In this final points change article, I will evaluate the changes and lack of changes to all of the generic upgrades. But before that, I’d like to compliment FFG for the great job they did in the Summer 2019 update. The first half of the year devolved into a two list meta with Quad Phantoms and Rebel Beef dominating the market, but after the update, we have been enjoying one of the most diverse metas that I have ever seen in X-Wing (whether 1st or 2nd Edition). While some factions still seem a little lacking, the majority of them get to come out and play.

Without further ado, let’s dive into the points change for the non-faction-locked junk.

We all know what I’m going to say here: Regen is too good. Moving to an agility based costing was brilliant, but R2’s cost on the three agility ships was too cheap. Increase that cost to 9-ish points and we should be fine. That may hurt E-Wings, but I think hampering that one ship that would likely be taking a different astromech anyway (R3 and R4 are both good choices) to reign in the Aethersprite is worth it.

Cannons are at nearly all at cheap price points; maybe the only exception is that Ion Cannon might be useful at 4 points. Most of them are so cheap already that I’m not certain you could drop them much more without making them auto-include like Jamming Beam is.

With the exception of Perceptive Copilot, basically none of the generic crew sees game time. Tactical Officer used to hit the mat, but the increase to 6 points undid that. It should drop down two or three points. Seasoned Navigator moving to the initiative scale was the right move, but should drop 1 point on every tier. In fact, every other generic crew should drop by 1 point.

I even recommend it for Gonk, despite the droid enabling regen. But Gonk is regen for the cost of two actions rather than R2’s action-less regen that you can do while running away (and recharging force as well).

I think we can mostly agree that 14 points for the Electro-Proton Bomb is a bit much for a unique, one-time-use bomb that you get a whole turn to prepare for. Drop it 3 points. Bomblet Generator should drop by 1, as Proton Bombs and Seismic Charges are both better and more reliable for equal or lesser cost. Bomblets are a far cry from the infinite bombs that they were in First Edition. Conner Nets are overpriced for a single charge bomb, so drop them to 4 points. Prox Mines could drop to 5 points, but staying at 6 points is fine as well.

Brilliant Evasion changing from scaled pricing to static pricing is okay, but I actually think scaling it by agility is the right choice. Make it cost a point per agility. Foresight should cost as much as Snap Shot so pump it to 7. Hate moving to ship-size scale was great, as Maul and Dooku kind of abused it at 3 points, and smaller ships just don’t have the health to take great advantage of it. Predictive Shot and Instinctive Aim dropping to one point is good, as they as are mostly useless. Sense should go back up to 6 points, maybe even 7; it is super good. Precog and Supernatural are fine at their price points.

Veteran Turret Gunner going back up to 8 points was not surprising, as a few lists were taking advantage of it. Agile Gunner and Veteran Tail Gunner should drop 1 or 2 points, since end of round rotate and front/back double shot aren’t super great. Skilled Bombardier might even be worth dropping to 1 point – you need to take at least 3 points worth of payload anyway.

Inertial Dampeners jumping in price was straight up dumb since it was good on only 1 pilot (Rebel Han), and that pilot can no longer take the upgrade. Unless it drops to zero points, I doubt we will see much play from it. Contraband Cybernetics dropping to 3 was good, as it was worse than Rebel Leia Crew in every way. Cloaking Device should drop to 2 or 3 points as it is unreliable and can only cloak twice.

Each of the lock-requiring missiles need a drop: Cluster Missiles, Homing Missiles, Concussion Missiles, Ion Missiles, and maybe Diamond Boron Missiles. If a cheap missile would be too good on a ship (like the TIE/v1), that ship should go up instead. Barrage Rockets probably didn’t need to go up again, as they had already fallen out of fashion.

Ablative Plating still being at 6 points is odd. It should return to its original cost of 4 points. Angled Deflectors could drop 1 point on each point scale since it hasn’t shown up anywhere in the meta. Engine Upgrade for the large base could drop by one, but I wouldn’t be sad if it didn’t. Static Discharge Vanes should drop down to 6 points, as it only has very niche uses, and I’d like to see more of those niche uses pop up.

Passive Sensors should go up one point to actually put it in contention with Targeting Computer. Only Soontir takes Targeting Computer, and that is because he doesn’t have a Sensor slot. Trajectory Simulator should move to scaled pricing by base size as the larger your base is, the harder it is to not get hit by your own bomb. That and making it cheaper for the StarFortress while not making it auto-include for other ships that can take it (all medium or small bases) would be nice. Making it 5 for a large, 7 for a medium, and 9 for a small.

Crack Shot has proven it is super good even with the bull’s-eye restriction. It is nearly auto-include, so an argument can be made to bring the cost up to 2. I wouldn’t be disappointed if it stayed the same though. Debris Gambit and Trick Shot both inexplicably went up in this update despite neither of them really taking part in the meta at all. They should both return to their former prices of 3 points and 2 points respectively. Expert Handling could drop down to a size scaled value of 1, 2, and 3. No ship with a red barrel roll is a powerhouse or shaking up the meta anyway (except the Resistance ARC) so the cheaper prices would help those chassis. Juke going up to seven really makes it a choice, and having flown against 2-die N1’s with Juke, it’s oppressive even on that chassis, so it’s good if it stays a little limited. Saturation Salvo should drop 1 or 2 points. Squad Leader should take at least a point off on each of the initiative scale levels, as it has been pointed into near obscurity.

I covered most of the Tech in the Sequel Factions article so I’ll just repost that here:

Advanced Optics should go up by 1 point, to get rid of the auto-include on the RZ-2 A’s and the TIE/sf. Primed Thrusters on the sliding scale is good, but I would drop them by 1. Targeting Synchronizer is so unused that it should drop by 2.

All of the torpedoes seem to be at a fair price point. Protons at 13 really makes taking them a choice. If Ion Torpedoes and Adv. Proton Torpedoes dropped by 1, I wouldn’t complain, but they should probably stay at 6.

I think Dorsal and Ion Turrets should drop back down to their previous points of 2 and 4 respectively. Their uptick was obviously because of Veteran Turret Gunner abuse in both Yion and Dreadlok lists. With both the gunner, Drea, and the Loks going up, the uptick on the turrets doesn’t seem necessary. At the very least, Dorsal needs to drop as it isn’t very strong at all.

Well that’s it for the points change articles for the July 2019 points update. Thanks for sticking with me through them all. As always, let us know what you think, whether you agree or disagree. We want to hear your feedback!

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