Which Upgrades stay "in play"?

By Greyronin, in X-Wing Rules Questions

Apologies if thsi is buried in another thread but I couldn't find any specifics about soem fo the upgrades. If teh card says use this card to do X that is okay, but some others related to Astromechs for example are unclear.

So, do Upgrade cards stay in effect unless explicitly saying to use the card for a one of effect?

Unless it specifically says "discard this card" like torpedoes do, they all stay in play, although they may need to be activated with actions each time you want to use them.

Ah, the use of the card requires an action, gotcha. Thanks, that makes more sense!

Greyronin said:

Ah, the use of the card requires an action, gotcha. Thanks, that makes more sense!

Generally, if it doesn't say "Attack:" or "Action:" then its effect is constant. For example, you don't have to spend an action to use Determination. You do have to use an action for Expert Handling or R2-F2. R2-D2 is an example of a card that requires a specific circumstance to occur (taking a green maneuver) before the benefit kicks in. As mentioned above, you just have to read the cards to understand when its effect occurs.