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Jacen Solo Set: Champions of the Force #53/60 Date Reviewed: July 17, 2006 Image from Wizards.com Ratings:  Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale 1 being the worst. 3 ... average. 5 is the highest rating. 100 pt: 3 200 pt: 4.5

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tjmk	Jacen Solo VR Cost: 25 HP: 60 Def: 18 Atk: +12 Dam: 20 Special Abilities: Unique Melee Attack Double Attack Affinity (A character whose name contains Princess Leia may be in your squad) Synergy (+4 Attack when within 6 squares of Jaina Solo) Force Ascetic (Cannot spend Force Points to move faster or re-roll) Force Empathic 10 (Takes 10 Damage whenever an ally with a Force Rating is defeated) Protective (+20 damage while a wounded ally whose name contains Leia is within 6 squares) Force Powers: Force 4 Unleash the Force 60 (Force 4, replaces attacks, useable only after an ally with a Force rating is defeated, 60 damage to all other characters within 6 squares, save 11 to reduce damage to 30) Now we move into a week featuring the New Republic, one of my favorite factions if only for the fact that I love the expanded universe setting for Star Wars. (The New Jedi Order books were awesome!) So, we open the week with one of my favorite characters, Jacen Solo! Let's take a look. In my mind, the New Republic is going to be the alternative to the Republic, it should get some good Jedi support because of the fact that it houses the New Jedi Order (although it would be nicer if the New Jedi Order were its own faction, more accurate that way, but whatever.) So, let's compare Jacen to a Republic counterpart, a Very Rare Republic Jedi who costs 25 points, and just so happens to be his grandfather, Anakin Skywalker. Anakin Skywalker Cost: 25 HP: 70 Def: 18 Atk: +8 Dam: 20 Special Abilities: Unique Melee Attack Double Attack Impulsive Sweep (If a Unique allied character is defeated, this character can immediately attack each adjacent enemy once) Force Powers: Force 4 Lightsaber Precision (Force 1: This character gets +10 Damage on his next attack) Lightsaber Riposte (Force 1: When hit by a melee attack, this character can make an immediate attack against that attacker) So, what we have when we campare Jacen to his grandfather is as follows. Jacen has less health, albeit only 10 less health, they have the same defense, but Jacen is by far Anakin's better when it comes to hitting opponents, with 4 more attack then Anakin. So stats wise, Jacen is a bit more fragile with the lower health, but the better combatant overall due to his high attack. Moving on to abilities. They both have double attack, which is always a nice must for Jedi. Comparing the two characters differences though, I must say that Jacen bests Anakin by quite a bit. With affinity allowing Leia into your New Republic squads, and Synergy allowing Jacen to hit even the toughest opponents when dueling alongside his twin, plus protective allows Jacen to dish out the damage like the masters when the afformentioned mother is wounded. Anakin? All he's got is some melee version of farmboy Luke's special ability. However, Jacen does have a few drawbacks, his rather unique view on the Force prevents him from using it for routine effects, like rerolling and moving, and that will get quite annoying when you realize you can't reach an enemy that you would be able to with any other Jedi, and those few times you do miss with his 40 damage attacks will not be cool. Plus his incredible attunement to the Force causes him to feel the pain of other Force users, like his whole family in this game. So although he works really well with the other members of his family, if they any of them die he is going to be hurting, and he doesn't have enough health to withstand that kind of treatment. However, when we move into his Force powers we see quite a nice little power. I don't really see why they made this ability cost 4 Force points, since he can't spend his points for anything else, unless they are planning on giving this power to other Force users, in which case that would be awesome, but let's take a look at it now, shall we? Unleash The Force, after he's felt that pain of loss from another character dying Jacen can use his Force power to release a mighty shockwave of Force energy on everyone in the area. You have to be careful with this p ower though. Even though it will do at least 30 damage, more often then not 60, it does affect your characters as well, so although you have the opportunity to wipe out a large portion of your opponent's army, you may just as well end up damaging your army quite a bit as well, and that will not be fun. Funny thing is, I believe Jacen used this power against the Vong, and in the game here it wouldn't affect them, huh, odd. Rating: 2.5/5 Bottom Line: Yeah, he is one of my favorite characters. Yeah, he bests Anakin in almost every way. Yeah, he has an awesome Force power and can dish out damage with the best of them. However, he is as frail as a kitten for a Jedi, a unique Jedi at that. Plus, he can't use his Force points for anything but his double-edged power. He also won't be able to dish out that awesome damage until the Leia you brought along with him gets hurt, and she isn't exactly the most sturdy character either. Jaina helps him out with hitting pieces, so you won't need the Force points much for rerolls, and he helps out Jaina a lot as well, but that doesn't mean he'll be much of a frontline fighter due to the fact that he might not make it to the frontlines. This is tjmk, signing out.
Sith Dragon	Jacen Solo New Republic Cost: 25 HP: 60 DEF: 18 ATK: +12 DAM: 20 Affinity (leia); Double Attack; Force Ascetic; Force empathic 10; Protective +20; Synergy (Jaina) Force 4 Unleash the Force - (F4) replaces attacks usable only after an ally with a force rating is defeated; 60 DAM to all characters within 6, save 11 for only 30. Jacen Solo. "Things that make you go boom." In a nutshell that is Jacen. For 25 pts you get a horrible HP at 60, a so-so DEF of 18, an okay ATK of +12 and a standard 20 DAM. The 60 HP is not something you want to see on a character that has to go toe to toe with Jedi that average 30 DAM a pop now, or shooters that can pick him off in a single activation. His cost comes from his abilities and force powers. Double attack is good as always. His affinity is something that is very good for one reason i will come back to later. Force Ascetic just plain bites. His force points are absolutely worthless to anything but his lone force power. The Empathic ability can kill Jacen without anyone ever having taken a swing at him, so that's even worse. On the plus side he gets +4 ATK if within 6 of Jaina and a +20 DAM if a wounded Leia is within 6. Double attacking with a +16 for 40 DAM is pretty awesome, plus we now have a use for Dr Evazen and his homicidal surgery. That is best way to wound Leia as your opponent wont touch her unless they can take her out in one shot. Now for his lone force power, and it alone is why he is worth 25 pts instead of 18. Once one of your force users dies, Jacen can do a whopping 60 damage (30 if they make their save). Since you generally are not going to lose someone until about half way through the fight, hopefully by the time you use this it can take out several if not all of your opponents figures. It is very hard to pull off because most smart players will do what they can to take Jacen down first. On the open DCI maps, it isn't too hard, but at the same time it forces your opponent to alter their strategy so much that it can in and of itself be a protection to the rest of your squad. They wont want to kill a force user if they ha vent accounted for Jacen. Lets go back to the Affinity for Leia. You have three choices at present. Captive will get you 60 HP, a nice piece to drool over and that's about it. Senator only has 40 HP but will let your followers move 2 more squares at the end of their turns for a bit more mobility. But its Rebel Hero that gives you the most lethal use of UtF. She has 60 HP, and her CE states that when a follower defeats an enemy character it may immediately move 2 squares. Doing this with UtF effectively moves the sphere of influence forward 2 more squares every time Jacen kills some one with it. Since you pick the target and sequence, you can effectively move out of range of most of your own characters and save them from having to take the damage. It works exactly the same way as lightsaber sweep does with her CE. A rolling wave of destruction! 100pt: forget it. He is way too fragile here, and you will never have enough support to help him here. 200pt: Here he is do-able, but as i have said he is extremely weak and must be played with extreme care. Tailor the squad to help him because he will need all the help you can give him. Rebel Hero, Jaina, and Evazen are mandatory for the build to make the most of his powers. His mere presence can be a great asset to protecting whoever you use to fill out the rest of your squad as Jacen and Leia will be the primary focus of your opponent. "Dude, the fat guy totally just blew up!" -Pink 5
Zeroph Zeal	Jacen Solo 07/16/06 HP: 60 Hit Points: 60 Defense: 18 Attack: +12 Damage: 20 Abilites: Affinity (Leia may be included in this army.), Double Attack, Force Ascetic, Melee Attack, Protective +20 (Leia), Synergy +4 (Jaina Solo) Force 4, Unleash the Force 60 Jacen and Jaina (which we are reviewing Wednesday) are prime examples of much needed New Republic support. These two combined are a force to be rekoned with, but even Jacen Solo has a few tricks up his sleave, alone. While Jacen isn't exactly well known because of his stats, he has a unique ammount of abilities and one extremely interesting Force ability that could make Jacen extremely deadly. Like previously mentioned, Jacen's stats are quite bad for a 25 costed jedi. With 60 hitpoints, he can be taken down very easily. The 18 defense is mediocre but its low enough that most units won't really have a problem hitting him. The lack of any defensive abilities further hurt this character, making the 60 hitpoints required to kill him way too easy. However, +12 attack is quite good for a jedi of his cost, and the normal 20 damage is never something to argue about. Obviously, you won't be playing Jacen for his stats. But Jacen has quite a few unique powers that may be able to tip the tide to the New Republic. Most of his abilities, though, require other pieces to unleash the full potential. Jacen will not fit in any old squad, but I think fits best in a "Solo Family Reunion" squad. Affinity for Leia is nice, as there are 3 Leias to choose from. For a 100 point game, this makes a use for Leia Captive. Protective +20 is a nice boost with Leia around, raising his damage to 40. Synergy with Jaina allows Jacen and Jaina to be used together, boosting Jacen's attack to a very solid +16. Force Ascetic is a negative ability which hurts Jacen a whole lot. With only 60 hitpoints and a Force ability thats trigger is the same as Force Ascetic, this can be a very hurtful thing to Jacen Solo. Force 4 is a very solid force rating, but he must use all of it for his only force power, Unleash the Force 60. I simply love this ability though. The basic idea is go play Leia, Captive. Sinse she has a force rating, all you need to do is march Leia and Jacen into battle together, around a pretty large section of enemy units. Take as many out as possible with Jacen's amazing 40 damage, Make Leia die (simply by moving, and allowing AoOs against her) and use Unleash the Force. There goes an arny of enemy troopres, and can deal some major damage to other stronger units. Me like. Me like alot. 100 point: 3/5 You can't really use the Solo family to thier max potential here, but it could still be useful with Leia. 200 point: 4.5/5 Haha, Jacen + Jaina + Any Leia + Han Solo, RH + alot of fun NR stuff= Victory for the New Republic!
vornargith	Jacen Cost: 25 Hit Points: 60 Defense: 18 Attack: +12 Damage: 20 Special Abilities: Affinity: Leia may be in your squad regardless of faction. Double Attack Force Ascetic: Cannot spend force points to reroll or move faster. Force Empathic 10: Takes 10 damage whenever an ally with a force rating is defeated. Melee Attack Protective +20: +20 damage while a wounded ally whose name contains Leia is within 6 squares. Synergy: +4 Attack if Jaina Solo is within 6 squares. Unique Force Powers: Force: 4 Unleash the Force 60: Force 4, replaces attacks, usable only after an ally with a force rating is defeated: 60 damage to all other characters within 6 squares; save 11 to reduce damage to half. Jacen Solo is full of interesting, situational abilities and complications. For 25 points, you get a New Republic character that can allow you to include Leia from the Rebel faction. Under the right circumstance, Jacen can dish out 40 damage per attack … and, as retribution for defeating a force-user, he can dish out 60 damage to everyone within 6 squares of him. His restrictions are his Achilles’ heel, however, and can possibly do more harm than his benefits are worth. The Good: Play the field right and make the right sacrifices … Jacen can be an asset. Let Leia take a shot for the extra damage. Jaina can give him a boost to attack. The Bad: His force points are useless for anything other than his Force power. He can be taken out by defeating other Force-Users. The Ugly: His Unleash Force ability is a one-time thing … if he even gets to use it. To use the ability effectively, he needs to be surrounded by enemy characters and a force-user needs to go down. In a larger skirmish, Jacen is not going to last long enough for that to happen. And anyone putting in the effort to position Jacen and the unworthy Jedi sacrifice in order to execute “Unleash Force” is going to have hell unleashed on Jacen. Rating: (Using leia and the protective +20 are useful abilities, but Unleash Force is overrated and may cause you to make strategic mistakes as you try to outmaneuver your opponents. In a smaller squad, Jacen can effectively give you an instant win and maneuvering him on the map is easier with less enemies to shoot at him.) 100 pt: 3/5 200 pt: 2/5