Battle Lines

60

70

40

30

121

52

22

5

## Promos

*(Not included in above totals)*
4+

* Lystia, Flighty Mistral
* Sky Race
* ...and 20+ others.

## How to Get

Packs of *Battle Lines* are available for purchase from the in-game store, and individual cards may be crafted with Shiftstone.

*Battle Lines* packs are also used in Draft and Leagues, and *Battle Lines* cards have been incorporated into the Forge mode.

A series of player-inspired promos were released December 20th in the Community Card Bundle. It cost 50,000, 25,000 or 1,000. It added 11 new cards inspired by the community to the game that cannot be crafted outside of the bundle.

## Mechanics & Themes

Battle Lines is a set mechanically focused on three-faction alliances. There are a lot of multifaction cards that correspond to those alliances, even at lower rarities. Each alliance is represented by an unique mechanic.

* The **Hive Caravan**  formed by Hivetenders, Lanterns, and Mistrals. Their mechanic is Nomad;
* The **Grove Alliance**  composed of the Youngblood Exiles, the Druids, and the Skycrag Six. Their mechanic is Recruit;
* **The Hermit**  and his beast army. Their mechanic is Devour;
* **Steelwarren**  composed of Fiera’s soldiers, Ziat’s enforcers, and Dran's rebellion. Their mechanic is Bolster;
* **Skullhaven**  composed primarily of Bonepickers, Rangers, and Slayers. Their mechanic is Renown.

### New Mechanics

Nomad
**Nomad** is a battle skill that is always followed by a number. *Nomad X* means “*This unit has Flying on your turn and +X/+X on the enemy turn.*” Giving Nomad to a unit that already has Nomad, adds the values together; adding Nomad to a unit with Flying will cause it to gain the stats on the opponent’s turn without it losing Flying. The same is true if giving Flying to a unit with Nomad.
Recruit
**Recruit** is a game action that means “*Draw a unit from the top five cards of your deck. If it costs less than this card, play it. Bottom the rest.*” Recruit can be found on units, spells, and relics. You always draw the unit you Recruit, even if you then immediately play it, so it will always benefit from Inspire.
Devour
**Devour X: Effect** means, “*When played, you may destroy that many cards from the top of the enemy void to get the listed effect.*” Cards that have been Devoured are completely removed from the game forever. The ability won’t happen if you don’t meet the Devour threshold, and Voidbound cards cannot be Devoured and will be skipped over. The enemy player can respond to Devour abilities. If they protect their void with Aegis or remove enough cards in response, it will prevent your Devour ability entirely.
Bolster
“**Bolster: Effect**” is a game term that means “*Once per turn, when you gain Health  or Armor , do the listed effect.*” Gaining  or  second time will do nothing, but it doesn't have to be your turn.
### Returning Mechanics

Mechanics found in *Behemoths of Thera* return and are expanded upon with newly found synergies.

* Hunt, which plays well with Devour;
* Versatile relic weapons, which can be used to trigger Bolster or Renown abilities of your units;
* Spellcraft, which still is found only on units to help you with Renown.

Additionally, mechanics from even older sets can be found in *Battle Lines*

* Renown, first seen in *Defiance*, last seen in *Homecoming* debuts on  cards. Just like the last time, the magnitude of the bonus effect often depends on the cost of the spell or weapon that triggers Renown.
* Inspire, first seen in *The Fall of Argenport*, last seen in *Unleashed* is found on a few cards to buff units you Recruit.

### Themes

Many cards in factions of the Hive Caravan () play **Honey**. These are noncollectible Relics which can be sacrificed to deal 2 damage to an enemy, gain 3, or Stun an enemy unit. Some cards in that alliance also benefit from you having relics in your void.

## Spoiler Season

### Pre-Order Bundles

 File:Avatar - Kaleb, Hero of Thera.png
 File:Cardback - Set Bundle - Battle Lines.png
A $49.99 Pre-Order Bundle and a $79.99 *Battle Lines* Ultimate Pre-Order Bundle were available from September 27, 2023 until the set's full release. The former included:

* a Box (32 packs) of *Battle Lines*
* 1 *Battle Lines* Premium Sigil
* 1 *Battle Lines* Premium Card Back
* a Kaleb, Hero of Thera avatar
* 4x Alt art Card non-Premium – *Ossuar Longbow*
* 2,000 Gems
* 3x  Draft Tickets

while the latter included:

* a box of *Battle Lines* (32 packs)
* a Kaleb, Hero of Thera avatar
* 5 *Battle Lines* Premium Packs where every card is premium
* 1 *Battle Lines* Premium Sigil
* 1 *Battle Lines* Premium Card Back
* 1 Great Rift Totem
* 4 non-premium and 4 premium copies of the alternate-art Ossuar LongbowFile:Ossuar Longbow (alt).png
* 3,800  gems
* 8 Draft Tickets

### Preview Event

The *Defese of Thera* preview event was run from October 13th at 10:00 AM MDT (16:00 UTC) to October 17th, at 4:00 PM MDT (22:00 UTC). It was the first preview event focused on tri-faction decks.

* Each submitted deck must have had exactly three factions. That means that each deck had to include a minimum of 10 non-power cards from each of its three factions.
* Each player started with 1 influence of each of their deck’s factions. Then they created and drew a random unit from *Battle Lines*.
* There was no limit on entries, but only the best record in each trio was counted.
* Entry costed 300 Gems or 4,000 Gold.
* Players were rewarded with a number of *Battle Lines* packs depending on their best run and the leaderboard position.

Additionally, between October 11th and October 18th 40 cards from *Battle Lines* were added to Draft packs. While they could be viewed in the client, they were only usable during Draft games.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 https://news.direwolfdigital.com/battle-lines-nomad-and-bolster/
 . Retrieved October 27, 2023.
2. ↑ https://news.direwolfdigital.com/battle-lines-renown-recruit/
 . Retrieved October 27, 2023.
3. ↑ https://news.direwolfdigital.com/battle-lines-devour/
 . Retrieved October 27, 2023.
4. ↑ DWD News - *Eternal: Battle Lines! ⚔️* (September 27, 2023). Retrieved October 27, 2023.
5. ↑ https://news.direwolfdigital.com/defense-of-thera%f0%9f%97%a1%ef%b8%8fbattle-lines-preview-event/
 . Retrieved October 27, 2023.