Tips

Various **Tips** for the Paladin's Oath Digital Card Game.

* A free **Basic** Action on top,
* A more powerful **Advanced** Action at the bottom that typically costs Mana to Activate,
* A **Default** Action in the middle that always gives *1 point of Movement/Leadership/Attack/Block*

When activating cards that generate point-based effects like Movement, they are added to a Pool of points at the top of your screen (underneath the XP bar). You can use those points to perform actions in the game like Healing (Healing Points), Movement & Exploration (Movement/Teleport points), Recruitment (Leadership points).

### **Mana Basics**

You can use the Mana in your Inventory or from the limited pool of Ambient Mana to activate powerful Advanced Actions. The Ambient Mana is usable only *Once per Turn* and the Mana in your Inventory has 2 forms: Essence and Crystals. Mana Essence disappears at the end of the turn while Mana Crystals remain forever. **Note:** You cannot have more than 3 Crystals per color at the end of your Turn.

There are 4 regular Mana colors: Red, Green, Blue, White and 2 special Mana colors: **Gold** (usable during the day as any regular color) and **Black** (only usable at Night or under *Night conditions*).

### **Movement & Exploration**

You need to use cards to *generate enough movement* so that you can Explore new Sections of the Map. You can hover your mouse over the various hex tile to find out the movement cost for each hex OR hover the edges of the map for the Exploration cost and Distance. As you progress through the game you will find some abilities that enable you to modify the movement or exploration cost and even teleport around the map.

### **Undoing**

Undoing is a unique but very important concept in this game: Except when you are **Moving** - which commits your actions - or when **Interacting** with a Location (after buying more cards for example), you are always **able to Undo** your actions by clicking on the card to deactivate it and cancel whatever effects or side-effects that the card triggered. This enables you to *change your strategy* by de-activating and re-activating your Cards to attempt more favorable synergies and combos. As soon as you make a move though, your current setup will be **committed** and the cards or mana used will be *discarded or consumed*.

### **Followers Blessings**

Cards are great but they are drawn from a Deck so you have limited control over what you draw. As you explore the land you will be able to *use Leadership points* at various locations to **recruit** Followers. You have a **limited number** **of slots** to hold those Followers but you can gain more slots when you level-up. Recruited Followers can be *activated Once per Day/Night* unless you play effects to **Refresh** them.

### **Blessings Basics**

As you Level-up you may also acquire Blessings: Similar to Followers the Blessings are **always-on** cards that can be activated either *once per Day/Night* or *once per turn* (depending on the icon on the Blessing). Blessings are really powerful and can change your playstyle when synergized well with your Cards and Followers.

### **Market & Planning**

When you Level-up you gain more powerful Cards called Advanced Abilities. You can **look at the Market** to see what Cards you will be able to choose from. This helps decide whether fighting that annoying enemy on the map will help push your XP to the next level or whether you should ignore it for now. The Market also shows **Spells and Followers** that are available to *Purchase* or *Recruit*. Spells are extremely powerful cards but they are also costly as they always require a Mana to activate and a Black Mana for their most powerful effect which can only be used at Night. The Market indicates where you can purchase the Spells (typically Spire and Citadels). The cost to buy Spells depends on where you buy them from. Followers have a preferred **Recruitment Location** and their cost is fixed in Leadership points.

### **Locations Interactions**

Looking at the Map you can **plan a route** to the Location that you are interested in interacting with, for example the Spire to buy some Spells or the Village to recruit Followers or Heal. Each Location offers different options and some require you to **Conquer** them before you can Interact. You can hover with your mouse for a preview of what the location does, or click to see more details.

**Important:** You can only have **One Interaction per Turn** and *Battles count as interactions* too. Your turn will end when the interaction is concluded.

### **Battle Basics**

Battles are the most complex but satisfying part of this game's strategic puzzles. A battle has multiple phases:

1. Before Battle
2. Ranged Attacks
3. Block
4. Attack
5. After Battle.

During a battle **everything can be undone** so you should organize your Cards/Followers/Blessings activations and effects *for each phase* to find the most satisfying outcome then go to the After Battle status screen to **commit the result**.

### **Battle Basics: Attack vs Block**

To **defeat** an Enemy you need to generate enough Attacks to **match or exceed** the Enemy **Armor** value. To **Block** an Enemy you need to generate enough Blocks to **match or exceed** the Enemy **Attack** value. If you cannot fully Block, the entire attack damage goes against your armor: take a wound, Damage value is reduced by armor, any leftover gives another wound, then reduced by armor, and so on. This works the same way if you want to use your Followers to Block. They will be wounded first before the damage is reduced by their armor.

### **Battle Basics: All or Nothing**

In Battle, everything is *all or nothing*, meaning if you cannot generate enough Block to block the whole Attack then you should use those cards for Attacking or other effects. Similarly if you don't generate enough Range Attacks in the Ranged phase, you **cannot finish the enemy off using additional Attacks in the Attack phase**. You must be able to fully defeat the Enemy in the Ranged phase, or fully in the Attack phase, not split you attacks. Similarly *partially* blocking **will not lead** to partial damage or wounds, you will be taking the full Wounds from the Attack.

### **Battle Preparation: Enemies Stats**

Before you initiate a battle you should check all the enemies for their **Fortification**, **Resistances** and **Immunities**. Realizing too late that you don't have the right combo to *Defeat a Rampaging Enemy* or *Conquer a Location* could really impact your ability to complete your Crusade. You can also rely and invest in Abilities to Debuff the Enemies or Buff yourself and your followers. These Abilities are typically played in the Before Battle phase.

### **Battle Preparation: Enemies Fortifications**

Most Enemies are naturally not Fortified but the **Location you are assaulting can itself be Fortified**. Every *non-rampaging* Enemy at the Location will **inherit** that Fortification. This means that *Range Attacks* will not work and you will need *Siege Attacks* to defeat the Enemies in the Range Phase. Some Abilities allow you to remove the Fortifications for an Enemy or group of Enemies or remove the Location Fortification buff altogether.

### **Battle Preparation: Enemies Resistances**

Enemies with Resistance to Physical Damage or Elemental Damage will **ignore non-attack/block effects** of cards of the same color:

* Physical = White
* Fire = Red
* Frost = Blue

If you are planning to use special abilities like Destroying enemies, Cancelling their attacks, debuffing them in other ways like reducing Armor or Attack Strength you should **pay attention to their Resistances even before you initiate the Battle**. Some Abilities allow you to remove the Resistances so you should create synergies to take on bigger and bigger battles for example by investing in Fire Abilities and having a few Fire Resistance-removal Spells, Cards, Followers or Blessings.

### **Battle Preparation: Enemies Immunities**

Enemies with **Arcane Immunity** will **ignore non-attack/block effects**, including Resistance debuffs. Pay special attention to these enemies as you will need to deal with them with your regular Attacks and Blocks.

### **Battle: Grouping Enemies**

When Battling **multiple** Enemies, you have the option to Group them in the **Range** or **Attack** phases. Even though you need to deal with *Blocking Enemy attacks individually* in the Block phase, during the attack phases you can group Enemies to deal with all of them in one big Attack. The catch is, **when enemies are grouped they will benefit from Resistances and Fortifications of other enemies in the group** when dealing with Attacks. This means non-attack/block effects can still affect the grouped enemies except the ones with natural resistance to the effect element, but Attacks against the group will become **inefficient** (damage halved) if any enemy in the group has resistance to the Attack element. *You can group & ungroup enemies however you want* to find the best outcome for the Battle.