Attacks of Opportunity

Q: When a character provokes an attack of opportunity for leaving a square adjacent to an enemy, must it decide on the destination square before the attack of opportunity is resolved, or can it wait until afterward to choose the destination square?

A: The destination square has to be chosen before resolving the attack of opportunity but it is not required to reveal the remainder of the move (if any) beyond that destination square.

Q: When your character leaves a square adjacent to an enemy, it provokes an attack of opportunity. Does this attack of opportunity occur even if your character remains adjacent to the enemy? For example, Darth Vader moves and becomes adjacent to a Rebel Trooper. If he continues moving but remains adjacent to the Rebel Trooper, does the Trooper still make an attack of opportunity?

A: Yes. A character makes an attack of opportunity if an enemy leaves an adjacent square, even if the enemy is moving into another adjacent square.

Q: In the above example, if Darth Vader were to keep moving through squares adjacent to the Rebel Trooper, would the Trooper be able to make more attacks of opportunity?

A: No. A character makes only one attack of opportunity during a given character's turn. So even if your character moves all the way around an enemy to the other side (moving out of 4 adjacent squares), the enemy gets only a single attack of opportunity against it. (If this movement provokes attacks of opportunity from different characters, of course, they each get to attack once.)

Q: A player told me that a character can make only one attack of opportunity per round. Thus, you could sacrifice an inexpensive character to "use up" an enemy's attack of opportunity, allowing the next character to move by freely. But the attack of opportunity rules say a character can make one attack of opportunity per turn, not per round. The other player says that turns and rounds are the same thing. Who is right?

A: You are correct. Turns and rounds are different. (See the Skirmish Basics section of the rulebook.) A character can make only one attack of opportunity per turn, but it can make any number of attacks of opportunity in a round. In other words, during any character's turn (while it is activated), each enemy could potentially make one attack of opportunity against it. So the "sacrifice" tactic doesn't work -- the first character provokes attacks of opportunity, the next one provokes more, and so on.

Q: What Force powers and special abilities can a character use or take advantage of when making an attack of opportunity?

A: A character can use any Force power or special ability on an attack of opportunity, except those that replace attacks and those that can be used only on a character's own turn.

When in doubt, look at the description of the Force power or special ability on the card and in the glossary of the rulebook; if it says "replaces attacks," "replaces turn," or something like "on its turn this character does so-and-so," then it cannot be used on an attack of opportunity.

Q: Can a character who deals 0 Damage (such as Emperor Palpatine or Darth Sidious) make an attack of opportunity?

A: Technically, yes, but since such an attack deals no damage, it would have no effect unless another condition increases the damage dealt.

Q: When a character is trying to move and provokes an attack of opportunity, is it considered activated even if it hasn't performed any action or movement before then? The rulebook says that the attack occurs before the move happens, so would it be possible for Han Solo to add Cunning Attack bonuses to his attacks of opportunity?

A: Remember, a character is activated before taking any actions. When the player selects which character to activate during a phase, that character is considered to be activated immediately. (This applies even if that character takes no actions at all during its turn.) So, the answer is no; Han Solo would never get to add Cunning Attack to his attacks of opportunity. The bonus applies only against a target who has not yet activated that round. But a character with Opportunist would get to apply it in the same circumstances.

Critical Hits

Q: Can a special ability or Force power such as Evade, Lightsaber Block, Lightsaber Deflect, or Lightsaber Reflect allow a character to avoid a critical hit?

A: Yes. Such abilities allow a character to avoid the damage from hits, including critical hits.

Combined Fire

Q: Do activations of characters who combine fire count against the limit of 2 activations per phase? The rulebook doesn't say that Combined Fire activations are "free," but it's implied in the rulebook diagram.

A: An unlimited number of allied characters may activate immediately to combine fire, giving the attacker a +4 bonus to Attack for each character activated in this fashion. The attacker's turn does count as one of the 2 activations allowed in a phase. The combining characters do not count against that limit, but they do count as having activated that round.

Q: Can a character with Double Attack, such as a Mon Calamari Mercenary, receive a combined fire bonus from an ally or allies on the first attack, and then take another combined fire bonus from a different ally or allies on the second attack?

A: Yes. Each combined fire bonus applies to a single attack, and you can have different characters combine to provide a bonus on different attacks.

Q: If a character has Double Attack, can it combine fire twice with another character?

A: No. Double Attack (and similar multiple-attack abilities) can be used only on the attacking character's turn. Combined fire is a special action that a character takes instead of taking its own turn. So a given character can combine fire to help another character only once during the entire round.

Q: A character can combine fire if it has line of sight to the target and has not already activated in the round. The rulebook does not say whether the character has to combine fire against a legal target. So what happens in the following scenarios?

Scenario #1: Luke Skywalker, Rebel is shooting at an Imperial Officer who has cover but is the nearest enemy to Luke. The Rebel player wants to use a Rebel Trooper (who has not activated yet this round and has line of sight to the Imperial Officer) to give a combined fire bonus to Luke's shot. However, there is a Stormtrooper nearer to the Rebel Trooper than the Imperial Officer. Can the Rebel Trooper give a combined fire bonus to Luke? What if the Rebel Trooper were adjacent to the Stormtrooper? Could he still give a combined fire bonus to Luke?

A: Yes, in both cases.

Scenario #2: Han Solo is using Accurate Shot to snipe at Darth Vader, Sith Lord (who has cover behind several Stormtroopers). Han needs help to hit Vader's monstrous cover-assisted Defense. Can some Rebel Troopers combine fire with Han's shot even though they do not have the Accurate Shot special ability?

A: Yes. In all cases, the only requirement is that the character who is combining fire (that is, providing the bonus to the attacking character) has line of sight and has not activated yet in the round. The target need not be a legal target for the combining character -- obviously, however, it must be a legal target for the attacking character.

"Replaces Attacks"

Q: Let's say Mara Jade is in the same squad as Emperor Palpatine. If Mara uses Blaster Barrage (which would cost 1 of her Force Points), can she use Hand of the Emperor to use Blaster Barrage again in the same turn?

A: No. Blaster Barrage replaces attacks -- Mara Jade doesn't have another attack to "give up" to let her use it again. Hand of the Emperor would allow her to use another Force point to do something else during that turn, such as rerolling an attack during the Blaster Barrage.

Q: When exactly can I use abilities that replace attacks? Can I use one on an attack of opportunity?

A: Generally, they can be used on the character's turn if they haven't taken one or more standard attacks or already used some other ability that replaces attacks or replaces the entire turn. Abilities that replace attacks replace all of a character's normal attack actions for that character's turn. They cannot replace attacks of opportunity or immediate attacks granted by a commander effect. A character cannot replace any attacks on a turn when it uses Double Attack, Triple Attack, Quadruple Attack, or Extra Attack, and it cannot use those abilities on any turn when it uses an ability that replaces attacks. Abilities that replace attacks cannot replace an attack granted by other abilities that replace turns or replace attacks. Thus, Darth Maul on Speeder cannot use Lightsaber Assault at the end of a Charging Assault, and the Hailfire Droid cannot use Missiles after using its Wheeled ability. However, Mobile Attack does not replace an attack or turn, but simply allows a character to attack at any point during its move, so that character can replace the attack action.

Q: Do special abilities that apply to "attacks" or when "attacking" also apply when using an ability that replaces attacks?

A: No. Any ability that specifically applies to attacks affects only actual attacks, not abilities that replace attacks. Note that some abilities that replace attacks generate further attacks, like Lightsaber Assault, and special abilities applicable to attacks would still affect these attacks even though they were generated by an ability that replaces attacks.

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 657