"Before you suffer damage from an attack, you may exhaust this card to reduce the total damage by one."

So, if I am reading this correctly, I can use Major Derlin after defense tokens like a brace? Ex., 8 braces to 4, exhaust Derlin to drop to 3?

Or is he more like an evade in that he affects 1 damage before any reductions?

The timing seems to indicate I could use him after tokens but before I start actually distributing damage. I need someone to help me nail this thing down.

You've got it exactly right. The moment you begin to apply damage, Derlin can jump in and reduce it by 1.

Defense tokens and what not take place before this.

Step 5 of Attack, p1 of Rules Reference Guide refers to damage total. Step 4 is spend defence tokens, so the damage total is reduced by 1 after using your brace.

There is a rules forum for questions like this.

Okay, thanks! Sorry if I put this in the wrong place.

If Derlin happens before defense tokens, then he is not helpful half the time in conjunction with the Brace token. He would reduce an even number of damage by one, to an odd-number, but then because Brace is half rounded up, it essentially undoes his benefit.

So it's good that he applies after defense tokens, because it means he can be used in conjunction with your other defenses. He's kind of like an extra defense token (albeit a fairly gimped token that only reduces damage by 1 and can't be used as often as your other defense tokens), that isn't targetable by Accuracy. He's probably a point or two pricier than he should be.

The last part of Attack - Damage - Breaks down, basically, as this:

- RESOLVE CRITICAL EFFECT
(Contain takes place here)

- CALCULATE DAMAGE TOTAL

(Brace takes place here)

- SUFFER DAMAGE - ONE POINT AT A TIME

(Redirect takes place here)

Major Derlin takes place before you Suffer Damage.

That is translated - Rules wise - to mean immedaitely before you do that.

Which is after the damage is Calculated, and Brace has been Resolved.