hi,
acording to the Erata, i can use before combat skill once but pay as much as i want.
for example:
the battlemage can pay 2 E for 1 more damage or he can pay 4 E for 2 more damage.
what about Silhotte? she can take 2 E for another attack in a second phase, can she pay $ E for 2 more attacks?
smae question for Mad Cartos, can he take 2 damage and test his spirit twice for 4 damege?
thank you!

Mad Carthos cannot test Spriti twice because it would violate the rule that states you can one a before combat ability only once (each test is a new use).

I think the same goes for Silhouette.

In general I find these before combat abilities are worded very poorly. It's hard to tell which ones can be inflated while still only counting as a single use, and which ones can't.

I agree with Cimmeria abotu Mad Carthos and Silhouette, though. I believe they're both one-shots.

Silhouette's ability is not Before Combat. It can be used during the Ranged, Melee or Magic Phase (even though it has no purpose in the Magic Phase).

Remember that Before Combat is not a "phase", so she cannot use her ability in Before Combat.

If you spend 2 E after attacking in Ranged, the 2 E after attacking in Melee, you can attack in all Phases for that combat round.

The difference between cards that you can activate and abilities you can use "Before Combat" is not that difficult to understand:

1) you can use each of your Hero's or Allies' Before Combat abilities once

2) you can activate a single "activate-to-use" Item that has an ability in Before Combat

Besides this ruling given in the basic Rulebook, the FAQ says that A card may be used multiple times for the same effect unless the card states otherwise . This is the reason why Silhouette's ability can be used multiple times and Mad Carthos or Astarra cannot (they're Before Combat abilities).