Being really excited at the coming release of the Raider and especially the fix for the Tie Advanced I started looking at how it can be built, looking for a Soontir replacement.
In this article I try to compare Soontir and Darth Vader.
Why you ask? I want to be able to replace Soontir in especially the two ship build that has Decimator+Soontir (I run with Rear Admiral Chiraneau).
The following squad was the one I used to win the Regional in Malmö.
Rear Admiral Chiraneau — VT-49 Decimator 46 Predator 3 Gunner 5 Ysanne Isard 4 Rebel Captive 3 Engine Upgrade 4 Ship Total: 65 Soontir Fel — TIE Interceptor 27 Push the Limit 3 Hull Upgrade 3 Autothrusters 2 Royal Guard TIE 0 Ship Total: 35
I will say this, I think there are some problems with this squad. First off it sits at 100 points. This is far from optimal as Soontir want to be arc-dodging as much as possible. I would also say that Hull over Stealth Device might be questionable.
Onto Vader, the following will be my starting loadout.
Darth Vader — TIE Advanced 29 Advanced Targeting Computer 1 Engine Upgrade 4 TIE/x1 0 Ship Total: 34
For me Engine Upgrade is an automatic add on Vader, I can’t see myself running him without it since he has a built in PtL without the stress.
AdvTC is also an automatic add for me, I simply can’t see how he will output enough damage without it.
If we look at MajorJuggler’s Mathwing (Link) we see that Vader+AdvTC has an amazing jousting efficiency around 110%.
I think that there are three tier 1 EPTs for Vader.
Lone Wolf
Predator
VI
Including VI since it lets Vader beat almost anything your opponent can field. VI is a meta call but can also be used when there simply isn’t enough points.
I love Predator, I think that it opened up a lot of possibilities for ships to use it action for positioning and still keep some offence. RAC gets huge benefits together with his ability almost negating the need to TL or Focus.
My first thought was therefor to put Predator on Vader, BUT, I think the overall best choice is Lone Wolf (at least in a 2 ship build).
Lone Wolf isn’t as strong as Auto thrusters against turrets but it definitely helps keeping Vader alive and having a re-roll on offence is really nice. I believe Lone Wolf will be the standard choice for me.
What are the pros/cons of taking Soontir?
- F+F+E makes you very evasive against anything at 2 attack dice or lower as well as Turrets and at Range 3.
- 2-Turn that is green, we all know this is one of the tings that makes Soontir such a beast. Being able to stress and still do a 2-turn to clear it is great.
Cons:
- If your opponent has stress-inducers you can be in a lot of trouble. You can play around it by not using PtL but that means you lose one token. If you end up with more than one stress you can be a in a lot of trouble.
What about Vader?
Pros
- PtL without stress, I’ll take it. The option of any combination of TL/Boost/BR/Focus/Evade is great.
- 3 Hull + 2 Shields. Being able to not having to takes one or even two crits can be the game. Crits can really cripple pilots like Soontir/Vader.
- AdvTC giving you a crit without having to roll is nothing sneeze at. If you can keep TL on your target this means you will effectively go up to ATT3. Even if you only have TL every other turn your damage output will rise a lot.
- No hard turns that are green :(. If your opponent has someway of putting out stress you can have a hard time getting around.
- More expensive
- IMHO you have to take Engine Upgrade. This means no Auto Thrusters. You can mitigate it a bit by taking Lone Wolf.
Darth Vader — TIE Advanced 29 Lone Wolf 2 Advanced Targeting Computer 1 Engine Upgrade 4 TIE/x1 0 Ship Total: 36
vs
Soontir Fel — TIE Interceptor 27 Push the Limit 3 Autothrusters 2 Stealth Device or Hull 3 Royal Guard TIE 0 Ship Total: 35
I like it, I feel like both pilots have their merits although I think for me Vader takes a small win right now. Will be very interesting to fly him.
The squad I would want to fly:
Rear Admiral Chiraneau — VT-49 Decimator 46 Predator 3 Gunner 5 Ysanne Isard 4 Rebel Captive 3 Engine Upgrade 4 Ship Total: 65 Darth Vader — TIE Advanced 29 Lone Wolf 2 Advanced Targeting Computer 1 Engine Upgrade 4 TIE/x1 0 Ship Total: 36
We all know you cannot run 101 points, the problem is that I don’t know what to take out.
Ysanne was my first thought. She simply didn’t do anything for me in my Regional, on the other hand this could very well be match-up dependant.
Exchanging her for Mara Jade doesn’t feel like a great option since they soft-counter different opponents (Mara Jade against Swarms and Ysanne against other 2 ship builds).
Wouldn’t feel comfortable taking out Gunner either with all Soontirs/IG88s running around. Could take out Predator and put in VI, this would help Vader since RAC could take Rebel Captive stress but I just feel that his damage output goes down a ton.
This is just scratching the surface, what is your opinion? Do you think Vader will be a staple? What is your favourite competitive build for Vader (including the un-released Title/upgrades)?
“I am altering the deal, pray I do not alter it any further…”
-Darth Vader