I know it might have been asked before but here it is again.

On p.128 of the Core rulebook, there is an example of a player who purchases ranked Talents for his character:

It is stated that his character has already one rank in Point Blank from the Gadgeteer talent tree. If he chooses the Mercenary Soldier specialization he can buy another two ranks in Point Blank.

Since Point Blank as only one case available in the Gadgeteer talent tree and two in the Mercenary Soldier tree, does it mean that the character can have only up to three ranks maximum in Point Blank with those two specializations?

If so, it means that you can select Dedication and Force Rating only once. It also means that you can upgrade only one characteristic by specialization and that you can get a maximum of Force Rating 2 in EotE.

Am I confused or am I right?

Point Blank - yup, each time you buy it you get one rank in it. If you're using EotE only, that's three ranks maximum from the Specialisations you've identified. Modifications for some Weapon Attachments can give additional ranks (Forearm Grip springs to mind, don't know if there are any others).

Force Rating - yup, Rating 2 maximum. If the same character went to FS Emergent (Age of Rebellion) they could end up with rating 3. (EDIT: (for clarity) by buying the Force Rating Talent - buying the FS Emergent Specialisation doesn't give you +1 Force Rating, it gives Force Rating 1 if you don't already have it.)

Dedication - every Specialisation has it, and it can be taken once for each Spec. E.g. If you were an Assassin, Gadgeteer AND Survivalist, and bought the Dedication Talent each time, you would have raised three characteristics by the end (or one characteristic three times, max.6).

Thanks for confirming my thought on this

A pleasure . Welcome to the forum.