For those interested: https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2019/10/30/the-royal-award-ceremony/

only 30 first order players

I like how the top separatist ships are just the Vulture's two generics

😛

really surprised that ESC isn't one of the top upgrades, though

The best performing CIS lists were Sear swarms without ESC - one ESC swarm made top 64 but the ones without were much more numerous in the cut and made it further:

https://listfortress.com/tournaments/1251

34 minutes ago, ficklegreendice said:

I like how the top separatist ships are just the Vulture's two generics

😛

really surprised that ESC isn't one of the top upgrades, though

I don't know if I'm more surprised that ESC isn't or that Grappling Struts is.

Umm, which is Resistance and which is Rebel? They could have used better graphics for those two factions. Based on the numbers, I can guess which is which.

1 hour ago, Dezlin said:

only 30 first order players

Its more depressing than that we only had 25 but 5 made the cut.....

On the bright side we should probably get 1 to 2 releases next year not including the tie ba and that should make for a better showing next year.

Heroic officially 3rd-most-used upgrade in the game after Crack Shot and Struts. And that in the second-to-least-represented faction at worlds.

Well yeah, Heroic is central to the viability of Resistance ships

Without it, it'd be like Vultures without networked calculation

The count is also inflated by the fact that even scrub As get talent slots

There's also no gauge of "no upgrades" per ship

Finally, I'd think Crackshot being a staple in every faction raises far more flags than heroic

("Flags" in this case meaning "there are very few generally useful talents worth spending points on")

So, before we dredge up the silly idea of nerfing Heroic, we should rename it to "total crackshot domination." That would be more reflective of the consequences of such a change.

I'm not necessarily saying Heroic needs a nerf, but if not I'd like to see faction talents treated in similar fashion.

30 minutes ago, ficklegreendice said:

Well yeah, Heroic is central to the viability of Resistance ships

Without it, it'd be like Vultures without networked calculation

This is silly. Does anyone else actually think that this is or should be the case? If they're overpriced, that should be corrected. If they're not, I don't know where this argument is coming from. And if it's supposed to be stapled to all of the ships, why don't they all have a second talent slot, or even a first talent slot in some cases?

No one says this about TIE Strikers, RZ-1s, or T-65s. I really don't see how it makes sense at all.

Why is it silly for different factions to be designed differently? We don't want everyone to be the same, do we?

Heroic is a great mechanic that scales really well with focus (since it eliminates rolls in which focus tokens don't matter). Combine this with a selection of ships that do not have forcus or other forms of easy access to focus tokens, and you have a neat little reward for getting your action on your elite pilots.

Without focus, Heroic is kinda sad. What does this mean in practice? Well, if your ace is out of position and getting swiss cheesed, Heroic isn't going to bail them like Forcus would. So, it's not enough just to get your action...you gotta get your action AND be in a decent position to leverage the most out of your elite ships.

I really love the design of this talent, as it really highlights the kind of engagements you want to be taking with elite resistance pilots (one-on-one or one-on-none). The only exception here is Finn, because his ability is borked.

Heroic also furthers design space by allowing the developers to put "bad" (situational) abilities on ships without derping them out of viability. Abilities like Ello's or Nien's obviously have their place, but they aren't even remotely in the same league as more passive dice modification abilities the likes of which Vader so very much enjoys. Heroic helps level the playing field a little.

What about pilots without Heroic? Well, that's where you get your Baristans and your Pavas. They've got super solid and efficient dice-modifiers, and not a talent slot in sight!

Resistance really seems like a faction designed around Heroic, and there's nothing wrong with that. Every faction has their gimmicks.

But hey, that hasn't stopped folks from putting Crackshot on their resistance pilots! Other talents, though? Not so much

One tidbit I found somewhat interesting is that between 19.6% and 28.8% of each faction made the cut to Day 2. That seems like a more even spread than I would have expected.

3 hours ago, ficklegreendice said:

Finally, I'd think Crackshot being a staple in every faction raises far more flags than heroic

Im not sure this is a case were usage rate indicates a problem that needs solving.

102 Lists at Worlds ran Crackshot with a cut rate of 5%.
38 Lists at Worlds ran Heroic with a cut rate of 18%
41 Lists at Worlds ran Predator with a cut rate of 19%.
Average cut rate being 23%.

Not the only relevant thing here, and I hesitated to even post these #s since evaluating crackshots pt cost doesnt really require them but its at least useful to look at this in addition to usage rate. Again not saying the two cards listed need cost increases either just including it for reference.

What would be neat to see is Charge Spend Rate...though we dont have access to that and it might not matter either.

Built in Restrictions:

• Bullseye Only
• Single Use Charge
• Unavailable to Force Users ( Expect Ani N1 )
• Can go unused during an entire 75 min game
• Its substantially more difficult to use for ships without repositions, or repositions linked to modification
• Lower/Mid Init Ships are less able to line up bullseye
• Players can choose to reposition out of bullseye ( also a benefit of the card )
• Does Not Work Against Re-Enforce which many large/medium base ships have access to
• Most importantly its a card that requires some amount of in game dial set up ( not just action/modification decisions ) for the points to be "used".

Im not sure what good a points increase to crackshot would accomplish without substantial changes to a ton of other cards.

3 hours ago, Dezlin said:

only 30 first order players

It's been an honor flying with my 29 comrades. A whole bunch of us were only 1 game off! And to the 5 that did make day 2, we're proud of you literally sticking to your guns in a faction underrated simply by the absence of new content. Well, when QD can get replaced by Vonreg (who has to defend significantly fewer times and can repeatedly debuff opponents (all better than a bonus shot or 3, as good as Quickdraw is)), we'll convert many more to our cause!

But so glad that Empire won! Phantoms!

36 minutes ago, Boom Owl said:

Im not sure this is a case were usage rate indicates a problem that needs solving.

102 Lists at Worlds ran Crackshot with a cut rate of 5%.
38 Lists at Worlds ran Heroic with a cut rate of 18%
41 Lists at Worlds ran Predator with a cut rate of 19%.
Average cut rate being 23%.

Not the only relevant thing here, and I hesitated to even post these #s since evaluating crackshots pt cost doesnt really require them but its at least useful to look at this in addition to usage rate. Again not saying the two cards listed need cost increases either just including it for reference.

What would be neat to see is Charge Spend Rate...though we dont have access to that.

Built in Restrictions:

• Bullseye Only
• Single Use Charge
• Unavailable to Force Users ( Expect Ani N1 )
• Can go unused during an entire 75 min game
• Its substantially more difficult to use for ships without repositions, or repositions linked to modification
• Lower/Mid Init Ships are less able to line up bullseye
• Players can choose to reposition out of bullseye ( also a benefit of the card )
• Does Not Work Against Re-Enforce which many large/medium base ships have access to
• Most importantly its a card that requires some amount of in game dial set up ( not just action/modification decisions ) for the points to be "used".

Im not sure what good a points increase to crackshot would accomplish without substantial changes to a ton of other cards.

Well written, Boomster.

Thought I'd add one other thought to point six. I ran quad vipers in a recent hyperspace event.

I played seven games, so over those seven games I theoretically could have triggered Crack Shot 28 times.

I doubt that I even triggered it 10 times during the whole event.

I'm guessing my average is normally between one and two times per game.

I don't think it really needs any points increase. I believe the reason it's being used so often now is more because of the lack of other 1-2 point EPTs.

1 hour ago, joeshmoe554 said:

One tidbit I found somewhat interesting is that between 19.6% and 28.8% of each faction made the cut to Day 2. That seems like a more even spread than I would have expected.

Yup. This is the biggest pleasant surprise of the data.

Faction-Specific Talents:

________

Resistance: Heroic

Scum: Crack Shot

Rebels: Crack Shot

Empire: Crack Shot

First Order: Nothing

Republic: Sense

Seperatists: Trade Fed. Drone

____

That's it, right? ......

......

no

the separatist talent is Grappling Struts :p

and note, I don't actually think Crackshot is a problem. I'm just holding up as a reference as to why Heroic isn't a problem either. People have a weird idea that nerfing heroic would somehow allow for a greater variety of talent choices, and I think Worlds showed pretty definitively that said "choices" would be "Crackshot"

Crackshot/Heroic aren't op; other talents just aren't as worthwhile

8 minutes ago, ficklegreendice said:

no

the separatist talent is Grappling Struts 😛

All humor aside, what if it was?? Seps = droids, and most especially the Vulture.

15 minutes ago, ficklegreendice said:

Crackshot/Heroic aren't op; other talents just aren't as worthwhile

Could use some more low cost and low impact options maybe? Of existing ones its hard to find any that should be decreased closer to 1. I imagine its tough for ffg to design 1-2 pt upgrades that are available to so many ships. Crackshot is kinda the sweet spot with so many built in restrictions.

There some decent options at least, predator, crack, heroic, fanatical, lone wolf, snapshot, squad leader, expert handling, composure, juke, swarm tactics, intimidation, and trickshot are all useful in several spots. I wonder about ruthless to, its worked ok for me in a few lists.

Any thoughts on some new 1 pt talents they could add?

Eh, I think they have a lot of fine ones that are just overcosted and/or favor high I too much

I think predator could easily be 1 point on i3-4, but if we just make it one point then we're buffing Soontir for no reason

Ditto stuff like outmanuever or elusive or fearless etc

Honestly, initiative is just so **** good that it's difficult to NOT benefit it more. I'm surprised there aren't more scaling costs by initiative

2 hours ago, player3010587 said:

It's been an honor flying with my 29 comrades. A whole bunch of us were only 1 game off! And to the 5 that did make day 2, we're proud of you literally sticking to your guns in a faction underrated simply by the absence of new content. Well, when QD can get replaced by Vonreg (who has to defend significantly fewer times and can repeatedly debuff opponents (all better than a bonus shot or 3, as good as Quickdraw is)), we'll convert many more to our cause!

But so glad that Empire won! Phantoms!

I'm interested in the I4 and I5 ba as well. I definitely believe FO get at least two ships next year after the ba in Q4. They'll have enough content for three at least (TIE Dagger, TIE Whisper and/or Kylo's TIE, new TIE bomber from the Resistance show), and who knows what else will show up. Phasma + others in the card pack may turn the tide as well.

2 hours ago, underling said:

Well written, Boomster.

Thought I'd add one other thought to point six. I ran quad vipers in a recent hyperspace event.

I played seven games, so over those seven games I theoretically could have triggered Crack Shot 28 times.

I doubt that I even triggered it 10 times during the whole event.

I'm guessing my average is normally between one and two times per game.

I don't think it really needs any points increase. I believe the reason it's being used so often now is more because of the lack of other 1-2 point EPTs.

Same Trial, I had Heroic on two ships. It triggered three times during 6 games (one concession), two of those times from two blank greens into two more blank greens.

I didn’t save my focus for defense to blank out twice in a row. Make Heroic free! (Not really)

1 hour ago, ficklegreendice said:

Crackshot/Heroic aren't op; other talents just aren't as worthwhile

Completely agree.

I think all if all faction talents were priced as the "THIS IS A STEAL" of their faction's options, we'd see some competition away from Crack.

........

But crack should probably go up to 2 anyway. People will STILL take it, I promise.

.....

Edit: I'm talking, like 0 pt Ruthless.

Auto slapping faction talents probably wouldn't break the game... Probably?

2 hours ago, Bucknife said:

Faction-Specific Talents:

________

Resistance: Heroic

Scum: Crack Shot

Rebels: Crack Shot

Empire: Crack Shot

First Order: Nothing

Republic: Sense

Seperatists: Trade Fed. Drone

____

That's it, right? ......

......

For FO you could possibly list Fanatical .