As with the last points change, I have a lot more to say about the points adjustment. In this series of articles I plan to break down the faction and the upgrades to dissect what was accomplished by the points change of June 2019. Should FFG see these articles, I hope that they appreciate them as honest constructive feedback and not some random Internet person nay-saying them. In this article, we will look into the two prequel factions of the Star Wars universe, the Galactic Republic and the Separatist Alliance.

The Ships

To start us off, I will dissect each and every ship chassis and their pilots. I may make some comments about upgrade prices as some of them drastically effect a ship’s usefulness. Each ship will have a verdict applied to it grading the changes or lack of changes.

The Republic ARC-170 saw drops in all the unused pilots while Sinker and the 104th Battalion Pilot stayed the same. Oddball could probably drop another point, but the 104th should go up 1 or 2 points as you get a ton of health backed by two firing arcs for 1 point more than a I1 X-wing. Verdict: Decent

The new Republic Y-Wing was released after the points change, so I will evaluate their launch points as best I can. Anakin is probably at a good price point, as a reloading fully modded proton torp I6 shouldn’t be too cheap, but I haven’t seen him hit the table enough to properly gauge his cost. Oddball I will just assume can drop in points. Matchstick is solid, but Broadside is much more consistent and a better value, so Matchstick should go down by 2 and Broadside should go up by 1. Verdict: Good

The Delta 7 Aethersprite went down despite force being really good and the Calibrated Laser Targeting getting cut in half in price at the same time. This was slightly mitigated by the 7B configuration going up by 2, but still resulted in Obi-Wan, Plo, and Bariss getting cheaper. This was fine for Bariss as she is very ineffectual, but Obi was one of the best pilots in the game and should not have dropped 6 points. Obi should go up 4, and Plo, Mace, and Luminara should go back up 1 or 2 points each. Verdict: Poor

The Naboo Royal N-1 Starfighter dropped right around the points change and so obviously didn’t get any changes. Ric Olie is the standout pilot for this ship, playing the role of an I5 TIE Defender for half the cost. At 42 points base, you don’t gain many points for as much effort as it takes to destroy him, so he should go up about 4-5 points. Padme, Dinee, and the Handmaiden should all go down by 2. Maybe more for the Handmaiden. Verdict: Needs work

The V-19 saw reductions in all but the I2 Gold Squadron Trooper which was a smart move as only the Goldie saw much play. I’d suggest dropping all of the named pilots again by 1 point unless missiles get cheaper or a solid missile comes out. The Gold Squadron should also go up 1 point, as they return far too few points for the effort put into killing them, second only the Vulture Droids as far as generics go. Verdict: Good

The Bellyrub-22 Starfighter received decreases in Grevious, Wat Tambor, and the Feethan Outraw. All good moves. Captain Sear has proven his worth enough now to deserve an increase, however, as conditionally infinite Crack Shot is very good. Pump him up to at least Wat’s price of 42. Verdict: Largely good

The Hyena-Class Droid Bomber launched right as the points update happened so we will judge the release points. I understand and appreciate that DBS-32C had a high cost, as beginning of the round coordinate is strong, being able to Jam from the DRK-1 probe droid is good, and being able to carry a Tactical Relay is helpful, too. But the cost is too prohibitive, so it can drop a few to see game time. DBS-404 is great at 30 points, and the others are at reasonable price points. Verdict: Mostly good

The Nantex-Class Starfighter is a conundrum. I don’t have enough input to figure out what should be done. The Pinpoint Tractor Array and Ensnare have some design flaws that make it hard to point correctly. The lack of “fully execute” for the Pinpoint Tractor and the allowance for range 0 on Ensnare leaves poor counter-play, so you can’t really point these any lower, but the ships aren’t very strong without that talent. I can only recommend a point reduction on Gorgol as gaining a tractor token to repair a ship crit isn’t super great. Drop him to 34. Verdict: Questionable game design?

Darth Maul and Count Dooku both went up 2 points each, which is good since force, especially backed by Hate and a large amount of health, is very strong. Maul basically was a better Dengar for cheaper. He still is a better Dengar, but at least he costs 3 points more than toilet-paper head now. 0-66 and Dark Courier both dropped so maybe they will see some game time now. Verdict: Great

The Vulture-Class Droid Fighter received price drops across the board which I won’t argue with, but all of the regular upgrades (Struts, ESC, Discord, Relays, Seer) for them need to go up to compensate. If those upgrades don’t go up, every Vulture except for DFS-081 needs to go back up a bare minimum of at least 1. It’s less that they are super cost effective, but more that the effort that you put into killing them nets you only 20ish points at a time. I strongly suggest that all the tools go up in price rather than the chassis though. Verdict: Needs work

The Upgrades

For this section, I will address each upgrade that made a point change and the upgrades that didn’t see a change that probably should have for this faction.

Most of the exclusive Astromechs for the Republic are at a decent price point. R4-P44 could probably drop down one point, but there is one Astromech that definitely needs adjustment: C1-10P. Chop was a hidden gem, but now that people have embraced him, he has proven his worth and then some. Jump him up to 10 points as he shares the Nantex’s poor design space of lacking the “fully” on the executing a maneuver requirement for the jam.

The price changes to the Delta-7b and the Calibrated Laser Targeting were both good choices, particularly for the CLT. As long as Jedi receive increases, these are fine to remain at their current prices.

As for the droid configurations, the Landing Struts for the Hyena Bombers are fine, but the Grappling Struts for the Vultures need to go up to 2 points. This will have the twofold effect of making the Vultures worth a little more, so they are worth shooting at, but also will make the struts less of an auto-include.

Both of these factions have very few crew options, and they all seem to be at decent price points.

Only the Grand Republic has gunners for this era, and all of them are pretty decent. Clone Commander Cody should go up by a single point, but Ahsoka seems far too good to just be 12 points. She is essentially Scum Han Gunner for other ships in her list that still works when stressed, and is still a force charge when she doesn’t. All for 12 points. She should at least cost 14 points.

Only two titles exist across these two factions, and both belong to the Separatists. Soulless One dropping to the fantastic buy point of 6 for two hull upgrades and passive defense went a long way to make every Bulbasaur-22 pilot viable. Perhaps it’s too fantastic, but it doesn’t seem too oppressive yet, so it can stay at that price. The Scimitar title isn’t too bad or too good for its cost either and can stay where it’s at as well.

Impervium Plating went down 2 points, and much like the Soulless One title, it’s strong but not oppressive at that price point. Synchronized Console, however, doesn’t seem good at 2 points. It should drop down to 1 point.

K2-B4 and TA-175 both need to go up. TA-175 is comparably as good as Kraken and should be priced similarly. K2-B4 doesn’t need much adjustment, maybe up one.

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