Though most upgrades have their places of usefulness, some upgrades are simply tiny cards of concentrated awesomeness. Each of us probably has a list of them by now, so here's a spot to post your love for them.

Mine is a list of 6 at the moment, and I do not have a particular order for these.

• Advanced Sensors: The reason that Initiative is a big deal is primarily in Action Advantage in very specific places. Advanced Sensors means that your ship ALWAYS have Action Advantage, regardless of flightpath. It also means you never have to lose your action to a Red Maneuver, and can be comboed with Engine Upgrades to give you more positioning choices than Navigator, and you've got one heck of a thing.
• R2-D2: Guarantee for regenerating the better sort of health, you say? If it is able to do it once, it is even with a Shield Upgrade, with whom it shares a cost. If it is able to do it twice, it is slightly less than Chewbacca, with whom it shares a cost. Three times or more? You've got the survivability of a Large-Base Ship all of a sudden. Considering you can use Draw Their Fire to absorb crits dealt to friendly ships into your technically-infinite health pool, and I wish that a third ship with an Astromech Slot would be invented already!
• Push the Limit: The reason that Advanced Ties ever see competitive play is that Darth Vader comes with this already attached. General consensus puts this as the best upgrade in the game, and I cannot truly disagree. It'd still see play for 5 points, in my opinion.
• Expert Handling: The beauty of this upgrade isn't its ability to strip target-locks off of your ship. That's just gravy. The fact that you can give a Barrel-Roll to any ship with an EPT slot for 2 points is good for small-based ships, but on a Falcon or Firespray, that barrel roll becomes ridiculous. Seriously, from the right angle it can get you from Range 1 to out of range, or vice versa!
• Gunner: If I shoot at someone, they're bloody well going to get hit. "Han Shoots First" fleets have proven the worth of this Wookie.
• Proton Bombs : Faceup damage are intended to be powerful, to the point of crippling the ships they're dealt to. 7 of the 33 card deck are the double-damage Direct Hits, which translate to approximately 1/5 odds of dealing 2 damage for the price of 1 card. Two of those will kill most ships in the game (excluding only the Y-Wing and the Larges), and it only takes 1 to KO an A-Wing . This card brings the other 26 into terrifying vitality in the early game. Moreover, it is free damage. That is, if you've correctly predicted where your opponent will move, it is guaranteed damage that cost you neither action nor attack. It is also one of only 3 bits or ordnance in the game that can damage a person's entire fleet, once again spreading those potentially disastrous crits around like glitter by the air conditioning vents.

So what's your list?

Advanced Sensors: despite the 3 cost, I started experimenting with them back in September and have never considered Fire Control System to be better despite the lower cost at 2. Before playing with either of those cards, I thought FCS was *the* system card for B-wings. How wrong I was. I played team covenant's tournament #2 with an Ibtisam list with AdvS and the reactive possibilities go through the roof with her, especially since you don't care (on the contrary) about getting stressed during key shooting turns

Ion Canons: so good at range 3, so cheap. B-Wings make them very, very appealing

Push the limit: an aging staple, but still very relevant for many, many types of squads. Almost a requisite at the moment for interceptors.

Engine Upgrade: makes many types of ships that much better. The ability to avoid fire helps everything. Don't boost INTO a fire zone, that's just folly.

Expert Handling: love it on the FS-31 and YT-1300 mainly. I haven't really run that card for the lose TL ability, but with bombers around it's worth revisiting.

Recon Specialist: very good card, well priced at 3 points. It makes most Hwk-290 useable at all and boosts defense for FS-31. At some point I'll have to use a cluster missile FS-31 with reconspec and deadeye on Krassis. Should give a solid 6 hits reliably and provide extra defense from concentrated fire on other turns.

edit - oops on Deadeye

Recon Specialist: very good card, well priced at 3 points. It makes most Hwk-290 useable at all and boosts defense for FS-31. At some point I'll have to use a cluster missile FS-31 with reconspec and deadeye on Krassis . Should give a solid 6 hits reliably and provide extra defense from concentrated fire on other turns.

If only he could take EPTs. D'oh.

cluster missile gives you a slightly better chance of targeting at range 3 and guessing where to go for a range 1-2 shot.

cluster missile gives you a slightly better chance of targeting at range 3 and guessing where to go for a range 1-2 shot.

Cluster Missiles aren't the problem here... Krassis CAN'T take Deadeye.

That being said, Recon Spec is still fantastic on him, and is a veritable workhorse on any Firespray. It gives you the option to have attack AND defense, or double defense, for a single action. It is almost a Push the Limit that DOESN'T stress you out!

And Cluster Missiles are a Range 1-2 Weapon.

And Cluster Missiles are a Range 1-2 Weapon.

Yep yep, was not my best post. You can still acquire a TL at range 3 (with no intention of launching) though, and shoot your main, then hope you approach perfectly for a frontal range 1-2 shot on the next turn.

I like the torpedoes and missiles.

When I go in, I like to go in HARD and these have an tactical element of waiting for the right moment.

I dont know if it is the best, but it is fun:)

I second Engine Upgrade. This upgrade needs to be on the list. Good on small, already maneuverable ships, great on big ships, phenomenal on shuttles.

Advanced Sensors: Hands-down the best upgrade in the game in a standalone contest - the ONLY drawback it has is the limited number of ships that can use it. For 3 points, it effectively guarantees that you'll always have your action... It removes one of the major drawbacks to red maneuvers, makes blocking tactics largely irrelevant, and allows you to go after obstacles like a 50/50 speedbump that might ding the transmission, but nothing more.

Push the Limit: Only slightly behind Advanced Sensors, and still the champ if you consider the broader applications. Vader's ability is so good it makes the TIE Advanced almost worth flying, and now any EPT-capable pilot becomes a mini-Vader. The constant stress can be an issue, so functions best on ships with a lot of green, but can be used almost anywhere.

R2 Astromech: For one point, X- and Y-wings become incredibly maneuverable. A standard go-to for me with X-wings, and mandatory on Y-wings.

Marksmanship: Not popular because of the cost, but the amount of synergy is outstanding. The guaranteed trigger for crit-based abilities like Ten or Kath is good, and it turns Gunner's "SOMETHING'S gonna hit" from a nuisance to downright dangerous.

Heavy Laser Cannon: Expensive, but being able to reach out and touch a target at Range 3 with maximum dice, without giving them the extra defense, makes for a hard-hitting weapon that can put you ahead on the damage race. I don't look at it as a secondary weapon in its own right, but as an ability that basically says that every shot you take will be at Range 1, regardless of the actual range.