Strategy:Soontir Fel

Strategy for Soontir Fel

Playstyle
Fel is considered one of the best pilots in the game due to his ability to turn a negative (stress) into a positive, as well as his high pilot skill of 9.

Unmodified, he can gain a free Focus token by performing a K-turn (Koiogran Turn), allowing you to loop around and engage a pursuing enemy. Unfortunately it prevents him performing an action in the process.

It's with upgrades that this ability becomes far more interesting:

Elite Pilot
Push The Limit is a great choice for Fel. Perform any white/green maneuver, then use your two actions to reposition via Barrel Roll and/or Boost, or (if unable to get clear) use Focus and/or Evade. Either will generate Stress, which gains a Focus token (meaning it's possible for him to have 2 Focus tokens each turn). As this occurs during the Perform Action step and not Execute Maneuver step, it's possible for Fel to take two Actions and get a free Focus token each turn, provided he sticks to green maneuvers (which all his 2-speed maneuvers are).

Opportunist: if Fel targets a defender with no Evade or Focus tokens, he gains the Stress token first (giving him the free Focus token) which allows him to roll 4 attack dice (5 if at range 1) and turn all Focus results into hits (an average of 3 hits). Unfortunately, due to Fel's pilot skill of 9, it's likely he will shoot first when the enemy still has Evade or Focus tokens. It also costs 4 points, which is expensive.

Wired is potentially Fel's cheapest Elite Pilot Skill upgrade, and it allows Fel to re-roll any of his Focus results on attack or defense, even while stressed, without spending a Focus token to do so. The tricky part is gaining and keeping the Stress token.

Modifications
The Royal Guard TIE title allows Fel to take two modifications instead of the standard one.

Autothrusters and Stealth Device are common in many Soontir Fel builds. They provide an extra layer of protection to an otherwise fragile ship, through an extra defense die (Stealth Device), and more favorable defense dice results when facing turrets and long-range shots (Autothrusters).

Targeting Computer is handy as all Interceptors lack Target Lock. A target lock allows you to re-roll all your blanks, then with the Focus token that Fel gets by being stressed, you can turn all resulting Focus results into hits.

Twin Ion Engine Mk. II is cheap and gives Fel two more Green maneuvers. Helpful to recover from the Stress he's aiming to gain each turn (through Push the Limit).