Last Update: 04/17/2019 with 2.0 Wave 3 and Points Update 1.2.
X-wing 2.0 launched with a wide variety of upgrades carrying over from 1.0. Similar to the guides we did for 1.0, we’re going to start looking at making sense of all of the new upgrades and how they will function in 2.0:
- 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.
- Comments- Some general thoughts about how to use this upgrade. If this upgrade had an equivalent in 1.0, we’ll give a few notes about how it plays differently
- Combos– If there are any noteworthy cards this upgrade combos with it will be noted here. Not all cards have this section.
Other Guides
- Personnel
- Astromechs
- Crew
- Gunners
- Pilot Upgrades
- Ship Upgrades
- Devices (Coming Soon)
- Illicit (Coming Soon)
- Modifications (Coming Soon)
- Sensor (Coming Soon)
- Tactical Relay (Coming Soon)
- Tech (Coming Soon)
- Weapon Systems
For every Astromech with a Charge, Spare Parts Canister is a potential combo. We’re not going to list it each time unless it’s really worthwhile.
Rebel Astromechs
Ships with Astromechs
- ARC-170
- BTL-A4 Y-Wing
- E-Wing
- Sheathipede Shuttle
- T-65 X-Wing
Ranked List
- R2-D2
- Chopper
- R5-D8
Astromechs (listed alphabetically)
Chopper (Wave 1 Rebel Conversion Kit)
Cost: 2 points
Action: Spend 1 non-recurring Charge from another equipped upgrade to recover 1 shield.
Action: Spend 2 shields to recover 1 non-recurring Charge on an equipped upgrade.
- Ranking- 2
- Comments
- Chopper is waiting for his chance to shine. As soon as there is an upgrade, with a non-reoccurring charge that is worth stripping two shields for, he’ll be great.
- Combos
- Gonk Droid (Crew)- Recover shields with Gonk and then spend them with Chopper to get a charge on something else back. Not sure what single charge would be worth a combined five actions though.
- Ion Torpedoes (Torpedo)- The cheapest torpedo which has two charges. Ends up being eight points for two recovered shields. You lose two actions but don’t have to take weapons disabled.
- Elusive (Talent)- Technically, Elusive is non-reoccurring. But you can recover it. So you can use the charge for a shield, take a red maneuver and recover the charge, and gain more shields.
R2-D2 (2nd Edition Core Set)
Cost: 6 points
Charges: 3
After you reveal your dial, you may spend 1 Charge and gain 1 disarm token to recover 1 shield.
- Ranking- 1
- Comments
- This method of shield recovery is far more balanced than the 1.0 R2. There is a distinctive cost in the way of charges and disarm tokens. No more gliding forward with a 1 speed, recovering a shield and firing. You need to disengage if you want to recover.
- Combos
- Luke Skywalker (T-65 X-Wing Pilot)- There is nothing special about this combo mechanically, and it may make Luke too expensive. But come on, you have to fly it at least once.
R5-D8 (2nd Edition Core Set)
Cost: 6 points
Charges: 3
Action: Spend 1 Charge to repair 1 facedown damage card.
Action: Repair 1 faceup Ship damage card.
- Ranking- 3
- Comments
- There are times you wish you had this droid, or a generic R5, but most times there are better things to spend those points on.
- Combos
- Edrio Two Tubes (T-65 X-Wing)- If you have a way to get Edrio a Focus token before he activates (and if you’re flying him, why don’t you?) then he often has actions to spare. This would make him one of the few that wouldn’t be hurt spending actions on repairing.
- Y-Wings/ARC-170 (any)- With six hull these ships have the most opportunity to make repairs using R5-D8.
Resistance Astromechs
Ships with Astromechs
- T-70 X-Wing
Ranked List
- M9-G8
- BB-8
- BB Astromech
- R2-HA
- R5-X3
Astromechs (listed alphabetically)
BB Astromech (Wave 2 Resistance Conversion Kit)
Cost: 0,1,2,3,4,5,6 when initiative is 0,1,2,3,4,5,6
Charges: 2
Before you execute a blue maneuver, you may spend 1 Charge to perform a Barrel Roll action.
- Ranking- 3
- Comments
- A generic version of BB-8. Unlike R2-D2 and the R2 Astromech, there’s more than just a charge difference. This version only offers you a pre-move barrel roll.
- The scaling price makes them super affordable on Init 2 and 3 X-wings. You won’t get as much mileage out of it in terms of arc dodging but there are other uses.
- Pointing yourself at a rock in one round in order to get a good shot and using your BB to avoid flying over it next round is one use. Or avoiding your formation colliding with each other.
- Combos
- Jaycris Tubbs (T-70 Pilot)- His ability triggers on blue maneuvers, same as BB. You can use the BB to ensure your end position is in range for him to use his ability.
- Temmin Wexley (T-70 Pilot)- Temmin gets free boosts based on his speed. With BB, you could get a free barrel roll, boost and then take an action.
- Poe Dameron (T-70 Pilot)- Thanks to Poe-the-Limits he will be taking lots of blue maneuvers. With a BB, you can stress him before completing his maneuver, ensuring he ends up stress free at the end.
BB-8 (Wave 2 Resistance Conversion Kit)
Cost: 2,3,4,5,6,7,8 when initiative is 0,1,2,3,4,5,6
Charges: 2
Before you execute a blue maneuver, you may spend 1 Charge to perform a Barrel Roll or Boost action.
- Ranking- 2
- Comments
- For two more points, BB-8 gives you the option of boosting instead of barrel rolling. Unlike the R2-D2 or R2 astromechs, you don’t gain an additional charge.
- Combos
- Kare Kun (T-70 Pilot)- Kare gets to do hard 1’s when he boosts. Doing those before maneuvering can put him in very unexpected positions.
M9-G8 (Wave 2 Resistance Conversion Kit)
Cost: 7 points
While a ship you are locking performs an attack, you may choose 1 attack die. If you do, the attacker rerolls that die.
- Ranking- 1
- Comments
- Very similar to the 1.0 version. Except now locking allies in baked into the rules rather than being special for M9.
- Works great as a buffer or debuffer.
- Combos
- Lieutenant Bastian (T-70 Pilot)- Bastian can gain a lock whenever a ship takes damage. So if a wingmate has the initiative advantage, have Bastian lock him. Then he fires, getting a reroll from M9-G8. Then, hopefully, you deal a damage card and Bastian transfers the lock to the enemy ship. The enemy ship fires, M9-G8 rerolls one of his hits. Then Bastian gets to fire with a lock.
- MG-100 with Veteran Turret Gunner- These ships can often get double attacks thanks to their gunners. With M9 locking them, they get a reroll on both attacks.
R2-HA (Wave 2 Resistance Conversion Kit)
Cost: 4 points
While you defend, you may spend your lock on the attacker to reroll any number of your defense dice.
- Ranking- 4
- Comments
- Defensive rerolls are not common.
- The biggest weakness of R2-HA is that the T-70 only has two defense dice. Your locks are going to be more useful in rerolling your three attack dice. Especially given that attack dice are inherently better than defense (50/50 chance of rolling a hit verse 3/8 chance of rolling evade).
- Combos
- Poe Dameron (T-70 Pilot)- With his ability to take two actions and since he usually fires first, Poe can get a lock and use it when it’s most convenient. Bad attack roll, spend the lock. Good attack roll, save it for defense.
R5-X3 (Wave 2 Resistance Conversion Kit)
Cost: 5 points
Charges: 2
Before you activate or engage, you may spend 1 Charge to ignore obstacles until the end of this phase.
- Ranking- 5
- Comments
- Better than the 1.0 version because you get two charges.
- Worse than the 1.0 version because the ability only works until the end of the phase.
- If you use R5-X3 to ignore a rock you’re about to fly onto, it’s going to take both charges to avoid damage, get your action and get to shoot.
- This feels like it would work well as a generic astromech.
- Combos
- Trickshot (Talent)- Fly onto a rock, get a bonus attack die and still be able to shoot.
Republic Astromechs
Ships with Astromechs
- ARC-170
- Delta-7 Aethersprite
Ranked List
- R4-P17
- R4-P Astromech
- R4-P44
Astromechs (listed alphabetically)
R4-P Astromech (Guardians of the Republic/Aethersprite Expansion Packs)
Cost: 4 points
Charges: 2
Before you execute a basic maneuver, you may spend 1 Charge. If you do, while you execute that maneuver, reduce its difficulty.
- Ranking- 2
- Comments
- Similar to R4 Astromechs but with a few key differences. The big one they can be used on medium base ships so the ARC’s can benefit.
- Second, you can only use them twice, unlike R4’s which is every round.
- Finally, you get to pick when and on which maneuver. This makes them extra valuable for the ARC which has a lot of reds at speed 3 and 4.
- Combos
- ARC-170 (Any)- Jedi fighters are better off using R4’s because it gives them blue hard 1’s and 2’s. But ARC’s, see above.
R4-P17 (Guardians of the Republic Expansion Pack)
Cost: 5 points
Charges: 2
After you fully execute a red maneuver, you may spend 1 Charge to perform an action, even while stressed.
- Ranking- 1
- Comments
- Actions, when you shouldn’t be able to take actions, are always nice.
- Notably, it says “an action”, singular. No linking and no using Fine-tuned Controls.
- Combos
- Mace Windu (Aethersprite Pilot)- Mace recovers Force when taking red maneuvers. Now he could also still get an action.
- Anakin Skywalker (Aethersprite Pilot)- Anakin can discard stress token in certain conditions. With R4-P17, if he misjudges a maneuver, he can gain an action to barrel roll or boost to get into position to trigger his ability and remove the stress.
R4-P44 (ARC-170 Expansion Pack)
Cost: 5 points
After you fully execute a red maneuver, if there is an enemy ship in your Bullseye Arc, gain 1 calculate token.
- Ranking- 3
- Comments
- Unlike P17, this guy can be used unlimited times.
- Unfortunately, Bullseye can be hard to line up so you have to maneuver really well.
- Combos
- Anakin Skywalker (Aethersprite Pilot)- Bullseye goes with Anakin’s ability. With P44, he can take a red maneuver, if he lines up the Bullseye, spend a Force to remove the stress, gain a Calculate (which during combat works much the same way as a Force) and then get a regular action.
- Oddball (ARC-170 Pilot)- More red maneuvers to play with on an ARC then an Aethersprite and Oddball will also grant you a lock for that bullseye
Scum Astromechs
Ships with Astromechs
- BTL-A4 Y-Wing
- M-12L Kimogila
- Scurrg H-6 Bomber (w/title)
Ranked List
- R5-P8
- Genius
- R5-TK
Astromech (listed alphabetically)
Genius (Wave 1 Scum Conversion Kit)
Cost: 2 points
After you fully execute a maneuver, if you have not dropped or launched a device this round, you may drop 1 bomb.
- Ranking- 2
- Comments
- Essentially the same as the 1.0 version but with a lot cleaner chunk of text.
- Combos
- Seismic Charges (Device)- Seismics let you choose an obstacle at range 1 of the token. It’s therefore possible to choose an obstacle at range 1 of the token but not at range one of your ship, allowing you to avoid taking damage.
- Captain Nym (Scurrg Pilot)- Nym still gets to prevent bombs from detonating. He can use Genius to drop one behind him to trigger his defensive ability and/or set it up for damaging a pursuer next round.
- Sol Sixxa (Scurrg Pilot) + Skilled Bombardier (Gunner)- Between Sol and Bombardier you can change the drop point of your bomb quite a lot. Still not enough to get outside the radius of a proton bomb. But, you could still barrel roll.
R5-P8 (Wave 1 Scum Conversion Kit)
Cost: 4 points
Charges: 3
While you perform an attack against a defender in your Forward Arc, you may spend 1 Charge to reroll 1 attack die. If the rerolled result is a Crit result, suffer 1 damage.
- Ranking- 1
- Comments
- Three attack rerolls aren’t bad. You could end up hurting yourself but that’s only a 1/8 chance.
- Combos
- Y-Wing/Scurrg + Veteran Turret Gunner- The biggest downside to the double attack trick is the lack of multiple mods. With R5-P8 you have a few chances to get extra mods in there when you really need them.
R5-TK (Wave 1 Scum Conversion Kit)
Cost: 1 points
You can perform attacks against friendly ships.
- Ranking- 3
- Comments
- There aren’t a lot of reasons to shoot yourself. In fact, there’s only really one and its a gimmick.
- Combos
- Deadman’s Switch (Illicit)- Blow up an ally in order to do one damage to every enemy nearby.
- Captain Jostero (Kihraxz Pilot)- Blow up an ally with Deadman’s with a ship carrying R5-TK, triggering Jostero’s ability.
Generic Astromechs
Ranked List
- R4
- R3
- R2
- R5
Astromechs (listed alphabetically)
R2 Astromech (Wave 1 Conversion Kits)
Cost: 4 points
Charges: 2
After you reveal your dial, you may spend 1 Charge and gain 1 disarm token to recover 1 shield.
- Ranking- 3
- Comments
- A generic shield regenerating astromech. This would have been mana from heaven in 1.0. In 2.0, it’s well priced and well balanced. Charges and gaining a disarm offer a legitimate tradeoff to recovering a shield.
- Combos
- T-65/T-70 X-Wings/E-Wings/Aethersprites- Access to boost gives these ships the best opportunity to use the shield regeneration. recover a shield, runaway with a boost, then come back around.
R3 Astromech (Wave 1 Conversion Kits)
Cost: 3 points
You can maintain up to 2 locks. Each lock must be on a different object.
After you perform a Lock action, you may acquire a lock.
- Ranking- 2
- Comments
- This droid is completely new for 2.0.
- Two locks for the price of one sounds great. It gives you options on where your ordnance goes.
- Combos
- E-Wings- with their chassis ability to lock from anywhere they can grab these two locks round one. This also means you don’t give away your primary target since you now have to options.
R4 Astromech (Wave 1 Conversion Kits)
Cost: 2 points
small ship only
Decrease the difficulty of your speed 1-2 basic maneuvers.
- Ranking- 1
- Comments
- I really like how 2.0 refined the terminology. Creating “Basic maneuvers” allows you to make use of this droid on ships that have S-loops, T-rolls or K-turns that are speed 1 or 2.
- These are your best choice if you don’t need a particular astromech in that slot. Gaining blue maneuvers helps any pilot.
- The inclusion of “small ship only” locks out ARC-170’s, Kimogila, and Scurrg which are all sad.
- Combos
- Poe Dameron (T-70 Xwing)- Poe will stress himself a lot. Gaining hard turns that clear that stress helps him stay in the fight.
R5 Astromech (Wave 1 Conversion Kits)
Cost: 4 points
Charges: 2
Action: Spend 1 Charge to repair 1 facedown damage card.
Action: Repair 1 faceup Ship damage card.
- Ranking- 4
- Comments
- These have two functions, one of which is often overlooked; the ability to flip over those nasty ship crits that don’t have a Repair option.
- Unfortunately, the cost of an action often renders them unused. You can’t boost or focus/evade to defend yourself the round you use it. You can easily end up with more damage than you started with. But at least you can shoot.
- Unlike R2’s, which prevent you from shooting but don’t cost an action, it’s harder to escape a fight and make repairs.
- Combos
- Y-Wings/Scurrg Bombers/ARC-170- These ships have the most hull and therefore will have the most opportunity to use the charges on to repair themselves.
Wayne Basta
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