Prior to that, it was a better idea to keep your points on other upgrades, but if its a free upgrade, it allows you to pick a situational upgrade like this one.

IG-88B highly approves of the jamming beam change

Just now, Dengar5 said:

IG-88B highly approves of the jamming beam change

Triple IG-88 with jamming beams may become a thing…

1 minute ago, millertime059 said:

Triple IG-88 with jamming beams may become a thing…

IG-88C (66)
Jamming Beam (0)
IG-2000 (1)

IG-88B (65)
Jamming Beam (0)
IG-2000 (1)

IG-88D (65)
Jamming Beam (0)
IG-2000 (1)

Total: 199

View in Yet Another Squad Builder 2.0

Kind of beautiful in a scary way.

6 minutes ago, Hiemfire said:

IG-88C (66)
Jamming Beam (0)
IG-2000 (1)

IG-88B (65)
Jamming Beam (0)
IG-2000 (1)

IG-88D (65)
Jamming Beam (0)
IG-2000 (1)

Total: 199

View in Yet Another Squad Builder 2.0

Kind of beautiful in a scary way.

Boost on in, trying to get into range 1-2, taking turns firing (and then switching to Jamming Beam if you miss the primary) to strip tokens away... I like it!

5 minutes ago, Hiemfire said:

IG-88C (66)
Jamming Beam (0)
IG-2000 (1)

IG-88B (65)
Jamming Beam (0)
IG-2000 (1)

IG-88D (65)
Jamming Beam (0)
IG-2000 (1)

Total: 199

View in Yet Another Squad Builder 2.0

Kind of beautiful in a scary way.

Yup. Don’t have any myself, but I’m sure I’ll sew that soon.

as for myself, I’ll definitely slap it on any Lambda or Defender. It’s probably not going to matter, but you never quite know when it may come in handy.

It might only be useful once every 4-5 games. But at 0 points it is worth taking the flier on.

1 minute ago, Innese said:

Boost on in, trying to get into range 1-2, taking turns firing (and then switching to Jamming Beam if you miss the primary) to strip tokens away... I like it!

Iggy-D "S-Loop" to prep for the next pass.

7 hours ago, Frimmel said:

Was the prior cost really why no one was/is using this?

Not totally, as both it and the Tractor beam have the problem of making the user choose between causing damage (the ship's regular attack) and causing a status effect that is mostly useful for other ships that will attack the target. Most players will not lose out on causing possible damage (even with a paltry 2 dice attack) for the possible Jamming effects.

Right now, Jamming beam is best used on IGs, as they can use it for a possible secondary attack if the primary attack fails. You also could use it as a swarm enhancer on someone like Serissu, sacrificing her attack to enhance the other swarm ships' attacks while mainly using Serissu for her defensive ability.

2 minutes ago, Ikka said:

You also could use it as a swarm enhancer on someone like Serissu, sacrificing her attack to enhance the other swarm ships' attacks while mainly using Serissu for her defensive ability.

This also works. She just has to start the chain, and thanks to the points adjustment any of the other's can continue it. (used to be a Cartel Spacer in place of one of the TPVs)

Serissu (40)
Swarm Tactics (3)
Hardpoint: Cannon (0)
Heavy Laser Cannon (4)

Tansarii Point Veteran (32)
Swarm Tactics (3)
Hardpoint: Cannon (0)
Heavy Laser Cannon (4)

Tansarii Point Veteran (32)
Swarm Tactics (3)
Hardpoint: Cannon (0)
Heavy Laser Cannon (4)

Tansarii Point Veteran (32)
Swarm Tactics (3)
Hardpoint: Cannon (0)
Tractor Beam (2)

Tansarii Point Veteran (32)
Swarm Tactics (3)
Hardpoint: Cannon (0)
Jamming Beam (0)

Total: 197

View in Yet Another Squad Builder 2.0