Talk:TIE Defender Expansion Pack/@comment-122.59.182.29-20160814032210/@comment-454133-20160814045038

I'd start with the falcon, as it has a turreted primary weapon and a large amount of HP. Also as a large ship, it's better at resisting the effects of ion cannons and tractor beams. Chewbacca makes a great pilot because he'll keep most crits from impeding you, and even with the tie defender's tricky maneuvers, your turret can always shoot it (unless it's outside range 3 or touching you). Consider Lando as a crew, maybe Luke too (though he's so pricey...). Draw their fire can be really helpful on Chewy.

Depending on the cards available, you might try an Ion Cannon on a b-wing as support, and/or a couple ace (high pilot skill) a-wings. The thing with defenders is, they can fall into the trap of being pretty predictable, and they tend to like straight lines. Place obstacles (asteroids and such) at the start of the game (and pilot your ships strategically) so that it's harder for him to keep jousting back and forth, or so that when he does joust, you're ready to punch holes in him for it. A-wings with high pilot skill can do a decent job at arc dodging, but it can still be tricky.

B-Wings are slow and clunky boats, and a defender easily just flies circles around them. If you field a b-wing, it's there to support its buddies with firepower or ion shots, and possibly to haplessly bait the defender into traps you've set (guess where he's going to fly, to exploit the exposed b-wing, and plan your maneuvers to really lay into him).

The defender's high agility and good HP makes it hard to kill (compared to a more common tie with 3 agility and only 3 HP, where 1 or 2 lucky shots kills it). It may be worth firing some high-damage torpedoes or missiles at it, to overpower the agility roll. Even with primary attacks, make sure you Focus with your attacks whenever it's feasible, as this helps your damage roll a lot.

I hope that helps! And best of luck to ya!