Okay Mr. Sith Lord. Why in heck when you have the entire Imperial arsenal to choose from did you pick and Advanced TIE? Why not an Interceptor or something better? The force may be strong but it is no substitute for intelligence.

Uhmm.. the Advanced came before the interceptor. The interceptor is actually the Advanced X4 if I remember correctly... So, there's that..

He is lord of the sith and right hand man to the emperor... at the time no other imperial fighter had sheilds (I think) and it was the most "advanced" during his use of it. It was quickly overtaken by the interceptor/avenger who had better manueverability and the avenger maintained that AND had sheilds... the Defender... well it busted up just about everything.

I played a long term X Wing campaign in which you are allowed one named pilot. Mine was Vader. As you play and earn victories your pilots earn experience. Experience could be spent in several things, including teaching a pilot to fly other ships. My Vader learned to pilot the Firespray and interceptors. They were both quite fun! However, playing that, and against Wedge in the Falcon made it abundantly clear that the game carefully matches ships and poker abilities.

However, I definitely agree, from a story point of view, that Vader, the greatest pilot in all of the Empire, could and would have chosen a better craft to better match his skills. It would have likely changed his pilot ability in this game, though.

If I were an actual Imperial pilot and got to choose what ship I flew, I would choose the TIE Advanced.

It has shields.

Well the advance was a vital stepping stone from a fighter to the interceptor and bomber. Vader never flew anything but an advance in the movies because he was only a direct combatant in one fight back when the advance was the top of the line. There's also the fact that it is the most survivable small base in the game once someone gets a bead and as the second most powerful person in the galaxy everyone's gonna be gunning for you.

Vonpenguin you are 100 percent correct. only flew a TIE 1 time..........

Also, he is a commander, his direction and control (and Force powers) are far more important than his personal skill on the stick, and the TIE Advanced/X1 is probably the most survivable starfighter available both at the time and for the foreseeable future.

Some in-universe rumor has it that he had it commissioned because he didn't want to lose another mock dogfight to Soontir Fel (presumably in matched TIE/LN Fighters otherwise).

Also, he is a commander, his direction and control (and Force powers) are far more important than his personal skill on the stick, and the TIE Advanced/X1 is probably the most survivable starfighter available both at the time and for the foreseeable future.

Some in-universe rumor has it that he had it commissioned because he didn't want to lose another mock dogfight to Soontir Fel (presumably in matched TIE/LN Fighters otherwise).

Except his orders to his wingmen were "Cover me" translated to mean, stay right next to me and don't steal any of my kills.

Durring Star Wars when Vader flew his Advanced there were none of the more advanced TIEs. But later, when Vader had been promoted to basically second to the Emperor only he did trade up his ship. THE SUPERSTAR DESTROYER: EXICUTER. Compared to the TIE Advanced is has more shields more fire power, more hull, sure its manuver dial isn't as good and it doesn't have the evade or barrel-roll action, but over all I think it is a vastly superior ship.

Actually the Executor did have barrel roll. It only did it once however and it crashed right into the Death Star II.

I suppose, being charitable here, that if I had to choose between a tie advanced and a super star destroyer I would probably take the SSD too. Still I think I might find room in one of the hangers for an advanced. In addition to the shields it had a hyperdrive and those occasionally come in handy.

*streaks through the thread wearing a TIE Interceptor costume, screaming like it*

Because Vader doesn't liek to cramp mah style!

Intahceptah fo' lief!

Why didn't he fly an ETA-2 which arguably was a better ship than the Advanced or the TIE/Ln

The advanced is a great ship...so...

In game,in that ship and with the right missiles,I'd back Vader in a dogfight with any small ship,Soontir included.TL,focus and homing missiles messes Fel up,the two actions in that ship makes him a bugger.

In universe it's supposed to b really good.also,he gave a lot of the specs for it's design and refinement,maybe he felt he should stick to it as it was kind of 'his' ship?

Vader flew a Tie Defender during the Zaarin coup where Zaarin attempted to abduct the Emperor.

Flying alongside Darth Vader simultaneously made me wet my pants with joy and sheer fear when I was ten. It was still awesome when I played through Tie Fighter again ten years later.

I still remember being told not to dare give flight orders to Darth Vader.

Overhyped tin-helmet flyboy. I did all the hard work.

Got a nice medal from the Emperor for it though. What a guy.

In the TIE Fighter game he trades up for a TIE Defender to go rescue the Emperor from a coup. He's Black 6. You're Black 1.

However, I definitely agree, from a story point of view, that Vader, the greatest pilot in all of the Empire,

*cough* Soontir *cough*

However, I definitely agree, from a story point of view, that Vader, the greatest pilot in all of the Empire,

*cough* Soontir *cough*

hear hear.

Actually the Executor did have barrel roll. It only did it once however and it crashed right into the Death Star II.

Overlap is a b*tch!

In the TIE Fighter game he trades up for a TIE Defender to go rescue the Emperor from a coup. He's Black 6. You're Black 1.

Oh yes! I remember, they make you flight leader (probably so if the enemy targets the flight leader, they don't get Vader. Because Zaarin's fleet wouldn't have scanners, or anything...) which prompts the flight officer to say "don't go telling Vader what to do now, he once force chocked someone because they put half and half in his coffee instead of full cream"

I'm not even going to describe what he did to the guy who put soy milk in once. To those who've played Tie Fighter, I'm just going to say that Vader "Harkov'ed" him.

I really hope that Vader gets a chance to fly the Tie D/. If I had enough money and friends who played X-Wing, I would love to write a campaign with more custom pilots and rules for upgrading ships.

Maarek Steele really needs a 'Tie Avenger' upgrade card, IMO. That said, I think Steele belongs in every ship in the game. Definitely not a Tie Fighter fanboy.

I am really rambling now, so I'll stop.

Okay Mr. Sith Lord. Why in heck when you have the entire Imperial arsenal to choose from did you pick and Advanced TIE? Why not an Interceptor or something better? The force may be strong but it is no substitute for intelligence.

I never red the Shadows of the Empire novel but my friend told me Vader had a Interceptor parked inside his SSD. If he is wrong maybe he mistook it for the Advanced...?

Anyway he ditched the ETA-2 & 5 in favor for a better ship. Technically speaking you can say he was one of the head designers for the X1 making it more a part of his self than just a ship he moded. I also think he probably moded his X1 to the point it was better than other X1s.

Uhmm.. the Advanced came before the interceptor. The interceptor is actually the Advanced X4 if I remember correctly... So, there's that..

Advanced = X1

Avenger = X2

Interceptor = X3

I stand corrected, I couldn't remember 3rd or 4th variant... then comes the rest of them after.. Defenders, Phantoms, Hunters... etc.. etc.. etc...

The real reason Vader likes his ship?

It had a Hyperdrive. (That's how he escaped the battle of Yavin.)

It's main strength cannot be expressed as an advantage in this game.

Okay Mr. Sith Lord. Why in heck when you have the entire Imperial arsenal to choose from did you pick and Advanced TIE? Why not an Interceptor or something better? The force may be strong but it is no substitute for intelligence.

I never red the Shadows of the Empire novel but my friend told me Vader had a Interceptor parked inside his SSD. If he is wrong maybe he mistook it for the Advanced...?

Anyway he ditched the ETA-2 & 5 in favor for a better ship. Technically speaking you can say he was one of the head designers for the X1 making it more a part of his self than just a ship he moded. I also think he probably moded his X1 to the point it was better than other X1s.

Uhmm.. the Advanced came before the interceptor. The interceptor is actually the Advanced X4 if I remember correctly... So, there's that..

Advanced = X1

Avenger = X2

Interceptor = X3

Maybe Vader parked more than the Interceptor and Advanced in his hangar...

"Hmm... *Vader breathing* Maybeee... *breathe* I will fly... the... eenie meenie miney moe... aw ****, not the Advanced again!"

I stand corrected, I couldn't remember 3rd or 4th variant... then comes the rest of them after.. Defenders, Phantoms, Hunters... etc.. etc.. etc...

You know it's funny you bring up the the Phantoms and Hunters they may or may not have been in the advanced series. I only say that because TIE Defender is X7 and Phantom and Hunters could be X4 -X6 their are lots of other TIEs that could be X4-X6. I havent counted but I think their is at least 20 TIES =) My favs not mentioned so far being the TIE Torp, TIEs from Shadow Squadron (SWTFU2 graphic novel) and the TIE Interdictor XD