Hi all,
Apologies if this is not the right place but I am looking for advice to get into 2nd edition. Is it absolutely necessary to buy the conversion kits ? Or have all ships been fully re-designed including pilots, gear and movements ?
How is the change generally perceived by players from 1st to 2nd edition ?
Thank you in advance !
Heya! Welcome. I’m a fairly new player myself (been playing less than a year, spent most of last winter/lockdown ordering old First Edition ships and Conversion Kits online), and highly recommend the game. That said, you only really NEED the Conversion Kits if you want to buy/use old First Edition models. Ships that have been brought into Second Edition don’t need them.
That said, you probably will want the kits. There are a ton of fun old models that you may want to use, and the kits have everything you need for that.
As far as the 1e to 2e switch: I never played 1e, but I know they really aren’t compatible. Everything has been rebalanced, redone, and a lot of ships had pretty major changes, even to their basic movement capabilities. You can play 1e (which, I gather, had significant balance problems), or you can play 2e, but you can’t easily play a hybrid that will make sense.
Hey thanks for your reply ! Indeed I have lots of old models so really want to use them again. I really like what you say about balance ! Indeed the game was very imbalanced and you had some ships winning most tournaments, as in “meta super strong”. So good news they changed that. I will get the kits then if my friend really gets into it.
They have learned from their mistakes in a lot of aspects. I think the most important ones would be:
- Turrets can't just shoot in any direction, they either have one arrow or two opposite arrows that indicate the arc/arcs the turret is pointed too. These ships have a rotate action that allows them to change said arcs, much like the first edition shadowcaster. This allows for actually arc-dodging turreted ships, which makes things much more fun and fair.
- Some too powerful upgrades are gone, such as push the limit and veteran instincts, so you no longer can chain any 2 actions you want or get high init ships out of everything.
- Missiles and torpedoes come with several charges, not just one, and none of them require you to spend the lock. They are also more balanced, with the only long range 4 dice being proton torpedoes (quite expensive)
- Abilities that could be activated once or twice a turn, as well as missiles, shields and others use a system of charges that can be turned facedown to denote you have spent them: this makes tracking them way easier and more visual than it was.
- Many ships come with a ship baked in ability (what titles did) that helps differentiate the chassis. Also some chained actions are given to each ships, kind of a restricted push the limit that usually doesn't allow straight double mods for attack or defense, more often it's a reposition into a focus or so.
- The force is in the game! This makes force uses really stand out with their purple charges. This and other design choices make for more thematic ships.
- Last but not least, point costs and upgrade slots available to each chassis are not printed, so they can be adjusted by de devs in the app to keep everything balanced, which is a very large improvement in my opinion.
Have fun with 2nd edition!
Aside from conversion kits, you'll probably want to pick up hotshots and aces, fully loaded, and never tell me the odds.
On 10/8/2020 at 2:58 PM, xanatos135 said:They have learned from their mistakes in a lot of aspects. I think the most important ones would be:
- Turrets can't just shoot in any direction, they either have one arrow or two opposite arrows that indicate the arc/arcs the turret is pointed too. These ships have a rotate action that allows them to change said arcs, much like the first edition shadowcaster. This allows for actually arc-dodging turreted ships, which makes things much more fun and fair.
- Some too powerful upgrades are gone, such as push the limit and veteran instincts, so you no longer can chain any 2 actions you want or get high init ships out of everything.
- Missiles and torpedoes come with several charges, not just one, and none of them require you to spend the lock. They are also more balanced, with the only long range 4 dice being proton torpedoes (quite expensive)
- Abilities that could be activated once or twice a turn, as well as missiles, shields and others use a system of charges that can be turned facedown to denote you have spent them: this makes tracking them way easier and more visual than it was.
- Many ships come with a ship baked in ability (what titles did) that helps differentiate the chassis. Also some chained actions are given to each ships, kind of a restricted push the limit that usually doesn't allow straight double mods for attack or defense, more often it's a reposition into a focus or so.
- The force is in the game! This makes force uses really stand out with their purple charges. This and other design choices make for more thematic ships.
- Last but not least, point costs and upgrade slots available to each chassis are not printed, so they can be adjusted by de devs in the app to keep everything balanced, which is a very large improvement in my opinion.
Have fun with 2nd edition!
Excellent thanks !
On 10/8/2020 at 5:40 PM, Cerebrawl said:Aside from conversion kits, you'll probably want to pick up hotshots and aces, fully loaded, and never tell me the odds.
Huh ok these are extensions ? What do you mean by don’t tell me the odds ?
2 minutes ago, Aginorh said:Huh ok these are extensions ? What do you mean by don’t tell me the odds ?
Card packs (also some tokens, like bombs/mines in fully loaded, and pilot bases in hotshots and aces).
Some cards are new/unique to the packs, but most of it is a collection of cards that only appeared in 1-2 ship's packs, so people who don't fly those factions can get them without buying in to another faction.
6 minutes ago, Aginorh said:What do you mean by don’t tell me the odds ?
For example:
Ah ok so these are “must have” cards, that you can now purchase without ships. Thanks got it 🙂
Remember black paper packaging is 2e. Plastic blister is 1e.
5 hours ago, Aginorh said:Ah ok so these are “must have” cards, that you can now purchase without ships. Thanks got it 🙂
Not really must have, but just a way of getting cards without ships you are not going to use, yes.
But then I also need to buy the rules right ? All that start feeling a big investment also since I would need conversion both for Empire and Rebels if I want to play all my ships
11 hours ago, Aginorh said:But then I also need to buy the rules right ? All that start feeling a big investment also since I would need conversion both for Empire and Rebels if I want to play all my ships
What you really need is a damage deck, the new maneuver templates with a line in the middle and yes, conversion kits.
You can find official separate damage decks customized for each of the 7 factions. Also a set of plastic maneuver templates. You would have to see wether that is better for you than paying for the core set and getting 2 TIEs and an X-wing. By the way, some pilots from the core set don't appear in the conversions, such as Luke.
I actually think it's kind of worth it if you only need one kit for each of its factions. It's 50€ (I don't know how many dollars) to make aaall your ships in that faction playable. Depends on the number of ships you have of course.
If you see it as too pricey I would recommend getting the core components and only one of the kits first, play for some time with all of your ships from that faction and later on upgrade your other faction with another kit, once you have gotten some value out of the first one (unless you want to have both sides available from the beginning).
I personally would go for it, 2nd edition feels very rewarding at least to me. Old ships that were outdated in 1st edition (T65 X-wing...) have been refleshed. They can now be used without feeling that you are choosing a ship that is not worth the points.
If you are going to primarily play Empire and Rebels, buying the Second Edition core set is advisable. If you do not plan to buy any ships from First Edition, you do not need the conversion kits.
Here is a short list of what Rebel and Empire ships have been re-released in Second Edition that you won't need the conversion kits for:
Rebels
Rebels are actually pretty solid with the Alphabet ships and the Falcon. Getting an X, a B, an A, and the Falcon with the core gives you a solid base for a myriad of lists.
Empire
Empire does stronger with aces at this point. Start with Vader's signature TIE/x1, a TIE/v1, and the Decimator. With the 2 TIE Fighters you get from the core set, that should let your field a couple of lists.
If you want any ships from those factions outside of those, you'll need a corresponding conversion kit. The Hot Shots and Aces pack has several upgrades and pilots not in the conversion kits, and is worth picking up. Never Tell Me the Odds can wait as it is a obstacle pack, and you'll be fine with what you get in the core set, and what you have in the old core set you got right now. Fully Loaded is worth looking at, as it has a lot of munitions upgrades, but non are exceptionally better than what you'll get from the ship expansions that have been released (or in the conversion kits if you go that route).
I hope this helps.
7 hours ago, 5050Saint said:If you are going to primarily play Empire and Rebels, buying the Second Edition core set is advisable. If you do not plan to buy any ships from First Edition, you do not need the conversion kits.
I understood the OP has rebel and empire ships from 1st ed. He said he needed conversion kits to play all of his ships.