Over the moon for Lucy!

The Edgerunners have two Netrunners, Lucyna Kushinada and Kiwi. In Night City, Netrunners perform a lot of valuable tasks for a team, from legwork to security and more. In Combat Zone, Netrunners use programs to hack targets and provide their team buffs. This all hinges on an interplay between hacked tokens and the vulnerable status (I’ll explain that in a moment).

First, the price and special rules. She’s a Merc, a Netrunner, and a Specialist for 15€$. At that price, she leaves enough wiggle room for her programs, which is great.

Lucy has two YELLOW action tokens by default, along with 1 Ranged, 2 Reflexes, and 2 Tech. This makes her a particularly good choice for Monowire gear (it uses Reflexes), as she can be highly effective in close-range combat. That’s rare among our current crop of Netrunners. She’s also got the Lone Survivor ability, which gives her a +1 when defending with a RED die. That keeps her in play a bit longer when under concentrated fire.

But it’s her Krash Barrier ability that really makes Lucy a defensive powerhouse. To explain it, we need to talk about Programs. A Program card has two sides, a blue Running side and a Loaded side of an Action color (red, yellow, or green). Each program activates for free on the Netrunner’s activation, usually with a Tech action, which then has an effect (like placing a Hacked token on the target). Once activated, we flip the card from the Loaded side to the blue Running side. This might have special effects (like debuffs to hacked models) or team buffs. Many also make the Netrunner Vulnerable, which deprives them of non-Tech skills and makes them susceptible to certain programs (like Hellbolt and Poison Flatline).

Lucy’s Krash Barrier gives her a +2 when defending against Tech actions. But that doesn’t just help protect her. All Netrunners have the ability to perform Combat Netrunning. This allows them to become the target of rival programs in place of their teammate. So when Lucy does Combat Netrunning, she’s very good at it. Some might say she’s the best.

Ooh, next I’ll cover some very fast hands.

-Mack

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