my friend says that multi ee without enhancement or shield cannot overcome toughness. for example

abc


z

z shoots a and c with a double energy explosion. b has toughness. he takes no damage. is that right?

the other question i have is about mastermind and ee.

ab

z

z shoots a and b with a double energy explosion. b has mastermind. can b put his 2 damage on a and it lands at once...or each attack is resolved separately?

All damage from Energy Explosion is applied at once... so with double EE, in the top example, B would be dealt 2 damage, then reduced by 1...

In the lower example, if B used mastermind to shunt the damage, all damage on A is issued at once.

1st example... b takes 1 damage, as the damage is applied simultaniously.

2nd... a will end up taking 4 damage, minus any damage reducers that it has, if masterminded onto...

all ee damage happens at one time, so b in the first question takes 2 damage -1 for toughness.

a in the second question takes 4, less if a has damage reducers.

And the reason that you apply the damage at once is that you are not making two attacks when you use your figure's multiple lightning bolts; you are making a single ranged combat attack against multiple targets.