It lacks the word Faceup, but you can't see the trait on a damage card dealt facedown. Oversight or does this mean that you're allowed look at the crit effect of facedown cards (we'd always played it that you don't look at facedown cards)?

I think that a damage card doesn't have the Ship trait if it isn't face up. This makes sense to me, since if you can't see the Ship trait then it effectively doesn't have it. In addition, on page 16 of the Core Rulebook, it states that (italics mine):

"When a ship suffers damage, players deal the damage card facedown and ignore the card's text." It seems that the trait would be part of the card's text.

It also says (in the next paragraph of the same page):

"The text on faceup Damage cards is resolved as instructed on the card. Listed above this ability is a TRAIT (either Ship or Pilot). The trait has no effect, but may be referenced by other cards or abilities."

This (to me) makes it sound like the trait is only 'resolved' and reference-able by other cards or abilities when the card is flipped or dealt faceup.

I hope this helps!

It lacks the word Faceup, but you can't see the trait on a damage card dealt facedown. Oversight or does this mean that you're allowed look at the crit effect of facedown cards (we'd always played it that you don't look at facedown cards)?

No, you don't get to look at the text on a facedown card when it's dealt. They are just used as a counter of sorts to keep track of how much damage the ship has taken. The critical effect only comes into play if the card is dealt faceup or it is flipped faceup.

So Salvaged Astro is fairly junk then (no pun intended). Given how good the design is nowadays, it's surprising that an effect that's weaker than R5 costs more.

So Salvaged Astro is fairly junk then (no pun intended).

No it isn't.

It makes one damage card go away before it inflicts actual damage. Assuming you do receive a critical damage with the ship trait before being destroyed. For two points, that's not bad.

R5 works during the end phase, which means you still need to be alive after suffering the damage. And even then the non-critical damage remains.

Salvaged Astromech is bad for the only ship that can equip it.

With only 1 agility, a Y-Wing has very low mitigation rates, meaning that the natural 3-1 ratio of rolled Hits to Crits is basically going to be how the cards are dealt.

With 5 total hull, that's slightly more than one expected Crit to land on your hull.

Only 75% of the damage deck are Ship cards (well, 75/99), so there's an even stronger amount of variance that the card won't enter play.

Another difference between salvaged and R5:

Salvaged Astromech works on 25 of 33 damage cards. R5 only works on 19. Thrust Control Fire, Minor Explosion and Munitions Failure are turned face-down before R5 triggers.

Both Astromechs may do nothing during a game. Salvaged Astromech is more likely do to something than R5. And if Salvaged Astromech does anything, the effect is better than R5. 2 points compared to 1 seems about fair.

Considering the limited number of salvaged astromech types in the game, I'd say it's a good buy. You're giving yourself a net savings in both points and damage potential if you receive a 'munitions failure' and you're gaining back 40% of your hull points if you draw a 'direct hit' card or a bad luck minor explosion. Add in structural damage or damaged engine, and you have a huge number of possible crits that will ruin a Y-Wing's day that can be thrown out (once) while maintaining it's ability to tank more regular damage.

Unless your opponent has the ability to change dice into crits through an ability, you're probably not going to see more than 2 on your Y-Wing before it's destroyed by regular damage anyway. My last game ended in a turret war between my Y-Wing and an Imperial Decimator. On the last round we had 2 hull points apiece and he got a direct hit crit on me before I could shoot. Fielding unhinged could have given me the game.