Quick Takes on the 2022 Points Changes
The long awaited points update is finally here! Check out the summary of changes and our initial thoughts on how they might affect the game below.
Summary of Changes
Buffs:
Empire
DLT-19D Deathtrooper (-4)
Republic
Arc Troopers: (-6)
Arc Trooper Strike Team (-3)
Phase II Clone Troopers (-2)
DC-15 Phase I Trooper (-2)
DP-23 Phase I Trooper (-2)
Z-6 Phase I Trooper (-1)
Clone Commander Upgrade (-2)
Clone Comms Technician (-1)
Clone Engineer (-4)
Clone Medic (-5)
Nerfs:
Empire
Mortar (+2)
Separatists
Dwarf Spider Droid Ion Gun (+15)
RPS-6 MagnaGuard (+6)
Mercenaries
Pyke Capo [Unit] (+3)
Pyke Foot Soldiers (+4)
Pyke Capo [Upgrade] (+2)
Black Sun Vigo [Upgrade] (+2)
Neutral Upgrade Changes
Vigilance (+7)
Burst of Speed (+7)
Grappling Hooks (+1)
Offensive Push (+2)
Situational Awareness (+2)
Tenacity (+2)
Up Close and Personal (+3)
Initial Thoughts
Stephen (@ASpaceViking)
Overall, I’m a fan of the changes. Some of the units and upgrades that were hit the hardest definitely needed it (I’m looking at you pykes, magna rockets and vigilance). The increases were definitely a bit higher than I was expecting (e.g. I was expecting +2 to pykes and +4 on the RPS-6), but I will reserve judgment on if the increases were too much or just right until I see them on the table. Pyke driven Shadow Collective lists went up in cost significantly, so I’m interested to see how that affects list building and their overall viability. If you had 2 Pyke Capos with Vigilance and 5 Pyke Foot Soldier corp units, your base list price went up 40 points, which is steep. My initial take is that Pykes are still worth it for 4 more points, but I’ll be interested to see how shadow collective list building shakes out as a whole. Perhaps we’ll see fewer copies of Vigilance and more Black Sun Enforcers on the field.
The Republic changes are interesting to me, and as a non GAR player, are the hardest for me to assess. Full Arc Trooper squads definitely needed some love and -6 points is a serious change that I hope gets them back on the table. The -2 adjustment to the phase 2 base cost is certainly a welcome change as well since phase 2’s have been largely absent from top republic lists. If this was enough to get them back on the table or not, I’m unsure, especially when combined with the increases to the most common training upgrades . The decreases to the Phase 1 heavy weapon costs were interesting and unexpected as Phase 1’s certainly had their place in the meta .However, they may have some interesting consequences when the changes are viewed as a whole. Before the changes, a z6 Phase 1 Clone Trooper was 9 points more than a Pyke Foot Soldier with the Disruptor Rifle, hence why we saw a lot of Republic gunline lists leaning into mercenaries. Now that difference is only 4 points (and mercenaries can’t share green tokens), and I wonder if that will shift the calculus.
The Ion gun for the Dwarf Spider Droid definitely needed a nerf, but +15 points will essentially remove it from play. My opinion is that ion as a mechanic is somewhat flawed and un-interactive, so I’m not sad to see it go (even though I own 3 spiders personally). I would’ve liked to see some buffs to the flamethrower upgrade to help offset the ion nerf, but that’s okay. I’ve been playing Dooku Triple Magnas lately, and my build went up 40 points… but in all honesty I support the pretty large Magnaguard RPS-6 points increase. That heavy weapon was the default option, and was so incredibly flexible and potent that I think it may still be the go to choice even for 6 points more.
As for the upgrades - these were all dominant upgrades in the meta and I think some of the tweaks to them were warranted. +7 to Vigilance and +7 to Burst of Speed strike me as rather steep, and potentially are larger increases than I would’ve like to see. This points change was definitely a response to the outmaneuver dodge spam meta, and the vigilance points changes alone will massively shift the calculus for those builds. Overall, the bumps to the majority of the training upgrades taken will result in effective points increases for every faction, which won’t affect some lists much, but will affect others significantly that may not have needed tweaks. (e.g. some Republic lists went net up, not down in points). Legion already favored units lean on upgrades, so this will only push builds further into that territory.
Joshua (@Peregrine)
The past year of Star Wars: Legion can be divided up into three narratives. The first is pre Battle Forces where the Separatists and Rebel Trooper Gun Lines reigned supreme. The second narrative is post Battle Forces where Blizzard Force, Shadow Collective, Mercenaries have taken control. The third narrative is over arching and that the Clone Troopers are mediocre at best. There is probably a fourth narrative where Vanilla Empire is too strong. But it has often been overshadowed by something else, so I can see why it was mostly left untouched. This update mostly addresses these issues with one glaring miss (we’ll talk about this in a later section).
Narrative One: Despite Separatists seeing a fall with the release of Pykes, I’m glad their prominence was not forgotten. If pykes were the only thing holding them back, it’s good to see that the Magna RPS and Spider Ion Gun took hits. I would have preferred that the Super Tacticals to carry some of that points burden, because this upgrade will only collect dust going forward.
The Rebel Trooper Gunline (among others) has long been carried by Vigilance and Situational Awareness. I’ve felt that Rebel Trooper Captain SA were better in their faction than the Pykes while sharing the same role, if Pykes were getting nerfed these guys needed it as well. The change to situational awareness is perfectly fine. Vigilance is probably a bit heavy handed and hurts other nimble units (any Mandalorian in the Rebel Alliance). As a game mechanic, I strongly dislike Vigilance. Units are meant to be defeated. But nerfing it this hard removes a lot of the Rebel Viability, perhaps they should have seen help elsewhere to counter this. The other monster here is Burst of Speed (usually on Opluke). I’m ambivalent on this change, while OpLuke and Shadow Collective Maul needed some nerfs here, this completely pushes units like Palpatine, CVader, Dooku out of play. Maybe we could lower Palp, CVader, and Dooku some as well.
Narrative Two: The main topic here is going to be the Mercenary (Black Sun Enforcers and Pykes) changes. The Pyke Changes needed to happen. The changes for the Capos were on the lower end of what I expected, but with the Vigilance change as well, I'm ok with taking a wait and see approach here. The Pykes Gunline still seems viable, just not what it once was. I’ll give thoughts on BSE later. The other Mercenary changes that we see here are mostly related to Bounty Hunters (Tenacity, UPAC, SA, and OPush), perfectly fine that these were changed. It is a small nerf to a great (not broken) archetype. Those upgrades were the most taken upgrades in the Training Slot, and in some cases, Auto-Include. I’m fine with these changes.
Number Three: Clones. I won’t speak much here as my colleagues are better suited so I'm less confident in my opinions here. My only fear is that Anakin, Yoda, and Padme were left mostly untouched. Sure they lose vigilance and maybe that's enough, but they were able to keep clones on the map and made up for Clone Trooper deficiencies. I’m not against taking a wait and see approach but I do have some concerns that those three Units were on the verge of being broken, just held back by their surroundings. It should be noted that Pykes made those units REALLY GOOD, but not busted.
Odds and Ends: I’m happy to see the Deathtrooper DLT go down instead of the whole unit. I’m a fan of DTF16 as is, so she didn’t need a cut. Hopefully this gets more DTs onto the table. The mortar. Absolutely needed to go up as Shore + Mortar is a staple in almost every non-blizzard list. It would have been nice to see some changes to the T21b though as now I have even less of a reason to take it. Grappling hooks…ok?
Jason (@jasonisconfused)
As a Republic Pykes player, the nerfs to Pykes were warranted and reasonable, and the buffs to Republic were solid and conservative. Overall, this change widens republic list building options while retaining most of the viability of the faction’s current peak competitive Jedi/Padme/pykes lists. I was specifically pleased to see the Phase II clones and the full ARCs decrease back to their original prices; these units were overpowered in a past meta because of Rex’s 2-pip, which has since been nerfed and has no synergy with them anymore. However, the decreases to Phase I heavy weapons mean Phase Is will likely remain the dominant corps option.
The ARC strike decrease is solid, but it affected both the still-excellent Echo and the painfully nerfed DC-15x. I see running DC-15x ARCs as a possibility now, but continue leaning toward just Echo, who hits far more consistently while also having a decent chance to wound rebel and imperial snipers, both of which are massive threats to clone gunlines. The more expensive Pykes remain a viable option for the Republic because they’re still cheaper than the cheapest Republic corps units, assuming you don’t upgrade with the Capo, and because they synergize well with Anakin, Padme, and Yoda.
We also have some competition in the personnel slots now! Republic will always struggle to find the points for utility personnel, but with their updated costs, I plan to explore at least the commander and medic personnel. I was surprised to see Vigilance get hit as hard as it did, though I do think a point increase was warranted given its recent proliferation in the meta. My lists will take one or zero copies instead of the two I’ve been running, and I’m alright with that. Similarly, Tenacity, Up Close and Personal, and Offensive Push increases seem odd to me. Those three options were strong on specific units but far from dominating.
The 501st got stronger with these changes, but it’s still an uphill battle for them - their lack of a 1-pip when building is rough, and their required full ARC units and support make their activation count very low. Among other factions, I’m pleased about the Pyke nerf, upset there was no impact on Blizzard Force, and glad they pre-emptively cut Magna rockets and ion spiders, because they were dominant before Pykes joined the scene and could be again.
Potential Missed Opportunities
Stephen (@ASpaceViking)
Blizzard Force has been dominating the meta as much as Pykes have been and they did not get touched at all. This definitely feels like a missed opportunity, and with Shadow Collective lists going up significantly, this seems like it will cement a place at the top of the meta for Blizzard Force looking into next year. Stormtrooper Heavy Response units were certainly the biggest offender here as they offer an incredible amount of firepower for their cost.
Droids overall have been in a good spot, but as a droid player I have to mention the Droideka. This guy got a massive points drop last time, but it still wasn’t enough to make up for their lack of effectiveness on the table. They definitely could’ve used some help, but maybe they needed keyword or weapon profile changes more than another points drop.
B2s, Snowtroopers, and Fleet troopers - Secondary corp are incredibly niche in the game and haven’t seen a ton of play outside of limited circumstances. I would’ve liked to have see some love for these units to help players mix up their corp more frequently. Not a huge miss, but one worth mentioning.
Rex took a hard hit last round of changes and hasn’t been prevalent on the table since. A points cut or some keyword tweaks to get him back into republic lists was certainly on the wishlist of a lot of republic players.
Mandalorian Super Commandos - I would’ve liked to have seen some tweaks to Shadow Collective Mandos (and maybe Gar Saxon) to help bring them into the meta more commonly and to offset the Pyke increases. While they’ve been largely absent from the US meta, they’ve been performing well in European circles, so maybe we just haven’t explored their full potential yet at their current cost.
Joshua (@Peregrine)
Blizzard Force needs to get nerfed. Whether it be via force organization or a unit nerf to the Heavy Response Unit, this is going to be a monster going forward. Since its release, it has proven to be one of the best armies in the game, so it’s strange that it was left untouched. I don’t think the other individual units need to be changed, but the HRU Storms needed a nerf. Perhaps the designers are leaning on the Republic changes to combat this army as Blizzard has no pierce outside of Vader. But beware white save armies, it’s going to be tough.
Black Sun Enforcers: While I was shocked about the lack of Blizzard Changes, this was my biggest fear, that the Black Sun Enforcers would be untouched. They have been overshadowed by pykes but are amazing units. Sure they got +2 to the Vigo Upgrade but they can still easily fit a 10-11 activation list with Double AA5 buses. I will wager that this is the Shadow Collective archetype we see at top tables going forward.
Emergency Transponder: This is basically the same upgrade as offensive push in my opinion. Many of the bounty hunters were already taking this instead of Offensive Push so a lot of units with comm slots are just going to take this instead.
Jason (@jasonisconfused)
I was hoping for some tactical buffs to Obi-Wan or Rex, to make them more competitive choices next to the extremely strong Anakin. Similarly, ISPs, AT-RTs, fluttercrafts, and LAATs are highly unappealing choices that remain weak after these changes. And while not directly nerfed, republic melee wookiees took a hit from the nerf to both offensive push and tenacity. I don’t have much personal interest in those units, but I’m sure several players will be disappointed at their continued lack of viability. Also, see above about the lack of any changes to Blizzard force.
Wrap Up
With a rules update still on the horizon, who knows what else is in store for balance changes. AMG listed four upcoming articles ( 12/12, 12/14, 12/19 and 12/21) that will detail additional updates besides the points changes we have. We could see keyword and other rule changes that correspond with these tweaks, meaning we only have one part of the balance update picture now. Only time will tell, and with an effective date of 1/1/23 for the points changes, I’m excited to see what else we learn this month. I think every player can agree that there were some hits and definitely some misses with the points changes, and how strongly you feel about the changes is probably related to what faction and lists you personally play. Overall, the three authors look at these changes as a net positive, and we’re all excited to see how they play out on the table in the coming weeks and months!
Written by:
Jason Baird
Joshua Devera
Stephen Cobb