I’ve come across something that likely has an easy answer but I can’t find… Ranked Talents available in multiple specialties. Per the book, if you have access to two identical talents (one from each specialization), you do not have to/nor can you/ buy it twice to progress down the tree.

Q: Say I have Lightsaber Parry (Tier 1) from Sho-Chii. I pick up another Specialization that also has a Tier 1 (Parry), do I have the ability to purchase it twice and gain Parry/2? The end result, through two specializations, would be the ability to accumulate a large amount of ranks in certain Talents. Not that it’s a bad thing…

Q2: If I can’t, then how do we handle where Parry (Tier 1) is offered twice in both Specializations. Can I buy only a maximum of two Parry at Tier 1 regardless of Specialization?

Yes, you can get talent rankings by buying them across multiple trees. Remember you have to buy the whole tree so that XP will offset things a bit and maintain balance. No sense buying a whole second tree and it's first tier Parry for 35XP if the tree you already have offers a second rank of Parry for 20XP lower in the tree.

I'm a bit rusty on this, but I'm pretty sure that ranked talents have to be purchased from a 2nd tree while unranked talents are automatically considered known and can be skipped over.

I'm a bit rusty on this, but I'm pretty sure that ranked talents have to be purchased from a 2nd tree while unranked talents are automatically considered known and can be skipped over.

Talents that are Ranked have to be purchased every time they're encountered, because each purchase just gives you one more rank in the Talent. Unranked talents are treated as already purchased when encountered, and so the player can instantly purchase any Talents connected to an unranked, previously purchased Talent once they reach that Talent on the tree

I'm a bit rusty on this, but I'm pretty sure that ranked talents have to be purchased from a 2nd tree while unranked talents are automatically considered known and can be skipped over.

This is correct.

If it's a Ranked talent (such as Defensive Training, Parry, Reflect, Grit, Toughened, Uncanny Reactions, or Keen Eyed are some 'off-the-top of my head' examples), then you have to purchase it in order to proceed further into the specialization.

If it's not a Ranked talent (such as Sum Djem, Improved Parry, or Contingency Plan), then you get to "pass through" since you've already purchased that talent from another specialization. For instance, a PC that started in Shii-Cho Knight before going into Niman Disciple and has the Sum Djem talent could skip the Sum Djem in Column 1/Row 4 of Niman Disciple and purchase Dedication. They'd still have to purchase either the Parry talent in C1/R3 or the Reflect talent in C2/R4 though.