A few weeks ago I hung up my XXX list after 50+ tournament games and built a Han + Jake squad that I’ve been having a ton of success with (26-6 overall, with four 3-0 tournaments). One of the key elements in the list is Jake’s Proton Rockets, and games are often won or lost based on how they’re used. And wow, some of the tips I’ve gotten from people about how to use them have been awful.

Here’s the conventional wisdom: Jake is nothing more than a missile platform and he’s worth sacrificing if he can get his rocket shot off.

In about half of my games, having Jake around in the late game has been absolutely crucial. Rather than sacrificing him to get the rocket shot, I’ve found it’s much better to sacrifice the rocket damage to keep Jake alive. His ability to sneak in behind people in the late game and just pound in 3 dice TL+Focus attacks turn after turn cannot be overlooked.

If you’ve ever used Proton Rockets without Target Lock, then you know that you really need Target Lock. So, what most people will end up doing is taking Focus (then if it’s Jake, boosting into range) and push the limit for Target Lock. You take the shot, reroll the blanks, spend the Focus, and get 4-5 hits pretty consistently.

In a lot of situations, I feel that this is a mistake. What’s been working for me is using the Target Lock to reroll both the blanks and the eyes, and keeping my Focus for defense. I may give up a couple damage, but I keep Jake alive, and he will more than make up for it in the late game.

There are of course some exceptions. If no one has a shot on Jake, naturally he puts in all the damage he can. If I need the extra damage to get a kill, I’m more willing to let Jake take some damage. If Jake is still at full strength, I’m a little more aggressive with him. And, if my first roll has a crit or two in it, and I need to overcome defense dice or strip off shields to punch the crit through, then spending Focus can make sense.

What doesn’t make sense is closing into Range 1 of a Decimator with Gunner and Vader and leaving Jake without defensive tokens. And that may seem obvious in internet theory crafting land, but with a Han+Jake list, you’re often in a broadside battle against a Decimator, and you need to kill RAC before Han loses his shields and starts taking crits every single turn. Getting 1 or 2 more damage on a Decimator can swing those fights, but I think you really need to resist the temptation. By protecting Jake, you get the option to have Han run away once he’s wounded, and let Jake finish off the Deci by himself at Range 2-3. (Ysanne makes this difficult, as you need to roll 2 hits just to do 1 damage, but Jake with Focus+Evade+Autothrusters can survive a lot of rounds of shooting. Just be patient.)

With K-Wings an Twin Laser Turrets soon entering the scene, it’s going to be even more important to think about how to keep your arc dodgers alive. And while it’s really tempting to get an early kill on a K-Wing, you have to ask if you’re willing to trade 25% of your hit points for just 11% of theirs, or 6% of a Decimator’s. That math just doesn’t add up.

One final thing to consider with the Proton Rockets is simply not firing them. How important is it in this round of combat that you do an extra 2 damage? If you fly Han+Jake like I do, let Han shoot first so you know precisely how important it is, but if you’re not going to get a kill and are unlikely to get a crucial crit, consider saving them for another time. It’s not like Jake isn’t ever going to get Range 1 again.

Keeping the rockets means they’re still out there as a threat. A lot of people will fly deliberately to avoid allowing a rocket attack. You want to keep them doing that. They’ll go faster than they want, and spend actions on Boost and Barrel Roll more instead of Focus and Target Lock. Let them do it, and then only fire the rockets when you’re moving in for the kill.

The exception to this is of course Corran Horn with Veteran Instincts and Engine Upgrade (or RAC with VI and EU, or really any PS10 with movement actions). If you get that shot, you take it, because you won’t ever get it again.

But in general, remember that Jake does 0 damage when he’s dead. The best offense is often a strong defense.