Jedi Hunters - Squad Reactions

They have now shown all of Grand Inquisitor, Third Sister, Fifth Brother, and Fourth Sister. I will talk about how I think they'll all work together and individually. You can still consider this article speculation since everything can be way different on paper than on the table. Eventually, I will be writing Unit Guides on most/all of the units in the game, but that will have to wait until I can get some playtime in with them.

Primary - Grand Inquisitor, Fallen Jedi

• 8 SP - I figured it would have been a 7 since he is pretty strong and his support options are single-character units, but 8 is still a good spot for him. 8, so far, has been the most flexible spot and will probably stay that way.
• 3 FP - This was to be expected whether he was a 7 or 8 I think.
• 9 Stamina/ 3 Durability - This is not bad, 27 effective hp is fine. 9 Stamina means he's not quite out of potentially getting one hit wounded by most other primaries.

You Know Who We Are - This is a Tactic Ability with no cost. At the start of this unit's activation, choose an allied Inquisitorious Secondary character or an allied Inquisitorious Supporting character. One character in this unit and the chosen character may [Dash]. This starts him off very nicely, this ability is very similar to a lot of the Tactic Abilities we've seen so far. Extra moves are always good. It is nice that it gives both him and the chosen character Dashes. Start of activation dashes are super clutch for repositioning to threaten what you need.

Secrets Uncovered - This is an Active Ability with a cost of 2 FP. Choose an active objective within [range] 5 that is controlled by an opposing player. Remove the opposing player's control token from the chosen objective. This ability might be a contender for the top 5 abilities so far. This is an Objective based game, all abilities help you win the objective in one way or another. Whether it's through better attack dice or free move, all abilities have one common goal: to score Objectives. This ability essentially cuts out the middleman and directly affects your opponent's scoring. I think this ability is going to be a really solid tempo disrupter, by hitting your opponent's back/ home objectives that they left alone you can force them to draw a character or two away from the fight to go contest it again. We will have to see how well this works in practice, but I think it should be quite good.

The Temple Records are Quite Complete - This is a Reactive Ability with a cost of 1 FP. When a character in this unit is targeted with a [melee] attack by an enemy Force User character, this unit may use this ability. This unit may flip its stance card and the defender adds 2 dice to the defense roll. Woo! Our first ability that flips a stance card outside of the owner's activation! This is cool, I really like this ability. For the time being it is impossible to have a strike team without at least one force user so this ability will be relevant to every game for the foreseeable future. Being able to add defense dice to a melee attack is fantastic, it's part of the reason why Obi is so good. Extra Dice + Fliiping to a better defensive expertise chart = goood.

Clearly, You Were a Poor Student - This is an Identity Ability with no cost. When an allied Inquisitorious character wounds an enemy unit, after the effect is resolved, one allied Inquisitorious character may [Heal] [Heal]. Then, if the wounded unit was a Force User, refresh [Force] [Force]. It seems that one of the faction identity/ themes for "Dark Side" units is refreshing Force Tokens. The first part of this ability is neat, I think this is one of the first Heal abilities we've seen on a dark side unit. I suspect that this will come in clutch almost every time you procure it. Once again, to nobody's surprise, this ability gets particularly good against other Force Users. For the time being, that is not an issue, but I do see this as a potential issue in the future if people start bringing fewer Force Users. In general, I like the theme and design space here, but it is possible that abilities like this lead to semi-feels bad moments where you realize the stuff you brought isn't going to function at its full potential. That being said, I would be genuinely surprised if people started bringing lists with absolutely zero Force Users in a character-based skirmish game where Force Users are dominant.

Form II Makashi

It seems to me like Grand Inquisitor (GI) is another one of those units that has a pretty clear-cut Offensive and Defensive stance. Makashi appears to be his Offensive stance. He's rolling 5 attack dice at range 4 and 7 in melee. 5 defense dice in both melee and at range. His ranged attack expertise chart is pretty solid, 2 strikes for 1 expertise is nice. I'm not a huge fan of the 2-4 range, I wish it was 2-3, then 4+, but that's minimal. His melee attack expertise is very nice, adding extra damage at every level is nuts! The defensive expertise is not flashy, but it is solid. It will certainly get the job done. This combat tree is also pretty good, 2 damage for just one success is nice. I would also like to point you toward the 4th column where he gets 3 damage. I like the idea of 3 successes giving him 4 damage + some conditions and then once he gets 4 successes it's like he put on his game face and goes from 4 to 7 damage. This tree + his expertise caps him out at 12 possible damage which, I think, is like 2nd or 3rd highest for a Primary so far.

Form V Djem So

Djem So appears to be GI's more Defensive stance. He's throwing 4 attack dice at range 4 and 6 in melee. He gets 6 defensive dice at range and in melee. His ranged attack expertise is a little bit worse than Makashi, giving him fewer strikes and crits. His melee attack expertise is exponentially worse than his Makashi one. He only gets extra damage on his bottom row and the other rows are giving him way fewer Crits, which hurts a lot. The bright side is his defensive expertise is amazing on this side! It might be one of the best defensive expertise in the game. Getting a crit swap on every level is phenomenal and getting two! I repeat, TWO crit -> failure swaps with 4+ expertise is crazy good. If you're trying to keep him on the board, flip to this side. This is particularly good when you remember his ability to swap stances and get extra defense dice against other Force Users.

Overall, I am really excited to see how Grand INquisitor does on the table. I am usually not a big fan of playing the "Bad Guys", but it seems like I might make an exception for him. I will certainly avoid him at all costs if he is on my opponent's roster. I think he is going to add a ton of utility to any and all lists that he is in.

Secondary - Third Sister

• 4 PC - This is interesting. I think 4 is good, but my assumption was that with single character Support units, they would be worth 2-3 points and maybe the secondary would get bumped to 5-6, but that is not the case here.
• 0 FP - I'm still finding it a little bit weird that Secondaries like her don't add any force at all.
• 8 Stamina/ 2 Durability - Yikes, 8 is a bit scary. Padawan Ahsoka gets wounded very easily and Reva here rolls fewer defense dice. I would make sure you have at least some heals nearby her, because 16 effective HP is not a lot.

Call the Hunt - This is an Active Ability with a cost of 1 FP. Choose an allied Inquisitorious Supporting character within [range] 4. The chosen character may [dash] or make a 5-dice [melee] attack. I'm seeing a bit of a theme here. More free moves are very nice, especially for the same group of units. The 5-dice melee attack is also quite neat. It seems at first glance that all of these Inquisitors are going to be very mobile. Between free moves and force Jump/Speed abilities, they should be all over the place.

Force Jump - This is an Active Ability with a cost of 1 FP. Each character in this unit may [jump]. There it is, extra moves are good! Force Jump is very good, it can help a lot with characters who get shoved off of elevation during a fight. It is also quite good for threatening objectives on different elevations.

Deflect - This is a Reactive Ability with no cost. After a [ranged] attack targeting a character in this unit is resolved, this unit may use this ability. If the attack roll contained one or more [failure] results, the attacking unit suffers [damage] [damage]. Deflect is always good, it's one of those abilities that there is essentially no reason not to use until you're wounded. Once you're wounded, then I might suggest not using it unless it will wound the attacker back.

Your Fear Betrays You - This is a Reactive Anility with a cost of 1 FP. When a character in this unit makes a [melee] attack as a part of a combat action, before dice are rolled, it may use this ability. Remove one or more conditions from the defender. Add 2 dice to the attack roll for each condition that was removed. This is so cool. I really like the idea of abilities and units that sorta help both sides, like Hondo in previous games. Granted, this ability clearly favors one side, but I think I wouldn't mind having a Strain or Pin stripped from my unit. I would probably say that you should just discard everything almost every time, except I would leave any Exposed conditions on the defender because I think most of the time that will do more for you than 2 extra dice. This makes it possible for her to roll up to 16 dice if you discard 4 conditions and have a focus. Her combat tree still doesn't cap out too high, but with a certain amount of dice, you can pretty much guarantee that you'll run her whole tree and probably get her bottom expertise row. I would use this every chance I got personally.

Form II Makashi

This is a pretty solid stance, I like what it can do for her. She's rolling 7 attack dice in melee and none at range. She gets 5 defense dice at range and 4 in melee, which feels a little bit weird due to the nature of Saber wielders generally wanting to be in melee. Her attack expertise is actually pretty good, like the GI, she is generating extra damage at every level. Her defensive expertise is okay, it's not the best but it'll get the job done. The 4+ section is pretty good since Crit swapping is very handy. The combat tree is rather nice actually, it caps out at 7 damage with 5 successes, but you can get 8 with expertise. The big thing for me is that she gets up to 3 shoves with only 4 successes, which can be pretty huge for objective play.

Overall, I think she is going to be pretty good. I am excited to see how well she actually works with and supports the other Inquisitors, but I think she could work alone decently if needed. I really like her abilities in design space too, the condition removing one is neat and I hope they continue to make stuff like that.

Support - Fourth Sister

• 4 PC - This makes sense considering GI is an 8SP unit, but it does feel a little strange on a single-character support unit.
• 0 FP -
• 8 Stamina/ 2 Durability - Solid, pretty in line with other Supports. She's going to be pretty easy to wound and defeat so be careful. I would not run her into Primaries unless she's backed up by 2-3 other units.

Force Jump - This is an Active Ability with a cost of 1 FP. Each character in this unit may [Jump]. Extra moves are always good, I don't know how many times I gotta say it. I don't think you use this every time she activates, but in a pinch, it can save the game.

Force Pull - This is an Active Ability with a cost of 1 FP. Choose a character in this unit and an enemy character within [Range] 3 of that character. Pull the chosen enemy character [Range] 2 toward the chosen allied character. Force pull is quite neat but situational I think. It's not as good as force push because it takes more setup for it to affect the objective. If you pull someone off of an objective, odds are you're not scoring either. It can be used to pull people into or out of engagement, but with how Fourth Sis is not a major Melee powerhouse, I'm not sure she'll want to be doing this very often. There are certain situations where it can be quite useful, but I think they are few and far between.

Enfeeble: [Pin] - This is a Reactive Ability with no cost. When a character in tn allied Inquisitorious unit makes an attack as a part of a combat action, before dice are rolled, this unit may use this ability. If the targeted character is within [Range] 4 of a character in this unit, the target unit gains [Pin]. I like this a lot. This is essentially just Coordinated Fire:X but with Inquisitor flavor. Pin is not the best one, but it is still a free condition to hand out. Also not bad when paired with Third Sister since she can then discard it for extra dice.

Inquisitorial Mandate - This is an Innate Ability with no cost. When determining control of an active objective that a character in this unit is contesting, if there is a tie, this unit's controlling player takes control of the objective. This is the ability that allows her to essentially function as a normal support unit. This pretty much makes her 1.5 minis instead of just one. This ability could also come quite in handy with Grand Inquisitor for his control-swapping ability.

Swift Retreat - This is an Innate Ability with no cost. When this unit is wounded by an enemy effect, after the effect is resolved, one character in this unit may [Reposition]. Cool, free moves are good. There's essentially no reason not to use this if you get the chance.

Form II Makashi

This stance is pretty in line with most other Support units. She's getting 7 Attack dice in melee and zero at range. She's also getting 6 defense dice at range and 5 in melee. This feels like a weird choice since she wants to be in melee, but maybe it can help her with the approach. Her attack expertise is actually pretty solid, with at least one crit and extra damage at each. Her defense expertise is okay, but not great. It'll get the job done.

Support - Fifth Brother

• 4 PC - He feels more worth 4 points than Fourth Sister, in my opinion. I feel like it was a bit of a missed opportunity to make her a 3pc unit to add some variability in list-building options while still making a squad that can be used right out of the box (GI, Third, Fifth).
• 0 FP -
• 9 Stamina/ 2 Durability - This is 1 more stamina than Fourth and I am quite happy about it. 9/2 is surprisingly sturdy, especially for support. He's still quite susceptible to easy wounds, but not as much.

Force Repulse - This is an Active Ability with a cost of 2 FP. Choose a character in this unit. Push each other character within [Range] 2 of the chosen character [Range] 2 away from it. This ability is very neat. It essentially just force pushes everyone, including allies, engaged with him up to range 2 away from him. I like this as a nice way to gain control of an objective in a really quick way if you need it. Pop him in -> Push everyone away -> Score since he's the only character in range -> Your opponent can only take the point back if they pull a 2-character support since Fifth Brother wins all ties -> Profit. You can also use this as a sorta free reposition for some of your other units.

Force Jump - This is an Active Ability with a cost of 1 FP. Each character in this unit may [Jump]. EXTRA. MOVE. GOOD.

Enfeeble: [Expose] - This is a Reactive Ability with no cost. When a character in tn allied Inquisitorious unit makes an attack as a part of a combat action, before dice are rolled, this unit may use this ability. If the targeted character is within [Range] 4 of a character in this unit, the target unit gains [Expose]. This is a much, much better option for Enfeeble. Notice the wording, before rolling the dice. This means that this expose will have an effect during this attack. This is incredible if you really need to wound a unit with notoriously good defensive expertise.

Resolve - This is an Innate Ability with no cost. When a character in this unit is contesting one or more active objectives it has Protection and Steadfast. Just like with the Clones, this is always on and always good. Never any cost either, so there's never a reason not to take advantage.

Inquisitorial Mandate - This is an Innate Ability with no cost. When determining control of an active objective that a character in this unit is contesting, if there is a tie, this unit's controlling player takes control of the objective. Just like with Fourth Sis, this ability is very good for Fifth Bro. It gets even better if you can pull off the situation I laid out above in the "Force Repulse" section.

Form II Makashi

Nearly Identical to Fourth Sis' stance. The differences are: Defense dice values are swapped (this is very good since he's a melee unit) and his combat tree has two different conditions in the first two columns. Funnily enough, these few minor changes make his combat tree quite a bit better to me. Expose + Strain > Disarm + Pin. He's still not going to be an offensive powerhouse, but he'll get work done for sure and he'll set you up for a pretty hefty follow-up attack with Expose, Strain, and Enfeeble.

Overall, I'd say I am quite happy with how both Fourth and Fifth turned out. I am very excited to see how they both perform. I really like the design space they used for the 1 character support units. I hope we see more in the future. I think Fifth Brother could find himself in almost any list, he is quite good. I am sure that Fourth Sis also has a good spot, but it's not as apparent to me.

I think this squad box is going to add a ton of really cool list-building variability to Shatterpoint. I love the fact that all of the units seem good together or alone. Grand Inquisitor, Third Sister, and Fifth Brother might find their way into every Premier Showdown list I bring.

Thanks for reading!