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As title, at the moment I'm running him with Veteran Instincts (as a less than awesome pilot skill is his only small weakness IMO)

Just curious as to what other people had tried and how it worked?

Push the Limit is pretty fun, focusing, barrel rolling then boosting after shooting should allow him to get out of most firing arcs.

 Shas'La robo wrote:
Push the Limit is pretty fun, focusing, barrel rolling then boosting after shooting should allow him to get out of most firing arcs.

Problem being he gets stressed out when he pushes said limit so cannot perform any actions until he pulls a green maneuver as you said (pg 17).

However, there's nothing stopping Turr from using PtL when he does his Boost/Barrel Roll party trick after he's performed his attack.

I think I'd put veteran instincts on him so he has a better chance of getting out of firing lines. That way he can make lots of head on passes

 MrMoustaffa wrote:
I think I'd put veteran instincts on him so he has a better chance of getting out of firing lines. That way he can make lots of head on passes

Yeah, I can't help feeling that there should be something more "active" I can add to him, but honestly, PS9 makes his ability that extra bit dirtier, and I can't really see much else I prefer.

I've tried Marksmanship mostly up til now, but it just never seems to work how it should with him, partly because getting a bead on the juicier targets is that bit harder at PS7.

I always use veteran instincts on him. Having him at PS nine with his ability is just too good to pass up.

I also field him with vet instincts only, I looked through all my upgrades a couple times to try to find something better but none of them really seem to shine with him.

I'm going to have to break the pattern and say that PTL is the only viable option (like every other interceptor).

VI is just way too situational. To make VI effective with Phennir's ability you need to be playing against a list with PS 7-8 ships AND be in a position where the free move after shooting can take you out of range/arc for return fire. If you're facing a low-PS list or PS 10+ threats VI is literally a blank card. If you're facing a PS 9 threat (Wedge, Han, etc) you absolutely must have initiative or VI doesn't let you escape fire. If you're in a situation where the free action can't take you out of range/arc you have no defensive bonus to protect you. If you can't shoot at anything you're stuck with a single defensive action. End result: most of the time VI is a waste of a point and an EPT slot.

PTL, on the other hand, is almost always useful. High-end interceptors depend on stacking actions to keep them alive, and PTL lets you do this. If you're shooting first (and with PS 7 you often will) you can shoot and then PTL off the free action for a focus/evade. Or, if you're not shooting first or just want to stack boost/focus to get a lethal range-1 shot you can PTL on your normal action and just treat Phennir as a PS 7 basic pilot that turn. And of course if you get in a situation where you don't have anyone to shoot at you can stack two defensive actions. You just have so much more flexibility in how you use the ship, and a lot fewer situations where you aren't using him effectively.

I agree PTL is an option, but to play devils advocate.

It is more expensive than VI

You mention that it isn't much use against high PS lists, but only if they themselves have VI. Otherwise you'll be going first half of the time in tourney lists, and the majority of the time if you're playing friendly games and following rulebook initiative.

You also have to account that PTL has a price tag. While Fel gets a kickback off that, Phennir doesn't. Now, shedding stress in an Interceptor is not hard, but it does limit your options in the next planning phase, as well as giving a clued up opponent an opportunity to second guess your manoeuvre more easily.

However, I wasn't aware that you could PtL off a free action, that does present some more interesting opportunities I hadn't considered until now.

 azreal13 wrote:
It is more expensive than VI

But not by much when you consider the percentage increase in price for the whole ship, especially if you take a stealth device.

You mention that it isn't much use against high PS lists, but only if they themselves have VI.

But that's just one more situation where it isn't good. If that was the only situation where VI didn't contribute it wouldn't be so bad, but now on top of all those other bad situations you've got a 50% chance of having VI be useless against Han/Wedge/Fel (unless you cut points to ensure you get initiative) and a 100% chance of it being useless if those PS 8-9 pilots take VI themselves.

You also have to account that PTL has a price tag. While Fel gets a kickback off that, Phennir doesn't. Now, shedding stress in an Interceptor is not hard, but it does limit your options in the next planning phase, as well as giving a clued up opponent an opportunity to second guess your manoeuvre more easily.

I think this is a pretty minor concern compared to the reward. You've got so many greens to go with boost/barrel roll that your final position isn't all that more predictable than if you have no stress at all. About the only thing your opponent knows you won't be doing is making a k-turn. And even if you don't use PTL on turns where you want to be stress-free that's still a lot fewer no-benefit situations than all the many times that VI is a blank card

However, I wasn't aware that you could PtL off a free action, that does present some more interesting opportunities I hadn't considered until now.

Yeah, PTL triggers when you perform an action, not specifically in your action step. Take a look at the movement distance and options you get when you can do both boost AND barrel roll after you shoot with Phennir and you'll see why PTL is so effective.

Or you could, you know, send Phennir after other targets than the big guns, have him run those things down, then help the rest of the squad deal with the big guy. Phennir excels at staying out of an opponent's firing arc. If you're putting him in a position where he can't, you're playing him wrong. Half the battle is out-maneuvering your opponent. If you've failed at that, you've likely already lost. PtL shouldn't ever be seen as a requirement for him-it actually is more of a crutch. That said, it's still the most amazing thing ever on Fel.

 timetowaste85 wrote:
Or you could, you know, send Phennir after other targets than the big guns, have him run those things down, then help the rest of the squad deal with the big guy.

First of all you're assuming that your opponent splits their forces and makes it possible to deal with the other targets while ignoring the big guns. Then you're basing your strategy on splitting fire on multiple targets instead of focusing on a single target until it is dead, which is not a good plan. And then you're really wasting points on VI because those low-end ships you're sending Phennir after are probably lower than PS 7 anyway so having PS 9 doesn't matter.

Phennir excels at staying out of an opponent's firing arc. If you're putting him in a position where he can't, you're playing him wrong.

Or your opponent just out-maneuvered you. Phennir's ability is nice but it's far from guaranteed that you'll be able to get out of arc of every threat. For example, consider two x-wings pointed at each other and spaced out to about range 2-3. You can dodge the arc on one of them, but you probably won't be getting out of arc on the other. And in that situation I'd rather have PTL to dodge one arc and get an evade token against the other than PS 9 against a pair of PS 2 rookie pilots.

And of course that's not even considering turret ships, which just laugh at VI Phennir.

PtL shouldn't ever be seen as a requirement for him-it actually is more of a crutch.

Call it a crutch if you want, but it's better to have a crutch that is useful most of the time than an upgrade to PS 9 that is rarely relevant.

As I've told you before, peregrine, different skills apply to different areas. My Turr is one of the most feared pilots in my area because I know how to fly him. And I've only gotten caught with my ass flapping in an opponents sights with him once. 360 arcs are definitely a different story though, as they hurt him quite a bit-I'll concede that point. And splitting your forces can work, if you're a skilled flier. Now, I'm not saying I never use PtL on him. But most of the time, I've had better results with VI. Quite obviously, your experiences have been polar opposite to 90% of mine, as we haven't agreed on much on here (except Fel and PtL).

PTL and VI are definitely the best two I can think of, unless there's some unknown new ability coming in the Aces pack of interceptors that I don't know about.

I think Adrenaline Rush coupled with a K turn on an Interceptor, while being far from broken, has real potential to turn a game on it's head.

 azreal13 wrote:
I think Adrenaline Rush coupled with a K turn on an Interceptor, while being far from broken, has real potential to turn a game on it's head.

Ooooh, with a targeting computer (which will be mean all by itself).
Really looking forward to the Aces box coming out.

 plastictrees wrote:

 azreal13 wrote:
I think Adrenaline Rush coupled with a K turn on an Interceptor, while being far from broken, has real potential to turn a game on it's head.

Ooooh, with a targeting computer (which will be mean all by itself).
Really looking forward to the Aces box coming out.

You read my mind!