So I've never flew FO before but always was interested. After the points release and B&N "release", I decided to try them out. I flew this list last week at my LGS and went 1-1. I'm tempted to switch Hate with Heightened Perception on Kylo. I've used it in the past on lower initiative force users and it has won me many games. I'm not used to Aces as I usually are more of a joust player. It is crazy how maneuverable these ships are. I guess I'm just asking for a critique or any ideas on a more efficient FO Ace's build.

Major Vonreg (57)
Daredevil (2)
Ship total: 59 Half Points: 30 Threshold: 2

"Quickdraw" (45)
Fanatical (2)
Special Forces Gunner (10)
Ship total: 57 Half Points: 29 Threshold: 3

Kylo Ren (76)
Hate (3)
Ship total: 79 Half Points: 40 Threshold: 3

Total: 195

View in Yet Another Squad Builder 2.0: https://raithos.github.io/?f=First Order&d=v8ZsZ200Z381X117WWWY243X181WWW182WWY236X204WWW&sn=Unnamed Squadron&obs=

Hate is WAY better than Heightened perception imo, but tbh, I would consider Kylo's most important upgrade to be AdOps. You can fit both, but you lose some bid, so I would probably run Kylo just with AdOps.

Vonreg is PRIME as you have him.

QD, meanwhile, really deserves FCS imo. Off the hop, you are getting at least one mod on every shot. Sure, once shields are gone FCS has less value than Fanatical, but FCS always has value, while Fanatical ONLY has value after the double shots are over

5 hours ago, Greebwahn said:

Hate is WAY better than Heightened perception imo, but tbh, I would consider Kylo's most important upgrade to be AdOps. You can fit both, but you lose some bid, so I would probably run Kylo just with AdOps.

Vonreg is PRIME as you have him.

QD, meanwhile, really deserves FCS imo. Off the hop, you are getting at least one mod on every shot. Sure, once shields are gone FCS has less value than Fanatical, but FCS always has value, while Fanatical ONLY has value after the double shots are over

Yeah, Kylo with just AO is noice, then adding on FCS to QD will bring you up to 198.

I've got unorthodox and possibly bad Quickdraw ideas, but I'd consider Proud Tradition, if going for a cheap build. FCS means you're locking rather than Focusing, which will make it easier to strip your shields. Fanatical is only good for a slow-drip of damage after your shields are gone. Proud Tradition, however, allows you to pull a Segnor's Loop and take a focus, which is handy. If an opponent takes a crit to flip it, Quickdraw probably doesn't mind, since QD is mostly about ace-killing, rather than being an ace. They're kinda like Wedge.

Granted, maybe Crack Shot just would work better, since it doesn't have a potential downside.

//

Haven't played Vonreg, but to some extent I think it's probably similar. The win condition of the list is probably be to trade at least Quickdraw and maybe also Vonreg for your opponent's Init 6 and late-moving Init 5 ships, and use Kylo to win in the end.

//

Hate and Optics are both (individually and separately) popular upgrades on Kylo. They're both good, but neither is mandatory, and can easily be exchanged for more bid, or upgrades on someone else. Hate just lets Kylo do the same stuff a bit better, since he'll have a few more force. Optics helps hit hard (a bit harder than just Locking), but kind of requires Kylo to Focus a bunch. Focus is good (flexible targeting and with defensive potential), but sometimes you just want to double reposition.

Heightened Perception is a meta-call. If you're facing a lot of Init 5 and 6 stuff, I can see it being worth it. Getting a kill on someone before they attack is immensely useful. However, I think most of the time it probably isn't worth it.

Want to add something to the discussion:

The meta is heavily dominated by 4+x ship lists. In such an environment I really want aces that can double reposition or at least link br/boost in a focus or evade. QD really struggles here. No natural boost and no linked actions (to get tokens) is a no go for me atm, as well as the lack of the 3rd green dice. How important the ability of double repositioning is showed Andrew Bunn while he was playing at the Las Vegas Grand Championship. I can’t recommend enough watching those games.

Becaus of that my FO ace build looks like that:

Kylo Ren (76)

Major Vonreg (57)

"Rush" (57)
Total: 190

View in Yet Another Squad Builder 2.0

Naked Vonreg is better than QD if you can fly him right imo, so practice is everything. Kylo is one of the best ships in the game and Rush is a really good blocker and turns into a pain in the endgame. The most important part is that all ships are able to double reposition themselfes.

You also have 10 points to work with. I like Adv. Optics on Kylo because of an 84% chance of rolling 3 hits. Maybe put Daredevil on Vonreg or go for the bid.