1.) Is there a maximum of ice you can use in a row?

2.) Can i access an icecard with a defense "0" without an icebreaker?

1.) Is there a maximum of ice you can use in a row?

No. Just remember each extra row of ICE gets more and more expensive to install.

2.) Can i access an icecard with a defense "0" without an icebreaker?

Be very careful about the terminology you use. 'Access' means a very specific thing in the context of the game.

Technically the answer to your question is no as you are never allowed to 'access' ICE unless it's from a successful run on a central server. And technically there is no such thing as 'defense'. Ice has 'strength'.

Using the correct terminology is very important, especially in this game.

Even then, I'm not really sure what you are asking.

Are you wondering if you are allowed to approach and or encounter without an icebreaker? If so, then the answer is yes. You don't need an ice breaker to make a run.

Are you wondering if you are allowed to break subroutines without a breaker....then no. You must have the appropriate ice breaker to break subroutines even if the strength of the ice is zero. That being said, you also don't need to break subroutines if you don't want/can't.

An example would be Ichi 1.0 that has 3 subroutines, but no end-the-run. If you don't break any subroutines, all three will fire in order....but your run won't end and you can approach the next piece of ice (or the server if there are no other ice).

Actually, having an icebreaker is not a requirement to break ICE subroutines. Icebreakers just happen to be the most common source of breaking effects.

Ichi 1.0 (and all Bioroid ICE) says the runner may spend clicks to break subroutines on it. You don't need any icebreaker to do that.

However, to break a subroutine with an icebreaker's ability, you need the icebreaker to have at least as much strength as the ICE (and follow any other restriction in the ability, such as type of ICE).

I'm a newbie at this Netrunner thing, just played my 7th game last night and something similar popped up that I can't seem to find the answer to.

From what I can see, icebreakers are primarily used to break ice subroutines, and to do so they need to match the ice being encountered, right? But if the ice has no subroutines, can I use any type of icebreaker just to beat the strength? The specific situation was encountering Tyrant (I think it's called), which is a Barrier that has no subroutines until it has been advanced. So I ran at it using another icebreaker (I can't remember the name, its type was 'icebreaker - killer'). My argument for using it was that I wasn't breaking any Barrier subroutines, and the icebreaker doesn't specify the type of ice in its subtype, so I thought all would be well. Is this legal, though?

Thanks!

Spalanzi, your question reveals that you have a deeper misunderstanding on how ice and icebreakers work. As you correctly stated, you use icebreakers to break subroutines on ice. To do so you must 1) have an icebreaker that can break subroutines on the type of ice you are encountering and 2) to do so that icebreaker must at least match the strength of the ice encountered.

If the ice has no subroutine (such as an unadvanced Tyrant), there is nothing for an icebreaker to break. Therefore, no icebreaker of yours needs to match the strength of the ice, because there's nothing for the icebreaker to do. No subroutines go off on the ice you encounter (as there are none), and you can move on to the next ice (or to accessing the server, if there is no more ice).

You seem to have the misconception that ice by itself is an obstacle, but it is not. It is the subroutines that negatively affect the runner (and perhaps some additional abilities such as the one on Tollbooth, for example). A blank ice card (which an unadvanced Tyrant basically is from the runners perspective) does nothing.

To add to that, you never need an icebreaker to run or even encounter ice.

For example. I don't have any programs installed (say it's my first turn of the game). On my very first click I run on HQ. The corp rezzes Ichi 1.0 for 5 credits.

Since I don't have any icebreakers, I can't do anything to interact with Ichi 1.0.

However, I don't really care. I don't have any programs so the first two subroutines are pointless. And the corp can go ahead with the trace. Chances are they won't spend the money to boost it (or can't because Ichi 1.0 is pricey). If they do, it's not going to be hard to match it.

I don't even bother clicking through the subroutines.

Since Ichi 1.0 doesn't have "End the Run" as a subroutine, I just go right by it (taking the trace in the process) and access HQ.

Bam, I score an agenda.

Corp is now down 5 credits+any money spent on the trace and lost an agenda. I'm down any credits I needed to beat the trace and now have an agenda.

Long story short: You never have to match strength. You never have to break a subroutine (if there is no end-the-run, you just go right through it once the subroutines resolve). You never have to have an icebreaker unless you actually want to break a subroutine.

Oh yes, I know you can run without any icebreakers. I often do it to try and run down the corp's credits, to get him to rez stuff. I merely thought as I was trying to pass the ice I would need to match its strength. My "deeper misunderstanding" stems from the fact that I often get confused by the sheer volume of crazy terms used in this game for established aspects of card games, and the notion that "interact with the ice" as mentioned on p.18 of the rulebook might encompass the action of "encountering" that ice. I take it from your answers that it does not, so thanks

Yeah, it's quite a bit to take in with regards to terminology. "Encountering an ice" is something that the runner does, not the icebreakers. For an icebreaker to be interacting with an ice basically means using an ability on the icebreaker that directly affects an aspect of the ice. The most common of these interactions is the breaking of subroutines. Another example would be the lowering of the strength of an ice with the Anarch breaker Wyrm . The bypass ability of the Criminal breaker Femme Fatale on the other hand does not require a strength match as it allows the runner to simply circumsvent the ice instead of directly interacting with it (and indeed needing a strength match would be awkward, because the bypass ability of Femme Fatale triggers before you have the chance to use the normal paid abilities on Femme Fatale to boost its strength).