According to the Steps of an Attack, step 4 is

4. Apply Modifiers: If players have any effects that gain or remove icons or Accuracy, they are applied at this time. This includes spending evade results to remove surge results. Any surge results that provide modifiers are not resolved until step 5.

(RRG, p5)

Technically, the rules don't specify how to resolve several such effects, so it could be argued that they must be applied simultaneously and therefore each ability's effect can only be based on the icons rolled on the dice, and not any icons added (or removed) by other abilities.

But I have always interpreted this to mean that any such abilities can be triggered sequentially in the order of their owner's choosing, such that icons added by one ability can be used to trigger other abilities. In this interpretation, if Han Solo were attacked while adjacent to C-3PO for example, the Rebel player(s) could apply C-3PO's Distracting (+1 evade for adjacent friendlies) first, and then apply Han's Cunning (+1 block per evade) next for an additional +1 block from that evade (plus any other evades rolled on the dice).

But there could still be cases where the order of resolution has an effect on the outcome, and it's not always clear to me which of these sorts of effects would be considered "mission rules" or "Imperial/Rebel effects" or "attacker/defender effects" etc.

Some more hypotheticals:

If a Rebel is defending and has a Combat Coat (convert 1 or more evades into blocks) but is also Weakened (-1 evade), could they convert all of their evades first so the -1 evade from Weakened has no further effect?

If Han Solo is defending while Weakened and rolls 1 evade, can he trigger Cunning for +1 block before Weakened takes away the evade?

If there is ever a way for Jyn to gain the Cunning ability, could she use Roll With It (convert 1 or more blocks into evades) and then trigger Cunning (+1 evade per block) for a net effect of +1 evade per block?

If Gideon is attacking and has Military Efficiency (convert 1 damage into surge) and also Weakness Revealed (-1 damage), or if he's wounded and Old Wounds (-1 damage for wounded heroes) is in play, and he rolls only 1 damage, could he choose to convert it first? That would leave him at -1 damage, but if he could surge for +2 damage it would still be a net gain.

If Gideon is defending and has Military Efficiency (convert 1 block to evade) and also Weakness Revealed (-1 block) and rolls only 1 block, could he choose to convert it first? This might be different from the above, since timing conflicts in combat go to the attacker first.

If Verena is adjacent to a defending Nexu who rolls 1 evade, could she trigger Create Opening (-1 block or -1 evade) to remove it before the Nexu's Cunning gives it +1 block? In this case Verena is neither the attacker nor the defender, so would the Imperial decide? Or, since Create Opening can be triggered "while a hostile figure adjacent to you is defending", could she choose to invoke it before dice are even rolled? In that case it wouldn't even matter if the Imperial interrupted to trigger Cunning first, since at that stage, there would not yet be any evades rolled to trigger it with.

Ultimately what I'm trying to determine is if there is ever a situation where an icon-dependent ability (i.e. +1 X per Y requires a Y, convert Z to W requires a Z, etc) might be triggered (whether preferentially or forcibly) before a flat modifier (i.e. apply +Y to the results, apply either -X or -Z, etc). Or can I assume that all flat bonuses/maluses will take effect before any other abilities that might be influenced by them?

There is nothing ultimately simultaneous in the game. I say go with the Timing rules. Mission (base) rules first (including added and removed icons from conditions), then attacker abilities, then defender abilities.

During the campaign Imperial player decides the order or mission rules, during skirmish the player with initiative decides.

Some of the cases:

* Han: Distracting can happen before Cunning, both are defender abilities.

* Han: Weakened happens first. (There's a ruling about this, Weakened is considered a mission/base rule for the purposes of adding and removing icons.)

* Gideon: Weakness Revealed is attacker (or maybe even mission) ability, so happens first. So if there are no blocks left after it, Gideon can't use military efficiency.

* Verena: Create Opening is attacker ability, so it removes the evade first, so Cunning does not see the evade.

I think I generally agree, except:

• Weakness Revealed is an Imperial agenda that can be played on a hero for one round to give them -1 damage while attacking and -1 block while defending. But since it's an Imperial card, I think it's the Imperial player who would have to trigger its effects, which means the timing would depend on who is attacking. If the Imperial is attacking Gideon then they would get to trigger the -1 block first as the attacker, and if no blocks remain after that, then as you say Gideon could not use Military Efficiency; but if Gideon is attacking, I think he could use Military Efficiency first to convert damage to surge before the defending Imperial could apply the -1 damage.
• Old Wounds is an Imperial reward that gives all wounded heroes -1 damage while attacking. But again, since it's an Imperial card, I think it would only ever be triggered by the Imperial while defending, which means the attacking Rebel would get to use any of their abilities first (such as Military Efficiency).
• Create Opening is also tricky since it doesn't require that Verena herself is actually involved in the attack, but only that a defending hostile figure is adjacent to her. If she is the one attacking then I agree that it is an attacker ability which would get to apply first, before the defender could use Cunning; but if the attacker is some other Rebel -- let's say Loku -- then it's not clear to me who would have timing priority. Loku the attacker would get to trigger abilities first, but Loku cannot trigger Verena's ability, only Verena can do that. One could argue therefore that Verena is "outside the combat" and normal "outside of combat" rules would apply, allowing the Imperial to choose the resolution order.

Here's one more weird edge case: the command card "Harsh Environment" lasts one round and causes all figures to get -1 evade while on an exterior tile, and +1 block while on an interior tile.

One option is to treat this like the Weakened condition and apply those modifiers as "game rules" or "mission rules", before any other attacker or defender abilities can be used.

But since the card has to be played by a specific player, and would presumably remain in their play area until being discarded into their discard pile at the end of the round, one could also interpret it as an ability originating from that player.

In that case, while attacking an enemy who is outdoors, that player would always choose to apply the -1 evade first; and even while attacking an enemy who is indoors, that player would (as the attacker) be forced to apply the +1 block before the defender uses any abilities that might get to make use of the extra block result.

But when the player who played the card is defending, things get more complicated. While defending indoors, they would choose to apply the +1 block before any of their other abilities, but while defending outdoors, they would prefer to trigger things like Cunning first for +1 block per evade, before having to apply the -1 evade from their own Harsh Environment. I can't see a clear rule that would prevent them from doing it in this order.

EDIT: As a matter of fact, I could even see an argument that this card text is an "ability" and abilities are always optional, so the player who played the card could simply decline to activate that ability while attacking an interior space or defending on an exterior space. I have to assume the *intention* was for the card to affect all combats that round, but since the card doesn't say "must" for example, I'm not sure how to argue that this particular card ability is mandatory while all others are not.

The lack of "must" is not important, the lack of "may" is. Unless there is a "may", the effect must be applied whenever it is applicable. (As far as I remember how the different abilities are worded. See bleeding, weakened, focused for examples. You don't have a choice to apply them and they don't have must. A weapon can have +1dmg and +2acc, and you don't get to choose to use them, they are applied always.) If an ability has a cost, then you can choose whether to pay the cost or not (exhaust, deplete, strain cost, threat cost, surge ability). If an ability has "may", then you can decide whether to use it.

Weakness Revealed and Old Wounds are global effects, so I'm not sure whether they should be considered mission rules or figure abilities. I see good arguments for both.

I can certainly see your argument, but I can also see an argument to the contrary. As a general rule, I don't think players are required to activate an ability immediately when the timing instance allows them to, it's always a choice. This comes up more often when the ability has a cost and makes the most sense in that context, but I don't see anything in the rules that says even free abilities *have* to be activated. For example an Imperial figure with an innate +1 damage might not want to activate it when attacking Gaarkhan, if activating it would mean dealing 3 damage to give him focus.

More specifically:

All text on cards and hero sheets are referred to as abilities. Abilities provide special effects that can be performed above and beyond the standard rules of the game.

(RRG, p2, "Abilities")

Emphasis added. The implication sure sounds optional to me.

Conditions I think fall into a different category because those cards aren't directly "played by" or "owned by" any individual player. A player can choose to trigger a keyword during their attack, and then the core game rules state that the keyword causes the condition to be applied, which (in my view) is what makes Conditions a "game effect" rather than a "player effect". That's what makes them apply first, before any player abilities, and for that same reason they're effectively mandatory because the "game" is assumed to always "choose" to trigger the effect.

Weakness Revealed and Old Wounds are different since those cards are not put into play by "the game" but specifically by the Imperial player, so I could see them being ruled as Imperial effects which must be triggered voluntarily by the Imperial player according to the Imperial player's timing priority as the attacker or defender. That would still put Harsh Environment in a strange place, though; it certainly *seems* like it's meant to be mandatory, but I see no actual printed rule to make that argument with.

I don't think that Mak can choose to apply +2 Health when he has Jeswandi Training.

He also can't turn Covert on and off at will. There was a lot of discussion about this during the 'good old times'.

According to the Steps of an Attack, step 4 is

4. Apply Modifiers: If players have any effects that gain or remove icons or Accuracy, they are applied at this time. This includes spending evade results to remove surge results. Any surge results that provide modifiers are not resolved until step 5.

(RRG, p5)

Technically, the rules don't specify how to resolve several such effects, so it could be argued that they must be applied simultaneously and therefore each ability's effect can only be based on the icons rolled on the dice, and not any icons added (or removed) by other abilities.

But I have always interpreted this to mean that any such abilities can be triggered sequentially in the order of their owner's choosing, such that icons added by one ability can be used to trigger other abilities. In this interpretation, if Han Solo were attacked while adjacent to C-3PO for example, the Rebel player(s) could apply C-3PO's Distracting (+1 evade for adjacent friendlies) first, and then apply Han's Cunning (+1 block per evade) next for an additional +1 block from that evade (plus any other evades rolled on the dice).

But there could still be cases where the order of resolution has an effect on the outcome, and it's not always clear to me which of these sorts of effects would be considered "mission rules" or "Imperial/Rebel effects" or "attacker/defender effects" etc.

Some more hypotheticals:

If a Rebel is defending and has a Combat Coat (convert 1 or more evades into blocks) but is also Weakened (-1 evade), could they convert all of their evades first so the -1 evade from Weakened has no further effect?

If Han Solo is defending while Weakened and rolls 1 evade, can he trigger Cunning for +1 block before Weakened takes away the evade?

If there is ever a way for Jyn to gain the Cunning ability, could she use Roll With It (convert 1 or more blocks into evades) and then trigger Cunning (+1 evade per block) for a net effect of +1 evade per block?

If Gideon is attacking and has Military Efficiency (convert 1 damage into surge) and also Weakness Revealed (-1 damage), or if he's wounded and Old Wounds (-1 damage for wounded heroes) is in play, and he rolls only 1 damage, could he choose to convert it first? That would leave him at -1 damage, but if he could surge for +2 damage it would still be a net gain.

If Gideon is defending and has Military Efficiency (convert 1 block to evade) and also Weakness Revealed (-1 block) and rolls only 1 block, could he choose to convert it first? This might be different from the above, since timing conflicts in combat go to the attacker first.

If Verena is adjacent to a defending Nexu who rolls 1 evade, could she trigger Create Opening (-1 block or -1 evade) to remove it before the Nexu's Cunning gives it +1 block? In this case Verena is neither the attacker nor the defender, so would the Imperial decide? Or, since Create Opening can be triggered "while a hostile figure adjacent to you is defending", could she choose to invoke it before dice are even rolled? In that case it wouldn't even matter if the Imperial interrupted to trigger Cunning first, since at that stage, there would not yet be any evades rolled to trigger it with.

Ultimately what I'm trying to determine is if there is ever a situation where an icon-dependent ability (i.e. +1 X per Y requires a Y, convert Z to W requires a Z, etc) might be triggered (whether preferentially or forcibly) before a flat modifier (i.e. apply +Y to the results, apply either -X or -Z, etc). Or can I assume that all flat bonuses/maluses will take effect before any other abilities that might be influenced by them?

I am not sure what questions are still unresolved but I will comment on the hypothetical situations mentioned here. I think key references are RRG conflicts and attacks.

For the situation with combat coat and weakened, the weakened is applied first because it is a mission rule. Same situation for Solo and cunning.

If Jyn had cunning and roll with it, she would be able to do both for your said net effect.

For Gideon with ME and WR, I would say he could convert it first (attacker effect) before the -1 damage. In the defending example the WR would happen first, so no he couldn't convert.

For Verena and the Nexu, create opening is an attacker ability and happens before cunning. Even if she isn't "the" attacker the rules say "While attacking, mission rules are resolved first, followed by effects from the attacker (including figures friendly to him), then effects from the defender (including figures friendly to him)." Also it doesn't matter when you trigger the ability during the attack, modifiers don't take effect until the apply modifiers step.

As far as the innate ability being triggered at will, Are you saying an AT-ST can "turn off" massive so figures can no longer ignore figures when determining LOS? I don't see a special word for these built in abilities but I would say you can't just turn them off.

For Verena and the Nexu, create opening is an attacker ability and happens before cunning. Even if she isn't "the" attacker the rules say "While attacking, mission rules are resolved first, followed by effects from the attacker (including figures friendly to him), then effects from the defender (including figures friendly to him)." Also it doesn't matter when you trigger the ability during the attack, modifiers don't take effect until the apply modifiers step.

For abilities which simply add or remove a constant number of icons, no it doesn't matter since the sum will be the same at the end anyway. But for things like Cunning and conversions like Combat Coat, Roll With It and Military Efficiency, it does matter exactly when it happens, because you can only convert icons that are present at the time. Otherwise you could just say "I'm converting 10 evades (that I don't have) so I have +10 block and the -10 evade doesn't matter anyway." That said, I'd totally forgotten the "(including figures friendly to him)" clause, so that settles that for Create Opening.

As far as the innate ability being triggered at will, Are you saying an AT-ST can "turn off" massive so figures can no longer ignore figures when determining LOS? I don't see a special word for these built in abilities but I would say you can't just turn them off.

That's true, it wouldn't make any sense to be able to turn off Massive. So I guess the general rule has to be that all abilities are mandatory unless they have an associated cost, and it's only then that you can choose not to pay the cost to not activate the ability. That settles Harsh Environment, but I think the exact timing of that card as well as Weakness Revealed and Old Wounds is still ambiguous. They're not exactly Conditions like Weakened which apply first as game rules, so I'm still inclined to say they belong to the player who put the card into play and must take effect during that player's timing window, whether they're the attacker or the defender.

I agree with your thoughts on the agenda cards. To me they are imperial abilities that apply as either attacker abilities or defender abilities depending on the situation.

As far as when I say timing doesn't matter, I only mean that in terms of the "while attacking or while defending" You can declare to use an ability before a roll but the effect doesn't happen until the apply modifiers step. You can't use the ability "early" to short cut the timing of a mission rule or an attackers ability. For example you can't say "I'm using cunning before my defensive roll so create opening can't remove my evade before I use it."

Hiya. This might be the best place for this question.... Might be a dumb question. Auto answered in a rules release.... I'm just getting into IA..... But.

In skirmish. One cards allows another to interrupt to make an attack. And the attack gains 1blast. Then when the attack happens it has 2blast already. Do these combine? What about with surge to get blast as an additional situation.

Sorry again for possible dumb question. Thanks all.

Hiya. This might be the best place for this question.... Might be a dumb question. Auto answered in a rules release.... I'm just getting into IA..... But.

In skirmish. One cards allows another to interrupt to make an attack. And the attack gains 1blast. Then when the attack happens it has 2blast already. Do these combine? What about with surge to get blast as an additional situation.

Sorry again for possible dumb question. Thanks all.

I don't see why not. It's the same with a surge or an automatic +1 dmg. It just gets added to the attack. It's even easier with blast and cleave since you can't block or evade those ones.

Remember: "Weakened" is considered a mission rule. (see the FAQ ruling). It *ALWAYS* applies first. If you add a single evade while weakened, and you don't already have one, you will lose it.

Harsh Environment works *EXACTLY* the same way.

You cannot choose to "convert" an evade to a block to get around weakened. Nor can you choose to convert a block to an evade to get around an effect that subtracts blocks.

In skirmish. One cards allows another to interrupt to make an attack. And the attack gains 1blast. Then when the attack happens it has 2blast already. Do these combine? What about with surge to get blast as an additional situation.

You can trigger each (surge) ability only once per timing instance, but because the abilities come from separate sources, if you trigger one from a surge, when the attack resolves, you first apply one of the blast abilities, then the other (the order is attacker's choice).

(Usually the order does not matter, but might matter if you destroy a door with the first blast.)