Eleveated Terain and LOS

[Dexceus]

Okay, here is the scenario.

Ranged attacker A, let's say Bullseye, is on eleveated terain on the edge square.

Cyclops is within range and LOS of Bullseye on normal terain.

Avalanche puts a barrier between Bullseye and Cyclops.

Can Bullseye still attack Cyclops, or is LOS blocked by the barrier?

[Dexceus]

Nevermind. I found the answer to the qeustion.

[Tsannik]

Good. But for those who didn't find the answer...


Because Avalanche put a Barrier in between the two....

Line of Fire is blocked by the Barrier.

Both figures could make a Ranged attack as long as the only Blocking terrain is in the square the elevated figure occupies. Since the Barrier is between, it puts another Blocking terrain that crosses Line of Fire.

So, no. Bullseye cannot attack Cyclops because Line of Fire is blocked by the Barrier.

[iam_emperor]

What about any figures or hindering terrain in the same situation?
Would Bullseye have LOS on Cyclops if Avalanche was in the way? More importantly, would Cyclops have LOS on Bullseye? The rules only seem to draw a distinction with BLOCKING terrain.

[mark6574]

Bullseye on elevated terrain could hit Cyclops even if Avalanche was directly between them, but Cyclops would not be able to fire at Bullseye. That is the advantage of elevated terrain in this game. Being elevated lets you ignore hindering terrain and figures that would be in your LOS to your target.

A side note about the barrier... If Cyclops was on elevated terrain and Bullseye was on elevated terrain and Avalanche made a barrier between them that was not elevated terrain, would that barrier block Cyclops and Bullseye from firing at each other?

[Tsannik]

mark6574 has pretty much given the correct answer to what happens if a figure crosses Line of Fire. Basically, the Elevated figure would be able to figure at both grounded figures. Whereas the grounded figure whose Line of Fire crosses another figure's base would not be able to attack the elevated figure.

Hindering terrain would give the +1 Defense bonus only if the figure was occupying the same square the Hindering terrain was in. That means if Cyclops was 1 square behind the Hindering terrain, Bullseye on elevated terrain would be able to attack Cyclops who would have no defensive bonus. If Cyclops were actually 'in' the bush, then Bullseye would have to attack Cyclops with the +1 defense bonus.

Did that make sense?

From what I understand, if Cyclops and Bullseye were on Elevated terrain on different buildings and there was a Barrier on grounded terrain, the Barrier would not affect Line of Fire between them.

[Xanth]

Tsannik is correct. The only thing that blocks LOF between two elevated figs are other elevated figs and elevated blocking terrain. The sides of buildings are not elevated blocking terrain so a fig can fire from one building to another without any penalty unless there is intervening elevated hindering terrain.

[iam_emperor]

The Marvel Rulebook pg 19 paragraph 1 is what is quoted in the FAQ.
"LOS from Elevated Attacker is not blocked or hindered by other grounded figures or grounded hindering terrain unless the terrain occupies the same square as the target. "
From the Rulebook pg 19 paragraph 2 is not referenced at all...
"A grounded character can make a ranged combat attack against the an elevated figure if the only blocking terrain the life of fire crosses is in the square the target occupies."
EA to G is covered with words about figures, and Hindering terrain. Nothing is said about BLOCKING TERRAIN.
GA to A is covered with words about Blocking terrain only" Barrier or other blocking terrain in the way would block LOS to the elevated character.

So we have two contrary statements on how terrain affects attackers on both elevations. The faq attempts to clarify it but gives no guidance. It just says favor the elevated attacker. That has no bearing in game terms.... half range when GA to E is a clarification. "favor elevated terrain" is just words.(note, i am not stating that GA to E is at half range- that is GA to Soaring Figure) I would have to go back to what the rule book says for both cases... BLOCKING terrain is the factor. Hindering and Characters have no play when shooting up to or down from elevated.


b
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c

By the ruling that a figure blocks LOS , Cyclops cannot shoot Bullseye because Avalanche is in the way, but realisticly, Avalanche is just cowering at the foot of the wall.

[HeroComplex]

The statements for these rules aren't contrary. Per the original rulebook, figures and hindering terrain are ignored in the LOF of an elevated attacker against a grounded defender. There is no such exception for the opposite scenario---grounded firing against elevated.

Many people thought that this had to be a mistake, and so the FAQ entry in question was placed there not to change anything, but to confirm what players had already read from the rulebook---yes, this gives elevated figures an advantage, and yes, it was intended.