Greetings! After all the quirky scenarios popping up recently on the rules forum I decided to make a Flowchart to try and wrap our head around all the rules. This attempts to simplify the wording of the rules in easy to follow questions (without leaving any corner case interactions unattended). Please be mindful that this is the first version, so it might contain some errors or missing information. If you see any, please let me know and I will update the flowchart. (Do note that this only includes the ARO Declaration step) Here are the sources in text format (1) Wiki, Order Expenditure Sequence, point 4, https://infinitythewiki.com/Trooper_Activation#Order_Expenditure_Sequence (2) Wiki, Controlled Jump, https://infinitythewiki.com/Controlled_Jump (3) Wiki, Area of Effect, second bullet point under Effects, https://infinitythewiki.com/Template_Weapons_and_Equipment#Area_of_Effect (4) FAQ, How does Controlled Jump work in ARO, page 2, https://downloads.corvusbelli.com/infinity/faq/n4-faq-en.pdf (5) FAQ, If several Troopers are activated at once..., page 4, https://downloads.corvusbelli.com/infinity/faq/n4-faq-en.pdf (6) Wiki, Stealth, second bullet point under Effects, https://infinitythewiki.com/Stealth (7) Wiki, Camouflaged State, last bullet point under Effects, https://infinitythewiki.com/Camouflaged_State (7) Wiki, Impersonation State, 10th bullet point under Effects, https://infinitythewiki.com/Impersonation_State (7) Wiki, Holoecho, 10th bullet point under Effects, https://infinitythewiki.com/Holoecho_State (8) Wiki, Camouflaged State, 11th bullet point under Effects, https://infinitythewiki.com/Camouflaged_State (8) Wiki, Impersonation State, 9th bullet point under Effects, https://infinitythewiki.com/Impersonation_State (9) Wiki, Smoke Ammunition, https://infinitythewiki.com/Smoke_Ammunition (10) Wiki, Zone of Control and AROs, https://infinitythewiki.com/Zone_of_Control#Zone_of_Control_and_AROs (11) Wiki, Direct Template Weapons, 2nd bullet point under Effects and the “Direct Templates, Shot Cancelled” example https://infinitythewiki.com/Direct_Template_Weapons (12) Wiki, Impact Template Weapons, 3rd bullet point under Requirements, https://infinitythewiki.com/Impact_Template_Weapons (13) FAQ, How do LoF and ZoC Skill Requirements work?, page 1, https://downloads.corvusbelli.com/infinity/faq/n4-faq-en.pdf
I get a feeling that you can probably simplify this a bit by starting with Stealth. The question on if the opponent uses Stealth while in a Fireteam or other multiple-participant order has been addressed by IJW; "perform" is meant to be "declare" in the FAQ. Dunno if you're sourcing dev answers on the forums for this. Think it would be beneficial to have Hacking Area in there in the bottom left blue box
Good catch on the Stealth in fireteam, I'll update and add source to forum. I thought about stealth first, but I figured AD is the only thing that adds a second declaration phase and it lets the hacker go through the entire chart once the enemy has landed if they decide not to use controlled jump. Good idea!
You also left out "are you hanging onto Vertical terrain?" >Yes: "do you have Climbing+" >>Yes: "follow the rest of the flowchart" >>No: "You aren't permitted to declare any AROs." >No: "follow the rest of the flowchart" [emoji14] Honestly though there are 3 questions: 1. Are you permitted to declare an ARO? - This is checked immediately prior to declaring an ARO either at Step 2 or 4. 2. Is the ARO you declared valid? - This is checked at Step 5 and includes the situation where you declared an ARO vs the second Short Skill. 3. Does the ARO meet its requirements? - This is checked at Declaration for LOF requirements and at Step 6 for all other requirements. This is all that's necessary to understand the core ARO interactions. Teach these questions and timing and it makes sense.
A simpler version of the ARO flowchart that still encompasses everything. Except this time, it just assumes that you know the requirement of the ARO you declare. (Note that 4 of the nodes are duplicated, so it's actually twice as big as it would need to be)
technically, the last point would be "check if your aro were valid at resolution AND if you aro'd due to the 2nd short skill, you did not have a valid aro at the end of the first short skill".