New Republic i5 Salad

By LeMightyASP, in X-Wing Squad Lists

In light of the new ships coming to the Republic faction, i wanted to make a build that consisted of 4 i5 pilots to compete with the current Nantex overlords.

Obviously, points will have to be speculated, but I think I can make a decent margin and lead the discussion in the direction of the priority in upgrades. Here's what the base of the list looks like:

Obi Wan kenobi (Aethersprite) + CLT

Ric Olié (N1)

Aayla Secura (Actis) + R2-A6

Contrail (V-wing) + Esk + Marksmanship/R7-A7

The way the list works is pretty simple: Ric jousts with his advantage, Aayla looks to jump to range 1 with the help of R2-A6 to bolster the squad's defense, Obi tries to get some bullseye shots and maintain shields up for the squad and Contrail looks to ionize high priority targets to help Obi Wan and Aayla setup the perfect engagement.

Without counting marksmanship, the total known cost of this squad would be 104 points, which leaves a pretty fair 96 for Aayla, Contrail, his config and marksmanship or R7-A7.

As for the remaining upgrades, it's hard to know how many points we have to play with, so I'm just going to make a reasonable wishlist for each of the pilots:

Obi Wan: One of the more simple ones, currently I don't think there's any force upgrades he covets, and Sync. console seems pretty lackluster on a squad that really likes focusing. As for astromechs, there are two options I like: R4-P keeps the opponent guessing and your options open after your red turn, and R4-P17 gives you 100% uptime on focus tokens.

Aayla: much like Obi Wan, I don't think she enjoys any force upgrade in particular, and her lack of upgrade slots means that there isn't much to work with here

Contrail: This is a pretty interesting one, as his options depend on which crit source he chooses to take. If he takes Marksmanship, R4 and R4-P are both great options to loosen up his dial. If he takes R7-A7, expert handling makes barrel roll much more accessible and less punishing.

Ric: The most interesting of these ships in terms of upgrades, Ric works pretty well when he is barebones but also a bunch of combos that allow him to adapt his playstyle. Daredevil + R2-C4 make him into a more traditional ace, R3 + FCS give him very efficient mods for a while, juke works pretty well with him if FFG ever decides to make it playable again, but my preferred option would be to just slam in a R4-P to help him use his ability the turn after he inevitably talon rolls.

That's all I got. If anyone has any opinions/suggestions, please share!

Rvisiting this concept since we now have points!

This is the base list i outlined before:

Nimbus -class V-wing - •“Contrail” - 35
•“Contrail” - CT-4981 (33)
Marksmanship (1)
Alpha-3E “Esk” (1)

Naboo Royal N-1 Starfighter - •Ric Olié - 45
•Ric Olié - Bravo Leader (45)

Eta-2 Actis - •Aayla Secura - 57
•Aayla Secura - Confident Warrior (51)
•R2-A6 (6)

Delta-7 Aethersprite - •Obi-Wan Kenobi - 53
•Obi-Wan Kenobi - Guardian of the Republic (49)
Calibrated Laser Targeting (4)

Total: 190

View in the X-Wing Squad Builder

What would you change in this list? I like Phat bids, so my take would probably be to just add predator to the unexpected but certainly welcome slot on the Actis and maybe switch marksmanship to R7-A7. This would be the end result:

Nimbus -class V-wing - •“Contrail” - 37
•“Contrail” - CT-4981 (33)
•R7-A7 (3)
Alpha-3E “Esk” (1)

Naboo Royal N-1 Starfighter - •Ric Olié - 45
•Ric Olié - Bravo Leader (45)

Eta-2 Actis - •Aayla Secura - 59
•Aayla Secura - Confident Warrior (51)
Predator (2)
•R2-A6 (6)

Delta-7 Aethersprite - •Obi-Wan Kenobi - 53
•Obi-Wan Kenobi - Guardian of the Republic (49)
Calibrated Laser Targeting (4)

Total: 194

View in the X-Wing Squad Builder

I think that more than any other pilot, Aayla is actually able to make a case for Brilliant Evasion. 3 Agility with a blank to an eye will land her with two eye results on defence more consistently than any other pilot in the game.

Given that she only has two Force tokens, she also needs the efficiency more than the 3 Force aces.

Aayla with BE and Stealth Device has an insane defensive profile, by the way, as you're free to take the white evade action on her pretty regularly. But I do think it's too expensive and that shows here. You'd have to drop R2-A6, and Aayla having options to range control is probably better.

I feel like, at the very least she does indeed need Predator stapled to her. Even moreso than Fel, the Etas get crazy bonuses for lining up that bullseye, so using your action to get it will usually lead to reward. Maximising the economy of that is a priority. With Predator, a single barrel roll can get you a an extra die, a re-roll and an unspent Force token. IMO, it's a better two point spend than TC and it's pretty much always going to be worth it - even if it slims the bid down a bit.

I guess we'll just have to see if Esk config ion shenanigans are worth it. IMO they'll be a solid option at 4 points (Esk + R7-A7), but equally if points started to get tight, they'd be the first thing I'd drop.

I hate to do my man Ric like this, but I almost wonder if V-Wing Odd Ball might be a better fit for the list. I feel like it gives you slightly more options to play with, and a more open dial as you're not always pushing the speed 3. Besh config gets you Ion Bombs, now only 3 points. I feel like Esk Contrail and Ion Balls working together could let you do some real nasty things with Aayla and Obi-Wan. But equally, anything up to Prox Mines is now an option. Alternatively, you can drop Predator from Aayla and run Synchronised Console around the list. Keep Odd Ball cheap, and try and get him to pass out free locks.

Regardless, I think this list is promising. Aayla looks to be the best of the Eta bunch to me, and she's the first pilot I want to fly in it. Pairing her with CLT Obi-Wan, my current favourite Republic pilot, is icing on the cake. My gut instinct is to run those two with a heavier anvil like Wolffe or Broadside, but the idea of running more ships all at I5 is very compelling too.

1 hour ago, GuacCousteau said:

I think that more than any other pilot, Aayla is actually able to make a case for Brilliant Evasion. 3 Agility with a blank to an eye will land her with two eye results on defence more consistently than any other pilot in the game.

Given that she only has two Force tokens, she also needs the efficiency more than the 3 Force aces.

Aayla with BE and Stealth Device has an insane defensive profile, by the way, as you're free to take the white evade action on her pretty regularly. But I do think it's too expensive and that shows here. You'd have to drop R2-A6, and Aayla having options to range control is probably better.

Yeah, Brilliant Evasion is definetely an interesting option on her, but the reason i wasn't even considering it is because the list was already running Obi Wan. If you're not running Aethersprite Obi Wan, i think BE would be the second upgrade you would staple onto Aayla, after Predator.

Stealth Device is a really interesting direction to take with the list, and i wasn't even expecting to have that mod slot before points dropped. That being said, i don't think that making Aayla heavier on a 4 ship list works, but i definetely want to try it on a 3 ace list.

1 hour ago, GuacCousteau said:

I feel like, at the very least she does indeed need Predator stapled to her. Even moreso than Fel, the Etas get crazy bonuses for lining up that bullseye, so using your action to get it will usually lead to reward. Maximising the economy of that is a priority. With Predator, a single barrel roll can get you a an extra die, a re-roll and an unspent Force token. IMO, it's a better two point spend than TC and it's pretty much always going to be worth it - even if it slims the bid down a bit.

Yup, agree 200% with this. Will be playing lots of predator ETAs in the future!

1 hour ago, GuacCousteau said:

I guess we'll just have to see if Esk config ion shenanigans are worth it. IMO they'll be a solid option at 4 points (Esk + R7-A7), but equally if points started to get tight, they'd be the first thing I'd drop.

Regardless, I think this list is promising. Aayla looks to be the best of the Eta bunch to me, and she's the first pilot I want to fly in it. Pairing her with CLT Obi-Wan, my current favourite Republic pilot, is icing on the cake. My gut instinct is to run those two with a heavier anvil like Wolffe or Broadside, but the idea of running more ships all at I5 is very compelling too.

Yeah, I wasn't expecting it, but Torrent Oddie with Ion Missiles is now only 32 points (!), which is probably a more efficient ion platform at i5 than Esk Contrail. The thing is Contrail, alongside the rest of this version, is hella tanky. Who are you shooting at in the first round? Is it Aayla, who can guarantee focus results, with force, 3 agility and maybe evade? Is it Obi Wan, who can arcdodge really well and also has force, infinite focus, possibly Aayla's ability and 3 agility? Maybe it is Ric, who also has virtually 3 agility, a free evade and can also benefit from Obi's and Aayla's support? Or is it Contrail, who also has 3 agility, can benefit from the Jedi support and denies value from the opponent's focus tokens? This is also why i'm not a big fan of inserting Wolffe or Broadside into the list: once you have 1 agility targets, this question becomes laughably easy,kinda leaving Aayla and Obi scratching their wondering why they couldn't help their Clone Troopers.

Also, another point about Contrail: although he is in a Interceptor platform, his ability makes him a natural jouster. Picture this: ypur opponent sets up their 5x squad on the right corner. You place Contrail on the opposite side, facing them. If the opponent commits to that trajectory and joust Contrail, they get a really inefficient trade because Contrail is only worth 35 points and he makes all their modifiers crap. If they turn away, Contrail gets to be behind them for free and do normal interceptor things.

1 hour ago, GuacCousteau said:

I hate to do my man Ric like this, but I almost wonder if V-Wing Odd Ball might be a better fit for the list. I feel like it gives you slightly more options to play with, and a more open dial as you're not always pushing the speed 3. Besh config gets you Ion Bombs, now only 3 points. I feel like Esk Contrail and Ion Balls working together could let you do some real nasty things with Aayla and Obi-Wan. But equally, anything up to Prox Mines is now an option. Alternatively, you can drop Predator from Aayla and run Synchronised Console around the list. Keep Odd Ball cheap, and try and get him to pass out free locks.

Nah, I don't think so. Ric is a jouster, which is what the list needs. Both the Jedi are great endgame pieces that fit the interceptor role, and Contrail can be a sacrificial pawn and can also chase people down pretty decently. I think it's fine if Ric has to take a weird trajectory to come back into the fight, because his joust is still THAT strong, without needing much support.

I don't have much experience with bombs, so can't really make a sound judgmenton that :P But i do think that there is a lot of potential for the Vs as bomb carriers,since they are agile enough to choose their spots and also bombs are much more efficient now.

Thank you so much for the feedback! Please tell us how the list behaved if you ever take it for a spin!