2 hours ago, T70 Driver said:

Which V-Wings would you use in that list? I have 2 of each (well, 1 ETA since I broke the socket off of 1 taking it out of the Hyperspace ring 🤬 ) and this has piqued my interest.

I'm loving just two naked generics. Great blockers and don't die easily

36 minutes ago, LeMightyASP said:

False, Anakin did not have autoblasters, but otherwise correct

Ahh... yes. He had Wolfe instead using up those points instead of another generic.

3 hours ago, T70 Driver said:

(well, 1 ETA since I broke the socket off of 1 taking it out of the Hyperspace ring 🤬 )

(Hit me up if you don’t feel the ETA is salvageable—I don’t mind a bit of modding and could try to swap something for what’s left of it)

More generally though: I’m excited to get some ETAs on the table and encouraged to see a range of discussion about them. “Totally unkillable unless you catch it with a stiff breeze” is potentially dangerous for both players, but also potentially exciting. Sounds a lot like Soontir, really.

5-point prockets and APTs are good at cracking those high-green rolls. You can fly 6x Procket A-Wings, with 2x Starbird Slash. That can hurt a lot. But I'm an RZ-1 fanboy so there's that.

I feel like Thread Tracers could also be key here for getting double mods or mass-munitions on a 3-dice swarm like 5x or similar. Or try mixing some bombs into the list for area control.

Every list has to be able to deal with highly-mobile aces. The trick with the Eta is keeping the pressure on for long enough that you can burn them out of force and then crack the stealth device. It's basically a matter of time, but the nice thing is that they're wimpy enough on attack that you can really just let them have it; no super-jousting like SNR Kylo and D7B Jedi.

Or just fly 3 Contracted Scouts with Feedback Array 😛 , 6x Concussion TIE/sa, Barrage K-Wings, Starfortresses, or other general carpet-bombing options.

3 hours ago, S4ul0 said:

I don't want an immediately nerf but I am a bit worried about the defensive aspect of this ship and the main (and best) tactic with it.

I understand the lack of punch but It doesn't justify the absurd increase of defense with the Stealth Device, Evade and Force.

Do the math.

If three T-65 with focus have caught you in arc at range 2 (you messed up with your maneuvers) and you can perform the Evade action and have 2 Force tokens, you run unscathed 55% of the times.

That's too much.

Stealth Device Soontir with a focus and evade in the same situation takes no damage 48% of the time.

6 minutes ago, SavouryRain said:

Stealth Device Soontir with a focus and evade in the same situation takes no damage 48% of the time.

Yes. Almost a similar strong defense but you need an enemy in the Bullseye. Is not so easy as take your action.

I don't like the Stealth Device upgrade. I would prefer that this type of cards doesn't exist in the Second Edition.

I think Soontir with this upgrade is awful. The Eta-2 is worse.

6 hours ago, Roller of blanks said:

Just played a game with obi-wan and aayla

These things can arc dodge like nobody's business but they hit like wet noodles.

Without access to a white lock you have no way to disengage and set up a good shot when you come back around, so even if you line up that perfect R1 bullseye, you won't really be rewarded for it. As a little anecdote, My two jedi starfighters scored 0 points against a list of dooku+4 hyenas. My two other ships died because it was essentially a 200-point vs. 100-point game, with a pair of ETAs trying to help.

You run out of force fast, even at range three, since you have to spend it for your near-mandatory systems phase preposition. So basically, fly ETAs if you like everything about X-wing except the violence

I haven’t tried this one yet, but I thought a 7b would be good for the wet noodle aspect. I’m still not sure how I want to build Aayla, keep her naked for a bid, or patience up for force regeneration and survivability, no idea...

New Squadron

(56) Anakin Skywalker [Eta-2 Actis]
(3) R7-A7
(3) Autoblasters
(2) Brilliant Evasion
(8) Stealth Device
(1) Marksmanship
Points: 73

(51) Aayla Secura [Eta-2 Actis]
(2) Patience
Points: 53

(49) Obi-Wan Kenobi [Delta-7 Aethersprite]
(2) R4 Astromech
(20) Delta-7B
(2) Patience
Points: 73

Total points: 199

34 minutes ago, SavouryRain said:

Stealth Device Soontir with a focus and evade in the same situation takes no damage 48% of the time.

What about stealth device + fifth brother Whisper after decloaking and hitting an enemy?

3 green dice, a focus, a force, 2 evades.

8 minutes ago, xanatos135 said:

What about stealth device + fifth brother Whisper after decloaking and hitting an enemy?

3 green dice, a focus, a force, 2 evades.

That's even worse lol:

92% of the time Whisper takes no damage. Not having SD brings that up to 40%.

My point was that I've noticed a lot of people complaining about the Eta being OP and in need of a nerf days after being released yet other similar combos that have been in the game since Day 1 don't have people stamping their feet.

It's also telling that those same broken combos that don't have people complaining also happen to be some of the most popular ships as well.

-

I wish the etas were 3 dice forward and the Tri was the 2 forward 3 bullseye.
(and then costed appropriately. Etas way up near deltas)

the whole pool noodle offense is getting pretty boring.

1 hour ago, SavouryRain said:

My point was that I've noticed a lot of people complaining about the Eta being OP and in need of a nerf days after being released yet other similar combos that have been in the game since Day 1 don't have people stamping their feet.

Tbf, that stamping does mostly go on in threads that aren't about this particular ship.

Updating with some way to early reactions:

Limited # of games all hyperspace only. Played a couple test games of the following, more with the second list than the first:

• Ani Obi Aayla with 3x copies of Patience Predator Hull for 189
• Ani Obi + VVV with 2x copies of Patience for 190
• An Pred + Obi Pred + V + V Besh Thermal + V Besh Thermal 200

Initial impression are basically this:

• Predator makes their offense super reliable.
  • Definitely getting multiple 3-4 dice shots a game from each individual ETA.
  • Makes Evade the default action unless I am not defending or repositioning out of arc
  • Gives you "full" offensive mods while bonked
  • Reduces the need to ever Purple Lock
  • I feel like they offer similar offensive threat to Fang Fighters but more flexibility
  • Dangerous from various ranges with far better time on target and less predictable movement
    
• Patience makes force management pretty easy
  • Getting to Range 1 bullseye and Depleting for 3 dice is pretty normal and advisable
  • Even depleting down to 2 dice at R`1 outside of bullseye is a reasonable thing to do
  • The fact it is not range dependent is incredible
    
• Hull upgrade is gravy
  • Adding this makes the ETA feel like a hybrid between Whisper and Fang Fighter
  • Similar and often better offensive fire power, improved defense and mobility
  • Every one of these ships feels like Whisper in terms of offensive output with better mobility and defense
    
• Purple Talon Rolls
  • Again with Patience you worry less about using this and should have the force to use it
  • The boost into talon lets you go a bunch of different places.
  • Being able to roll or boost or action after the Talon is massively useful
    
• Purple Target Locks
  • Setting up target locks is possible since these recycle flank well and have the opportunity to regularly
  • Predator sort of replaces this out right and makes it a Lock if you can, ignore it otherwise type deal
  • You rarely "need" to target lock with these things
    
• System Phase Repositions
  • Should be familiar territory for everyone.
  • Can't emphasize enough how much this keeps your dial open turn to turn
  • I find the availability of Predator and low cost of Patience make me use this much more aggressively than I probably would otherwise
  • Building flanks is largely trivial since you can pretty easily modify your positioning/distance/angle leading up to engagements
  • Escaping via Double Reposition is slightly more difficult but its still a single repo ship with boost or roll. These absolutely arc dodge.
  • Engagements play out the way they normally do for Whisper.
  • Multiple ETAs can move like Phantoms + the added boost making it simple to create recycled kill boxes.
  • The 2 bank instead of 1 bank brings them closer to the fight but thats ok and can work around it with boost instead of roll and hard 1 turns
  • More or less ETAs are really good at leaving open a bunch of options open round to round and escape routes (though you can still get trapped kinda)
  • During the planning phase opponents definitely have to choose to "threaten" pretty wide areas and process a bunch of possible options
    
• Ani and Obi can likely handle a bunch of matchups
  • Need to do more testing but 4 hull Pred Patience Ani and Obi are strong enough to manage a variety of 2v4 matchups.
  • Its early but the pair definitely felt like more than 109-127 points on the table
  • Both of their abilities are strong with Ani tossing locks, stress, deplete, strain out the airlock and Obi tossing clutch focus tokens
  • Dedicated i3 Vs seem like their friend if points/bid allow
  • Running the pair in lists up to 200 points seems like it gives a ton of options for dealing with hyper swarm matchups (though 200 pts probably isn't necessary).
    
• Aayla's ability is incredible
  • Seriously spikes durability converting blanks to eyes given all the force charges available
  • Durable on her own and still a serious offensive threat with Pred + i5 + 4 dice shots + 2 force etc.
  • Thanks to patience she can work around having 1 less charge than the Ani/Obi
    
• I don't know what the correct list will be because I don't know what the matchups will be
  • However Patience/Predator/Hull feels like the correct upgrade combo unless your making room for more ships
  • Way to early to say what the matchups look like against various other Hyperspace things

So yea overall I am not surprised by the price given how cheap CLT Athers already were. I am surprised that the ETA has both a Talent and a Mod slot. Seems to mitigate a bunch of the constraints that I enjoyed playing around during pre-points proxy testing. Next Hyperspace ETA list I think I will try is Pred Ani + Pred Obi + Pred Shaak + Ric for 200. I am guessing that is not optimal though and that there are ETA lists that can afford to bid without risking to much in terms of matchups.

TLDR: I need to do more matchup testing from both sides of the table but it seems good in Hyperspace.

9 hours ago, S4ul0 said:

Yes. Almost a similar strong defense but you need an enemy in the Bullseye. Is not so easy as take your action.

I don't like the Stealth Device upgrade. I would prefer that this type of cards doesn't exist in the Second Edition.

I think Soontir with this upgrade is awful. The Eta-2 is worse.

I love stealth device on Interceptors.

4 hours ago, Boom Owl said:

• Patience makes force management pretty easy
  • Getting to Range 1 bullseye and Depleting for 3 dice is pretty normal and advisable
  • Even depleting down to 2 dice at R`1 outside of bullseye is a reasonable thing to do
  • The fact it is not range dependent is incredible.

From your conclusions I see that patience looks very good to you too. I am finding it the most interesting upgrade for this ship. I wonder how would it work for delta-7s. I guess it will be a similar feel.

16 hours ago, T70 Driver said:

Which V-Wings would you use in that list? I have 2 of each (well, 1 ETA since I broke the socket off of 1 taking it out of the Hyperspace ring 🤬 ) and this has piqued my interest.

Two Loyalists and a seven point bid. Though that may not be big enough for Obi and Anakin.

12 hours ago, CoffeeMinion said:

(Hit me up if you don’t feel the ETA is salvageable—I don’t mind a bit of modding and could try to swap something for what’s left of it)

I was able to magnetize it and return her to service. Really easy to do too. Just had to make sure the magnets attract instead of repel.

3 hours ago, xanatos135 said:

From your conclusions I see that patience looks very good to you too. I am finding it the most interesting upgrade for this ship. I wonder how would it work for delta-7s. I guess it will be a similar feel.

It an extra force charge for 2 points. I would test it out anywhere it can be equipped.

Be interesting to see how all this comes out in the wash.

In my experience (and it's still reeeeeallly limited, obviously), the I5 and I6 Eta's only start to become Force starved after they've attacked and need to start defending. Which makes the use case for Patience very limited. Anakin in particular has little trouble positioning, attacking and usually making at least one defence roll before running out of Force, at which point you simply run a way for two turns to regen. Having to make a second defensive roll does maybe wish you'd taken Patience, but then the offensive potential goes down and you lower your chances of Initiative killing something and not needing to defend... And often, if you haven't needed the tallon roll or pre-position, Anakin is at full Force when Patience would trigger.

Gonna need some real game results for sure, but at the moment I still feel liking making your token spend more efficient defensively with Brilliant Evasion saves you more Force points over the course of a game than Patience will regen.

9 hours ago, Boom Owl said:

Aayla's ability is incredible

[Snip]

• Thanks to patience she can work around having 1 less charge than the Ani/Obi

Unironically Brilliant Evasion?

23 minutes ago, Ablazoned said:

Unironically Brilliant Evasion?

Possibly. I like the fact that Patience can get me 1 force when I would have had zero.

1 hour ago, GuacCousteau said:

In my experience (and it's still reeeeeallly limited, obviously), the I5 and I6 Eta's only start to become Force starved after they've attacked and need to start defending. Which makes the use case for Patience very limited. Anakin in particular has little trouble positioning, attacking and usually making at least one defence roll before running out of Force, at which point you simply run a way for two turns to regen. Having to make a second defensive roll does maybe wish you'd taken Patience, but then the offensive potential goes down and you lower your chances of Initiative killing something and not needing to defend... And often, if you haven't needed the tallon roll or pre-position, Anakin is at full Force when Patience would trigger.

This doesn’t line up with the games I have played (all hyperspace only). Ani definitely can get by without patience (3 force is a ridiculous starting amount) but adding it makes him that much more forgiving. You will eventually need to defend against multiple shots. Patience makes a bunch of different scenarios substantially less sketchy. Lets you regen and stay in the fight.

The ETAs party trick is not taking damage and spiking damage in key moments. Every extra purple charge helps.

For 2 pts it gives a ridiculous amount of tactical flexibility and you definitely don't need to use it every activation round to get value.

If an init kill is there for the taking and your not under threat after than you make decisions based on the board state. Given the phase Patience triggers you have all the info you need to make those calls.

10 hours ago, Boom Owl said:

• System Phase Repositions
  • Should be familiar territory for everyone.
  • Can't emphasize enough how much this keeps your dial open turn to turn
  • I find the availability of Predator and low cost of Patience make me use this much more aggressively than I probably would otherwise
  • Building flanks is largely trivial since you can pretty easily modify your positioning/distance/angle leading up to engagements
  • Escaping via Double Reposition is slightly more difficult but its still a single repo ship with boost or roll. These absolutely arc dodge.
  • Engagements play out the way they normally do for Whisper.
  • Multiple ETAs can move like Phantoms + the added boost making it simple to create recycled kill boxes.
  • The 2 bank instead of 1 bank brings them closer to the fight but thats ok and can work around it with boost instead of roll and hard 1 turns
  • More or less ETAs are really good at leaving open a bunch of options open round to round and escape routes (though you can still get trapped kinda)
  • During the planning phase opponents definitely have to choose to "threaten" pretty wide areas and process a bunch of possible options

I've played maybe 5-6 games, mostly with ace + gang, and it sure feels like the System Phase reposition (along with dial, high init and force) catapults them into the highest of ace tiers.

3 hours ago, gennataos said:

I've played maybe 5-6 games, mostly with ace + gang, and it sure feels like the System Phase reposition (along with dial, high init and force) catapults them into the highest of ace tiers.

Yea I started there for sure with Ani Pred + Obi Pred + VVV. Has a wild amount of room to play with up to 200 points.

Beginning to think through various hyper matchups worth testing against Trip Hull/Pred/Patience 655 ETA specifically.

Some combo of the following:

• 2x Tractor Syck + 2x Ion Sycks + 2x Tracer Sycks + Syck
• Kylo + 3 Conc Passive SFs
• 5x ESC Vultures + HMP Dorks + Tri
• Han Seasoned Nien + Luke + Pred Jake = 189
• Mal SF SF SF SF Rivas

I know the Ani Obi + Gang list can manage any of the swarm matchups.

Need to sort out how far 655 can go. Suspect its pretty far.

I played two matches with Ani and Obi Etas last night, felt like I was clubbing baby seals.

List is Ani w/ Autoblasters, R7-A7, Obi w/ Patience, Oddball (Nimbus) Besh, R4-P44, and Wolffe.

• First match vs 4 ship Republic including Eta Ani, CLT Obi, a V-Wing and something else that blew up too fast for me to remember what it was. Only lost half points on Wolffe.
• Second match vs Feroph Reaper w/ Hondo, Steele and Vader with lots of toys and a bigger bid. Won 200-0

Autoblasters + R7-A7 on an i6 feels busted. With TIE Phantom style movement + Force it is trivial to get out of arc and push crits through. I only use the Crits to put damage on expensive pieces or ships that are on 1 or 2 hull for the initiative kill.

Three Hull was irrelevant because my opponents had so much trouble predicting where they would be and when they had a shot I had an Evade + Force.

TLDR: these things felt busted and way undercosted, maybe it's just the newness though.