In-depth Look E-Wing

Next in the series of rewrites is the E-Wing. With the Experimental Scanners ship ability of being able to acquire Locks beyond Range 3, at a cost of not being able to acquire Locks at Range 1. A useful ability for low-Initiative pilots and higher alike, with a rather interesting loophole. You can still acquire a Lock at Range 0 (touching), if co-ordinated or through some other source of Locking.

The Knave Squadron Escort, at Initiative 2, gives you a fast blocker, that can still lock in round 1, and have at least 1 token by the time the engagement hits. The dial on the E-Wing lends itself towards some great manoeuvres, being able to keep up with Kiogran-Turning X-Wings, or spinning around on a Seignor’s Loop to take fire while slower ships come about. While the 1 hard turns are red, that can be compensated for with an R4 Astromech to increase your unpredictability, or just take the Stress and swap in an R3 instead.

Plasma Torpedoes could be a good choice for a pair of Knave Squadron Escorts, to soften up targets for your higher initiative pilot(s) the nexxt round.

The Knave Squadron Escort brings the first Talent slot to the E-Wing, and, at Initiative 4, gives you a great middle-ground generic pilot, at a fairly reasonable cost. As with the Knave Squadron Escorts, Plasma Torpedoes could fit in quite nicely here, especially if you are running an Initiative 4 squadron, seeing as you’ll rarely be worrying about a First Player Bid, you could tool up your squadron a little more than you would with the higher Initiative pilots.

The ability for all E-Wings to Boost or Roll and link to a lock can give you a slight edge if you need to get into a better position, and still Lock, because a target of opportunity has presented itself.

Gavin Darklighter is, perhaps, one of my favourite pilots in X-Wing. He has a decent ship under him, and can boost the effectiveness of those shooting at targets in his forward firing arc. I’ve played with a few different builds for Gavin, from Proton Torpedoes, Marksmanship, and an R3, to just Marksmaship and an R4. One build I am currently considering is to add Plasma Torpedoes to him, while his wingmen, at Initiative 4, get either main guns or Proton Torpedoes, to push as much damage through as possible. Removing extra shields is always welcome.

Corran Horn, as our last E-Wing pilot has a very situational ability.  Take a second shot at Initiative 0 in exchange for losing the ability to fire next round.  Now, that shot is also restricted to his Bullseye firing arc, meaning that you would want something to augment that.

Not a huge amount has changed where E-Wings are concerned, with the majority of changes coming from the upgrades you may wish to put on them.

One thing you shouldn’t disregard is the survivability issue with E-Wings. They are fast enough, when needed, to disengage and regenerate shields with an R2 Astromech, or repair damage cards with an R5 Astromech, or their named counterparts if yoou have the points to spare.

Got some useful or successful builds that are also fun to fly?  Let me know in the comments.