Ship Combat Buff Turn Explanation

= Overview =

There is sometimes confusion as to how buffs stack (they always do in Ship Combat), how long they last (the turn they're activated plus their stated duration), and how reactor point bonuses and penalties work. Hopefully this example fight will make it all clear.

= Play by Play =

Start of Combat -- Before Turn 1 Begins
Here we are starting our battle with some defense in the form of Vigilant Scanners while moving toward our opponent and firing two 2 RP torpedoes for a total of all 8 of our available reactor points. This buff will apply for the turn it is prepared for and then the stated duration of 2 turns beyond that. So we should see it expire at the end of turn 3.

Before Turn 2 Begins
Effectively the combat round that just passed was the 0th one for the Vigilant Scanners buff.

Here we are about to use a buff that will have some effects immediately (the 0th turn) but will last a full turn after that. This is a rare talent that grants bonus reactor points. These bonus reactor points will be usable as long as the buff is active, which will effectively only be right before turn 3 begins.

Before Turn 3 Begins


Normally readying these two torpedoes would leave us with only 4 reactor points. Here we have 7 remaining due to our 3 bonus points from Reactor Surge. In this example, we aren't using them but in theory we could fire more weapons than a ship usually can with those extra reactor points. This is the only time when we'll be able to use these bonus points. Evasive Maneuvers will last 3 turns *after* the one it is applied during, giving use 4 effective rounds of protection.

Before Turn 4 Begins
For the sake of this demonstration, we're worried about knocking out the foe's engine, which is quite damaged. Normally this would be a good time to continue the attack but here we're just going to use a talent that decreases reactor points as a side-effect and hold position. There's still a chance that fire burning through their ship will knock out the engine though.

Before Turn 6 Begins


Hopefully this demonstrates how buff durations (and debuff durations) work along with reactor point modifications.