Autobattler system

The Autobattler System is in a private beta version as the game is being tested. The Autobattler is played similarly to an auto-chess game. You will place your units in a turn based way. After you place them, they will fight automatically when the wave starts. Units will have Hit points (Their Life) and Energy, which is used to use their special Omega ability. The energy is gained by attacking other units, or by being attacked.

The main difference between Illuvium and other Auto-chess games is the complexity of the game. Illuvium has placed an emphasis on strategic placement and unit composition. Placed illuvials affect their allies in some ways as well as their enemies in multiple ways. They can buff themselves, their allies and even buff the enemies if placed incorrectly!

With multiple other intricate systems interlinked along with incredibly difficult wording, new players can walk into a wall of complexity and can feel overwhelmed. Before you feel like giving up, you should realise that the beta version tests the end-game content which is the most complex. High tier Illuvials have the most diverse skills and affinities. When the open beta releases, none of these high tier Illuvials are caught yet and the initial illuvials will have the most intuitive skillset.

## Getting started

In the Beta version of the Autobattler, you will find yourself facing a square that is divided in very tiny hexagons. On the bottom of your screen you will find Shards with the captured Illuvials inside. Each illuvial will have its own Tier and Stage symbol signifying their power level. Additionally, you will see a golden icon that signifies their cost, and is also coupled to their power. Illuvials that cost more of these mastery points are usually more powerful as well. The amount of illuvials you can place is limited to 8. Another limiting factor is the amount of mastery points you have. You start a game with 120 mastery points and only gain additional points when you successfully pass a wave. Every time that you do, you will gain 25 points.

## Placing your first Illuvial

When you place your first Illuvial, you should pay attention to the range and Class that it has. Normally, a ranged illuvial has weaker overall abilities, but it makes up for that with its Omega-power or a focus on their powerful attacks. With that in mind, Ranged Illuvials should normally be placed behind melee illuvials. (only some circumstances make other strategies viable)

### Positioning with Classes

Aside from the Range of Illuvials, their classes matter a lot. Bulwark Illuvials have increased elemental and physical resistance making them durable. Fighter Illuvials deal massive damage with their regular attacks. Psion Illuvials deal a ton of damage with their omega ability. Empath illuvials give their team various buffs during the fight, or simply heal them. The most important class that requires expert positioning however is the Rogue. They jump to the opposing side of the board, and will attack enemies from that side, which makes them capable of targeting the backline of the opposing team.

## Synergies

### Affinities and Classes

When you place your illuvials, you will see additional UI show up on the sides of the screen that will tell you about Primary and Composite Affinities and Classes. These will influence your entire team and their fighting prowess. Primary affinities will get affected by the thresholds that they have. A water illuvial will get increased mana regeneration only after the threshold of 3 water stacks is reached. 1 or 2 water stacks won't do anything, but the third will unlock the bonus. Note that only "new illuvials" so Illuvials of different Lines will add an affinity or class stack. Having multiple Atlas won't grant you an endless amount of water and bulwark stacks.

The class of an illuvial works similar to its Affinities. If you have 3 stacks of one class, so Bulwark + Bulwark + Bulwark, You unlock the first Threshold that gives a boost to all your bulwark illuvials. Again, placing three scarabok won't give you three stacks of bulwark.

### Composite Affinities and Classes

When Illuvials reach stage two and three, they will get compositie affinities and classes that work slightly different from the regular ones. A composite affinity is made up of two affinities that can either be the same one, so Fire + Fire, but can also be Fire+Water or Earth+Nature. The devs made some interesting mechanics to make it feel like the illuvial fits in with the rest of the illuvials. A Steam Illuvial (Fire + Water) should feel like a water Illuvial if your team consists of purely water illuvials. They have done this by adding boosts based on the surrounding Illuvials. The composite Affinity is buffed by every single other affinity point you have, instead of the thresholds.

Say you have a Steam Illuvial and you place a water Illuvial. Water Illuvials have as thresholds for themselves that every 3 water affinity stacks give +3 energy/second to the water illuvials. The Steam Illuvial will similarly gain energy regeneration per second, as you add water illuvials to your board. The difference here is that a steam illuvial will get 3 energy regeneration per water stack on your side and is not affected by the specific threshold bonusses. The mana regeneration is added per stack, but has additional conditions. Steam illuvials for example only get the energy regeneration while steam is surrounding it.

When you add a Fire Illuvial to your team, you should expect more attack damage. Fire illuvials after all have as threshold bonus that they gain attack damage based on their energy. So, similarly the steam Illuvial will get extra energy damage based on the amount of fire stacks you have on your board whenever steam engulfs the illuvial.

## Ranger

Illuvials are not the only ones that can affect your team. Your Ranger is a key figure on the battle board as he/she can be loaded up with a wide range of equipment. The ranger starts out with a very weak constitution and attack power, but as you dress her up with stronger armor and weapons, she becomes a reliable asset. To adjust her armor, you have to **hold** **SHIFT and Right Click on her.** When you are in the UI of your ranger, you can also choose guns, swords, shields, staffs and gauntlets to equip your ranger with.

The armor of your ranger will mainly decide her hit points and resilience. The weakest armor gives her 400HP, while the best armor gives 1250HP.

The Gun, gauntlet and staff are usually long range and offensive, or supportive. She will have low survivability when wearing these weapons but makes up for that with increased damage output. The Sword and Shield are more so to soak up damage rather than dealing it. While the sword has a potential of being damaging, the performance does not compare with the shield. In the Private Beta, the strongest "weapon" is the shield.

Aside from the raw power and resilience that your ranger gets from equiping weapons, she also gains an affinity and class based on the weapon. An Air bladed shield will give her the Air affinity and Bulwark class, while Earth daggers will give her the Earth affinity and Rogue class. These stacks also impact your other units on the board. So choose wisely if you want to have a certain synergy bonus.

## Hyper

One of the more intricate systems within the Autobattler is the Hyper system. Illuvials will become more powerful when they have been fighting close to their "prey". Fire Illuvials prey on Nature illuvials, Nature on Air etc. When they have fought close to their certain amount of time they will get an attack speed boost as well as a boost that is based on their class. A fighter illuvial will hit even faster, a bulwark illuvial will become meatier and empath illuvials will heal their allies even more.

The Placement of illuvials has become even more complex with this system, as you want to place your illuvials close to their Prey yet far away from their predators. An Axodon, that has a double Water Affinity "Tsunami" gets Hyper véry quickly when earth illuvials are around it. A Titanor that has double Earth (Granite) is one of its main targets to prey on. A Kukkaraph will instead prey upon your axodon, as it has a double Air Affinity (Tempest).

## Common Misconceptions

Illuvials with the predatory affinity do NOT deal more damage to their Prey. They will purely charge their Hyper meter which will eventually make them stronger!

The actual Terminology for Prey and Predator Illuvials is: Ineffective and Effective. But it gives the impression that it would work similar to pokemon which it doesn't.

Illuvials with 50 range won't get Hyper from their enemy if they are at Max Range, while the Hyper range is 50 Hex-radius.