The problem is : there isn't. And Bostria said in the Q&A video that the guys who write the FAQ write also the next book... My brother and I think that the way that it was said to work is garbage because it is counterintuitive and make lvl 3 remotely useless. Even the part of the FT duo with Achilles is a mess since the rule and the example say different things about the holoecho marker (one in the examples, two in rules). And where is the confusion since the real Achilles is the one who isn't the team leader?
Bipandra could Haris with Fusiliers, that would open a load of options in NCA and MO? That's all I got, bar the aforementioned bloated points costs. On an aestheticl note i'd like it if Koni had stats that reflect his dynamic sword chopping pose. Either a better phys, hyper dynamics or a CC value closer to 20 would be nice. Not all of them necessarily, just at least one of them.
A haris link with fusiliers feels weak in NCA given they're the more viable core link and only AVA5. I really like where your head is at with that idea though. There's probably something cool there.
As much as Fusi Harris in MO would be usefull, there's something putting off in just another "just put harris there" approach.
Yeah I get what you mean, but i'll stilll take it. PanO is lacking in quality Haris compared to some other factions. PanO is the faction of boring solutions right? Seems right up our alley ;) It was more just thinking of reducing the opportunity cost of taking a bolt core by preventing you from taking a fusi core by still letting fusiliers link in some form. A haris of Fusiliers might be more appealing to CB than a haris of bolts (though I would rather have a haris of bolts but thats not the topic).
To be entirely honest, I think Bipandra is ok, I usually use her, her biggest issue is her 0.5 SWC but I really think if she did not have it, she would be an auto include in every list.
I would bet that "The truth" would have something else (in general) to say. But this this cannot be falsified so feel free to ignore this post :P
No I get why people do not like her and I do have issues with her 0.5 SWC, but she serves me well as a doc, survives quite well with her increased ARM and BTS and her light shotgun in a full fusilier link is quite respectable as an assault weapon, BS 21 at 8" is beyond decent and her usual role in many lists I have. My main concern is if she does lose her 0.5 SWC she may be a really attractive choice, close to an auto-include.
I agree that LSG on 21 is always nice :) but at least in my experience with NCA moving Fusi link is really completly last resolve thing to do :) (on the other hand if something like SuiJuan comes close to it.... but so far EXP shots served me well in this regard even at point blank xD) I cannot yet see why she would became auto-include (she pays quite a few points for being +1WIP doctor), in general alll auto-includes are bad for game :) Another can of worms is MO where "good" Bipandra could just tip people over to take 4 man Fusi link instead of looking at OS Core link team and call it a day (ML with SS2 is good enoug ARO for MO for waay less pts than OS link).
NCA and MO both have a lot of options in the 20-30 point range, which is why Bipandra needs to be incentivized. I like shotguns, and I like linking with Fusiliers, and I like Doctoring... But the point difference between a Trauma Doc and Bipandra is almost an entire Regular Order, and you also lose out on the Palbot if you plan to run Bipandra as part of the link. Those both represent major hits to functionality and efficiency. Wishlisting: -Give her Zoe-level utility, combining multiple Specialist types. Doctor and Engineer for example, costing more than an individual Trauma Doc or Machinist but cheaper than both. Lose her Combi Rifle, keep the shotgun, make her more of a support piece. More balanced: -Drop the combi, and go with utility. E/Marat or E/Mauler would be helpful. Or continue with the support theme... Sensor, Sniffer, Minelayer. Perhaps it would help her locate Angus' unconscious body faster. At this point, even if they just went the Stephen Rao route of basically just making her a 6th linkable body for Fusiliers, I'd be okay with that as long as her cost went down. A 6th linkable Fusilier is great, if her cost is in line with other Fusiliers in the same way that Rao's cost is in line with other Bagh Mari.
I don't think I would like her to lose the combi, its not PanO to run around with a just a shotgun, on her been a WIP 13 doc, the only other option for PanO to get that doc is a hospitaler, so she is cheaper than him (excluding SWC). She is also an extra doc, in a faction they do not have many.
I think that line of thinking is part of the problem. One of the greatest points of discontent for PanO as a faction is the overlap/redundancy of all our combi + lsg units, and the high point cost associated with them. Similarly, some of our best profiles (especially from the perspective of a link filler/support profile perspective) are shotgun only. This includes Magisters, Bagh Mari Boarding Shotgun, Bolt Boarding Shotgun. When you're building a link team, you don't want every member paying higher cost to be armed to the teeth. Instead, you want profiles that can mix-and-match depending on the situation the link has to deal with; being able to efficiently run a Swiss Army Knife of multiple profiles is one of the best reasons for taking a link team at all. So if you pay for Bipandra's combi rifle, you probably have 2-3 other members of the link who also have a combi rifle... I don't see a need there. Dire Foes in general are a chance to break the mold and deliver something unique, in terms of background, lore, personality, and obviously gameplay rules. Changing Bipandra into a character who is strongly geared towards support, in a faction that's notoriously bad at support, is very interesting and unique. I'd like her to be more than another profile who is laboring under the combi + light shotgun tax.
She could become a PanOceanian Dactyl! As far as I understand, this kind of unit could make a nice Spec Op in PanOceania.
Ekhm Magisters ? Orcs (you know such thing do exist xD), Hospitallers, some Bagh-Mari (obviously "BSG" only options). Plus what does it mean "PanO"? Isn't being bare bones after fitting particular role a "PanO" style ? I would somehow understund this resist if we had been talking about Engineer for PanO, but why the heck not an additional option of Doctor for Vanilla/NCA/MO ? Also isn't the whole concept of "characters" a way to give singular option to bring something a bit "out of faction" for a given faction ? Or are we going back to: PanO ---> <--- Nice Things ? Leila for example has crazy synergy of usefull guns (her guns don't overlap rangebands) while having very mean/lean specialist option (she is just a baby Fersen - leaner/meaner for 3rd of the price).
Leila is the dream. What a great Dire Foe. Light shotgun, Marksman rifle, doctor, would be amazing for Bipandra. Trade her current ARM and BTS bumps for the Marksman rifle...
I could love Konstantinos with Limited Camo, Mimetism and Marksman Rifle for the infiltrator version, and the same but witout camo for the linkable version
Leila is definitely up there with the best, for sure. Ranking them is hard though, because in each Sectoral, if you're taking the link they go in, they're all great choices. Maybe the only ones that aren't would be Yasbir because he's expensive and Leila is also there and Bipandra because she's kind of rubbish.
Bipandra basically pays 1-2 points for Specialist Operative, which is redundant in N3 (unless her PHY and/or WIP increases cost more for her than for anyone else in the faction). What would be nice is if she was re-costed at 25 points, given a BSG instead of the most bloated and redundant gun in the game and something useful to bring her back up to cost, 7 points can buy a lot of nice stuff. Hell, if she came with Angus (who was a BS 10, WIP 11 fusilier) just as a 7 point regular order, it'd probably shift her to god-tier.
I'd say that the best linkable Dire Foes are those that allow the fireteam to change role. Anyat, Konstantinos, and Leila are all good examples. Bipandra being a Doc shouldn't act as a spearhead for the team, but as I've said before - her getting some defensive utility and weapons would work well. Shotgun, DTW, Flash Pulse, Stun Grenades, ADHL, stuff like that. Haris would be awesome, but mostly for MO - in NCA Fusiliers will be the go-to Core link, until the Bolt will get a fix, which might not come soon if at all.
In general if we talk about shotgun I assume you mean keep the light shotgun she already has, not get a proper boarding shotgun, Magisters are not a "proper" PanO units (by proper I mean military units, they are quirky) Bipandra is a fusilier and despite her Specops status she remains one, a fusilier without a proper rifle seems a bit odd to the eye, Characters are meant to be designed as a basic unit with something extra or a twist, it may be allowing an extra specialist in the army roster, it may make a standard unit with something else. Anyway I think that Bipandra as is, if she looses her 0.5 SWC, she will be really competitive choice for all army lists.
