Trying to Better Understand Ion Tokens

[Boba Rick 4,209]

Hi, new guy here, trying to get a better grasp of what happens when you get an ion token.

 

First off, it takes two ion tokens to affect a large ship, right?

 

Now, here's what the RRG says:

 

ION TOKEN†

Some card abilities can cause a ship to receive an

ion token. A ship is ionized while it has an ion token

assigned to it. An ionized ship follows special rules

during the following phases:

 

• Planning Phase: The owner does not assign

a maneuver dial to this ship.

 

• Activation Phase: The owner moves the ship

as if it were assigned a white [

[Parravon 5,217]

You get hit by an ion weapon in the combat phase and you keep that ion token until the following activation phase, where you perform the compulsory 1-straight maneuver, then you remove all of your ion tokens.

 

On a large ship, if you get hit by 1 ion token, you're not ionised yet, so you just lug it around as extra baggage until you get hit again by an ion weapon and get another token (or more). Once your ship is ionised, it doesn't matter how many ion tokens you end up with, because you still have to perform the 1-straight maneuver and then you'll clear all of your ion tokens. 

 

Being ionised does not remove focus, evade or other types of tokens, and when you remove your ion tokens, those other types of tokens aren't affected.

 

The main penalty with getting ionised is the inability to plan a maneuver and use any ability that requires revealing a maneuver on your dial (such as Adv Sensors).

Edited February 27, 2016 by Parravon

[thespaceinvader 17,568]

In short... do what the rules say, and only what they say.  Don't do anything they don't say.

[digitalbusker 2,248]

Hi, new guy here, trying to get a better grasp of what happens when you get an ion token.

 

First off, it takes two ion tokens to affect a large ship, right?

Yes, that's true.

 

Now, here's what the RRG says:

 

ION TOKEN†

Some card abilities can cause a ship to receive an

ion token. A ship is ionized while it has an ion token

assigned to it. An ionized ship follows special rules

during the following phases:

 

• Planning Phase: The owner does not assign

a maneuver dial to this ship.

 

• Activation Phase: The owner moves the ship

as if it were assigned a white [ 1] maneuver.

After executing this maneuver, remove all ion

tokens from the ship. It may perform actions as

normal.

 

• Combat Phase: The ship may attack as normal.

• Since an ionized ship is not assigned a maneuver

dial, it is not treated as revealing a maneuver

during the Activation phase.

 

So, my questions have to do with timing.  If you get ionized in the Combat phase, then the Ion tokens bleeds over into the next round, right?

Yes, that's right. Ion Tokens are not cleared in the End phase like Focus and Evade tokens.

You don't remove the Ion token until all three of these phases have been resolved once, right?

Not exactly. You only clear Ion Tokens when you perform the mandatory white-1-straight ion maneuver, and when you do, you clear all of them at once. It doesn't matter when you got the token, or how long you've had it, just that you did the ion maneuver.

Also, somehow I got the idea that an ionized ship lost all of its tokens, including focuses that build up round after round on the Moldy Crow.

That's not the case. I'm not sure why you ever thought it was, but it seems like you've already mostly figured out that it's not. Go you!

Please help me better understand this.

HTH!

[Boba Rick 4,209]

Thanks guys, except for thespaceinvader's useless comment.

[Vorpal Sword 14,685]

Thanks guys, except for thespaceinvader's useless comment.

Thespaceinvader was quoting a bit that gets thrown around quite a bit, here. "Do what the rules say, and don't do what they don't say" is actually a useful general guide for interpreting X-wing's rules.

For instance, I've seen people get confused by the rule that says it takes two ion tokens for a Large ship to suffer the effect. Not too long ago, I played with someone who was in the habit of removing ion tokens after moving a Large ship, and he was surprised when I challenged him. But the rules say "After executing [a 1-straight] maneuver, remove all ion tokens from the ship." The rules don't say anything else about any other way to remove them, so it's a problem that can be solved by applying the "do what the rules say" guide.

There was also a fairly funny addition to the FAQ, back when it was new: apparently lots of people wrote into FFG asking if damage from an ion cannon went through shields. The rules for ion cannons are pretty straightforward: if you're hit, you suffer 1 damage. Nothing in the rules tells you to do anything special with that damage, so you don't need to keep looking for a special rule--you do exactly what they tell you to do, and nothing else.

[DraconPyrothayan 6,107]

 

Thanks guys, except for thespaceinvader's useless comment.

Thespaceinvader was quoting a bit that gets thrown around quite a bit, here. "Do what the rules say, and don't do what they don't say" is actually a useful general guide for interpreting X-wing's rules.

For instance, I've seen people get confused by the rule that says it takes two ion tokens for a Large ship to suffer the effect. Not too long ago, I played with someone who was in the habit of removing ion tokens after moving a Large ship, and he was surprised when I challenged him. But the rules say "After executing [a 1-straight] maneuver, remove all ion tokens from the ship." The rules don't say anything else about any other way to remove them, so it's a problem that can be solved by applying the "do what the rules say" guide.

There was also a fairly funny addition to the FAQ, back when it was new: apparently lots of people wrote into FFG asking if damage from an ion cannon went through shields. The rules for ion cannons are pretty straightforward: if you're hit, you suffer 1 damage. Nothing in the rules tells you to do anything special with that damage, so you don't need to keep looking for a special rule--you do exactly what they tell you to do, and nothing else.

 

Also with Darth Vader crew's damage.