Say a unit with 6 attacks a flyer

Normally the flyer would take 3 damage

If you shield for 2 do you take 1 or 2 damage?

One damage.

Flying is when damage is assigned

Shielding is when damage is dealt.

Damage is assigned before it is dealt.

So 6 damage/2 = 3 damage dealt - 2 shield icons = One damage.

FFG have actually gone to great pains with this game to formalise the timing so that things like this can be worked out from the rulebook alone. Gotta say I really appreciate that.

EDIT: Also worth noting is that you may shield for UP TO the number of shield icons on a card. So if you were hit by a 3-damage attack and used a 3-shield card, you may block 1, 2 or 3 damage (if for example, the until had Brutal so you wanted to let some of the damage through but 3 would be just enough to kill it).

That is what i thought but i thought i would check

It's probably important to note the RRG describes the dealing damage in three separate steps:

1. Assign damage (ie, figure out how much the attacking unit can inflict)

2. Shielding (ie, lower the damage that will be inflicted with shields)

3. Take damage (ie, the defending unit gets #1 - #2 damage tokens)

The reason I think it's important to take note of this process is because #s 1, 2 and 3 can be modified/interrupted/reacted to separately. So we'll need to be aware of the timing in the long run.

The definition of Flying is pretty black-and-white about damage being halved in #1, before shielding in #2, so I'm really raising alarms that have nothing to do with the question here.

got another hot tip as well.. water is wet.

Flying...it rules.

got another hot tip as well.. water is wet.

And fire is hot. But some people, even though they know those rules, still need to fall out of the boat or touch the stove before they believe.

yeah, I get really stubborn about things myself and have to "get burnt" a few timers before I see what's up

An interesting example of this seems to be the Chaos warlord. Since his ability is an interrupt to assigning damage, the +1 ATK is added in before shielding. If it was an interrupt to taking damage, it would be added in after shielding.

However (and here's the part where people are not going to believe the water is wet), since the RRG says - under "Dealing Zero Damage" on p. 6 - that "an attack or card effect that would deal 0 damage does not initiate the resolution of the 'dealing damage' process," attacking with a 0 ATK unit at the same planet as the warlord will not assign 1 damage. That is, since it's the "dealing damage" process that doesn't begin (as opposed the the "taking damage" step in that process), you never get to the "assign" step, so there is nothing for the warlord to interrupt when a 0 ATK unit takes its combat turn.

An interesting example of this seems to be the Chaos warlord. Since his ability is an interrupt to assigning damage, the +1 ATK is added in before shielding. If it was an interrupt to taking damage, it would be added in after shielding.

However (and here's the part where people are not going to believe the water is wet), since the RRG says - under "Dealing Zero Damage" on p. 6 - that "an attack or card effect that would deal 0 damage does not initiate the resolution of the 'dealing damage' process," attacking with a 0 ATK unit at the same planet as the warlord will not assign 1 damage. That is, since it's the "dealing damage" process that doesn't begin (as opposed the the "taking damage" step in that process), you never get to the "assign" step, so there is nothing for the warlord to interrupt when a 0 ATK unit takes its combat turn.

Oh...now that is interesting. Good catch!

The indepth rulebook says that you should "Resolve all additive and/or subtractive modifiers before applying any doubling and/or halving modifiers.".

I'm guessing that shielding doesn't count as a "subtractive modifier" even though it kinda is one? I get it, it's just a little confusing.

The indepth rulebook says that you should "Resolve all additive and/or subtractive modifiers before applying any doubling and/or halving modifiers.".

I'm guessing that shielding doesn't count as a "subtractive modifier" even though it kinda is one? I get it, it's just a little confusing.

It's probably more accurate to say that Shielding isn't technically a "modifier" as described under the statement about subtractive vs. doubling/halving modifiers at all. "Shielding" is more appropriately though of as a separate mechanic rather than as a damage modifier.

Because "shielding" is given its own separate, individual timing in the order of dealing damage, things that modify the amount of damage assigned or the amount of damage taken during the other steps of the process for dealing damage are not on the same level.