Consider the new Proton Bombs:

I read in another entry that the rule for Proton Bombs reads something like, "Deal one face up damage card to everything in Range 1 (ignoring shields)." So, basically an auto-crit to hull to anything in range.

First, can anyone confirm/corroborate this?

Second, if this is correct, a scenario could come up where a ship has no hull but full shields. For example, on p. 16 it says, "Destroying Ships: When the number of Damage cards dealt to a ship is equal to or greater than its hull value, the ship is immediately destroyed..."

It would be awesome to be on the offensive end of something like this (and equally terrible to be on the receiving end).

What do folks think of this? I know they cost 5 points, but boy could it be worth it in general if it works just once, and particularly in things unfold just right.

Well today's news confirmed that a Direct Hit crit would destroy an A-Wing, as it delivers 2 damage to a ship with 2 hull (this was the specific example given in the article ). But no I have not yet seen confirmation of whether like the Seismic Charges it affects all ships within range 1, just the first ship that overlaps or maneuvers through the bomb token, or some other scenario.

New Bomb Token reference card here.

And yes, destruction is based solely on hull, it has nothing to do with shields.

Man... would I like to use this against a certain annoying little shield-replenishing R2 unit I know...

Thanks for the link to the image (see below). So, the fact that it is face up implies that it is against the hull (it doesn't explicitly say this)?

So, the fact that it is face up implies that it is against the hull (it doesn't explicitly say this)?

It actually has nothing to do with it being faceup. It has to do with the fact that it deals a damage card instead of dealing damage. Damage is blocked by shields, but if a damage card is placed through some other means (such as Proton Bombs), it does not interact with shields.

Here's another interesting scenario:

An X-Wing carrying R2-D2 takes four damage, losing its shields and receiving two facedown damage cards. A couple of turns pass by, R2-D2 has replenished the shields, and an enemy ship carrying Saboteur flies by.at range 1.

Saboteur says "Action: On a hit or critical hit result, choose 1 random facedown Damage card assigned to that ship, flip it faceup, and resolve it." If you get a Direct Hit, now there are three points of damage on the hull - so the ship blows up even though there are two shields left.

Right?

Here's another interesting scenario:

An X-Wing carrying R2-D2 takes four damage, losing its shields and receiving two facedown damage cards. A couple of turns pass by, R2-D2 has replenished the shields, and an enemy ship carrying Saboteur flies by.at range 1.

Saboteur says "Action: On a hit or critical hit result, choose 1 random facedown Damage card assigned to that ship, flip it faceup, and resolve it." If you get a Direct Hit, now there are three points of damage on the hull - so the ship blows up even though there are two shields left.

Right?

I'd say that is correct.

Agreed on all the above.

The one and only condition for destruction of a ship is that it has as many damage as its hull. You could have Luke with a Shield Upgrade and R2-D2 where you and your opponentwere playing with a house rule where R2 could regenerate above original shields so Luke was sitting on 21 shield tokens, and it doesn't matter - three damage cards (or some combination thanks to Direct Hit) and he goes boom.

I have a feeling R5-D8 will get more play time now that faceup damage cards can bypass shields.

I have a feeling R5-D8 will get more play time now that faceup damage cards can bypass shields.

I doubt it, honestly. Using your action for a 5 in 8 chance? That's expensive, and most ships that can carry an astromech can't expect to live that long once they start taking crits anyway. I think most people will opt for trying to avoid the bombs rather than taking an expensive repair option.

I can see it if there are ships like Jan with Squad leader. The ship itself does its normal action and Jan gives the chance of repairing stuff that happens to the ship. It is hard to use D8, true, but it may get more play time now than before. I really like R5's on Y-Wings since it is an auto ability.

Now the generic R5 I can certainly see getting more love. Remains to be seen how prevalent Saboteur and Proton Bombs turn out to be, but there are certainly more options for getting critical damage into play. A 1-point droid that can fix that without requiring an action may have a lot more use.

Of course, I spent a game last night with Krassis flying around for about 7 turns trying to repair his Damaged Sensor Array, so I may be overly sensitive to usefulness of repairing crits right now

True lol. I fly my Y-Wings really aggressively with the Ion turret, opting for the 3 bank instead of the 1 or 2 straight. White maneuvers are just as good as green if you don't have stress. I also play with R5's on them most of the time because they are cheap and require nothing except to remember to do stuff during the end phase.

Note the R5D8 will be useless against Proton Bomb hits, because he only repairs facedown cards, not faceup. R5 would be great, unless it is something like Thruster Control fire and your opponent is Sabotaging you. That is a recipe for near-permanent stress...

Most crit damage cards are either "resolve this ability and flip facedown" or "resolve abilities with these conditoons, ACTION: etc.". The exceptions are pilot crits and a small fraction of critical damage results.

ok if i understand the rules shields negate a crit hit so yes a driect hit card can kill a a-wing but only after it has no shields left

ok if i understand the rules shields negate a crit hit so yes a driect hit card can kill a a-wing but only after it has no shields left

This is true, in general, but the card Proton Bombs allows you to assign a face-up damage card to ships ignoring shields. That could potentially give an A-Wing the Direct Hit card while it still had one or more shields remaining.

A "crit" deals a face up card unless there is a shield to absorb it. A proton bomb deals a face up card but doesn't care about shields one bit. Proton Bombs bypass the way hits normally work.

There is a difference between receiving "critical damage" and being dealt "a face up damage card". The normal way is you get a crit result that deals damage to your ship. If you have any shields left, damage goes against any remaining shields your ship has. When you have no shields, crit damage results in face up damage cards being dealt to your ship.

A proton bomb deals a "face up damage card" to your ship. It is not damage but a card your ship is getting. It goes straight to hull and ignores shields because it is outside the steps for dealing and receiving damage and can never be applied against shields .

I hope this clarifies the confusion.