Editor’s Notes: You may remember our Arc-Dodging 101 article from a couple years back. In the world of bombs, heavy ordnance and ever-higher PS wars, Guest-writer and perennial awesome dude Jon Conley returns with a new lesson to fully exploit the new powers of our modern aces! Go visit the original article to familiarize yourself with the original concepts and 22.5-degree deployment, then come back and complete your training! Listen to the Arc-Dodging 102 Podcast Episode to hear Jon Conley talk about it on-air!

Without further ado, Jon Conley writes!

Last time I had written about how Soontir is the king of Arc Dodging. There were lots of examples that can be seen here, and you should go familiarize yourself with that article before going forward. You will also want to familiarize yourself with this site:

“Echolocation” – where will that ship be?

Going forward, we still have arc dodgers in this new meta! They’ve kinda never gone away. Flying will ALWAYS be an important skill in x-wing and flying Aces has always been fun. But times (and ships) change!

“New” arcdodgers:

RAC – still around (PS10)

Ghost – yes the low PS Ghost is an arc dodger

Inquisitor

Nym

Miranda

Vader

Poe

Corran Horn

Thweek

THE REIGNING BEAST KYLO

Like before, we still have ships that feel more like *flying*:

Anything with Flight Assist Astromech

Strikers

Non-Thweek Starvipers

IG-88s

Unfortunately, these usually don’t have high enough pilot skill or double reposition that might classify them as true arc dodgers. Strikers are unpredictable with Adaptive Ailerons, but the popular ones are PS6 and lower due to better abilities and no autothrusters. Starvipers have a new banked barrel roll which is AMAZING, but non-Thweek ones with good abilities are lower Pilot Skill. IG88’s are wicked fast due to Advanced Sensors and big based boost, plus 3 sloops and 4k turns:

Unfortunately for IGs, the most competitive version right now doesn’t aim to do damage, it uses all its available maneuvers and defenses to tractor beam and ion ships off the board.

Last time, we defined ArcDodgers as High PS that had the ability to reposition.

So why is a PS3 Ghost on this list? Well thanks to Rebel Coordinate at PS11 due to Fenn Rau’s Sheathipede shuttle with Veteran Instincts, we now have a ghost that can boost at PS11! I encourage you to put it on the board to see this maneuverability in action. There are only a couple of positions that you can set yourself up to not get hit by this arc. Keep in mind that as long as the template doesn’t touch a rock, a Ghost can actually land on a rock after maneuver, and Fenn Rau can coordinate a boost so that its no longer on the rock, and can now shoot you! Yeowch!

Nym and Miranda are on this list due to high PS and the ability of Miranda to slam out to avoid arcs. A 3 bank slam from Miranda is a pretty long distance. She can get out of arc if you’re running lower PS. Nym has the ability to get both advanced sensors, native barrel roll, VI or PTL, and Engine Upgrade putting him up there as well with arc dodgers. In Nym’s arc dodgy form, you will want AutoBlaster turret because you will likely be close to other ships, may as well put some damage in on ‘em!

RAC is still RAC. PS10 boost. Large based ship with native built attacking dice mod. That boost is amazing, if he didn’t already bump anyway. With the title, he can bump, still boost behind you, and still shoot a small based ship this way at the cost of a stress. Its really good!

The inquisitor is a bit of an anomaly on this list, but he’s got Autothrusters, is relatively cheap (31 points with title, Autothrusters, and PTL), can be boosted to PS10 with VI (rare), and his greens are generally meant for tighter combat. However, he likes to hang out at range 3 (which is range 1 when shooting anyway) and still has faster moves when he needs, plus boost/barrel roll at PS8. Good luck pinning him down given his erratic patterns, especially since he will likely also have focus, evade, and Palpatine backup.

Poe with BB8 has come about recently in the European meta. While Americans almost always put R2D2 on Poe for Regen, BB8 is amazing when Poe can be PS8+. Poe has a decent number of greens to activate BB8 which puts him in the high PS/high maneuverability bracket of pilots. Finn said it best: “That’s one HELL of a pilot!” Just look what Poe can do with BB8 and his greens, before any actions (you could add a boost after moving if you like). Things get REAL interesting if you have intensity Poe (he gets a focus or evade from the BB8 barrel roll for free!) or PTL Poe, since you can do another action, then clear the stress by completing the green:

Before I go into “real” arcdodgers, why isn’t Soontir anywhere on this list? Same with Whisper? Aren’t those the best from ages ago? The answer is simple. In the case of Whisper: the answer is high PS turrets. (Editor’s note: Remember, this is an article for the “New” meta – Spring 2018. Check out the old article for PLENTY of Soontir and Whisper discussion!) She’s got 4 health total behind 2 green dice, and TLT is the turret of choice at PS10+. Other bad things for whisper: the PS11 boost on a ghost putting her Range 1 of a 5 die Primary cannon with full mods. You’re going to get hit. PS10 RAC is another. PS11 Quickdraw with missles. The list goes on and on.

And what about Fel? BOMBS. BOMBS BOMBS BOMBS. I think we’ve finally got the nail in the coffin. A proton bomb has the chance to one shot Fel before he fires due to Sabine extra damage. In addition, Unless you are running a stealth device Soontir (which you shouldn’t because Targeting computer is FAR better) you WILL get hit with a 4 dice fully modified Harpoon missle. There’s so many of those on the board, you might be able to dodge one, but if you are caught in one, you’re likely caught in 2. You’re gonna get hit!

So who’s left? We have Thweek, Vader, Corran Horn (only if you’re Nathan Eide), and THE BEAST KYLO.

Thweek is a case of “PS-you’re-highest” + curved barrel roll. He WILL arcdodge whatever you have, simply because if you have Thweek, you likely have a bid on points (3+), and Thweek’s ability is almost always used to copy your highest PS ship. So he always moves after you and has a barrel roll that can adjust his arc 45 degrees. Its good. Try him!

Corran Horn: PTL, Advanced Sensors, ability to have Fenn Rau coordinate an action at PS11 and Push the Limit from that action. He’s good. But unless your name is Nathan Eide, don’t bother. (Editor’s note: Bother! Maybe you’ll be the next Nathan!)

Vader: Vader is seeing a LOT of play lately, even without Autothrusters. Why? It’s a few things – He can be PS11 with double reposition, he can carry missles (harpoon or cruise), he adds a crit to trigger Kylo activations. Just look at what Vader can do at PS11 with a 2 bank dialed in:

With Vader, you just have to be careful of TLT shots. He doesn’t have autothrusters, but does have 2 shields and 3 hull so he can survive a couple of them. He’s highly maneuverable, double repositionable, high Pilot Skill (11!) and works great with Kylo crew somewhere else in your list. He’s almost the best arcdodger in the game right now!

KYLO THE ARCDODGING BEAST

What the heck? He’s PS9! How is he the new king??? First let’s look at his dial:

That’s a LOT of greens! Previously, a good player could block Soontir by guessing which of the 2 good greens Soontir dialed in at the beginning of the turn. Kylo? Good luck on that guessing game. Along with Advanced Sensors, he doesn’t care if he’s blocked. But if you are higher PS than Kylo? He takes a hit, shows you the dark side of pilot skill 0, then his buddies enforce that fact. Kylo is like Super-Soontir now. He’s more expensive at 46 or 47 points (Advanced Sensors, Push the Limit, Title, Autothrusters, Primed Thrusters/Advanced Optics), can’t take an evade, has 6 total heath!!! He can take the Bomb that Fel can’t and keep going. Due to Advanced Sensors and 10 green maneuvers on his dial, there are so many locations he could be, in 2 different permutations: PTL Before and after moving:

The thing that Echolocation DOESN’T show you is that Kylo has FAR more options that what you see. You see, things get REALLY neat when you dial in a red maneuver, like his 4k, or either 3 Tallon Roll. Not only can you be in a jillion different positions anyway due to high PS, but you can either boost or barrel roll BEFORE doing the maneuver. Except there’s another trick involving this rule:

These are the places Kylo can be if he either Boosts, or Barrel Rolls, then PTL’s another action (TL/Focus) getting a stress, THEN reveals a red maneuver. These are on top of him just using PTL to Target Lock and Focus, then reveal a red maneuver- which results in a 2-straight! You can effectively cancel a poorly-timed K-Turn or Tallon Roll and still have all your actions available.

So where does that leave us now? We know that Kylo has the best dial, best ability, and IS the best arcdodger in the game. So here’s a few tips and tricks I’ve learned about flying him.

Flying Kylo to the Fullest, Aggressively!

Setup at a weird angle. See the previous article on 22.5 degrees. It doesn’t have to be that, but Kylo can get in combat turn one with a focus, PTL angle boost, and 5 straight. Quite unexpectedly.

The Rule of 11 here is that Kylo is doing about 8 movement with advanced sensors boost and focus. If your opponent lines up straight across from you and does a 1 straight, you are right on the brink of range 3. If they do anything more than a 1 straight… you are in range for shot 1 and they likely are not ready (watch out for Long Range Scanner harpoons!)

For opening moves, you can see below that Fel can get farther with a single focus token (or exactly the same distance if they both do exactly the same thing). However, KYLO can get almost that far WITH a focus, and WITHOUT stress, and WITH an amazing dial next turn! In the picture below, this is where your ships can be turn 1.

Whisper did a 4 straight and cloaked (lined up at the front of Range 1 straight on).

Soontir Fel did a 5 straight, angle boost, and barrel roll for a focus and the farthest distance.

Kylo setup at an angle pointing to the side of the board, advanced sensors a boost, then a barrel roll, then a 5 straight leaving him unstressed. The barrel roll is optional as a focus is usually much better.

Nym lined up at the edge of range 1 and did a 1 straight.

Put the pressure on quick while the rest of your squad brings up the rear. Force your opponent to go after Kylo or the other half which will be “flanking” after Kylo gets behind the opponent’s squad. Turn 2 with Kylo, you should be able to bump the front ship (in this case Soontir), getting a shot on the ones behind like Nym in the picture (if they are in formation):

One of the best things about this is the turn after, where you can execute a 3 tallon roll. If you lined it up right, you can focus then tallon roll, or you can boost in 3 different directions and tallon roll like so behind your enemy:

You should notice that the Kylo/Fel/Whisper ships were all starting right where the 1 maneuver template is.

Kylo is a boost to the left, then 3 tallon roll right position (has arc)

Soontir is in the boost straight forward, then Tallon roll position (advanced sensors barrel roll left would have been even better)

Whisper is in the boost right, then 3 tallon roll position.

Kylo’s Endgame

Now that you’ve fought all game, your endgame with Kylo is likely one thing: Run. You first need to make sure you kill more points than your opponent. Kylo’s definitely still got the maneuverability to 1-on-1 just about any ship in the game. If you still have the title active, you have the offensive power as well (that one die reroll works great end game!). But you can just as easily put the game in your opponent’s hands. Make them chase you through the rocks. Play cagey. Get the amazing shot to finish them off. I personally don’t like running out the clock, but it is a valid way to play as long as you’re not slow playing your opponent. Kylo is fast enough that the boost/roll/5 straight can get out of a LOT of things. Even the 3 bank is pretty amazing. All the while you are protecting your 46/47 point Kylo and whatever your bid was.

Pairings with Kylo:

I like palpatine best. But whether you use an upsilon or lambda, you don’t have many points for a 2nd “ace”. The list I took to the system open and a regional had Pure Sabacc with Trick shot and LWF, and an Omicron with the Emperor. I didn’t make the cut at the regional (went 4-2), but I did make stage 2 at a system open. 2x Rho gunboats with deadeye and harpoons and guidance chips – obviously successful on meta wing. Get your Harpoon punch in! Vader or Quickdraw/TIE – another good success on meta wing, kit them out as you feel best. Expertise Quickdraw is a beast and another end game monster. Kath – 47 points Kylo, Bomblet Andrasta, Engine, Mangler, Lone Wolf, Kallus on Kath. I can’t wait to get this on the table! HE’S ALWAYS BEN “SOLO” – There was a Krayt Bounty to win a tournament with 1 ship. Guess what ship won a local store tournament? If you’re bold enough to try this, Kill or ½ point one ship and run like hell for each 75 minute round.

The last thing you need to know about KYLO is that for him to really work well, you can’t be afraid you let him get hit ONCE. Maybe twice if you set them up for bad shots. In fact you should be planning for this. Bait with him. Let the opponent get that ONE hit in on him. You have shields. Use them. That’s all you should really need if you’re flying him! Let it happen once, and early on so you can get that PS0 crit put onto your opponent. Then arcdodge them all day after that.

We welcome our new Ben Swolo arcdodging overlords!