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Mana is gained through making attacks or when the given character is being attacked and survives. While active abilities cost mana, the passive ones do not.
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Characters either have a passive or an active ability. When a player is knocked out of the game, players that have contributed to their elimination receive gold and/or items.ĭuring the preparation phase, players select from a public pool of over fifty chess pieces based on Dota 2 characters' personas and abilities and place their pieces on the spaces within the four rows on their side of the board. When a player ends another player's win streak by winning their away game against said winning player, they receive extra gold. Winning and losing streaks of five or above gift extra gold. Upon winning a battle, a player is rewarded one gold. On top of the base amount of gold, players receive interest based on which multiple of ten up to forty they currently have in their bank. The income rewarded at the beginning of each round is calculated based on a few different factors. Each round occurs in three phases: income, preparation, and battle. Gameplay proceeds over the course of multiple rounds. These are the first three rounds of the game and every fifth round starting at round 10. Some rounds feature players battling non-player " creeps", rather than one another.
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This is why the Arcade mode of the game and its resulting offshoots are called "auto battlers". The teams compete in an automatically generated battle over which the player has no direct control. Upon the initiation of every round, an enemy team appears on the player's board (home games) and the player's team appears on an enemy's board (away games). Each player controls a character called a courier, which tracks the player's health, gold (also referred to as mana), and experience level. Up to eight players are assigned to their own chessboard upon which their "home" battles are fought. This elimination style game features elements derived from chess and Dota 2.
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