Okay so we got lots of fun stuff spoiled and confirmed last week and now that I have had some time to sit and look at things a bit objectively and not through the fan boy excited lease, I think I can talk about what we know a bit more rationally now that the initial hype as simi worn off. Don’t get me wrong I am super excited for these ships to drop, but I am a little more calm and collected than when we first got, so let look at what’s happening.
Salvo
Okay Salvo is not quite what I thought it was but from what we know of it (from starhawk Article) you use the printed armament from your rear hull zone, so no ship currently in the game will be able to throw more than 3 dice with it. You also cannot add dice to a salvo attack, barring any upgrades that say you can add die to your salvo attack. Salvo is also interesting as it says to use the printed value of your rear hull zone so spinals won’t increases your rear armament, thus giving you an extra salvo dice sorry. You are also not able to resolve critical effects, unless an upgrade card specifically says you can on a salvo attack. Salvo attacks are not going to be quite as game changing as I hoped, but I understand the choice behind making salvo this way, it will still chip in, and even if a ship goes first you salvo and it flys into a less dangerous arc in most cases you have almost if not doubled the amount of dice you get to chuck at that ship, so that does not seem like a bad deal to me at all. It might not be as game changing as I thought it would be by making the arc you are attacking a deterrent, but I think it is still good and a step in the right direction to help combat Last/First strategies.
Okay so now that we have talked about salvo let’s talk about the Starhawk, as that is the ship we know the most about. I will cover the Onager next week as we should be getting that article today sometime.
Okay so this boy is a beast 14 hull the most of any large base 6 front shields and 4 on the sides makes this guy one tough ship to bring down. However it only has one of each token and no natural defensive retrofit so it is fairly susceptible to accuracies. It can gain more tokens though its titles and Commander Agate. Its upgrade bar is fairly standard other than it has two officer slots, that will be quite nice along with the new “Super Weapon” slot.
The Mark I and the Mark II are very much the same ship they don’t have any differences outside of dice armament, and it’s not even an increases in dice it’s just a swapping of dice color. The mark II drops a black out the front for a blue and a black out the side for a red and a black in its anit-squdron armament for a red. So the Mark II has a bit more range, and a Slightly better chance at generating accuracies for 10 more points, it’s just not worth it to me, factor in that 2 of the 3 titles can only be taken on a mark I, I have a hard time justifying taking a mark II. I wish there was a greater difference between the two like the Mark I had an ordinance slot, and the Mark II had two turbolaser slots, but it is what it is. There is not a whole lot more to say about the two variations, because they are so similar, you can either pay 10 more points for a little extra range, or you can save 10 points and have slightly more punch.
So let’s look at the superweapon slot for the Starhawk. We only know of one upgrade that goes into this slot, the Magnate Crystal Tractor Beam Array. It’s basically a super tractor beam that slows ships down to your current speed including speed 0, no other card in the game can reduce a ship to speed zero. Sure there is G-7 but that just makes them deploy at speed 0, nothing mid game can actually drop your speed to zero, outside this card effect. This provides you with 2 benefits, first your slow it keeps fast ships from getting away from your scariness. Second you can drop to zero, as this card triggers at the end of your activation to drop a ship to speed zero and make it defenseless. This pairs well with one of the Starhawk’s titles, we are getting there. I like this card it’s nice that it triggers at the end of your activation as you can set up a shot on a ship and then reduce its speed so it can’t sneak away, and I think the speed zero trick can work in the right build. I hope the Starhawk has a second super weapon even if it’s just a different take on the tractor beam, just to encourage more diversity in play, but if not should still be fun.
Okay so now let’s talk about the titles available to the Starhawk, then we will dive into build Ideas for the Starhawk. First up Amity.
Amity is I think the least exciting title, but it’s also the cheapest. Its mark I only you gain an evade, and you get to deal 2 facedown cards when a ship overlaps you if you choice to deal an extra damage to your ship as well. So first off the second part of this card reminds me of the Eclipse title for the SSD, but whit that title at least your opponent is always getting the worse end of the deal here its kind of equally bad for both of you, but you get to pick if you want to take double damage for a ram so that provides some flexibility, so in general when you do trigger the ability the two damage should mean a lot more to your opponent then your two. This ability suggest a blocking strategy, and that generally means being in close range so your evade you gain from this card becomes useless. I mean I suppose you could take Mon Mothma to give that evade some more value, but that’s a commander and 30 points to make this kind of work a little bit better together, I am just not sold on it. Factor in this can only go on a Mark I that really wants to get close whereas the Mark II has the range to make the evade somewhat more useful, I just really don’t think this title will see a lot of play.
Concord, this is tied for most expensive title in the game, but this lets you break a key rule it lets you spend 1 token while at speed zero. It also gives you a salvo token, and again is Mark I only. So this is likely the title you want to take if you are going with a speed zero strategy with your super weapon. Unfortunately Concord is still very much vulnerable to accuracies so if you are taking this card you are going to need to be aware of that. It’s not the only way to make a speed zero strategy work, but I do think is necessary if: you are second player, you have a low activation count, so it’s probably best to take it because, well better safe than sorry. Can I also just say this one of my favorite pieces of art in the game.
Unity this is the last title and the only one not limited to Mark I only. It is also probably generally the best, on the simple fact it gives you a second redirect. The Starhawk has so many shields and in order to utilize them you need your redirect, since you only have one it becomes prone to accuracies, this gives you two meaning you should fairly easily get full use out of all your shields. If you are not taking this upgrade it is probably a good idea to have an engineering token at the ready to move shields around. Unity can also help supplement your squadron screen with much more consistent damage, but that extra redirect is almost worth it just in and of itself. Like I said I think this is pretty much the default title unless you are going no title to save points, or are using Concord for the Speed 0 strategy.
Something that is Important to note during this overview is that we don’t have all the information, specifically the upgrade cards in the box. FFG seems to want to surprise us as there are a few cards that we don’t know about the Star Hawk comes with 15 upgrade cards we know of 11.
as FFG said in the live stream there is a generic upgrade that adds salvo tokens and there are two in each box: so in the Starhawk box we know Commander Agate, the 3 titles, the one super weapon Wedge, Agate officer, Shriv Suurgay, and the turbolaser Heavy Fire Zone, (I mean I can read practically the whole thing in the new Starhawk article and it's exactly what I thought it was, and the two cards that add salvo. That is 11 total cards of 15 it is possible they include 2 Heavy Fire Zone upgrades, I hope not because it’s terrible. So the mystery 2-3 cards we have left we have no idea what they are. They could be an officer that can add a defensive retrofit that changes the dynamics entirely of the starhawk especially since it has two officer slots. So do keep that in mind we are working with most, but not all information.
Okay so now its theory crafting time. Raddus Garm, Rieekan, Agate These are the commanders I see working most with a starhawk Garm, 4 tokens seams fun. Raddus this bad boy in yes please. Rieekan if you die might as well get one more shot off with your big boy, and take someone with you. Agate address the defense token weakness. What about Doddona, Agate kills dondonna in any list that does not have a reliable way to take advantage of his ability, dodonna will no longer just be taken because he is cheap, but because he is the best pick for your fleet, and with a Starhawk Agate helps counteract one of its biggest weaknesses.
So when I look at the starhawk I think Motti ISD-I with more shields, longer range from the front and side arc and a more powerful side arc, and 2 officer slots. The ISD-I was my jam before wave 7. I was one of the few that really used and loved the thing, just to clarify I never really liked Motti that much just the ISD-I. So I think thinking of the Starhawk particularly the Mark I as a beefed up ISD-I.
So with that where do we go, well let’s look at the weapon teams slot so we have 4 reds so Gunnery teams is not a bad option, Caitken and Shollan is also not terrible either get rerolls on the dice you really need it on keep the front red dice consistent etc. Ordinance experts not really you only have 2 black, let’s not forget you also have access to Boarding Troopers, as well and wanting to close to get your black dice in the fight, boarding troopers is not a bad option at all. Flight Controllers is also an option, but there are cheaper options is all you are looking for is a carrier that can take flight controllers. Personally I like Caitken and Shollan and Boarding Troopers best, as I am just like my ISD-I trying to get that close range double arc off, I see the argument for Gunnery teams, but I prefer Boarding Teams or Caitken and Shollan.
As far as offensive retrofit I think it’s really just there for boarding cards, but if you really want your Starhawk to be a carrier boosted comms or expanded hanger bays otherwise if it really must be filled proximity mines is probably the next best pick. But this is a slot that can totally be left empty in most cases.
Ion slot is pretty much going to be leading shots if you take Caitken and shollan you could probably take SW-7s or in your turbolaser slot you could take LTT and take weapon battery techs in the weapons slot but that leaves your black dice hanging, so I really think it is hard to put anything but leading shots in this slot.
Turbolaser Slot okay so this is an interesting one QBT is an interesting choice, but our tractor beams work counter to giving its benefit to us, so if you are going to use the tractor beam that we know of then I would not use QBT, but if you are not I think this is the best pick. So now what if you are running Tractor beams, well it depends on how you use them are you going to drop them to speed zero or are you just going to slow them down? I think if you are taking the tractor beams you should probably plan on dropping a ship to speed zero as that is why the card cost so much because you can do that. So in the cases where you get to drop a ships speed to zero you want it to count, much like an Avenger ISD wants to make its attack count, so more damage is what you are wanting aside from QBTs enhanced armament and spinal armament are really the only ones that add dice to help give you more damage, but DTT in a weird way can help you fish for more damage so there is that. If you are really not into slowing down ships to zero and don’t want to take QBT because you might not get its benefits, you can take XI7’s.
StarHawk-Class Battleship Mark I (140)
Boarding Troopers (3)
Leading shots (4)
Quad Battery Turrets (5)
Total points= 152
This is the lean mean killing machine at 152 points it’s cheaper than some ISD’s. This works as is or as great template to build upon. It’s pretty simple get into close range and get the big ship to burn though a bunch of tokens and have your little support ships finish it off. I know some people say good luck getting a speed 2 ship into close range, but personally I don’t feel like I have ever had a problem with that sure speed 3 makes it easier, but it’s very doable with a speed 2 ship.
StarHawk-Class Battleship Mark I (140)
Concord (12)
Magnite Crystal Tractor Beam Array (10)
Bail Organa (7)
Caitken and Shollan (6)
Leading shots (4)
Spinal Armament (9)
Total Points= 188
Okay so we are doing speed zero kill them kind of stuff. Spinal gives us more dice to chuck to really make are speed Zero big punch count. If you time Bail right you don’t need to be first, but you could drop bail for a bigger bid, this is really an avenger boarding teams back from when avenger worked on both shots, and that was darn good, and this guy has more dice to chuck then any Avenger ISD could back when Avenger double tap was a thing. Caitken and Shollan add some consistency to your long range attacks leading shots is there for insurance it also really lets you fish for double hits on your red dice if you would like to. you could also mix this up and put cham syndulla in and really mess up someone's plans, if they don't have a nav token handy or a way to generate one on the fly.
StarHawk-Class Battleship Mark II (150) points
Unity (10)
Flight Controllers (6)
Expanded hanger Bays (5)
Quad Laser Turrets (5)
LTT (7)
Leading Shots (4)
Total points= 187
I felt obligated to make a Mark II build and well unity and LTT can really get you results with your red ant-squadron die. If you want to go crazy LTT in 2 reds unity LTT and leading shots if you have your blue dice all the rerolls on you mega anti-squad shot, with that kind of support from a ship a fighter wing should have no issues tearing through a squadron wing. You could switch out Flight Controllers for Gunnery teams if you wanted to. I don’t think it’s amazing but you need to take advantage of what the Mark II gives you over the Mark I, and that is the extra red dice.
StarHawk-Class Battleship Mark I (140)
Garm Bel Iblis
Weapons Liason (3)
Defense Liason (3)
This is a command one StarHawk seams fun any good? Maybe, being able to respond to any situation on the drop of a hat seems pretty nice for a command 4 ship. obously this is just an outline for a ship but I will likely give it a shot mostly because well you know Garm. However I think in a world of Ravager H9, QTCs, Agate is the best call, as we just lack that defensive retrofit slot, but if Agate is good enough to kill Ravager H9, QTC, we might have something interesting here.
I really think the Starhawk is going to come into the game and really bash some heads in, with a boarding troopers Mark I can see it forcing the SSD to burn both braces and a redirect pretty early in the game, it’s going to kill stuff and it will be hard to stop. Its biggest downside for me is its lack of native defense tokens combined with no defensive retrofit can really make this guy more fragile than he looks. I look forward to see how this ship will play. What are some of your Ideas with the Starhawk? After breaking down all the information we get from the Oneger this week you can expect a discussion about that next week, and then release should not be too far away after that, and we can talk upgrade cards once we know all the cards coming in the wave. Until next time have a great week!
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