Hey folks,

I'm kind of new to the game and in my time since beginning to play I have noticed that much to my disappointment a Storm Squadron and Tempest Squadron pilots aren't very good. It strikes me that the swap of 1 attack die for 1 agility die very much hurts the viability of them as ships in an imperial list. Is this a mistake on my part? Can I fly a full Tie/Adv squad and not feel like I'm playing catch up the whole game? Is there anything I'm missing? and finally what do you think would make the Tie/Adv more viable? I was thinking the other day that an EPS slot would potentially make a big difference.

Anyway I love flying Vader but don't see any reason to buy any more Tie/Adv because I'm not likely to field more than one. I was just hoping I might hear something to help turn that notion around.

I think it's the current consensus in the game that TIE Advanced are overpriced. Their greatest strengths are the high(er) hit-point count compared to other TIE Fighters, their target lock and missile abilities, but missiles aren't as effective as many wish they were and the low attack value of the TIE Advanced means it isn't as dangerous as the X-Wing is with Target Lock. I think many players would trade one TIE Advanced for two academy pilots, even if those two pilots are a little more expensive than the advanced.

The lack of elite pilot talents also hurts the fighters. Even with their strengths and ineffectiveness at combat pilot talents could help them immensely. Deadeye could help missiles get out better, Push the Limit could make their attacks a little more helpful, and so on.

I have four of them, and a while ago I asked what kinds of lists people could create with Four TIE advanced fighters. Might be worth reading if you could find it again...

Edit: Aha! Here it is. Ravncat did a bunch of theorycrafting on 4x and lesser TIE x1s.

They r a good ship but as mentioned already a little over priced. i have had some success with this squad:

Vader/engine upgrade/assault missiles/squad leader

Maarek/engine upgrade/homing missiles/push the limit

Howlrunner/push the limit

howlrunner could easily be switched out for an intercepter or perhaps 2x academy pilot (although ud have to downgrade the missiles to do it).

The Tie-Advanced are surprisingly resilient. Those two shields help quite a bit and although they r not as agile as the tie/tie-intercepter they pack a good punch in close as u u can target lock/focus fire.

I agree the lesser tie-pilots need a pilot skill slot to make them more playable but PTL on maarek makes him a mini-vader (although its a 3rd of ur squad pts to do it) . try it out and see for yourself.

Perhaps a new pilot card could be introduced for the existing TIE Advanced. Something like a Skill 1 TIE Advanced for 18 points.

Perhaps a new pilot card could be introduced for the existing TIE Advanced. Something like a Skill 1 TIE Advanced for 18 points.

yeah that would be cool. even a mid-range costed pilot with an elite pilot talent slot. Black Squadron Pilot costs 14 and gets one so it would be costed around 24pts i guess (still a bit high) so yeah if there was a cheaper Tie Advanced pilot it would likely see more play - at the moment both the Tempest Squadron Pilots (21) and Storm Squadron Pilots (23) are way over costed to even make a competitive list.

I feel that the Tie Advanced will make a good comeback with Wave 3. Lots of options to really improve them and missiles. Something that has really been lacking and made them weak.

The trick when flying more than one of them is what did you put on Vader? I've flown Vader with two other TIEA and used sqaud leader to make the missiles pack more punch. The thing about it is that the missile cards that come with the ship aren't as good as the missiles that come in wave 2. Homing Missiles are much better than any of the wave one missiles.

I recently flew an A-wing and three rookie x-wings against two Tie advanced and three ties. First round of firing all three xwings fired on on tie advanced (skill two pilot) and it was gone. Lost one xwing in the process but getting that one advanced out of the way helped. Tie advances I think are best played when it's Vader at the helm.

Ok so I could maybe do with buying a second it sounds like, but for the time being thats probably the most mileage it sounds like I'll get. I 'm curious how their effectiveness as missile platforms will change with the bomber's release.

Edit: I jus finished reading that post you linked Norsehound and it actually makes me feel a lot better. I probably won't ever bother owning 4 but owning 3 seems like a good go.

My sons and I just got our first Tie Advanced yesterday, we played it all day. It seems like a very effective unit in the right conditions but if I missed the missile shot it seemed to suffer compared to X-Wings. Wedge is easily the most popular new unit for us (we also took delivery of our first X-wing and Tie expansions).

Missiles are just inherently too unreliable for their cost. But the best of the lot when fired with both Target Lock and Focus is the Homing Missile. And so, that is the best ordinance to give Vader who can take both actions and fire in one turn.

The forthcoming Lambda Shuttle and upgrades in Wave 3 will put a lot of life into other missile carriers.

My sons and I just got our first Tie Advanced yesterday, we played it all day. It seems like a very effective unit in the right conditions but if I missed the missile shot it seemed to suffer compared to X-Wings. Wedge is easily the most popular new unit for us (we also took delivery of our first X-wing and Tie expansions).

cool. i remember when i first got the expansion ships - i loved vader, we misplayed him at first and he could double barrel-roll insane. even when he is played legally he is a beast. Wedge is my fav pilot, he is in virtually every rebel list i play - im testing out Push The Limit on him at the moment - target lock + focus in same turn + one less defense die?? ouch.