torrents are they bad?

please let me know

i used them some and found they got destroyed early on and did little damage

They are perfect filler ships. I've been running two of them with Matchstick, Ric and Obie Wan.

If my opponent goes after the Torrents, I just take evade every time. They are there to soak up damage so the rest of my list does work.

2 hours ago, player3770772 said:

torrents are they bad?

please let me know

i used them some and found they got destroyed early on and did little damage

Torrents are kind of bad, but that's what makes them good. Their dial is trash. Really bad. They only have 2 red dice, and no shields. But this means that Torrents are cheap (25 points for a 5 health ship), and they actually have a pretty good set of actions. Focus, Evade, Lock, White Barrel Roll -> Red Evade. Z-95s would love to have that white Roll; TIE Fighters could sometimes make use out of that Lock--neither can link anything.

As a result of this, Torrents are very good at getting destroyed. Any attack into a Torrent is an attack not spend attacking a Jedi. The Gold Squadron Trooper probably the best cannon-fodder ship in X-Wing. Take an Evade, and it'll take at least 6 hits to bring one down, excepting bad crits. They're like early pawns in chess--sacrifice them to get activity and position with your other ships. They're worth so few points that any time your opponent spends attacking them is almost wasted. There's a 97% chance live through 2 attacks (3 red dice with Focus), 70%% chance to live through 3 attacks, and even a 38% chance to live through 4 attacks. Can you imaging spending 4 attacks to kill a 25 point ship? I mean, just think about how long that can take, and what can be accomplished in the meanwhile by your opponent.

The key is that, if you're getting after your opponent while they're killing the Torrents, it won't end well. You actually have to take advantage of that window of time you've been granted.

Also, Sinker Swarm (4 Torrents, Sinker in the ARC 170, some 6th ship--usually Ric Olie) is a solid list.

I don't play Republic, so I've only played against them, and watched a lot of games on stream.

They seem to be pretty effective for the point cost.

44 minutes ago, wurms said:

I'm thinking that dude is a Delta Squadron Pilot with no support ship.

The named pilots generally have bad abilities, high prices, or both. Generics are a staple. Don't rush in with them; just sorta meander into the fray, never presenting an appetizing target, until (almost suddenly) you're in the middle of things, blocking, taking up space, dealing chip damage. The analogy to pawns in chess is perfect. They may be expendable but it's no good throwing them away. Their main function is to be obnoxious, to be present, to limit your opponent's options by their mere existence.

Apart from the Good Trooper generic, the only pilot that may have value is now the Blue Protector generic with the snapshot talent

Tricky, but it's the cheapest snapshot platform the republic has and snapshot can basically double their damage output or force enemies into range 1 when they try to avoid it

Needs testing, however

Snappy Sinker

(54) "Sinker" [ARC-170 Starfighter]
(3) Hull Upgrade
Points: 57

(31) "Swoop" [V-19 Torrent Starfighter]
(7) Snap Shot
Points: 38

(28) Blue Squadron Protector [V-19 Torrent Starfighter]
(7) Snap Shot
Points: 35

(28) Blue Squadron Protector [V-19 Torrent Starfighter]
(7) Snap Shot
Points: 35

(28) Blue Squadron Protector [V-19 Torrent Starfighter]
(7) Snap Shot
Points: 35

Total points: 200

Why swoop? Boost shenanigans could be fun?

V-19s are amazing.

IF. They're Gold Squadron Troopers that are just flat out **** in the wind naked. You really don't want to run them any other way, literally do not even bother with the named pilots. Maybe they'll be good in a year, who knows.

But GSTs have given me ENDLESS success. You have to go in with this in mind.

They. Are going. TO DIE. Flat out! They're gonna' die! The sooner you accept that, the better. And hey, guess what, they might lose their actions a LOT too! But if they do that, chances are they're blocking, and blocking well.

They do their job by existing and being bastards. They also have a evade that can come in very very handy, and frankly they do have good dial options if you don't mind them being Twenty One Pilots fans.

Just remember. There is no torrent ace.

But they are extremely good as fillers. Honestly, I think they're the single best filler ship in the whole game.

I have had so much fun with Torrents! However, I have to support the general consensus that they're in the list to support key pieces and aren't the star themselves. After the July point tweak I've been fielding BSPs a bit more to take advantage of Devoted and the clutch rerolls for more important ships are absolutely worth it. I want to given 'em a go with Snapshot but haven't had the chance.

I will buck the tread and say that two named pilots are actually worth considering; Oddball and Tucker. Tucker is great as he'll so often have both evade and focus tokens enabling him be just soak up damage. Last time I even put concussion missiles on him for poops and giggles. Not going to lie, getting off two double modded missile strikes felt pretty good. Oddball makes a reasonable missile carrier by virtue of his initiative. His base price is still low enough to make for a none to shabby support piece scooting around, firing munitions as opportunities arise. Something like an archer hanging back from the fray to rain down ouchies.

I used to think Torrents were worthless cannon fodder until I started using them to fill out lists. As I played the Torrents, I found they are often ignored as opponents go after more dangerous ships. This allows the Torrents to use their modest attack to some effect. In my last match, a Torrent actually fired the shots into an opponent's last ship, gaining half points for me and forcing my opponent to concede. Don't discount Torrents.

I have no experience with republic (looking to get some though) but blue squadron protector+dedicated seems like a good idea. Keep your important pieces safe, and use the strain to mess with target priority. For 4 points more than a standard Goldie, it looks like a good idea on paper.

Sinker, 4 Gold Squadrons and Ric (either naked for a small bid or some flavor of astromech or talent).

Go in slow, and if you can judge the engagement distance right, you can block with one barrel rolling V19 and blast away at the blocked ship with 3 range one attacks from the other torrents with focus and rerolling one die. That’s pretty good, even ignoring Sinker’s native 3 die attack and Ric flanking and doing Ric things.

Havent played the list yet, but I dearly want to give it a whirl.

Alternatively, torrents sprinkled in with Jedi is a great bit of extra blocking power. My first list when Republic released was Anakin and Ahsoka (both with 7B and R2 astros) supported by 2 gold squadron troopers. It was a thing of beauty. Granted that list doesn’t work anymore, but Anakin and Obi-Wan with 7B and either 2 golds or Wolffe is still a great list.

Torrents are trash. But their value lies in them being trash.

Torrents are great, cheap blockers with a decent amount of health.

Don't ask them to do more.