Hi, I flew the Scyks at the Denver Open. I used a jamming beam once to strip the Reinforce token off a Palp shuttle in the fifth round to open it up to concentrated fire, then killed it the next turn.

The main key to the list is the two tractor beam Scyks, they help set up shots for the rest of the ships to help counterbalance the weakness of the two guns. Other than that, I tried to block as much as possible while still getting focuses and keep damaged scyks in places where there were better targets to shoot.

I also used an angled set-up to help give me the ability to react and shift my formation to how my opponent set up and give me a wide net to catch my prey in. Also, I try to avoid K-turning except when necessary, and only one or two of the ships at a time (unless it's later in the game and I have to keep guns on). Stressed Scyks often end up dead quickly.

It was a ton of fun to fly, and led to lots of close nail-biter games, which I love.

Thank you LoTech, that was an impressive run with a pure swarm. Congrats, you must have played very well.

6 minutes ago, LoTech said:

I used a jamming beam once to strip the Reinforce token off a Palp shuttle in the fifth round to open it up to concentrated fire, then killed it the next turn.

I wouldn't figure it was there often, and reinforce was the first thing I thought of when I saw the list. There's enough ships early on when knocking off that one agility is probably of more value that using the primary.

7 minutes ago, LoTech said:

The main key to the list is the two tractor beam Scyks, they help set up shots for the rest of the ships to help counterbalance the weakness of the two guns. Other than that, I tried to block as much as possible while still getting focuses and keep damaged scyks in places where there were better targets to shoot.

I figured this one. Shoot with the tractor beam first on the target and then unload with the firing line of popguns. Blocking is also key to prevent modifications which helps you to burn the enemy down faster while also protecting your own ships.

Yep, one of my favorite moments from the weekend was tractor pulling Duchess into range one of my front line and burning her down in the first engagement. I didn't end up winning that game, but that part made me feel good.

1 hour ago, LoTech said:

Yep, one of my favorite moments from the weekend was tractor pulling Duchess into range one of my front line and burning her down in the first engagement.

Did you ever Tractor anyone on obstacles? I have had more times than I could think in doing that. Even managed to take off the last hull for a number of them.

How well do you feel the dial with 1 banks and 1 hard turns helped you out?

15 minutes ago, heychadwick said:

Did you ever Tractor anyone on obstacles? I have had more times than I could think in doing that. Even managed to take off the last hull for a number of them.

How well do you feel the dial with 1 banks and 1 hard turns helped you out?

Yes I did a few games. In my first match it was crucial as I was able to take initiative and dump a Quad Jumper onto a rock (sweet irony) and a Z-95keep it from shooting back on two different turns. I won that game by 2 points. And I think it was in round 6 where I got a T-70 onto a rock and kept it blocked there for two or three more rounds. It's a little fuzzy now. I don't think rock damage ever killed anything though.

The 1 hards and banks are great, as once the fight engages I've found the entire match takes place in a very tight area (at least that's how it has played out for me), and those moves really help set up the blocks while still getting focuses. I also love the three and 5 K-turns as they give some good flexibility for when you have to turn around quickly. But I really miss the green 2 banks from the old 1st edition dial, right now stress really hurts with just 4 blue maneuvers.

7 minutes ago, LoTech said:

The 1 hards and banks are great, as once the fight engages I've found the entire match takes place in a very tight area (at least that's how it has played out for me), and those moves really help set up the blocks while still getting focuses. I also love the three and 5 K-turns as they give some good flexibility for when you have to turn around quickly.

I fly a list with a lot of Kihraxes as well as Tractor Beam Scyk and I find the same thing. Reducing Agility by 1 and a lot of R1 shots really makes a difference.

I won with 3 fangs and Fenn in a hyperspace tournament. Now that I'm heading for a system open, I'm thinking of switching one of those fangs for Serissus + tractor beam + crack shot.

This should give me some added durability at range 3 (which Fangs don't perticularly like) and some shenanigans with the tractor beam to prevent the enemy from firing (either rolling them on an asteroid or out of arc). I'll test it out tonight and see how it performs.

I've had a decent run with Serissu back before the points adjustment (and obviously in extended)

She's a good friend to HWKs and casters alike, since they're not necessarily as "all over the place" as Vipers/fangs, and even greatly amplified the survivability of the Kim at range 3

Had a lot of fun with Palob, Sabine; Seri with ion + swarm tactics. Probably would axe Swarm Tactics, as Seri isn't THE WORST thing as a pseudo 3-red-dice, four-agility (ability works on herself) I 5 "ace"

In hyperspace, not sure where she'd fit as there isn't much formation flying in scum. Best I'd imagine is with Xizor and some scrubs.

I tried my build of 2 x Fang, Fenn and Serissu... and it was hilarious (for me)! Not so much if you're the guy shooting Fenn at range 1 and realizing that he has a focus, the title, 4 evade dice and a reroll from Serissu.

wonder how autoblasters will change the scyk up

honestly, the card seems rather weak as it now only provides uncancelable CRIT results provided you're out of arc, but if we get something like ye ole Calculating...

I think it will highly depend on the cost. If it is 4 points I think it could add some good potential power boost to the Scyks, especially in a scrum where it's a bit harder for opponents to avoid the bullseye, so you get the benefit of the extra die, plus it gives incentive for opponents to spend an action avoiding bullseye rather than taking a die modification. I do look forward to experimenting with it, but I hope the cost isn't more than 4.

Autoblasters really reek of like a 2 point upgrade

I'd have to imagine they're no better than a 2-die primary 90% of the time

24 minutes ago, ficklegreendice said:

wonder how autoblasters will change the scyk up

honestly, the card seems rather weak as it now only provides uncancelable CRIT results provided you're out of arc, but if we get something like ye ole Calculating...

So, even if we ignore the card text...

It's the first potential 4 dice at range 1 cannon that does pure damage. (HLC being both R2-3 and also bullseye locked). Seems beneficial?

You can get the dice from eg ion cannon, but not the damage.

I'd peg them at ion cannon levels personally. Pure damage cannons ought to be expensive and at 2 points they would probably offset the scyks overpricing.

Marksmanship is where it really shines. If you land a bullseye from outside arc, you’ve just guaranteed a crit to go through. Throw that on your flanker and now you have a very potent threat for a pretty good bargain.

It’s really just the B-Wing that’s disappointed here

Autoblaster is three effects.

1. The first effect the mere fact of a cannon. Mostly a drawback for preventing primary-weapon based abilities such as Predator and Crack Shot, but potentially useful to IG-88 B (weak range and dice, but it's still a follow-up shot) and XG-1 Starwings (shoot while disarmed with a 2-dice weapon isn't huge, but it's not bad).
2. Second is of an extra attack die in Bullseye at Range 1-2. A nice and almost surely fair effect for anyone starting with a 2-dice primary. Not that different from Heavy Laser Cannon, in it's way.
3. Third is uncancellable crit while out-of-arc. This one is worrysome. There's a lot of conditions on it, but unpreventable damage is probably never going to not make me nervous. If it weren't for this, I'd totally think it fair as a 2 (or maybe even 1) point upgrade, since it has a really niche use. But with this unpreventable crit damage, it'll have a lot of Fang-killing potential. Not sure how much it'll matter against many other ships. I'd love to see it put into the dice calculator.

There's a whole lot more than fangs out there now that don't have any shields to speak of...

30 minutes ago, svelok said:

So, even if we ignore the card text...

It's the first potential 4 dice at range 1 cannon that does pure damage. (HLC being both R2-3 and also bullseye locked). Seems beneficial?

You can get the dice from eg ion cannon, but not the damage.

You can't ignore the cardtext

Bullseye is very difficult to land without an initiative advantage (and arguably boost too)

Otherwise, having to be out of arc AND roll a critical? It's a cascade of "easier said than done"

It should be cheap to reward good flying rather than hampering the player with excessive point costs that are ONLY worth it if they fly exceptionally

(Imo, hlc is also a 2/3 point upgrade)

In comparison to ions giving you a "soft" 3-die primary, bullseye cannons are just not in the same league

3 minutes ago, thespaceinvader said:

There's a whole lot more than fangs out there now that don't have any shields to speak of...

But fangs are also the ones which tend to have the evade results.

Like, against a Vulture or Torrent or ARC after a few hits, who cares about the auto-crit effect? They probably aren't evading it anyhow.

I guess there are other ships which have the green dice consistency and the low-shields, but I've been playing against a bunch of fangs recently, and just had them on my mind.

Anything can get lucky especially if you end up with just the one crit.

Mostly, I just want to see the damage calc with them. It'd be nice to see how things math out.

What is the text for Autoblaster Cannon? I'm old and my eyesight sucks.

Quote

Attack: If the defender is in your Bullseye arc, roll 1 additional die. During the Neutralize Results step, if you are not in the defender's Front Arc, Evade results cannot cancel Critical results.

Range 1-2, 2 Attack

I think bullseye at range one will come in to play more often, especially if you can swarm with this, so at least some of the ships can make use of the arc. Serrisu will probably like the cannon as well since she's high enough skill to try and position the arc.

Autoblaster is really interesting, lots of text on that card and it's effectiveness is totally dependent on skilled flying since if you are head on with a target at range 1-2 but not in bullseye then it is no better than the primary on a Scyk. T-70s may like it as well.

It will come down to cost. I hope it is less than 5 points.

3 minutes ago, Burius1981 said:

Autoblaster is really interesting, lots of text on that card and it's effectiveness is totally dependent on skilled flying since if you are head on with a target at range 1-2 but not in bullseye then it is no better than the primary on a Scyk. T-70s may like it as well.

It will come down to cost. I hope it is less than 5 points.

Could be good for pulling aggro off a squishy key piece.