Someone pointed this out in another location, I think the phrasing of the second bullet point in the Effects section is leading to some awkward interpretation of when the unit with a mate has TI. Rules quoted as they appear in the Rulebook (with the appositive clause offset correctly in bullet point three) for posterity: EFFECTS from Symbiomate During the Deployment Phase, a SymbioMate is assigned to a trooper possessing Symbiont Armor and is placed in base to base contact with that trooper on the game table. A SymbioMate provides its user in the Active Symbiont Armor state an ARM and BTS value of 9 replacing the ARM and BTS values of the user's Troop Profile and it also provides the Total Immunity Special Skill. When a trooper in the Active Symbiont Armor state with a SymbioMate suffers a successful Attack -- or is affected by any weapon or rule that forces any ARM or BTS Rolls -- she will perform an ARM/BTS Roll with an Attribute value of 9, applying the Total Immunity Special Skill. Any other successful Attacks or weapon or rule requiring any ARM or BTS Rolls by the user during the same Order will also apply the ARM/BTS 9 Attribute value, and the Total Immunity Special Skill. This is a single-use piece of Equipment, the SymbioMate will be removed from the game table at the end of the Order in which it was used. This piece of Equipment is not applied when facing a Hacking or Comms Attack. EFFECTS from Total Immunity (only relevant section quoted). If affected by a weapon or Ammunition with the Non-Lethal Trait (see Infinity N3) that forces an ARM or BTS Roll, owners of Total Immunity won't suffer its effects, so they won't make the ARM or BTS Roll, nor any corresponding Guts Roll. Based on the second bullet point, it appears some players believe that the wielder of a Mate is considered to have ARM9/BTS9 and TI due to Effect Bullet 2 until the Mate is triggered by the conditions of Effect Bullet 3. Since non-lethal ammunition does not force ARM or BTS rules for a TI unit, it does not count as a "successful attack" based on the em-dashed version of the Symbiomate rule found in the rulebook, which means the mate is not triggered under the third bullet point of the rule. The second bullet point still says the user has TI though, just by virtue of having the mate. I think this interpretation is counter-intuitive, but RAW it does make sense. So I have a few questions: 1) Is this interpretation correct? Is a Mate carrier totally immune to all non-lethal damage until lethal damage triggers the mate? 2) Why is the appositive clause in the rulebook for bullet point 3 of Symbiomate not included in the wiki? The wiki phrasing defines a successful Attack as something different than a weapon or rule that forces ARM or BTS rolls, which has implications for any type of crit that inflicts additional rolls. 3) If this isn't the case (and I don't believe it is), what is the purpose of the second bullet point except to confuse players?
The mate does not work like previously. It is now active until cancelled or "used" as the rule words it. Think of it like a a repeater on the table until it is destroyed (by the Use) instead of a grenade that goes off when needed.
