Apologies in advance if this question has been addressed, or if I just can't read LOL.
Does a ship's Power Core PCU figure into ship combat? For example, when an Engineer diverts power, is that power drawn or subtracted from the Core's PCU?
What is the purpose of the Power Core's PCU?
Thanks!!
As far as I can tell, the Power Core's PCU is only used to determine the amount of Shield Points restored on a successful Divert action (CRB, p. 323). I don't see any mention of reducing the Core's PCU.
The Power Core's PCU provides a limit to how many systems can be active at once, and is primarily a restriction on ship design, not combat. The only place in combat that the core's PCU is directly relevant is Divert - and by extension, Overpower - where the total PCU capacity of the ship determines how many shield points may be restored if power is diverted to the shields. Mechanically, no mention is made of changing any other values, and it therefore has no impact on the actual PCU consumption. Narratively, you're diverting power away from auxiliary systems rather than major combat systems for a temporary performance boost. Or in the case of Overpower, pushing the ship's power system more than it was perhaps designed to be pushed.