[Theoryandmethos]

Quick question from someone coming back to the hobby after a very long time, on the skill vs classifications. If say I am playing a Romulan deck and am attempting to solve "Covert Installation", which requires an ENGINEER; Do I need to have a person with ENGINEER in their Classification box, skill box or both?

I.e. Sirol has the classification of OFFICER, but has the skill of ENGINEER, so he would be able to solve the mission.

T'Rul on the other hand has classification of ENGINEER, but not the skill, so would she meet the mission requirements?

Also I couldn't find a Romulan example of this, but Chief Engineer Scott has ENGINEER in both the classification and skill boxes, so does this mean he has ENGINEER x2?

Thank you for any input, I've read the rules multiple times but can't seem to find a solid answer yet.

[BCSWowbagger]

Hiya! Welcome to the boards!

Thanks for checking the Rulebook! I think this sidebar is what you're looking for, under Using Skills:

Clarifications: Classifications vs. Skills
Classifications sometimes appear as skills, and they are usually equivalent. For example, Overseer Odo has classification OFFICER and the skill SECURITY. He may contribute his OFFICER classification to nullifying Maglock, and may use his SECURITY skill to help against Kazon Bomb.

However, a few cards, like Crisis, specify that a requirement can be fulfilled only by a member of the correct "classification". For those cards, only a card's classification counts. Overseer Odo can use a Medical Kit, because of his OFFICER classification, but cannot report to Security Office or activate Body Armor, because both these cards require SECURITY as a classification, not a skill.

So, basically, a requirement of "ENGINEER" means either the classification ENGINEER or the skill ENGINEER. A requirement of "ENGINEER classification" means the classification only, and a requirement of "ENGINEER skill" means only in the skill box. (Do we have any requirements like that in the game? Don't recall one off the top of my head, although Assign Mission Specialists notoriously only cares about the skill in the skill box and won't let you score points off the classification.)

If there's anything we can do to make this rule easier to find, please let me know, whether here or by PM. I realize that this bit of the Rulebook is something of a sidebar ghetto, with 7 (!) other clarification sidebars in very close proximity, and I'm just not sure what else we can do to make it jump out better.