Seeing as there’s a lot of confusion on how skills work, I figured I’d create a new thread with clarifications on the different skills so that it’s all in one place, rather than scattered throughout various forum posts. I’ll be updating this as I find time. # Terms: **Active:** A unit is considered “active” if it has no delay remaining and it is not frozen. **Activated Skill:** An activated skill is a skill that is triggered when the unit takes its turn (unless explicitly stated otherwise). Activated skills are triggered in the order that they are listed on a card. They are triggered before the unit attacks. The unit must be “active” for it to use an “activated skill”. **Buff:** A skill is considered a “buff” if it somehow benefits the unit that is targeted. **Debuff:** A skill is considered a “debuff” if it somehow harms the unit that is targeted. **Passive Skill:** A passive skill is a skill that is _always active, regardless of whether the unit is active or not_. Passive skills are only applied to the unit that have them, unlike activated skills that target other units. **Every X Turns:** A skill with “every X turns” will activate on the first turn that the unit becomes active, and every X turns thereafter. **Opposing Unit:** A unit’s “opposing unit” is the unit directly across from it (the one that would be hit if it attacked). **Triggered Skill:** A triggered skill is a skill that is activated whenever a certain critera is met. **Will be Active:** An enemy unit “will be active” if they have 1 or less delay remaining and are not frozen. On the enemy’s turn, their delay will reduce to 0 and they will be active. # Outstanding Questions: 1. None # Basic Order of Skills: 1. Valor 2. BGE Skills 3. Hero Skills – Imbue/Enhance 4. Hero Skills – Early Activation (Empower) 5. Unit Skills – Early Activation (Empower, Legion, Fervor, Barrage) 6. Hero Skills – All other 7. Unit Activations (All other Skills and Attack)

# Activated Skills - Buffs: * * * ### Barrier: **Description:** Barrier X prevents the next X damage from Vengeance, incoming attacks, Frostbreath and/or Bolts. **Targeting:** Barrier can target allied units (including itself), even if they are not active. **Nuances:** Barrier does _not_ prevent damage from Poison or Scorch. It prevents X total damage, not X damage from each damage source. Damage is reduced by Barrier before it is reduced by Armor. Multiple Barriers stack. Barrier lasts until the beginning of your next turn. **Examples:** 1. If a unit has Barrier 4, and is hit by Bolt 2, and then an attack of 3, it will take 1 damage total. Barrier 4 will prevent the 2 Bolt damage, and be reduced by 2, leaving 2 remaining. It will then prevent 2 of the attack damage, leaving 1 damage leftover. 2. If a unit with Armor 2, Barrier 2 is attacked by a unit for 2, and then hit by another unit with Bolt 2, it will take 2 Bolt damage. Even though the first attack could not overcome Armor, it will be blocked by Barrier first, leaving 0 barrier left. When the Bolt hits, there is no Barrier left and all of the Bolt damage goes through. 3. A Unit with 1 attack and Pierce 5 attacks a unit protected by 7 Barrier. Pierce removes 5 Barrier and the attack removes 1 more, leaving the defending unit with 1 Barrier remaining. * * * ### Iceshatter Barrier: **Description:** This skill is the same as Barrier, except that it deals damage when it is completely depleted. **Targeting:** When it is depleted, a unit protected by Iceshatter Barrier targets the unit directly across from it. If there is no such unit, it targets the enemy hero. **Nuances:** Iceshatter Barrier only reflects damage when it is completely depleted by an attack, a Bolt, or Frostbreath. Iceshatter Barrier dealts damage to the unit across from the protected unit, not the unit that dealt it damage. The damage dealt by Iceshatter Barrier is equal to the amount of Barrier given to the unit since the beginning of its last turn. Iceshatter Barrier damage is triggered before Siphon. **Bugs:** Iceshatter Barrier is sometimes triggered by Vengeance and sometimes not. **Examples:** 1. If a unit is protected by Iceshatter Barrier 2, and is hit by Bolt 3, it will take 1 damage and reflect 2 damage. 2. If a unit is protected by Iceshatter Barrier 4, and is hit by Bolt 3, and then an attack of 3 with 1 Pierce, it will take 3 damage total and reflect nothing. Barrier 4 will prevent the 3 Bolt damage, and be reduced to 1. Since it is not fully depleted, no damage will be reflected. When it is hit by the attack, Pierce will remove the remaining barrier. Since the last of the Barrier was removed by Pierce, it does not reflect any damage back. 3. If a unit is protected by Iceshatter Barrier 4, and is hit by Bolt 2, and then an attack of 3 with 1 Pierce, it will take 2 damage total and reflect 4 damage. Barrier 4 will prevent the 2 Bolt damage, and be reduced to 2. Since it is not fully depleted, no damage will be reflected. When it is hit by the attack, Pierce will remove 1 barrier, leaving 1 remaining. The remaining barrier will block 1 damage from the attack. Since the last of the Barrier was removed by the attack, it reflects 4 damage back. * * * ### Empower: **Description:** Empower X increases the attack of a unit by X. **Targeting:** Empower can target active allied units (including itself). **Nuances:** Empower activates at the beginning of your turn, after you play a card, but before your units activate (that means a unit can Empower units to its left). * * * ### Enhance: **Description:** For the unit(s) targeted, Enhance [Skill] X temporarily increases the value of that skill by X. **Targeting:** Enhance can target allied units that _already have the specified skill_. For activation or triggered skills, targets must be active. **Nuances:** Enhance wears off at the beginning of your next turn. Enhance activates at the beginning of turn, before all Empower skills as well. Enhance can target units that received a skill via Imbue. **Examples:** 1. You have a hero with Enhance All Armor 1, a unit with Armor 1, and a unit with no Armor. On your turn, your hero will target the unit that has Armor 1, increasing it to 2, but will not do anything for the other unit. On your next turn, the enhancement wears off and your hero reapplies it, increasing the armored unit back to Armor 2. * * * ### Fervor: **Description:** Fervor [faction] X Empowers the unit with Fervor for X for each unit next to it that is in the faction specified. **Targeting:** Fervor targets the unit that has Fervor. **Nuances:** The adjacent units do not need to be active. Fervor activates at the beginning of your turn, after you play a card, but before your units activate. Attack bonuses from Fervor remain if an adjacent unit dies on your turn (for example, to Vengeance or Iceshatter damage). **Examples:** 1. A unit with Fervor Chaos 2 has a Wyld unit next to it on the left, and a Chaos unit next to it on the right. It will be Empowered for 2. * * * ### Heal: **Description:** Heal X restores X HP to a wounded unit. **Targeting:** Heal can target allied units (including itself) that are damaged (not at full HP), even if they are not active. **Nuances:** A unit cannot be healed above their maximum HP. Heal X% heals a unit for X% of its maximum health, rounded up (e.g. a unit with 8 maximum health Targeted by Heal 20% will be healed for 2). * * * ### Imbue: **Description:** For the unit(s) targeted, Imbue [Skill] X gives the targeted unit [Skill] X until the start of its next turn. **Targeting:** Imbue can target allied units, regardless of whether they have the skill. For activation or triggered skills, targets must be active. **Nuances:** Imbue wears off at the beginning of your next turn. Imbue activates _before_ Enhance (and therefore, before all Empower skills as well). If the targeted unit already has the skill, Imbue Enhances that skill instead (Note: [Skill] and [Skill All} are considered different skills). Imbue can target units that already have 3 skills. Imbue is equally likely to target units with and without the skill it imbues. **Examples:** 1. You have a hero with Imbue Armor 1, a unit with Armor 1, and a unit with no Armor. On your turn, your hero has an equal chance to target the unit that has Armor 1, increasing it to 2 for a turn, or to target the unit without Armor, giving it Armor 1 for a turn. On your next turn, the imbuement wears off. 2. You have a hero with Imbue Berserk 1. It gives one of your active units Berserk 1 for a turn. That unit attacks an enemy and gains 1 attack from Berserk. At the beginning of your next turn, the imbued unit loses Berserk, but retains its +1 attack bonus.\< * * * ### Legion: **Description:** Legion [faction] X Empowers the each unit next to it that is in the faction specified by X. **Targeting:** Legion targets all active units that are adjacent to the unit with Legion. **Nuances:** The unit with Legion must be active to trigger this skill. Legion activates at the beginning of your turn, after you play a card, but before your units activate. **Examples:** 1. A unit with Legion Chaos 2 has a Wyld unit next to it on the left, and a Chaos unit next to it on the right. It will Empower the Chaos unit for 2.

# Activated Skills - Debuffs: * * * ### Bolt: **Description:** Bolt X deals X damage to an enemy unit. **Targeting:** Bolt can target any enemy unit, even if they will not be active on their turn. **Nuances:** Bolt damage ignores Armor, but can be reduced by Barrier. * * * ### Barrage (image TBD): **Description:** Barrage X throws X bombs at random enemy units. Each bomb deals 1 damage. Barrage X is essentially X isntances of "Bolt 1", with the notable difference that it triggers at the start of turn. **Targeting:** Barrage can target any enemy unit, even if they will not be active on their turn. **Nuances:** Barrage damage ignores Armor, but can be reduced by Barrier. Barrage triggers at the beginning of your turn, before commander skills (including Hex). Barrage is triggered twice on dualstrike turns. * * * ### Poisonbolt: **Description:** Poisonbolt X works the same as Bolt X, except that it also applies Poison X to the Targeted unit if the bolt deals damage. **Nuances:** See the sections for Bolt/Poison for details. **Examples:** 1. A unit has Poisonbolt 3. It targets an enemy unit and Bolts it for 3 damage. That unit becomes poisoned and will take 3 damage at the end of every turn. 2. A unit has Poisonbolt 3. It targets an enemy unit protected by Barrier 3. The Targeted unit takes 0 damage and does not become poisoned. * * * ### Freeze: **Description:** Freeze prevents a unit from activating on its turn. **Targeting:** Freeze can target enemy units that will be active on their turn. **Nuances:** Freeze every X turns activates when the unit first becomes active, and then again every X turns after it last activated. If there are no available targets when Freeze activates, or it "misses" due to Invisibility, it will try to activate again on the next turn, and then every X turns from there. If a unit is Frozen, its skill timers (such as those for Dualstrike or Freeze) will continue to count down. **Examples:** 1. A unit with Freeze every 2 turns activates and Freezes an enemy unit. On the second turn, Freeze does not activate. On the third turn, Freeze activates again. 2. The enemy has a unit with 4 delay. You have a unit with Freeze every 7 turns that just activated. Your unit does not Freeze on its turn. On the enemy's turn, the play a unit with 1 delay and Invisibility. On your turn, your unit tries to Freeze the unit with Invisibility, but misses. On the enemy's next turn, they play another 1-delay. On your turn, your unit randomly targets the unit without Invisibility and Freezes it. It does not try to activate Freeze again until 7 turns later. * * * ### Frostbreath: **Description:** A card with Frostbreath X deals X damage to up to three enemy units directly across from it. **Targeting:** Frostbreath targets the opposing unit, as well as the two units next to that one. **Nuances:** Frostbreath damage ignores Armor, but can be reduced by Barrier. If there is no unit directly across from the unit with Frostbreath, it will _still_ be triggered and damage the units in the adjacent spaces. **Examples:** 1. The enemy has 5 units. Your third unit has Frostbreath 2. When it activates, it deals 2 damage to the second, third, and fourth enemy units. It then attacks the third enemy unit. 2. The enemy has 5 units. Their third unit has 2 health left. Your third unit has Bolt 2 and Frostbreath 2. When it activates, it deals 2 bolt damage to the third enemy unit and kills it. Even though there is no longer an opposing unit, it still activates Frostbreath, and damages their second and fourth units. * * * ### Hex: **Description:** Hex X causes the targeted unit to take X more damage from every incoming attack, Bolt, or Frostbreath. **Targeting:** Hex can target any enemy unit, even if they will not be active on their turn. **Nuances:** Vengeance, Poison, and Scorch damage are not increased by Hex. Multiple instances of Hex stack. **Examples:** 1. A unit is targeted by Hex 2, and then is targeted by Bolt 2 and an attack of 2. It will take 4 Bolt damage and 4 attack damage. 2. A unit is targeted by Hex 1 and another Hex 1. It is then targeted by Bolt 2 and an attack of 2. It will take 4 Bolt damage and 4 attack damage. * * * ### Weaken: **Description:** Weaken X reduces the target unit's attack by X (to a minimum of 0). **Targeting:** Weaken can target enemy units that will be active on their turn. Weaken will _not_ target units with 0 attack. **Nuances:** Weaken will _not_ reduce a unit's attack below 0. A unit with 0 attack cannot attack, and thus, cannot apply Poison or Scorch or Heal itself with Siphon. A unit with 0 attack can still use activated abilities, such as Heal, Bolt, etc. Multiple instances of Weaken stack.

# Triggered Skills * * * ### Berserk: **Description:** After a unit with Berserk X attacks an enemy unit, it gains X attack permanently. **Trigger:** Berserk is triggered when the unit deals at least 1 _attack_ damage to an enemy unit (Berserk is not triggered if all attack damage is prevented by Armor/Barrier). Berserk _is_ triggered when attacking a Commanders. Berserk _is not_ triggered by dealing non-attack damage (Bolt, Frostbreath, etc...). **Nuances:** Devouring Hunger gives all Undead Berserk X where X is equal to 20% of their _base_ attack (not including buffs/debuffs), rounded up (e.g. an Undead unit with 6 attack will gain Berserk 2). Units that already have Berserk will have their existing skill increased by X. **Examples:** 1. A unit has 2 attack and Berserk 2. On the turn it first becomes active, it attacks and deals 2 damage. On its second turn, it attacks for 4 damage. On its third turn, it attacks for 6 damage. 2. A unit has 2 attack and Berserk 2, it attacks a unit with 2 Armor and does 0 damage. It does not gain any attack. * * * ### Dualstrike: **Description:** Dualstrike causes a unit to activate twice on its turn, this includes all activation skills (Empower, Fervor, Legion, Bolt, Barrage, Freeze, Frostbreath, Hex, Weaken, Barrier, and Heal). Berserk, Poison, Scorch, and Siphon are applied for each attack (note: Poison does not stack, but Dualstrike does make it easier to apply Poison to an enemy unit with Barrier). **Trigger:** Dualstrike Every X Turns triggers when the unit first becomes active, and then every X turns after it was last triggered. Dualstrike will not trigger if the unit has 0 attack or is frozen, but will be delayed until the next turn (also pushing out subsequent triggers by a turn). **Nuances:** If the unit with Duastrike dies from Vengeance during its first attack, its second activation will be skipped (except for Empower, Legion, and Fervor, which are activated at the beginning of the turn). If a unit will activate dualstrike on its turn, it will activate its empower skills ((Empower, Fervor, and/or Legion) twice at the beginning of the turn. Whether a unit can active Dualstrike or not is determined during the ["Unit Skills – Early Activation" phase](http://www.kongregate.com/forums/17305-general/topics/563878-guide-skill-clarifications-last-updated-10-17?page=1#posts-9880896). If a unit with Dualstrike is at 0 attack, and is empowered/legioned by a unit to its left so that it has at least 1 attack, Dualstrike will activate. It cannot empower itself into activating Dualstrike, nor can units to its right. **Examples:** 1. A unit has Bolt 2 and Dualstrike every 2. On the turn it first becomes active, it will Bolt, attack, Bolt, and attack again. On the next turn, it will Bolt and attack once each. On the next turn, it will Bolt, attack, Bolt, and attack. 2. A unit has Bolt 2 and Dualstrike every 5. On the turn it first becomes active, it is weakened to 0 attack. It will use Bolt and end its turn. On the next turn, it is not weakened. It will Bolt, attack, Bolt, and attack again. It will then Bolt/attack once each turn for turns 3-6, and Bolt/attack twice on the 7th. 3. A unit has Empower 4 and Dualstrike every 5. On the turn it first becomes active, it is weakened to 0 attack. It will use Empower on itself once, boosting its attack to 4, and then attack once for 4 damage. On its next turn, it will try to activate Dualstrike. 4. Your board consists of a unit with Empower All 1 and a unit with Dualstrike every 5 (in that order), both weakened to 0 attack. On your turn, the unit with Empower All will boost both units' attack to 1. The Dualstrike unit will attack twice. 5. Your board consists of a unit with Dualstrike every 5 and a unit with Empower All 1 (in that order), both weakened to 0 attack. On your turn, the unit with Empower All will boost both units' attack to 1. The Dualstrike unit will attack once. * * * ### Nullify: **Description:** When a unit with Nullify X attacks an enemy unit, it marks that unit as "Nullified X", causing the next X targeted Buffs (e.g. Empower, Legion, Heal, Barrier, Imbue, Enhance, and Enrage) that target it to fail (similar to the way Invisibility works). **Trigger:** Nullify is triggered when the unit deals at least 1 attack damage to an enemy unit (Nullify is not applied if all attack damage is prevented by Armor/Barrier). Nullify _is?_ triggered if the attacking unit dies from Vengeance. Nullify is _not_ triggered when attacking a Commanders. **Nuances:** Nullify stacks. Nullify does _not_ stop Fervor, Berserk, or Valor. Nullify wears off at the end of the enemy's turn. Nullify can block buffs from BGEs, commanders, and units. **Examples:** 1. An enemy Raptor gets affected with Nullify 1. During its next turn, it activates dualstrike and empowers itself for 4. Nullify prevents the Empower. It then empowers again and increases its attack by 4. 2. An enemy Raptor gets affected with Nullify 1. During its next turn, it is targeted by Empower All 1 from the enemy commander. Nullify prevents the Empower. It then activates dualstrike and empowers itself both times and increases its attack by 8. * * * ### Poison: **Description:** When a unit with Poison X attacks an enemy unit, it marks that unit as "Poisoned X", causing it to take X damage at the end of every turn until that unit dies. **Trigger:** Poison is triggered when the unit deals at least 1 attack damage to an enemy unit (Poison is not applied if all attack damage is prevented by Armor/Barrier). Poison _is_ triggered if the attacking unit dies from Vengeance. Poison is _not_ triggered when attacking a Commanders. **Nuances:** Poison does _not_ stack; if a unit is already Poisoned, and gets hit with another Poison, it will be affected by the strongest poison. Poison damage is _not_ prevented by Armor or Barrier. **Examples:** 1. A unit gets affected with Poison 1. At the end of its turn, it takes 1 Poison damage. On the next turn, that unit gets hit with Poison 3. At the end of its turn, it takes 3 Poison damage. On the next turn, that unit gets hit with Poison 2. At the end of its turn, it still takes 3 Poison damage. That unit continues to take 3 Poison damage at the end of each of its turns until it dies. * * * ### Scorch: **Description:** After a unit with Scorch X attacks an enemy unit, it adds Burn X to that unit. A unit with Burn X will take X damage at the end of every turn until it wears off. **Trigger:** Scorch is triggered when the unit attacks an enemy unit, _even if it did not do any damage to that unit_. Scorch is _not_ triggered if the attacking unit dies from Vengeance. Scorch is _not_ triggered when attacking a Commanders. **Nuances:** Burn stacks. After a unit takes Burn damage, if it was not hit with Scorch that turn, all Burn will wear off. Scorch damage is _not_ prevented by Barrier. **Examples:** 1. A unit is hit with Scorch 2. At the end of its turn, it takes 2 Burn damage. On the next turn, that unit is hit with Scorch 3. At the end of its turn, it takes 5 Burn damage. On the next turn, that unit is not hit with Scorch. At the end of its turn, it takes 5 Burn damage and Burn wears off. 2. A unit with 2 attack and Scorch 2 attacks an enemy unit with 4 Armor. The enemy unit takes 0 damage from the attack, but Burn 2 is applied. At the end of that units turn, it will take 2 Burn damage. * * * ### Siphon: **Description:** A unit with Siphon X will heal itself for up to X whenever it deals attack damage to an enemy unit. **Trigger:** Siphon is triggered when the unit deals at least 1 attack damage to an enemy unit or commander. **Nuances:** Siphon X heals based on the damage dealt to the enemy unit, with a cap at X. Siphon _is not_ reduced if the enemy unit has less remaining health than the incoming damage. Siphon cannot heal a unit above its maximum HP. Siphon is activated _before_ Vengeance but _after_ Iceshatter Barrier. **Examples:** 1. You have a unit with Siphon 1. It attacks an enemy unit for 2 damage and heals itself for 1. 2. You have a unit with Siphon 2. It attacks an enemy unit for 1 damage and heals itself for 1. 3. You have a unit with Siphon 1 and 1 health left. It attacks an enemy unit with Vengeance 1, heals itself for 1, and then takes 1 Vengeance damage to end up at 1 health again. 4. You have an _undamaged_ unit with Siphon 1 and 10 health. It attacks an enemy unit with Vengeance 1, does not heal itself because it is at full HP, and then takes 1 Vengeance damage to end up at 9 health. 5. You have a unit with Siphon 5 across from an enemy unit with 1 health remaining. It attacks that unit for 5 and heals itself for 5. * * * ### Valor: **Description:** When a unit with Valor X activates for the first time, if its attack is less than the opposing enemy's attack (including all modifiers), it gains X attack permanently. **Trigger:** Valor is triggered on the turn that the unit's timer expires. Regardless of the outcome, Valor will not trigger again for the rest of the match. **Nuances:** If a unit with Valor is Frozen when it first becomes active, Valor is still triggered. If a unit with Valor has no opposing unit when it activates, the unit will not gain any attack from Valor for that match. Valor is triggered _before_ empower skills. **Examples:** 1. A unit with 4 attack and Valor 4 is across from an enemy unit with 5 attack. When the unit activates, Valor is triggered and it permanently gains 4 attack, for a total of 8. 2. A unit with 4 attack and Valor 4 is across from an enemy unit with 4 attack. When the unit activates, Valor is triggered and it gains no attack. On all remaining turns, Valor does not trigger. 3. A unit with 4 attack and Valor 4 is across from the enemy commander. When the unit activates, Valor is triggered and it gains no attack. On all remaining turns, Valor does not trigger. 4. You have a unit with 4 attack, Valor 4, and 1 turn left on its timer across from an active enemy unit with 4 attack and Berserk 1. On the enemy's turn, their unit attacks and gains 1 attack, bringing its attack up to 5. In addition, your unit becomes weakened by 2, reducing its attack to 2. On your next turn, your unit becomes active and Valor is triggered. Since your units attack (2) is less than the opposing units attack (5), it gains 4 attack from Valor 4.

# Passive Skills * * * ### Armor: **Description:** Armor is a passive skill. Armor X prevents X damage from every _direct attack_ a unit takes. **Nuances:** Armor does _not_ prevent damage from Bolt, Frostbreath, Poison, Scorch, or Vengeance. **Examples:** 1. If a unit has Armor 2, and another unit attacks it for 4, it will take 2 damage. 2. If a unit with Dualstrike attacks it twice for 4 each, it will take 4 damage (4-2 4-2). * * * ### Corrosive: **Description:** When a unit with Corrosive X is damaged by an _attack_, it adds Corrosion X to the attacker (stacks with previous Corrosion). Units with Corrosion X will have their attack reduced by X (minimum of 0) until the end of their next turn. **Trigger:** Corrosive is triggered when the unit with Corrosive takes at least 1 _attack_ damage (Corrosive does not trigger for other sources of damage). If all damage is prevented by Armor/Barrier, then Corrosive is not triggered. **Nuances:** Corrosion applied by Corrosive stacks. Corrosion wears off at the end of any turn that a unit did not receive more Corrosion (after it reduces the unit's attack). If a hero has Corrosive, it means that the hero applies Corrosion to attackers when it is hit (it does not give Corrosive to one of your units). Corrosive is triggered every time the unit takes attack damage. If a unit with Dualstrike attacks a unit with Corrosive, it can trigger Corrosive twice. Weaken from Corrosion is applied immediately. Dualstrike units attacking a unit with Corrosive will swing for reduced damage with their second attack. Corrosion cannot reduce a unit's attack below 0. **Examples:** 1. A unit has Corrosive 2. It is attacked for 3 damage and applies Corrosion 2 to the attacker. The attackers is weakened by 2. On the attacker's next turn, it hits the unit with Corrosive again and receives an additional Corrosion 2 (for a total of 4). The attacker is weakened by 4. On the attacker's next turn, it does not attack a unit with Corrosion. The unit is weakened by 4 one more time and Corrosion wears off. 2. A unit with 2 attack and Dualstrike attacks an enemy unit with Corrosive 2. It deals 2 damage and triggers Corrosive, receiving 2 Corrosion and being weakened by 2, reducing its attack to 0. It then cannot attack. At the start of its next turn, it has 0 attack and it cannot attack. 3. Your unit with 2 attack hits an enemy unit with Corrosive 2 and Weaken 2. It deals 2 damage and triggers Corrosive, receiving 2 Corrosion; it is weakened by 2. On the enemy's turn, the enemy unit does not target your unit with weaken, because its attack is already at 0. 4. You have a commander with Empower All 1 and a unit with 2 attack. Your unit hits an enemy unit with Corrosive 5 and receives 5 Corrosion. At the end of your turn, your unit is weakened to 0. On your next turn, your commander Empowers it to 1 and it is able to attack. * * * ### Counterburn: **Description:** When a unit with Counterburn X is damaged by an _attack_, it applies Burn X to the attacker. **Trigger:** Counterburn is triggered when the unit with Counterburn takes at least 1 _attack_ damage (Counterburn does not trigger for other sources of damage). If all damage is prevented by Armor/Barrier, then Counterburn is not triggered. **Nuances:** Burn applied by Counterburn stacks Burn applied by Scorch. Scorch applied by Counterburn wears off after 2 turns If a hero has Counterburn, it means that the hero applies Scorch to attackers when it is hit (it does not give Counterburn to one of your units). Counterburn is triggered every time the unit takes attack damage. If a unit with Dualstrike attacks a unit with Counterburn, it can trigger Counterburn twice. **Examples:** 1. A unit has Counterburn 2. It is attacked for 3 damage and applies Burn 2 to the attacker. At the end of the attackers turn, it takes 4 Burn damage. On the attacker's next turn, it hits the unit with Counterburn again and receives an additional Burn 2 (for a total of 4). At the end of the attacker's turn, it takes 4 Burn damage. On the attacker's next turn, it does not attack a unit with Counterburn. At the end of its turn, it takes another 4 Burn damage and Burn wears off. 2. A unit with Counterburn 2 and Scorch 2 attacks an enemy unit, triggering Scorch and applying 2 Burn to the enemy. On the enemy's turn, it attacks your unit for 1 damage and triggers its Counterburn, receiving 2 additional Burn. At the end of its turn, the enemy unit takes 4 Burn damage. * * * ### Invisibility: **Description:** Invisibility X blocks X activated debuff skills that target the unit each turn (they are completely negated). **Nuances:** The skills blocked by Invisibility are Hex, Bolt, Weaken, Freeze, and [Frostbreath](http://www.kongregate.com/forums/17305-general/topics/563878-guide-skill-clarifications-last-updated-12-23#posts-9880901). Invisibility is triggered before any other defensive skills. If a skill is negated by Invisibility, it will not remove Barrier. **Examples:** 1. A unit has Invisibility 2. It is targeted by Bolt 5, Bolt 3, and Bolt 4. The Bolt 5 is ignored completely, leaving remaining Invisibility at 1. The Bolt 3 is ignored completely, reducing remaining Invisibility to 0. The unit has no more Invisibility and is hit for 4 Bolt damage. On its next turn, Invisibility is restored to 2. * * * ### Maelstrom's Fury: **Description:** When a unit with Maelstrom's Fury X is damaged by an _attack_, it returns X damage back to the attacker and permanently gains X attack. **Trigger:** Maelstrom's Fury is triggered when the unit takes at least 1 _attack_ damage (Maelstrom's Fury does not trigger for other sources of damage). If all damage is prevented by Armor/Barrier, then Maelstrom's Fury is not triggered. **Nuances:** Maelstrom's Fury damage _cannot_ be prevented by Armor, but it _can_ be prevented by Barrier. Maelstrom's Fury is triggered every time the unit takes attack damage. If a unit with Dualstrike attacks a unit with Maelstrom's Fury, it can trigger Maelstrom's Fury twice. **Examples:** 1. A unit with 1 attack and Maelstrom's Fury 3 is attacked by another unit for 1 damage. It deals 3 damage back to the attacker, and gains 3 attack, resulting in 4 total attack. 2. A unit with 1 attack, Maelstrom's Fury 3, and Armor 2 is attacked by another unit for 2 damage. Both damage are blocked by the Armor, and Maelstrom's Fury is not triggered. * * * ### Pierce: **Description:** Pierce X allows a unit to ignore up to X combined Armor and Barrier when attacking. **Nuances:** Any Barrier "ignored" by Pierce is destroyed (reminder: Barrier is applied before Armor). Pierce does not allow Bolt damage to ignore Barrier. **Examples:** 1. A unit with 1 attack and Pierce 3 attacks a unit with Armor 2. The Armor is fully ignored and the unit takes 1 damage. 2. A unit with 3 attack and Pierce 3 attacks a unit with Armor 2 and Barrier 2. Pierce removes the Barrier 2 and allows 1 of the Armor to be ignored. The unit takes 2 damage. 3. A unit with 1 attack and Pierce 5 attacks a unit with Barrier 7. Pierce removes 5 Barrier, the attack removes 1 more, leaving the defending unit with 1 Barrier remaining. * * * ### Taunt: **Description:** Units with Taunt cause attacks aimed at adjacent cards to be redirected at them instead. **Targetting:** When a unit is being attacked, if the unit to its left or right has Taunt, that unit will be attacked instead. **Nuances:** If both neighboring units have Taunt, the unit to the left is targetted. Attacks aimed at a unit with Taunt cannot be redirected by another unit with Taunt. All defensive skills of the unit with Taunt are applied. All defensive skills of the original defender are ignored. Any passive skills on the attacker (Poison, Pierce, Nullify, and Scorch) are applied to the unit with Taunt. Taunt only redirects _attack_ damage. **Examples:** 1. Unit A has no Armor and is next to unit B that has Taunt and Armor 2. An enemy unit attacks unit A. The attack is redirected to unit B, and the damage is reduced by 2. 2. Your field consists of Unit A with Taunt, Unit B without Taunt, and Unit C with Taunt. An enemy unit attacks unit B. The attack is redirected to unit A. 3. Your field consists of Units A and B, both with Taunt. An enemy unit attacks unit B. The attack is not redirected, and still hits unit B. * * * ### Vengeance: **Description:** When a unit with Vengeance X is damaged by an _attack_, it returns X damage back to the attacker. **Trigger:** Vengeance is triggered when the unit with Vengeance takes at least 1 _attack_ damage (Vengeance does not trigger for other sources of damage). If all damage is prevented by Armor/Barrier, then Vengeance is not triggered. **Nuances:** Vengeance damage _cannot_ be prevented by Armor, but it _can_ be prevented by Barrier. If a hero has Vengeance, it means that the hero deals damage to attackers when it is hit (it does not give Vengeance to one of your units). Vengeance is triggered every time the unit takes attack damage. If a unit with Dualstrike attacks a unit with Vengeance, it can trigger Vengeance twice.

# Practice Battles For those interested in trying out abilities in a “Sandbox” environment, the following link contains a fully functional (including confirmed bugs) practice battle simulator: [http://thesench.github.io/SIMSpellstone/Battle.html](http://thesench.github.io/SIMSpellstone/Battle.html) If you run into any issues, please let me know in a Kong PM and I’ll take a look at them.

‘Defensive’ skills will work while on countdown: Armor, Vengeance, Invis. Edit: oh, I see how you approached it

Ok I updated the link in Mermod’s post so it now directs to this topic. I like the icons!

> *Originally posted by **[Croix759](/forums/17305/topics/563878?page=1#posts-9882024):*** > > Ok I updated the link in Mermod’s post so it now directs to this topic. I like the icons! That’s one of the reasons I needed to make a new post. I was using the build-in formatting for things like font-weight and images, and apparently Kong Forums have a limit to how many of those you can do in a single post. After I created this thread, I got images working and added hyperlinks to the different sections of the guide, running into the same issue. I’ve since replaced all Kong formatting with straight HTML, and it all works fine. I probably could have just done that with the original, but I think this is probably better in the long-run.

Thanks to the new “Battle guildmates” functionality, I was able to do some testing of some special scenarios. I have confirmed that Poison is part of the attack, while Scorch is a separate action that happens after the attack. Thus, I was able to confirm that Vengeance does stop Scorch, but it does not stop Poison.

Positively beautiful guide, Sench. No notes for you.

Great job. Thx

This is awesome, good job Sench :)

Awesome job!

Very nice job ! Nb : enhance example 2 does not work anymore. Enhance does not apply to “skill all” type.

Thanks brotherrr

> *Originally posted by **[Gabgore](/forums/17305/topics/563878?page=1#posts-9886069):*** > > Very nice job ! > Nb : enhance example 2 does not work anymore. Enhance does not apply to “skill all” type. Thanks Gabgore, I forgot to make that update. Did they actually implement the change already, or is it not happening until Urs gets changed?

Excellent post TheSench. thank you. To a moderator: it would be appreciated, if you could “sticky” this thread

> *Originally posted by **[TheSench](/forums/17305/topics/563878?page=1#posts-9880902):*** > > ### Pierce: > **Description:** Pierce X allows a unit to ignore up to X [Armor](http://www.kongregate.com/forums/17305-general/topics/563878-guide-skill-clarifications-v-2-0#posts-9880902) and/or [Barrier](http://www.kongregate.com/forums/17305-general/topics/563878-guide-skill-clarifications-v-2-0#posts-9880899) when attacking. > **Nuances:** Any [Barrier](http://www.kongregate.com/forums/17305-general/topics/563878-guide-skill-clarifications-v-2-0#posts-9880899) "ignored" by Pierce is destroyed (reminder: [Barrier](http://www.kongregate.com/forums/17305-general/topics/563878-guide-skill-clarifications-v-2-0#posts-9880899) is applied before [Armor](http://www.kongregate.com/forums/17305-general/topics/563878-guide-skill-clarifications-v-2-0#posts-9880902)). Pierce does not allow [Bolt](http://www.kongregate.com/forums/17305-general/topics/563878-guide-skill-clarifications-v-2-0#posts-9880900) damage to ignore [Barrier](http://www.kongregate.com/forums/17305-general/topics/563878-guide-skill-clarifications-v-2-0#posts-9880899)/[Armor](http://www.kongregate.com/forums/17305-general/topics/563878-guide-skill-clarifications-v-2-0#posts-9880902). > Example 1: A unit with 1 attack and Pierce 3 attacks a unit with [Armor](http://www.kongregate.com/forums/17305-general/topics/563878-guide-skill-clarifications-v-2-0#posts-9880902) 2. The [Armor](http://www.kongregate.com/forums/17305-general/topics/563878-guide-skill-clarifications-v-2-0#posts-9880902) is fully ignored and the unit takes 1 damage. > Example 2: A unit with 3 attack and Pierce 3 attacks a unit with [Armor](http://www.kongregate.com/forums/17305-general/topics/563878-guide-skill-clarifications-v-2-0#posts-9880902) 2 and [Barrier](http://www.kongregate.com/forums/17305-general/topics/563878-guide-skill-clarifications-v-2-0#posts-9880899) 2. Pierce removes the [Barrier](http://www.kongregate.com/forums/17305-general/topics/563878-guide-skill-clarifications-v-2-0#posts-9880899) 2 and allows 1 of the [Armor](http://www.kongregate.com/forums/17305-general/topics/563878-guide-skill-clarifications-v-2-0#posts-9880902) to be ignored. The unit takes 2 damage. > Example 3: A unit with 1 attack and Pierce 5 attacks a unit with [Barrier](http://www.kongregate.com/forums/17305-general/topics/563878-guide-skill-clarifications-v-2-0#posts-9880899) 7. Pierce removes 5 [Barrier](http://www.kongregate.com/forums/17305-general/topics/563878-guide-skill-clarifications-v-2-0#posts-9880899), the attack removes 1 more, leaving the defending unit with 1 [Barrier](http://www.kongregate.com/forums/17305-general/topics/563878-guide-skill-clarifications-v-2-0#posts-9880899) remaining. I just witness this situation: Windfrog Dual 1 armor and 5 barrier (2 event , 3 hero guardian Wurm) Ranger Dual 10 attack (4 , 2 empower himself, 4 empower urs) 3 Pierce The Ranger do 8 damage, and not 7 damage: barrier = 5 vs 3 pierce = 2 Armor = 1 vs 3pierce = 0 Total damage = 10-2(barrier) = 8 So Pierce apply TWO times, on barrier, then on armor ... (don't know if it's a bug ?) So about you Example 2 , the unit take full damage. Tested with some battle with guild member, Groc and Dual griffin (armor3, barrier2) vs Urs and Ranger (pierce 3, damage 10) The griffin take full damage (OS)

Pfffff sorry for the bad formatting, I can’t edit and the reply kill my line breaks …

Really useful, thanks for making this.

> *Originally posted by **[Doktorboumboum](/forums/17305/topics/563878?page=1#posts-9890689):*** > > I just witness this situation: > Windfrog Dual 1 armor and 5 barrier (2 event , 3 hero guardian Wurm) > Ranger Dual 10 attack (4 , 2 empower himself, 4 empower urs) 3 Pierce > > The Ranger do 8 damage, and not 7 damage: > > barrier = 5 vs 3 pierce = 2 > Armor = 1 vs 3pierce = 0 > Total damage = 10-2(barrier) = 8 > > So Pierce apply TWO times, on barrier, then on armor … (don’t know if it’s a bug ?) > > So about you Example 2 , the unit take full damage. > > > Tested with some battle with guild member, Groc and Dual griffin (armor3, barrier2) > vs Urs and Ranger (pierce 3, damage 10) > The griffin take full damage (OS) Pierce is applied against the total Armor/Barrier, not each one individually. That means you get the following results: 5 Barrier vs 3 Pierce = 2 Barrier (0 Pierce remaining) 1 Armor vs 0 Pierce = 1 Armor Total damage = 10 – 2(Barrier) – 1(Armor) = 7 This looks an awful lot like Pierce example #2: > *Originally posted by **[TheSench](/forums/17305/topics/563878?page=1#posts-9880902):*** > Example 2: A unit with 3 attack and Pierce 3 attacks a unit with Armor 2 and Barrier 2. Pierce removes the Barrier 2 and allows 1 of the Armor to be ignored. The unit takes 2 damage. As for the formatting issues; it’s because my post uses HTML formatting, rather than Kongregate’s formatting shortcuts (I have too many links and images, which causes Kong to just stop formatting my post if I use their standard formatting). Apparently, as soon as you include straight HTML in a post, Kong stops using their own formatting and just renders the HTML. This results in you needing `</br>` tags for newlines if you quote the guide.

TheSench, I was really surprised too, but it works as I said and I tested it three or four times. On my exemple, you say i should have 7, but i see 8 in battle. Do the test with guilmate battle which use groc and armor unit… Pierce apply on barrier AND on armor :/

did siphon change?

What if tarian uses bolt on a frog outrunner….will the bolt hit the barrier first (frog event) or will be wasted by the invisibilty first?? Thanks for reply in qdvance