Talk:TIE Punisher Expansion Pack/@comment-33234844-20171121201802/@comment-454133-20171121204626

If you're willing to trade 3 shields for 1 extra agility, a slightly improved dial, and a much lower base cost, then you could upgrade to a TIE Bomber   with an elite slot  like Tomax Bren or Major Rhymer (they're the same cost as the basic TIE Punisher). Rhymer with  Deadeye or   Tomax with Crack Shot would be a lot more effective for that cost, IMO. If you need some points to afford Rhymer, Mara Jade, Weapons Engineer, or one of your missiles is the easiest to remove.

Remember that heavy munitions ships are great targets for your enemy: high point cost, low defenses (save for health), low mobility. Only load the amount of ordnance you can realistically use before death (say, a couple rounds of combat if they decide to target it). Or if you just want to save lots of points, "Deathfire" is a great choice for Cluster Mines instead of Bomblets.

It may seem curious that a TIE Bomber is an upgrade from the TIE Punisher, but that's how it end up in cost-benefit. The punisher isn't a very happy ship right now. :(

If you specifically want to use your TIE Punisher, the same advice applies: consider taking off a missile, and drop to the cheapest pilot. That cuts 6 points off your cost. Or convert one of the missiles to a Cluster Missile, so you have a close range option for when you fail to time getting a lock perfectly (which will happen often at low PS). Or if you dropped Mara and Weapons Engineer, that's another 6, total 12 points, enough to split off an Academy Pilot to act as a blocker and harasser (which could help your punisher line up bomb and missile hits). So that's an option. At low PS, Cluster Mines are better than Bomblets (mines favor low PS, timed bombs favor high PS).

BTW Expose + Experimental Interface on a Decimator is a fun combo. It's not very strong in a competitive scene, but I like it a lot for casual. ^_^