Ok. there seems to be some debate with me and my friends about how to proceed with the talent trees. I know you always start with the top tier and then follow the line down to the second tier but what if no line goes into the next tier. Do you have to take the long route or are you allowed to just purchase the next tier?

Welcome, JNaut !

You can only buy a non-5xp talent if you've bought another that's connected to it (the other talent can be 5xp cheaper, the same cost or 5xp more, but there needs to be a connecting line of some kind.).

e.g. a Bounty Hunter: Survivalist could buy Soft Spot if he'd bought Hunter (10xp, immediately to Soft Spot's left) or if he'd bought Natural Outdoorsman (15xp, immediately below). He could not buy it if he'd only bought Expert Tracker (5xp, immediately above).

Yes, you have to take the long way around.

You have to follow a connected path. This is another aspect of talent balancing.

Thank you for all your help

I have a question about talent trees actually, and as I am at work, I don't have the book in front of me to check this. I know that you can get multiple ranks in certain talents in a talent tree, for example 3 ranks of Stalker or Lethal Blows, but if you buy another specialization that also has those talents can you keep adding ranks? For example, 4 ranks of lethal blows or 5 ranks of Stalker?

I have a question about talent trees actually, and as I am at work, I don't have the book in front of me to check this. I know that you can get multiple ranks in certain talents in a talent tree, for example 3 ranks of Stalker or Lethal Blows, but if you buy another specialization that also has those talents can you keep adding ranks? For example, 4 ranks of lethal blows or 5 ranks of Stalker?

Yes, you get additional ranks each time you buy the talent.

For example, if you have Merc. Soldier with two ranks of True Aim and buy into Sharpshooter, you could end up with four ranks of True Aim.

If it's not a ranked talent and it shows up on the next talent tree, you don't have to buy it again. You can simply skip past it to the next talent in the tree.

I have a question about talent trees actually, and as I am at work, I don't have the book in front of me to check this. I know that you can get multiple ranks in certain talents in a talent tree, for example 3 ranks of Stalker or Lethal Blows, but if you buy another specialization that also has those talents can you keep adding ranks? For example, 4 ranks of lethal blows or 5 ranks of Stalker?

Yes, you get additional ranks each time you buy the talent.

For example, if you have Merc. Soldier with two ranks of True Aim and buy into Sharpshooter, you could end up with four ranks of True Aim.

If it's not a ranked talent and it shows up on the next talent tree, you don't have to buy it again. You can simply skip past it to the next talent in the tree.

Thanks, that is what I thought, but it was something I kept forgetting to double check. Honestly I really like how the talent trees work from what I have read so far.

As Bith said, ranked talents do add together from specialization to specialization. For unranked talents that appear in multiple specializations, you only have to purchase them once. If you buy an unranked talent in one tree, and it later appears in another tree that you've purchased, as soon as the talent becomes available, it is considered already purchased and does not require the expenditure of more XP. Any talent attached to that talent is also immediately made available for purchase.

The only other special rule I can think of concerns Force talents. If you purchase a tree from FaD that has Force talents, but you do not have a Force rating, those talents can still be purchased by you (if for no other reason, than to be able to purchase other talents attached to them later on in the tree). However, even if they are purchased, they are not available for use unless you eventually get a Force rating. If you some day get a Force rating buy purchasing one of the FSE trees, all Force talents purchased in any other tree will then be instantly available for use. Until that happens, however, they remain "dormant" and do not give any benefits. Note, especially, that the "Force Rating" talent is, in fact, a Force talent. That means that unless you already have a 1+ Force rating from some other source, you will NOT get any benefit from the "Force Rating" talent.