I was looking at Deadeye and thought how cool that could be.  You get to save your Target Lock to ues a Focus instead.  If you need to really hit someone with a missile or torpedo, you can use the re-roll from this card.  I was looking can use it, though.  Not many people.  Hmmm….how to maximize it's effects?  Darth Vader could use it, but he would only get one use out of it.  There are better ones he could use.  

What about Wedge?  All targets get -1 Dodge.  Deadeye costs 1 pt and the Proton Torpedo is 4.  It is only 1 extra point for Deadeye and Wedge is till great without any other upgrades.  I think Torpedoes might be more useful in Wave 2 vs. the big ships.  Also, it's a great way to take out that one, specific ship that is in the Tie Swarm.  Need to take out Darth Vader or Howlrunner?  Use the torpedo.  

Proton Torpedoes get 4 attack die and can turn a focus into a critical.  OK….roll your attacks.  Hopefully turn a focus into a critical.  Re-roll the rest that aren't hits.  Good chance of doing a lot of damage and criticals.  Want to take out that big ship?  Wait till their shields are down (or almost down) and hit them with this.  Do the same vs. that special Tie Fighter pilot.  You have a good chance of criticaling whatever  your target is.  

Thoughts?

waste of 1 point and an upgrade slot for a minor boost for something that is single use. I'd much rather Determination or Veteran Instincts than deadeye.

deadeye is good if you have multiple missiles/torps though, but since Ywings do not have the upgrade slot and the Firespray is too expensive in terms of cost alone, let alone the extra torps and missiles you will be fitting onto it, I'd say nah, it's not that good of an upgrade. stick with determination.

I wonder, though, how much it might be needed against the big ships in Wave 2.  It could be a good way to put a hurting on them.  I know it's a bit of a one shot for 5 pts, but it is good to think about when you have a lot of enemy points in one ship.

I've used Deadeye to some success on the Green Squadron A-Wings. 

Their PR is low enough it isn't much of a boon to give them Swarm Tactics (my main go to Elite Pilot Talent), they're already pretty manueverable, but giving them some missiles and Deadeye makes them pretty good at putting out fires wherever they may be. 

As others have said Deadeye on Wedge is a huge waste.  It is an upgrade for low pilot skill pilots that can't get a lock on their targets because they move before them.  Veteran Instincts for the same cost would be of much better use and ensure that you would always be moving last and could always Target Lock your desired target. 

I had my first experiance with Dead Eye last night.  Dead Eye is a situational card and one of it's best uses is on a Homeing Missile.  For example, the Green Squadron A-wing has a pilot skill of three and few ships will move before it during the move phase.  Having a major target to shoot at like a Fel or Vader is slim.  Now if you use Dead Eye with a Homing Missile, you can pick your target after the more desirable targets have moved into your range, shoot the missile and still have a Focus to change some of the dice to hits.

Picasso said:

nice. i ike this. its just that its one use at full power then not so good.

A proton torpedo is a one shot deal to begin with.  The Deadeye is only a point more.  If it helps make that one torpedo effective.

I use the A-wings to annoy.  A stealth device makes them hard to hit with those four dice.  Also I just use boost to keep in range one.

The_Brown_Bomber said:

Instead of an upgrade that only sticks around for one use, think of it as part of a package--for instance, the Homing Missile + Deadeye combo Picasso mentioned--that costs a bit more than other missiles, but with much more flexible targeting. That package is also the most reliable way to bring a lot of missiles and still land hits on your opponent's highly skilled pilots.

You may or may not feel that the package is worth the cost, of course, but it might be a more helpful way to think about the question.

Vorpal is right.  The way I use my A-wings is the same as a striker class in D&D.  They get into combat quick, make a devastating attack, and then just annoy and hope to survive.  I've been using Two Green squad A-wings with different combos of X-wings to attack.  I let the A-wings shoot missiles at the "most dangerous to X-wing" targets and then let the X-wings dogfight the remaining forces.  

Example:

Against a seven TIE build I'll use the missiles to shoot down Howler Runner and a TIE that has yet to shoot or a TIE with no focus upgrade.  More often than not I drop two ships.  Now it is five on four with two X-wings yet to shoot.  If those X-wings combine their shooting at the same TIE I should get one more.  Now it is four on four or, three to four because I've lost a ship.  Either way this is a favorable position to be in.  In my orders phase the A-wings can move and boost to get out of any attack arc.  The X-wings can stay in the fight and drop another TIE.  Yes the X-wings will take damage I might even get one shot down but on the next turn I'll have two ships back in the fight and chances are they will be shooting into the back of a TIE at range one.

Deadeye.  Unfortunitily the one pilot that I would love to take this medal for is Garvin, but it is not allowed.  Deadeye is really just an anwser to Expert Handling.  If you have a friend that likes to play Expert Handlings on his ships, put in some Deadeyes to screw him over.  Otherwise, for the 1 point cost I would rather take an R2 or R5 astromech droid.

As for your concerns for large ship in the expansion 2, there is an already existing easy answer, the Ion Cannon Turreted Y-wing.  Play tight to your own board edge and when his big ship gets close you keep it ion cannoned.  Just remember that you will need 2 tokens on a large ship to affect it.  By the time you cut through the large ship's shields, it will float of the board edge to your opponents dismay.

CPTMcMurphy said:

Those requirements have several important consequences. It means you're telling your opponent which ship you want to target with your missile, and it also means that the ship you want to target has to be in range at the end of your missile-toting ship's maneuver phase. Neither of those is a problem at all if your missile is equipped on a ship that moves last--but as your Pilot Skill drops both issues become more critical. (That is, a ship with relatively low PS is at a serious disadvantage when firing on a ship that moves later and takes its action later.)

Deadeye fixes both issues. Using Focus to fire a missile or torpedo instead of Target Lock means you don't disclose your intended target--and, indeed, don't have to choose one--until your ship activates during the combat phase. That means that your opponent has to play conservatively with all of his ships or risk handing you an easy kill. Deadeye also means that you can fire on any ship that's in range during the combat phase, meaning that you can more easily target more ships--and that when you make your targeting decision, you always do so at the point of maximum information about your opponent's position and actions.

***

And I've heard lots of people propose Y-wings hugging the edge of the board as a solution to Large ships, and I'm deeply skeptical. Both ships have more powerful attacks than the Y-wing, and both have ways to fire from arcs other than the ship's primary firing arc--meaning there's no reason you should expect a Large ship to fly straight toward the edge of the board in order to engage it.

I played a Rebel on Rebel game.  I had a Falcon (Lando) and an X-wing.  I went up against a two Y-wings and Wedge.  I smoked those Y-wings.  It didn't matter what my opponent did The Falcon rocked those Y-wings and he hugged that board edge all he could.  Also I should note I rolled freakishly well against his Wedge and dropped it in the first round of shooting.

@Murphy,

DO NOT underestimate DEAD EYE on an A-wing.

I understand that is nice to have a all purpose focus that you could use for anything.  Especial nice when you can use it as a focus if you roll a lot of focus or a target lock when needed for a missile or proton torpedo.  As for your oppenient knowing which ship you will be shooting at, it makes little difference since a decent oppenent is going to play defensive if he thinks he is in your fire arc.

CPTMcMurphy said: