Talk:Stress/@comment-120.22.186.253-20190503021909/@comment-454133-20190503161948

It does take effect immediately, disabling expertise. Same deal with crits -- if they get or  or  before their attack, that affects them all the same. Hot Shot is another way to make going first inhibit the opponent.

That's the main advantage of having the first player token. Often being first player is a disadvantage because you have to activate & move first (so the opponent at the same init can barrel roll etc in response to where you moved, giving them a position advantage; that said, moving first is great for blocking the opponent's moves). However, shooting first can cripple the enemy ship before it shoots back.

It's true that Simultaneous Fire says that even if it dies, it still gets to engage before it's removed from the table; but other ship still goes first and all results still apply; simultaneous fire only applies to removing the ship from the table. The snap-reaction time of the pilot with the first player token might be an advantage if it can weaken that return fire.

Sometimes shooting first strengthens you instead of weakening the opponent, e.g. Whisper with Advanced Cloaking Device loves shooting first.

So Tactician is a harsh counter to Expertise if the Tactician ship shoots first. Likewise, Rebel Captive also shuts it down regardless of PS. Without that weakness, Expertise would be insanely powerful. I know that doesn't feel good for your opponent, but Expertise is already so strong. :)  However, ideally he can use his ability to move second to get out of range two, if he wants to avoid that stress -- barrel roll or boost if he has those actions (add it with Engine Upgrade if needed).  With Expertise granting him free dice modification, he can generally afford to spend the action on repositioning.

I hope that helps!