Thread:Wazat/@comment-2600:6C40:1900:2F0:8800:1B69:EAC8:54E-20180204193834/@comment-454133-20180204223604

These are entirely my opinion, and which ship you want depends on what you're fielding with it and what you want to do. Order tends to be arbitrary, if not objectively wrong. Also I'm ignoring Huge Ships. With those qualifications out of the way:

Scum

Scum doesn't have the ally-assisting crew variety of Empire or even Rebel. However, Manaroo can still do great things. Also Manaroo had to be nerfed and she's still an excellent support. Quadjumpers are quite neat too.

1st: Manaroo with K4 Security Droid, and either PTL, Attanni, or Intimidation.

2nd: Quadjumper with Spacetug and a crew (e.g. Intelligence Agent). These can fling enemies into bad positions, causing them to plow through obstacles, bump ships, fly off the table, etc, and the tractor token also reduces their agility. There's no defense roll; you spot a foe in arc at range 1, and you can spend an action to mess up their day. The crew slot is decent for helping the team (Intel agent, Inspiring Recruit, even Operations Specialist). They can equip Targeting Synchronizer to support friends with munitions or just normal attacks.

Generally, field the cheapest pilot; he works best with Spacetug, and you don't want to over-commit on points.

Honorable Mention: Sometimes scum benefits from fielding a HWK with TLT and a crew (though Scum HWK pilots IMO are not as exciting as Rebel, and the ally-support crew are also limited; Scum hwk pilot abilities harass the enemy instead of helping allies, which is a form of support). Depends a lot on what you want to do. For 23 points you can field a TLT boat with Intel Agent, which isn't bad.

Honorable Mention: YV-666. If you want to field Jabba in non-Epic, this is your only option at this time. 3 crew slots is also kinda cool. The YV is often built as a "party bus" (Zuckuss etc; I don't remember the exact makeup), but the crew selection tends to be self-serving instead of ally-supporting. Latts Razzi has a cool support ability though, made all the better by Weapons Engineer + K4 Security Droid. Sadly the YV is an expensive ship with not a great dial. Its wide arc is pretty cool and helps it keep foes in arc (just not as well as the Auzituck). But overall the meta hasn't favored it lately; I don't see it often anymore.

Empire

This faction has a lot of varying choices, so the order here is, of course, arbitrary...

1st: TIE Shuttle with any two of the Empire's excellent crew: Systems Officer, Fleet Officer, Kylo, Mara Jade, just not General Hux. Also choose from the various non-factioned crew. It's cheap and can hold basically anyone but Hux 'n Palp. If you're willing to get spendy (6 points), Captain Jonus is great at supporting allies with munitions, cannons, TLT, etc.

2nd: Lambda with Emperor Palpatine, typically to support aces. Specifically Omicron, the cheapest pilot available. Yorr, Jendon, and Kagi each have neat support abilities, but if you're fielding Palpatine, you almost never have the points to spare for these much more expensive pilots.

I tend to not see the Lamba fielded for any purpose but Palpmobile, since its dial is the very definition of terrible and it's so vulnerable to outmaneuvering (and it struggles to keep in formation with the team to keep those support abilities active). It seems like Jendon with ST-321 would be a great alternative to giving your munitions fleet Long-Range Scanners (so they can take Guidance Chips instead, and still acquire their own locks at short range), but you're spending a minimum of 29 points on a really unmaneuverable ship that would slow down your fleet, so it's a tough sell.

But Palpmobile? Even after the Palp nerf that had so many players up in arms, Palp still sees play and he's still a strong support.

3rd: Sometimes the Upsilon is a great support + heavy power ship. It's just a bit pricey to field with Palpatine and two aces or munitions buds, which is usually what people want to do with a heavy Empire support craft. Dormitz and Stridan both have neat abilities, but you won't see them fielded often because of the base cost. But it's a better attacker than the TIE Shuttle or Lambda, enjoys a half-decent shuttle dial, and it has very useful upgrade slots, e.g. for Targeting Synchronizer (a great support upgrade). Consider giving it Engine Upgrade if you want to use its arc often.

3rd: A pseudo-support edge case is the VT-49 Decimator with Kylo and Palpatine, or something similar. It's expensive compared to a lambda or tie shuttle, but it's turreted and mobile and durable, and both RAC and Oicunn have good abilities. Typically it's RAC I see doing this.

Honorable Mention: TIE/fo or TIE/sf with Targeting Synchronizer. The FO specifically has "Epsilon Leader", whose ability is great at helping allies if you can stay in range 1. I don't see this much but I've used it, and it worked well for me.

Rebel

Rebels have many options, but not quite as great a crew selection as Empire. Kanan is solid, but other rebel-only crew don't quite hit the spot for supporting other ships the way Empire or Manaroo can. Most of their crew support the ship they're on. That said, there's still Intelligence Agent, Inspiring Recruit, Operations Specialist, etc. And support is more than crew, even though crew are often a treasure for a support craft. Rebels sport some impressive support pilot abilities.

As with Empire, the variety of options makes ordering kind of arbitrary.

1st: Sheathipede for its coordinate action, crew slot, pilot abilities, and even its ability to turn a Ghost into a pseudo-support ship. It's a neat choice.

2st: Auzituck is an excellent crew transport with a good attack, and Lowhhrick is a good protector. Not an amazing dial but not bad, and its arc helps it stay in the fight. It can take an obscene beating, and it does most of what the U-Wing wishes it was doing and more. The U-Wing was already floundering when the Auzituck came out, and this ship just stepped into its role and pushed it aside.

2nd: Shara Bey for munitions and other lock support. U-Wing wants to do this too (Bodhi), but its overall package is disappointing. The ARC-170, on the other hand, is an effective ship you already want to field; Shara just makes it great at supporting allies too.

2rd: Though they're delicate in the current meta and without Biggs' lasting protection anymore, HWKs are great. They carry a crew and a turret (typically TLT), and Rebels have the best HWK pilots: Jan Ors and Kyle Katarn. I'm particularly fond of Jan for derpy casual fleets that throw 5+ dice nukes at my foes. But both pilots are more generally useful because they make the fleet noticeably more effective.

3rd: Rebel TIE. I've rated this lower because I don't see it as often, but don't take that to heart. Both Captain Rex and Ahsoka have useful abilities, and they can take a crew using the title. Typically you should load a 3-hull ship light because it can die trivially, but sometimes Ahsoka loads heavy and uses VI + Captured TIE to stay off most ships' radars.

Honorable Mention: T-70 with Targeting Synchronizer to support a munitions ally. Ideally also Black One and BB-8 or Flight-Assist Astromech to clear locks. Poe often takes on a partial support role with Black One (but doesn't have targeting synchronizer, generally); clearing locks can really frustrate munitions fleets and anyone with a lock-based ability (e.g. Omega Leader).

Honorable Mention: YT-1300? It's expensive like the decimator and lacks the crew choices and pilot abilities that make Empire and Scum (Manaroo) so happy, but quite often pilots like Rey will have Kanan Jarrus (Crew) to support title shenanigans, and that crew works wonders on allies when the YT itself isn't using him. Might also slap on Inspiring Recruit to help allies, if the slot isn't too contested.

As mentioned above, U-Wing is a support, but unfortunately not a great one. It does have a couple useful pilot abilities, but too often it still won't contribute much. It's a lot like a Lambda, without Palpatine. Any crew it can field, the Auzituck fields better. :(

I hope this list helps you out!