Asteriated Grail Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Victory Conditions
• Card Types and Functions
  • Character Cards
  • Faction Cards
  • Marker Cards
  • Healing Cards
  • Indicator Cards
  • Tabletop Cards
  • Character-Exclusive Cards
  • Basic Cards
    • Attack Cards
    • Spell Cards
• Game Flow
  • Game Start
  • Turn Sequence
• Game Rules
  • Star Gems & Star Cups
  • Attack
  • Spells
  • Character Skills
    • Activation
    • Duplicate Response
    • Skill Trigger Conditions & Effects
  • Basic Effects & Exclusive Effects
  • Healing
  • Energy
  • Draw Cards & Damage
    • Types
    • Representation
    • Damage Draw & Non-damage Draw
    • Hand Limit
    • Morale
    • Damage Timeline
  • Icon Explanations (Second Edition)
  • Unable to Act
• Glossary
• FAQ
  • Common FAQ
  • Character Skill Details
• Characters
  • Beginner
    • Wind Sword Saint — Category: Technique
    • Berserker — Category: Blood
    • Goddess of the Bow — Category: Technique
    • Sealer — Category: Illusion
    • Assassin — Category: Technique
    • Holy Maiden — Category: Holy
    • Guardian Angel — Category: Holy
    • Magical Girl — Category: Chant
  • Introductory
    • Sword Mage — Category: Illusion
    • Holy Lancer — Category: Holy
    • Elementalist — Category: Chant
    • Adventurer — Category: Illusion
    • Plague Mage — Category: Illusion
    • Arbiter — Category: Blood
    • Valkyrie — Category: Holy
  • Advanced
    • Priest — Category: Holy
    • Priestess — Category: Chant
    • Sage — Category: Chant
    • Talisman Master — Category: Chant
    • Crimson Lotus Knight — Category: Blood
    • Magic Bow — Category: Illusion
    • Magic Spear — Category: Illusion
    • Einherjar Doll — Category: Chant
    • Azure Flame Witch — Category: Blood
  • Proficient
    • Sword Emperor — Category: Technique
    • Brawler — Category: Technique
    • Brave — Category: Blood
    • Soul Sorcerer — Category: Illusion

Victory Conditions

There are two victory conditions: (1) reduce the opposing side's morale to 0 or below; or (2) assemble five Star Cups. The game ends immediately once either condition is met.

Card Types and Functions

Character Cards

There are 31 character cards in total (24 in the standard game, 3 from the Phantom Stardust expansion, and 4 added in the 3rd edition), representing each player's character in the game. Each character has different specialties and abilities, and choosing a favorite character to play is one of the game's great pleasures. (Each player may only play one character; any game action that targets "a character" refers to the player using that character.)

Faction Cards

Faction cards come in red and blue, 6 in total. They determine how players are grouped for the game. Players who draw the same color are on the same team and will fight the opposing team.

Marker Cards

Marker cards are divided into Star Gem cards and Star Cup cards.

There are 23 Star Gem cards in total, used to represent Star Gems in the game. Star Gem cards are double-sided, printed with Gem on one side and Crystal on the other (both count as Star Gems).

Whenever an action in the game grants Star Gems, take the corresponding number and type of Star Gem cards from this pile and place them in the corresponding team's Score Area. Any consumed or removed Star Gem cards are returned to this pile. (The same applies to Star Cup cards and Healing cards.)

There are 9 Star Cup cards in total, used to represent Star Cups in the game.

Healing Cards

There are 23 Healing cards in total, used to represent Healing in the game.

Healing cards are distributed to specific characters during play according to the skills players activate.

Indicator Cards

Yellow and blue indicator cards: used to represent a certain ability of a character. Yellow and blue indicator cards are distributed before the game begins to the player using a character whose ability calls for them (not every character uses these cards).

Indicator cards are handed out at the start of the game to characters that need them. If you have not yet gained that character's indicator ability during the game, place the corresponding color of indicator card face down; once gained, flip the corresponding number of indicator cards face up.

Example: the Arbiter's Judgment. At the start of the game you are given 4 yellow indicator cards, but you have not yet gained any Judgment, so all your indicator cards should be placed face down. During the game, each time you suffer damage you may gain a Judgment, at which point flip one indicator card face up to represent that you have gained a Judgment. When you activate Doomsday Judgment, flip all face-up indicator cards back face down, representing that you have used up those Judgment indicators.

Tabletop Cards

There are 2 Tabletop cards in total, used to record each team's current standing on the table. A Tabletop card is mainly divided into three areas: the Score Area, the Star Cup Area, and the Morale Area.

Score Area: records the number of Star Gems each team has obtained. At the start of the game neither team has any Star Gems; the maximum number of Star Gems that can be placed is 5.

Star Cup Area: records the number of Star Cups each team has obtained; this starts at 0, and reaching 5 immediately wins the game.

Morale Area: records each team's current morale value. At the start of the game both teams' morale is 15, and the morale cap is also 15.

Character-Exclusive Cards

Some characters' skills require a special card in order to activate. If a character card is printed with the Exclusive symbol, that character's exclusive card must be given to the player using that character before the game begins.

Basic Cards

Basic cards are the game's core cards. Before the game begins they are placed face down in the center of the table, forming a shared deck of 150 cards. Drawing, using (or playing) basic cards is how players do battle throughout the game.

All cards in hand are basic cards; every draw, replenishment, discard, or other action in the game involving "cards" refers to basic cards. (To distinguish them, all other cards are referred to as "cards" of their specific type, e.g. character cards, healing cards, etc.)

Most basic cards are discarded immediately after being used (or played); some basic cards remain in play for a time and are only discarded to the discard pile once their effect has been triggered.

When the shared deck is exhausted, shuffle the entire discard pile to form a new shared deck.

Asteriated Grail has 150 basic cards in total, divided into Attack Cards and Spell Cards. Cards printed with "attack" in the upper right corner are Attack Cards; those printed with "magic" are Spell Cards.

Attack Cards

The Attack Cards are: Gale Slash, Ripple Slash, Flame Slash, Rift Slash, Bolt Slash, and Dark Extinction.

Spell Cards

There are 5 types of Spell Cards:

(1) Holy Light: block one Attack or Magic Bullet.

Note: you may only use this card to block when you are being attacked, or when Magic Bullet is used against you.

(2) Poison: (place this card in front of the target character; at the start of his action phase) deal him 1 point of spell damage③.

Note: during your own action phase, place this card in front of any character (yourself or an ally) — this counts as you having used Poison (this action consumes one of your Spell Actions). This card then remains in front of that character as a Poison marker; when it becomes that character's turn to act, he must first suffer 1 point of spell damage before beginning his action. At the same time, discard the Poison card — this counts as him having suffered the Poison effect. Multiple Poisons may exist in front of the same character at once.

(3) Weaken: (place this card in front of the target character; before his action phase begins) he chooses one of the following:

• Skip his action phase
• (Draw 3 cards [forced]) continue his action phase

Note: place this card in front of the target character; it remains in front of him as a Weaken marker, and when it becomes his turn to act he must make a choice: skip his action phase (if so, his action phase ends immediately, moving straight to the end phase) or draw 3 cards and continue his action phase (if so, he may take an action as usual). Whichever he chooses counts as having triggered Weaken — discard the Weaken card afterward. Only one Weaken may exist in front of a character at a time (i.e. you cannot give Weaken to a player who already has a Weaken marker).

(4) Holy Shield: (place this card in front of the target character; when he suffers an attack or Magic Bullet, remove this card) counts as a miss.

Note: (place this card in front of the target character) when he suffers an attack or Magic Bullet he may choose to remove Holy Shield to block that instance of damage, removing the card once triggered. (While holding a Holy Shield, he may not choose to keep it and simply suffer the attack or Magic Bullet instead.)

(5) Magic Bullet: (use this card) the nearest opponent to your right chooses one of the following:

• Suffer 2 points of spell damage③
• (Play a Magic Bullet [reveal it]) treat it as if you used a Magic Bullet to continue resolving it, with the damage increased by +1
• (Use 1 Holy Light, or remove a Holy Shield in front of you) block this instance of damage

Note: (pass this card to the nearest opponent to your right) if it hits, deal him 2 points of spell damage; he may choose to play a Magic Bullet to pass the effect onward, in which case it counts as a miss against him. Each time it is passed on, the damage increases by +1. Each character may only take part once in the same round of passing. Magic Bullet can be blocked by Holy Light or Holy Shield, which ends the effect.

Game Flow

Game Start

Place both teams' Tabletop cards, Star Cup cards, Star Gem cards, Healing cards, and yellow/blue indicator cards in the common area, and place the dice representing the starting 15 morale on the Morale Area of the Tabletop card.

Select faction cards according to the number of players (the red card printed with "First Player" must be included): with 4 players, use 2 red and 2 blue; with 6 players, use 3 red and 3 blue. Shuffle them face down and deal one to each player at random. All players then reveal their faction card and place it in front of themselves.

Choose characters and distribute each character's corresponding expansion cards, exclusive cards, and indicator cards (note: not every character needs all of these cards).

Thoroughly shuffle the 150 basic cards and place them face down in the center of the table as the shared deck; each player in turn draws 4 cards from it as their starting hand.

Turn Sequence

Players act in turn, following the turn sequence below.

Before turn start: a player's turn is about to begin; certain effects may trigger during this phase, otherwise it has no practical effect.

Turn start: the start of the turn is declared; certain effects may trigger during this phase, otherwise it has no practical effect.

Before action phase begins: any Poison or Weaken in front of the player is resolved.

Action phase begins: certain effects may trigger during this phase, otherwise it has no practical effect.

Action phase: the player may choose one of the following five actions to perform:

1. Attack — perform one Attack Action.
2. Spell — perform one Spell Action.
3. Buy — may only be performed if it does not bust your hand; draw 3 cards from the deck, and add 1 Gem and 1 Crystal to your team's Score Area.
4. Synthesize — may only be performed if it does not bust your hand; draw 3 cards from the deck, exchange three Star Gems from your team's Score Area for one Star Cup, and reduce the opposing team's morale by 1.
5. Refine — convert up to two Star Gems from your team's Score Area into Energy for your character.

Of these, Buy, Synthesize, and Refine are called Special Actions, while Attack and Spell are called General Actions.

End phase: the player declares the end of their turn, and the next player to their right acts. Certain effects may trigger during this phase, otherwise it has no practical effect.

Game Rules

Star Gems & Star Cups

Note: "Star Gem" here is used purely for emphasis and carries no other meaning.

Star Gems are one of the game's more important systems. There are two kinds of Star Gem: Gems and Crystals.

Star Gems can be Refined into a character's Energy, or synthesized into a Star Cup once three Star Gems have been collected.

When a character's active attack hits, that character's team's Score Area gains a Gem; when a counter-attack hits, the Score Area gains a Crystal. Some characters' skills also add Star Gems to the Score Area.

A Star Cup is a sacred relic in the game; the first team to obtain 5 Star Cups wins the game.

Obtaining Star Cups: only the special action Synthesize can obtain a Star Cup. Whenever a team obtains 1 Star Cup (meaning they have moved one step closer to victory), the opposing team must reduce their morale by 1 point. Likewise, if this reduces the opponent's morale to 0, that also counts as winning the game.

Some additional rules and points to note:

1. If your team's Score Area is full (i.e. already holds 5 Star Gems), performing the Buy action will not add or replace any Star Gems. (Note: you may still perform the Buy action.)
2. Likewise, if your team's Score Area is full, a successful attack will not add or replace any Star Gems either (including from any other character skill that would add Star Gems).
3. If your team's Score Area already has 4 Star Gems, when performing the Buy action you may decide whether to place a Gem or a Crystal into your team's Score Area (normally you would always choose a Gem).
4. If your team's Score Area has fewer than 3 Star Gems, you cannot perform Synthesize.
5. If your team's Score Area has 0 Star Gems, you cannot perform Refine.

Attack

On your turn, designate an opponent and play an attack card from your hand, or activate a skill, to attack them — this is called an active attack, and it consumes one Attack Action.

When you are attacked, you may choose one of the following:

1. Play an attack card of the same element to defend and redirect the attack at another player — this is called a counter-attack, and counts as the attack having missed.
2. Remove a Holy Shield in front of you, or play a Holy Light — this counts as the attack having missed.
3. Do nothing, and directly suffer the opponent's attack (i.e. the attack hits).

A special case among attack cards is the dark-element attack card: Dark Extinction. Dark Extinction can itself counter any attack other than another Dark Extinction, but Dark Extinction cannot be countered — it can only be blocked with Holy Shield or Holy Light.

Some points to note about attacks:

1. "Treated as an active attack by X" counts as consuming an Attack Action; if this arises from a spell effect, it simultaneously counts as consuming a Spell Action.
2. An attack made as part of an Attack Action is always an active attack, and an active attack always counts as consuming an Attack Action; a counter-attack does not count as consuming an Attack Action, and likewise a spell that piggybacks on another attack or spell does not count as consuming a Spell Action.
3. Attacks are of two kinds, active attacks and counter-attacks, and an attack's nature cannot be converted; unless stated otherwise, an attack made during your turn always defaults to being an active attack.

Spells

There are two ways to cast a spell: actively play a spell card, or activate a character skill. This consumes one of your Spell Actions.

Character Skills

By type, character skills are divided into: Normal Skills, Unique Skills, Exclusive Skills, and Ultimate Skills. By category, they are divided into: Passive Skills, Response Skills, Activation Skills, and Spell Skills.

Normal Skill: a skill a character can activate without spending Energy.

Passive Skill: a skill that activates automatically once its conditions are met.

Response Skill: a skill you may choose whether to activate once its conditions are met.

Activation Skill: after activating it you may still perform an action, but once you activate an Activation Skill you may not perform a Special Action (i.e. Buy, Synthesize, or Refine) that turn.

Spell Skill: can only be activated on your own turn, and counts as consuming one of your Spell Actions.

Unique Skill: a skill that can only be used when you draw the card bearing the character's unique skill and play that card.

Exclusive Skill: a skill activated by means of a character's exclusive card.

Ultimate Skill: a skill that requires spending Energy to activate. An Ultimate Skill marked with a crystal symbol can be activated by spending either Gems or Crystals; one marked with a gem symbol can only be activated by spending Gems.

Activation

Like a Response Skill, activating does not consume the character's action. But it has certain restrictions.

Activating is a category of character skill; only a character with an Activation Skill may activate, and each character may activate at most once per turn (even if that character has multiple Activation Skills).

Activating may only be done at the start of your own action phase, and after activating you may not perform a Special Action that turn. That is, after activating you must perform an Attack Action or Spell Action; if you are unable to do so, you may not activate. See the "Unable to Act" section of this rulebook for special cases.

Duplicate Response

At any single moment in the game, the same skill (or action) may only trigger once.

Example: a Berserker holding 2 Gems who lands a hit cannot activate Rend (attack damage +4) twice at the same time. This is called a "duplicate response," and it is forbidden in this game.

Skill Trigger Conditions & Effects

Everything in brown text enclosed in parentheses after a skill's name and colon is that skill's trigger condition. Not every skill has a trigger condition — most Passive Skills, for example, have no trigger condition, since their effects persist continuously from the start of the game; many characters' Ultimate Skills also have no trigger condition, but instead require spending Energy to drive them. If a skill has an explicit trigger condition, that condition must be fully satisfied before the skill's effect can be activated.

The black text after a skill's name and colon is that skill's activation effect — it describes how the skill acts on the game, whether on everyone or on one or several specific targets.

Every skill (or action) must have one or more targets; if no target can be designated, you may not activate that skill (or perform that action). This is called the effect "losing its target."

When an effect has a target but produces no actual result, or only a partial result, this is called the effect being "not fully activated" or "partially activated." "Partially activated" is like "not fully activated" in that the skill can still be activated.

The difference between the two is that "losing its target" prevents the skill from being activated at all, whereas the latter still allows the skill to be activated, it simply fails to produce its intended effect.

Some effects (or actions), once activated (or performed), can exceed their intended amount — for example, giving 3 points of Healing to a character with a Healing cap of 2. This is called the effect "overflowing." When overflow occurs, the excess portion is entirely discarded, but the character is still considered to have activated that effect (or performed that action). Overflow can also be considered a form of "not fully activated"; if a skill states that it "ignores the X cap," this does not count as overflow.

For indicators, unless specifically noted as "cannot exceed the cap," excess is treated as overflow.

For example, the Angel cannot activate Wind's Purification while there is no Basic Effect card in play; nor can the Holy Lancer activate Chastisement while no other character has Healing. But the Angel can activate Angel's Blessing on an opponent even if that opponent has no cards in hand.

This is because Wind's Purification targets a "Basic Effect card" in play, and Chastisement targets another character's "Healing" — both of these are cases of the effect "losing its target." Angel's Blessing, on the other hand, targets another character, and that target still exists; it is simply that after activation, the effect produces no actual result because the opponent has no cards in hand — this is called the effect being "not fully activated." As another example, the Priest may activate Sacred Domain even with no cards in hand — although the skill's effect would require her to discard a card she does not have, since the target exists (herself), she may still activate it.

If the Priest has only 1 card in hand, after activating Sacred Domain she must still discard that card — this is called the effect being "partially activated."

Note: the Goddess of the Bow cannot activate Piercing Shot while holding no cards in hand, because that skill's "discard 1 spell card" is a trigger condition, not the skill's effect — it does not count as the effect being "not fully activated." So when using skills, players must be clear about what is a trigger condition and what is an activation effect.

Basic Effects & Exclusive Effects

Cards like Weaken, Poison, and Holy Shield remain in play (or in front of a particular character) for a time before going to the discard pile. Basic cards with this kind of persistent effect are called Basic Effects.

It isn't only these three spell cards — some Unique Skill cards also remain in play for a time, and they are likewise treated as Basic Effects.

Examples: the Sealer's "Seal," the Priestess's "Blessing," the Angel's "Angel's Wall."

At most one copy of the same (i.e. same-named) Basic Effect may exist in front of a given character at a time, unless that effect explicitly states that multiple copies are allowed.

Similar to Basic Effects, exclusive cards that remain in play are called Exclusive Effects. Exclusive Effects cannot be removed by a skill that can "remove a Basic Effect." For example, the Angel's Wind's Purification cannot remove the Sealer's Five-Element Binding.

Healing

Using Healing: some characters' skills grant Healing to other characters or themselves. When using such a skill, simply place a Healing card face up next to the designated character, and that character is considered to hold that Healing.

Example: the Holy Maiden's Healing Arts grants 2 points of Healing to any one character. When the Holy Maiden activates Healing Arts and chooses herself, place 2 Healing cards next to her character card, and she is considered to hold 2 points of Healing. If she instead chooses her teammate B, place 2 Healing cards next to B's character card, and B is considered to hold 2 points of Healing.

The effect of Healing: Healing can be used to block any damage (attack damage or spell damage). Unless stated otherwise, each point of Healing blocks 1 point of damage.

Example: A successfully attacks B, dealing 2 damage. B has 1 point of Healing. B chooses to use that 1 point of Healing to block 1 point of damage, and ultimately suffers only 1 point of attack damage from A. (B need only flip that Healing card face down to be considered to have used that point of Healing.)

Some rules governing Healing:

1. A player holding Healing may choose whether or not to use it to block damage when suffering damage — the choice is entirely that player's.
2. The order of resolution between damage and Healing is: damage is dealt first (by the opponent, to you), and then you choose whether to use Healing to block (part or all of) that damage.
3. If you hold multiple points of Healing, when suffering damage you may choose to use only some of your Healing to block part (or all) of the damage, or use all of your Healing to block all (or part) of the damage.

Example: A successfully attacks B, dealing 2 damage. B has 2 points of Healing. B may choose to use 1 point of Healing to block 1 point of damage, in which case B suffers 1 point of damage; B may likewise choose to use 2 points of Healing to block 2 points of damage, in which case B suffers 0 damage. (Note: even if B suffers 0 damage, A's attack still counts as having hit, and A's team still gains a Star Gem because of it.)

4. Healing cap: like the hand limit, Healing has a maximum-amount cap. Every character's Healing cap is 2 (i.e. every character may hold at most 2 points of Healing). (Note: some characters' skills may change this cap.)
5. If Healing overflows (i.e. the Healing gained would put your total above your Healing cap), the excess is discarded.
6. Healing can only block damage draws (card draws caused by attack damage or spell damage) — it cannot block non-damage draws (card draws caused by Weaken, Buy, Synthesize, etc.).

Energy

When a player performs the special action Refine, they take Star Gems from their team's Score Area and place them in front of their own character. These Star Gems then become that character's Energy. A character's Ultimate Skills require spending Energy to activate.

If your character's Ultimate Skill requires spending Gems to activate, then taking Crystals as Energy is of no use for that purpose (you may still do so, and the Crystals you take do count toward your remaining Energy total, but you will no longer be able to spend them). Conversely, if your character's Ultimate Skill only requires spending Crystals, then you may take either Crystals or Gems to activate your Ultimate Skill. Some characters have multiple Ultimate Skills, some of which may cost Crystals and others Gems.

Energy cap: unless stated otherwise, every character's Energy cap is 3; each Refine may take 1 or 2 Star Gems as Energy. If your Energy is at its cap, you cannot perform Refine.

Once Star Gems have been Refined into Energy, they cannot be converted back — they can only be spent.

Draw Cards & Damage

Types

Before understanding damage in detail, you need to understand the following concepts.

Damage is divided into attack damage and spell damage.

Damage dealt directly through the Attack action is attack damage. Example: using an attack card such as Bolt Slash.

All other damage is spell damage. Example: Magic Bullet, Poison.

Only a hit from an attack adds a Star Gem — spells do not.

Every attack card deals 2 points of damage (including Dark Extinction). (Note: some characters' skills can increase attack damage.)

Representation

In this game, damage only ever occurs between characters (i.e. between players) — cards never deal damage to each other.

Example: player A attacks B with Bolt Slash. If B chooses to directly suffer the attack, this is treated as A dealing attack damage to B, not as the "Bolt Slash" card dealing damage to B. Here A is the one dealing damage, and B is the one suffering damage. If B chooses to block A's attack with Holy Light, this is treated as A having dealt no damage to B — not as A having dealt damage to the "Holy Light" card, or as "Bolt Slash" having dealt damage to "Holy Light."

Damage Draw & Non-damage Draw

Each time a player suffers 1 point of damage, they must draw a card from the top of the deck into their hand. This kind of draw is called a "damage draw."

Example: A attacks B, and B chooses to directly suffer the attack; A deals 2 points of attack damage to B, so B draws 2 cards from the top of the deck into their hand.

At the same time, the game also has some purely draw-triggering actions, such as Weaken, Buy, and Synthesize. These are not damage, but they still cause the player to perform the "draw cards" action (i.e. the player's hand grows for a reason other than suffering damage). This kind of draw is called a "non-damage draw."

(Some characters' skills also involve this kind of non-damage draw, such as the Marksman's "Snipe.")

Note: regardless of which kind of draw occurs, once it pushes a player's hand above their hand limit, it causes a bust.

Hand Limit

Every character (or player) has a "maximum number of cards they may hold" — in this game, called the character's hand limit.

Every character's hand limit is 6; apart from certain characters' skills, this value generally does not change.

As covered in the previous section, each time a player suffers 1 point of damage they must draw a card from the top of the deck, which may push their hand above the limit.

When a player's hand exceeds their hand limit, this game calls it a "bust." The player must then discard down to their hand limit.

Note: discards caused by a bust are chosen by the player themselves, and must be discarded face down. (The player chooses what to discard themselves, and no one else may look at what was discarded.)

Example: B draws 2 cards from the top of the deck into their hand. If B's hand was previously 6 cards, after drawing 2 more it becomes 8, exceeding the limit of 6, causing B to bust; B must discard 2 cards from hand (discarding down to 6 cards remaining).

Morale

For each card discarded due to a bust, that character's team loses 1 point of morale.

In the example above, B discarded 2 cards due to busting, so B's team must lose 2 points of morale.

Note: regardless of whether it is caused by damage or some other means, any bust causes a loss of morale. (For example, some characters' skills can suddenly reduce your hand limit, which may also cause a bust.)

Damage Timeline

The damage timeline is another very important concept in this game. In the game it is represented using the numbers ①–⑥.

Icon Explanations (Second Edition)

The game uses a number of simple icons to represent certain concepts and meanings. These icons mostly appear within character skills; this section exists to explain them so players can better understand their meaning and avoid ambiguity during play. (The icon key itself is a graphical reference in the original manual and is not reproduced here; the numbered damage-timeline markers ①–⑥ and the Gem/Crystal symbols referenced throughout this rulebook are the icons in question.)

Unable to Act

Under the game's rules, every player must perform an action during their own action phase. In rare cases, however, you may be unable to do so. For example, the Sword Saint holds 4 copies of "Holy Light" in hand — he can neither play them, nor perform Buy or Synthesize. In this case, you may choose to reveal your hand and declare that you are "unable to act." Once everyone agrees, you must discard your entire hand, draw an equal number of cards from the deck, and continue this action — you may not perform a Special Action. If the Sealer's Seal triggers at this point, its damage must still be resolved and the Seal removed. (Note: you may declare "unable to act" even if you could still perform Refine.)

Notes on being unable to act:

• When a player has a possible action available, they must perform it — they cannot choose to forgo it and declare themselves unable to act; a player cannot deliberately eliminate their own possible actions.
• If a player deliberately brings about being unable to act in bad faith, an appropriate penalty may be applied at the group's discretion (e.g. by house rule, ruled as an automatic loss).
• "Unable to act" may only be declared after the action phase begins; if you have been provoked by the Brave, declaring "unable to act" is instead replaced by being required to skip your turn.
• Face-down cards are, by default, not considered to increase possible actions; a card discarded voluntarily for reasons other than a skill is considered to deliberately eliminate a possible action; drawing cards is always considered to increase possible actions; whether Refine can be performed has no bearing on declaring "unable to act."
• Except when that character has 0 cards in hand, Angel's Shelter and Soul Link are not considered to eliminate possible actions; activating is considered to eliminate the possibility of Buy and Synthesize.
• If the character has no Activation Skill and wishes to declare "unable to act," you must check whether Refine is the only action still possible.
• If the character has an Activation Skill, was unable to act before activating, and activating would increase possible actions, then they must activate, and — except for a Sword Mage with a full hand — may not subjectively block damage with Healing.
• If the character has an Activation Skill, was unable to act before activating, and activating would not increase possible actions, then "unable to act" must be declared before activating.

Glossary

Target character/ally/opponent: any one character/ally/opponent that you designate.

Remove (this card): place (this card) into the discard pile.

Block an attack: treat the attack as having failed (missed).

Suffer an attack: treat the attack as having succeeded (hit).

Block (1 point of) damage: reduce damage dealt to you (by 1 point).

Activates at the end of [X Action]: during your action phase, when the [X Action] you performed ends, you may declare this effect.

Additional +1 [element] Attack Action: restricts the additional attack to being of the stated element.

Forced hit: this attack is guaranteed to succeed; the opponent cannot counter-attack or block it with Holy Light or Holy Shield, and may only choose to suffer the attack (if the opponent holds a Holy Shield, it is simply ignored and remains in play).

Attack damage additional +1: a bonus value; attack damage increases from 2 to 3.

Activates after an attack hits: after your attack succeeds, before damage is resolved, you may declare this effect. The opponent cannot counter-attack — against your attack, they may only choose to block with Holy Light or Holy Shield, or suffer the attack.

Activates when an attack misses: if your attack fails, you may declare this effect. If the opponent countered this attack, your declared effect must be resolved first before the attack is passed on (the card they played to counter is not counted as part of their hand).

Draw 1 card: place the top card of the deck into your hand (this may push your hand above the limit, likewise causing a bust). This is not a form of damage — it is simply an action, so it cannot be avoided by any means.

+1 Healing: grant the character 1 point of Healing, which they may use to block 1 point of attack/spell damage.

Discard, discard a card, discard 1 [X] card [reveal]: place the discarded card, or a card from your hand, face down into the discard pile / reveal 1 [X] card before placing it into the discard pile.

X (X up to 3): a bonus value chosen by you (must fall within the qualifying range).

>1: meaning it must be 2 or higher.

<3: meaning it must be 2 or lower.

Activates only in [X Form]: your character can only activate this skill while in [X Form].

Cap +1: a bonus value; the Healing cap increases from 2 to 3 (the same applies to the Energy cap).

Hand limit +1: normally the hand limit increases from 6 to 7, so a bust only occurs once your hand exceeds 7, and you discard down to 7. (If a character's hand limit is fixed, this is unaffected — e.g. the Holy Maiden's "Mercy.")

Hand limit -1: normally the hand limit decreases from 6 to 5, so a bust occurs once your hand exceeds 5, and you discard down to 5. (If a character's hand limit is fixed, this is unaffected — e.g. the Arbiter's "Judgment Form.")

Cannot activate simultaneously with X: after activating this skill, X cannot/will not activate within this action's resolution.

Ignore Healing cap +X: a bonus value; grant the character X points of Healing, continuing to add even beyond the character's Healing cap.

Exclusive indicator: an ability marker unique to that character, generally represented with yellow or blue indicator cards.

Transfer: move A from one side to the other.

Convert (to): change A into B; so "convert to [Form B]" must always be a conversion from [Form A] to [Form B] — you cannot convert from [Form B] to [Form B]. However, "turn sideways" can be applied again to something already turned sideways, and the character card remains turned sideways, rotated 90° clockwise from its original orientation.

Exclusive face-down card: an action only you may perform, placing a specific card face down next to your character card, visible only to you. At certain specific moments you must remove it in order to activate certain effects.

Element: refers to the seven elements Wind, Water, Fire, Earth, Thunder, Dark, and Light.

Category: refers to the five categories Holy, Illusion, Technique, Chant, and Blood.

Play X: move the corresponding card face up (i.e. reveal it) out of your hand zone; this action may trigger certain effects, after which it goes to the discard pile.

Use X: move the corresponding card face up (i.e. reveal it) out of your hand zone, trigger a certain effect, then it goes to the discard pile.

Other character(s)/all other characters: any one character other than you / all characters other than you.

Same element/different element: whether same-element or different-element, both default to meaning >1 card; "same element" means these cards all share the same element; "different element" means these cards are all pairwise different in element; cards satisfying neither are "neither same-element nor different-element cards." "Not same-element" includes both "neither same-element nor different-element" cards and different-element cards; "not different-element" includes both "neither same-element nor different-element" cards and same-element cards.

FAQ

Common FAQ

1-1 Actions — Attack:

Q1: After a successful attack, can I choose not to take the Star Gem I gain? A1: No. Unless the Score Area is already full, the Star Gem must be added.

Q2: Can attacking and counter-attacking both target a teammate? A2: Neither an active attack nor a counter-attack may target a teammate.

Q3: How do I tell whether a skill can be activated during a counter-attack? A3: Only "Response"-type skills relate to counter-attacking. After a Response skill's name, before its description, brown text states the conditions that must be met for it to activate. As long as those conditions are met during the counter-attack, it may be activated.

Q4: Can a forced-hit attack be blocked with Holy Light? What about Holy Shield? A4: A forced hit cannot be blocked by Holy Light or Holy Shield. A forced hit skips the counter-attack/Holy Light step entirely, ignores Holy Shield, and is treated directly as a hit. An attack that can still be blocked by Holy Light or Holy Shield is instead described as "cannot be countered."

Q5: Does an attack that gets countered count as "the attack missed"? A5: Yes — being countered, or being blocked by Holy Light or Holy Shield, all count as this attack having missed.

Q6: When an attack misses, does a "when it misses" skill resolve before or after the counter-attack? A6: The response resolves first.

Q7: Can a skill that activates② after an attack hits be blocked with Holy Light? For example, Rend. A7: No.

1-2 Actions — Spells:

Q1: Can a spell target a teammate? Can it target yourself? A1: If a Spell Action's description lists its target as "target character," it may target any character including yourself; "target ally" can only target a teammate, not yourself; "target opponent" can only target an opponent.

Q2: For a skill that targets X characters, can the same character be targeted more than once? A2: No, these targets cannot repeat.

Q3: If my Magic Bullet hits an enemy, do I gain a Star Gem? A3: No. Unless specifically noted otherwise, spell damage does not generate Star Gems.

Q4: Which resolves first, Poison or Weaken? A4: Poison resolves first, then Weaken. See the Resolution Order Table for details.

Q5: If a character has a Weaken card in front of them, can they activate first and resolve Weaken afterward? A5: No. Weaken has already triggered before the action phase begins, taking priority over activating.

Q6: Does spell damage blocked by Healing count as "no damage dealt"? For example, if the Sage deals 1 point of damage to the Blood Maiden and she blocks it with Healing, can the Butterfly Dancer still add bonus damage? A6: Look closely at the damage timeline — blocking with Healing happens at step④, so any response keyed to after④ cannot add bonus damage, while anything keyed to before④ still can; where a skill is explicitly keyed to④, refer to its own text.

Q7: How is damage dealt to multiple characters at once resolved? A7: Starting from the immediate right of whoever caused the damage, resolve counter-clockwise.

1-3 Actions — Other:

Q1: Can I perform a Special Action after activating? A1: Each character's turn first decides whether to perform a General Action or a Special Action; only a General Action has an "activate" phase. If you decide to perform a Special Action, you cannot activate.

Q2: How many exclusive indicators does a character with exclusive indicators start the game with? A2: At the start, all indicators are placed face down, counting as zero; only once the condition for gaining one is triggered is it flipped face up to represent having gained it.

Q3: Can a character who is turned sideways be turned sideways again before being reset? A3: Being turned sideways and being reset are simply states of the character; they don't restrict skills that have no form requirement. For example, the Brave can activate Forbidden Power again after already being turned sideways, and remains turned sideways.

Q4: Must an additional Attack Action or Spell Action be performed? Must it be performed immediately? Can it be saved for the next turn? A4: No — no additional action is ever mandatory. You may arrange the order of your additional actions however you like within your turn. However, any additional action not performed by the end of your turn is discarded.

Q5: What do the ①②③ symbols on cards mean? For example, Poison: deal 1 point of spell damage③. A5: These numbers represent the damage timeline; when the order of skills conflicts, resolve them in ascending numerical order.

1-4 Special — Unable to Act:

See the "Unable to Act" section of this rulebook, as well as Asteriated Grail Characters and Being Unable to Act.

1-5 Other:

Q1: Can an exclusive card be used again after it has been removed? A1: Yes, as long as its conditions are met, it can be used repeatedly.

Q2: Besides the cards in the 150-card shared deck, are any other cards considered Basic Effects? A2: No.

Q3: Do I need to draw a card at the start of my own turn? A3: The game has no draw phase, so no draw is needed.

Q4: Is dealing damage the same as reducing morale? A4: No — dealing damage only adds cards to the target's hand; morale is only reduced if that then pushes their hand above its limit.

Q5: If player A attacks me, can I counter-attack back at player A? A5: No, you may only counter-attack an opponent other than player A.

Q6: If I have 4 cards in hand (hand limit 6), can I perform Buy or Synthesize? A6: Buy and Synthesize require you to draw 3 cards, which would push you above your hand limit, so you cannot perform them.

Q7: If our team's Score Area is already full of Star Gems, can I still perform Buy? A7: See the earlier explanation.

Q8: Must I perform an action during my own action phase? Must additional actions also be performed? A8: Barring special circumstances, yes, a player must perform one action during their action phase. All additional actions, however, are optional.

Q9: How can I prevent effects like Poison? A9: Barring special circumstances, spells cannot be prevented outright; of course you can block them with Healing, or use the Guardian Angel's skill to remove Poison before it triggers.

Q10: Can Poison, Weaken, etc. be given to a teammate? Can Holy Shield be given to an opponent? A10: See the earlier explanation.

Q11: Can Healing be given to the opposing team? A11: Yes, as long as that skill's target is not restricted to your own team or allies.

Q12: I have questions about some characters' skills — what should I do? A12: See the section below.

Character Skill Details

Wind Sword Saint

Wind's Fury Pursuit: once activated, only Gale Slash may be played afterward; Gale Technique and Sword Shadow have no such element restriction.

Holy Sword: only the third attack triggers Holy Sword's effect; any further additional attacks after that will not trigger it again.

Gale Technique: this skill can only be activated as a Unique Skill while the opponent holds a Holy Shield, and it ignores that Holy Shield to strike the opponent directly — they may only block with Holy Light (this does not destroy the Holy Shield). Of course, you may also play this attack card as a normal attack without activating Gale Technique.

If you have already performed a Spell Action or Special Action, you cannot activate Combo, Gale Technique, or Sword Shadow.

Combo and Sword Shadow are marked [Limited], so each can only be activated once per turn.

Multiple attacks within a single turn may all target the same target, or different targets.

Berserker

Berserk: the Berserker's counter-attacks also gain Berserk's effect; Berserk's bonus damage applies only to attacks — using Magic Bullet, Poison, or other spells gains no bonus damage. If the Berserker takes part in a counter-attack chain but is not the one who ultimately deals the damage, Berserk does not trigger. Berserk is a Passive Skill — you cannot choose not to activate it.

Bloody Roar: Bloody Roar can only be activated against a target holding exactly 2 points of Healing; a target with 0, 1, or more than 2 Healing cannot be targeted.

Goddess of the Bow

Lightning Arrow: Lightning Arrow still triggers when the Goddess of the Bow counter-attacks with a thunder-element attack.

Piercing Shot: Piercing Shot must resolve before the rest of the attack chain — it resolves before targets for a counter-attack are even assigned.

Flash Trap: to activate Flash Trap, simply play this card as you would a spell card — this counts as consuming one Spell Action.

Precision Shot: this Unique Skill card can be used either as a normal attack, or its effect can be activated when attacking. If you choose to activate Precision Shot's effect, this attack becomes a forced hit, but its damage is −1. Since it is still an attack, a forced hit still adds a Star Gem to your team's Score Area. Precision Shot can also be activated during a counter-attack.

Snipe: if this pushes the opponent's hand limit below 5, it will cause them to bust.

When you activate Piercing Shot, you cannot discard the attack card marked with Flash Trap as though it were a spell card — that Unique Skill card only counts as a spell when Flash Trap itself is activated. The "spell" label on a Unique Skill card only means that using it consumes a Spell Action — it is not treated as a spell card.

Sealer

Spell Surge: the Sealer can only activate Spell Surge, and thereby perform an additional Attack Action, after having performed a Spell Action — not the other way around. Playing Magic Bullet or Holy Light outside your own turn does not trigger Spell Surge, because Holy Light does not consume a Spell Action.

Five-Element Seal: once a triggering condition for a Seal is met, the "trigger takes priority" principle requires the Seal's effect to be resolved immediately. Once a Seal is activated as a spell, it becomes a Basic Effect.

Five-Element Seal: revealing a face-down card does not trigger a Seal, because it is the reveal-and-discard performed while unable to act that triggers a Seal.

Five-Element Binding: Five-Element Binding is an exclusive card, so it cannot be removed by skills that remove Basic Effects (e.g. the Angel's Wind's Purification). Once Five-Element Binding finishes resolving (regardless of how the opponent responds to it), it returns to the Sealer's hand and can be used again.

When a character has Poison, Weaken, and Five-Element Binding all in front of them at once, Poison resolves first; Five-Element Binding and Weaken resolve after, and the two resolve together — if the character chooses to skip their action phase, both are skipped together; if they choose to suffer them, they must suffer the draws from both. They cannot trigger the draw from only one and skip the other's effect.

Seal Break: if the Sealer activates Seal Break with a full hand, their hand will exceed its limit; they must discard down to the limit and their team's morale drops by 1, and only then can Spell Surge be activated.

Assassin

Backlash: this can only be activated against an opponent who attacks you; if your opponent uses a spell against you, Backlash cannot be activated. You can only potentially trigger Backlash by suffering attack damage — if you fully block the attack damage with Healing, or all of it is transferred away by Soul Link, it will not trigger.

Water Shadow: this activates at the "damage dealt" step③, before Healing is resolved and before the damage draw is resolved.

Stealth: while in Stealth you simply cannot be the target of an opponent's active attack — you can still be the target of their counter-attacks and spells. Active-attack damage while in Stealth is calculated using the number of Crystals in your Energy pool, though Crystals themselves cannot activate Stealth.

Stealth: if the Assassin in Stealth is affected by Weaken, Provoke, etc. and chooses to skip the action phase, they do not reset. If Poison is also in front of them, since Poison resolves before the action phase begins, Poison resolves first, then the reset.

Holy Maiden

Frost Prayer: Frost Prayer only activates when the Holy Maiden uses a water-element attack card and successfully establishes an attack — not from spell cards. If another response is triggered before Frost Prayer would activate, per the "trigger takes priority" principle Frost Prayer's effect resolves last — e.g. against Water Seal or Piercing Shot. "Target character" here does not mean the character you attacked — it means any character of your choosing.

Healing Light: you cannot give multiple points of Healing to the same character with this.

Mercy: once activated, your hand limit is permanently fixed at 7, unaffected by any skill that changes the hand limit, for the rest of the game.

Holy Cure: a skill that "distributes Healing" means distributing it from the Healing card pile.

Guardian Angel

Wind's Purification: this can only remove Basic Effects — exclusive cards such as the Seal's Five-Element Binding cannot be removed. If the Angel uses Wind's Purification to remove a wind-element Seal in front of herself, this triggers the Seal, and she suffers 3 points of spell damage; the Seal is removed and resolution ends — Angel's Bond does not activate.

Angel's Blessing: the cards given by this skill are determined by its target, and it may even target a character whose hand is too small to give the full amount, or target yourself. Angel's Blessing has each character give their cards in turn order.

Angel's Bond: the target character can be anyone. Its condition is: a Basic Effect removed by Wind's Purification or Angel's Song, or a Holy Shield used. A Basic Effect the Guardian Angel removes from herself by using her own skill does not trigger it. Example: if the Guardian Angel activates Swift Blessing, this does not trigger Angel's Bond.

Angel's Wall: this skill counts as you having played a Holy Shield.

Angel's Song: the same effect as Wind's Purification, the only difference being that Angel's Song can remove a negative Basic Effect in front of you first, and does not consume your turn's action.

Divine Protection: the Guardian Angel's Divine Protection is an Ultimate Skill that can be activated by spending multiple Energy, with X's value chosen by you (provided you can pay that much Energy). Divine Protection only blocks the resulting morale loss — spell damage is still suffered (i.e. you still draw cards and can still bust, but morale is not reduced).

Magical Girl

Magic Burst: even if neither opponent does so, your team's Score Area still only gains +1 Gem. Effects that target multiple characters all resolve counter-clockwise starting from the current turn's player.

Bullet Mastery: this can only be activated when you actively use a Magic Bullet, and it changes the subsequent passing order to the Magical Girl's own chosen order. If you are the one a Magic Bullet is being passed to, you cannot activate this skill.

Bullet Fusion: only when you activate this skill do earth- or fire-element cards count as Magic Bullets — at other times they may still be used as their original card type. A card cannot be converted twice.

Sword Mage

Shadow Convergence: only after entering Shadow Form can you activate Shadow Power and Shadow Meteor, and this form only lasts one turn — starting your next turn you must reset out of Shadow Form (though of course you may immediately turn sideways again to re-activate it).

Shadow Resistance: these spell cards include Poison, Weaken, Holy Shield, Magic Bullet, and Holy Light. However, outside your own turn you may still use Magic Bullet and Holy Light.

Yellow Springs Tremor: this may be activated before any active Attack Action (including during Asura's Chain Slash), but this skill is turn-limited — it can only be activated once per turn.

The Sword Mage's hand is 6 cards, all spells, no Energy in the Score Area — Shadow Convergence must be performed.

The Sword Mage may activate with 0 cards in hand, but cannot use Healing or Soul Link; if the card drawn is a spell card, this is treated as being unable to act.

Holy Lancer

Chastisement: your target must hold Healing for you to activate Chastisement; if your own Healing is already at its cap when you activate Chastisement, you may still activate it, you simply won't gain any more Healing.

Holy Strike: this also activates if your counter-attack hits the opponent.

Earth Spear: X is chosen by you, up to a maximum of 4.

Holy Light Prayer: Healing gained through Holy Light Prayer ignores your Healing cap — it will not be discarded due to your turn ending or Healing overflow, but your Healing is still capped at 5 total — i.e. if you already have 5 Healing and activate Holy Light Prayer again next turn, any Healing beyond 5 will be discarded. The difference between "Healing cap" and "ignores Healing cap" is that the former applies universally from the start of the game to the end, while the latter only increases Healing when a specific skill is activated, and that increased Healing is not itself subject to the ordinary Healing cap.

Elementalist

Element Absorption: this activates any time you deal spell damage to a target, regardless of whether that damage is blocked by the opponent's Healing, and is not limited to damage-dealing spells outside your character skills (Poison, Magic Bullet). However, if your Poison is dispelled after use, or your Magic Bullet misses, Element Absorption does not activate.

Every character with indicators starts the game with 0 of them.

Lightning Strike can still be activated even if the Score Area's Gems are full, but no Gem is gained.

The Elementalist's Unique Skill requires discarding a same-element card at the same time it is activated — the two cards are played together.

Moonlight: similar to the Assassin, when the Elementalist activates Moonlight the damage is calculated from the number of Crystals in the Energy pool, though Crystals cannot themselves be used to activate Moonlight.

Adventurer

Deception: this can be activated with any same-element cards, even if both are spell cards; you may only activate Deception during an active attack.

Good Fortune: Crystals gained this way become your Energy — they cannot be placed in the Score Area.

Adventurer's Paradise: when performing Refine, you may give the Energy produced (regardless of its composition) to any one teammate. You must give both Energy entirely to yourself, or entirely to a teammate — you cannot split it between the two. When the Adventurer performs Refine on behalf of a teammate, this is only limited by whether the teammate's Energy is at its cap — if the teammate is not at the cap, Refine may be performed; it cannot exceed the teammate's Energy cap and does not replace the teammate's existing Energy.

Switcheroo: this cannot transfer the opposing team's Crystals. The Adventurer may use Switcheroo even when their own team's Star Gems are full, treated as simply discarding 1 Gem from the opponent's Score Area. The Adventurer may still activate the "convert all Crystals in our Score Area to Gems" option of this skill even when their own team's Score Area has no Gems or Crystals at all.

Plague Mage

Undying: the Plague Mage playing Holy Light or passing on a Magic Bullet does not gain +1 Healing, because this is not a Spell Action — the same principle as the Sealer's Spell Surge.

Nova of Venom: after Nova of Venom's damage finishes resolving, gain +1 Healing; this then triggers Undying for another +1 Healing, for +2 Healing total.

When the Plague Mage activates Plague or Nova of Venom, damage to each character must be resolved one at a time in counter-clockwise order, allowing for possible spell responses from other characters in between.

Arbiter

Law of Arbitration: the Crystal gained is your Energy — place it directly in your Energy pool.

Doomsday Judgment: if you have been given Weaken or Five-Element Binding and choose to skip your action phase, you do not need to activate Doomsday Judgment; otherwise, once Judgment reaches its cap you must activate Doomsday Judgment. However, if the Arbiter is affected by the Brave's Provoke — which takes the highest priority — and would otherwise be required to activate Doomsday Judgment during their action phase, they must instead choose to skip, though they may still activate.

Judgment Wave: only suffering damage adds a Judgment; if you fully block the damage dealt to you with Healing, or all of it is transferred away by Soul Link, no Judgment is added — you must understand the distinction between suffering and dealing damage, and between a single instance and multiple instances of damage.

Rite of Arbitration: while active, your hand limit is permanently fixed at 5, unaffected by other skills that change the hand limit; but when you activate Rite Interruption to leave Judgment Form, your hand limit reverts to 6 (and becomes subject again to other hand-limit-changing skills).

Scales of Judgment: this skill has two parts — the +1 Judgment effect always activates; of the two options that follow, you must choose exactly one to activate and cannot decline both.

Priest

Water's Divine Power: giving cards to a teammate can also cause them to bust. If the Priest has exactly 1 water-element card left, she may discard and reveal it, simultaneously activating Water's Divine Power on the target teammate — both the Priest and the target teammate each gain 1 Healing, and resolution ends.

Sacred Covenant: when passing Healing to another player this way, the target's cap is 4 at most; even if that character was not actually at their normal cap (e.g. the Necromancer), no more may be added beyond 4.

Priestess

Radiant Faith: Radiant Faith can still be activated even if the Score Area's Gems are full, but no Gem is gained.

Dark Curse: damage to the target resolves first, then damage to yourself.

Might/Swift Blessing: your Blessing can only be given to a teammate; at most one of the same Blessing may exist in front of the same character at a time. Blessings are all Basic Effects, and can be dispelled by skills such as the Angel's Wind's Purification.

Sage

Spell Rebound: if you suffer two separate instances of 1-point spell damage at step⑥ at the same time, they must be resolved one at a time. This skill's timeline step is⑥, so the damage draw happens before Spell Rebound is executed. When used against yourself, this produces nested resolution, and the spell damage generated last resolves first.

Codex of Magic: "target character and yourself" — the target character may be set as yourself, after which each instance of damage is resolved separately.

Codex of Purity: damage to yourself is resolved after the Healing gain, so you may first gain Healing for yourself and then use it to block that damage.

Talisman Master

Chant: Talismans include Talisman-Thunderclap and Talisman-Windwalk. If using a Talisman triggers a Seal, the Seal's damage is suffered first, then the card is placed face down, and then the skill's effect executes.

Talisman-Thunderclap: this resolves counter-clockwise starting from the current turn's player (i.e. the Talisman Master).

Sword Emperor

Angelic Soul: this skill cannot raise morale above its starting value.

Unyielding Will: activating this immediately changes your Sword Soul type. If your hand is then all spell cards, your turn ends.

Brawler

Mind Bullet: based on the order of the skill's condition and effect, Fighting Spirit is gained first, then spell damage is dealt to yourself — so this gained Fighting Spirit must be included in the calculation.

Hundred Phantom Dragon Fist: once the Brawler activates Hundred Phantom Dragon Fist, being made to skip the action phase by Weaken does not cancel the Hundred Phantom Dragon Fist state; if provoked by the Brave after activating, and the prior target of Hundred Phantom Dragon Fist is not the Brave, being provoked forces a choice between canceling Hundred Phantom Dragon Fist to actively attack the Brave, or skipping your turn. While in Hundred Phantom Dragon Fist state, even choosing to activate it again only lets you designate the same previous target — otherwise you do not gain Hundred Phantom Dragon Fist's effect.

If the Brawler is provoked by the Brave, they may first activate Hundred Phantom Dragon Fist, then skip, and choose Hundred Phantom Dragon Fist's target in the next action phase.

Spirit-Ending Blow: you must remove 1 point of Fighting Spirit first before calculating the self-damage from Spirit-Ending Blow.

Fighting God's Drive: if your hand is 3 cards or fewer, you may still activate this — you will not discard or draw, gaining only +2 Healing.

Brave

Provoke: the character you provoke may still activate, but must then actively attack you; if they activate but do not do so, they must still skip their next action phase. Even if that character would otherwise be unable to activate for some reason, your Provoke means that, under any circumstances, they may still choose to activate without attacking you and simply skip their next action phase.

Provoke: if the provoked character skips their action phase due to Weaken or Five-Element Binding, Provoke has not yet reached its trigger point and so is not removed; and since you have not withdrawn your Provoke, you cannot use Provoke again on your own turn either. If the character you provoked can make multiple attacks, all of them must target you. They may likewise activate certain Response skills while attacking.

Provoke: a Sword Mage holding only spell cards may activate when provoked to search for an attack card, but if none is found, they must skip their action phase; the same applies to the Blood Maiden and the Crimson Lotus Knight. Of course, even if they do find an attack card, they may still choose to skip their action phase.

Provoke: when the Assassin or Sword Mage skips their action phase due to being provoked, they may choose to reset while skipping, or skip without resetting. The former is a full activation, the latter a partial activation of the effect.

Provoke: if the provoked character is unable to act, they may only choose to skip — they may not declare themselves "unable to act."

Exhaustion: a Brave who was Weakened after activating Exhaustion resolves Weaken first when their turn begins; if they choose to skip the action phase, they remain turned sideways; if they draw cards instead, they first draw 3 cards and resolve any resulting bust, then restore their hand limit, then suffer 3 points of self-inflicted spell damage③.

Forbidden Power: example: the Brave, holding 5 cards, lands a hit on A and activates Forbidden Power, discarding 4 cards — 1 fire spell card, 1 fire attack card, and 2 wind cards. You gain +1 Wrath, this attack's damage against A becomes 2+2 (from the 2 fire cards), you suffer 2 points of self-inflicted spell damage, triggering Exhaustion — turn your character card sideways, your hand limit becomes 4, and the target suffers the attack damage.

Forbidden Power: the additional attack gained by activating Forbidden Power and entering Exhaustion can activate Forbidden Power again, since Forbidden Power has no per-turn limit stated, and Exhaustion is not itself a Form. So as long as Energy and hand size allow, it can be activated multiple times in the same turn — this is the Brave's burst-damage engine.

Soul Sorcerer

Soul Exchange: you must decide whether to activate this the moment you complete this active attack — you cannot wait to see whether it hits. Also, if your attack triggers a Seal, the Seal's damage and any Soul Link must be resolved first, before Soul Exchange is activated.

Soul Link: in cases where both Spell Rebound and Soul Link could trigger at once, since Soul Link is "before someone between you suffers damage⑥," Soul Link resolves first, then Spell Rebound. Damage transferred by Soul Link originates from the Soul Sorcerer, and is treated as actually-suffered damage at step⑥ — it cannot be blocked by Healing, cannot trigger the Assassin's Water Shadow or the Magic Spear's Dark Barrier, and cannot trigger another Soul Link; only the Butterfly Dancer's Pilgrimage can block it. Both ends of a Soul Link resolve as simultaneous damage, in counter-clockwise order starting from the current turn's player, the same as Talisman-Thunderclap.

Soul Link: forbidden in 2v2 games; Soul Link can only be given to a teammate. When damage would be suffered between the two of you, whether to activate Soul Link's effect is entirely your decision, not your teammate's — in principle your teammate cannot signal to you when to activate this skill. Once bound, Soul Link's target cannot be changed.

Blood Maiden

Live or Die Together: if the target's hand limit is permanently fixed at some value, Live or Die Together has no effect on them, but still affects you. Before you use Live or Die Together, your hand limit is still its base value of 6, but the Form change from Bleeding still triggers, without changing the cap; using Live or Die Together on yourself still produces its normal effect of −2 [and Bleeding] +1 cap, not doubled.

Example: the Maiden at 6/6, in Bleeding Form, activates Live or Die Together: first draw 2 cards — at this point Live or Die Together has not yet been released, so she becomes 8/6, busting for 2 morale; then, because of Live or Die Together's "+1 hand limit in Bleeding Form," she becomes 6/7.

Live or Die Together: if the Maiden has no Live or Die Together in play, no Energy of her own, no Star Gems to Refine in the Score Area, her entire hand is Holy Light with at least 4 cards, and she is not Bleeding, she must activate Live or Die Together and may not declare herself unable to act.

Blood's Sorrow: if Live or Die Together is in play, she is in normal state, has no Energy of her own, no Star Gems to Refine in the Score Area, her entire hand is Holy Light with at least 2 cards, she must activate Blood's Sorrow, and cannot voluntarily reduce the damage to 0; if she is still unable to act afterward, she must declare herself unable to act. If Blood's Sorrow, due to the Guardian Angel's protection, does not put her into Bleeding state, and she still holds 4 Holy Light, she must also declare herself unable to act.

Bleeding: per the "trigger takes priority" principle, as soon as the Maiden's hand drops below 3 cards she is immediately reset out of Bleeding Form, and only then are any other previously activated skills resolved. When the Angel uses Angel's Blessing on the Maiden, whether the Maiden changes Form is resolved first, before the Angel receives her cards.

Bleeding: once the Maiden has entered Bleeding Form, even if she busts for morale, this does not trigger the +1 Healing effect. Bleeding Form's damage occurs at the start of the turn, earlier in the timeline than Poison resolves. If the action phase is skipped due to Weaken, this damage must still be suffered.

Blood's Wail: damage to the opponent resolves first here too, then damage to yourself. If playing this card drops your hand below 3 cards, Live or Die Together's effect resolves first, then this skill's damage effect.

Butterfly Dancer

Dance: only you may look at your own Cocoons. If your Cocoons exceed the cap, you must discard the excess yourself from among all your Cocoons (including newly gained ones). Each time you use a Cocoon you may choose any Cocoon to use — no particular order is required.

Pilgrimage: only one Pilgrimage may be activated per instance of damage, blocking 1 point of it. Notably, Pilgrimage can block damage transferred via Soul Link — Soul Link resolves first, then Pilgrimage.

Mirror Flower, Water Moon: per the damage timeline, the bonus damage added by Poison Powder can no longer be blocked by Healing — but if Mirror Flower, Water Moon is then activated, the target may use Healing to block those two 1-point instances of damage. The target before and after Mirror Flower, Water Moon splits the damage remains the same — it does not change the damage's target, only its source.

Withering: regardless of Withering's target, once activated, the opposing team's morale cannot drop below 1 until the start of your next turn. When activating Mirror Flower, Water Moon you must reveal Cocoons, but if one of them is a Spell Cocoon, since Withering is a Response Skill you retain the choice of whether to activate it — and each Spell Cocoon can trigger Withering once. Since Withering's effect lasts until the start of your own next turn, if the Butterfly Dancer uses Pilgrimage against her own Poison to block the damage and reveals a Cocoon that triggers Withering, then even without activating Withering again during the following action phase, the opponent's morale cannot be reduced to 0 — this must wait until the start of the Butterfly Dancer's own next turn.

Magic Bow

Piercing Impact: before use, first remove one fire-element Charge; after the attack hits you may choose whether to remove an additional fire-element Charge. If it misses, this instead deals spell damage directly to the attack's target.

Piercing Impact: after hitting you cannot remove more than one additional fire-element Charge — at most one.

Scattering Bolt: its bonus damage is resolved in one pass — for example, revealing X thunder-element Charges and designating one opponent deals them X points of spell damage③, while every other opponent takes 1 point of spell damage③ each. Resolution order is the same as Talisman-Thunderclap.

Multi-Shot: this may be activated multiple times in one turn, but it cannot target whoever was the target of the active attack that triggered this instance of Multi-Shot. For example, in a 2v2 game, if the Magic Bow attacks opponent A, Multi-Shot's target cannot be A — it can only be opponent B; if that additional active attack from Multi-Shot then triggers Multi-Shot again, it may then target A, but not B. Multi-Shot cannot be activated during a counter-attack.

Charge: discarding down to 4 cards in hand is mandatory when your hand exceeds that; if your hand is already fewer than 4 cards, no discard occurs. Drawing X cards is allowed to exceed the hand limit — in that case bust and morale loss resolve immediately, and then you place cards face down. The number of cards drawn and the number placed face down need not match, but the number placed face down cannot exceed the number drawn, and you cannot draw more than 4. Placing face down applies to your entire hand after drawing. After Charge, you must perform an Attack Action or Spell Action, otherwise you cannot activate; for example, you may not draw X and place all X face down while at 0 cards, but you may draw X and place (X−1) face down, then reveal Holy Light or Holy Shield in your hand (all Shields) and declare yourself unable to act (even if your hand is not entirely Holy Light), since only you can see what you placed face down.

Evil Eye: because you must perform an Attack Action or Spell Action after activating, and because Evil Eye's first effect requires placing 1 card face down afterward if you have any cards, when you have 0 or 1 card and designate another character to discard a card, or have 2 cards and designate yourself to discard 1, or your remaining hand leaves you unable to act, it must be the case that you are guaranteed to be able to activate Scattering Bolt during that turn's action phase, and you must activate it. But as with Charge, if Evil Eye's draw option is chosen as drawing 3, then after placing cards face down you may reveal your hand, and if it is entirely Holy Light or Holy Shield you may declare yourself unable to act.

Crimson Lotus Knight

Crimson Faith: the self-inflicted damage that Crimson Faith can block refers only to damage dealt to yourself by Bloody Prayer, Feast of Slaughter, and Crimson Cross, as well as Poison the Crimson Lotus Knight places on herself — no other damage can be blocked by it.

Bloody Prayer: the X values stated in this skill's text must be equal, and X cannot be 0; "distribute Healing" means distributing it from the Healing card pile.

Feast of Slaughter: this resolves self-damage first, then attack damage to the opponent. Crimson Cross likewise resolves self-damage first, after discarding 2 spell cards.

Blood Boil: any morale loss caused by a non-damage draw does not put the Crimson Lotus Knight into Blood Boil Form; likewise, a non-damage draw while in Blood Boil Form can still cause morale loss if it exceeds the hand limit. Also, +2 Healing is only gained when resetting out of Blood Boil Form at the end of the turn — Restraint does not have this effect.

If the Crimson Lotus Knight has no Energy, holds 4 or more Holy Light, and has Healing, she must activate Bloody Prayer if she does not Refine, and cannot voluntarily reduce damage to 0 (doing so is treated as deliberately forcing herself to be unable to act, in violation of the rules — though Soul Link may still be used to transfer damage away). If she is still unable to act after activating, she may then declare herself unable to act. If she cannot activate Bloody Prayer, she may declare herself unable to act directly.

Magic Spear

Dark Release: Phantom Form is persistent — only activating Phantom Star can leave it. "Attack damage additional +2" only applies to the first active attack of the turn you enter Phantom Form. You cannot activate Dark Release again while already in Phantom Form, since you must leave the Form before re-entering it.

Phantom Star: first resolve the 2 points of self-damage completely, then leave Phantom Form and restore your hand limit. If the "suffer 2 points of self-inflicted spell damage③" causes your team's morale to drop as a result, the subsequent "deal 2 points of spell damage to target character" effect will not activate — only this specific cause-and-effect relationship matters. If, for example, the Butterfly Dancer's Mirror Flower, Water Moon is inserted, or morale drops because the Maiden's Live or Die Together puts her in normal Form, this does not affect the later "deal 2 points of spell damage to target character" activating. But if, while resolving your own 2 points of self-inflicted spell damage③, this triggers Dark Barrier's discard and then triggers a Seal, and the resolution of that self-damage ultimately causes a morale loss, the bonus effect is not gained. However, if your own Angel uses Divine Protection on those two points of spell damage, or Soul Link transfers it away, the bonus effect can still be gained.

Dark Barrier: you cannot discard a spell card and a thunder-element card at the same time for this — you must choose one or the other each time (a thunder-element spell card counts as both a spell card and a thunder-element card).

Overflow: the sequence is:

1. Everyone, including yourself, discards starting from yourself and proceeding counter-clockwise; only cards you discard yourself do not count toward the next attack's damage bonus.
2. Each spell or thunder-element card discarded adds +1 to the bonus damage; this stacks — in a 6-player game the theoretical maximum bonus is +5. Likewise, a thunder-element spell card still only contributes +1.
3. Your own team may choose not to discard, but the opposing team must discard.
4. The additional +1 Attack Action, as with the Holy Lancer, is a separate skill effect unrelated to the above, and there cannot be multiple additional Attack Actions from it.
5. After Overflow, only your very next Attack Action this turn gains the damage bonus — there is no bonus after that.

Bard

Sinking Concerto: within a turn, each instance of spell damage③ counts once toward the tally, but this skill triggers only after that instance of spell damage and any inserted responses have fully finished resolving. Standard: (1) within one turn; (2) our character deals spell damage to an opposing character; (3) to 2 or more targets; (4) this instance of spell damage has fully resolved (including any skills that count as simultaneous damage, and any subsequent skills responding to the damage).

Discordant Chord: this can be used on yourself, resolving as discard X, then discard X again.

Prelude of Storm: once activated, the Bard may use the skill printed on Eternal Hymn this turn without gaining Inspiration. If the Bard then activates the skill on Eternal Hymn, they cannot then choose the option to "transfer Eternal Hymn to the Bard."

Rhapsody Unbound: the source of this damage is the character currently holding Eternal Hymn. If the Blood Maiden is in Bleeding Form and holds Eternal Hymn, Bleeding resolves before Rhapsody Unbound.

Symphony of Victory: if you choose to Refine Energy after activating this, that action does not count as a Special Action.

Einherjar Doll

Rune Fusion: if the attack's target counter-attacks and this simultaneously triggers a Seal, the Seal-breaking damage resolves first, then Rune Fusion's damage.

Double Echo: this also triggers on a successful counter-attack by the Einherjar Doll, or on damage caused by releasing Poison, etc. — it can trigger various skills, and its damage does not cause morale loss (i.e. cards are still drawn and discarded, but the Morale Area does not change). If multiple skills trigger at once, resolve them in resolution order.

Azure Flame Witch

Witch's Wrath: once activated, all attack cards other than water- and dark-element ones count as fire-element, triggering a fire Seal; the hand limit changes along with Rebirth; before resetting, Poison and Weaken resolve first, and regardless of the outcome, she must reset.

Example: an Azure Flame Witch with cap 6, no Rebirth, 2 cards in hand, activates Witch's Wrath, draws 2 cards — her hand limit is now 6+0−2=4 (i.e. 4/4). After activating Heaven's Fire Cleaving the Void, she suffers 3 spell damage — per the damage timeline this first becomes 5/4, causing a 1-point morale loss. Then Eternal Silver Hourglass triggers, gaining +1 Rebirth, and finally her hand and hand limit become 4/5.

Chain of Pain: first resolve the 1 point of spell damage suffered by both the opponent and yourself (naturally, the self-damage can trigger Mana Reversal), then discard down to 3 cards.

Valkyrie

If the Valkyrie's hand is entirely Holy Light, she must activate Seal of Order and cannot declare herself unable to act.

War God's Radiance: if your team's Score Area has fewer than 2 Star Gems when activated, you cannot choose the second option. Healing gained via the second option ignores the Valkyrie's Healing cap and has no upper limit — though the Valkyrie's ordinary Healing cap is 2.

War God's Radiance: if she also holds Eternal Hymn, War God's Radiance activates first, then Rhapsody Unbound triggers afterward.

Characters

Characters are rated across 5 difficulty tiers:

Beginner (3 stars): Wind Sword Saint, Berserker, Goddess of the Bow, Sealer, Magical Girl, Assassin, Guardian Angel, Holy Maiden

Introductory (3.5 stars): Sword Mage, Holy Lancer, Elementalist, Adventurer, Plague Mage, Arbiter

Advanced (4 stars): Priest, Priestess, Sage, Talisman Master

Proficient (4.5 stars): Brave, Sword Emperor, Brawler, Soul Sorcerer

Complex (5 stars): Blood Maiden, Butterfly Dancer

Appendix: Asteriated Grail 2nd edition bonus character: Crimson Lotus Knight (4 stars, Blood).

Phantom Stardust expansion characters: Magic Bow, Magic Spear (both 4 stars, Illusion).

Asteriated Grail 3rd edition bonus characters: Bard (4.5 stars, Illusion), Azure Flame Witch (4 stars, Blood), Valkyrie (3.5 stars, Holy), Einherjar Doll (4 stars, Chant).

Beginner

Wind Sword Saint — Category: Technique

As the first character explained here, this one introduces players to "how to gain additional actions during your own turn" and "using multiple actions within the game."

Pick-up difficulty: ★★★

Overview: in Asteriated Grail, every character normally performs only one action per turn — but the Wind Sword Saint can activate skills such as Wind's Fury Pursuit, Sword Shadow, and Gale Technique to perform multiple Attack Actions each turn. Learning to activate multiple attack actions correctly and chain them together effectively is the foundation, and the key, to playing the Sword Saint well.

Skills:

Normal Skill — Response — Wind's Fury Pursuit [Once per turn]: (at the end of an Attack Action) gain an additional +1 wind-element Attack Action.

Normal Skill — Passive — Holy Sword: if your active attack is the third Attack Action of your action phase, this attack is a forced hit.

Unique Skill — Response — Gale Technique: (when the attack's target holds a Holy Shield) ignore the opponent's Holy Shield, and this attack cannot be countered.

Basic card distribution: 5× Rift Slash, 2× Bolt Slash, 2× Gale Slash. 9 cards total.

Unique Skill — Response — Sword Shadow: (when played as an active attack) gain an additional +1 Attack Action.

Basic card distribution: 4× Flame Slash, 2× Bolt Slash, 3× Gale Slash, 4× Ripple Slash. 13 cards total.

Ultimate Skill — Response — Combo [Once per turn]: Crystal ×1 (at the end of an Attack Action) gain an additional +1 Attack Action.

Berserker — Category: Blood

The Berserker mainly introduces the concept of bonus damage, showing that attacks in this game are not always limited to 2 points of damage.

Pick-up difficulty: ★★★

Overview: in Asteriated Grail, attacks normally deal 2 points of damage — but from the very start of the game, a successful attack by the Berserker deals 3 points of damage, and once he has Energy, a successful attack that also activates Rend can deal the opponent up to 5 points of damage. His two Unique Skills are especially strong against characters with a low hand and against characters with Healing. The Berserker's only real weakness may be his rather poor hit rate.

Skills:

Normal Skill — Passive — Berserk: all attacks you make deal an additional +1 damage.

Unique Skill — Response — Bloody Blade: (when played as an active attack)

If it hits an opponent with 2 cards in hand②, this attack deals an additional +2 damage; if it hits an opponent with 3 cards in hand②, this attack deals an additional +1 damage.

Basic card distribution: 3× Rift Slash, 4× Bolt Slash, 4× Ripple Slash. 11 cards total.

Unique Skill — Response — Bloody Roar: (when played as an active attack, if the attack's target holds exactly 2 Healing) this attack is a forced hit.

Basic card distribution: 2× Rift Slash, 4× Flame Slash, 4× Gale Slash. 10 cards total.

Ultimate Skill — Response — Rend: Gem ×1 (after the attack hits②) this attack deals an additional +2 damage.

Goddess of the Bow — Category: Technique

This character mainly teaches you "how to activate an attack-response spell (a spell-type skill that activates when an attack misses)."

Pick-up difficulty: ★★★

Overview: choosing the Goddess of the Bow introduces you to the game's first attack-response spell, and how it resolves and takes priority; you'll learn why she has such a high hit rate — she can land a hit on her opponent and deal damage almost any time — making it very hard to keep a low hand against her. You'll also need to weigh how to deal damage to an opponent while managing your own bust risk, even against an opponent with strong Healing.

Skills:

Normal Skill — Passive — Lightning Arrow: your thunder-element attacks cannot be countered by the opponent.

Normal Skill — Response — Piercing Shot: (when an active attack misses②, discard 1 spell card [reveal]) deal 2 points of spell damage③ to the attack's target.

Unique Skill — Spell — Flash Trap: deal 2 points of spell damage③ to the target character.

Basic card distribution: 4× Flame Slash, 4× Ripple Slash. 8 cards total.

Unique Skill — Response — Precision Shot: this attack is a forced hit, but this attack's damage is −1.

Basic card distribution: 5× Rift Slash, 4× Bolt Slash, 5× Gale Slash. 14 cards total.

Ultimate Skill — Spell — Snipe: Crystal ×1. The target character's hand is directly refilled to 5 cards [forced], and you gain an additional +1 Attack Action.

Sealer — Category: Illusion

The Sealer teaches you that "certain specific cards can also function as Basic Effects," and the various concepts built on top of that.

Pick-up difficulty: ★★★

Overview: the Sealer is the second character, after the Wind Sword Saint, who can perform multiple actions per turn — though she can only act twice at most, and it must be a Spell Action followed by an Attack Action, which has its own trade-offs compared to the Sword Saint's repeated attacks. Her Unique Skills let you experience the distinctive feel of sealing your opponents — each of the Sealer's skills should give you a different sensation.

Skills:

Normal Skill — Response — Spell Surge: (at the end of a Spell Action) gain an additional +1 Attack Action.

Unique Skill — Spell — Earth Seal: (place Earth Seal in front of the target opponent) a character with Earth Seal gains: (whenever they play or reveal an earth-element card from hand, this triggers automatically [forced]) the Sealer deals them 3 points of spell damage③, and this card is removed once triggered.

Unique Skill — Spell — Water Seal / Fire Seal / Wind Seal / Thunder Seal: as above, for their respective elements.

Basic card distribution: 4× Rift Slash, 5× Flame Slash, 5× Bolt Slash, 4× Gale Slash, 4× Ripple Slash. 22 cards total.

Ultimate/Exclusive Skill — Spell — Five-Element Binding: Crystal ×1. Place Five-Element Binding in front of the target opponent.

Ultimate Skill — Spell — Seal Break: Crystal ×1. Add any one Basic Effect card in play to your hand [forced].

Exclusive card: Five-Element Binding

Passive — Five-Element Binding: (a character holding this card gains, before the action phase begins) choose one of the following:

• Skip your action phase.
• (Draw (X+2) cards [forced]) continue your action phase.

X is the number of Seals currently in play, up to a maximum of 2. This card is removed once triggered.

Five-Element Binding is the Sealer's exclusive card; only 1 may exist at a time.

Assassin — Category: Technique

The Assassin's first two skills both involve the concept of the damage timeline — pay special attention here to what each numbered marker represents. Her Ultimate Skill uses the "turn sideways" and "reset" actions.

Pick-up difficulty: ★★★

Overview: thanks to Backlash and Water Shadow, the Assassin's defense becomes extraordinarily strong, and she is rarely chosen as an attack target. Here you need to understand the concept of the damage timeline, and once you gain Energy, you'll encounter turning sideways and resetting to gain and lose a state — a very powerful state that can deal steady, high damage to opponents.

Skills:

Normal Skill — Passive — Backlash: (when suffering attack damage⑥) the source of the damage draws 1 card [forced].

Normal Skill — Response — Water Shadow: (whenever anyone deals damage to you③) discard X water-element cards [reveal].

Ultimate Skill — Activation — Stealth: Gem ×1. [Turn sideways], lasting until the start of your next action phase; your hand limit −1; you cannot be the target of an active attack; your active attacks cannot be countered and deal an additional +X damage, where X is your remaining Energy. [Reset] when Stealth's effect ends.

Holy Maiden — Category: Holy

Here you get your first taste of the Holy category's traits — the Holy Maiden centers on using Healing and changing your hand limit.

Pick-up difficulty: ★★★

Overview: the Holy Maiden is the most stable and efficient healer in the game; once she gains a Gem and enters Mercy state, raising her hand limit also gives her remarkable defensive staying power — she is a highly capable and easy-to-use team support character.

Skills:

Normal Skill — Passive — Frost Prayer: (whenever you use a water-element attack①) the target character gains +1 Healing.

Unique Skill — Spell — Healing Arts: the target character gains +2 Healing.

Basic card distribution: 4× Flame Slash, 4× Bolt Slash, 2× Holy Light. 10 cards total.

Unique Skill — Spell — Healing Light: designate X characters, each gaining +1 Healing; X is at most 3, at least 1.

Basic card distribution: 3× Rift Slash, 3× Gale Slash, 3× Ripple Slash, 1× Holy Light. 10 cards total.

Ultimate Skill — Activation — Mercy [Persistent]: Gem ×1. [Turn sideways] and convert to Mercy Form; your hand limit is permanently fixed at 7 [Fixed].

Ultimate Skill — Spell — Holy Cure [Once per turn]: Crystal ×1. Freely distribute 3 Healing among X characters (X at most 3, at least 1), and gain an additional +1 Attack Action or Spell Action.

Guardian Angel — Category: Holy

Some concepts in the Guardian Angel's kit have already appeared with the Sealer and the Holy Maiden — here you'll also need to understand "spell responses, and the use of clearing/response-type spells."

Pick-up difficulty: ★★★

Overview: players choosing the Guardian Angel need a clear grasp of the game's Basic Effect card concept, and an understanding of spell responses, response-type spell usage, and skill trigger conditions and effects. Once you have mastered these concepts, your Guardian Angel is sure to bring your team the strongest possible support.

Skills:

Normal Skill — Spell — Wind's Purification: (discard 1 wind-element card [reveal]) remove any one Basic Effect in play.

Normal Skill — Spell — Angel's Blessing: (discard 1 water-element card [reveal]) choose one of the following:

• The target character gives you 2 cards.
• Designate 2 characters, each of whom gives you 1 card.

Normal Skill — Passive — Angel's Bond: (whenever you remove any Basic Effect in play using Wind's Purification or Angel's Song, or use a Holy Shield) the target character gains +1 Healing.

Unique Skill — Spell — Angel's Wall: can be used as a Holy Shield.

Basic card distribution: 1× Rift Slash, 4× Flame Slash, 4× Bolt Slash, 3× Gale Slash, 3× Ripple Slash. 15 cards total.

Ultimate Skill — Response — Angel's Song [Once per turn]: Crystal ×1. (before your turn begins) remove any one Basic Effect in play.

Ultimate Skill — Response — Divine Protection: Crystal ×X. Block X points of morale loss for your team caused by spell damage.

Magical Girl — Category: Chant

The Magical Girl is the only Chant-category character among the 3-star characters — while some spell concepts have appeared before her, she'll give you a much better feel for what makes a spellcaster character distinctive.

Pick-up difficulty: ★★★

Overview: as the first Chant-category character, the Magical Girl has powerful, broadly applicable spells that can bring their power to bear in almost any situation. As her player, you need to understand the special nature of spells — guaranteed to hit, but never earning your team a Gem or Crystal — so you'll often need to think carefully about which spell to cast.

Skills:

Normal Skill — Spell — Magic Burst: (discard 1 spell card [reveal]) designate 2 opponents, each of whom discards 1 spell card [reveal]; if either fails to do so, deal them 2 points of spell damage③. As long as at least one opponent fails to do so, your team's Score Area gains +1 Gem.

Normal Skill — Response — Bullet Mastery: when you actively use a Magic Bullet, you may choose to pass it in reverse order.

Normal Skill — Response — Bullet Fusion: your earth- or fire-element cards may be used as a Magic Bullet.

Ultimate Skill — Spell — Storm of Destruction: Gem ×1. Designate 2 opponents, dealing each 2 points of spell damage③.

Introductory

Sword Mage — Category: Illusion

This is your first introduction to the concept of "Form," and to the distinction between "use" and "discard."

Pick-up difficulty: ★★★☆

Overview: the Sword Mage can both attack multiple times per turn and cast damage spells, all while keeping a high hit rate and high damage. But it all comes at a cost — players choosing the Sword Mage must thoroughly understand and master Shadow Convergence, or they will expose a weakness that opponents can attack ruthlessly.

Skills:

Normal Skill — Response — Asura's Chain Slash [Once per turn]: (at the end of an Attack Action) gain an additional +1 fire-element Attack Action.

Normal Skill — Activation — Shadow Convergence: (deal yourself 1 point of spell damage③) [Turn sideways]; you remain in Shadow Form until the start of your next action phase. While in this Form, all attacks you make deal an additional +1 damage. [Reset] upon leaving Shadow Form.

Normal Skill — Passive — Shadow Resistance: you can never use spell cards during your own action phase.

Normal Skill — Spell — Shadow Meteor: (only in Shadow Form, discard 2 spell cards [reveal]) deal 2 points of spell damage③ to the target character.

Ultimate Skill — Response — Yellow Springs Tremor [Once per turn]: Gem ×1. (before an active attack①) this attack cannot be countered; if it hits②, refill your hand to its limit [forced].

Holy Lancer — Category: Holy

Here you'll learn the various special uses and applications of "Healing."

Pick-up difficulty: ★★★☆

Overview: choosing the Holy Lancer, you'll find his Healing cap differs from other characters, and once his Ultimate Skill is activated it can reach as high as 5. Healing, normally a supportive mechanic in this game, produces a very different effect in the Holy Lancer's hands — increased damage. The Holy Lancer is a capable attacker who can also shut down the opposing team's healer.

Skills:

Normal Skill — Passive — Sacred Faith: your Healing cap +1.

Normal Skill — Spell — Radiance: (discard 1 water-element card [reveal]) everyone gains +1 Healing, and you gain an additional +1 Attack Action.

Normal Skill — Spell — Chastisement: (discard 1 spell card [reveal]) transfer 1 point of Healing from another character to yourself, and gain an additional +1 Attack Action.

Normal Skill — Passive — Holy Strike: (after an attack hits②) you gain +1 Healing.

Normal Skill — Response — Heaven's Spear: (before an active attack①, remove 2 of your Healing) this attack cannot be countered; cannot be activated together with Holy Strike.

Normal Skill — Response — Earth Spear: (after an active attack hits②, remove X of your Healing, X at most 4) this attack deals an additional +X damage; cannot be activated together with Holy Strike.

Ultimate Skill — Spell — Holy Light Prayer: Gem ×1. Gain +2 Healing, ignoring your Healing cap, though your Healing is still capped at 5 maximum; gain an additional +1 Attack Action; you cannot activate Heaven's Spear this turn.

Elementalist — Category: Chant

Here you're introduced to the concept of "indicators," and the various ways they're used.

Pick-up difficulty: ★★★☆

Overview: the Elementalist is the first character in the game to make use of indicators — think of an indicator as that character's unique form of Energy, which can be spent once it reaches a certain amount. The Elementalist has 5 Unique Skills, each dealing spell damage while producing an extra effect depending on its element. You can either grind for a flashy burst by stockpiling your Unique Skills, or rely on steady output by gaining Gems to activate Moonlight. Either way, he is a spellcaster you can always count on for damage.

Skills:

Normal Skill — Response — Element Absorption: (whenever you deal spell damage to a target③) you gain +1 Element.

Normal Skill — Spell — Element Ignition: (remove 3 Element) deal 2 points of spell damage③ to the target character, and gain an additional +1 Spell Action; cannot be activated together with Element Absorption.

Unique Skill — Spell — Meteor: deal 1 point of spell damage③ to the target character, and gain an additional +1 Spell Action; (if you additionally discard 1 earth-element card [reveal]) this damage is increased by +1.

Basic card distribution: 4× Rift Slash. 4 cards total.

Unique Skill — Spell — Wind Blade: deal 1 point of spell damage③ to the target character, and gain an additional +1 Attack Action; (if you additionally discard 1 wind-element card [reveal]) this damage is increased by +1.

Basic card distribution: 5× Gale Slash. 5 cards total.

Unique Skill — Spell — Fireball: deal 2 points of spell damage③ to the target character; (if you additionally discard 1 fire-element card [reveal]) this damage is increased by +1.

Basic card distribution: 4× Flame Slash. 4 cards total.

Unique Skill — Spell — Lightning Strike: deal 1 point of spell damage③ to the target character, and your team's Score Area gains +1 Gem; (if you additionally discard 1 thunder-element card [reveal]) this damage is increased by +1.

Basic card distribution: 4× Bolt Slash. 4 cards total.

Unique Skill — Spell — Freeze: deal 1 point of spell damage③ to the target character, and designate 1 character to gain +1 Healing; (if you additionally discard 1 water-element card [reveal]) this damage is increased by +1.

Basic card distribution: 6× Ripple Slash. 6 cards total.

Ultimate Skill — Spell — Moonlight: Gem ×1. Deal (X+1) points of spell damage③ to the target character, where X is your remaining Energy.

*Element is the Elementalist's exclusive indicator, with a cap of 3.

Adventurer — Category: Illusion

The Adventurer teaches you the various uses that grow out of "Special Actions," and how to control and exploit the Star Gems in play.

Pick-up difficulty: ★★★☆

Overview: the Adventurer is an excellent control-and-support character — not only can he weaken the opposing team's Star Gems and help Refine for teammates, he can also assist with attacks. Chaining Deception with Underground Law can bring in large amounts of Gems and Star Cups for your own team, making him a powerful controller and support that will give opponents a real headache.

Skills:

Normal Skill — Response — Deception: choose one of the following:

• (Discard 2 same-element cards [reveal]) treat this as an active attack of any element other than dark, of your choosing.
• (Discard 3 same-element cards [reveal]) treat this as a dark-element active attack.

Normal Skill — Passive — Good Fortune: (each time you activate Deception) you gain +1 Crystal.

Normal Skill — Passive — Underground Law: when you perform Buy, your team's Score Area instead gains +2 Gems.

Normal Skill — Passive — Adventurer's Paradise: when you perform Refine, you may give the Gem or Crystal produced to a target teammate.

Ultimate Skill — Spell — Switcheroo [Once per turn]: Crystal ×1. Choose one of the following:

• Transfer 1 Gem from the opponent's Score Area to your team's Score Area.
• Convert all Crystals in your team's Score Area into Gems.

Then gain an additional +1 Attack Action or Spell Action.

Plague Mage — Category: Illusion

Shares the Adventurer's concept of collecting same-element cards, but with more complex damage-spell applications layered on top.

Pick-up difficulty: ★★★☆

Overview: the Plague Mage has extremely strong resistance to spells — but as a trade-off, he suffers heavier damage when attacked. He is also the strongest AOE character in the game, though his effects make no distinction between friend and foe — every skill of his deals powerful spell damage. His only real drawback is the time it takes to build up.

Skills:

Normal Skill — Response — Undying: (at the end of a Spell Action) you gain +1 Healing.

Normal Skill — Passive — Sacrilege: your Healing cannot block attack damage; your Healing cap +3.

Normal Skill — Spell — Plague: (discard 1 earth-element card [reveal]) deal 1 point of spell damage③ to every other character.

Normal Skill — Spell — Death's Touch: (remove a of your Healing and discard b same-element cards [reveal], a and b chosen by you, but each at least 2) deal (a+b-3) points of spell damage③ to the target character; cannot be activated together with Undying.

Ultimate Skill — Spell — Nova of Venom: Gem ×1. Deal 2 points of spell damage③ to every other character, and you gain +1 Healing.

Arbiter — Category: Blood

Also involves the concepts of "Form" and indicators, and various ways of combining the two.

Pick-up difficulty: ★★★☆

Overview: the Arbiter has very handy skills for controlling her own hand, and can spend Energy to shift into a powerful Judgment Form. In Judgment Form she can quickly stockpile her Judgment indicators to activate Doomsday Judgment and deal damage to her opponents — but your opponents can also read your burst timing from your Judgment count. So you'll need enough support from teammates, or need to disrupt your opponents' rhythm yourself, to get the most out of the Arbiter.

Skills:

Normal Skill — Passive — Law of Arbitration: at the start of the game, you gain +2 Crystal.

Normal Skill — Activation — Rite Interruption: (only in Judgment Form) [Reset] out of Judgment Form, and your team's Score Area gains +1 Gem.

Normal Skill — Spell — Doomsday Judgment: (remove all Judgment) deal spell damage③ to the target character equal to the amount removed; at the start of your action phase, if Judgment is at its cap, you must activate Doomsday Judgment during that action phase.

Normal Skill — Passive — Judgment Wave: (each time you suffer an instance of damage⑥) you gain +1 Judgment.

Ultimate Skill — Activation — Rite of Arbitration [Persistent]: Gem ×1. [Turn sideways] and convert to Judgment Form; while in this Form your hand limit is permanently fixed at 5 [Fixed]; each time your turn begins, you gain +1 Judgment.

Ultimate Skill — Spell — Scales of Judgment: Crystal ×1. Gain +1 Judgment, then choose one of the following:

• Discard your entire hand.
• Refill your hand to its limit [forced], and your team's Score Area gains +1 Gem.

*Judgment is the Arbiter's exclusive indicator, with a cap of 4.

Valkyrie — Category: Holy

Pick-up difficulty: ★★★☆

Normal Skill — Response — Divine Pursuit: (after an Attack Action or Spell Action ends, remove 1 of your Healing) gain an additional +1 Attack Action.

Normal Skill — Spell — Seal of Order: (draw 2 cards [forced]) you gain +1 Healing and +1 Crystal.

Normal Skill — Passive — Peacewalker [Persistent]: (triggers automatically after activating Einherjar Summons [forced]) [Turn sideways] and convert to Einherjar Form; (whenever you make an active attack①) [Reset] out of Einherjar Form.

Normal Skill — Passive — War God's Radiance: (at the start of your turn, if you are in Einherjar Form) choose one of the following:

• You gain +1 Healing;
• (Remove 2 Star Gems from your team's Score Area) you gain +2 Healing, ignoring your Healing cap.

Ultimate Skill — Response — Einherjar Summons: Crystal ×1. (when an attack hits②) this attack deals an additional +1 damage; (if you additionally discard 1 spell card [reveal]) this attack deals an additional +1 damage.

Advanced

Priest — Category: Holy

The only 4-star Holy character — if you've mastered the traits of the previous three Holy characters, there's basically nothing here you'll find hard to grasp.

Pick-up difficulty: ★★★★

Overview: the Priest is the only 4-star-difficulty Holy character in the game. Every one of her skills looks powerful and useful, but you'll find they're not quite as simple to use as they appear. Water's Divine Power is her teammates' favorite skill; combined with solid spell output and exceptional Healing, the Priest is an unusually powerful, well-rounded Holy character.

Skills:

Normal Skill — Response — Divine Revelation: (at the end of a Special Action) you gain +1 Healing.

Normal Skill — Spell — Divine Blessing: (discard 2 spell cards [reveal]) you gain +2 Healing.

Normal Skill — Spell — Water's Divine Power: (discard 1 water-element card [reveal]) give a card from your hand to the target teammate [forced]; you and they each gain +1 Healing.

Normal Skill — Passive — Holy Protection: your Healing cap +4; each time you use Healing to block damage, you may only use 1 point at a time.

Ultimate Skill — Activation — Sacred Covenant: Crystal ×1. Transfer X of your Healing to a teammate; Healing transferred this way ignores their Healing cap, but their Healing is capped at 4 maximum.

Ultimate Skill — Spell — Sacred Domain: Crystal ×1. Discard 2 cards, then choose one of the following:

• (Remove 1 of your Healing) deal 2 points of spell damage③ to the target character.
• You gain +2 Healing, and the target teammate gains +1 Healing.

Priestess — Category: Chant

Also involves the concepts of Form and indicators — understand the relationship between the two, so you don't misuse them.

Pick-up difficulty: ★★★★

Overview: the Priestess is the only character in the game who can grant a variety of beneficial effects to teammates. As a Chant-category character, she has powerful spell attacks, but is also a well-rounded support who can aid both individual teammates and the team as a whole.

Skills:

Normal Skill — Spell — Radiant Faith: (only in Prayer Form, remove 1 Prayer Rune) discard 2 cards; your team's Score Area gains +1 Gem, and the target teammate gains +1 Healing.

Normal Skill — Spell — Dark Curse: (only in Prayer Form, remove 1 Prayer Rune) deal 2 points of spell damage③ each to the target character and to yourself.

Unique Skill — Spell — Might Blessing: (place Might Blessing in front of the target teammate) a teammate with Might Blessing gains: (after an attack hits②, remove this card) this attack deals an additional +2 damage.

Basic card distribution: 2× Rift Slash, 4× Flame Slash, 6× Ripple Slash. 12 cards total.

Unique Skill — Spell — Swift Blessing: (place Swift Blessing in front of the target teammate) a teammate with Swift Blessing gains: (at the end of a Spell Action or Attack Action, remove this card) gain an additional +1 Attack Action.

Basic card distribution: 2× Rift Slash, 4× Bolt Slash, 5× Gale Slash. 11 cards total.

Ultimate Skill — Activation — Prayer [Persistent]: Gem ×1. [Turn sideways] and convert to Prayer Form. While in this Form, each time you make an active attack, you gain +2 Prayer Rune.

Ultimate Skill — Response — Mana Tide [Once per turn]: Crystal ×1. (after a Spell Action ends) gain an additional +1 Spell Action.

*Prayer Rune is the Priestess's exclusive indicator, with a cap of 3.

Sage — Category: Chant

A character you can only wield well once you fully understand the damage-timeline concept, skill trigger conditions, and the resolution order of multiple spells.

Pick-up difficulty: ★★★★

Overview: players choosing the Sage must first fully understand the damage timeline concept, or they'll run into all kinds of needless disputes. The Sage has only 4 skills, but those 4 skills interact with and affect one another — figuring out how to use them well, and how to combine them for the best effect, takes careful thought and study.

Skills:

Normal Skill — Passive — Codex of Wisdom: your Energy cap +1; (each time you suffer spell damage⑥, if that damage is >3) you gain +2 Gems.

Normal Skill — Response — Spell Rebound: (each time you suffer spell damage⑥, if that damage is exactly 1 point, discard X same-element cards [reveal]) deal (X−1) points of spell damage③ to the target character, and deal yourself X points of spell damage③.

Ultimate Skill — Spell — Codex of Magic: Gem ×1. (discard X different-element cards [reveal]) deal (X−1) points of spell damage③ each to the target character and to yourself.

Ultimate Skill — Spell — Codex of Purity: Gem ×1. (discard X different-element cards [reveal], X>2) designate Y characters, each gaining +2 Healing (Y at most (X−2)), and deal yourself (X−1) points of spell damage③.

Talisman Master — Category: Chant

The first character to use the "place face down" concept — the overall design is not otherwise difficult to grasp.

Pick-up difficulty: ★★★★

Overview: players choosing the Talisman Master will encounter the "place face down" concept for the first time, though it isn't complicated. She has very strong all-around ability — she can help a high-handed teammate filter out dead cards, deal solid damage herself, and unleash a powerful AOE burst once she has Energy — though managing your hand well does take some skill.

Skills:

Normal Skill — Spell — Talisman-Thunderclap: (discard 1 thunder-element card [reveal]) designate 2 characters, dealing each 1 point of spell damage③.

Normal Skill — Spell — Talisman-Windwalk: (discard 1 wind-element card [reveal]) designate 2 characters, each of whom discards 1 card.

Normal Skill — Response — Chant: each time you activate a Talisman, you may place 1 card from your hand face down next to your character as Spirit Power.

Normal Skill — Response — Night Parade of a Hundred Demons: (after an active attack hits②, remove 1 Spirit Power) deal 1 point of spell damage③ to the target character; (if that Spirit Power was a fire-element card, reveal it [reveal]) instead designate 2 characters, dealing 1 point of spell damage③ to every character other than them.

Ultimate Skill — Response — Spirit Collapse: Crystal ×1. (activated together with Talisman-Thunderclap or Night Parade of a Hundred Demons) each instance of damage dealt by that activation of Talisman-Thunderclap or Night Parade of a Hundred Demons this time is increased by +1 [forced].

*Spirit Power is the Talisman Master's exclusive face-down card, with a cap of 2; if Spirit Power is at its cap, Chant cannot be activated.

Crimson Lotus Knight — Category: Blood

Pick-up difficulty: ★★★★

Normal Skill — Response — Crimson Covenant [Once per turn]: (during an active attack①) you gain +1 Healing.

Normal Skill — Passive — Crimson Faith: your Healing can only block damage you deal to yourself; your Healing cap +2.

Normal Skill — Activation — Bloody Prayer: (remove X of your Healing, dealing yourself X points of spell damage③) freely distribute X Healing among any teammates, and you gain +1 Blood Mark.

Normal Skill — Response — Feast of Slaughter: (after an active attack hits②, remove 1 Blood Mark, dealing yourself 4 points of spell damage③) this attack deals an additional +2 damage.

Normal Skill — Passive — Blood Boil [Persistent]: (triggers automatically whenever you suffer damage that causes your team's morale to drop [forced]) [Turn sideways] and convert to Blood Boil Form; while in this Form, suffering damage does not cause your team's morale to drop [forced]. (At the end of your turn, if you are in this Form) [Reset] out of Blood Boil Form [forced], and you gain +2 Healing.

Ultimate Skill — Response — Restraint: Crystal ×1. (only in Blood Boil Form, at the end of an Attack Action or Spell Action) [Reset] out of Blood Boil Form, and gain an additional +1 Attack Action or Spell Action.

Ultimate Skill — Spell — Crimson Cross: Crystal ×1. (remove 1 Blood Mark, discard 2 spell cards [reveal], dealing yourself 4 points of spell damage③) deal 3 points of spell damage③ to the target character.

*Blood Mark is the Crimson Lotus Knight's exclusive indicator, with a cap of 2.

Magic Bow — Category: Illusion

Pick-up difficulty: ★★★★

Normal Skill — Response — Piercing Impact: (before an active attack①, remove 1 fire-element Charge) this attack deals an additional +1 damage, and cannot target an opponent whose hand is at its limit; (if it hits②, remove an additional fire-element Charge) this attack deals an additional +1 damage; (if it misses②) deal the attack's target 3 points of spell damage③. You cannot activate Multi-Shot this turn.

Normal Skill — Spell — Scattering Bolt: (remove 1 thunder-element Charge) deal every opponent 1 point of spell damage③ each; (if you additionally remove X thunder-element Charges) designate one opponent, dealing them an additional +X damage this time.

Normal Skill — Response — Multi-Shot: (at the end of an Attack Action, remove 1 wind-element Charge) treat this as an additional dark-element active attack, though it cannot target the previous target, and this attack's damage is −1. You cannot activate Piercing Impact this turn.

Ultimate Skill — Activation — Charge: Crystal ×1. Discard down to 4 cards, draw X cards [forced], and you may place Y cards from your hand face down next to your character as Charge, where X<5 and Y is at most X. You cannot activate Piercing Impact or Scattering Bolt this turn.

Ultimate Skill — Activation — Evil Eye: Gem ×1. Choose one of the following:

• The target character discards 1 card.
• You draw 3 cards [forced].

Then place 1 card from your hand face down next to your character as Charge, and you gain +1 Crystal.

*Charge is the Magic Bow's exclusive face-down card, with a cap of 8; once at the cap, Charge and Evil Eye may still be used, replacing an equal number of existing face-down cards.

Magic Spear — Category: Illusion

Pick-up difficulty: ★★★★

Normal Skill — Activation — Dark Release [Persistent]: [Turn sideways] and convert to Phantom Form; while in this Form your hand limit is permanently fixed at 5 [Fixed]; you cannot activate Pitch-Black Spear or Overflow this turn; your next active attack deals an additional +2 damage.

Normal Skill — Activation — Phantom Star: (only in Phantom Form, deal yourself 2 points of spell damage③) [Reset] out of Phantom Form; if this did not cause your team's morale to drop, deal 2 points of spell damage③ to the target character.

Normal Skill — Passive — Dark Binding: you can never use spell cards.

Normal Skill — Response — Dark Barrier: (whenever anyone deals damage to you③) choose one of the following:

• Discard X spell cards [reveal].
• Discard X thunder-element cards [reveal].

Normal Skill — Spell — Overflow: (discard 1 spell card or thunder-element card [reveal]) everyone discards 1 card each [reveal]; your own team's characters may choose not to; for each other character who discards a spell or thunder-element card this way, your next active attack this turn deals an additional +1 damage. Gain an additional +1 Attack Action.

Ultimate Skill — Response — Pitch-Black Spear: Crystal ×X. (only in Phantom Form, when an active attack hits an opponent with 1 or 2 cards in hand②) this attack deals an additional +(X+2) damage.

Einherjar Doll — Category: Chant

Pick-up difficulty: ★★★★

Normal Skill — Passive — Mastery of War Runes: at the start of the game, you have 3 War Runes.

Normal Skill — Response — Wrathful Suppression: (when an active attack misses②) flip 1 War Rune; cannot be activated together with Rune Fusion.

Normal Skill — Response — War Rune Strike: (when an active attack hits②, flip 1 War Rune, discard X same-element cards [reveal]) this attack deals an additional +(X−1) damage; (if you are in Surge Form, flip an additional Y War Runes) this attack deals an additional +Y damage.

Normal Skill — Response — Rune Fusion: (when an active attack misses②, flip 1 Magic Rune, discard X different-element cards [reveal]) deal (X−1) points of spell damage③ to the attack's target; (if you are in Surge Form, flip an additional Y Magic Runes) this spell damage is increased by an additional +Y.

Ultimate Skill — Activation — Rune Remodeling: Gem ×1. [Turn sideways], lasting until the end of your turn, during which you are in Surge Form; while in this Form your hand limit +2; draw 2 cards [forced] and freely adjust your War Runes and Magic Runes; [Reset] upon leaving Surge Form.

Ultimate Skill — Response — Double Echo [Once per turn]: Crystal ×1. (triggers whenever you deal damage to a target character③) deal a different target character X points of spell damage③, where X equals this instance of damage but is capped at 3; Double Echo's damage does not cause morale loss.

*War Rune and Magic Rune are the Einherjar Doll's exclusive, mutually-flipping indicators, with a combined cap of 3.

Azure Flame Witch — Category: Blood

Pick-up difficulty: ★★★★

Normal Skill — Spell — Azure Flame Codex: (discard 1 fire-element card [reveal]) deal 2 points of spell damage③ each to the target character and to yourself.

Normal Skill — Spell — Heaven's Fire Cleaving the Void: (discard 2 fire-element cards [reveal], remove 1 Rebirth) deal 3 points of spell damage③ each to the target character and to yourself; (if your team's morale is lower than the opponent's) each instance of this spell damage is increased by an additional +1 [forced].

Normal Skill — Activation — Witch's Wrath: (when your hand is fewer than 4 cards) [Turn sideways], draw X cards [forced] (X at most 2, at least 0), lasting until the start of your next action phase, during which you are in Blazing Form. While in this Form, all your attack cards other than water- and dark-element ones count as fire-element [forced]; activating Heaven's Fire Cleaving the Void does not require removing a Rebirth; your hand limit +(Y−2), where Y is your number of Rebirth; [Reset] upon leaving Blazing Form.

Normal Skill — Response — Stand-in Doll: (whenever anyone deals attack damage to you③, discard 1 spell card [reveal]) the target teammate draws 1 card [forced].

Normal Skill — Passive — Eternal Silver Hourglass: (whenever you suffer spell damage that causes your team's morale to drop) you gain +1 Rebirth.

Ultimate Skill — Spell — Chain of Pain: Crystal ×1. Deal 1 point of spell damage③ each to the target opponent and to yourself, then discard down to 3 cards.

Ultimate Skill — Response — Mana Reversal: Crystal ×1. (whenever anyone deals spell damage to you③, discard X spell cards [reveal], X>1) deal (X−1) points of spell damage③ to the target opponent.

*Rebirth is the Azure Flame Witch's exclusive indicator, with a cap of 4.

Proficient

Sword Emperor — Category: Technique

A character with face-down cards and indicators alike — technique-category, with skills that appear somewhat complex; you need to understand the relationships between them.

Pick-up difficulty: ★★★★☆

Skills:

Normal Skill — Passive — Sword Soul Guardianship: (when an active attack misses②) place the attack card just played face down next to your character as a Sword Soul. If your current Energy is odd, all your Sword Souls count as Angelic Soul; if even, they count as Demonic Soul; if you have no Energy, they count as neither.

Normal Skill — Passive — Feint: (when an active attack misses②) you gain +1 Sword Qi.

Normal Skill — Response — Sword Qi Slash: (after an active attack hits②, remove X Sword Qi, X at most 3, at least 1) deal X points of spell damage③ to a character other than the attack's target.

Normal Skill — Response — Angelic Soul: (before an active attack①, remove 1 Angelic Soul) if it hits②, you gain +2 Healing; if it misses②, your team's morale +1; cannot be activated together with Sword Soul Guardianship.

Normal Skill — Response — Demonic Soul: (before an active attack①, remove 1 Demonic Soul) this attack deals an additional +1 damage; if it misses②, you gain +2 Sword Qi; cannot be activated together with Sword Soul Guardianship.

Ultimate Skill — Response — Unyielding Will: Crystal ×1. (at the end of an Attack Action) draw 1 card [forced], gain +1 Sword Qi, and gain an additional +1 Attack Action.

*Sword Soul is the Sword Emperor's exclusive face-down card, with a cap of 3; if Sword Soul is at its cap, Sword Soul Guardianship cannot be activated.

*Sword Qi is the Sword Emperor's exclusive indicator, with a cap of 5.

Brawler — Category: Technique

Like the Sword Emperor, only a full understanding of how each skill relates to the others lets you get the most out of this character.

Pick-up difficulty: ★★★★☆

Skills:

Normal Skill — Passive — Aura Field: any single instance of damage dealt to you is capped at 4③.

Normal Skill — Response — Charged Strike: (before an active attack①, +1 Fighting Spirit) this attack deals an additional +1 damage; if it misses②, deal yourself X points of spell damage③, where X is your current Fighting Spirit.

Normal Skill — Response — Mind Bullet: (at the end of a Spell Action, +1 Fighting Spirit) deal the target opponent 1 point of spell damage③; if that opponent had 0 Healing before this activated, deal yourself X points of spell damage③, where X is your current Fighting Spirit.

Normal Skill — Activation — Hundred Phantom Dragon Fist [Persistent]: (remove 3 Fighting Spirit) [Turn sideways]; all your active attacks deal an additional +2 damage, and all your counter-attacks deal an additional +1 damage; during your next action phase, you cannot perform a Spell Action or Special Action, your active attacks must all target the same character, and you cannot activate Charged Strike; if you fail to do so, Hundred Phantom Dragon Fist's effect is canceled and you [Reset].

Normal Skill — Response — Spirit-Ending Blow: (before an active attack①, remove 1 Fighting Spirit) this attack cannot be countered; after the attack, deal yourself X points of spell damage③, where X is your current Fighting Spirit; cannot be activated together with Charged Strike.

Ultimate Skill — Activation — Fighting God's Drive: Crystal ×1. Discard down to 3 cards, and gain +2 Healing.

*Fighting Spirit is the Brawler's exclusive indicator, with a cap of 6; if Fighting Spirit is at its cap, Charged Strike and Mind Bullet cannot be activated.

Brave — Category: Blood

The first character to use two kinds of indicator — the only things you really need to understand are Forbidden Power and Exhaustion; once you've mastered those, the Brave really isn't as hard to use as he looks.

Pick-up difficulty: ★★★★☆

Skills:

Normal Skill — Passive — Brave's Heart: at the start of the game, you gain +2 Crystal.

Normal Skill — Response — Roar: (before an active attack①, remove 1 Wrath) this attack deals an additional +2 damage; if it misses②, you gain +1 Wisdom.

Exclusive Skill — Spell — Provoke: (remove 1 Wrath) place Provoke in front of the target opponent, and you gain +1 Wisdom.

Normal Skill — Passive — Exhaustion: (triggers automatically after activating Forbidden Power [forced]) [Turn sideways] and gain an additional +1 Attack Action; lasting until the start of your next action phase, during which your hand limit is permanently fixed at 4 [Fixed]. [Reset] when Exhaustion's effect ends, and deal yourself 3 points of spell damage③.

Normal Skill — Response — Mirror Calm: (before an active attack①, remove 4 Wisdom) this attack cannot be countered.

Ultimate Skill — Response — Forbidden Power: Crystal ×1. (after an active attack hits② or misses②) discard your entire hand [reveal]. For each spell card among them, you gain +1 Wrath; if it missed②, for each water-element card among them, you gain +1 Wisdom; if it hit②, for each fire-element card among them, this attack deals an additional +1 damage, and you deal yourself spell damage③ equal to the number of fire-element cards.

Ultimate Skill — Response — Death Match: Gem ×1. (triggers whenever you suffer spell damage⑥) you gain +3 Wrath.

Exclusive card: Provoke

Passive — Provoke: (a character holding this card gains, triggered during their action phase, if they do not actively attack the Brave) skip this action phase; this card is removed once triggered.

*Wrath and Wisdom are the Brave's exclusive indicators, each with a cap of 4. Provoke is an exclusive card, with a cap of 1.

Soul Sorcerer — Category: Illusion

Also uses two kinds of indicator — fully understanding the relationship between them is the key to mastering this character.

Pick-up difficulty: ★★★★☆

Skills:

Normal Skill — Passive — Soul Devour: (for each point your team's morale drops) you gain +1 Yellow Soul.

Normal Skill — Spell — Soul Recall: (discard X spell cards [reveal]) you gain +(X+1) Blue Soul.

Normal Skill — Response — Soul Exchange: (each time you make an active attack①) you may convert the color of 1 of your Souls.

Normal Skill — Spell — Soul Mirror: (remove 2 Yellow Soul) you discard 3 cards, and the target character draws 3 cards [forced], up to their hand limit.

Exclusive Skill — Activation — Soul Link: (remove 1 Yellow Soul and 1 Blue Soul) place Soul Link in front of the target teammate.

Unique Skill — Spell — Soul Blast: (remove 3 Yellow Soul) deal 3 points of spell damage③ to the target character; if their hand is fewer than 3 cards and their hand limit is greater than 5, this damage is increased by an additional +2.

Basic card distribution: 2× Rift Slash, 5× Flame Slash, 5× Bolt Slash, 2× Ripple Slash. 14 cards total.

Unique Skill — Spell — Soul Gift: (remove 3 Blue Soul) the target character gains +2 Gems.

Basic card distribution: 2× Rift Slash, 4× Gale Slash, 2× Ripple Slash. 8 cards total.

Ultimate Skill — Activation — Soul Amplification: Gem ×1. You gain +2 Yellow Soul and +2 Blue Soul.

Exclusive card: Soul Link

Response — Soul Link: (while Soul Link is in play, whenever damage is about to be suffered by either the holder of Soul Link or the Soul Sorcerer⑥, the Soul Sorcerer removes X Blue Soul) transfer X points of that damage to the other person; the transferred damage is spell damage⑥.

*Yellow Soul and Blue Soul are the Soul Sorcerer's exclusive indicators, each with a cap of 6. Soul Link is an exclusive card, with a cap of 1.

Bard — Category: Illusion

Pick-up difficulty: ★★★★☆

Normal Skill — Response — Sinking Concerto [Once per turn]: (within one turn, after our side has dealt spell damage③ to at least 2 opponents and it has fully resolved, discard 2 same-element cards [reveal]) deal 1 point of spell damage③ to the target opponent.

Normal Skill — Spell — Discordant Chord: (remove X Inspiration, X>1) choose one of the following:

• You and the target character each draw (X−1) cards [forced].
• You and the target character each discard X cards.

Normal Skill — Passive — Gift of Song: at the start of the game you hold Eternal Hymn; each time Eternal Hymn is triggered, you gain +1 Inspiration; the Bard does not trigger Eternal Hymn's own effect.

Normal Skill — Response — Prelude of Storm: (before your turn begins, remove 1 Inspiration) this turn, ignore your own Gift of Song.

Exclusive Skill — Response — Rhapsody Unbound: (a character holding this card gains, at the start of their turn, by removing 2 Star Gems from our team's Score Area, or by transferring Eternal Hymn to the Bard) choose one of the following:

• Designate 2 opponents, dealing each 1 point of spell damage③;
• Discard 2 cards.

Exclusive Skill — Response — Symphony of Victory: (a character holding this card gains, at the end of their turn, by dealing the Bard 3 points of spell damage③, or by transferring Eternal Hymn to the Bard) choose one of the following:

• Refine 1 Star Gem from our team's Score Area into your own Energy;
• Our team's Score Area gains +1 Gem, and you gain +1 Healing.

Ultimate Skill — Activation — Fugue of Hope: Gem ×1. Transfer Eternal Hymn to in front of one of our characters.

*Inspiration is the Bard's exclusive indicator, with a cap of 4. Eternal Hymn is an exclusive card, with a cap of 1.

Complex

Blood Maiden — Category: Blood

The Blood Maiden's Form-changing concept is relatively complex — you need a full understanding of the relationship between her Forms and her various skills, or you'll easily misuse them.

Pick-up difficulty: ★★★★★

Skills:

Exclusive Skill — Spell — Live or Die Together: (draw 2 cards [forced]) place Live or Die Together in front of the target character.

Normal Skill — Activation — Blood's Sorrow: (deal yourself 2 points of spell damage③) choose one of the following:

• Transfer Live or Die Together's target.
• Remove Live or Die Together.

Normal Skill — Passive — Bleeding [Persistent]: (only in Normal Form, triggers automatically whenever you suffer damage that causes your team's morale to drop [forced]) [Turn sideways] and convert to Bleeding Form, and you gain +1 Healing. While in this Form, at the start of each of your turns, deal yourself 1 point of spell damage③. (Triggers automatically when your hand is fewer than 3 cards [forced]) [Reset] out of Bleeding Form.

Normal Skill — Spell — Backflow: (only in Bleeding Form) you discard 2 cards, and gain +1 Healing.

Unique Skill — Spell — Blood's Wail: (only in Bleeding Form) deal X points of spell damage③ each to the target character and to yourself (X at most 3, at least 1).

Basic card distribution: 5× Rift Slash, 4× Flame Slash, 4× Bolt Slash, 4× Gale Slash, 4× Ripple Slash. 21 cards total.

Ultimate Skill — Spell — Blood Curse: Gem ×1. Deal 2 points of spell damage③ to the target character, and you discard 3 cards.

Exclusive card: Live or Die Together

Passive — Live or Die Together: (a character holding this card gains)

While the Blood Maiden is in Normal Form, both your hand limits are −2.

While the Blood Maiden is in Bleeding Form, both your hand limits are +1.

*Live or Die Together is an exclusive card, with a cap of 1.

Butterfly Dancer — Category: Chant

The Butterfly Dancer's only real difficulty lies in understanding the damage timeline — without a thorough grasp of what each of her skills means, disagreements will easily arise during play.

Pick-up difficulty: ★★★★★

Skills:

Normal Skill — Passive — Flame of Life: your hand limit −X, where X is your number of Cocoons; your hand limit is never lower than 3 [Fixed].

Normal Skill — Spell — Dance: (draw 1 card [forced] or discard 1 card [forced]) place the top card of the deck face down next to your character as a Cocoon.

Normal Skill — Response — Poison Powder: (whenever a character causes 1 point of actual spell damage⑤, remove 1 Cocoon) this instance of damage is increased by an additional +1.

Normal Skill — Response — Pilgrimage: (whenever you are about to suffer damage⑥, remove 1 Cocoon) block 1 point of that damage.

Normal Skill — Response — Mirror Flower, Water Moon: (whenever a character causes 2 points of actual spell damage⑤, remove 2 same-element Cocoons in turn [reveal]) block this instance of damage, and deal the damage's target 2 separate instances of 1-point spell damage③ each.

Normal Skill — Response — Withering: (each time you remove a Cocoon, if it is a spell card, reveal it [reveal]) deal the target character 1 point of spell damage③, then deal yourself 2 points of spell damage③; once this skill activates, the opposing team's morale cannot drop below 1 until the start of your next turn [forced].

Ultimate Skill — Spell — Cocooning: Gem ×1. You gain +1 Chrysalis, and place the top 4 cards of the deck face down next to your character as Cocoons.

Ultimate Skill — Spell — Inverted Butterfly: Crystal ×1. You discard 2 cards, then choose one of the following:

• Deal 1 point of spell damage③ to the target character; this damage cannot be blocked by Healing.
• (Remove 2 Cocoons, or deal yourself 4 points of spell damage③) remove 1 Chrysalis.

*Cocoon is the Butterfly Dancer's exclusive face-down card, with a cap of 8; once at the cap, Dance and Cocooning can still be used to replace existing Cocoons.

*Chrysalis is the Butterfly Dancer's exclusive indicator, with no cap.

Other Characters

These characters are official Sp (special) cards that may be substituted into the game at your discretion.

Sp Magic Bow

Normal Skill — Passive — Divine Gale Arrow: your wind-element attacks cannot be countered.

Normal Skill — Response — Gale Pursuit Shot: (when an active attack misses②, discard 1 spell card [reveal]) deal 2 points of spell damage③ to the attack's target.

Bow-God Candidate: may use the Goddess of the Bow's Unique Skills.

Unique Skill — Spell — Flash Trap: deal 2 points of spell damage③ to the target character.

Basic card distribution: 4× Flame Slash, 4× Ripple Slash. 8 cards total.

Unique Skill — Response — Precision Shot: this attack is a forced hit, but this attack's damage is −1.

Basic card distribution: 5× Rift Slash, 4× Bolt Slash, 5× Gale Slash. 14 cards total.

Ultimate Skill — Spell — Snipe: Crystal ×1. The target character's hand is directly refilled to 5 cards [forced], and you gain an additional +1 Attack Action.

Sp Magical Girl

Normal Skill — Spell — Magic Burst: (discard 1 spell card [reveal]) our team's Score Area gains +1 Gem. The target opponent discards 1 spell card [reveal]; if they do not, deal them 2 points of spell damage③.

Normal Skill — Response — Bullet Mastery: when you actively use a Magic Bullet, you may choose to pass it in reverse order.

Normal Skill — Response — Bullet Fusion: your earth- or fire-element cards may be used as a Magic Bullet.

Normal Skill — Response — Mana Shield: (whenever anyone deals damage to you③) discard X spell cards [reveal].

Ultimate Skill — Spell — Storm of Destruction: Gem ×1. Designate 2 opponents, dealing each 2 points of spell damage③.

3rd Edition Errata-Revised Characters

These character cards were released officially as part of the 3rd edition errata, and may be substituted into the game at your discretion.

Sword Mage — Category: Illusion

Normal Skill — Response — Asura's Chain Slash [Once per turn]: (at the end of an Attack Action) gain an additional +1 fire-element Attack Action.

Normal Skill — Activation — Shadow Convergence: (deal yourself 1 point of spell damage③) [Turn sideways], lasting until the start of your next action phase, during which you are in Shadow Form; while in this Form, all attacks you make deal an additional +1 damage. [Reset] upon leaving Shadow Form.

Normal Skill — Passive — Shadow Resistance: you can never use spell cards during your own action phase.

Normal Skill — Spell — Shadow Meteor: (only in Shadow Form, discard 2 spell cards [reveal]) deal 2 points of spell damage③ to the target character.

Ultimate Skill — Response — Yellow Springs Tremor [Once per turn]: Gem ×1. (before an active attack①) this attack cannot be countered; if it hits②, adjust your hand to 4 cards [forced].

Magical Girl — Category: Chant

Normal Skill — Spell — Magic Burst: (discard 1 spell card [reveal]) designate 2 opponents, each of whom discards 1 spell card [reveal]; if either fails to do so, deal them 2 points of spell damage③. As long as at least one opponent fails to do so, your team's Score Area gains +1 Gem, and you discard 1 card.

Normal Skill — Response — Bullet Mastery: when you actively use a Magic Bullet, you may choose to pass it in reverse order.

Normal Skill — Response — Bullet Fusion: your earth- or fire-element cards may be used as a Magic Bullet.

Ultimate Skill — Spell — Storm of Destruction: Gem ×1. Designate 2 opponents, dealing each 2 points of spell damage③.