Hey Matt,
Yes sadly (for me lol) you are correct, I looked in the rules and it does state that you cannot have more than one of each racial tech at a time (except for the data probe. at least the data probe strategy will still work. For 90 credits you can flip over 6 cultures! nice!)
Also keep in mind that the upgrades with the tool icon are placed to the left of your card, and do not take up a slot like the ship upgrades do (variable laser, etc.).
As far as my thoughts on irreversible effect, I think that just means that if you get to turn 25 and you haven't defeated the challenge, you turn over and place the rest of the undiscovered cultures, and that when you do defeat the challenge, you would not flip them back.
I see this as being in place to prevent the exact concern you shared in your first post. Let's say it is turn 23 and you haven't found the data probes or your home planet. You would really need to leave the last challenge undefeated so the effect would take place (revealing the rest of the cultures). You could then take a quick trip to your home planet to defeat that challenge.
I ran into this exact situation and lost the game. I ran out of funds because even though I found my home planet, I wasn't able to beat that last challenge of beating a laser, shield, and pilot test in the same turn. Stupid dice! lol
Speaking of which that leads me to a question I have...
The fifth challenge that requires you to pass a pilot, shield, and laser check all in the same turn, I am guessing that means it means you must pass purely through dice rolls, and you can't "save" it with your laser/shield power like when you move normally?
So if I get my lasers and shields to a 6, that means that if I happen to roll 6 on either check, I still fail the challenge right? I realize technically I can still move through the space by spending a point from the laser/shield supply, but in terms of the challenge that doesn't count right?
This is also how I played the encounter cards. If the card says "take a laser check, if you fail you must end your movement", that means that if I have a laser of 4, and I roll a 4,5, or 6, even though I could normally spend a point on my laser supply to keep moving, because the challenge specifically states "if you fail you must end your movement", then I have to stop.
Do you know if that is correct?
Yes sadly (for me lol) you are correct, I looked in the rules and it does state that you cannot have more than one of each racial tech at a time (except for the data probe. at least the data probe strategy will still work. For 90 credits you can flip over 6 cultures! nice!)
Also keep in mind that the upgrades with the tool icon are placed to the left of your card, and do not take up a slot like the ship upgrades do (variable laser, etc.).
As far as my thoughts on irreversible effect, I think that just means that if you get to turn 25 and you haven't defeated the challenge, you turn over and place the rest of the undiscovered cultures, and that when you do defeat the challenge, you would not flip them back.
I see this as being in place to prevent the exact concern you shared in your first post. Let's say it is turn 23 and you haven't found the data probes or your home planet. You would really need to leave the last challenge undefeated so the effect would take place (revealing the rest of the cultures). You could then take a quick trip to your home planet to defeat that challenge.
I ran into this exact situation and lost the game. I ran out of funds because even though I found my home planet, I wasn't able to beat that last challenge of beating a laser, shield, and pilot test in the same turn. Stupid dice! lol
Speaking of which that leads me to a question I have...
The fifth challenge that requires you to pass a pilot, shield, and laser check all in the same turn, I am guessing that means it means you must pass purely through dice rolls, and you can't "save" it with your laser/shield power like when you move normally?
So if I get my lasers and shields to a 6, that means that if I happen to roll 6 on either check, I still fail the challenge right? I realize technically I can still move through the space by spending a point from the laser/shield supply, but in terms of the challenge that doesn't count right?
This is also how I played the encounter cards. If the card says "take a laser check, if you fail you must end your movement", that means that if I have a laser of 4, and I roll a 4,5, or 6, even though I could normally spend a point on my laser supply to keep moving, because the challenge specifically states "if you fail you must end your movement", then I have to stop.
Do you know if that is correct?