Combat

Overview
Each map on has an uneven number of points (crystals), three for early maps and five for later ones. The objective of combat is to control more of these points than your opponent when the timer runs out.

Squad Limitations
Each player's army has a number of squads (dependent on the map size) which are comprised of one hero and generally several troops, which move around the battlefield capturing points and fighting enemy squads. The attackers' squads are controlled in real time by the attacker, and the defenders' squads move along paths laid out beforehand by the defender.

Threat Ranges and Aggro
If a squad moves within the threat range of an enemy squad (the large white circle visible in the planning screen), the enemy squad will move towards the squad that entered its range and attempt to attack it. If those squads get within a very close range of each other, they will aggro, moving towards each other at a very fast pace and fighting until one squad is completely wiped out. The exception is archers, who will fire arrows at units in their threat range rather than attacking.

Fighting
Units in range of each other deal their damage to the health of whatever enemy unit is closest to them. With some exceptions, if a unit has armour, it will reduce the the damage that it receives by its armour amount. Most units only deal melee damage. Archers and certain heroes can attack enemy units from a distance, and will do so automatically to any enemy units within their threat range.

Certain effects will knock units down or freeze them, rendering them unable attack or move until that effect has worn off.

Winning and Losing
A squad that moves onto a point will claim that point for that squad's team. If that point is occupied by an enemy squad, the enemy squad must be eliminated before the point can change control.

Attacking
If an outpost is controlled by an enemy player, you may tap on it to bring up the option to attack it. Attacking costs a small amount of gold, but always rewards you with much more resources if you win.

Turtles and Squad Amounts
Each map has a set size, which determines how many squads each player will have. Even if a player has unlocked more than the maximum turtles for a particular map, both players will have the set amount of squads allowed for that map. For example, both players will always have three squads on Vindil. In the camp, each turtle can be outfitted with a hero, and any troops that that hero has been trained to work with.

At the beginning of the battle, the turtles will remain on the beach for a short period of time, firing high damage projectiles at enemy units that enter their area.

Movement and Selection
You can tap and drag on squads to move them around the battlefield, and send them to capture points. Dragging away from a squad will draw an arrow on the map, which that squad will follow until it reaches the end. If the squad encounters an enemy squad, it will engage with it until one of them is dead. If it emerges victorious, it will continue along its path towards the waypoint you have set. You can change the squad's waypoint during combat, but it will not follow it until the combat is finished.

If multiple attacking squads are overlapping in the same area, releasing and tapping again on their overlapping area will cycle between them, and the colour of the arrow will indicate which squad you have selected.

Active Hero Skills
Certain heroes give you access to special activated abilities, which are activated by dragging from that hero onto either a friendly squad or an enemy squad, depending on the type of ability. For example, dragging from Ozzy onto another friendly squad will teleport Ozzy to that squad, while dragging from Pepper onto an enemy squad will cause her to shoot her fireball at that squad.

Defending
When you have successfully attacked and defeated an outpost, you may set up a defense plan that other players will have to defeat to take the outpost from you. Defense plans allow you to change the position and timing of your squads' movements and special abilities.

Hero and Squad Selection
Tapping on the shining circles in the defense screen will bring up the same interface used to select heroes on turtles, which is used the same way. You can choose a hero to defend, along with the troops that hero will bring with them. You don't have to use all of the circles that the map has, but you will have less squads than your opponent if you don't. Once a squad has been set up, you can tap on that squad again to change its hero and troops.

Movement and Timing
A squad's starting position can be moved in the same way it is during attacks, by tapping on the squad and dragging them to a new position.

If you tap and drag on a squad's banner to change its position, the banner will draw a path on the map showing where that squad will move during the battle. If the path is long enough, you can move the flag in the middle of the path to set a change of direction in the middle of that squad's movement. Tapping on a squad's banner once it has been placed will allow you to change the time that the squad will move.

Active Hero Skills
Heroes' special abilities work very similarly. Certain heroes have triggered abilities, which can be changed by moving the trigger zone to wherever you want on the map, allowing them to be activated by any squad that walks into their trigger zone. For example, Iriel's falcon can be placed in a zone that, when entered by an enemy, will cause her to teleport to that spot and engage the enemy squad. Other heroes have timed abilities, which can be dragged around, and tapped on to set a timer. If Pepper's fireball timer is set to 35 seconds, the fireball will drop on the set location at 35 seconds.