Looking for some help. I have a question that came up in a game today regarding Cloaking and Decloaking while Ionized.

Specifically, my Whisper got ionized during combat. Can she cloak in the end phase (provided she has an evade token, which she did), and then decloak in the next system phase? Also can she perform an evade action in the system phase while ionized?

After consulting the Rules Reference we determined that she could do both of these (ion affects only planning and activation phases but not the end phase and system phase), but it still feels wrong that an ionized ship can continue to make cloak shenanigans. Is there something that we missed or did we interpret it correctly?

If this is correct, it means that a Cloaked ship can have 4 positions where it can end up (1 straight from current position or 1 straight from one of the three decloak positions). Well, technically I guess it’s 8 positions (depending on how you barrel roll the decloak), not to count or mention the number of possibilities for Echo...

she can cloak and decloak as normal, see rules reference:

On 10/29/2018 at 8:57 PM, Gamer__ou__ said:

Also can she perform an evade action in the system phase while ionized?

do you mean "in the perform action step in the activation phase"? if yes, then no, she cannot perform the evade action. she can only perform the focus action (see point 3 above).

Yes all of that is correct. A cloak token only prevents a dial from being assigned to the ship, and it prevents any action other than focus during the perform action step of a ship's activation. There are a few tricks people can pull while ionized such as Sabine Wren or a ship with supernatural reflexes can boost or barrel roll before activating since those actions are not dependent on a dial reveal and they are not part of the perform action step.

3 hours ago, Cassan said:

do you mean "in the perform action step in the activation phase"? if yes, then no, she cannot perform the evade action. she can only perform the focus action (see point 3 above).

No, they mean in the exact phase they named in their question... after "read the card", now we have "read the question"

On 10/29/2018 at 8:57 PM, Gamer__ou__ said:

Specifically, my Whisper got ionized during combat. Can she cloak in the end phase (provided she has an evade token, which she did), and then decloak in the next system phase? Also can she perform an evade action in the system phase while ionized?

yes, the ionization has no effect before the planning stage (and later on during activation) of the next round, except she's stuck with the tokens.

On 10/29/2018 at 8:57 PM, Gamer__ou__ said:

After consulting the Rules Reference we determined that she could do both of these (ion affects only planning and activation phases but not the end phase and system phase), but it still feels wrong that an ionized ship can continue to make cloak shenanigans. Is there something that we missed or did we interpret it correctly?

it seems you interpreted it correctly.

On 10/29/2018 at 8:57 PM, Gamer__ou__ said:

If this is correct, it means that a Cloaked ship can have 4 positions where it can end up (1 straight from current position or 1 straight from one of the three decloak positions). Well, technically I guess it’s 8 positions (depending on how you barrel roll the decloak), not to count or mention the number of possibilities for Echo...

yup, cloaking is very powerful, mostly because of how good decloaking is. especially with a collision detector equipped, it's very difficult for you opponent to predict where you will end up. how ever, you don't decloak with a one straight or barrel roll, you do it with a two straight or barrel roll. also, it's seven options, not eight, assuming you are decloaking. staying cloaked accounts for the eight option i guess. echo has six more decloaking options than a normal ship, since you can turn the bank template either way. whether you go backwards or forwards while performing a normal (as in, not echo) decloak barrel roll is kind of irrelevant as far as mind games go, since your planned maneuver will still change your position a lot. when ionized, it will have a bigger impact, since you will always perform a blue one straight when ionized.

also, performing the evade action granted by the stygium array ship ability on the phantom is still permitted, even while ionized, since the focus action restriction from ion only applies to the perform action step of activation - and you decloak during the systems phase.

please keep in mind that you can't perform the evade action more than once per turn when flying phantoms - and equip juke and collision detector for a ton of fun. darth vader crew is also just amazing on phantoms. or sloane, if you're running three or more other ships. vader is amazing on whisper, sloane is best on echo, since echos ability lets you keep sloane alive easier.

edit: forgot to mention that you do use a one speed template if your ship is medium or large base! and you barrel roll as normal, this means turning the template. cloaking is just better on small ships.

6 hours ago, Cassan said:

do you mean "in the perform action step in the activation phase"? if yes, then no, she cannot perform the evade action. she can only perform the focus action (see point 3 above).

its the only action restriction there is while ionized. thats why i mentioned it.