Even Piell
You know that one Jedi master? The short one, with the pointy ears? No, not Yoda. No, that one who costs three points more than a Jedi Weapon Master, and is generally not as good, but has one unique Force Power to set him apart? No, not Depa Billaba. I said "he," didn't I? I'm talking about Even Piell, one of the most overshadowed characters and pieces in Star Wars.
Monsieur Piell had the misfortune of being released in the same set as both Depa Billaba and the Jedi Weapon Master, either of which is pretty much just better than him, and of looking quite a bit like one of the most famous characters in Star Wars, but somehow less cool.
On his own merits, Even isn't bad. He's got the requisite Double Attack, a reasonable number of Force Points, good numbers, Lightsabers Block and Sweep, and Mettle, a power unique to him in the game. Mettle means that any time he uses a Force Point to reroll something, he gets a +4 to the roll. This is very cool, or would be on a character with Force Renewal and/or Master of the Force. The problem is that Even will most likely want to use this power on Lightsaber Block saves, and he can't, because then he'll have used his Force Point for the turn already. He also only has four FPs to begin with, and while that's above average, it still means that Mettle can matter an absolute maximum of four times in a game.
He's not bad; he really isn't. He just costs the same as Depa Billaba, who trades Mettle and Lightsaber Block for Vaapad-Style Fighting, Lightsaber Deflect, and Force Sense, which is strictly better. This wouldn't be a death sentence if it was just a question of using both Depa and Even, but the non-Unique Jedi Weapon Master trades Mettle for a list of lightsaber-related powers as long as your arm, with only a slight loss in numbers to offset it. No matter how many points you have left, you should be using JWMs instead of Even Piell, I'm sorry to say.
Of course, the above applies only to competitive play and the bleeding edge of efficiency (as my reviews almost always do). If you want to use Piell over a JWM, you aren't losing that much (unless you have Commander Effects that only apply to non-Uniques), and you might do just fine with him. But if you're working on your next big tournament squad, the JWM is the better bet, even if the only advantage he brings you is that he comes with a three-point savings. One Ugnaught Demolitionist can be the difference between victory and defeat.
Overall rating in 100: 2
Overall rating in 200: 3
Monsieur Piell had the misfortune of being released in the same set as both Depa Billaba and the Jedi Weapon Master, either of which is pretty much just better than him, and of looking quite a bit like one of the most famous characters in Star Wars, but somehow less cool.
On his own merits, Even isn't bad. He's got the requisite Double Attack, a reasonable number of Force Points, good numbers, Lightsabers Block and Sweep, and Mettle, a power unique to him in the game. Mettle means that any time he uses a Force Point to reroll something, he gets a +4 to the roll. This is very cool, or would be on a character with Force Renewal and/or Master of the Force. The problem is that Even will most likely want to use this power on Lightsaber Block saves, and he can't, because then he'll have used his Force Point for the turn already. He also only has four FPs to begin with, and while that's above average, it still means that Mettle can matter an absolute maximum of four times in a game.
He's not bad; he really isn't. He just costs the same as Depa Billaba, who trades Mettle and Lightsaber Block for Vaapad-Style Fighting, Lightsaber Deflect, and Force Sense, which is strictly better. This wouldn't be a death sentence if it was just a question of using both Depa and Even, but the non-Unique Jedi Weapon Master trades Mettle for a list of lightsaber-related powers as long as your arm, with only a slight loss in numbers to offset it. No matter how many points you have left, you should be using JWMs instead of Even Piell, I'm sorry to say.
Of course, the above applies only to competitive play and the bleeding edge of efficiency (as my reviews almost always do). If you want to use Piell over a JWM, you aren't losing that much (unless you have Commander Effects that only apply to non-Uniques), and you might do just fine with him. But if you're working on your next big tournament squad, the JWM is the better bet, even if the only advantage he brings you is that he comes with a three-point savings. One Ugnaught Demolitionist can be the difference between victory and defeat.
Overall rating in 100: 2
Overall rating in 200: 3
Labels: Champions of the Force, Republic, SWM review
posted by Ten-Eyed Man at 2:48 PM
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