A few months ago I wrote a new player’s buying guide for X-Wing 2.0. While there have been extensive updates to the game since then, most of what I wrote still stands. The only section in that post that needs major overhauling is Scum, which I’ll try to clean up soon.

Do I Need a Core Set???

The long and short of it is you absolutely need a core set. The core set comes with asteroids and debris clouds, maneuver templates, dice, tokens, and your damage deck. You need all of these things every time you play X-Wing. The core set retails for $39.99.

However, we’re getting very close to NOT needing to buy a core set if we want to play X-Wing. Soon, FFG will be releasing acrylic templates for $19.95, you can already buy six dice for $7.95 (but you need two packs); the only thing you can’t buy from FFG is a damage deck, but you can get them on ebay for around $10-$15 (actually, dice on ebay are way cheaper, just use ebay). You can also get obstacles from ebay, but Gas Clouds also come in the Squadron Packs, which can also be helpful.

Sadly though, the cheapest and most efficient way to start playing X-Wing Second Edition is to buy the $40 core set. Rip.

Galactic Republic

As of this writing, there are three ships legal for the Grand Army of the Republic, with the N-1 and Y-Wing releasing in waves 4 and 5, respectively.

When looking at cost, this faction is really easy to recommend, especially since one of the most competitive lists you can buy requires only a two-item purchase. Two Jedi + Two Torrents have been really strong in both extended and hyperspace (you can read more about the formats in my last buying guide, linked at the top of the page). Financially this is great because we only have to buy two products on top of the core set to get everything we need to compete at even the highest levels.

If you’re willing to break the bank a little, or just really like the ARC-170, or just really want to own all the ships in your faction, two jedi + an ARC-170 (and a few of them are strong competitive options), is also a valid list, but slightly more expensive.

The lists are similar, but here are the Two Delta + Two Torrent, and Two Jedi + an ARC (choose your own ARC).

TLDR: Buy the Guardians of the Republic Squadron Pack and one Delta-7 + Core Set = $120

Separatist Alliance

As of this writing, there are three legal ships in the Separatist Faction, with a Hyena Droid Bomber, and Nantex Starfighter coming in waves 4 and 5, respectively.

Right now there are a few lists that are being played with the Separatists, but there aren’t a ton of options. Mostly the lists are variations on an Infiltrator plus 4 or 5 Vultures, or a Bellalbub-22 plus 6 vultures. The problem with spamming vultures is that it gets expensive fast. Also, if you’re new to the game it might be a hard lesson to learn that these vultures are going to die, and you’re really just trying to make as many positive trades as possible. To fly the vulture swarm you need to buy two Servants of Strife packs and two more vultures, a whopping $120 for a list that honestly isnt’ that amazing. When we add in the core set we have put down $160 and ended up with a second Bellalbub that we’ll probably never ever use.

One awesome thing about the Sith Infiltrators is that they feature Maul and Dooku, two of the coolest parts of the prequels, and both have access to three force charges, which is very, very strong. To Boot, picking up two of these Infiltrators is only $80 which is on part with the recommendations I’ve been making in this series, which combined with the core set is only $120. While flying two large base ships is difficult, and will prove a challenge, the Infiltrator actually has turnaround maneuvers, which many big base ships do not, so they are a little more forgiving flight-wise. As stated earlier, they also have the Force charges which makes them inherently strong in their ability to modify their dice even when they haven’t taken any actions. Subjectively, I think two Infiltrators is the best list in the faction.

Here is a link to the Vulture swarm if you want to go that route, there are plenty of videos of it being played online if you want to check it out. But my recommendation is this two-infiltrator list. The Infiltrator list does have some points left out because the Sith Infiltrator set doesn’t come with any bombs, but if you can get your hands on some Proton Bombs I would add them to at least Dooku.

TLDR: Buy Two Sith Infiltrators and the Core set for $120