Advantageous Cover is another good ability. However, it is only used on pieces with an 18 or less Defense. Giving them a 26, which means that Boba needs a 6 to hit, Mira needs an 8, Morrigan needs an 11.

Old Han Solo, GH has a 14 attack and it is difficult to raise it. (Gregarious after getting Pilot) 14 attack is simply not high enough.

Then you have pieces come out with 10 attacks and just ruin them. Vima has an 11 and has to rely on Loner.... even though she has Synergy. Anakin Skywalker, HwnF has a 10. Aayla (29) has a 10 as well.
Sheev Palpatine (29) has a 10 attack.

Now Boba Fett has a 20 Defense....
Mira has a 17 defense.

So a Melee user like Anakin can run up to Boba, finally get adjacent and needs a 10 to hit. (15 point difference in cost). and Boba only needs a 2 to hit Mace Windu (15 point cost) from across the entire board.

Mira needs a 2 to hit Anakin, Hero with No Fear from across the board, Anakin needs a 7 to hit Mira who costs 7 less then him.

You might be saying (that is when Mira has Talon), but what is a viable attack boost to Anakin and Mace? GOWK? he is not really playable right now. GenSky for Mace? again, not really playable right now. especially against Talon himself.

You should include NR ( GenCon winner 8 years ago ) and Republic ( GenCon winner 9 years ago ) in this discussion as well! All the Republics need help!!!!!!! ( "Help us Obi-Wan Kenobi, you're our only hope!" )

I generally stay out of these conversations (nowadays), but I wanted to add my 2 cents.

I like TimmerB's damage reduction suggestion. I like Jen'ari's higher defense suggestion. My concern is that these suggestions, if implemented, would be introduced in the form of a couple new characters per faction, and if that's the case, most listbuilding would come stock with said characters.

I think there are ways to make it so that it reaches more people. For an example: create a republic jedi instructor piece with affinity for New Republic. Ol' Kyle Katarn had the CE that grants Lightsaber Duelist. Just make it grant Ranged Duelist to all force users with melee attack. You can make it a Camaraderie if you want to get away from Disruptive.

Man, the Imperial knights already have a decent set up I am sure there is a way to make their Dark Armor and/or Evade worth it.

I think there are ways to make it fun and inclusive. You just have to start by actually brainstorming what you want it to look like and then throw out the ideas and then look at how it affects everything.

i am sure there are some examples of a group of people that really did well being sneaky and stealthy and using cover really well so that advantageous cover makes sense.

The thing for most powerful jedi is that they can have 85% of the Special Abilities in the game as long as you are looking for it.
Advantageous Cover definitely fits tons of jedi.
You can give jedi an ability called
Guided: When this character is not activated it makes evade saves.
*or vica-versa* when this character is activated it makes the evade save. I was a huge fan of Jango Fett, I just wish that Jedi got the same treatment.
To show the power of the force. No reason for Rieekan to give ugnaught's evades and for Jedi to have the exact same save.

Making another Meditation type character that grants "guided" would be AMAZING!
I am just saying there are good options to try and keep squad building open. It is IMPERATIVE that squad building stay open.

Damage Capping comes up with really bad game play all around. It just makes damage stick when characters shouldn't be hit at all. How many clone troopers relied on their great armor to protect them? or did they rely on their wits and maneuverability.
Damage Capping takes away from the flavor of pieces as well.
Unpreventable damage from a scrub is WAY more of an NPE than getting hit and being able to do something about it so that it doesn't hit at all.

Why would I want some punk hitting me for a little bit, when he can hit me for nothing.

High defense is not an NPE if it is flavorful. It SHOULD be nigh impossible for loser characters to hit powerful characters. that is the way it should be.
Boba can hit but lowly stormtrooper can't unless they Combine Fire. Combining fire, when you think about how it translates and the visual, is when two people shoot, one misses but it gives the other person an advantage on their shot.

That is flavorful to help make a stormtrooper hit a jedi.
With that said, how do you recreate the power level of Jedi/Sith in this game? You give them control.

Lightsaber protection makes no sense to me either. Ya, i split your laser bolt in half and took half the damage?
I mean seriously, they just block them and take ZERO damage. You have to keep a connection to the "reality" of Star Wars. Illusion is an amazing ability for that reason as well. I would love to see a Sith with something like "while within an allies Presence of the Dark Side this character's illusion automatically works against characters further than 6 squares away. or something like that.

Damage reduction does encourage damage stacking, but who cares if you can't hit or the damage is negated.
What squad is going to be affected the most by damage capping? Mando's. Vindicated relies on his base 30 damage and was designed that way.
This is why damage capping is dangerous. It gives a ton of power for nothing it is not game play oriented power either. Give characters more control over if they are going to take damage or not.

That is why I say you make damage negation based on play of some sort.

High attacks have ruined the game to be honest, but Star Wars is not really a place where laser bolts and slices from lightsabers don't do a lot of damage. They hurt, a lot. The idea of someone getting hit 12 times (120 damage) and still being alive is silly to me.

If you are up against a 26 (30 in cover) defense and your highest character needs a 16 to hit, I would say your army is screwed. as it absolutely should be. There should be very few "elite groups" of non-uniques that should be able to keep up with the big boys. But lets face it... Obi-Wan Kenobi in cover should be very hard to hit. Morrigan should be hitting 1 out of 4 against that character.

+1.

Agree with all your points Jen!

I fully agree with this. But it happens a lot, it is just that a lot of them are not that good (Imperial knights, non unique fringe, etc) It is only a problem in a Talon/Talia or Jabba/Talia squad. I definitely think designers should quit any +8 to attack rating ever. I also think that designers should steer clear of +20 damages as well. I fully agree with that. But as far as I know the big squads that have that are fringe squads right now and it can be dealt with if designers are careful.

Telekinesis is a newer save based ability that is extremely powerful.

We don't need "New abilities" the special abilities list has gone through the roof.
We have few damage capping abilities because they are lame.
Nothing you can do about it, just, damage negation no matter what.
So... I roll a critical with Vindicated and you take 10 damage? crazy powerful

and again, what is the basis for Lightsaber Protection? What does it represent?

What balance are you trying to achieve with damage capping abilities?
Exactly what is your goal?
To me it looks like another attempt at making your mark on the game. I do not believe that your own designer history should allow you to speak about balance or about other designers.

But pieces with lightsaber protection all stink for some reason. None of them are tier 1 pieces.