Hi all,

If a ship has shields can he receive a critical hit, or do critical hits only apply when the shields are gone?

Many thanks in advance.

While you have shield tokens, you don't draw cards for damage. Each shield token you have absorbs one uncancelled hit from your opponent, Thus, it is impossible to apply critical hits results while your ship still have shields.

Once your shield tokens are depleted, you start to draw damage cards from the deck, and so, you begin to suffer critical effects if the card is dealt face up (critical hit).

However, note that there may be exceptions such as Proton bombs, which directly deal you a damage card face-up (as if you had suffered a critical hit) and does so bypassing the normal procedure of suffering damage and spending shield tokens.

Thanks very much for this info.

Note however, that something that instructs you to "deal a damage card" instead of "deal damage" will bypass shields because it is skipping the damage step and going straight to dealing cards.

While you have shield tokens, you don't draw cards for damage. Each shield token you have absorbs one uncancelled hit from your opponent, Thus, it is impossible to apply critical hits results while your ship still have shields.

To be clear, you do lose shields to uncanceled critical hit results just the same as regular hit results. It's not like you just ignore all crits while you have shields.

I get easily confused. I would find it easier if I could draw a damage card, place a shield token on top of it to show how the shield was used. Either that or a shield token that's blue on one side and black or blank on the other where I flip it to show it has been spent.

I get easily confused. I would find it easier if I could draw a damage card, place a shield token on top of it to show how the shield was used. Either that or a shield token that's blue on one side and black or blank on the other where I flip it to show it has been spent.

I would find THAT very confusing especially if you have a ship that can regain Shield tokens. There would also be "issues" should you misplace a "token cancelling a damage card that I have laying out".

Put the shields on top of the ship cards at the start of the game. When you suffer damage, if you have shields left, take 1 shield token per damage suffered and return it to the box. If you run out of tokens, start drawing cards.

If you regain shields, get the right number back out of the box and put them back on the ship card.

Doing this is extremely clear what is happening, extremely clear how many shields are left, and very hard to get confused.

And pretty much the best way to do it. Everyone I know that plays, use this method.