Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-27029853-20170703223814/@comment-454133-20171012043907

Today I flew some aces and lost twice.

Viktor Hel with Vaksai + Veteran Instincts + Inertial Dampeners + Engine Upgrade + Autothrusters + Stealth Device

Talonbane Cobra with Vaksai + Crack Shot + Engine Upgrade + Autothrusters + Shield Upgrade

Kavil with Synced Turret + Unhinged Astromech + Veteran Instincts (later changed to Deadeye) + Vectored Thrusters

Kavil's going to get either free rerolls or an extra die, depending on the target's location. Talonbane was talonbane, doing talonbane things. Victor dealt a lot of stress due to double-tapping abilities etc. I'm pretty happy with him.

I first went against an unorthodox team. Intensity Jake with title + Refit + VI; Corran Horn with Lone Wolf + R7-T1 + Advanced Sensors + Hull Upgrade; and Braylen Stramm with M9-G8 + Bodhi Rook. He wanted to fly a Corran that wasn't the default everyone flies (R2-D2 etc).

I killboxed Corran and laid into him, but bad luck meant he survived with just 1 HP, and double-tapped Viktor to death. It took me another couple turns to finally land another damage on him. Meanwhile Braylen got a lock on my Y-Wing and was making me reroll hits, which really hurt, especially since I didn't have Deadeye. And I wasn't rolling well to begin with. I soon lost Talonbane, and Kavil got to start showing off. I arc-dodged with Vectored Thrusters extremely well, and led him on a wild chase while taking shots when I could. Unfortunately I wasn't landing much damage despite rolling 4 dice with modification (partially thanks to M9-G8), so I only got Braylen & Jake down to 2 hull each before taking lethal damage. After the fight I realized I hadn't used autothrusters, which would have saved me a good deal of damage.

After that fight I put Deadeye on Kavil, figuring that would be more valuable than VI.

Next round I fought a fleet that trivialized my pilot skill.

Darth Vader + TIE/x1 + ATC + VI + Cruise Missiles + Engine Upgrade

RAC + VI + Kylo Ren (Crew) + Gunner + Operations Specialist + Engine Upgrade

First round of combat was going well for me, except that RAC put on Kavil, Talonbane rolled 5 blanks, and Viktor dealt trivial damage to RAC. I was hoping for a stellar first round to disable RAC, but that didn't happen. Next round Talonbane took a lot of damage from Vader's terrifying Cruise Missiles and RAC's crit turret.

The good thing wsa RAC bumped Kavil, so he didn't get to use Kylo. Then next round he bumped again, and later took stress from shooting Viktor twice with Gunner... RAC only got to use Kylo once.

Victor was in top form. He dealt a lot of stress, some ~okay damage, and survived reasonably well... but it was just too much power for me. His shots pummeled me and I didn't have PS advantage so my maneuvering was meaningless. High-PS RAC with another high PS ace is a major player in my local meta, and for good reason: it's terrifying.

Talonbane died first, living as long as he did only because he became an expert blocker, keeping RAC from getting actions or shooting him. Kavil contributed little, always rolling poor damage. Viktor pulled his weight, but was out-classed.

I like Viktor's design a lot, and I think Talonbane and Kavil aren't bad but they're missing something. Ultimately the K-Fighter's problem is low agility combined with not a lot of health, which I was hoping this fleet would address. I need to give it another few tries before calling it bad, since luck and that brutal RAC fleet skewed it a bit.

Also I worry that Triple Auzitucks have ruined me, the way Jumpmasters and TIE Defenders often ruin players' ability to play anything else. They're just so good... ;)  The things that scare me in a normal fleet don't really worry them, like Kylo on RAC handing out Blinded Pilots.