Spent exhausted defense token, is it gone for good?

I can not find where you get them back. If they are gone for good, Overload Pulse is VERY powerful.

Yes, If you spend a red token they are gone for good. It's a last ditch effort.

And yes, ion cannons are very very useful.

They are exhausted for the duration of the round (unless some other benefit readies them). They are readied in the status phase. p12 of the rules under Status Phase. Elsewhere I read some different terminology - but it all comes down to - once its used - its exhausted and can not be readied until the Status Phase.

What they pretty much said...but the direct rule references

Page 4 of the Rule Reference: Defense Tokens

• Defense Tokens begin the game on their readied side. When a readied defense token is spent, it is flipped to its exhausted side. When an exhausted defense token is spent, it is discarded.

Page 12 of the Rule Reference: Status Phase

During this phase, the players ready all of their exhausted defense tokens by flipping them to their readied side. They also ready all of their exhausted upgrade cards by rotating them...

Overload Pulse is a nice little card though...while not as awesome as " gone forever ", exhaust all their counter-measures is still pretty good.

Wouldn't the above mean that once you use an exhausted token you don't get it back. Wouldn't the status phase basically shift an exhausted token back from red to blue. It doesn't say you get a token back if it's been discarded. Unless I'm missing something...

discarded is gone for good

you only exhaust tokens from what I understand with the Overload Pulse (so if it is already exhausted it has no additional effect)

Yes, you lose an exhausted (red) token when you spend it. You do not lose the tokens when they become exhausted for the first time. Overload Pulse's entire purpose, when you activate it with a blue crit effect, is to give your opponent a very hard choice about whether to defend against attacks for the remainder of the round. It flips your ship's defense tokens to red, then if you decide to use one, it's gone forever. At the end of the current round (Status Phase), any red defense tokens you have left will flip back to their green side.

Yes, you lose an exhausted (red) token when you spend it. You do not lose the tokens when they become exhausted for the first time. Overload Pulse's entire purpose, when you activate it with a blue crit effect, is to give your opponent a very hard choice about whether to defend against attacks for the remainder of the round. It flips your ship's defense tokens to red, then if you decide to use one, it's gone forever. At the end of the current round (Status Phase), any red defense tokens you have left will flip back to their green side.

Yeah, it's one of those damned if you do, damned if you don't game effects...which are great in gaming. Tough choices and gambles are where the challenge is.