Lancer NPC - Ace
Updated: 4 hours ago
Core Detail Overview
Stats
Aces have a stat line that fits about where a fragile jet in a world of mechs would be expected to: high Agility, Speed, and Evasion; low Hull, HP, and Armor; and fairly average at everything else. In practice, this means they tend to be good at limiting damage from non-Smart weapons and most damaging systems (like grenades), but they’ve got clear weaknesses that players can leverage, and the high Evasion/low HP combination makes them vulnerable to both Reliable damage and lucky PC damage rolls.
Base Systems
SSC Flight System is simple but effective; the Ace can fly, allowing it to generally ignore obstructions and stay out of Threat range, and it doesn’t need any extra systems to move normally in zero-G or liquids. Keep in mind that the height difference to be out of range needs to be one more than the attacker’s reach and mech height combined (e.g. for a Balor [Size 2] using a nanobot whip [Threat 3], the Ace would need to be 6 spaces higher to be out of reach), and there are times where an Ace would rather be on the ground (taking cover behind a Size 1 obstacle, for instance). Also keep in mind that flying requires doing at least 1 space of movement on your turn to avoid falling, so against PC compositions that make heavy use of overwatch (or other ways of punishing enemy movement), it can be risky to fly all the time.
Missile Launcher lacks the innate Accuracy or Reliable that many striker NPCs have, but with Seeking to ignore cover/LOS and a Blast AOE, it’s fairly reliable for getting hits if you can catch at least two targets in the area, which should generally be a high priority since its damage is low. Being Smart can be a liability, especially since the Ace’s average E-Defense and weakness to the Slowed condition mean hacker PCs are already going to be threatening to it, but since most PCs won’t have more E-Defense than Evasion, it’s usually not a negative in practice as long as you mind the exceptional cases. Just don’t shoot it into Armor if you can help it.
Barrel Roll is the Ace’s cornerstone, letting it both avoid damage and reposition as a reaction. While you typically don’t want to use this against a weak weapon (like most Aux weapons) unless your HP is low, don’t be afraid to use it against a 1d6 or stronger weapon, since the Ace’s HP is low enough for that to be a significant threat already, and the repositioning alone can be very valuable for burning more PC actions on movement to catch up again. For sitreps with control points, keep in mind that “any direction” can also mean moving straight up to stay in a control point while being too far for short-range weapons. Since this is a movement ability, though, it can’t be used while Slowed, so beware that getting that condition (such as via Fragment Signal) will leave the Ace vulnerable. Also note that this does not have any restrictions about flying before it can be used, so it can be used both while grounded and as an excuse to take off or land.
Optional Systems
Bombing Bay is probably my second-favorite optional system for Aces, giving it a free action to do some more AOE damage any time it flies (which I tend to do frequently with Aces). It’s also the most damaging system that an Ace has, on top of potentially causing Prone, but since Aces only have an average Save Target, there can be times when it does nothing even with multiple targets. Still, the Limited tag typically isn’t a real hindrance (frankly being more of a boon when it could’ve had Recharge instead), and while it can’t be used with Barrel Roll or Strafe (by my reading), it can be used with Rapid Response to have a way of threatening damage as a reaction. Not needing an attack roll also means it still has full threat even if the Ace is Impaired, making it useful for dealing with that condition against players who are willing to ignore an Ace after a Fragment Signal.
Strafe is one of the rare abilities to just do damage with no rolls and a permissive condition. Sure, it’s not much damage, but it’s guaranteed and only a little less than Missile Launcher, and since it has no Recharge, there’s little reason not to use it instead of a Boost when it can hit someone, aside from the (potential) conflict with activating Bombing Bay. It can also be combined with a Boost to move three times in a single turn, if the Ace needs to haul some serious ass, though that’s pretty unlikely to come up in actual play. More likely is using it to get back into position while also doing some damage after one of the Ace’s reaction movements. Note that it has no range limit, only requiring to target below or adjacent to the path taken, so flying high to Strafe without triggering Vanguard 3 overwatch is a valid tactic.
Missile Swarm is something that I’ve found sounds better than it really is. Sure, if the PCs are remotely clustered, they might all be in range of it (Burst 5 is huge, even on a Size 1 mech), but the damage is low even with the Lock On conditional boost, and the Loading tag means you’re probably only using it once unless you’ve got a way to cheat that (like playing an Ultra Ace with Supreme Maintenance). It’s not nothing, allowing for a Barrage if nothing else, but I feel like doing a Quick Tech or Ram is generally a better use of a quick action, and this is easily the Ace optional system I like the least. It has some value is not being Smart, so it can be an option against PCs with high E-Defense, but I still tend to prefer Strafe or Bombing Bay for that.
Rapid Response is a good reaction. Not only is it useful for some extra off-turn repositioning (especially if the Ace wants to get back to where it used to be after a Barrel Roll), but good use if it can help save uses of Barrel Roll (thus avoiding the whims of the Recharge roll), or let the Ace threaten to contest multiple control points in a given round, or (my personal favorite) allow for more off-turn damage by combining it with Bombing Bay. There can even be further uses depending on the rest of the NPC composition, such as ending the Ace’s turn somewhat exposed as bait before using Rapid Response to get into a Hive’s Razor Swarm or Aegis’s Defense Net. It’s not easy to use well, but it’s very rewarding when done right, and the movement is more flexible than Barrel Roll since it doesn’t mandate a fixed distance.
Chaff Launchers is my favorite of the Ace’s optional systems. Being able to Barrel Roll against tech attacks is a huge boon for addressing the Ace’s biggest weakness, and the automatic soft cover is great for giving it a little more durability (or, more likely, just discouraging the players from targeting it again while that’s active). It’s not fancy or complicated, but a purely defensive boost that addresses the most universal counter to Barrel Roll is a great fit for the Ace.
Templates Overview
This section is mostly meant to be about how well the NPC uses various templates, but in the Ace’s case, I do want to point out that Bombing Bay can work nicely to add some offensive threat to a partner Commander’s Quick March, and it would also very much appreciate Bolster Network to help shore up its weakness to tech attacks.
I find Aces work well as a minion-type with RPV or Grunt. The former’s extra HP helps a lot with its durability, the permanent Impaired can be mitigated by either leveraging the Seeking tag on its weapons to ignore cover/LOS (giving it a chance to hit shots it wouldn’t take otherwise) or using Bombing Bay/Strafe to bypass needing attack rolls, and while the extra weakness to tech attacks does sting, players are often strangely reluctant to use the basic Fragment Signal, so it may end up not mattering at all if there isn’t a dedicated hacker PC. Meanwhile, Barrel Roll (especially with Chaff Launchers) and good Agility saves help to mitigate the main downside of Grunt, and a squadron of Grunt Aces doing Bombing Bay/Strafe runs can be a decent blitz against a PC that’s troublesome to attack (like a Gorgon). Just don’t use both templates together unless you want them to be complete fodder.
Exotic is a strong fit. As a striker that deals low damage per hit, Paracausal Weapon can be very useful to negate Armor/Resistance, Hardened Target is always welcome on an NPC vulnerable to tech attacks, and either Living Chassis or Regenerator can help patch up some weaknesses. I’d avoid Realspace Extrusion, since the Ace doesn’t have strong support abilities to make up for the damage loss.
Commander, Elite, Mercenary, Pirate, Spacer, Ultra, and Veteran work fine for the most part, with none standing out in particular. Since Ace is a fragile starting point, I prefer defensive additions like Argus Armor or Shock Armor, but the extra offense from Deadly or Efficient Killer can be nice, and an Ace can line up Short-Cycle Lance shots with its reaction-based movement to offset the Ordnance tag.
Ship is low-key a very fun template for an Ace. Flier lets its hover for even better mobility, Armored Hull is a big help with its low HP, and its natural high Speed makes it work very well with Transport. A Ship Ace carrying an Aegis works surprisingly well, since the two compliment each other so much.
General Use
Overall, the Ace is a striker that isn’t going to blow anyone away with its single-target damage, nor does it have many actions that are annoying enough to likely draw focused ire from players (aside from being the mech version of a gnat), so it can thrive as a low-priority opponent that’s able to stick around and chip away subtly. Try to avoid targets with 2+ Armor or Resistance to its damage, and be wary of getting Slowed, and it should have chances to have an impact.
One of the nice things about the Ace is most of its kit being reactions, free actions, or passives; Strafe is its only unique quick action, and it has only two weapons (one of which is optional); which often leaves it with a spare quick action. Its first turn or two are typically best used to get into a good position, then future turns can be used to Skirmish with Missile Launcher while doing something useful with its movement (darting between pieces of cover, contesting control points or escort objectives, engaging with artillery/Ordnance PCs, etc.), potentially with a Bombing Bay gift along the way. Remember that the Ace is not hovering, though, so you’ll need to Boost/Strafe if you want to change directions while flying, which is usually what I do with the extra quick action. Aside from that and throwing in the occasional Lock On or Invade when it can help, most of the Ace’s complexity lies in using Barrel Roll and/or Rapid Response.
Because the Ace generally wants to move a lot and deliver sustained damage output that doesn’t care about cover, it’s usually better in sitreps where it can either invalidate a good defensive position (like Holdout) or where the PCs have to keep moving against a time limit (like Extraction). Even with good Evasion and Barrel Roll, the low HP and lack of Armor mean it’s not going to survive being focused, so it’s typically weaker in sitreps where the NPCs want to hold a fortified position (like Gauntlet). That all said, it’s probably at its best in sitreps based on control zones, since its high Speed and mobility (particularly with Strafe and/or Rapid Response as optional systems) make it very good at getting to where it wants to be.
Compositions of Note
One of my favorite set-ups with an Ace is the friendly fire trio, partnering it with the Berserker and Bombard. If the PCs aren’t doing something to trigger the Berserker’s Aggression, catching one in the AOE of Missile Launcher can be a nice damage spike (while dealing fairly minimal damage as long as Stampede Defense is active), and Barrel Roll is an excellent insurance policy for using the Ace to help add on to the Bombard’s Cluster Munitions (which can also stack with hitting a Berserker, though that will cause significantly more ally damage). As silly as it may seem, this is capable of dishing out a lot more damage than it may seem, especially since the Ace’s high Evasion makes it relatively safe to include in a Bombard Cannon shot to begin with, and it gives ways of keeping each of those threatening even when the players know how to deal with their main gimmicks. To leverage the friendly fire even more, turn it into a martyr quartet with an Avenger nearby enough to trigger Revenge (generally from a Berserker, though clever use of Barrel Roll or Rapid Response can help an Ace serve for that).
Aside from that, the Ace generally likes to partner with a single-target damage-dealer to cover for that weakness. In addition to the Berserker, the Breacher (with its chance to inflict Shredded) and the Specter (with Hunt to punish PCs spreading out to avoid the Ace’s AOEs) are also notable, all of which also share the Ace’s weakness to tech attacks, which can actually help protect the Ace since it’s often seen as the lowest priority in those pairings and thus tends to live longer. Bombards are a good artillery partner because of the Cluster Munitions/Barrel Roll synergy, and Rainmakers can also benefit from the Ace using its often-free second quick action for a Lock On to trigger Huntsman.
Other good companions for the Ace are anything that makes it even less attractive as a target. The Mirage being able to effectively grant it soft cover via Warp Sensors (or even better, Warp Targeting), Invisibility via Dataveil or Illusory Subroutines, and even a Barrel Roll backup with Multiplicity (although I’d tend to use that on a more threatening ally, if possible) is all surprisingly good, considering the Mirage’s typical Glitch Scanners/Blip use doesn’t do much for an Ace. The Aegis’s Defense Net is large enough to not impede the Ace’s mobility too much, and having one or two reactions that include movement can help the Ace get back into it after ending its turn exposed. The Hive’s Razor Swarm can also be used like that, though it’s generally less effective due to the much smaller size, unless multiple Razor Swarms are out and/or Motile Swarm is being used to help. The Sentinel is probably the best defender to partner with the Ace; because Bodyguard only requires being nearby when it’s activated, letting them then separate while the Sentinel can go wild with Reflexive Blow plus Eye of Midnight or Impaler; though a Goliath making frequent use of Crush Targeting can also help (and the Ace could even help with charging up Retribution, though the Goliath’s lack of Armor makes that less appealing than it is with a Berserker).
Allies that can inflict Shredded (such as a Breacher or Scout) can be nice, although the Ace’s damage will never be impressive on its own, so this would have to be combined with another damage source like a Specter to really pay off.
The weakest compositions for the Ace are ones that pressure it into being less mobile, particularly since Barrel Roll must move its full 6 spaces as-written. This means you shouldn’t count on it for activating an Assault’s Rank Discipline, and defenders relying on close proximity like the Bastion (unless it’s riding on a Ship Ace) or Pyro can struggle to protect the Ace. The Priest and Support also end up somewhat limited in their synergies because of this, although using a Priest to put Dispersal Shield or Sanctuary on an Ace and then using Investiture on something less mobile can still work decently. The Barricade or Seeder’s areas of control will tend to have limited use for an Ace.
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