So this is not a list question, but something I have not found a clear answer to. If you have Thane with a focus token: What would you prefer? spend the focus to gain more hits, or flip a card? If you know the odds that your hits will count (actually make damage), would you rather have 1 more damage in, or flip a card? Anyone here with some general advice on how to be effective with Thane?

It can depend on the situation, for example a ship 1 hit away from half points or death you might want to try for damage no matter what, or you have just 1 focus result in your attack pool and have a return shot incoming you might want to save that focus for defense.

In general, I think I'd favor debilitating crit (such as a Direct Hit you already know about) = spend anything, 2+ focus die = spend focus token, 1 focus die = spend focus result, shooting at 4+ green dice/ 3+ green dice behind cloud with tokens = think about spending hit/crit even with 3 hit/crit results.

Thanks for your insights! Do you also make your decision based on how many damage cards you can choose from? (the chance to have a relevant critical effect for the situation/pilot)

I have played lately with a squad with 4 I5-pilots. Thane is one of them, so there is a higher chance of having some damage cards to flip when he shoots.

I usually target lock with thane and spend any eyeballs after using the lock

5 hours ago, Amc879 said:

I usually target lock with thane and spend any eyeballs after using the lock

In my setup, Thane ends up very often with both target lock and focus.

But I agree with that tl is the preffered action to take when possible

Depends on a lot of variables. I am usually flying against Thane, as he is in my brother's list a lot. The games right now are Vader, Stele and "Duchess" vs Wedge, Luke and Thane. I can tell you, Thane can be quite annoying. I only let him play it, because Maarek Stele with Marksmanship is even more annoying.

I noticed he tends to choose to flip cards, when he knows what kind already are on the target. With low hull on Imperial ships, he loves forcing me into maneuvers, knowing where I end up next round. Range 3 through an obstacle is also a good point to flip cards, as chances of hitting something are super slim. Thance can easily take Target Lock and burn it immedietly.

1. More than 3 Green Dice.
2. Focused and with returning fire incoming.
3. Knowing the crits on the enemy already. Direct Hit and Hull Breach are quite potent, especially the second one. First you flip it up, then potentially throw some Hits into the target from the remaining results.

There are a lot of variables that go into deciding whether or not to spend the result or not... for me, I think these are my generic guidelines (every situation is unique, of course!)

• Don't spend a result if...
  • You can't (duh!). If the enemy doesn't have damage cards, your effect can't even trigger. Other things might stop you from spending, like a lock from Midnight.
  • You're sacrificing a (virtually) guaranteed score (half damage or a kill). For example, if you have 3 hits on a 1 agility ship with 2 hull left, let the dice do the work.
  • You roll REALLY well. Sometimes, a range-1 hit-hit-crit-crit is worth keeping everything on, because ultimately, you do need to actually KILL the enemy ship.
• Spend a result if...
  • You already know about a juicy Critical card in the stack. Direct Hit is the obvious answer, but Hull Breach and Panicked Pilot are other great options.
  • You roll badly. No sense chasing a hit if the dice fail you for a round - take the free effect.
  • You're unlikely to land damage. Rolling against a 3-agility ship at range 3 behind a gas cloud means that, no matter how good your attack, it's probably not getting through.
  • You wouldn't be using that die anyway. Sometimes Thane wants to keep a focus token for defense, so that focus result on offense is only good for a card flip.
  • You're flying against a ship that can avoid crits. Impervium Plating comes to mind: nothing sweeter than giving General Grievous a Weapons Failure or Fuel Leak, that he thought he was immune to.

Constructive answers to find here! In a list with all I5:

would you shoot with Thane first, if he had no focus to use (because he has incoming fire/tl lock instead) on enemies when the enemy has mods, or fire last when the enemy has no mods left, because the rest of the squadron shots have forced the enemy pilot to spend the mods

7 hours ago, Minimono said:

Constructive answers to find here! In a list with all I5:

would you shoot with Thane first, if he had no focus to use (because he has incoming fire/tl lock instead) on enemies when the enemy has mods, or fire last when the enemy has no mods left, because the rest of the squadron shots have forced the enemy pilot to spend the mods

Definitely shooting with Thane last up until the enemy has had accumulated some damage cards. Against a shielded ship, Thane is literally an INI5 generic pilot. Whereas against an unshielded ship, he can do a meaningful work even rolling just a single eyeball.

As soon as an enemy obtained a damage card I'd prioritize shooting with Thane because he's your best shot at handicapping the target against subsequent attacks (Hull Breach, Fuel Leak, Structural Damage), ensuring the escaping enemy ship lands out of the fight for a while (Loose Stabilizer, Panicked Pilot, Damaged Engines) or neutering it's return fire so you can be more careless spending your focus on attack (Weapons Failure, Blinded Pilot).

12 hours ago, Ryfterek said:

Definitely shooting with Thane last up until the enemy has had accumulated some damage cards. Against a shielded ship, Thane is literally an INI5 generic pilot. Whereas against an unshielded ship, he can do a meaningful work even rolling just a single eyeball.

As soon as an enemy obtained a damage card I'd prioritize shooting with Thane because he's your best shot at handicapping the target against subsequent attacks (Hull Breach, Fuel Leak, Structural Damage), ensuring the escaping enemy ship lands out of the fight for a while (Loose Stabilizer, Panicked Pilot, Damaged Engines) or neutering it's return fire so you can be more careless spending your focus on attack (Weapons Failure, Blinded Pilot).

More specifically... Thane wants to attack DAMAGED ships (1+ damage cards assigned), as opposed to UNDAMAGED ones (no damage cards)... this is completely independent of whether or not that ship is SHIELDED . Sometimes, you might have a damage card underneath some shields (R2 Astromechs allow shield regeneration, for example); Thane loves attacking them. Other ships without shields (like an undamaged TIE Fighter) can't be targeted with Thane's ability.

Otherwise, @Ryfterek has it right. Obviously, don't waste a shot with Thane, but in the early engagements, try to use other ships to land damage first, so Thane's ability can have some teeth. Later, if damaged ships are in his sights, using Thane first can sometimes improve your other shots. Remember that Thane's ability triggers during the modify attack dice step , meaning you might be able to find a Structural Damage, Fuel Leak, or Hull Breach before defense dice are rolled, meaning they'd be in effect for the remainder of the attack!

This is so useful advices I have got from you guys! Thanks a lot for taking the time for answer!