In essence, I'm a little confused.

With cards like Wampa, Vader or Feedback Array (for example)

Wampa: When attacking, you may cancel all dice results. If you cancel a Crit result, deal 1 facedown Damage card to the defender.

Vader crew: After you perform an attack against an enemy ship, you may suffer 2 damage to cause that ship to suffer 1 critical damage.

Feedback Array: During the Combat phase, instead of performing any attacks, you may receive 1 ion token and suffer 1 damage to choose 1 enemy ship at Range 1. That ship suffers 1 damage.

1. If the target ship still has shields, would it lose a shield?

2. Or would the damage be applied directly to the Hull?

And why, please, in either case?

Thanks,

GSP

If the card says 'deal a (faceup/facedown) damage card' it ignores shields, because that's what the card says, which overrides the normal rules about how damage is dealt. Cards such as Wampa and Advanced Homing Missiles fall into this category. If a ship is dealt enough damage cards to kill it, it dies regardless of how many shields it has remaining.

If the card says 'deal/suffer X (critical) damage' it goes to shields first because that's how damage in general is applied, and the card doesn't say to do otherwise. Darth Vader crew (both the effects on the ship he's on and the ship he's targetting) falls into this category.

In general, do what the card says, don't do what it doesn't say. In particular, don't assume anything about what the card says that isn't actually written on it. Just because it deals damage at an unusual time, doesn't mean it doesn't follow the normal rules for dealing damage - any exception to the rules will be specifically stated on the card (or very occasionally in the FAQ/tournament rules).

As mentioned shields are only ignored if an effect explicitly says it deals CARDS. Wampa is such an effect as is the Proton Bomb and AHM.

Fabulous. Thanks Guys.

Perfectly succinct. Sometimes phrases like Electronic Baffle's "...suffer a damage" can seem ambiguous, but now it's perfectly clear that you would apply the damage to shields first and then the hull.

I have been told an easy way to remember it is, Suffer = Shields. If the card states "suffer" then damage goes to shields first, then hull.

I have been told an easy way to remember it is, Suffer = Shields. If the card states "suffer" then damage goes to shields first, then hull.

Now that's how you make an entrance.