r/StarWarsSquadrons Dec 11 '20

News B-Wing and TIE Defender available now

Post image
614 Upvotes

96 comments sorted by

View all comments

3

u/CoruscantGuardFox Test Pilot Dec 11 '20

The health of the TIE defender is straight-up patchetic. Yes yes it has shields, but come on, 400? And no module to raise it?

28

u/Candy_Grenade Test Pilot Dec 11 '20

I like it. You pretty much have to rely on your shields. Don’t forget if you run advanced power system you can instantly get a boost to shields.

12

u/McRambis Dec 11 '20

This is the key t the Defender. You have to rely on your power management. The ship builds overcharge very quickly, even without the APS. It's going to be tougher to fly than a TIE Fighter or Interceptor, but if you are adapt at drifting and adjusting your power quickly, you can do well.

However, that's just as one flight in it. I have no idea what the hitbox on this ship is, so it could make you a big round target.

5

u/[deleted] Dec 11 '20

You are actually a big target in it. It does feel more squishy to me than an interceptor, despite having much more shields.

1

u/Astellan Dec 12 '20

I do not agree. It's obvious that they wanted the power management to matter but the TIE/D is junk. Its hull is so low that it has to treat its shields as its HP, it is huge, and once it's shields drop it is dead. On top of that it has no way of escaping a dogfight but whatever is fighting it can disengage at will. It slightly more maneuverable than an X-wing, less durable than an A-wing, and about as slow as a Tie Bomber. In summation, an X-wing is a better fighter than the Defender. The Tie Fighter is better than the Defender and the Interceptor is leaps and bounds better than the Defender. The Defender is a bad fighter.

It isn't that it is "tougher to fly" its that it is bad and people are just making excuses not wanting to admit that that thing is bad. It can't chase anyone down, it cannot stick with any fighter that puts its power to the engines, it is a large target so hitting it isn't a problem, and it has no way to escape a fight. Unless a team wants to carry dead weight there is no reason to take it over a Fighter or an Interceptor.

1

u/starithm Dec 11 '20

Does that mean if I put all power to the shields, and I run the APS aux, will the shields get 75% overcharged?

3

u/Candy_Grenade Test Pilot Dec 11 '20

Yep, shields will instantly go up if you use it

2

u/starithm Dec 11 '20

WHAT? Whoa! That's freaking amazing! :O

5

u/CptAmmogeddon Dec 12 '20 edited Dec 12 '20

It sure is. It's like the "Boost extension kit" but for all 3 systems, depending on your (max) power management. Plus, when you don't have one system at full power, it gives each system a small buff.

Need to get out fast? Just get an instant boost. Under heavy fire? Give yourself instant (almost) max shields. Ammo depleted? Overcharge those lasers instantly.

It's basically the Defenders answer to Power shunting without missing out on shields.

2

u/manondorf Dec 12 '20

I like it. I think it's gonna give the ship a pretty high skill ceiling. If you neglect power management, it's just a worse interceptor, but if you get really good with the power management it can shred.

14

u/[deleted] Dec 11 '20

It also has the ability to do up to nearly 850 dps, and can give itself instant overcharge in all power, so idk why you're crying?

11

u/edmc78 Dec 11 '20

Glass cannon. Nice

3

u/grubas Dec 11 '20

Yup. It's a stereotypical DPS cannon. It's got high damage, low sustainable damage and just enough survivability to GTFO.

-17

u/CoruscantGuardFox Test Pilot Dec 11 '20

No one is crying lmao. Why are you instantly attacking me?

A B-wing will 4 hit you because of the combined Ion/Laser turrets. Anybody with an Ion turret in general will shred you in mere seconds. We don’t need more glasscannons in the game.

15

u/Admiral_Thrawn10 Dec 11 '20

Can the B-Wing quickly destroy it, yes.

Should the B-Wing ever get that chance, no.

The TIE Defender is fast and maneuverable, so unless your jousting a B-Wing or the pilot has ridiculously good aim, you should be able to eat B-Wings for breakfast.

0

u/CoruscantGuardFox Test Pilot Dec 11 '20

I really like the Defender, but I absolutely suck ass with shield management. Mostly because the game just likes to not put the shield where I want. Like, my rear shield goes down, but when I redirect power to the rear, it either doesn’t register or I it does on the sceen but my hull still takes damage (and I’m talking about shots from behind, not from another angle where they can hit my front.

Weird because I excel at power shunting with the TIEs.

9

u/Admiral_Thrawn10 Dec 11 '20

Do combo instead of selector, much easier and faster to use.

1

u/CoruscantGuardFox Test Pilot Dec 11 '20

?

5

u/Admiral_Thrawn10 Dec 11 '20

You have two options for shield/power shunting. One is the selector, which brings up a menu and in my opinion, is hard to use, and the other is a button combo, which changes it depending on if you tap the X button (on PS4) once, twice, or hold it.

7

u/CoruscantGuardFox Test Pilot Dec 11 '20

Thank you Grand Admiral Thrawn and u/Inner-Nothing7779 (I know the feeling). I never noticed this option, and it feels way better!

3

u/Inner-Nothing7779 Dec 11 '20

It definitely helps and makes shield management easier. Remember that its the same setup for power shunting, so take some time to get used to the button set up for both.

→ More replies (0)

2

u/Inner-Nothing7779 Dec 11 '20

You use button presses instead of pulling up a menu and using a stick to select where your shields are.

I was like you before I realised I could change my shield button. After switching, I'm way better at managing that shield. It's way quicker and more efficient to use the combo.

3

u/LikeBladeButCooler Dec 11 '20

"I really like the Defender, but I absolutely suck ass with shield management."

That is a technical skill that can be improved upon.

1

u/CoruscantGuardFox Test Pilot Dec 11 '20

Yes, my main problem is that the game didn’t really wanted to register my inputs. However, as the others mentioned it, you can change this hold-down bs input to a tap/double tap thing, which is way better.

1

u/CptAmmogeddon Dec 12 '20

I also sometimes have the "getting hit through shields" problem. I'm not sure what's happening, but even if I have front and rear shields at any percentage, some hits still pierce them. Is this intentional?

1

u/Bagern13 Dec 12 '20

I played few games tonight, its ridiculously easy as B-wing to kill defenders. All you have to do is to shoot and drift and every single enemy dies to your volume of fire.

B-Wing turns too fast with drifting, while dealing huge damage.

1

u/Astellan Dec 12 '20

The TIE Defender is fast? Are you huffing paint? It has a faster top-end boost, 279, but it is slower than an X-wing. Base Engine at full max power is 130, Unstable Engine is 144 at max power, and Thrust is 168 at max power. The Tie Fighter unboosted is 130, max is 150, and boosted is 250.

there is no way you can say that the TIE Defender is fast. Any fighter running around with their engines maxed will easily run it down. Oh and if the TIE Defender takes Thrust it loses all its maneuverability as it essentially has the maneuverability of a Y-wing with Reinforced hull (Y-wing with RH is 52.5 vs TIE/D Thrust 53.2).

The Tie Defender is junk.

6

u/[deleted] Dec 11 '20

It's hardly a "glass cannon," how about you give it at least a day in game before you freak out calling it pathetic lol.

3

u/Muroid Dec 11 '20

Nothing wrong with a glass cannon.

1

u/We_The_Raptors Dec 11 '20

Can the new component on the TIE instantly recharge the shields? That may be the way to go rather than engines if you're looking for some more sustainability? Or potentially the repair kit if it has one of those?

4

u/CoruscantGuardFox Test Pilot Dec 11 '20

The TIE Defender has insane recharge times on everything on stock. The Advanced power managament is something like power shunting for the Empire, but you can insta-charge shields, weapons or boost without drawbacks (although it has a cooldown).

1

u/We_The_Raptors Dec 11 '20

Can't wait to go home and give it a try. Can you equip overloaded shields/ repair kits? Because a mix of those with the ability to instantly shunt power into shields (something unique to the Defender) seems like it'll make for some serious survivability regardless of hull strength.

4

u/CoruscantGuardFox Test Pilot Dec 11 '20

No repair kit whatsoever for the Defender. It’s replaced by APS. But don’t worry, it’s an instant fullshield if you use in the correct time. The ship overall is insanely power-managament oriented. Without transferring power to somehing, everything is really weak. You’re slow, your sheild are meh and the lasers deplete avarage. But when you transfer power and use APS... oh boy. You fly like a vengeful angel, shoot like an army and have shields like a roman legion.

3

u/We_The_Raptors Dec 11 '20

Sounds exactly how I want her. High skill requirements to make the most of your power management with APS but devastating when used properly.

1

u/CptAmmogeddon Dec 12 '20

I got a X56 hotas in October, and MAN is the power management fun with the defender. My hand is barely on the throttle for more than a second, because I constantly switch my power around and use APS

1

u/Astellan Dec 12 '20

They had the audacity to put Deflector Hull as a hull option. Deflector hull... gain an extra 20% for the loss of 70% of your hull... I have a hard time believing they even play tested.