The problem is that Ivo is going to get understandably antsy about this work if we don't actually work on the project itself,
too. We don't know how much time he has, and even the transplant organs will only go far given that he'll have to take time recovering from the surgery.
@King crimson :
I second
@Void Stalker 's questions about fields where we might be able to make the A.M.A.Z.O. project easier with ancillary research.
...
Anyway, with that said, researching nanotech has a DC of 222- even higher than A.M.A.Z.O. It's not reliably accessible without a mega-collaboration, and even a mega-collaboration might fail. Researching AI had a DC of 'only' 78 last turn, likely higher now but not necessarily by much since our success was pretty marginal. While there may be 'low-hanging fruit' options with a low DC that reduce A.M.A.Z.O. DC, I think it would be optimistic to expect much out of that.
I don't think Dr. Ivo is going to stay satisfied with his current research program if he spends three or four turns in a row not
directly working on A.M.A.Z.O. He didn't get mad at us about the alien tech because the spinoff potential massively advanced his project. He didn't get mad at us about the AI, admittedly. But if we keep this up turn after turn, he's going to get cranky, and Ivo doesn't seem to cope well with being cranky.
Right now, the DC is 105, possibly minus a little for progress made in AI research. To drop it down to something that Ivo+Dahl can handle easily, we'd need to lower the DC by 50 or more... and that's probably going to take like five or more ancillary support actions. Given that we're probably not planning on investing that many action points into the research in the next turn or two, and don't have enough spare Learning heroes to guarantee success even if we did...
If we don't at least
occasionally try to "spike" progress on A.M.A.Z.O. by overwhelming the DC, Ives is going to be waiting a year or more before we let him get back to the project. Given his expected lifespan, that's a long time to ask a man to wait.
...
So I say we at least
try here and now, given how easy it is for us to stack up a +95 team:
(Lex's Learning 36) + (Ivo's Learning 0.5*33 = 17) + (Cassandra's Learning (2.0*(15-5) = 20) + (Lex's bonus 3*5 = +10) + (Ivo's bonus +7)
Lex+Cassandra+Ivo collaborating on the project gives us +90 on the die roll, an 85% chance of success, and a very good chance of breakthrough success from a crit, as I understand it.
Lex+Cassandra+Ivo+Marie gives us +106 on the die roll and assured success, though no rerolls and a disappointing result is possible.
And that's before we even consider pulling in any other Learning heroes like Dr. Isley or Ms. Smoak.
...
About the only reason I'd stop wanting this is if we have a very high DC must-do Martial or Intrigue action for which we need Lex to lead the megacollaboration (since he has higher co-op scores than most of his subordinates, and synergy bonuses from leading big teams). That's admittedly quite possible, granted.
Now, to be fair, we COULD try something like throwing Lex+Cassandra at one option that lowers the DC on A.M.A.Z.O. next turn, and Ivo+Dahl at another option with a DC of 50 or lower if we can find one. But we can't afford many repeats of what happened this turn, where Ivo works really hard and gets a very marginal success on the die roll that probably won't have that much of an effect. He's going to run out of time that way, even with the organ transplants.
