Hey all! Truthi here with a much delayed article on the last official update to Armada before the community takes the reigns. Geek and I are neck deep in real-world responsibilities, so our friend Xantos was kind of enough to write this long overdue article. I'll let him take it away:
Update! It finally happened! October 113th! Find all the updated cards here! This article is going to go through every single change and how it might impact your fleet building. Don’t want to read through every single change? See below for a quick summary, and skip to the bottom to see my biggest winners from the update. Happy flying!
Seriously, this got way out of hand while writing. Props to ya if you read the full thing, but I’m not mad if you just want to skip around. I probably would too.
Also, these thoughts were written right after the update came out. Like, within a week. So if for some reason, history hasn’t supported my conclusions (I think it will, but which armchair analyst isn’t confident in their own analysis?), then you are not allowed to blame me. These are initial thoughts based on vibes! I did not test any assertions! Trust me at your own peril!
Update Summary
So, this update is mostly small point reductions to cards that could be ok but don’t see much play, usually due to cost. The good news is that they hit on a lot of interesting cards. Almost all the changes are to fun cards in my opinion. Plus, looking over my fleet builder, most of my past fleets are affected in some way, positively or negatively. That’s really exciting from a fleet building standpoint, especially as things were beginning to feel a bit stale. Here’s what the update is not: a comprehensive overhaul of upgrades. Most of the changes are small points adjustments. The update also doesn’t hit every single bad card. Sorry to say, but Isard is still useless. Cards (mostly) also aren't getting reworked with better abilities, and most changes are minor. Yes this is going to shakeup list building, but what was good is, for the most part, still good.
Here’s another thing: there’s a few targeted nerfs in this patch, mostly points increases, and then a big change to Linked Turbolaser Towers. Again, this is not a comprehensive overhaul or extensive nerfing of every good card. A couple options that were being taken every time got hit, and that’s it. I think everyone has their own list of things they wanted buffed or nerfed or changed in some way, and most of that probably didn’t get touched. The changes that did happen are exciting and open up some new options. The changes that didn’t happen? Well, this was the last hurrah from AMG, so we’re in charge now. So maybe some things will end up getting changed down the line. Who knows?
Either way, the community has written several condensed summaries of all the changes if you don’t want to go combing through the AMG document or this article (I don’t entirely blame you). Take a peek, and see what options might’ve opened up for you. And if you’re ready for a way-too exhaustive read through all the changes (or curious about my reactions), read on!
Upgrades:
Admiral Screed: Cost Decrease from 26 to 24
Small cost decrease, it’s nice but not very impactful. The better news for Screed is the LTT change and Vader Officer points increase. Screed might see some more use as dice-control in lieu of those options, but you really should still take Vader officer anyways. This consideration is also hurt by Vader Commander also going down 2 points, but he’s got his own issues. At least PDIC went up by a bit?
Admiral Trench: Cost Decrease from 36 to 32
Veteran Captain is a bit cheaper, and while Trench is still the most expensive CIS admiral, it’s not as egregious now. I personally think Trench’s effect is pretty meh for the two ships people tend to focus on in CIS (Munis and Recs) since their natural nav charts are very strong, buuut Provs and Hardcells love Navving and doing something else, be it repair, confirming, or squadding. Provs and Battle Hardcells got cheaper as well, so I could see him gaining some use, if only to try. Double dialing is always tons of fun. I don’t think he surpasses Tuuk or Grievous, but there are definitely a few builds where Trench is more useful.
Admonition: Effect Revert and Points Increase from 6 to 10
This is a spicy one! Before 1.5, Admo was the default MC30 title. It let you spend a token for its normal effect, then discard that same token (or any exhausted token) to cancel a die. Combine with Walex to recover a token next activation and Admo was shrugging off the worst of every attack. Now that evades work at close and can be discarded to effect additional dice, Admo looks to be worse than Foresight at long, but better at medium and close. Foresight was king in post 1.5, but both titles are great and pricey. I’ll be interested to see which one ends up on top.
Commander Anakin: Points Decrease from 31 to 27
Absolutely crazy to me that Anakin went down by twice as much as Vader while being twice as good already. Anakin is a blast to play and was pretty strong, and a ton of his ships went down in cost (Clam 1, Victory, and C70). Since he tends to run MSU, each of those small points decreases can really add up. I’ve seen some Anakin lists that are 15 points cheaper after the update. He’s definitely one of the biggest winners in this update, especially with LTT mostly going away (only Ven2 and Clam 2 can take it for ship rerolls in his faction). If you haven’t already, I highly encourage you to give him a try.
Asajj Ventress: Points Decrease from 4 to 2
A much appreciated points decrease, Ventress is now cheap enough to stash on a random Flotilla or Hardcell in a Dooku or TF fleet (both of which got small buffs this update). I don’t think she sees much use in TF fleets, since they tend not to have raid to spare, but maybe with Jedi Hostage? I see a lot more potential in Dooku fleets, since he raids every ship and a few of those are likely inconsequential. Even if she only triggers once, 2 points for a token is about par for the course, and you can easily trigger her 2-3 times. Big fan of this change (but that’s just my raid bias showing).
Cham Syndulla: Wording Update
Minor change, his new wording makes it clear that the Cham player gets to look at each dial before changing the command. He could already do this afaik, now it’s just clearer in the wording. Keep in mind his card says “may”, so you don’t have to change a dial if you don’t want to. Cham’s a ton of fun on a Profundity-launcher Hammerhead or with Rieekan to keep him around for delivery, but I do think Shriv is better usually. If Cham ever runs into an SSD though…
Clone Commander Wolffe: Wording Update
Wolffe previously had the unfortunate wording of “printed assault” on his original card, and no squads with printed assault to actually use. Presumably something with assault was gonna show up eventually (those fun gunships that always exploded on the way to the planet maybe), but it won’t anymore! So now anyone with assault can take advantage of his ability to spend accuracies to resolve the assault effect (which spends the die and gives the defender a raid of your choice). Assault kinda sucks cause you’re giving up damage for a raid, and the main assault platform (Gauntlets) are pretty awful even factoring in assault. Well, now Wolffe can give it to anyone (probably Arcs) and they don’t have to use a damage for it. Hey, did you know Commander Plo Koon lets squads add a blue accuracy to their pool if a friendly ship is nearby? Mentioning that for no reason in particular. Arcs are spooky enough, and now if they’re blocking your ability to repair their damage or nav away? Maybe they’re even blocking your ability to command your squads to fight back. I certainly don’t want to have to deal with that. Wolffe is still expensive and takes up a valuable officer slot, so I don’t imagine he’ll see a ton of play, but be very very careful if you do see him. Plo just got a whole lot spookier.
Corrupter: Points Decrease from 5 to 3
One of several Vic buffs, Corrupter doesn’t really see play because it isn’t needed. Tie bombers are already speed 4, Defenders are speed 5, and Firesprays have rogue. Plus, Squall is soooo much better and also on a better carrier. But hey, Squall went up a few points and Corrupter went down, so maybe give it a shot? I still don’t think it’s good, but hey, you do you.
Damage Control Officer: Points Decrease from 5 to 3
Again, nice quality of life buff, but I don’t think it matters much. Crits aren’t popular when evades work at close and PDIC exists. But hey, PDIC got a bit pricier, and Screed and some crits got cheaper, so maybe they’ll start cropping up. When Raddus drops with HIE or Overload Pulse, who will be laughing then? I mean, probably still the Raddus player cause they’ll have a giant threat positioned and primed to kill you, but now you can prevent their special crit for 2 less points!
Count Dooku: Points Decrease from 30 to 27
Holy crap it’s the best day ever. Dooku op, best admiral in the game, raid meta incoming, Mar Who? Grievous Who? I was wrong to have doubted, I will never stray from the path of raid again, Dooku is the truth!
Ah-hem.
Anyways, can I tell you a secret? You gotta promise not to tell anyone. Here, I’ll whisper it: Raid is Mid. This buff is nice, but doesn’t fundamentally change raid mechanics. As long as flotillas and token generation are cheap and abundant, Raid will never be an amazing strategy.
Darth Vader: Points Decrease from 36 to 34
Well whoopty-doo, Vader can now afford an extra comms net! I mentioned it above, but Commanderkin was already leagues better than Vader, and he went down twice as much! Vader officer went up, Arqs went down, and LTT is functionally gone for empire outside of the Ven 2, so maybe there’s a case for him? I kinda doubt it though.
Darth Vader: Points Increase from 1 to 4
Our first nerf of the update, and a well-deserved nerf at that. Darth Vader was not only far too easy to just chuck on a flotilla as an afterthought, his effect was also far too strong for the cost. Yes theoretically discarding an officer is a terrible idea, but one, you chose when to do this, and two, Empire has a ton of disposable officers. Ozzel, Needa, and Minister Tua are all super cheap and have a nice effect at the start of the game before promptly sitting around and doing nothing but waiting to be offed for sweet, sweet rerolls. Vader’s biggest competition was other forms of Vader, usually the defender version. I still think this card is very strong, but at 4 it’s a bit harder to chuck in just because. However, with Linked Turbolaser Towers rerolls only working on the Imperial Venator now, dice-fixing becomes a lot more valuable, and Vader is still one of the best tools for it. Screed and Vader commander went down a few points, but I still don’t think they compete with officer Vader.
Dodonna’s Pride: Points Decrease from 6 to 4
Dodonna’s Pride is a really fun title to fly, and now it’s cheaper! Is it good? Kinda. Tends to be a bit unreliable. Is it fun tho? Hell yeah it is! Put it on a CR90A with Sato or a 90b with any of the 6 rebel MSU commanders (is draven msu? Should it be 7 commanders? Who knows) and have a wonderful time.
Dominator: Points Decrease from 12 to 7
It’s still more expensive than Patriot Fist and arguably has a worse downside. Early cards man. Vic 2 got cheaper too, so that's 8 dice at medium range, more with a turbo, potentially twice with GT (Dominator can be used multiple times, ever wanted to be shieldless?). Shame it doesn’t work at long range with Dcaps or the glass cannon might see some play. As it stands, I think the Vics are in a pretty solid place, but Harrow is still the go-to title.
Dual Turbolaser Turrets: Points Decrease from 5 to 4
Huge points decrease! Massive! Game-changing! DTT new best turbo! Also, LTT is dead, more at 6.
Has you or a loved one been suffering from lack of rerolls? Ever shot at a ship and been one damage short? Want to fish for an accuracy but don’t want to reroll your crit? Introducing DTT! It’s still here! Does it work on salvos? No. Is it good against squads? Not really. Can you use it multiple times? Well, no. But it’s cheap! DTT. Buy today. Available at your local Turbolaser slot.
Engineering Team: Points Decrease from 5 to 3
Now that this costs the same as Auxiliary Shield teams, it’s actually a question of which one to take. Granted, I think Aux wins most of the time, but some ships like the Interdictor or Muni have to think! If you’re consistently repairing during the fight, ET might give you more value than Aux will, especially if you only have one redirect. Some have also considered tossing it on 3 engineering smalls so a token can clear a damage card, and grant insurance against terrible crits. Newer players be warned, it only adds one engineering point total, regardless of whether you spent dial, token, or both. But hey, one point can be really impactful, especially if you can use it 2-3 times in a match. Most ships still don’t want it, but I do think it might be good on a few.
Expanded Launchers: Points Decrease from 13 to 8
I’ve made a few jokes about the cards they chose to change being bad, but even if they are, it’s so fun to have a reason to consider these cards again. Expanded Launchers is awesome, and even if it will never be the best (all hail external racks, the eternal king of ordnance), it’s super fun and actually useable at 8. Spinal armaments costs 9 and only adds 1! Slap it on a Raddus, slap it on a Demo, make that tanky Providence a monster. One of my favorite changes in the update.
Foresight: Points Increase from 8 to 10
I’m not sure Foresight deserved this nerf, but it was definitely very strong, and I’m always in favor of nerfing defense (even when they took Wat Tambor from me). Both MC30 titles cost 10 points now, so if you’re trying to keep that sucker alive, pay up. Both titles are great, with Foresight being better at long, and Admo being more reliable at medium and close, where Foresight only rerolls while Admo still cancels. Again, I’m interested to see what comes out on top.
And don’t tell anyone, but… Mon Calamari Exodus fleet might be good now? At 5 points each, two copies equal the cost of Admo and Foresight, and sure it’s no equivalent defense, but it helps more than one ship. Both MC75s and MC80s went down in cost as well. 2 additional engineering points is an extra shield, and repair tokens can be plentiful for rebels. I’m serious, give it a shot. Your MC30 won’t be as tanky as Admo or Foresight, but it will be tankier, and your larges will benefit too. You’d be surprised how much an extra shield or two can help in the long run.
General Draven: Points Decrease from 28 to 20
Huge points decrease for my man Draven here, tied for largest in the update. Much has been said on why Draven is not good, mostly to do with him raiding after the enemy resolves the command instead of before. I won’t belabor the point. But, now he is tied for cheapest admiral in the game. Rebels have a lot of fun tools too, like Rex and Mart and Ezra. I’m saying this a lot (and will say some more), but give it a shot in a casual game and see what you can whip up. It might be better than you expect.
General Madine: Ability Change
Woooo, Madine got the Ozzel treatment! A couple things to note: Madine specifies your first maneuver, so he will never grant an extra yaw on an Engine Techs or Rift Ambush maneuver. Otherwise, regardless of speed or command, you can add a click of yaw at any point on the maneuver tool using his ability. This is a pretty strong ability, which is likely why Madine retains his cost of 30 points. Similar to Ozzel, you can still double up on clicks by Navving and using Madine’s ability, but crucially, now you don’t have to. Liberties and 30s can rely on a token to change speed and Madine to add a click while Con-Firing or Repairing, the HMC80 can turn sharply while commanding squads, CR90s can get an early click to avoid flying straight into danger, Nebulons and Assault Frigates can con-fire or push squads or repair and still keep on target… Basically, Navving is still good, and Madine lets you Nav while doing other commands. That might be as close to a double-dial commander Rebels ever get, and his ability is active every round with no drawback. You start turning better on round 1 and don’t stop until the game is over.
Now, there is a pretty vocal minority that is calling this change a nerf, because it technically nerfs their specific Madine list, which relied on the second half of Madine’s old ability, namely, the ability for a token to add a yaw instead of changing speed. They would use the Nav dial to adjust speed, and use a token for an extra yaw, for a total of 3 yaw adds. New Madine only ever adds 1 click, in addition to 1 from a Nav Dial. So yes, Madine doesn't work as well in those specific fleets made to leverage old Madine. Old Madine, who I have never once played against and have only heard about these lists in a few weeks before the update and the few days after. So I’m not too sympathetic. A ton of lists got hit in the update, some positively and some negatively. Yes, that specific list may be worse with this new Madine, but so many more are much better because they’re not locked into the Navigate command anymore. I think Madine is the change I’ve seen the people most excited about, and I’m also excited to see what everyone comes up with.
Governor Pryce: Ability Change + Points Decrease from 7 to 6
Our second nerf of the update (still not counting Madine’s change as a nerf, get over it). Pryce was mostly seen on two ships: the Onager and the SSD. On other ships, her cost combined with costing a shield was usually too hefty to consider. I’ve seen some use on Interdictors, who often repair anyways, and consideration on an Arq. Those uses aren’t really hurt by this change, since she was used for damage or a crit. However, the Onager really wanted accuracies to make its giant damage pool stick, sometimes even two accuracies to lay the hurt onto certain smalls. Now Pryce can’t do that. I’m honestly not that upset about it? I think the Onager is now in a good spot balance-wise. It’s still very strong and can apply pressure like no other ship can, but it’s very difficult to one-shot anything but a flotilla, and that is a good thing. You can still run Vader (either version), Sensor Teams, Varnillian, and/or Veteran gunners to try and get an accuracy, now it’s just very unlikely to get two. And that’s ok.
Now the SSD. Pryce was very useful comboed with Quad Turbolaser Cannons to get two red accuracies on most shots (yes you can only Pryce once, but when you’re tossing a load of reds one is bound to pop up every now and then). SW7 could then turn any unwanted blue accuracies into damage. Here’s the thing: I actually think that build was worse than Quad Battery Turrets triggering HIE at long range, which Pryce crucially can still do. QBT is a bit more unreliable, since your opponent can always slow down, but most ships don’t want to slow down and brawl with the SSD. For that build, Pryce is still very good. Yes she’s not as flexible anymore, but she’s still useful. And that’s ok. Consistent double accuracies in large die pools are unhealthy for the game. We’ll miss the QTC build, and the SSD will likely become even more rare, but it’ll still show up and rock the boat every now and again.
Hand of Justice: Points Decrease from 4 to 2
Another fun card getting a points reduction. HoJ on a base Arq equals the cost of an old Arquitens, so you’ll barely notice the cost. You gotta run it now, right? Jokes aside, this is a potentially very good card, held back by a bunch of ifs. If you’re in range, and if you’re ready to be activated, and if nothing else needs to be activated, and if there’s a defense token to refresh that will be useful… But hey, you could refresh a brace and spend it again! Next time you’re auto-building your Needa TRC Arq to support an ISD2, consider Hand of Justice. It might help you out.
Heavy Fire Zone: Points Decrease from 4 to 2
Sure would be nice if there was a way to reroll those red dice you’re chucking, huh? This is actually a deceptively good upgrade, assuming you have the points. Reds aren’t great at anti-squad. But here’s the thing: they could be. In a tournament, do you think your opponent is gonna risk their squads maybe taking a damage or 2, or just keep them out of range? I know what I’d do. And 2 points for area deterrent ain’t bad. It’s certainly not great, but maybe there’s use. Not like you’re taking LTT in that slot anyways.
High-Capacity Ion Turbines: Points Decrease from from 8 to 6
This now costs the same as PDIC, which is neat I guess. Now there’s an actual choice between offense and defense, which is good for the game. I still don’t think it will see much use, as it’s competing with both Leading Shots and PDIC, but at least it’s now competing. I’m sure there’s a wacky build it could find use in too, probably combined with Disposable Capacitors. Give it a shot!
Home One: Points Decrease from 7 to 5
Remember how I was saying double accuracies are bad for the game? Well here’s something that guarantees accuracies for everything else, even from a blank. Now hold on before you get too excited, there’s a reason why this card never saw play beforehand. H1 plus an HMC80 are expensive, and then it only works for the rest of your fleet. Then again, both the title and the ships got cheaper, so you can squeeze just a bit more in to gain the benefit. At the very least, it’s a fun and powerful effect that now has a great excuse to see more play.
Invisible Hand: Wording Update + Points Decrease from 9 to 8
RIP to the donut, you are gone and will not really be missed except for an occasional laugh. In case you’re not aware, Invisible Hand was intended to be superior to Rapid Launch Bays in several ways, one of which was an extended placement range. However, the card was worded as only allowing squads to be deployed within distance 3, which actually excludes distances 1 and 2 based on fun Armada verbiage. Now the card says within 1-3, allowing the squads to be placed anywhere not beyond the distance 3 band, granting great flexibility when dropping the squads. RLB also got a distance extension which I’ll talk about later, but with Flight Commander, IH can drop squads in a massive range for a very safe and effective alpha. The points didn’t go down by much, but for being better than RLB, it should cost more. Plus, both Provs went down in points anyways. It’s definitely a bit expensive anyways, but guaranteeing an alpha when your squads are very fragile can be very powerful. Just shell out for PDIC on the Prov so it doesn’t die to enemy squads before it can drop its own. And watch out for Slicer Tools!
Jaina’s Light: Points Increase from 2 to 5
This one has people mad. I kinda get why, as it doesn’t seem like a really strong title. In fact, I’m kinda mad it got nerfed over other deserving things, like Maarek. But, I’m not that mad. Because Jaina’s was really annoying, and it was ubiquitous. Pretty much every rebel list had it. And yes, part of that was due to the cheap cost and the effectiveness of a trc90, but it’s also because it’s an amazing title. All obstacles end up being places to hide for Jaina’s, fun places to run that the enemy won’t want to chase into. It can hide behind friendly ships without much consequence. So yes, the next time you build a rebel list and slap in a trc90 or 4 to round out the list, you’ll have to pause and think. Consider whether Jaina’s is worth it. It might be! Ackbar needs Jaina’s so his side shot isn’t obstructed and cancelled before he adds dice. Cr90 flagships may want it to be able to run and hide in obstacle fields. Others may not want or need to pay the new price. And that’s ok, because it’s an actual decision now, and that’s better for the game.
Leading Shots: Points Decrease from 6 to 5
Look who decided to change prices again! It’s everyone's old favorite, the ol reliable, Leading Shots! I personally don’t like this card because it spends a die, usually to fix 2 more, which is not a huge increase. But, being able to reroll anything you want is a ridiculously strong effect, as shown by Vader and Caiken & Shollan. And now, the most ubiquitous dice-fixing tool, LTT, has been nerfed. (The second-place one, Vader officer, also got nerfed, in case you’re keeping track). Leading Shots might see a bit of a resurgence.
Linked Turbolaser Towers: Ability Change
Hoo boy, it’s a big one. Let’s talk about the most important thing first. Munis OP bby let’s goooo, they were brought into this world to use LTT and they’ll leave this world using LTT.
Ok, the second most important thing. They changed the wording! Now it says “first squad during an attack” and not “first squad during your activation”, aligning to the intent to allow you to LTT bonus flak a squad on your second attack, even if you’ve already attacked squads. It doesn’t really matter but the wordsmith and rules lover in me is overjoyed. I love LTT and IH and RLB getting their wordings changed to make intuitive sense instead of being this weird gotcha rules hole for new players to trip into. It’s very nice.
OK fine, let’s actually talk about the change. The ship reroll only works if your ship has the “bombard” keyword now, something FFG started to introduce with the Clone Wars factions, and didn’t get fully around to implementing for Reasons. Currently, the ships with bombard include both Munificents, the Providence Dreadnaught, Acclamator 2, Venator 2, and Imperial Venator 2. That’s a pretty short list. For everyone else, it’s a 7 point flak upgrade. That’s, uh… not great. Only the Starhawk, SSD, and Recusant have red flak and a turbo slot to make use of rerolling reds while attacking squads (other ships could still add reds in with Kallus or LTT, but… why would they?), so for everyone else, it’s a 7 point upgrade that lets you add 2 blues or 2 blacks while attacking a squad, and then that’s the only squad you can attack with that attack. That’s… kinda bad. I don’t think many of those ships will take it. Some might if they have external dice fixing and are really desperate to hit squads, but otherwise? Nah.
So where does that leave us? Well, something had to change. LTT was one of the most prevalent upgrades, and was really crowding out other turbolaser options. I’m not upset that they changed it. Here’s the thing though. People are upset about dice control leaving, and yeah that sucks, but those ships will find other options. None of the ships are dead because they can’t take LTT anymore. BUT. Y’know what else LTT did? It upgraded your flak. Y’know how many other options there are to do that? Not many! And the ones that do exist, mostly suck. Part of the reason LTT was so ubiquitous is because it was the best of both worlds, flak and dice fixing. Post-1.5, everyone migrated to tankier and tankier squads to try and survive the increased flak of the Clone Wars factions and LTT. This is part of the reason why consensus on CIS squads was “bad, mostly”. They couldn’t hold up to the flak. Now though? Who cares, the two most popular factions most likely aren’t going to be taking it. And yes, that’s exciting, it’ll open up a bit of squad variety and turbo variety, but that’s also scary, at least for me. Two of the best tools ships have against squadrons, PDIC and LTT were hit in this patch. There were also three squad nerfs, to compensate. Squall went up, Lando went up, and Jendon went up. I’d be shocked if their usage drops even a fraction of what LTT’s will. Over half of the fleets at worlds last year had over 100 pts in squads, and that goes up to 67% on day 2. I’m worried this change will only make squads more dominant. Of course, all these thoughts are preliminary. I’m almost certainly wrong in some places, and I hope I am here too.
Lucid Voice: Points Decrease from 8 to 6
Lucid Voice has a problem. Well, two problems. It’s not that abilities are bad per se, just tough to make use of. Exchanging a blue die for a black is ok, assuming you have a way of making that black die more dangerous than a blue. That would typically involve Ordnance Experts and a black crit. However the only way to take OE on a Prov is on the Dreadnaught, which doesn’t have a defensive retrofit. I consider that mandatory for a large black-dice ship. Ok that’s no problem, you can just take the Invincible title, and whoops, there’s the issue. That means, at least for me, Lucid Voice is a carrier Prov upgrade only, at which point swapping a blue for a black doesn’t really do a whole lot.
Lucid voice also swaps the rear arc to three reds, meaning slightly better damage on ships that are fleeing from you, and a stronger salvo at longer ranges. Again, I have issues with this. Not with the first thing, extra damage on fleeing ships can be great, especially with a commander like Tuuk or TF who can add dice to that attack. It’s the second part, the improved salvo. First off, you can already gain a similar effect from Flak Guns, which is half the cost. But hey, maybe you don’t want to use the offensive retrofit slot on that, fair play to you. Here’s my other question then. How are you gonna stabilize those red dice? Cause the carrier can’t use LTT, and DTT doesn’t work for salvo. You’re basically stuck either using DBY, taking up your only turbo slot, or Intensify Firepower. IF is a great card, but it’s also expensive, and you have to feed it with confire tokens, and that’s a lot of steps for a slightly better salvo. Maybe you started the build with IF and because of the points changes you have some extra points in your fleet, and maybe you think Lucid Voice could be helpful for some reason. Hey, knock yourself out. The changes aren’t enough to make me consider it though. I’d still rather use the points elsewhere.
Mercy Mission: Ability Change, Points Increase from 0 to 5
This is another really good change in my opinion, although I would’ve liked the bounty for killing MM to stay at 20. It’s now 15, but the card also costs 5 now, so it’s basically the same. The important thing is that this is no longer free for the GAR player to slap in their fleet. Yes it took the slot and maybe mod tag on your flagship (if using Flag Bridge), but even then it was too much benefit for not much drawback. It was very easy to include a cheap consular, maybe with some token generation, that would hang out near the fight and support for a few rounds while hiding behind the big ships, then make a break for the end zone in the last few rounds, all the while never really exposing itself to danger. Now at least the GAR player has to set aside some points for this as well. 5 isn’t much, but it’s 5 more points on top of the cost of the Consular that likely isn’t contributing to the fight. As with a lot of the nerfs this update, taking this card is now a bit more of an actual decision to make during fleet building.
Nav Team: Wording Change
This one doesn’t really matter. The goal was to make the card less confusing, as the original card could be interpreted as allowing a nav token to change speed twice, but that’s a bit of a stretch. New card doesn’t have that, but is definitely still feels a bit awkward. NEXT!
NK-7 Ion Cannons: Points Decrease from 10 to 6
This card is still pretty bad in my opinion. The problem is that your opponent chooses what token to discard, meaning they will always discard the least important token first. You’d likely need multiple copies of this card hitting the same ship to have a strong effect, and that’s a bit easier now with the cost decrease, but at that point you’re skewing pretty hard into “man I hope I get these crits and they discard some good tokens so I can hit them with this big attack” and that’s too many steps. Now, it does sound like a fun strategy, even if it might not be super competitive. Maybe a couple Raider 2s and an Onager with Palpatine? Pricey, but sounds fun!
Obi-Wan Kenobi: Points Decrease from 28 to 22
I love this change. Gar now has a cheap commander that doesn’t really require investment to be helpful like the other factions. And Obi-Wan is good! Everyone says he sucks, but that’s really only in comparison. Anakin tends to be better with the ship spam you’d ordinarily take Obi with, and Lumi + Bail offer better flagship protection than Obi’s more fleetwide benefits. But that’s the crux, fleetwide benefit. Obi can help all your ships at once, something the other admirals struggle with. Just for the sake of argument, I’m going to do a comparison to another good commander: Motti. Obi is now cheaper than Motti, and has similar effects. A consular or pelta can be expected to spend its redirect at least once, matching Motti’s benefit, and getting more than that if it survives a round or takes a stray shot. Consulars especially were super weak to chip, especially if the evade got accuracied. Clams, Vics, and Vens should be able to get two spends of a readied redirect in my experience, unless the Clam jumps too far into danger. You can get more rounds of redirecting in with other layered defenses, like PE, Implacable, and Tranq + EST. Obi ends up being basically equivalent for mediums and better for smalls than Motti, while slightly worse for larges. I’m not saying he’s the best admiral GAR has, in fact, the other options are often better. What I am saying is that Obi-Wan isn’t some dumpster tier admiral like Tagge or Palpatine, he’s a solid generalist option outshined by other more direct admirals.
Overload Pulse: Points Decrease from 8 to 6
This card has seen some use recently with the resurgence of Icedbecker’s can-opener Raddus, involving a Profundity-dropped CR90b with Overload Pulse, followed by an MC75 with Boarding Troopers. Obligatory “Yes, that Is how Overload Pulse works”. Outside of that fleet, it’s still got the activation order issues that have plagued it since its inception. A lot of Ion upgrades were adjusted this patch and brought to 6 points, so it’s easy to swap between them in a fleet. I’d encourage you to use that as an opportunity to give them a try and figure out which Ion works best in your fleet. My guess is that HIE and PDIC are still the best, followed by Leading Shots, but the rest are now a lot closer in power than they were before.
Point Defense Ion Cannons: Points Increase from 4 to 6
Something like this had to happen. PDIC was too good and too ubiquitous to not get nerfed. Like LTT, no one could really agree on the best way to do so, so a point bump it is. I’m pretty ok with this. The ships who rely on it to survive squads and close-range attacks will still take it, and everyone else now has to choose between it and some of the other similarly costed ion cannons (or just least the slot blank, besides MS-1s, every Ion is now 5+ points). Yes I’m annoyed that the two best anti-squad cards both got nerfs, but I’ve already talked about that a bit so I won’t repeat myself. PDIC deserved the nerf, and will still get taken anyways.
Rapid Launch Bays: Ability Change
They got rid of the drop ambiguity and its slicer tools weakness in one fell swoop, how about them apples? Now it’s abundantly clear how you drop the squads and that you don’t have to command them, and you’ve got a bit of extra range to do it. This is really important, because in my mind, the best way to use Rapid Launch Bays was with Flight Commander, and you can’t really do that anymore. That means your ship is forced to get in close before dropping the squads, weathering an extra round of fire, and denying your squads an extra turn of shooting as well. There are ways around this, notably with Raddus, Hyperspace Assault, and Profundity, but overall I think this actually ends up being a pretty decent nerf to RLB. I love the new wording, but decoupling it from a squadron command also took away one of it’s strengths, and I don’t think it’ll see much more play for it.
Rapid Reload: Points Decrease from 8 to 4
Now tied with DTT for second-cheapest modification (shame they didn’t get rid of that, half the turbolasers have mod), Rapid Reload was definitely the worst of the dice-add mods, seeing absolutely zero play. Now that it’s the same cost as ex racks, surely that will change, right? Well, maybe. It depends on if you can get 2 shots off at close or just one. Most ships manage just one, which makes racks the best choice. However, if you can get multiple, Rapid Reload and other ordnance upgrades provide more damage overall, spread out across multiple attacks. Raddus MC75s, Demolishers, and MC30s are probably your best bet for positioning well enough, while Providences, Venators, and ISDs are most likely to survive. Likely isn’t a guarantee though, and RR still does nothing against squads while racks can be dropped on anything you want. I don’t think it will see much play, but at least it’s an option now.
Redemption: Points Decrease from 8 to 5
Speaking from experience, Redemption with Garm can actually be pretty spooky. You can lean all the way in with stuff like Engineering Team and Mon Cal Exodus Fleet, but I don't think you need to. One extra point makes a repair token very useful on most ships. The issue here is the platform. It’s very hard to justify a non-yavaris Nebulon in the fleet. They’re very good at surviving one shot, but unfortunately equally good at dying immediately to a second follow-up shot. They also lack a fleet support slot like the GAR Peltas and Transport Hardcell, ships that seemingly fill a similar role. Well, Redemption supports the fleet. Kinda. This is another change that I don’t think matters too much in the grand scheme of things, but there’s a few fleets out there that are pretty happy with the change.
Repair Crews: Points Decrease from 4 to 3
Everyone rejoice, the SSD is saved! With the point saved from Repair Crews, SSD fleets are a third of the way to recouping the Vader officer cost! This change, uh, sure is a change. Honestly the biggest issue is the restrictive range requirement. RC is typically best with a tougher ship that can accumulate a few damage cards and still survive. Unfortunately, those ships tend to like their maneuvering room, and having a tag-a-long sidekick just isn’t worth the effort. Just take Comms Net or Parts Resupply and support them from a distance. You know what they say: never meet your heroes.
Reserve Hangar Deck: Points Increase from 3 to 4
Another deserved nerf that probably won’t change much. It ends up being a bigger deal for fleets that would spam the upgrade, like Grievous Hardcells, as it starts to add up between the ships. People have said this nerfs heavy squads and screens equally, but I think it hits screens a bit harder. RHD soared in popularity after 1.5, both because 134 lists were forced to use some generics, and because Intel no longer let you ignore a small screen. All of a sudden, 6 Ties could engage your fighters and force you to spend time killing them, and RHD was a pretty cheap way of letting them respawn. 134 also caught on to this tactic, using RHD Interceptors to eat enemy alphas while countering back, then respawning to fight again, or even jumping into enemy squads and flak screens, trusting RHD to bring them back and do it again next round. However, that strategy really only worked with Empire, using flotillas to provide extra offensive retrofits. Most 134 fleets use the slots for Boosted Comms and Expanded Hangar Bays instead, and GAR doesn’t have flots, Rebels don’t use Z-95s in 134 fleets (and can you blame them?), and someone didn’t see fit to give Seppies a useful flotilla (more on that later). Screen fleets were far more likely to have the slots free, while also more likely to be using cheap swarm squads. Again, it’s not a huge nerf, but it does add up in fleets that spam it. My recent VWC list had 3 copies, meaning I would need to find 3 points somewhere to keep them all. Luckily for me, the Provs went down in cost, but not every fleet will be so lucky.
Resolute: Points Decrease from 6 to 4
Resolute is a neat title that I think should see more play. This change, combined with the Tranquility nerf last year, might help to do so. The first big difficulties are that Venators inherently want to Navigate, and Resolute does nothing for that command. The second difficulty is that the tokens can’t be used until the next round, unlike something like Clone Nav Officer, who lets you dial + token the same round, or pass a token to another ship to be used whenever. You have to choose multiple types of command tokens for the card too, I wonder if there was a Commander that would let the Venator resolve multiple commands in a round… Oh hey Bail! It’s probably not ultra-competitive, but a Bail Venator can resolve 3 commands in a round, 2 from Bail and 1 natively, and Resolute will give tokens matching a few of those commands without any need for support. Sounds fun to me. It can also work with a bit of up-front token gen, such as banking a token or getting one passed from a support ship, and then sustain itself after. Even if you don’t use them all, 2 tokens for 4 points is a good deal, and Resolute can get you up to 4. Give it a shot!
San Hill: Ability Change
CptAwesomer is vindicated at last. San Hill has a good ability now. Let’s take a look. First thing, he comes with two charges, period. Right now there’s no way to add tokens to other cards, so Mr. Hill comes with two tokens and that’s it. Secondly, it says “a friendly ship”, so San can trigger on his own ship resolving a squadron command, if you want him to. Finally, even though San Hill is discarding a squadron token, he is not resolving a token, he is letting you command an additional squad. That means whatever ship is commanding squads can do so with a dial, token, or both, and get the +1 squad from San Hill.
Simply put, this is a pretty strong ability, also with a very firm limit. One extra squad, twice. I’m not sure how good he would be in other factions, but CIS can easily fit 10+ squads into a list while struggling to command them all. San Hill helps with that. He also helps in activating all your bombers or fighters at once. A Gozanti can now push 4 squads using a dial, token, and Hill, coincidentally the number of Hyenas most CIS lists bring. A Recusant or Providence can now push one extra Vulture with Flight Controllers, maybe killing another enemy squad before they have a chance to fight back. All that, but only twice.
It’s a good thing San Hill is cheap. He also doesn’t take up a contested officer slot, happy to sit on a Hardcell or Gozanti. I imagine he’ll be an auto-include for every CIS 134 list at least for the next few months, and will probably stick around in most of them. It’s a simple effect that is really helpful for his faction, very well designed in my opinion. I’m excited to put him on the table and get back to CIS 134.
Shriv Surgaav: Points Decrease from 6 to 4
Shriv was always a bit awkward, double the cost and also more limited than his Imperial counterpart, Vader the 4th. He also doesn’t have amazing BT platforms, with the Hammerhead being quite frail, the Assault Frigate preferring to keep its distance, and the MC75 being less than stellar. Even with his limitations though, every upgrade is in a list for a reason, and Shriv can target one of your choice and just turn it off. I’ve seen him on Rieekan and Profundity Hammerheads used to great effect, and now he’s only a point more than Boarding Troopers, and a point less than Cham. He was already decent at 6, so he’s bound to be good now that he’s cheaper.
Slicer Tools: Ability Change
Some people have claimed this change will lead to too many Slicer Tools in the meta. I’m not convinced, mostly because it didn’t happen back when Slicers had no refresh cost, but I could be wrong. People are excited for two reasons: one, Slicers no longer starts the game exhausted. This means that the first repair token you gain isn’t spent to get a use out of Slicers, but a second use, which is usually all that you’ll need. You’re free to dial what you want from turn 2 onwards, or even slice someone round 1, if you can get in range. People are also excited because of the actual ability change, letting Slicers raid a target if they have no command dial or if you don’t want to change the dial. Crucially, you can’t raid someone for what their current top command is, but at least you get something if you don’t change the dial. This is also nice because sometimes all 4 commands are helpful to the ship you’re slicing, so you can just keep the dial and raid something you don’t want them doing later or with a token. Neatly, it also gives TF a way to apply raid without B2s or Jedi Hostage. I don’t think this is going to all of a sudden make him meta or anything, but it is a nice new option to mess around with.
Squall: Points Increase from 3 to 7
Good riddance. If I never see this card again it’s too soon. What a busted ability. Empire already has some of the fastest squads; this ability was complete overkill. If you’ve ever been hit from a distance 2 move followed by speed 5 move and then distance 2 snipe from Saber, and then Jendon triggers her again, you know my pain. There are legitimately cool things you can do with this card, like speeding up Firesprays while actually commanding your fast squads, or something with YV-666s probably, and then there’s the things it was actually used for, like bumping a Lambda a bit to move a token to trigger Moralo. It’s a really strong card that finally has a high price to match. Good riddance.
Stronghold: Points Decrease from 5 to 3
With this change, both Pursuant and Stronghold are quite cheap, under half the cost of Squall. They’re both very good titles too, although I would say Pursuant is a bit better due to the fragile nature of Ties and Tie-Interceptors. But, you can take RHD to revive them, and if any of them survive a shot and force your opponent to shoot them again, that’s value. How much value is up to you. These changes should hopefully encourage Quasar players to try a rotation of all 3 titles. Squall is still the strongest, but you might want those points elsewhere, and again, Pursuant and Stronghold are both quite good titles. Hopefully you’ll see them more (not me though. I don’t like Quasars. Command your squads like a real admiral (ie with a flotilla)).
Support Officer: Points Decrease from 4 to 2
Yeah, this card still kinda sucks. Now it’s appropriately costed as a kinda better Skilled First Officer (although SFO basically allows you to flex between 2 commands, so I still think it’s better in most cases). He’s now 2nd best out of the command fixing generic officers, simply by virtue of being 2nd cheapest now. Maybe if there’s a local Cham meta around? He’s still not bad on the SSD, and the Hawk has a second officer slot if you’re desperate, but generally, take SFO if you’re worried about picking the right commands, or take a better officer otherwise.
Veteran Captain: Points Decrease from 3 to 2
Another good change, equalling the cost of Hondo. Hondo still gives more tokens, but his 2 are spread out and he gives some to your opponent too (Hondo, friend to all, unless he’s in a modified firespray). Vet Captain just got easier to justify as an emergency token button. Fun combo: put Vet Captain on a flotilla so you can emergency pass whatever token you need to pass while still using your dial. It’s really good I swear!
Weapon Battery Techs: Points Decrease from 5 to 4
This pairs quite nicely with a few blue crits getting cheaper. Raider 2s and CIS flots have both slots, and the Onager SD likes it to help trigger Blue Beam. Outside of that? Not many ships want to sacrifice a weapons slot and an accuracy. Mayyybe if you reaaally want to ensure a blue crit goes off and you’re not rebels so you don’t have Caitken & Shollan? Otherwise, there’s better options in the slot. At least WBT is now cheaper than Sensor Team and Veteran Gunners, which are both usually better options for dice control in the slot.
XX-9 Turbolasers: Points Decrease from 5 to 2
Another very cheap turbolaser option. No dice-fixing here, but it does get around the contain, and doubles your odds of pulling a Structural Damage crit card from the deck (around a 30% chance, not great but not bad for 2 points). It’s especially good now on double-turbolaser ships, namely both Liberties and the Cymoon. Most faceups are a situational damage or debuff, so pulling two doubles the odds of getting something useful for you and really painful for your opponent. XX-9 has been called a “win-more” card (IE if it triggers, you’re already winning and didn’t need the effect), but that was when it was only 2 points cheaper than LTT. Pair with Xi7 and dice fixing and you’ve got a ship that can get very mean very quickly.
Squadrons:
Aggressor Assault Fighter: Points Decrease from 16 to 15
Aggressors always compared a bit unfavorably to YT-2400s, being both slower and squishier for the same cost. Empire also has great carriers in the ISDs and Quasar, plus Admirals to help navigate while commanding squads like Ozzel, Jerjerrod, and Thrawn, so they don’t feel the need for rogues as much. In-faction, being slightly cheaper than defenders now and not requiring a command opens up a nice space for them. You still want the big hitters in your ace slots, but Aggressors are decent anti-squad and decent anti-ship, and adding a few to your ball will reduce command stress. I don’t think you want them in a screen, as Empire has several lovely options for cheap and annoying scatter aces, but I can definitely see them doing well in some mid-large squad balls.
Anakin Skywalker Y-wing: Points Decrease from 19 to 18
People forget how strong Yanakin is because Deltakin is also ridiculously strong, and also happens to be more useful for the majority of Gar squad balls. Maybe this change will inspire some players to try him out? Adept 2 makes him pretty consistent at shooting both ships and squads, and he can always ignore engagement to shoot whatever you need. He’s also one of the cheaper aces Gar has access to. I can see him being very valuable in a screen list, or even as another ace for Luminara lists (she likes aces because they trigger token refreshes from her ability). In mid-large size squad balls, I think Deltakin’s splash and anti-squad is a bit too valuable to leave behind, but maybe in a Plo fleet where you’re more focused on bombing and just ignoring enemy fighters? Anankin’s ability also comboes nicely with Plo, allowing you to reposition your pseudo-intel.
Boba Fett: Points Decrease from 26 to 24
Boba’s ability is a bit weird, because one damage in isolation seems really underwhelming, but one damage from a squad is really strong. He can ping scatter aces for free, ignore escorts (kinda), and still damage ships while engaged. His base stats are also quite strong. I definitely think he’s a consideration as an ace now, being cheaper than Vader and tied with Hondo, but the flexibility of Hondo’s ability and consistency from Vader is hard to pass up. Boba’s a ton of fun though, and is a bit easier to justify bringing if you want to mess around with him.
Colonel Jendon: Points Increase from 20 to 23
A well-deserved points increase. I’m only disappointed they didn’t hit his buddy Maarek as well. Jendon is still well worth bringing in any Imperial 134 ball simply for his flexibility. He offers relay and an extra attack from whatever squad is most valuable at the moment. He can let Maarek/Vader bomb again, Saber snipe again, or any squadron get a second attack into a crucial target. Jendon isn’t going anywhere, but you’ll have to make a cut somewhere else to fit him, which a lot of players are concerned about. You don’t really want to cut Maarek or Vader, and most people were bringing a really cheap 4th ace like Mauler or Valen anyways. Saber is also an auto-include, so you’ve got about 3 generics you can downgrade. I personally don’t think it’s that big a deal, but some people are eyeing this increase and the Squall increase and reconsidering the whole list. I’m always ok with less Imp 134, but also, just take another Interceptor or something. You’ll be fine.
DFS-311: Points Decrease from 18 to 16
Have I ever complained about how terrible DFS is? Honestly both Vulture aces are disappointments to the factories that produced them. DFS is twice as expensive as a normal vulture and is worse at shooting than them. Let me repeat that: He is worse than a vulture and costs twice as much. And it used to be more! Yes you get defense tokens, and yes you get the ability, which I’ve triggered maybe twice ever while playing him. I hate this guy and I hate that I have to use him because he has Intel. He’s the annoying friend that has no redeeming qualities of his own, but still gets invited to parties because he always brings good booze. Intel is not nearly as strong as it was pre-1.5, but giving grit to fragile Vultures and Hyenas so they can ignore Shara and shoot a better target is nigh-mandatory for CIS 134. If you play Cis 134, you will run into a scatter ace with strong counter, like Anakin, Vult, Cienna, Shara, or Tycho. And if you don’t have DFS, you will be forced to try and kill them and suffer their counter in return, and your squads will die, and you will be sad. Take DFS instead. You’ll still be sad, but at least we’re 2 points less sad now. And don’t even think about asking me about Haor Chall.
E-Wing: Points Decrease from 15 to 14
The issue with E-wings is that Snipe 3 isn’t great. You’d really prefer snipe 4, which means you need Flight Controllers, and E-wings were so pricey, and so why not just pay an extra point for a YT-2400 who you don’t need to command, has an extra hull, and is slightly more consistent against ships? At 14, E-wings are now 2 points cheaper than a YT, and only 1 point more than an X-wing. They’re still a bit tricky to use, but it’s a lot easier to justify them in a build now.
Gar Saxon: Points Decrease from 23 to 20
Gar Saxon’s dice still suck for his cost, and he’s only got one brace which will usually get accuracied by dedicated fighters. His only saving grace is his ability (no it’s not assault, spending damage for raid isn’t great) which pings relay and intel squads for a damage whenever they activate. It won’t often trigger vs screens, but most CIS 134 include DFS, and most Imp 134 includes Jendon, so there is some value there. I don’t think it’s enough to ever justify taking him. Maybe in a campaign where you know they’ll have intel or relay somewhere? Otherwise, there are far too many better options.
IG-88 and IG88B: Points Decrease from 21 to 19
I’m going to talk about both of these guys at once since they’re pretty similar. Both have really useful abilities, and at 19 points now, are cheaper than most Imperial premium aces while being real fast and not needing commands. Those are some pretty big positives. Unfortunately, not having a brace token next to the scatter makes them pretty feast or famine. The original 88 suffers a bit less from this, as his ability encourages skirting around the edges and slipping past defenses to shoot key targets. I can see him being a valuable member of a mid-size ball that doesn’t want to shell out for all the premium aces or worry about commanding them, but still wants some serious squad threats. 88B is almost a pseudo escort, in that he will almost certainly be shot and killed first, and there’s some value in that? But also, just take Zertik or Black Squad for that. To make 88b work, you likely need an escort or two, so he can survive long enough to go all reaper death blossom on them (should I say Spider-man ult now? idk). By that point, it’s some serious investment for a combo that might pay off. Something like Mauler, IG, Soontir, Zertik? It doesn’t have much anti-ship, but it looks a bit spooky from a squad perspective and isn’t too pricey. They’re still more expensive than most of the Empire screen aces, like Valen, Cienna, Vult, etc, but not by much, and they’re also rogue with a black anti-ship, which is pretty good if you run into another screen. I do think both IGs have the potential to be pretty strong in the right hands, so give them a shot.
Keyan Farlander: Points Decrease from 20 to 18
This change makes Keyan one of the cheapest aces, at only a 4 point increase over the base B-wing. That’s probably good for something, but rebels tend to have better options. Currently, most fleets are leaning towards multi-role aces, who are good at shooting both squads and ships. Keyan leans really far into shooting ships, but honestly isn’t much better than a base B-wing until they have no shields, and even then evades and PDIC can just get rid of your doubles. He’s definitely a fun pick, but not too competitive in my eyes, even with the buff.
Kit Fisto: Points Decrease from 26 to 24
If DFS went down, it’s only fair that Kit did too. Kit is actually useful, which is a point up on DFS, but he’s also weird and the most expensive ace GAR could field. Now he’s tied with Deltakin. Is he as good as Deltakin? Probably not. But you know who really loves grit to move around and attack priority targets? Deltakin. Again, Kit Fisto is also surprisingly good. Adept 2 and Counter 2 is a pain in the butt, as shown by Deltakin, and each Brace can be discarded as a pseudo scatter. Is that better than having an actual scatter? Mmm, probably not. Unless they’re rolling two accuracies though, he’s really tough to two-shot. I think he’s got really high potential in GAR builds, but it likely means either not taking Ahsoka or skipping out on some bombers because of his high cost. I think it could be a worthwhile sacrifice, but I also don’t really play GAR squads, so we’ll see!
Lancer-class Pursuit Craft: Points Decrease from 15 to 14
Again, at 15 this compared a bit unfavorably to YT-400s, gaining bomber and grit but losing two hull and some anti-squad. It wasn’t awful, but most players would pay the extra point for a Scurrg for better bombing, or a YT for better anti-squad. It’s in a much better place at 14. It’s still a bit high compared to Y-wings in my opinion, but higher speed and Rogue can be very, very valuable in finishing off kills in the mid-late rounds. 3 blues with Toryn is pretty consistent as well. I don’t think you ever build a ball around Lancers, but one or two can solidly round out a 134.
Lando Calrissian: Points Increase from 23 to 24
Han Solo is also on the errata document, and people are assuming he was supposed to drop to 24 to match Lando, Boba, and Hondo. That hasn’t happened, but maybe it will? Anyways, this doesn’t affect Lando too much. He’s still really strong, and everywhere you took him before probably still takes him. The only lists that might have to consider are ones previously at 134, or mid-size balls that used him and then RHD Z-95s (y’all know who I’m talking about), since RHD also went up. Otherwise? Nice he got touched, but doesn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things.
Malee Hura: Points Decrease from 26 to 21
Malee is the biggest squad drop this patch. She’s still got worse dice than a normal Scurrg, but you don’t take Malee for her dice. You take her for her ability. I’ve seen a lot of people excited about her and Rapid Launch Bays (the extended range makes it easier to hide her while placing her in range, and she doesn’t miss Flight Commander too much since her ship couldn’t shoot after moving anyways), possibly combined with the cheaper MC75 and ordnance upgrades. That’s definitely a strategy that can work. Outside of the MC75, I’m pretty sure she’s only useful with Sato to try and trigger long-range crits. Ezra is pretty helpful to keep her hidden, since most opponents will try to focus her down, or at least engage her, since she probably isn’t killing anyone tying her down. Maybe there’s value in her now that she’s not exorbitantly expensive? I can see her working a little bit, but I don’t think she’s going to be a new meta pick. She’s just a lot of steps for an ability that most fleets don’t want.
Mandalorian Gauntlet Fighter: Points Decrease from 20 to 18
This thing still sucks. The speed, hull, and rogue are all solid, but the dice are atrocious. 2 blues and a red is super inconsistent (You’re usually only doing 1 damage), and 2 blue without bomber is also pretty bad, especially given PDIC and evades. Firesprays are much better if you want anti-ship damage, and are also usually better anti-squad. Unless you really want assault, there’s really not a reason to take these guys, and you probably don’t want assault. Check the actual CGYSO article on these guys if you wanna hear more about how they suck, otherwise, take my word for it and steer clear.
“Odd Ball”: Points Decrease from 23 to 20
I honestly don’t know why he originally cost 23, especially because they didn’t even give him 2 braces. Speaking as a Wat Tambor player, I feel the pain of brace evade. At least Oddball has 7 hull. At 20 points, Oddball is actually pretty competitive now. He’s cheaper than the Delta Aces, and his ability makes his dice pretty solid. Two blue and a black doesn’t sound too spooky, but with two rerolls and potentially Flight Controllers, Oddball can fish for damage or accuracies, or both! Just make sure to keep him killing whatever he engages. Otherwise, he’s just a tankier ARC-170, which are already seriously beefy. It’s a bit hard to squeeze him in points-wise, with most of GAR’s aces being pretty pricey, but it’s a lot easier and more worthwhile now. (P.S. While I’m talking about slow double-die bombers with surprisingly decent anti-squad, give Dagger squadron a try. He’s not bad!)
Phlac-Arphocc Prototypes: Points Decrease from 19 to 18
I’m glad this points drop went to someone useful, and not towards Haor Chall. Phlac has a pretty stellar ability, provided he can stay alive long enough to get some value from it. You’d think him and Wat could just tear through squads together, and sometimes you’d be right, and sometimes Wat gets his brace accuracied then Phlac gets his Scatter blocked and they both evaporate. I find Phlac actually works best hunting down individual squadrons on his own, as anything that attacks him takes an auto-damage plus counter as well, and he’s less prone to defense token pressure. I still think DIS is more valuable for his flexibility and Snipe, but Phlac is still pretty solid. One point doesn’t seem like a whole lot, but there were a lot of squad balls that are just a point or two over the limit, and him and DFS give you an extra 3 points to work with. Those 3 points can also go towards squeezing in someone special I’m going to talk about in just a little bit. But first!
“Whisper”: Points Decrease from 20 to 18
The developers looked at Empire squads and said “Y’know, I think they could really use another fast interceptor ace at 18 points”, and they were kinda right. Whisper is pretty annoying on her own, and becomes insufferable near the station. Add to that jumping in and around an escort, maybe Valen, or Cienna or Vult or Soontir, and you’ve got a nasty little screen that’ll give most squadballs some trouble. She’s still a bit inconsistent damage wise, but you bring her to stall first, and kill stuff second. Plus, cloak and her ability are a ton of fun to mess around with. Well, fun for you anyways. Be kind to your opponent as you move Whisper out of engagement right before they kill her, leaving their squads stuck with a full health Valen Rudor.
NEW SQUADRON: Jango Fett
It’s about damn time! When Rapid Reinforcements 1 came out, I was too excited for the new content to realize how shafted CIS got originally. Every other faction got a weird new ship to try out (yeah I know they’re not amazing, but they’re weird and fun to play around with), and an awesome new ace that was pretty useful. CIS? We got a flotilla. Excuse me, we got something imitating a flotilla and charging extra points for the privilege. Now, that wrong has mostly been righted, with Jango Fett in his, a-hem, “Modified Firespray”. Ok buddy. Whatever you say.
