I tried looking through the threads to see if this already had a thread going, and didn't see it, so if I missed it, my bad.

I've seen a few instances now of people claiming that you cannot use Feedback Array while Cloaked. The usual stated logic is that "you have no opportunity to attack, therefore you cannot use Feedback Array". This didn't sit right with me, just because I " can't attack ", doesn't mean I don't " have the opportunity ".

Let's start with what we know. The Blinded Pilot critical damage card, the rules for Obstacles, the Cloak action rules, the rules for the Weapons Disabled token, all use the exact same phrase "You cannot perform attacks"

The most recent FAQ states the following with regards to Feedback Array:

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Using Feedback Array does not count as an attack, and can be used against ships you are touching and while you have the Blinded Pilot Damage card assigned to your ship. It cannot be used while you are overlapping an asteroid or have a weapons disabled token.

Ok, so even tho all of those conditions use the same phrase, "You cannot perform attacks", Blinded Pilot still allows you to use Feedback Array, while the others do not. This may seem arbitrary at first, but I think there is logic to it. Here's the full text from Blinded Pilot:

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You cannot perform attacks. After your next opportunity to attack (even if there was no target to attack) flip this card face down.

The phrase "you cannot perform attacks" can't deny you the "opportunity" to attack. Otherwise Blinded Pilot would never meet the condition for flipping it over. In other words, if I can't use Feedback Array while I'm cloaked, then the Blinded Pilot crit is a permanent condition for the rest of the game. Therefore, I submit that the problem is that these effects are all worded the same, when the intent seems to be different based on what is denying you the ability to shoot. It would seem that FFG is of the opinion that landing on an Obstacle or having a Weapons Disabled token, effectively makes you skip your "opportunity" to attack, while Blinded Pilot and being Cloaked merely prevent you from shooting, while leaving the "opportunity" intact. I realize that there's no small amount of speculation within my logic, but it seems pretty solid to me. Ultimately, we need a FAQ to clear this whole mess up, but since we're clearly not getting one until after Store Championship season is over, I need something to base my ruling on in the meantime.

Also, if there's an email from Frank or Alex that I'm not aware of that either confirms or contradicts this, please let me know.

Something to bear in mind is that the original damage deck "Blinded Pilot" is what the Feedback Array FAQ entry is referring to which specifically allows you to attack but roll 0 dice. This is what causes the confusion as it creates conflicting answers for this question.

Feedback array replaces your attack, so you must be able to attack in the first place. This is why you can only use 1 FA even if you have 2 equipped.

I was unaware of that detail, so thanks for the context on that. However, even considering that to be the case, they didn't bother to specify in the FAQ, which just makes things worse. That also doesn't change the fact that using the logic that "cannot attack" = "no opportunity" means that the TFA Blinded Pilot can't meet the condition to flip itself over. Incidentally, (assuming that the crit functions properly) it would also mean that if you are cloaked and receive a Blinded Pilot crit, you wouldn't be able to flip the crit until you decloak, which is another topic unto itself.

Also, the FAQ has this to say with reference to TFA Blinded Pilot:

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A ship that has a weapons disabled token or is overlapping an asteroid does not get an opportunity to attack during the Combat phase and therefore cannot turn Blinded Pilot facedown.

It doesn't specifically mention being Cloaked here, which is where you'd expect to see it if it functions like the other two mechanics mentioned. The Cloak action and the TFA Damage Deck have both been in the game long enough that if they wanted it to prevent your attack "opportunity" due to being cloaked they would have had plenty of time to include that detail in the FAQ.

By that same logic, they've had plenty of time to include cloak tokens with Blinded Pilot in the feedback array section, but it doesn't say you can use feedback array if you are cloaked. I have yet to see any evidence as to whether a cloak token blocks attacks similar to a weapons disabled token or if blocks attacks similar to blinded pilot and since all 3 use the same language, there is no clear right answer. I think this will be up to the TO at any event until FFG updates the FAQ.

Fair enough. I agree, that line of reasoning can cut both ways, and it absolutely needs to be addressed in the next FAQ. I guess it's more that I'm curious about why the majority of people seem to be leaning towards the direction of "No, you can't" when there's at least as much compelling evidence to say that it should be "yes, you can"? Sure, a cloaked Palob with Feedback and Pulse Ray Shield seems annoying, but it's not going to stop the meta in its tracks, so I don't see why people would want to disallow it out of hand based on the fear that it could be abused. Mostly, I need to come up with a stop-gap ruling of some kind on it before running a Store Championship this weekend.

1 hour ago, joeshmoe554 said:

I have yet to see any evidence as to whether a cloak token blocks attacks similar to a weapons disabled token

If you look at the reference cards for the SLAM action as well as the cloak action both use the exact same wording specifically bolding the fact that ships with these tokens cannot attack, and that if the precedent set by weapons disabled token prevents use of Feedback Array then the same ruling should apply to a ship with a cloak token.

But again the FAQ and lack of distinction relating to the 2 different versions of the blinded pilot crit cards really does muddy the waters unnecessarily.

I personally think it shouldn't allow it since I see a cloak token as being more similar to a weapons disabled token than a blinded pilot crit. Also Blinded Pilot does not prevent an opportunity to attack out of necessity, since doing so would prevent the player from resolving the crit. Cloak, Weapons Disabled and Asteroids have no such necessity so they can prevent the opportunity to attack. Though that is mostly my opinion.

We are waiting for a clarification in the FaQ.

In the meanwhile, some time ago I shared a mail from the developers answering that question:

Hello Willy,

This is another area where the FAQ is super inconsistent unfortunately

It seems to me that Weapons Disabled, (New) Blinded Pilot, Cloak, and Asteroid should all be treated the same, as they all do the same thing.

But they're not.

Which makes it confusing, and makes it difficult to remember in game which is treated which way without referring to the FAQ.

I really hope they fix this.

13 minutes ago, thespaceinvader said:

This is another area where the FAQ is super inconsistent unfortunately

It seems to me that Weapons Disabled, (New) Blinded Pilot, Cloak, and Asteroid should all be treated the same, as they all do the same thing.

But they're not.

Which makes it confusing, and makes it difficult to remember in game which is treated which way without referring to the FAQ.

I really hope they fix this.

Totally agree with that, as you may notice in the way i asked the question...