Every rule of the game the referee knows so far, written as a sentence. Each one is checked by a test after every change. A tick means the rule holds right now.
✓ 390 of 390 rules hold
Actions
What you may do, and what the referee refuses.
✓Defending finishes the hero for the turn
✓A potion heals 10 plus 3 per level, never above full health
✓A potion is refused with none left or at full health
✓Undo puts a hero back where it stood and lets it move again
✓Undo is refused when someone now stands on the old tile
✓A hero who reaches the throne wins: every enemy flees
✓Resurrection brings back the hero who fell last, beside the healer, with 40% health
✓Tapping a monster in reach attacks it from where the hero stands
✓Tapping a monster out of reach walks to the nearest tile that can hit it
✓Tapping a monster too far to reach this turn gives no plan
✓A boss below half health is shown as enraged
✓The forecast of an area skill names everyone else caught in the blast
✓A new practice hero carries 3 potions
✓A hero killed by poison joins the fallen and can be revived
✓A class ability cannot be used again while it is on cooldown
✓Deadeye Focus only works before the Sniper moves
✓A tile-aimed ability needs open, reachable tiles in range
✓A hero can change any number of its skills, and its ultimate, in one go
✓Skills can be changed only once per floor
✓A skill kept on the bar keeps its cooldown; a skill brought in starts ready
✓Only learned skills can be brought: 1 to 4 normal skills, and an ultimate only in the ultimate slot
✓Every skill a hero knows tells the screen its range, power, cooldown and level
✓A climb starts on floor 1 with all ten heroes at Lv 1 and 5 hero slots, looking at the map
✓Choosing a team needs one different hero for every slot
✓Heroes start only on blue tiles; placing on another hero's tile swaps the two
✓Fighting waits until the battle starts; gear can be changed before
✓Winning the highest floor opens the next; only the heroes who fought gain XP
✓A defeat keeps what was earned and the floor is fought again
✓The shop comes up before every 7th floor, then that floor is fought
✓Buying costs an item's price; selling pays half
✓Two copies of the same item combine into one a rarity higher
✓The floor list travels to any floor reached; opened chests stay opened
✓Each of floors 25, 50 and 75 reached adds a hero slot, up to 8
✓Reaching every 100th floor gives a free legendary
✓A hero with an ascension can change it once per floor; the ultimate changes with it
✓A floor's monster level is set on the first visit and kept
✓The team picker shows each hero's numbers, what it can use and its class ability
✓Gear changed before the battle starts doesn't use up the hero's turn
✓The shop lists which bag items can be combined, two copies at a time
✓Aiming a skill asks for one pick at a time, and nothing more once it is aimed
✓The gear sheet compares each bag item with what the hero wears, and says when it can't be worn
✓The forecast shows the target's counterattack
✓The forecast says why there is no counterattack
✓The forecast says when a hero attacks from high ground
✓A move out of reach is refused and changes nothing
✓A hero moves once per turn
✓An attack on a target out of range is refused
✓After attacking, a hero is finished for the turn
✓Ending the turn lets every monster act, then a new turn starts
✓Nothing can be done after the battle is over
✓A versus map is the climb's biggest size
✓At the start neither player can see the other's heroes across the map
✓An enemy within 6 steps of one of your heroes is seen; one 7 steps away is not
✓The screen is told which tiles a player sees, to shade the rest
✓You can't attack a unit you can't see
✓Events about enemies a player can't see are left out of what that player is shown
✓A player's save has no enemies they can't see, so it can't be used to peek
✓When the match is over the fog lifts and both players see the whole board
✓A move that uncovers an enemy in the fog can't be undone
✓A move that uncovers nothing can still be undone
✓A player never sees the other player's traps, and sees their fire and banners only in sight
✓An enemy walking out of the fog is only shown from where it came into sight
✓Watchers see everything
✓Single player has no fog of war
✓Putting on an item from the bag works out the hero's numbers again and puts what it replaced in the bag
✓Putting on gear in battle uses up the hero's turn
✓A hero can't put on an item its class can't use
✓When every weapon slot is full, the player must choose which weapon to replace
✓Taking an item off puts it in the bag and works out the hero's numbers again
✓Dropping an item throws it away for good
✓A skill used with the wrong weapon in hand switches to the first weapon set it works with
✓Choosing a weapon set the skill can't be used with is refused
✓The aim strip can ask for targets and a forecast with each weapon set; a set the skill can't use has none
✓The screen's rules guide lists every kind of ground, the element wheel and the weapon triangle
✓Every practice fight can be played to the end without a hitch
✓A climb replayed from its seeds and its list of actions comes out identical
✓A saved battle resumes exactly where it was, mid-fight; only the dice are fresh
✓A climb saved between battles keeps the run: floors, roster, gold and bag
✓Saves carry a version stamp; something else, or a save from a newer game, is refused in plain words
✓Every new skill can be used by heroes and monsters in full fights without a hitch
✓A monster's danger zone is where it could walk next turn, even after it has moved
✓A snared monster's danger zone is only its own tile
✓A monster's red zone is every tile it could hit from anywhere it could walk
✓A hero's red tiles are where its ready attacks reach from where it stands
✓Epic armor from a save made before epic sets joins the epic set of its weight when loaded
✓Whole versus matches play out without a hitch and end in a win, a loss or a time out
✓A versus match replayed from its seeds and its list of actions comes out identical
✓In versus, both players' heroes can use every skill and class ability without a hitch
✓A versus match starts with 8 heroes each at Lv 30, with their ascension's ultimate and purple gear
✓A class always wears the same purple set, and wearing it makes the hero stronger
✓A versus team must be 8 different classes, each with one of its own ascensions
✓Players take turns: after the first player ends their turn, only the second player's heroes can act
✓The second player's heroes have their class abilities, like the first player's
✓A player's fallen heroes go to their own side, for their own healers to revive
✓Versus gives no experience, gold or loot
✓A player with no heroes left loses the match
✓There is no per-turn limit: a long think does not end the turn
✓Running out of your total time loses the match, and the action is not done
✓The screen is shown whose turn it is, both clocks, and the winner
✓A player who gives up loses at once, and the other player wins
✓Time can't run backwards
✓The versus picker is told the team size, level, clocks and every class's three ascensions in words
✓In versus each player has their own bag: Red can't wear or throw away what Blue took off
✓A player's own bag still works: Red takes off a helm and puts it back on
✓In versus, Grave Bloom raises the other player's fallen heroes, never your own
✓While Grave Bloom lasts, an enemy hero who falls rises for the Necromancer's side
✓A raised monster is built the same for Blue and for Red
Movement
Who can walk where.
✓A unit cannot walk through water
✓A flying unit crosses water and mountains
✓Move 4 crosses 4 plains tiles but not 5
✓A road tile costs half a move point
✓Forest costs 2 move points, and 3 for a mounted Knight
✓Allies can be walked through but not stopped on
✓Enemies block the way
✓A unit that moved, or is snared, locked or shocked, cannot move
✓Where the map has no letter, low ground is water
✓A walking route starts where the unit stands and ends at the goal
✓Climbing onto a hill costs 1 more move
✓Rangers and Knights climb hills at no extra cost
Hitting and damage
Hit chance, damage, statuses from hits.
✓A class ability grows at levels 5 and 20, and each ascension has its own
✓Using an ability starts its cooldown but does not end the hero's turn
✓Double Strike makes the next skill hit twice, then wears off
✓A Guardian takes a hit aimed at an ally next to it, for 70% of the damage
✓Shadow Clones are two decoys with 30% of the Phantom's health that monsters go for first
✓Hidden traps root, poison and mark the monster that stops on them
✓A Duelist strikes back when hit in melee
✓A Juggernaut cannot be stunned, snared or broken
✓A skeleton raised for the heroes stays a Skeleton, with a monster's moves
✓Defeating a companion spirit bonds it to the hero; a hero that has one chooses which to keep
✓A companion spirit starts the fight beside its hero, and once it dies it is gone for good
✓Damage is attack times power minus defense, at the middle damage roll
✓A hit can never do less than 1 damage
✓Magic only faces half of the target's defense
✓Defending halves the damage taken
✓Standing in a forest cuts damage taken by 15%
✓Fire beats ice: 50% more damage, and ice resists fire hits back
✓Sword beats lance: more damage and 15 more hit chance
✓Bosses under half HP hit 30% harder
✓A hero's skill reaches level 2 after 8 uses and hits 5% harder
✓Heals, buffs and revives never miss
✓Hit chance is 95% for a hero's melee attack and 90% for a monster's
✓A miss uses one roll and a hit uses two
✓Shields soak damage before HP
✓A unit brought to 0 HP leaves the board
✓A skill's status lands on a surviving target and keeps the longer duration
✓Lightning always shocks the target
✓The forecast uses the same math as the real hit
✓Halves round up, like the old game
✓A unit that survives a hit strikes back once with a full Strike
✓A Duelist ripostes instead of striking back with a counter
✓Heroes strike back at monsters too
✓A unit defeated by the hit cannot strike back
✓A melee unit cannot strike back at an attacker out of its reach
✓A ranged unit strikes back at range
✓Stunned, frozen, rooted and cloaked units cannot strike back
✓Area skills, ultimates, heals and buffs are never struck back at
✓A counterattack is never struck back at
✓Strike reaches 1 tile with a melee weapon and 2-6 tiles with a bow, gun, staff or wand
✓Strike with a staff or wand in hand is magic: it ignores half of the target's defense
✓Weapon rank changes damage and hit chance: rank S hits 20% harder and 15% more often
✓Gear's damage bonus raises damage, and damage reduction gear lowers it, at most by half
✓Evade gear lowers the attacker's hit chance; hit gear raises it
✓Crit chance from gear can make a hit critical, and crit damage gear makes it hit harder
✓Life steal heals the attacker for its share of the damage
✓Thorns hurt the attacker for a share of its damage, but never kill it
✓Added fire damage hits once more for its share, as fire
✓Gear can bleed, poison or stun on hit
✓Strike twice: gear can hit the main target once more for 60%
✓Cooldown reduction gear shortens a skill's cooldown, never below 1 turn
✓A staff or wand in hand adds half its attack to heals, and healing gear heals more
✓A unit in a forest is told it takes 15% less damage there
✓A unit in a fort is told how much it heals each turn
✓A unit on a hill is told it has high ground
✓Plain ground does nothing, so it says nothing
✓Attacking from a hill onto lower ground hits harder and surer
✓Attacking uphill is less sure
✓Two units on hills fight as on flat ground
✓Warrior set of 4: a kill resets the class ability's cooldown
✓Tank set of 4: counterattacks deal 50% more damage
✓Knight set of 4: the first hit taken each battle does nothing
✓Dragon Knight set of 4: breath and dive skills hit 1 tile wider
✓Ranger set of 4: 20% more damage to targets 4 or more tiles away
✓Gunslinger set of 4: a crit takes 1 turn off every cooldown
✓Assassin set of 4: the first attack each battle always crits
✓Mage set of 4: area spells are 1 tile wider, other skills are not
✓Healer set of 4: a heal also removes one bad status
✓Witch set of 4: curses and poisons also spread to one enemy next to the target
✓Contagion can't burn a Dragon Knight with Wyrm's Hide, but still burns the others
✓Battle Rhythm: each hit landed this turn adds 8% damage, up to 3 hits, and resets next turn
✓Unbowed: below 30% HP the hero takes 25% less damage
✓Bulwark Aura: allies next to the Tank take 15% less damage, the Tank itself does not
✓Retaliate: a hit can stun the attacker through its next turn
✓Charge: each tile moved this turn adds 5% damage, up to 30%
✓Dragonblood: 15% of a hit is added as fire, and the hit burns for 2 turns
✓Wyrm's Hide: the Dragon Knight can't be burned or frozen
✓Eagle Eye: ranged skills reach 1 tile further, melee ones do not
✓Pinning Shot: a hit can root the target for 1 turn
✓Quick Hands: the first attack each turn does not end the turn, the second does
✓Ricochet: 20% of a hit bounces to the nearest other enemy within 2 tiles
✓Ambush: 30% more damage to an enemy at full HP
✓Shadowstep: a kill cloaks the Assassin until its next turn, without touching the Cloak skill
✓Arcane Echo: a spell can hit its target a second time
✓Overflow: every skill cooldown is 1 turn shorter
✓Sanctuary: a heal also shields the ally for 20% of their max HP
✓Lifeline: once per battle, an ally who would fall stays at 1 HP
✓Hex Mastery: statuses the Witch causes last 1 turn longer
✓Soul Siphon: each status the Witch causes heals her 5% of her max HP
✓Blink teleports the Mage without using up its turn, but it cannot walk afterwards
✓Mana Burn adds a turn to every cooldown the target has
✓Static Field charges the ground: an enemy ending its turn there is shocked
✓Gravity Well pulls enemies within 2 tiles one step toward the center
✓Echo casts the last spell again at 60% power without starting its cooldown
✓Last Light heals 30% and leaves an ally at 1 HP instead of falling
✓A monster healer's Resurrection brings back the monster that fell last
✓Steady Aim gives the next shot 2 more range and a sure hit, without using up the turn
✓Disengage shoots, then leaps 2 tiles away from the target
✓Hunter's Mark makes its target take 20% more damage
✓Concussive Arrow knocks the target 2 tiles back
✓Flaming Volley leaves the ground around the target burning for 2 turns
✓Shadowstep teleports behind the target before stabbing it
✓Garrote silences: a silenced hero can only use Strike
✓Bait and Switch swaps places with any unit within 3 tiles
✓Crippling Cut bleeds the target and takes 2 Move away for 2 turns
✓Open Veins makes bleed and poison hurt right away and doubles their turns
✓Twin Fangs strikes two different enemies next to the Assassin
✓Boot Shot kicks an enemy next to the Gunslinger 2 tiles away
✓Disarming Shot makes the target deal 30% less damage for 2 turns
✓Roll Out rolls to a tile, then shoots from there
✓A Powder Keg blows up at the start of the next enemy turn, hitting everything within 1 tile
✓Lucky Coin makes the next 2 shots critical hits, without using up the turn
✓High Noon hits 10% harder for every enemy in range
✓Trample rides straight through and hits every enemy passed
✓Shield of Faith gives an ally a shield worth 20% of the Knight's max HP
✓Unhorse knocks the target 1 tile back and roots it
✓Lance Wall strikes an enemy that walks up next to the Knight
✓Rescue pulls an ally next to the Knight, and it takes 20% less damage
✓Relentless Charge lets the Knight walk on with the Move it has left
✓Tail Sweep hits every enemy next to the Dragon Knight and shoves each 1 tile away
✓Dragon Scales cut spell damage by 30% and throw back 20% of melee damage
✓Wyrm Roar pushes enemies within 2 tiles away and weakens them
✓Ember Trail flies along a line and sets every tile passed on fire
✓Skewer lances a target 2 tiles away and drags it next to the Dragon Knight
✓Wyrmbond's dragon claws an enemy next to the rider at the end of each turn
✓Voodoo Link passes half of the damage one linked enemy takes to the other
✓Wither halves healing and stops buffs
✓Puppet Strings moves an enemy up to 2 tiles wherever the Witch chooses
✓Soul Siphon heals the Witch for half the damage
✓Contagion copies the target's curses and poison onto enemies within 2 tiles of it
✓Bog of Despair snares and poisons enemies standing in the swamp
✓Shoulder Check shoves the target 2 tiles back
✓A Shoulder Check that slams the target into a wall does 50% more and stuns it
✓Riposte Stance strikes back at an enemy that hits the Warrior in melee
✓Leaping Cleave leaps next to the target, then hits it and every enemy next to the Warrior
✓Sunder strips the target's buffs and shield
✓Battle Trance gives +25% damage and +1 Move, but the Warrior takes 15% more damage
✓A Momentum kill lets the Warrior act once more, once per turn
✓Hook Chain drags the target to the tile next to the Tank
✓Bodyguard makes the Tank take hits aimed at the ally, for 70% of the damage
✓Iron Shell gives the Tank a shield worth 25% of its max HP
✓Taunting Roar taunts every enemy within 3 tiles
✓A taunted unit's attacks can only go at the unit that taunted it
✓Aftershock snares what it hits and leaves half its damage for the next turn's quake
✓Unstoppable hits every enemy in the line and shoves each aside
✓Executioner's gear hits 25% harder against a target below 30% of its max HP
✓Warding gear shrugs off each harmful status 25% of the time
✓Bleed, burn and poison hurt a share of max HP each turn, never less than 3
✓A heavy bleed hurts twice as much
✓Regen heals 12% of max HP each turn; other statuses don't tick
Levels, skills, ascensions and gear
How heroes earn experience, level up, evolve, learn skills and ascend, and what their gear does to their numbers.
✓A new hero's bar is its first four skills, its newest ultimate, Strike, and Cloak for Assassins
✓Levelling up to a skill's level offers it to the hero
✓A new skill goes into an empty slot by itself
✓With four skills equipped, a new skill replaces one of them or waits in the library
✓A cooldown follows its skill when the bar changes
✓At level 30 a hero chooses one of three ascensions, which teaches its ultimate
✓An ascension changes the hero's numbers, element and range
✓Armor, helm, boots and charm add their numbers before the hero's form multiplies them
✓A weapon adds its attack only while its weapon set is in hand
✓After a level-up the hero's attack still counts the weapons in hand
✓Dual wielders hold both weapons in one set, and both add attack
✓Two pieces of an armor set give its two-piece bonus, three pieces the full bonus
✓Gear's % bonuses raise max HP and DEF, and boots with +1 move add move
✓Weapon ranks rise with level: a main weapon is C at Lv 1, B at 8, A at 18 and S at 30
✓A hero can't use a weapon its class doesn't train, or one above its weapon rank
✓A hero can't wear armor heavier than its class allows
✓Skills need the class's own kind of weapon in hand; Strike, heals and buffs work with any
✓An unarmed hero counts as its class's usual weapon in the weapon triangle
✓Only its own class can use a class legendary
✓A class legendary's 4-piece bonus needs the weapon in hand and all 3 pieces of one legendary armor set
✓Two of the same class legendary in hand give its powers once and its other bonuses twice
✓Two pieces of an epic set give its two-piece bonus, three pieces the full bonus
✓Valor gives the Knight 1 more move
✓A hero needs its level times 6 XP to reach the next level
✓Experience earned is halved and rounded, but is never less than 1
✓Levelling up raises a hero's numbers, and the extra max HP is healed too
✓A big gain can level a hero up more than once
✓A hero evolves at level 5 and again at level 20, growing stronger each time
✓A hero at the level cap gains no experience, and reaching the cap empties the bar
✓Kill experience is shared: the killer keeps 60% and the other heroes split 40%
✓Bosses give 4 times and elites 2 times the experience of a normal monster
✓Monsters and summons never gain experience
✓A hit earns experience for its damage, more if it puts statuses on; a heal earns more for bigger heals, up to a limit
Loot and gold
What monsters, chests and bounties drop, how new items are made, and gold from kills.
✓Items roll exactly 1, 2 or 3 bonuses by rarity, and an epic 3 plus its epic bonus
✓Every legendary has 5 bonuses, one more than an epic
✓Every class has its own legendary weapon with 2 unique powers and a 4-piece bonus
✓A legendary weapon drops only for its own class, even when another class shares the weapon type
✓Epic armor belongs to the epic set of its weight
✓A normal monster drops an item 60% of the time, of the floor's rarity band
✓Legendaries only drop once a hero has reached Lv 30; before that a legendary roll gives a purple item
✓A boss drops a legendary 25% of the time, once per floor
✓Loot goes to the hero who made the kill half the time, else to the least geared hero
✓A party hero who has died still counts as the least geared hero for loot
✓Weapons only come in types the hero uses, and no rarer than its weapon rank allows
✓A legendary weapon a hero can't use yet becomes a legendary armor piece or charm
✓An item's bonuses fit its slot, the class and the weapon
✓A gold chest gives a rare item 65% of the time, a purple one 30% and a legendary 5% (purple until a hero is Lv 30)
✓A kill pays gold: 2 plus 0.6 per monster level, 3x for elites and 8x for bosses
✓Purple first drops on floors 21-30, 10% of the time
✓A purple item has one purple bonus, named in front of the item, plus 2 or 3 ordinary bonuses
✓A purple weapon needs weapon rank A: a Lv 17 hero gets a rare one instead
✓Purple charms and armor have their own names
Floors
How each floor of the climb is built: the map, its monsters and their level, bosses, elites, thrones, reinforcements, chests and the blue starting tiles.
✓The same run and floor number always give the same floor
✓Maps start at 14x14 and grow one tile every 4 floors, up to 32x32
✓Every 10th floor has a boss at the top middle; every other 5th floor has an elite
✓Shops don't use up a floor: floors 7 and 14 are fights
✓Throne floors (5, 8, 11...) have a throne to seize at the top middle
✓There is always a walking route from the bottom middle to the top middle
✓A floor has at most one monster healer
✓Bigger teams meet more monsters: one more for each hero above 5
✓Monsters are stronger against a stronger team
✓The blue starting tiles are every open tile of the bottom two rows, more than the heroes
✓Chests opened before stay opened when the team comes back
✓On reinforcement floors up to 2 monsters arrive at the start of the enemy turn on turns 3 and 5
✓The four new bosses guard the boss floors after the old six, in order, then the list repeats
✓Every new elite turns up on elite floors
✓Every new boss and elite has fighting numbers and at least one attack
✓A versus map is mirrored, so neither player gets better ground
✓Each player gets 8 starting tiles on plains at their own end
✓The two ends of a versus map are always joined by a walkable route
Turns
What happens when a turn starts and ends.
✓Regeneration gear heals its share of max HP at the start of each of the hero's turns
✓Lifeline also keeps an ally at 1 HP who would die of poison at the start of their turn, once per battle
✓The new boss Bone Hydra walks up to a hero and attacks on its turn
✓The new boss Fallen Seraph walks up to a hero and attacks on its turn
✓The new boss Brood Matron walks up to a hero and attacks on its turn
✓The new boss Ash Colossus walks up to a hero and attacks on its turn
✓The new elite Crowned Slime walks up to a hero and attacks on its turn
✓The new elite Goblin Captain walks up to a hero and attacks on its turn
✓The new elite Grave Knight walks up to a hero and attacks on its turn
✓The new elite Dire Wolf walks up to a hero and attacks on its turn
✓The new elite Iron Minotaur walks up to a hero and attacks on its turn
✓The new elite Blight Reaper walks up to a hero and attacks on its turn
✓Poison takes 7% of max HP at turn start, never less than 3
✓Burn and bleed each take 6% of max HP at turn start
✓A unit killed by poison leaves the board
✓Standing in a fort heals 10% of max HP at turn start
✓A stunned unit skips its turn
✓Cooldowns count down by one at turn start (a cooldown of 99 never does)
✓Timed statuses count down by one at the end of their side's turn
✓The battle is won when every enemy is gone
Enemy decisions
How monsters choose what to do.
✓A melee monster walks next to the nearest hero
✓A ranged monster stops at range instead of walking up close
✓A snared monster does not move
✓Monsters attack the weakest hero in range
✓A healer heals when an ally is badly hurt
✓Bosses pick any ready skill at random
✓A silenced monster can only use Strike
✓A monster healer brings back a fallen monster before anything else
✓A high-level monster always has Strike to fall back on when its skills are cooling down
✓Below floor 20 monsters attack the weakest hero in reach, as in the old game
✓From floor 20 a monster finishes off a hero it can defeat this turn
✓From floor 20 a monster goes for a healer over a weaker fighter
✓From floor 20 a monster goes for a hero weak to its element
✓Bosses and elites think smarter from floor 10
✓From floor 50 a monster that can't attack avoids ending close to two heroes
Dice
The dice every roll comes from.
✓The same seed always gives the same rolls
✓Different seeds give different rolls
✓Different streams from one seed give different rolls
✓A roll is always at least 0 and below 1
✓A whole-number roll of N gives every value from 0 to N-1 and nothing else
✓The dice generator matches the published PCG32 reference numbers
✓A recorded-dice feed replays the recorded rolls in order
✓Asking a feed for more rolls than the old game made is reported
Data files
The game numbers you can edit.
✓Every data file loads and passes its checks
✓The old game's saved tables load
✓The live data files equal the old game's tables plus the approved changes, and nothing else
✓A data file with a broken number is rejected with a plain message
✓Monsters use the same version of a skill as heroes
✓Every class learns 13 skills at the same levels: 2 normal and an ultimate at Lv 1, a normal every 3 levels, an ultimate at Lv 20
✓Resurrection is a normal skill at Lv 24, and the Healer's Lv 20 ultimate is Last Light
✓A monster fights with its 4 newest normal skills, its newest ultimate and Strike