Getting Started

THE GAME

DUELYST is a competitive strategy game focused on tactical combat, squad building, and ranked ladder play.

Each battle is a 1v1 match, in which two opponents aim to reduce the health of the enemy general to zero.

There are a total of 6 factions that are playable each containing different strengths and capabilities.

Refer to the Announcements section for updates, changes and tweaks made to the game.

BUILDING YOUR SQUAD

Your squad, also known as your deck, is constructed from 40 cards that can consist of your General, minions, spells artifacts.

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GENERAL CARDS

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There are 12 Generals spread across the factions that lead your squad on the battlefield. Generals can:

• Fight the enemy General and minions directly.
• Summon minions to aid in their fight.
• Cast faction spells, including their very own signature Bloodborn Spell.
• Equip artifacts for added power on the battlefield.

The General's actions make up the core combat of Duelyst, and are explained in greater detail below.

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MINION CARDS

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Minions are creatures that can be summoned onto the battlefield, all minions have an attack and defence stat. All minions can:

• Move 2 units vertically or horizontally, or 1 unit diagonally.
• Attack enemy minions or the general if they are within 1 unit.
• Die when their Health reaches 0.
• Counter attack by default even if they are to die.
• Can not move nor attack on the same turn they are summoned.

These rules generally apply to ALL minions unless an ABILITY is present which may modify the actions of a minion. A minion can have more than one ability.

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SPELL CARDS

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SPELLS are immediate one-time effects that include minion enchantment, dealing damage, drawing cards. Spells are uniquely tied to their respective faction.

Bloodborn Spells

Bloodborn Spells are General abilities that are available periodically over the course of the battle. In battle, a countdown will show you when the Bloodborn spell is next available. A General can only cast its spell once before it needs to recharge, so learning when to cast it and when to hold it can turn the tide of the fight. Bloodborn spells are uniquely tied to their respective Generals.

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ARTIFACT CARDS

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• Used to bestow your General with additional effects and/or Attack damage while they are equipped.
• A total of three artifacts can be equipped at one time.
• Artifacts have three durability charges, a charge is lost each time damage is taken by the general.
• Taking 0 damage will not destroy Artifact durability.

THE BATTLEFIELD

DUELYST is played on a 5x9 square grid in which you start directly across from your opponent. Each player starts with three cards and 25 Health.

The player who goes first starts with their General on the left side of the screen and begins with two Mana crystals; the player who goes second starts on the right side of the screen and starts with three Mana crystals.

After the first turn, each player gains one Mana crystal at the start of their turn up to a maximum of nine Mana crystals. Mana crystals are a resource that each player must utilize in order to play cards from the Action Bar.

Mana Spring tiles are orbs near the center of the board that are expended when a Minion or General occupies that square. When a player takes a Mana Spring tile, they will gain a temporary +1 Mana Crystal only for that turn.

Initiative

• Otherwise known as First Mover Advantage, 1v1 turn-based games such Chess/GO will always have an innate advantage towards the player who goes first.
• In DUELYST, the player who starts second is given additional advantages to balance the first mover advantage.
• Although you start with more Mana if you're going second, you're still playing to catch up to your opponent, who may use two Mana springs on the second turn and has likely gained initiative.
• Mana Spring tiles included, Player 1 can usually spend 2 Mana (no tiles), then 5 Mana (2 tiles), then 4 Mana (0 tiles) in the first three turns. The second player can spend 4 Mana (1 tile), then 4 Mana (no tiles), then 5 Mana (no tiles).
• The first player is essentially paying 2 Mana in the first three turns to have initiative.

ACTIONS

MOVEMENT

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Minions and Generals may move up to two squares per turn.

Your Minions and General may not move through enemies.

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ACTION BAR

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Summoning Minions, casting Spells, and equipping Artifacts all happen from the Action Bar (located at the bottom of the screen).

You may Replace up to one card per turn. This allows you to return a card from your hand to your deck and draw another one in its place(the card you draw from replace is guaranteed to be different from the one you just replaced).

On the bottom Action Bar, Artifact icons are hexagonal in shape and Spell icons are square in shape.

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COMBAT

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• When a minion or General is ordered to Attack another, they engage in combat.
• Minions and Generals may Attack enemies within one of the eight spaces adjacent to it, unless Provoked.
• Once a minion Attacks, it becomes exhausted and can no longer move or Attack until the next turn.
• Combat starts with the Attacker’s damage and effects, then the defender’s counter-attack and effects.
• Counter-attacks always occur whenever the defender is able to reach their Attacker, even if the defender dies as a result of combat.

THE FACTIONS

LYONAR OVERVIEW

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Lyonar uses lots of Provokes and high health Minions to focus on having massive presence on the battlefield. When playing as Lyonar, your goal is to amass a large, sturdy army to beat your opponent down. You can make use of Lyonar’s excellent healing abilities to keep your Minions and General alive. To finish your opponent off, you can use cards like Divine Bond to turn your Minions’ Health into damage to deal lots of damage in one Attack, or Skywind Glaives and other Zeal effects to turn your nearby Minions into powerhouse Attackers. Recommended for beginners.

Strengths

• Your Minions have lots of Health and very efficient combat stats overall for their cost.
• You have access to the widest variety of healing options.
• Lots of area-of-effect damage so you can blow apart the battlefield.
• You can use many different types of Dispels to disrupt bonus effects on other Minions.
• Extremely threatening when you're in melee range of your opponent.

Weaknesses

• Difficult for you and your army to catch fleeing enemies.
• You have limited Attack options at range.
• Difficult for you to break enemy Artifacts.
• Your spells often need allied Minions to be alive for at least one turn before they can be effective.
• Difficult for you to come back from a losing position when your opponent takes control of the battlefield.

Specialty: Zeal

Your Minions with Zeal gain bonus effects while adjacent to your General.

• Your Zeal Minions will lose the buff whenever your General is not in an adjacent square, even if the buff was already applied before.
• Diagonally adjacent minions also count for Zeal.

Secondary: Provoke

Nearby enemies can select ONLY this Minion as an Attack target and cannot move.

• If your enemy is Provoked by multiple Minions at once, they can choose any Provoke Minion to target.
• Provoke can be used to lock enemies down to allow you and your army to catch up and get some good swings in!
• Placing yourself directly between a Provoke and the edge of the battlefield covers you from all sides.

• The root from Provoke can be used to force your opponent to block their own Minions from being able to Attack. This is an advanced tactic!

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SONGHAI OVERVIEW

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As Songhai, you can be very mobile and aggressive. You have lots of combos and synergy between your spells and units. You can use your superior mobility to outmaneuver your opponent’s Minions, preferring to avoid threats rather than facing them head-on. Spells like Mist Walking allow you to get in and out quickly, and put you in prime position to Backstab your opponents. Spells like Mist Dragon Seal allow you to teleport your Minions across the battlefield to make a hasty escape or a sneaky entrance.

Strengths

• You have various options to deal damage, with both direct spell damage and damage-focused buffs.
• High combo synergy allows you to deal heavy burst damage in one turn.
• You can easily break your opponent's artifacts by using Bloodrage Mask and Four Winds Magi.
• Can fight up close or at range using your Minions and spells.
• You have the most diverse positioning options, using teleportation to your advantage.

Weaknesses

• Your Minions are very frail.
• You have low defensive options outside of retreating.
• It's difficult for you to remove big threats.
• You can draw ‘bad hands’ - hands without spells, creatures, or specific combo pieces.
• If playing aggressively, you can run out of cards quickly; slower Songhai decks can have a higher chance of drawing poorly early game.

Specialty: Backstab

When Attacking from the square directly behind the target, you deal extra damage and will not receive counterattacks.

• Using your teleportation spells can allow normally difficult Backstabs.
• Backstab Minions have poor survivability; play them in safe positions until you're ready to Attack!
• Enemies who Attack Backstab minions will still take bonus damage if their back is facing your minion.
• It is very difficult to Backstab the same target more than once in one turn. Inner Focus can allow Minions like Kaido Assassin to Backstab multiple times!

Secondary: Ranged

Attack from anywhere on the battlefield.

• Your General *with Cyclone Mask equipped* or Minions with Ranged do not take counterattacks from far away enemies! You will still take counterattacks if you Attack adjacent enemies though.
• Ranged is counterattacked by other Ranged, but not by Blast.
• Ranged can make great use of Attack buffs to pick off enemies from a distance and free from harm!

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VETRUVIAN OVERVIEW

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As Vetruvian, you are focused around using creatures with low base stats that have powerful special effects. You can also swarm your opponent with small creatures and buff them while drawing lots of cards. Using debuffs, you are able to weaken opposing Minions, reducing their Attack or mobility. You are most comfortable at range, controlling the ‘zone’ where your opponent can safely move. One single misstep can spell disaster against you, as your spells are often based on the position of your enemies on the battlefield. You can generate Dervish tokens with your spells and Minions and buff these Dervishes to gain a huge advantage in battle.

Strengths

• Your minions are very powerful if not Dispelled.
• You’re good at destroying Artifacts due to Rasha's Curse.
• Blast forces your opponent to spread out, allowing other spells like Stars' Fury to become more effective.
• You have excellent late game Spells and Minions, such as Time Maelstrom and Aymara Healer.
• Your Minions gain value over time - while Obelysks are alive, they generate Dervishes and some Obelysks also buff other Dervishes.

Weaknesses

• Dervish tokens die at the end of the turn unless buffed by Dunecaster to remain on the battlefield.
• Not very effective at repelling aggressors once they have already reached you.
• Dispel removes a lot of power from your creatures.
• Conditional, expensive removal. Your ability to neutralize enemy creatures only works in certain situations.
• Positional requirements on many of your spells means your opponent can outplay you with well thought out movements.

Specialty: Blast

Attack ALL enemies in the same row of the initial Attack target from any range.

• Minions and Generals with Blast are not counterattacked by enemies that are out of range, excluding enemies with Ranged.
• Blast ONLY counterattacks against adjacent enemies, and does not pierce through on counterattacks.
• It’s a good idea to place your Blast Minions in the center row and away from the action, as you can effectively move to reach all tiles on the battlefield from that position with your massive range!

Specialty: Summon Dervish

At the start of your turn, summon a 2/2 Dervish token with Rush into a random nearby space.

• Your Obelysks can't move or Attack, but the Dervishes they spawn can!
• All Dervishes are affected by Fireblaze Obelysk and Windstorm Obelysk's buff while the Obelysks are still alive.
• Your summoned Dervish tokens disappear at the end of your turn unless buffed by a Dunecaster.
• Your Dervish tokens disappear when Dispelled.
• Your Obelysks won’t spawn Dervish tokens if the Obelysk is surrounded.

- You can purposely block bad Dervish spawn locations using your General and Minions!

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ABYSSIAN OVERVIEW

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As Abyssian, you excel at removing big threats and can generate many small Minions, while also having great late game threats. Deathwatch can power up your Minions, deal damage while healing you, or generate Wraithlings. Wraithlings are 1/1 tokens that can be used as sacrifices for powerful spells and cause more deaths on the battlefield to fuel Deathwatch effects. Additionally, you boast a wide range of removal spells and area control. Although you are high on damage and battlefield control, your creatures are not very efficient.

Strengths

• Your battlefield advantages can be quickly converted into damage with Deathwatch.
• Numerous Rush minions and damage spells allow you to be very aggressive.
• You possess many different forms of Minion removal.
• Has a moderate amount of healing which also deals damage to your opponent.
• You can use a variety of different deck archetypes and strategies.

Weaknesses

• Difficult to come back after you have no more Minions on the battlefield.
• Your removal is expensive, requiring a sacrifice of your own Minions or a lot of Mana.
• Your Minions are not very efficient and rely on Deathwatch to gain effectiveness.
• Difficulty against Dispel; your Deathwatch and Shadow Creep are both Dispellable.
• Low cost creatures that fuel Deathwatch are very frail and survive mainly by outnumbering your opponents, causing Area of Effect damage to be highly effective against you.

Specialty: Deathwatch

Triggers a special effect whenever ANY Minion dies.

• Best used in conjunction with Wraithlings, where each 1/1 token death can count towards Deathwatch.
• Since your enemies’ deaths count too, Deathwatch Minions tend to make your opponent hesitant to Attack on their own turn until there are no more Deathwatches left.
• Rush Minions work well with Deathwatch, as they usually die the turn they are summoned.

Specialty: Shadow Creep

A special tile which is generated from some Minions and spells.

For each of your Shadow Creep tiles, deal damage to enemies on top of the tile equal to the total number of your Shadow Creep tiles.

• When you hover over Shadow Creep tiles, the attack of the tile corresponds to how much damage it will deal if an enemy stands on it.
• The key to getting enough Shadow Creep tiles on the battlefield is to use Shadow Nova in the late game. Each use of Shadow Nova can increase the damage of the next one by up to 4.
• Using your Daemonic Lure or Repulsor Beast to move Minions onto Shadow Creep is an effective way to remove them if you have enough active Shadow Creep tiles.
• Shadow Creep belonging to you has a light blue tint, and Shadow Creep belonging to your enemy has a light purple tint.
• Shadow Creep is affected by Dispels that target tiles. Watch out for spells like Sun Bloom that can take out your Shadow Creep!

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MAGMAR OVERVIEW

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As Magmar you are big, slow, and powerful. Once you reach your opponent, your enormous Minions and mighty Artifacts can deal massive damage! You can slowly take over the battlefield as your opponent runs out of space to retreat by using Grow Minions. You’ll quickly end your opponent's life in melee range by using Rush and Frenzy Minions along with Artifacts. Your removal is great, with lots of Area-of-Effect and Dispel. Recommended for New Players.

Strengths

• Your Minions are very resilient and can be buffed for a very low cost.
• Using Kujata and Flash Reincarnation, you can reduce the cost of your creatures.
• Your great Area-of-Effect and single target removal keeps the battlefield clear of threats.
• Extremely powerful when in melee range of your opponent.
• You have many ways of using Frenzy, including Makantor Warbeast, a Minion with both Rush and Frenzy.

Weaknesses

• Some of your Spells and Minions have high costs for their effects.
• Your Minions may take a while to reach your opponent unless you’re playing with lots of Rush.
• It’s difficult to remove your opponent’s Artifacts.
• You don’t have extra card draw outside of neutral cards.
• Many of your Spells and Minion effects can damage or destroy your Minions. Some can also damage your General!

Specialty: Grow

Gain Health and Attack bonuses at the start of your turn.

• You can use your Grow Minions to make sure your Natural Selection and Plasma Storm can't affect you.
• It often takes a Dispel or a costly removal to get rid of a minion with Grow.
• Grow allows you to mitigate the damage dealt to your own Minions via effects such as Kujata, Flash Reincarnation, or Spirit Harvester.

Specialty: Rebirth

When your Minions with Rebirth die, they leave behind a 0/1 Egg that hatches into the same Minion at the end of the next turn.

• It’s possible to use Egg Morph to hatch your Eggs immediately.
• Eggs can be buffed by your spells, and can sometimes make for a great surprise tactic!
• It’s best to leave the killing blow of any Rebirth Minion to your opponent, as they will not be able to stop the Egg from hatching if they don't kill it on the turn they cause the Egg to spawn.

Secondary: Frenzy

Simultaneously strike ALL enemies within Attack range.

• Your General and Minions with Frenzy will only take counterattacks from the main Attack target.
• Counterattacks from enemies with Frenzy won’t strike any targets besides the Attacker.
• If a Ranged Minion gains Frenzy(MECHAZ0R!), it will only hit adjacent units if you Attack a target in melee range with your main Attack.

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VANAR OVERVIEW

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When playing as Vanar, you want to use the battlefield and Minion blocking to your advantage. You excel at forcing your opponent into bad positions. You can trap your opponent using Walls and other Minions, eventually overwhelming them with massive battlefield presence. Superior removal gives you the ability to neutralize all sorts of threats. Using Vespyr Minion summons, you can trigger lots of different synergistic effects focused around keeping the battlefield clear of threats and buffing your Minions. You can Transform ANY minion on the battlefield to your advantage. Force your opponents to choose whether they get hit by Infiltrate Minions on their starting side or Avalanche on yours! Recommended for advanced players.

Strengths

• You have excellent Minion removal options.
• There are big payoffs for successfully Infiltrating your opponent’s side of the battlefield.
• You have very high play making potential and mind games using the Infiltrate and Avalanche zones.
• Vespyr based strategies can completely take over the battlefield if your Vespyr minions survive.
• It's difficult for your opponent to fully remove threats such as Fenrir Warmaster and Snow Chaser without Dispel.

Weaknesses

• You have very limited card draw options.
• Win conditions are very slow without your Minions on the battlefield.
• Your Area of Effect spells are very conditional and can be avoided with careful play.
• You have no innate healing options.
• Most of your Walls have no combat stats and are weak to Area-of-Effect removal.

Specialty: Vespyr

Special Minion type that triggers synergistic effects when other Vespyr Minions are summoned to the battlefield.

• Many of your abilities trigger every time a Vespyr minion is summoned - the main focus is to gain control over the battlefield.
• Frostfire gives an extra health bonus to Vespyr units.
• Vespyr tokens, like those generated by Voice of the Wind and Walls generated by Bonechill Barrier, will also activate Vespyr effects!

Specialty: Infiltrate

Gain a bonus while on your opponent's starting side of the battlefield.

• Your Infiltrate bonus applies to the first four columns from your opponent's starting side. Avalanche is the first four columns on your starting side.

• You can also use Walls and Provoke to block your opponent from running out of the Infiltrate zone so you can continue to use your Infiltrate bonuses!

Specialty: Walls

A special type of token generated by spells.

• Your Walls cannot move, and are destroyed when Dispelled.
• Walls are used to block your enemies' movement and can be Transformed or buffed.
• Enemies often avoid walls, so you can also use them as a zoning tool.

Specialty: Transform

Change a Minion into another Minion with different stats and abilities.

• Transformation can be used on your own minions to make them stronger OR the enemy minion as a removal to make it weaker.
• Your Transformations will not activate Dying Wish or Deathwatch - the target Minion becomes a different Minion entirely.
• Walls or other active creatures will remain active after being Transformed. Keep this in mind, as you can use your Walls as offensive tools by using cards like Aspect of the Drake!
• When Aspect of the Mountains is used on an enemy, you still deal damage to other nearby enemies! This can surprise opponents with tight formations.

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OTHER KEYWORDS

Airdrop:

Summon this Minion anywhere on the battlefield.

• Allows you to play Minions safely or more aggressively than you otherwise could.
• Playing other Minions *after* using an Airdrop as a “launch pad” can cause serious damage to your opponent’s weak spots.

Celerity:

This Minion may activate twice per turn.

• Attacking with your Celerity Minion counts as one activation. Moving twice without Attacking once forfeits one activation.
• Reactivating an exhausted Celerity Minion with a spell such as Inner Focus or Spirit of the Wild will give it two more activations.

Dispel:

Abilities and enchantments added to this minion are removed.

• Any damage sustained to an enchanted Minion will remain after being Dispelled. This means if a Minion takes more than its original max health in damage, it will die immediately after losing its bonus Health!
• Dispels applied in combat, such as Sunstone Templar, will apply before counterattacks *if you are the attacker.*

Dying Wish:

Triggers a special effect when this Minion dies.

• Will not trigger Dying Wish: Summon X on this space on death if something spawns in the same square(such as Dark Transformation) before Dying Wish triggers. This is based on who initiates the action; the initiator’s effect takes priority.
• Transformation spells such as Metamorphosis and Aspect of the Fox will not trigger Dying Wish.

Exhausted:

This minion has finished acting for the turn.

• Minions summoned from the Action Bar are exhausted when they come into play.
• Reactivation refers to removing the exhausted state from your Minions.

Flying:

Move anywhere on the battlefield.

• You can bypass enemies who are blocking your movement!
• You can also use Flying to move to a safe summoning position to make your Minions tougher to reach!

Opening Gambit:

This Minion triggers an effect immediately before being summoned from the Action Bar.

• It’s important to note that the trigger occurs before the minion is summoned - Minions such as Hearth-Sister will swap positions before you capture a Mana Spring tile!
• Will not trigger if you summon a Minion using a spell such as Nether Summoning.

Rush:

Enables this Minion to move and Attack on the same turn that it is summoned.

• Summoning Rush Minions adjacent to your other Minions allows you to extend the effective Attack range of your Rush Minion.
• Inversely, you can use Rush Minions as a launch pad to summon your other Minions closer!

GAME MODES

RANKED LADDER

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• Ranked ladder is where you compete against other players in a matchmaking queue.
• 30 Total Ranks and 5 Divisions:
  • Bronze Division: Rank 30 - Rank 21 (1-2 Chevrons per rung)
  • Silver Division: Rank 20 - Rank 11 (3-4 Chevrons per rung)
  • Gold Division: Rank 10 - Rank 6 (5 Chevrons per rung)
  • Diamond Division: Rank 5 - Rank 1 (6 Chevrons per rung)
  • S-Rank Division: (ELO-Ranked system)
• Each season runs from Day 1 to Day 29/30/31 of the month.
• Each win earns you 1 Chevron and from Silver Division onwards you lose 1 Chevron for a loss.
• Win Streaks begin at Silver Division R20. (every 3 wins in a row, you get 2 Chevrons)
• Once you enter a Division, you can't drop below the minimum rank for that division. Ex: Silver can't drop below Rank 20, Gold can't drop below rank 10.

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GAUNTLET

• Gauntlet is a game mode where you can select from one of three random factions.
• A Gauntlet Ticket costs 150 gold.
• After you've selected a faction, you may choose one card per three presented to you.
• These cards are not limited by what you own, and there is no limit to the number of copies of each card.
• You have a maximum of 30 cards per Gauntlet deck.
• Gauntlet runs end when you've either won 9 times or lost 3 times. Rewards are based on how well you do in the Gauntlet.
• At 7 wins or above, you gain another Gauntlet Ticket to start a new run. It's possible to chain multiple Gauntlet runs together this way!

MISCELLANEOUS TIPS

• It is much easier for your opponent to move or destroy your minions than your General. This means that your General is almost always the best blocker to keep your minions alive.
• As a rule of thumb, any creature below 3 health can be easily killed by your opponent's General, who has 2 attack. Make sure to keep these minions away from danger!
• When playing aggressively, be sure to block your opponent's escape path using your Minions! When you've got complete control, you can box in your opponent's General by surrounding them on all four sides!
• Try to spend as much Mana as possible each turn. The Mana you don't spend in a turn won't be refunded to you!
• For maximum system performance, turn down your visual settings in the Settings menu if you are having lag issues.
• Using f11 in Chrome will allow you to make DUELYST full screen!
• Control+Shift+F allows you to use Windowed mode in the DUELYST Desktop Client.
• Make sure you have DUELYST open in its own window for maximum performance. Other open tabs can cause DUELYST to lag.
• If you are having audio issues in the web client, try refreshing your Chrome browser.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

• Complete Core Set Card List
• Player Guides
• Desktop Client
• Beta Signup