X-Wing: Best-in-Slot Upgrade Cards
ChahDresh takes stock of the cards that dominate each upgrade slot.
Everyone loves a good list! Lists are one of the reasons the internet was created. Today we’ll do a different sort of list: we’re going to go through the various *types* of upgrade, and pick the best/most impactful/most important upgrade cards in each slot.
This necessarily prejudices against ship-specific upgrades. We’ll be skipping titles completely, for example: FFG has begun using titles as an integral part of ship identity/ship rules, such that it’s nonsensical to think of, say, an ARC-170 without Alliance Overhaul. We’re going to go generic here: if I have a ship that has a given slot, what’s my first instinct to fill that slot?
MISSILE
The funny thing about ordnance is that it’s rarely fielded as an afterthought. It’s a rare day that someone says, “Hm, I have a few points left over… let’s just slap on a missile and go to town!” Ordnance is an investment. That investment, to justify itself, demands additional work to set up the proper ecosystem for it to thrive. If you’re using ordnance, you’re going all the way with it.
And if you’re going all the way with it, Homing Missiles are the hardest-hitting missile, hands down. Assuming you have a focus token when you shoot (and if you don’t, what are you doing?!), it is the most accurate of the bunch, and benefits the most from additional attack dice. Honorable mention to Proton Rockets, which made Jake Farrell the terror of a thousand tabletops.
TORPEDO
Remember what I said about ordnance requiring its own ecosystem? Extra Munitions is a key part of that ecosystem. This card’s cost efficiencies are what make K-Wing bombers, U-boats, and Miranda Doni all perform at their best. It’s so good that Emon Azzameen is better off with the Slave I title than the Andrasta title, which is hilarious and sad at the same time.
BOMB
I know Cluster Mines are “in” right now. I maintain that the control of the Conner Net is more powerful and valuable, especially against ships that self-stress. I also think that Clusters being more popular right now is a function of Attani Mindlink’s popularity; since the control feature of the Conner isn’t as powerful against Attani’s action economy, the ability to just kill schmucks with the Clusters is more attractive. We’ll see what happens as the meta evolves. (Maybe I’m just too-fondly remembering one-shotting Manaroo with a Conner Net. It happens.)
TURRET
There’s no other option here. The Ion Cannon Turret had its day (back when it had no competition). The Synched Turret coming with the next wave looks nice. But few upgrade cards of any kind have been as powerful and dangerous as this. It gave pause to Decimators and Falcons, scared B-Wings right off the table, and made TIE Phantoms count their green dice nervously. Beware the TLT– it strikes with the power of MATH!
DROID
Ah, the first slot in which we have real competition! There are actually a lot of droids out there… most of them sadly useless. R2-D2 here, on the other hand, has been powering winning Rebel lists since the core set, and is still doing so today. R3-A2 is awesome, R5-P9 makes sweet music with Poe, R4-D6 makes Biggs even more annoying than he already is, and BB-8 has a lot going for him. But none of those droids have the track record, applicability, and simple value of Star Wars’ “droid ex machina”.
CANNON
One of the odd things about cannon-equipped ships is that most of them natively have three reds. Those ships have few options that are actually firepower upgrades. In most cases, the ship ends up *losing out* on top-end firepower to gain some utility, which is a questionable choice. Not so with the HLC. This is the hammer. Seven points, and totally worth it, especially at range 3.
MODIFICATION
Honorable mention to Autothrusters, which by itself returned A-Wings and TIE Interceptors to the table, but this card is more significant. Despite the hefty points cost, the impact this card made in turning turret ships into monsters cannot be denied. This card is the reason Smuggling Compartment specifies you can’t equip another mod of more than three points. FFG knows. And not only big ships have had their bacons saved by EU: Darth Vader and Corran Horn both owe a slice of their notoriety to this bad boy.
SYSTEMS
It’s certainly the most common System upgrade. FCS gives you action economy for days, and has seen extensive use on every platform that can field it.
ILLICIT
There’s a strong argument to be made for Glitterstim. I respect that. It’s a good card! It lets you stride into bad situations and punch well above your weight. But Inertial Dampeners is cheaper and has the potential to be much more impactful, especially for high-PS pilots. The ability to stall out-or for a YV-666 to stall consecutively-can thwart the best-laid plans of your enemy, even if he has Intel Agent or the like to see what’s coming. This card can swing games for a single measly point. Just by existing it creates uncertainty for your opponent-that alone is worth its cost.
SALVAGED ASTROMECH
Before the timing chart nerf, R4 Agromech would have been the clear winner. It still has a case, since it provides Predator-like offensive performance for fewer points in a much less congested upgrade slot. But what Unhinged provides is more valuable overall. It turns the Y-Wing’s below-average dial into a very functional one, and it pushes the Jumpmaster’s dial from “very generous” to “downright absurd”.
TECH
Frankly, this is one of the weaker upgrade slots in the game; none of the cards you can drop here is a slam-dunk. Most of them are luxuries, toss-ins that are the first things you cut when you’re tight on points. The only exception is our winner, Comms Relay, which is the engine that powers Omega Leader, the game’s most dangerous (and second-most annoying) 26 points.
CREW
This is the slot that gave me the most heartburn, especially with all the faction-specific crew that have strong arguments. Sabine Wren, for example, took a gimmicky archetype and made it a legitimate tournament-winning threat… but only for Rebels. Zuckuss and Palpatine were so game-distortingly strong they had to be nerfed-but they’re faction-specific, they’ve been brought back into line, and this list isn’t really about rewarding what was significant in the past. (That’s what Ship Parade is for.)
Ultimately, the old standby of Gunner wins out here. Non-support ships with crew slots are generally so expensive you *have* to make their attacks stick. Gunner gets you there. I’m unimpressed with myself.
ELITE
Is there really any other choice? (Attani Mindlink is a distant second; it has a lot of the same strengths and weaknesses that Push does.) Push the Limit is such a game-defining card it changes our perception of value. Instead of judging whether or not PtL is a good card for a given ship, we often grade ships on whether or not they can support Push the Limit. You could argue that this limits how good the card could be; after all, a Y-Wing with Push would be hopeless, so how good could Push be? That argument swings the other way, though: if your ship *can* support Push, odds are you *should* take Push. A number of the game’s most infamous pilots simply don’t function without it. In the game’s most coveted (and crowded) upgrade slot, Push the Limit is the cream of the crop.
~Do you agree or disagree? What cards would you pick?
