"Boba Fett?! Where?"

–Han Solo

The eighth wave of starship expansions for X-Wing™ is now just a few weeks away!

Featuring the protagonists and villains of Star Wars Rebels, as well as a few of the galaxy's deadliest bounty hunters, the Rebel, Imperial, and Scum expansions for Wave VIII are scheduled to arrive at retailers throughout the United States on Thursday, March 17th. That means you will soon have your chance to fly the Ghost, hunt it down in the Inquisitor's TIE Advanced prototype, or pursue shady new deals to make a little profit on the side.

We already saw the first Wave VIII ships released prior to The Force Awakens. With their new pilots and tech, the Resistance's T-70 X-wing Expansion Pack and the First Order's TIE/fo Fighter Expansion Pack have already made a considerable impact upon the X-Wing metagame. And while we have not yet seen what impact the other expansions will make, we have examined what each of them brings to the table.

Accordingly, in today's final preview, we take a small step back from exploring all of the wave's new content and the myriad tactics it permits. Instead, we focus on a single upgrade card, appreciating what it means for the game, its community, and one champion in particular.

World Champion Paul Heaver on the Boba Fett Crew Upgrade

With my second World Championship win, I earned the privilege of designing a second card for X-Wing. As with my first card, Stay on Target , I wanted to aim at a particularly strong portion of the existing metagame. My first message to the developers was sent almost as a joke, asking if I could make a card that destroyed Engine Upgrades and Advanced Cloaking Devices , since that year's World Championship was the year that upgrade-heavy Han Solo and "Whisper" lists were abundant.

To my surprise, I was told they were looking for an ability to fit on a crew version of the notorious bounty hunter, Boba Fett . The developers had not been happy with previous versions they were brainstorming, and the ability to perform targeted destruction seemed to fit in Boba Fett’s theme, and also within the Scum faction's overall themes. We traded messages back and forth for a while, and came upon a version of the card that we liked. It fit my goal of countering Engine Upgrades and Advanced Cloaking Devices, but it still allowed the upgrades' owners to outfly Boba Fett and dodge his effect. If he could not score any crits, his owner could not trigger his ability.

Because my version of Boba Fett is a crew card, it does not fit on either of the Scum faction’s strongest archetypes: dual IG-88 and Twin Laser Turret Y-wings. Neither IG-88 nor the Y-wing have crew slots. This is on purpose, as neither ship needed help. The Firespray-31, HWK-290, and Hound’s Tooth all can take Boba, and it is my opinion that all can use a little more power. Fett also fits on both of the new ships that Scum brings to the table in Wave VIII. And at just one squad point, he is pretty easy to squeeze into a list.

Since you can only trigger him once, I would not invest too many squad points into creating crits just for him. I like him on a bare-bones ship at a lower pilot skill. That way someone else can clear the shields before Boba Fett tries to strip the target of the important tool it needs to stay alive. After he does that, Boba leaves… If you wanted him to stick around, you should have paid him more!

Boba Fett does not do much to the swarm builds out there; they tend to run without upgrades. If your list already is weak to swarms, it might not pay to put Boba on a ship. However, if you have a good game against the swarm, but want something to help out against the fully tricked out aces, then Boba Fett is a good deal.

Emperor Palpatine’s protection of Soontir Fel and Darth Vader can be removed just by getting a crit into the shuttle on which he is flying around. Rebel regeneration lists frequently take hull damage on a ship before it runs away to regenerate all of its shields. But not after Boba takes out R2-D2 ! Does Dash Rendar’s Heavy Laser Cannon turret keep punching holes in your ships? Remove it, and watch him have to play the rest of the game with just his two-die primary attack. Boba Fett can even take out the Twin Laser Turret on a Y-wing pretty easily, reducing that ship to its much less frightening primary attack.

With Boba Fett, disintegrations are perfectly acceptable again! After you get critical damage on an enemy ship, you still need to destroy it before it can finish you, and by stripping it of its best defensive tool or its most potent offensive tool, Boba Fett makes it that must easier to finish the job.

When Wave VIII lands, I think the addition of Boba Fett, the Jumpmaster, and the Mist Hunter will expand the choices for Scum players. I love Boba on a Trandoshan Slaver , paired with Gunner and a Tactician . The ship is only thirty-seven points, so it leaves a lot of room for different items in your list. You can pair him with a loaded Dengar , equipped with Veteran Instincts , a K4 Security Droid , Unhinged Astromech , and the Punishing One Title. Even together, these ships still leave you room for a Z-95 filler ship.

Boba Fett will also still be relevent in future waves. Anytime you have a spare point and think to yourself that certain upgrades will be problematic for your list, you can still pay Boba Fett to zap them away!

I hope you all enjoy my new creation!

What Will You Destroy?

Thanks, Paul!

With the imminent release of Wave VIII and all the action from this spring's X-Wing System Open Series, we expect to see a lot more of the galaxy's greatest bounty hunter at your X-Wing tables. But on what ships will you fly him? What targets will you prioritize? Head to our community forums to discuss your favorite choices as we all await the official news that Wave VIII has dropped out of hyperspace!