Index -> Playing the Game -> Planning Phase -> Using Activated Abilities

Some cards you will play have effects that are not continuous, but rather require you to spend tech during your planning phase to activate them. Each of these activated abilities contains the symbol shown at the left in its game text.

An activated ability can be used only once each turn. Only the controller of an entity or system with an activated ability can choose to use it. Activated abilities you use in your planning phase do not take effect until the deployment phase.

These abilities can be accessed be accessed in three ways:

• You can click on the Information Panel of a specific fleet. If an entity in that fleet has an activated ability, right-clicking on it will generate a dropdown menu of all its activated abilities - just left-click on the game text you'd like to activate.
• You can right-click on a system to use an activated ability given to it by a card, or to access the activated abilities on the entities you control there.
• Activated abilities you are currently able to use will appear in a row of icons across the bottom of the map. Right-click on any of these icons to use the ability. You can left-click on any of these icons to display its related system or entity. You can also double-click on an icon to make a magnified image of the related card appear on the map area. Click anywhere in the map, or on the magnified card itself, to close this image.

Your Tech Status will update to show you how much remaining tech you have to play cards as you activate/cancel these abilities. If you're trying to access an activated ability and its dropdown menu will not appear, check your Tech Status - you might not have enough tech to use it this turn.

To cancel an activated ability, select the game text a second time, using any of the above methods.