https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2020/9/16/fury-of-the-empire/

Was not expecting this today.

That said, I'm very excited for this ship! I wonder which of the two Configs will see more use. Personally, I wonder how well the Targeting Assist will work. I guess, though, that you can take a Lock and still get it to trigger. It's very interesting that it doesn't trigger at Range 1, making it an ideal not-blocker, and giving some pretty heavy anti synergy with Rampage.

I'm excited about this. I think we will see more of the targeting.. I mean with a rotate going into a white calculate.. that seems pretty darn good.

I am more excited than I thought I'd be about the Brute. From an aesthetic perspective I think it will look great alongside some /lns, and it's certainly looking like it's going to be a pretty solid ship of its own.

4 minutes ago, Kreen said:

Personally, I wonder how well the Targeting Assist will work. I guess, though, that you can take a Lock and still get it to trigger.

I know what you mean there Kreen, the manoeuvre assist just looks fantastic, but then I suppose I've probably been secretly lusting over R4 for all this time. I think the Targeting Assist might benefit the low pilot skill bodies, as it discourages the PS kill at least a little, that or give you the chance of spending your calculate on defence and then getting more back. You're right about the lack of R1, very much leaning into the Synced Cannons I feel.

The uniques look potentially decent but it's going to be a bit tough to make them work. Rampage can basically guarantee that some ace in front of him gets a strain so long as they don't supernat or advanced sensors out of the way. Lyttan is like inverse sinker and I'm so here for it, but is going to be tough to set up with what I imagine is a not-super-maneuverable ship and she's not getting shots herself on the target unless she turns in next to them (although she could just give up her shot and sprint up the board next to her target), and I'm not super optimistic on the power of an I3 medium base flanker, although the payoff is big.

One last thing of note is that this thing will be an absolute crit magnet, so prepare to be flying swiss cheese in half the games you play.

also, the article unironically advocates for using ablative plating and that's just hilarious

The Target Assist also has defensive value. It allows you to freely use that Reinforce action, without fully giving up on offensive dice mods.

1 minute ago, PhantomFO said:

The Target Assist also has defensive value. It allows you to freely use that Reinforce action, without fully giving up on offensive dice mods.

Reinforce is a green token, which shuts off the free calculates

18 minutes ago, That Blasted Samophlange said:

Take a lock, get 1 or 2 free calcs, deny range bonus as long as you don't spend the second calc. Seems pretty good.

Also, Target Assist is actionless mods, it has to be good right?

So they have a release date for 10/30 so still on schedule!

I think they look promising. Lytann dree looks fun. More excited than I thought I would be.

I'm less excited than expected about the tie/rb.

I will just take a Onyx Sentry with target-assist and synced laser has a heavy hitter with few tie/ln for escort just for fun.

7 minutes ago, PhantomFO said:

The Target Assist also has defensive value. It allows you to freely use that Reinforce action, without fully giving up on offensive dice mods.

6 minutes ago, pyoinator said:

Reinforce is a green token, which shuts off the free calculates

As you say pyoinator, it sadly doesn't work, however I'd somehow completely missed the reinforce was even there!

21 minutes ago, That Blasted Samophlange said:

I'm excited about this. I think we will see more of the targeting.. I mean with a rotate going into a white calculate.. that seems pretty darn good.

I think you actually make a great point, and I think it would be a more solid point if the chassis had higher Initiative pilots. Topping out at I4, right? Rampage seems to want the 3 Blues config more because of his ability. Maybe the I3s gets some use of the linked action depending on matchup. If there was a pilot with I5 or I6, though? They'd be able to fix target acquisition issues quite often, and then switch to Lock to rely on the card text if they've already got a target.

I think the lower I pilots still like Target-Assist, I just think they'll get more out of the card text than the linked action in most match-ups.

I'm really curious as to the slots that this ship will have. If I recall, not only did it have the droid brain, but also a gunner. Adding a gunner could be all kinds of fun.

I dont think anyone will take maneuver assist...

26 minutes ago, pyoinator said:

Reinforce is a green token, which shuts off the free calculates

Ah, drat. Stupid oversight on my part.

2 minutes ago, Gupa-nupa said:

I dont think anyone will take maneuver assist...

Yeah... Rampage is the only pilot I can see it being useful on. My guess its going to be a pretty cheap upgrade though while the Targeting one will not be.

1 minute ago, Gupa-nupa said:

I dont think anyone will take maneuver assist...

If they're running synced lasers, then it will probably be the cheaper way to get a Calculate action. I don't see that being more than a 2-point upgrade, and could even be a 0-1 pointer.

All that work resetting the game to equal out the power curve, and all we keep seeing is more and more and better action economy creeping into the game.

The ships that can reposition after a focus, evade or lock action are already dominant. Force users getting free double dice mods are already obviously stronger than equivalent ships.

Now we have a ship that can get slightly situation double mods for absolutely no cost.

Please note, I'm not saying the Brute looks particularly overpowered or will dominate on arrival or anything like that. I'm just looking at this thing compared with the T-65 and seeing my beloved X-Wings getting left behind again. It's slower than 1e, sure. But with each wave, the X-Wing seems able to do less and less.

In 1e, we ended up with a situation where every ship needed, at the bare minimum, a reposition action. 2e fixed that, and balanced the whole curve by making sure most ships had access to at least a red barrel roll. But now we're getting to a situation where every ship needs either a quality linked action, economy based ship ability or access to at least one free token or re-roll. And not every ship has that.

Ugh. Don't want to diminish anyone's excitement for this. I'm just a salty Rebel player frustrated by the lack of fun in the faction, the lack of competitive lists in the faction and the lack of any new content outside a handful of pilots for years.

Ya. I whole heartedly agree with you. I am however holding out hope for the Saws Renegrades pack. That would be a good way for them to bring the Xwing up to speed. Or in a Hotshots and aces v2.0

1 minute ago, GuacCousteau said:

All that work resetting the game to equal out the power curve, and all we keep seeing is more and more and better action economy creeping into the game.

The ships that can reposition after a focus, evade or lock action are already dominant. Force users getting free double dice mods are already obviously stronger than equivalent ships.

Now we have a ship that can get slightly situation double mods for absolutely no cost.

Please note, I'm not saying the Brute looks particularly overpowered or will dominate on arrival or anything like that. I'm just looking at this thing compared with the T-65 and seeing my beloved X-Wings getting left behind again. It's slower than 1e, sure. But with each wave, the X-Wing seems able to do less and less.

In 1e, we ended up with a situation where every ship needed, at the bare minimum, a reposition action. 2e fixed that, and balanced the whole curve by making sure most ships had access to at least a red barrel roll. But now we're getting to a situation where every ship needs either a quality linked action, economy based ship ability or access to at least one free token or re-roll. And not every ship has that.

Ugh. Don't want to diminish anyone's excitement for this. I'm just a salty Rebel player frustrated by the lack of fun in the faction, the lack of competitive lists in the faction and the lack of any new content outside a handful of pilots for years.

If you're referring to the Target Assist, I wouldn't say it's at no cost. Much like Passive Sensors, it does not trigger until you engage. You're going to be defenseless with a single agility die until it becomes your turn to shoot.

1 minute ago, PhantomFO said:

If you're referring to the Target Assist, I wouldn't say it's at no cost. Much like Passive Sensors, it does not trigger until you engage. You're going to be defenseless with a single agility die until it becomes your turn to shoot.

Okay?

Does that stop them spending a lock and up to two calculates on a 3 dice Synced cannon attack that denies the range bonus?

Xi thread: scum players whining about illicit slots

Brute thread: rebel players whining about... I'm not sure exactly

1 minute ago, svelok said:

Xi thread: scum players whining about illicit slots

Brute thread: rebel players whining about... I'm not sure exactly

Ah nice.

You're continuing your run of saying literally nothing of substance, I see. It's impressive, really, it's been such a long time at this point.

27 minutes ago, Jo Jo said:

Yeah... Rampage is the only pilot I can see it being useful on. My guess its going to be a pretty cheap upgrade though while the Targeting one will not be.

I think if you run just the two named pilots (manuever assist might allow more flexibilty on Rampage with his ability) and ever other pilot will probably like target assist for the action economy and the stress less linked action.

26 minutes ago, PhantomFO said:

If they're running synced lasers, then it will probably be the cheaper way to get a Calculate action. I don't see that being more than a 2-point upgrade, and could even be a 0-1 pointer.

Defintely. Rotate to link calculate seems good; also if you run tartet assist w/ lets as two aces (Vader/Soontir/GI/ Whisper etc. ) them being close to the emeny only enchances the action economy "Target Assist" configuration

49 minutes ago, GuacCousteau said:

Okay?

Does that stop them spending a lock and up to two calculates on a 3 dice Synced cannon attack that denies the range bonus?

The ships are largely IN3, which is not conducive to setting up target-locked attacks at r2-3 against most enemies. They can be counter-played and will likely be lit up if focused on.