If you love playing X-wing miniatures and want to upgrade your ships all the way, checkout this list of the top upgrade cards for the game!
5.) Push the Limit – Elite Pilot Skill
Once per round, after you perform an action, you may perform 1 free action shown in your action bar. Then receive 1 stress token.
This upgrade has been around since the get-go, and it’s showing no signs of slowing down. Taking a stress to preform an action is such a huge boon that it’s almost a no brainer for some pilots. Combo this with Advanced Sensors on a B-Wing and it’s almost free if you preform a green maneuver!
4.) Predator – Elite Pilot Skill
When attacking, you may reroll 1 attack die. If the defender’s pilot skill value is “2” or lower, you may instead reroll up to 2 attack dice.
Another long time upgrade card, when used with weapons and ships with multiple attack triggers you can stack the odds on getting a decent amount of hits down range. For instance when paired with Gunner like abilities you can re-roll volleys of just one hit to try to fish for no hits, and trigger another instance of attacks. Or conversely just use it to re-roll one die in volleys with only one miss, to keep all those hits.
3.) R3-A2 Astromech
When you declare the target of your attack, if the defender is inside your firing arc, you may receive 1 stress token to cause the defender to receive 1 stress token.
Nicknamed “The Stressbot” for a good reason, this little guy can really lock-down enemy ships with stress whether its paired with a Turbo Laser Turret or not. He works great in a Y-Wing that doesn’t really care about handling, however checking it at the Astromech slot, he has other ship options as well.
2.) Autothrusters – Modification
When defending, if you are beyond Range 2 or outside the attacker’s firing arc, you may change 1 of your blank results to an evade result. You can equip this card only if you have the Boost action icon.
Autothrusters were probably invented to help deal with the Tie “Phantom Menace” of 2014, but with that ship’s FAQ they don’t see as much play anymore. Autothrusters however do, and man they work great for all sorts of ships that are super agile. Plus going forward into wave VIII’s releases we can only imagine what impact this upgrade card will continue to have on the game.
1.) Twin Laser Turret – Turret Upgrade
ATTACK: Perform this attack twice (even against a ship outside your firing arc).
Each time this attack hits, the defender suffers 1 damage. Then cancel all dice results.
Already a super solid card for any ship that can hold a turret, it’s “guaranteed” fire is a great compliment to any fleet. Combo this with a stressbot, and things go from bad to worse for your enemy’s ships. Don’t be afraid to equip these on the K-Wing that the card comes with either, they transform that small ship into a large ship class almost with regards to damage output.
So there you have it, our FIVE big picks for the best upgrade cards in X-Wing Miniatures. How do you think this list will change with all the new Wave 8 releases and the Episode VII ships hitting the table tops in 2016?
and if you’re wondering how to store all these upgrade cards…
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About the Author: Rob Baer
Rob Baer
Job Title: Founder, Publisher, & Managing Editor
Founded Spikey Bits in 2009
Socials: Rob Baer on Facebook and @catdaddymbg on X
Bio: Virginia restless, miniature painter & cat dad. He blames LEGOs for all this, as there was something about those little-colored blocks that started it all. Spikey Bits sprung from Rob staying motivated to hobby on his backlog of projects, while sharing his knowledge with others during the early blogging era.
LEGO maniac and scale model hobbyist in the 80s turned miniature wargamer and trading card player ever since. He’s played every edition of Warhammer 40k and Warhammer Fantasy (since 5th Edition), but Titans of all sizes will always be his favorite! It’s even rumored that his hobby vault rivals the Solemnance Galleries, containing rulebooks filled with lore from editions long past, ancient packs of black-bordered Magic Cards, and minatures made of pewter and resin.
