X-Wing Upgrade Guide- Torpedoes

Last Update: 4/13/2018 through Wave 13

X-wing is a game that has been around for a few years now. The number of ships, pilots and upgrades can become a little overwhelming for those that are new or infrequent players. So today we’re going to continue going through all the different upgrade types and giving some quick points on how best to use them. For each we’re going to give the following information:

Ranking– We’re going to rank each card within an upgrade slot. This is an imperfect ranking as the usefulness of any card is mostly determined by how and where you use it. But it’s an easy number to grasp and can serve as a starting point when trying to pick your upgrades.
Combos– What are the best pilots, ships or upgrades to pair with this card. When we look at upgrades that can only be equipped to with a limited number of ships, we may skip this section.

Other Guides

Crew and Droids
Elite Pilot Talent
Ship Upgrades
- Illicit
- Modification
- System
- Tech
Weapon Upgrades
- Bombs
- Cannons
- Missiles
- Torpedoes
- Turrets

Last month we took a look at the missile upgrade slot and this month we’re following it up with a look at torpedoes. Long regarded as worthless points, ordnance of all types has seen a comeback in the past year thanks in large part to Guidance Chips and Extra Munitions. GC is a free upgrade that ensures at least one of your dice would score a hit. Extra Munitions reduces their cost burden as for just two more points your one shots become two shots. Needless to say, both of these upgrades pair well with all torpedoes but in the case of torpedoes, only ships with two torpedo slots see any benefit from them. Additionally, Scavenger Crane is a worthwhile upgrade to help give your ordnance multiple uses on ships with an illicit slot but only one torpedo slot.

Of particular note, Nera Dantels is a B-wing pilot that pairs well with any torpedo thanks to her ability to fire them out of arc. She is not listed as a combo with any of them because she can make good use of all of them.

Ships with a Torpedo Slot

Rebel

ARC-170
B-Wing
E-Wing
K-Wing
Scurrg H-6
T-70 X-Wing
U-Wing
VCX-100
X-Wing
Y-Wing

Imperial

Alpha Class Starwing
Firespray-31 (w/ Title)
TIE Bomber
TIE Punisher
VT-49 Decimator

Scum

Firespray (w/ Title)
M12-L Kimogila
M3-A Scyk (w/ Title)
Protectorate Starfighter
Scurrg H-6
Starviper
Y-Wing

Ranked List

Extra Munitions
Plasma Torpedoes
Proton Torpedoes
Advanced Proton Torpedoes
Flechette Torpedoes
Seismic Torpedo
Ion Torpedoes

Advanced Proton Torpedo (B-Wing/TIE Bomber/T-70 Expansions)

Cost: 6 points

Attack(Target Lock): 5, Range 1

Spend your target lock and discard this card to perform this attack.

You may change up to 3 of your blank results to Focus results.

Ranking– 4
- - One of the most expensive upgrades in the game it is also the only card with a printed five dice attack.
Combos
- Guri (StarViper Pilot)
  - Thanks to her free Focus token at range one, Guri has the best chance of getting a fully modified shot off. If she has an FCS too then it’s possible to get off the torpedoes without having ever taken an action.
- Deadeye (EPT) + Recon Specialist (Crew)
  - With this combo you can use one of your focus to fire at any target of opportunity and the other to make your APT accurate. A particularly great one for Nera who gains all of range one.

Extra Munitions (K-Wing/TIE Punisher Expansions)

Cost: 2 points

When you equip this card, place 1 ordnance token on each equipped Bomber, Missile, and Torpedo Upgrade card. When you are instructed to discard an Upgrade card, you may discard 1 ordnance token on that card instead.

Ranking– 1
- - I considered not including this one because it isn’t a torpedo per se but it does take up a torpedo slot and it is almost always the best thing to put in a torpedo slot.
Combos
- B-Wing/Y-Wing/Jumpmaster/Slave-1 Firespray/TIE Bomber/TIE Punisher/VCX-100
  - All of these ships can equip Extra Munitions and some other munitions.

Flechette Torpedo (E-Wing/TIE Punisher/Rebel Transport Expansions)

Cost: 2 points

Attack(Target Lock): 3, range 2-3

Discard this card and spend your target lock to perform this attack.

After you perform this attack, the defender receives 1 stress token if its hull value is “4” or lower.

Ranking– 6
- For awhile this was a great torpedo because it was only two points and could be slotted in pretty easily. Unguided Rockets puts it to shame and the stress delivery never really amounted to much. So many ships have more than four hull and they are very popular these days.
Combos
- Accuracy Corrector (System) + Munitions Failsafe(Modification) + Gunner(Crew) + R3-A2 (Astromech)/Tactician(Crew)
  - With this combo you can force yourself to miss using accuracy corrector, still deliver the stress from the torpedo and still have the torpedo to use again. With Gunner and Tactician you can then fire again to make a regular shot, potentially dealing three stress in a turn or with R3-A2 you can deal two stress but no attack. Not many ships can take it and it’s a lot of points. If the restriction on flechette to ships with a hull value of 4 were not there this might actually be worth taking.

Ion Torpedoes (Assault Carrier/Decimator/Starviper Expansions)

Cost: 5 points

Attack(Target Lock): 4, Range 2-3

Spend your target lock and discard this card to perform this attack.

If this attack hits, the defender and each ship at Range 1 of it receives 1 ion token.

Ranking– 7
- As an AOE ion attack you would think this would rank higher. Like assault missiles though it functions more to deny your opponent maneuver options than as an actually functioning weapon. If your opponent is flying a swarm he probably doesn’t care if they are all ionned. The elusive aces who need to remain maneuverable usually don’t have any trouble keeping their distance so they won’t be caught in the AOE.
Combos
- Ion Bomb
  - Fire off the torpedo to ion a group so that next round they will fly right into an ion bomb you leave behind for them.

Plasma Torpedoes (Punishing One/K-Wing/TIE Punisher Expansions)

Cost: 3 points

Attack (Target Lock): 4, Range 2-3

Spend your target lock and discard this card to perform this attack.

If this attack hits, after dealing damage, remove 1 shield token from the defender.

Ranking– 2
- These serve the function as a good budget four dice attack. At only three points they can fit in a lot more places than Proton Torpedoes and have the potential to do extra damage, though they lack the inherent modification.
Combos
- Long Range Scanners (Modification)
  - Plasma torpedoes in particular want to be used in the first attack when your target still has shields to strip. LRS helps ensure you can fire them in the first pass.

Proton Torpedo (B-Wing/X-Wing/Y-Wing/Both Cores Expansions)

Cost: 4 points

Attack (Target Lock): 4, Range 2-3

Spend your target lock and discard this card to perform this attack.

You may change 1 of your Focus results to a Crit result.

Ranking– 3
- With guidance chips these can modify two results, which when combined with an average expected roll of two hits means good odds of netting four hits making this a pretty accurate weapon.
Combos
- Deadeye (EPT)
  - Thanks to the inherent focus modifier on this torpedo they benefit less from Focus tokens than other missiles. This allows you to spend your Focus on the attack and use any Target Lock you have for modifying it.
- Kylo Ren (Crew/Pilot)/Boba Fett (Crew)
  - With Kylo Ren’s ability to select a crit for a ship to take, even through shields, and Boba’s ability discard an upgrade, having a weapon that generates crits is very handy.

Seismic Torpedo (ARC-170 Expansion)

Cost: 2 points

Action: Discard this card to choose an obstacle at Range 1-2 and inside your primary firing arc. Each ship at Range 1 of the obstacle rolls 1 attack die and suffers any damage or critical damage rolled. Then remove the obstacle.

Ranking– 6
- The range restriction is limiting on these as it makes it extremely likely you’ll catch yourself in the blast.
Combos
- Low Pilot Skill (Any)
  - Low pilot skill have the most opportunity to use this as you know where your enemy is when you move.
- Rigged Cargo Chute (Illicit)
  - If your enemy won’t fly close to any existing obstacles, make your own.