Regenerating shields is no longer limited to just Rebels. With R2 Astromechs being universal a number of factions can now go this route. Rebels, Resistance, Republic, and even Scum.

A lot of previous discussions about the Regen mech has been centered around the fact the cost comes with a weapons disabled drawback.

Having had time to play a list consisting of the R2’s onboard 4x I3 Red Squadron Veteran X-Wings. I think the initial knee jerk reaction to the cost is a bit too much.

With the price reduction they got at the points adjustment, it gives them a solid price point for the performance they offer. Tougher ships which can take them have had a hard time not making use of them. In my experience, they are a nice tool. If you know your going to bump or not have a shot, taking the Shield is a solid opportunity and you still get an action opportunity. It also affords flexibility for mid initiative pilots to either be aggressive or blockers. When used in mass you can switch ships that are taking damage effectively. I can see Aethersprites or Arcs enjoying the added benefits in the republic, obviously the T-70 and even Scum with Y-Wings, Kimos and such.

Regen is still quite powerful without the oppressively broken feel to it. It’s a solid performance tool, once you get used to it’s mechanics in 2.0.

2 hours ago, Ronu said:

Regen is still quite powerful without the oppressively broken feel to it. It’s a solid performance tool, once you get used to it’s mechanics in 2.0.

Or you can slap R2-D2 on Han.

I think the biggest change to regen is small/medium base half points. That matters a lot.

Most regen comes with a cost and is limited. That is a good or at least ok mechanic. It turns into a problem once these limits are circumvented.

The Han build with ID, R2 crew and Kanan can ignore all costs almost all the time, and has in principle unlimited regen. Kanan removed the stress of ID, R2 regens the shield, R2 doesn't deal a weapons disabled, R2 has no charges, and Han's ability lets you reroll the R2 downside resulting in 75% chance for no consequences.

I see why that combination is problematic and it would be a good idea to change it so that there are costs to regen and i6 movement changes. That being said I disagree that this Han build is a game breaking or overly frustrating NPE, but that is subjective and not the point of this thread.

So, regen with cost: yay. Regen without consequences: nay.

The normal R2 astromech still lets you 'ignore' the consequences if you for example bump or run far enough. But that is an entirely different way because you still had to adjust your movement and plan.

On top, I think ALL regen should be limited, probably with charges.

That makes regen a viable choice without breaking the game.

23 minutes ago, GreenDragoon said:

The  normal R2 astromech still lets you 'ignore' the consequences if y  ou for example bump or run far enough. But that is an entirely differe  nt way because you still had to adjust your movement and plan  . 

I’ve also found Ani with an R2 and Plo to be a fun combination. Ani takes the disarm, Plo spends a force to pull the disarm off him. Again, like you said, that’s a cost. Not only the cost of a Force charge, but it does still leave one of my ships disarmed. But the chance for my top ace to regen and then potentially initiative kill an opponent’s ship is worth it.

That is a nice combo. I donrun a si gle r2 in my main list. It has been worh it over and over. I usually gind a good time to breaknoff from engagements and get outside of arcs/range when I regen a shield. I usually dont get to shoot anyway as there is no target.

8 hours ago, GreenDragoon said:

Most regen comes with a cost and is limited. That is a good or at least ok mechanic. It turns into a problem once these limits are circumvented.

The Han build with ID, R2 crew and Kanan can ignore all costs almost all the time, and has in principle unlimited regen. Kanan removed the stress of ID, R2 regens the shield, R2 doesn't deal a weapons disabled, R2 has no charges, and Han's ability lets you reroll the R2 downside resulting in 75% chance for no consequences.

I see why that combination is problematic and it would be a good idea to change it so that there are costs to regen and i6 movement changes. That being said I disagree that this Han build is a game breaking or overly frustrating NPE, but that is subjective and not the point of this thread.

So, regen with cost: yay. Regen without consequences: nay.

The normal R2 astromech still lets you 'ignore' the consequences if you for example bump or run far enough. But that is an entirely different way because you still had to adjust your movement and plan.

On top, I think ALL regen should be limited, probably with charges.

That makes regen a viable choice without breaking the game.

I agree with this. In the case of Han, yes it's true you'll only only have a 9/64 chance of flipping a crit, but in the case that said crit is a structural damage or a panicked pilot, poor Han is very very screwed. It's fluffy though because he likes to play the odds. On the other hand, even a direct hit, a blinded pilot, a fuel leak, a hull breach, etc. will lose him a health point, which cancels R2's ability, or an action, which is even worse.

I could be wrong but it seems to me that you'd want to use R2 as little as possible to avoid the negative consequences. The best thing is to dodge and keep him from losing his shields in the first place. Once the shields are gone, R2 is worth his salt, but he is expensive and he might hurt you in the long run.

Definitely not broken, doesn't even seem NPE to me. If you're going to come at me with only 2 ships with minimal mods, I welcome it. If you can beat me with those, you've earned my respect and deserve it.

14 minutes ago, ClassicalMoser said:

I agree with this. In the case of Han, yes it's true you'll only only have a 9/64 chance of flipping a crit, but in the case that said crit is a structural damage or a panicked pilot, poor Han is very very screwed. It's fluffy though because he likes to play the odds. On the other hand, even a direct hit, a blinded pilot, a fuel leak, a hull breach, etc. will lose him a health point, which cancels R2's ability, or an action, which is even worse.

I could be wrong but it seems to me that you'd want to use R2 as little as possible to avoid the negative consequences. The best thing is to dodge and keep him from losing his shields in the first place. Once the shields are gone, R2 is worth his salt, but he is expensive and he might hurt you in the long run.

Definitely not broken, doesn't even seem NPE to me. If you're going to come at me with only 2 ships with minimal mods, I welcome it. If you can beat me with those, you've earned my respect and deserve it.

Man, do you even know what ship you're talking about.

17 hours ago, svelok said:

I think the biggest change to regen is small/medium base half points. That matters a lot.

Believe it or not there is some truth here. I was able to deny points at a hyperspace event because I did get both shields back after taking 2 regular damage to the ships hull.

The R2 regen also gets around the crit which says no actions other than repairing crits. Another plus is at 4 points it’s cheaper than taking a Shield upgrade especially on ships with at least 2 Agility. And on ships with one agility the cost is the same as a shield upgrade meaning if you can use both charges your getting more for the same cost.