Poe dropped a whole point in the last update, and with new Poe arriving soon, I take a last look at what can work and what may not work so well on the Resistance's "best pilot*".

Poe Dameron: Building a Better Flyboy

*: Actual best pilot not guaranteed.

Thanks for the blog.

I've written ad-nauseum about Resistance since they dropped in wave 2, so most people here already know what I'd say about Poe and the gang.

For me, the future competitive viability of Resistance really rests in how ffg balance the tech slot and what new Faction-limited mods/configs/titles come out for them in the future.

Ep9 spoilers:

A Battle of Exegol pack would be awesome for Resistance to get access to Generic N1s, Protectorates, etc to further diversify their roster.

I really miss Poe’s old ability.... it was good but even if he still had it, I don’t think it would make him S tier.

Plus it can’t be combined with old Autothrusters...

It’s just that he doesn’t benefit from PTL that much.... he’s a jouster that needs to K turn. And his I6 is only about as half as useful as he’s not really a good arc dodger...

If the knew pilot is say 60-62 points I’d love that. If it’s the same cost, it’s DOA.

Compared to all these other hyper action, hyper mobile ships that don’t even take stress and have passive force mods.... he just falls flat. I honestly don’t think he’d break the game at 60 points.

This is my current bare bones build. Basically he’s just one of the guys... fly him formation or just a slight offset so they have to turn away from Finn.

Heroes At Work

(67) Poe Dameron [T-70 X-wing]
(0) Jamming Beam
(0) Integrated S-foils
(1) Heroic
Points: 68

(44) Red Squadron Expert [T-70 X-wing]
(0) Jamming Beam
(0) Integrated S-foils
(1) Heroic
Points: 45

(44) Red Squadron Expert [T-70 X-wing]
(0) Jamming Beam
(0) Integrated S-foils
(1) Heroic
Points: 45

(29) Finn [Resistance Transport Pod]
(8) Perceptive Copilot
(1) Heroic
(4) Advanced Optics
Points: 42

Total points: 200

I have to agree, compared to Vader, where is the action economy. If Poe's ability was spend a charge to do a free white action then it might be worth it, the stress hampers him entirely.

I too miss his old ability. It gave the ship some added passive mods that the best non-jedi pilot in the galaxy needed. It kept the ship alive a little longer. Which is what you want out of your expensive ace.

My hopes are that we will see his old ability come back through another mod. Maybe a new title mod or the resistance R2-D2?

10 hours ago, JBFancourt said:

I really miss Poe’s old ability.... it was good but even if he still had it, I don’t think it would make him S tier.

He'd still be quite strong defensively. Basically Luke Skywalker with Heroic and Shield Upgrade. Offense would be lacking.

But I suppose there's no more unlimited R2-D2... Or whatever that "spend a focus to regain a shield" droid was called... so he probably couldn't quite points fortress.

10 hours ago, JBFancourt said:

This is my current bare bones build.

I keep thinking Just-Heroic Poe might be sufficient. Like, Black One and R4 are nice... but probably stuff you can cut. If Poe's just a blunt-force one-of-the-guys, maybe it'd be enough.

The real fly in the ointment is this build just does ASTOUNDINGLY better every time. And others like it. *according to my tts research 😜

Chewie’s Chums

(61) Chewbacca [Scavenged YT-1300]
(5) Agile Gunner
(2) Contraband Cybernetics
Points: 68

(44) Red Squadron Expert [T-70 X-wing]
(0) Jamming Beam
(0) Integrated S-foils
(1) Heroic
Points: 45

(44) Red Squadron Expert [T-70 X-wing]
(0) Jamming Beam
(0) Integrated S-foils
(1) Heroic
Points: 45

(29) Finn [Resistance Transport Pod]
(8) Perceptive Copilot
(1) Heroic
(4) Advanced Optics
Points: 42

Total points: 200

Same exact build but Chewie just does a ton of work...

8 hours ago, JBFancourt said:

The real fly in the ointment is this build just does ASTOUNDINGLY better every time. And others like it. *according to my tts research 😜

Chewie’s Chums

(61) Chewbacca [Scavenged YT-1300]
(5) Agile Gunner
(2) Contraband Cybernetics
Points: 68

(44) Red Squadron Expert [T-70 X-wing]
(0) Jamming Beam
(0) Integrated S-foils
(1) Heroic
Points: 45

(44) Red Squadron Expert [T-70 X-wing]
(0) Jamming Beam
(0) Integrated S-foils
(1) Heroic
Points: 45

(29) Finn [Resistance Transport Pod]
(8) Perceptive Copilot
(1) Heroic
(4) Advanced Optics
Points: 42

Total points: 200

Same exact build but Chewie just does a ton of work...

Well thier in lays the crux of the issue. For 1 point more you can now field Rey. Han is 4 points cheaper! Nien with PA is far more efficient when in the mix and with Heroic still 6 points cheaper. Simply put there are better alternatives for the price of Poe.

Poe is no where near as efficient as Vader, he can't double stack defence tokens, he doesn't have passive mods like Fenn, Boba. Without passive mods, at least defensively, X-wing don't last long. Two dice defence will not protect you as much as first addition and its telling on any ace in an X-wing. The chassis isn't an arc dodger and loading him up limits the rest of your list. His payment for an extra action hampers him far to much.

Arguably you can say that Vader is underpriced, but still I don't think Poe is 12 points more ship than Nien.

So how do you fix Poe? Sure we can lower the price but the guy is supposed to be the best pilot in galaxy and price drop won't reflect that. So what new upgrade could make him shine as a credible ace?

- Already suggested, bring back his 1E ability through another Resistance upgrade.

- Purhaps an exclusice Astromech that allowed you to shed 1 stress to another ship in the end phase. (This one is interesting because it would free up his movement, but also weaponise his ability.)

Any thoughts?

4 hours ago, Tyhar7 said:

Any thoughts?

Overdrive Thrusters will make Poe amazing. The same sort of people who complain about Fenn or Soontir sucking because they suck playing them will complain about OT for whatever reason, and they’ll be wrong.

2 hours ago, gennataos said:

Overdrive Thrusters will make Poe amazing. The same sort of people who complain about Fenn or Soontir sucking because they suck playing them will complain about OT for whatever reason, and they’ll be wrong.

Yeah I think they'll be pretty good on Poe (the question being how much they cost of course). Being able to choose from barrel roll or boost with the speed 1 or 2 template depending on the order you do your actions seems like it will be a huge help with positioning.

The new version of Temmin Wexley also lets him flip his S-Foils and get a calculate after doing the barrel roll, so you could do boost -> Red 2-speed barrel roll to arc dodge -> Open foils, calculate. Or if you don't need the boost, Target lock -> Speed 2 Barrel roll -> Foils + Calculate for a double-modified shot.

5 hours ago, gennataos said:

Overdrive Thrusters will make Poe amazing. The same sort of people who complain about Fenn or Soontir sucking because they suck playing them will complain about OT for whatever reason, and they’ll be wrong.

OT do have potential on Poe but I think they'll be priced by initiative and be DOA for the aces.

5 hours ago, Tyhar7 said:

OT do have potential on Poe but I think they'll be priced by initiative and be DOA for the aces.

I think them costing a lot could just end up being a feature for a points fortress.

Quick thought, OT with dare devil? That works right?

55 minutes ago, Tyhar7 said:

Quick thought, OT with dare devil? That works right?

Yep.

26 minutes ago, gennataos said:

Yep.

So a Nien, BB, dard devil, PA, OT with an old Poe, daredevil, PA, OT, would be pretty unpredictable....

OT is unique, I think.

11 hours ago, gennataos said:

I think them costing a lot could just end up being a feature for a points fortress.

Hence Jeff Berling's love for Lone Wolf Poe. You can be fine throwing torps on him bc Range 3 + focus + reroll is very tanky once caught.

But the spikiest and most thematic Poe will be New Poe + BB-8 + Overdrive Thrusters + Title + Leia somewhere + Underslung Blaster + no lock me Tech + Talent of choice. Not the best Poe, given his cost, but the flashiest and most thematic.

8 hours ago, gennataos said:

OT is unique, I think.

****... totally overlooked that. Hope that X-wing only upgrade is good then..

Still now I'm considering who's better with it? Nien's reposition power with that upgrade to trigger his ability seems to out way Poe to be honest.

If you want to points fortress Poe that would be the way to go but for efficiency and price I'd go with Nien.