After a discussion with friends on using Wave 2 upgrades on Wave 1 pilots, we ended up agreeing that Darth Vader with "Push the limit" is just an outrageously nasty combo. Vader with the ability to choose not one, . . . not two, . . . but three actions. Vader (albeit with a stress token tacked on) -- Target Lock, or Barrel Roll, and Focus & Evade. I didn't add Engine Upgrade because that would be too cost prohibitive, at a cost of 4 points.

Has anyone run a squad with this Vader set up yet? Any thoughts.

Oh yeah, and the engine upgrade is awesome, Vader is hardly ever in an opponents arc( except for the 360 ones). A lot of fun to fly too!

Vader + engine upgrade + daredevil. This is THE COMBO.

How do you wash the stress from Vader? The advanced isn't knowen for its green manuvers.

Tobilee said:

Agree this is more fun than adding PTL. Vader often struggles to find a Third Action even with Boost. At the end of the day though 5 hp on a 40 pt ship is a very thin thread to swing.

I played Vader with engine upgrade + Evade action. He was pretty BA. He used the boost and/or barrel roll to get in a safe firing position and frequently rolled 4 attack die

Viceroy Bolda said:

Im sure you mean 3 attack dice.

I agree with Don, putting too many points on Vader makes it worthless.

Herrgeist said:

No, I mean 4 attack dice. 2 for primary weapon, 1 for range one, 1 for expose = 4 attack dice. This combo did well.

Viceroy Bolda said:

Imagine 5 attack dice from an Intecepter at range one using expose.

I was really digging expose… but in retrospect I think we need to be clear on what we're getting for our 4 points.

Yes, it gives you an extra attack dice, but remember that it removes an agility, so you better be really sure that you are not in a position that you're going to get hurt. I think you almost have to limit to pilots that have some built in measure of defence, or who are high enough pilot skill that they either won't be shot back or move last so that they can predict firing arcs better.

More importantly though, it's an action so when you use it, you're not focusing (unless we're talking Vader - which it perhaps is a viable option for).

Focus I think for the fact that it's free, leaves your EPT slot free for something else that could also benefit you, and I'd hazard a guess is perhaps more effective than an extra dice, is the better choice most of the time.

Take your Interceptor for instance: at range 1 he'll roll 4 dice. If you expose, you roll 5. However one extra dice could still just as easily be an eyeball or a blank. If you roll those 4 dice though, and 1-4 of them come up with an eyeball and you've focused, you're dramatically increasing your hits by spending that focus token. Plus if you do just flat out get lucky and get natural hits, you've set yourself up to be more defensive rather than less.

I'm not saying it's not good. I can think of using on an interceptor, Vader or Mithel, not to mention firesprays, but I don't think it's a slam dunk and I think you need to be very very careful about how you use it and how many times you need to use it to make back your 4 points. It might even be arguable that if it leads to your ships death, you might never really make it back unless you kill something bigger first.

Right-Titan said:

I've actually blogged about Expose a couple of times. The TL;DR version is that yes, on average Focus is usually a more effective way to boost your damage even before you consider the Agility cost. There are certainly ways to use it effectively, but you have to plan around it pretty carefully.