I recently got a first order conversion kit to convert my ships over to second edition(I have one of each ship and a second TIE FO). I was wondering what a good basic build would be. I really like kylo, he seems easy to use and very effective with his force. Midnight also seems like a good ship at I6. Does it make sense to put a cannon on the shuttle. I thought it would be good because of the shuttle ability, but looking at it now, I feel like I could use the points elsewhere. Does anyone have any thoughts or lists they could share so I could improve my list?

TIE/fo Fighter - •“Midnight” - 46
•“Midnight” - Omega Leader (44)
Fanatical (2)

TIE/vn Silencer - •Kylo Ren - 81
•Kylo Ren - Tormented Apprentice (76)
Pattern Analyzer (5)

Upsilon-class Shuttle - •Lieutenant Tavson - 72
•Lieutenant Tavson - Obedient Shuttle Pilot (62)
Ion Cannon (5)
•Captain Phasma (5)

Total: 199/200

View in the X-Wing Squad Builder

All in all looks like a totally fine build. Three solid ships, and while the Ion Cannon is probably optional, there aren't any obvious flaws to the list.

One thought I'd keep in my head would be to consider Advanced Optics instead of Pattern Analyzer on Kylo. PA is good, it'll let you take an action after a red move. But I wonder how necessary it is, for two reasons. One is that Kylo has force charges, and so is already better off after red moves than most other ships out there. Second, when I fly Silencers or Interceptors, I'll often use Autothrusters for extra boosts and barrel rolls, so I'll frequently be stressed, and won't take too many red moves. Advanced Optics can be handy on Kylo since it'll allow him to use a focus to fix his blank results when attacking, rather than rerolling with a Lock. The advantage is flexibility. Kylo can save a focus for defense, or doesn't have to choose his ship early. I can't say Advanced Optics is better, just that it'd be worth considering.

As to the Ion Cannon on Tavson, I'd try it out. The Upsilon Shuttle has a fairly decent dial for a large-base ship, but it can't really turn around. Ion cannon has a decent chance to lower enemy mobility instead. It's easy to move in on an ionized target to get Range 1 shots, for example. So a cannon might be cool.

But I'm also aware that almost no one runs Ion Cannon on their Upsilons.

Having extra points for bid in the list would be nice, and maybe using a few to add Hate to Kylo Ren. It's pretty cheap, and while it is slightly like investing in taking damage, the damage almost always happens at some point, and having more force charges can help mitigate future damage.

Thank you for the advice. I never even considered hate on Kylo. I may need to look at that

33 minutes ago, theBitterFig said:

But I'm also aware that almost no one runs Ion Cannon on their Upsilons.

Why don't people use cannons?

48 minutes ago, Amc879 said:

Why don't people use cannons?

Because most folks don't want to roll 4 dice, maybe with both focus and lock, and only deal 1 damage. Generally, I don't.

But there's a bigger picture, where using an Ion Cannon to set up better shots does more in the long run. Maybe you've got a shot on a fast, arc dodging ship. If you can put an Ion token on them, they won't be able to go very far next turn, and the Upsilon can almost surely put itself Range 1, and Soontir can't get away. But on the other hand, if you can put an Ion token onto Soontir Fel, you'd have to get enough hits to deal 2 damage, which might be better than 1 damage and an Ion cannon.

That's why I say that if you're curious about how it feels, you should play it. Ion weapons haven't been too popular in 2e, but I tend to think they're a bit underrated.

10 hours ago, theBitterFig said:

That's why I say that if you're curious about how it feels, you should play it. Ion weapons haven't been too popular in 2e, but I tend to think they're a bit underrated.

Agreed. Especially with the Upsilon's Linked Battery - a 4 dice ion shot is a lot more imposing, since getting that second hit to leave the target heavily tazered is a lot easier, and if you don't manage that, you've basically wasted the points on the cannon (as opposed to a Scyk or Gunboat, which is getting an extra red die compared to its primary weapons, or a T-70, which gets the ability to fire 3 dice 'off-bullseye' with S-foils closed).

Don't underestimate how painful predictable movement in front of a ship like an upsilon can be for an opponent, though.

I would also note that ion weapons are likely to get much, much more significant once Servants of Strife hits the shelves, as ion tokens stop you performing any action other than focus. This means they have a disproportionately high impact on any ship which doesn't have the focus action - i.e. droids.

Thank you. I personally really like Ion, especially at range 3, because if I were to do more than one damage, which isn't likely because range 3, then I set up a really nice range 1 shot for the next round.

15 minutes ago, Amc879 said:

Thank you. I personally really like Ion, especially at range 3, because if I were to do more than one damage, which isn't likely because range 3, then I set up a really nice range 1 shot for the next round.

Exactly the goal.

Alternate perspective on the silencer. Since Blackout is same IN just cheaper and you can bring up the tie FO to the SF with something like Blackouts build (Tweaks needed)

I like what Glattyator is putting down, though I prefer using Trick Shot and Advanced Optics on Blackout. I don't know that the two points is saves is really worth anything, but I love the synergy between TS and Blackout and it is great having AO for the ridiculous number of blanks I seem to roll.

37 minutes ago, Glattyator said:

Elusive PA gives Silencer more dogfight capabilities, just have seen minimalist Kylos go quick

How so? With the force and maybe Hate I thought he would be hard to kill

28 minutes ago, Amc879 said:

How so? With the force and maybe Hate I thought he would be hard to kill

So thing about Hate is that you are getting shot. As a huge Hate Vader fan you need to kill the opposition quicker than they kill you, Kylo only has 2 force tokens. His Force ability does not have an immediate effect (you need to later roll a crit)

Ill show you the dark side:

When this card is assigned, if there is no faceup damage card on it, the player who assigned it searches the damage deck for 1 Pilot damage card and places it faceup on this card. Then shuffle the damage deck. When you would suffer 1 damage, you are instead dealth the faceup damage card on this card. Then, remove this card

Too many stipulations to pull it off as smooth as 1e. Also this list is not crit generating focused, which you want. So to be more efficient IMO Blackout is your guy also an Int5. Fully loaded Blackout's total cost comes to 72, Naked Kylo is 76 points (Hate 79).

Blackout gets actual rerolls with elusive (force token only changes 1 focus die) and pattern analyzer allows you to perform an action AFTER executing the red maneuver needed to recharge Elusive. This is the arc dodger with plenty of firepower I think is the desire for this list whilst you fly your Ion/stress tank around with the 2nd wingman.

Wrapping it up here is a smug half naked Kylo Ren

1 minute ago, Glattyator said:

Words that got edited...

45 minutes ago, Wildonion said:

I like what Glattyator is putting down, though I prefer using Trick Shot and Advanced Optics on Blackout. I don't know that the two points is saves is really worth anything, but I love the synergy between TS and Blackout and it is great having AO for the ridiculous number of blanks I seem to roll.

Trick Shot and Advanced Optics is ideal when optimizing Blackout agreed (70 points vs 72), for some of us who are still perfecting lining up an obstructed shot with a small base arc dodger *coughs and raises hand* Elusive+PA helps the Silencer's green die whilst making it offensive through positioning + needed actions.

I fly defensively and take opportunities as they open to me, working on being offensively aggressive with my Knife fighting and including obstacles beyond defensive dodging.

What tactics would you use with a list like this.

I've not been playing X-Wing long, but have tried similar lists.

The Upsilon didn't do much except get shot, and I tried to Flank with Quick and Black. The Upsilon seemed to be to slow to use just as a ship that coordinates.

Although TBH I'm not sure if Quick is that good as a flanking ship.

So a few tips would be good.

1 hour ago, Andyf1702 said:

lthough TBH I'm not sure if Quick is that good as a flanking ship

QD is more of a Brawler type. Personally im looking at afterburners on QD to get som more flyingoptions and get her to endgame with a shield left

I just keep getting disapointed in Midnight, so I play Backdraft with fanatic and fcs instead. Then I shoot doublemodded shots out my butt and take evade tokens.

My Tavsson is a bit fat in points, but an upgrade that won me many games is collisiondetector. Beeing able to line up those 4-5dice shots with no restriction is just to good.