I thought I understood how battle cards worked, but TBH, its fuzzy at best. I SS a view and would like specifics if able plz. Here are my questions:



Question 1:

1) I see the 1st effect is +40% deflector efficiency (block +10%)



I think this means my Kinetic Defense is increased by 40%, but what is this "block" effect in the parentheses? There is no "block" in any of my defenses, I have deflection (kinetics), flak (missiles), and shield (beam)...what is the "block"?



2) I see the 2nd effect is -20% beam damage (block +20%)



I think the second effect is a penalty to my action, but its not clearly identified. I think it means MY beam damage is reduced by 20% or is it the ENEMY beam damage that is reduced? Additionally, there is this ambiguous "block" effect in parentheses, which doesnt mean anything to me.



Follow up: Is the effect in parentheses the bonus that happens when I successfully counter the other players card -- so I get a +10 "block" effect AND the enemy card is negated for a double bonus effect (as shown in this SS)?



Question 2

When I successfully counter the enemy played card, does it ENTIRELY counter his played card, or does it just counter the positive gains of his card and the penalties remain? So, in the SS, I countered his Weapon Overclock and he does not get his +40% kinetics damage. But does he also suffer a -20% antimissile interception or is it cancelled out as well?



Thought to clarify battle cards:

I can read the descriptions in the Battle Cards to mean 2 different things. One is my deflectors are boosted and the enemy beams are reduced. The second is my deflectors are boosted and MY beams are reduced -- its unclear. Better labeling will help a bunch. One way to make it easier would be clearly labeling who is affected by the action in each "bulleted" ability and then color code it to make it clear. For example, for the first bullet point make +40% deflector efficiency (block +10%) green (because its good for me) with YOU in front of it. For the second bullet point, make the -20% beam damage (block +20%) red (because it affects menegatively) with YOU in front of it (or make it green if that bullet also reduces incoming beam damage to my ships).



Final Observation:

When I do manual battles, so much time is wasted waiting in P1 (arrival) and P5 (battle report). Once I set my cards, I dont need to wait the entire time as the game runs its P1 countdown. Is it possible to speed things up by having a player button that I can press to "start battle" meaning Ive set my cards and proceed directly to P2? Also, it would be nice to be able to skip the remainder of the battle phases and go directly to the summary screen when the ships are destroyed, without a countdown/video to watch , especially when the fleet is destroyed in the 1st combat action of P2 (I dont mean the P5 end of battle summary, I mean the galaxy "popup" version of the battle summary). It may not seem like much, but the P1 and P5 time sure feels like it takes up so much unnecessary time. I realize some have asked for the ability to set cards and then AUTO battle, but this is slightly different...I just want to start when Im ready and end faster when everything is done.

Those questions are very intertwined.

The block effects come into play, if you counter the enemy's card.



Then the block-modifier is added to your card's effect.

The opponent's card, if countered, becomes completely ineffective.



So you end up with 50% deflector efficiency and -0% beam damage, while the enemy gets +0% kinetics damage and -0% antimissile interception, this way round.





There has already been the suggestion to skip whole battle phases to get faster through the battles, but there's no timescale on when or even if it will be included into the game.

Thanks Nosferatiel. You cleared up my confusion nicely.