Not sure if this has been asked before, I tried searching the forums and nothing came up.

Hawkeye's power:

PUT AWAY THE BOW: At the beginning of your turn, you may give Hawkeye a free action. If you do, Hawkeye possesses Combat Reflexes instead of Energy Shield/Deflection and Close Combat Expert instead of Ranged Combat Expert until your next turn.

What exactly is the free action you give him?

Thanks in advance...

It's making the choice. It just be made in the "game world" as well as the "real world."

There are three different action:
Move
Power
Free
The move and power actions are action you give tokens too and they take one of your allotted actions you are given per turn. The free action is a non-token able action and doesn't count toward your action for the turn. Actions like perplex and outwit fall under the free action. To answer your question your giving hawkeye a free action (non tokenable action) to activate his trait

There's actually 5 different actions. You forgot Close Combat and Ranged Combat actions. Other than that, you were spot on.

This. The free action is making the choice to switch powers.

This is exactly the discussion I have been having...

To me, it states that you give him a free action. When you give him a free action, he switches powers.

Can it be read alternatively that to "switch powers Hawkeye must be given a free action"? In which case, there are choices of free actions, namely perplex or outwit.

I feel that if the designers meant the free action to actually be the power switching they would have it read something like this:

PUT AWAY THE BOW: At the beginning of your turn, you may give Hawkeye a free action that allows Hawkeye to possess Combat Reflexes instead of Energy Shield/Deflection and Close Combat Expert instead of Ranged Combat Expert until your next turn.

(my alterations bold-faced and italicized)

The way it reads as printed it seems you need to give him a free action to 'pay' the cost of him switching powers.

He is given a free action to switch powers and only to switch powers.

If you could activate this trait with a free action used to activate another power (like Outwit), then it would read "When Hawkeye is given a free action..."

For example:

Blades/Claws/Fangs
When this character is given a close combat action, you may roll a d6 after making a successful attack roll. The result replaces this character's damage value, then that damage value is locked.

BCF activates whenever the character is given a close combat action for any reason. This is why BCF will combo with Flurry or Exploit Weakness (both of which say "Give the character a close combat action").

I was actually using Blades/ Claws/ Fangs to support my point as well, as I see many parallels between the two. To compare:

PUT AWAY THE BOW: At the beginning of your turn, you may give Hawkeye a free action. If you do, Hawkeye possesses Combat Reflexes instead of Energy Shield/Deflection and Close Combat Expert instead of Ranged Combat Expert until your next turn.

Blades/Claws/Fangs
When this character is given a close combat action, you may roll a d6 after making a successful attack roll. The result replaces this character's damage value, then that damage value is locked.

I have coded the parts of each that read synonymously, and explain my reasoning in the following:

The blades/ claws/ fangs ‘when’ is specified in Hawkeye’s power ‘at the beginning of your turn’.

The blades/ claws/ fangs ‘you may’ is found in Hawkeye’s power ‘you may’ and ‘if you do’ – both convey optionality.

The blades/ claws/ fangs ‘close combat action’ and Hawkeye’s ‘free action’ match up because they are the types of actions being given.

The latter text then tells the resulting stat modifiers based on the optional action choice.

Each seems to have two segments: 1) an action being given, and 2) the result of the choice being made.

It would be possible to give a character possessing blades/ claws/ fangs a close combat action without rolling a d6 after making a successful attack roll. In this way the powers differ in that Hawkeye’s is optional at the beginning of the turn. The resulting defense and damage modifiers are then activated by the assignment of a free action and are non-optional.


Also to support:

I agree with this, but it also illustrates how there are two separate effects - with the first triggering the second. Flurry (a close combat action) will allow a figure to make two attack rolls. Perplex (a free action) will allow a combat value to be raised or lowered +1.

And I swear I am not trying to be a bother....

Page 16 of the rule book:

• Some game effects require that a character be given an action. These effects only activate when the character has been given the action specifically to activate the game effect. The game effect then overrides the normal activity of that move, close combat or range combat action.
• Some game effects activate as a result of something specific happening. The game effect will use the words “when” or “if” to describe the scenario required to activate the power or ability.
• Other game effects are always active or otherwise specify when they can be activated.

Put Away the Bow clearly falls into the first category (may give Hawkeye a free action).

BCF clearly falls into the second (When this character is given a close combat action).

So then:

Because the result of the an assignment of a free action is non-optional, the purpose of the assignment of a free action is to specifically switch the powers? And because of this non-optionality, the nature of the free action is to only activate the power switch? Even if your purpose was to specifically switch out the powers - Hawkeye is being advanced upon by 255 Hulk - a free action would still need to be given.

Why not just say:

PUT AWAY THE BOW: At the beginning of your turn, you may allow Hawkeye to possess Combat Reflexes instead of Energy Shield/Deflection and Close Combat Expert instead of Ranged Combat Expert until your next turn.

The nature of the wording is confusing and cumbersome. In other cases of the assignment of free actions, the free actions are spelled out exactly if they are not considered to be free actions.

Consider Darkstar:

ENVELOP IN DARKNESS: Once during your turn, Darkstar can use Smoke Cloud as a free action.

Smoke cloud is not normally a free action, but for her it is.

Deadpool (GSX LE) is a little closer to Hawkeye

NEW WRITER: At the beginning of the game, choose one. Deadpool can use Ranged Combat Expert and Combat Reflexes or Deadpool can use Close Combat Expert and Energy Shield/Deflection. He can use those powers as long as he can use this special power.

But even his is a choice and not a free action.

And an even closer analogy is Super Skrull (GG 208):

INVISIBLE SHIELDS AND ROCK SKIN: At the end of your turn, choose one: Energy Shield/Deflection, Stealth, or Toughness. Super Skrull can use the chosen power until your next turn.

Another choice, not an assignment of a free action.

It seems inconsistent of WK to list the assignment of a free action, when they have previously demonstrated a pattern of allowing the controllers of the figures to make choices to switch out powers.

I don't even understand what you're arguing.

The effect tells you to give Hawkeye a free action. It tells you what that free action does. (Gives him energy shield/deflection and close combat expert instead of combat reflexes and ranged combat expert.)

There are plenty of other powers that use the same phrasing. What am I missing that makes this one a sticking point for you?

My argument is that the free action assigned and the result of the free action (his power switching) are exclusive - albeit related - game effects.

I am asserting that the assignment of a free action includes established/ common free actions, such as perplex or outwit.

My final contention is that when he is assigned a free action of outwit or perplex, he power switches, non-optionally.

It seems like a leap to say the free action is only to switch out powers. The period between the two parts indicates two ideas.

Any power that says "give this character a free action" is telling you that you that's the cost to activate it.

Look at the text of outwit:
Just like Hawkeye's power, it starts by telling you to give the character a free action. What follows is what that free action does. It's the exact same principle.

so your saying if he is outwitted or perplexed he switches to combat reflexes and CCE?

Outwit is a great example because it tells you exactly what the free action is. There is no period separating the portion of "give the character a free action" and the effect of the free action.

For Hawkeye there is a period. The period indicates that there are two ideas at work.

To use a non-clix related example:

Take 20$ to the store. We are having hot dogs tonight. (Hawkeye)

Take 20$ to the store to buy hot dogs for us tonight. (Outwit)

Both examples are similar, but Hawkeye's never states that you are going to buy hotdogs with the 20$, the second one does. The result of the 20$ being taken to the store is still the same - hot dogs tonight.

The period is making a difference in Hawkeye's instance.

I apologize in advance for monopolizing the issue, and I don't believe I have ever really argued anything on here before, so please don't get upset!