Note: Update 4/17/2017 through Wave 10 and C-ROC
Recently, I was in the process of trying to build a squadron and I wanted to include pilots of the same Pilot Skill. As I was thinking about what to add, I had to keep bouncing around between ship lists which, not that there are quite a few ships in X-wing, took a little time. So I decided to compile all the pilots together in a reference chart to show the spread of pilot skill and ship types.
| Pilot Skill | Rebels | Imperials | Scum |
| PS 9 |
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| PS 8 |
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| PS 7 |
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| PS 6 |
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| PS 5 |
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| PS 4 |
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| PS 3 |
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| PS 2 |
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| PS 1 |
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Analysis
We’re only going to do a surface level analysis here, just looking at a few interesting things that stood out. First, there’s only slightly more PS 1 pilots than there are PS 9. This leaves both extremes as a special place.
The Rebels really dominate PS 8 and PS 2. This meshes well with their overall synergy as a faction. It’s relatively easy to fly their ships in a formation because you can easily find a pilot at the proper level to group together, particularly at PS 8. Every small ship has a PS 8 pilot. You can take three elite pilots of almost any Rebel ship and fly them together. PS 2 is also the starting point for the majority of their ships, meaning it’s fairly easy to form a swarm at PS 2, which will give them a leg up over the Empire’s or Scum’s swarm levels of 1, 2 or 3.
What else is interesting about the low level pilots is how many of the Empire’s ships start at PS 3. Firespray, Decimator and Phantom all begin at 3 so have no lower PS pilots. That puts them out of Predator double reroll range right off the bat. Though a lot of their ships also top out at PS 7.
The Scum also get the shaft in terms of high PS. They only have three pilots above PS 7. This is partially due to their smaller number of releases. No Aces packs so they lack a good spread of pilots.
Finally, let’s talk Elite Pilot Talent (EPT) for a second. Aside from those few ships that just never get a pilot with an EPT (Rebel Y-Wing, K-Wing, Lambda, Punisher) every pilot PS 7 and above have an EPT. Below that, it really waffles. PS 6 sees a lot of ships lose access to the EPT completely as they have no pilots below that have one. Some have a dead zone of named pilots (A-Wing, TIE Fighter, TIE Interceptor in particular) without EPT’s but then some generics below that do.
What’s really interesting is the Scum dominance at PS 5. Almost every ship has a PS 5 pilot, majority of which have an EPT. This really fits with the Scum’s feel of average pilots.
Wayne Basta
Latest posts by Wayne Basta (see all)
- X-Wing Tier List – Rebels - May 10, 2023
I like sending these out to our players. Good job!