The purpose of this page is to document some commonly confusing rulings for Heroclix players at our tournaments. These particular issues have come up in the past, and have been thoroughly researched. These rulings are based on the text of the 2013 Rulebook, the latest powers and abilities card, and the corrected wording of certain pieces and team abilities in the latest Player's Guide. Forum discussions are considered, but are not considered to be "official", regardless of who is posting the opinion/response/ruling. Only the actual wording published by Wizkids is applied.
Please note that as Wizkids makes updates to the rulebook, PAC, or Player's Guide, we will make every effort to update these rulings if they are so affected.
Critical Hits/Misses and Incapacitate/Mind Control - Incapacitate and Mind Control are attacks that deal no damage. Rolling a '12' will simply ensure that the attack succeeds; you will not inflict any damage. Likewise, rolling a '2' will simply guarantee that it is a miss, and you will not take a point of "critical miss" damage.
Critical Hits/Misses and Support - Although Support is an attack that deals no damage, the rules specifically state that if you roll a critical miss on a support roll, you deal 1 unavoidable damage to the character you were attempting to heal. Likewise, if you roll a critical hit on a Support roll, you heal the target character 1 additional click.
Flurry and Blades/Claws/Fangs - When you use Flurry, you can make a Blades/Claws/Fangs roll after each attack.
Pulse Wave and Mystics - If an attacking character using Pulse Wave damages a character with the Mystics team ability, then the attacking character does not suffer the Mystics "feedback" damage. Why? Pulse Wave ignores all the game effects of the opposing characters it is drawing lines of fire to until the action is resolved.
Pulse Wave and Probability Control - A character that has a line of fire drawn to it via Pulse Wave (friendly or opposing) cannot use Probability Control on the Pulse Wave roll. A character outside the range of the Pulse Wave can use Probability Control to affect the attack roll.
Pulse Wave and Stealth - Even if all opposing pieces have Stealth and would have lines of fire drawn to them blocked, an attacking piece can still use Pulse Wave and will still damage the opposing pieces. Pulse Wave ignores hindering terrain.
Flurry and Pushing Damage - If a character without Willpower has an action token and then uses Flurry, the action token is not received and pushing damage is not taken until after both close combat attacks are made.
Flurry, Blades/Claws/Fangs, and Exploit Weakness - All 3 of these powers can be used together. The BCF damage roll and penetrating damage (from Exploit Weakness), however, will apply only to the first attack. The second Flurry attack is a close combat attack granted as a free action, and BCF and Exploit Weakness will not apply.
Outsiders Team Ability and Damage Reducers - The Outsiders team ability can prevent a character's combat values from being modified. However, damage reduction (via powers such as Toughness and Impervious) is not considered to be modification. Modifiers always use the words "modify" or 'modifies". Therefore, the use of the Outsiders team ability has no effect on damage reduction.
Outsiders Team Ability and Perplex - If a character has had a combat value modified via the use of Perplex, and then a character with the Outsiders team ability prevents that character's values from being modified, then the modification from Perplex (for all intents and purposes) will no longer apply. Modifiers are only calculated at the time when they become relevant.
Vehicles and the Utility Belt - Vehicles are considered to be characters with a special defense symbol, and therefore they can be assigned resources, such as the Utility Belt. (Yes, it's hokey, but it is valid nonetheless.)
Sharpshooter and Adjacent Opposing Characters - A character with the Sharpshooter ability can make a ranged combat attack against an adjacent opposing character. However, a character with Sharpshooter cannot ignore the adjacent opposing character to make a ranged combat attack against a different opposing character.
"Smoky Feet" Captain America vs. Anyone - The Captain America from Hammer of Thor (usually referred to as "Smoky Feet" due to his sculpt) has a special ability that states that his lines of fire are only blocked by walls or indoor blocking terrain. Several other characters (such as JL Fast Forces Batman and Superman Maxwell Lord) have special abilities or traits that state that all lines of fire drawn to the character are blocked. In these cases, the wording of Captain America's powers takes precedence. Until Captain America's power is re-worded in a Player's Guide (for example, to say "Captain America ignores characters, hindering terrain, elevated terrain, and outdoor blocking terrain when drawing lines of fire"), then we all need to just live with this.
Steal Energy and Mystics - If a character with Steal Energy attacks and damages a character with the Mystics team ability, then the active player (i.e. the player whose turn it is) can choose what happens first: the healing or the Mystics feedback.
Mind Control on an opponent's final character - If you successfully Mind Control an opponent's final character, you do NOT win the game. You only win if the opponent has no pieces after actions resolve. When the Mind Control action resolves, the piece is returned to the owner.
Mind Control on an opponent's Team Base - If you successfully Mind Control an opponent's Team Base, you can NOT use your free action to cause one of the team members to "Solo Adventure" off of the base.
Loss of Smoke Cloud or Barrier - If a character loses Smoke Cloud or Barrier (e.g. due to Outwit or taking damage and losing the power), then the hindering/blocking terrain created previously is immediately removed.
