>_ HOW TO PLAY
Everything you need before your first match — movement, commands, targeting, and the concepts that win games on the 4-second scheduler.
Quick Start Guide
─┐Click PRACTICE VS BOTS. One route, verbs unlock as you go, no account required. FIND MATCH is the lobby queue for later — it is not the first walk.
Quick-match assigns you one of 18 operators — Q/W/E from level 1, the ultimate (R) at level 6. Bots fill empty slots after ten seconds. There is no pick/ban screen on this path.
You start in your fountain (the anchor). Type move terminal — always YOUR terminal — then move coldstore-t2-chaff onto the route behind your first ICE. Walking onto T1 on cycle one is how you die.
Waves spawn every 8 cycles. Last-hit them with attack wave:0 to earn 40sc and XP.
You start with 600sc. Return to base and open the SHOP (click it, or press Esc then S). You have 6 inventory slots.
Use abilities on enemies and raze a route to its T3 ICE — that exposes the enemy Terminal. Destroy it to win.
Movement & Navigation
─┐- -The map is divided into zones (fountain, base, routes, silt, crossings)
- -You walk one zone per cycle (4 seconds) — but you can order a move to ANY zone and your hero auto-paths there, cycle by cycle
- -Type move <zone-id> to move (e.g., move rookery-terminal, move coldstore-t3-chaff), or tap any zone on the map
- -Issuing any new action cancels the walk; a new move order redirects it
- -Shortcut: mv is the same as move (e.g., mv coldstore-t2-chaff)
- -Routes: seawall-t1-chaff, coldstore-t2-audit, shallows-t3-chaff (route-tier-team) — top is SEAWALL, mid is COLDSTORE, bot is SHALLOWS
- -Crossings: seawall-cross, coldstore-cross, shallows-cross (the neutral ground between the two sides)
- -Silt: silt-chaff-upper, silt-audit-lower (silt-team-side)
- -Base & Fountain: rookery-terminal, rookery-anchor, landing-terminal, landing-anchor
- -Special: hollow, cache-seawall, cache-shallows
- -Fountain heals 15% INTEG / 15% BW per cycle — retreat there to recover
- -Fountain is only adjacent to your base (must go through base first)
- -You can't move while dead — respawn takes 3 cycles plus 1 per level after level 1
- -Team-relative shortcuts: move terminal / move anchor always go to YOUR side, whichever team you are
- -More aliases save typing: move coldstore (or cs) → coldstore-cross, move hollow → the Tenant pit; unambiguous prefixes work too
Each arrow = 1 cycle (4 seconds). This path takes 5 cycles (20 seconds) to reach mid river from fountain.
Command Reference
─┐| Command | Description | Example | Shortcuts |
|---|---|---|---|
| move <zone> | Walk to any zone — one zone per cycle, auto-pathing until you arrive | move coldstore-t1-chaff | mv |
| attack [target] | Attack a target in your zone. Bare attack auto-hits the nearest enemy hero | attack wave:0 | atk |
| burn [wave:N] | Last-hit your OWN low-INTEG wave to burn the enemy its scrip. Bare burn auto-picks one | burn wave:0 | — |
| cast <q|w|e|r> [target] | Use an ability. Bare `cast q` auto-picks a target; add one to aim it yourself | cast q | q, w, e, r |
| use <item> | Use an active/consumable item. Offensive actives (Burnout, Hex…) auto-hit the nearest enemy | use trauma_patch | — |
| buy <item> | Buy an item (must be in base/fountain) | buy edge_kit | b |
| sell <item> | Sell an item for 50% value | sell scrap_lot | — |
| tap <zone> | Place a camtap or sniffer (current or adjacent zone) | tap coldstore-cross | — |
| grab | Pick up the cache in your zone | grab | — |
| backup | Pick up the Backup in the Tenant pit | backup | — |
| harden | Make your ice invulnerable for 5 cycles (one per team every 20 min) | harden | — |
| chat <team|all> <msg> | Send a chat message | chat team group mid | — |
| ping <zone> | Ping a map zone | ping coldstore-cross | — |
| buyback | Pay scrip to respawn instantly (while dead) | buyback | — |
| surrender confirm | Vote to forfeit (after 15 min; 60% of team must agree) | surrender confirm | — |
| talent <10|15|20|25> <left|right> | Pick a talent — a one-time left/right choice. The tiers unlock at levels 3, 6, 9 and 12 (you still type talent 10|15|20|25) | talent 10 left | — |
| status / map / scan | status prints your line. map and scan open a brief overlay of the ground around you — hops, contacts, and the verbs that hit what is here. Free — costs no cycle | scan | — |
| who / net / look | More readouts: visible contacts with cooldowns (who) / macro state (net) / your zone's units (look). Free — costs no cycle | who | — |
Targeting System
─┐| Format | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| hero:<name> | Target a hero by their hero ID | attack hero:daemon |
| wave:<index> | Target a wave by index (0, 1, 2...) | attack wave:0 |
| neutral:<index> | Target a silt camp wave standing in your zone | attack neutral:0 |
| ice:<zone> | Target the ice in a zone | attack ice:coldstore-t1-audit |
| tenant | Target Tenant — only from inside the pit. Killing him drops the Backup | attack tenant |
| self | Target yourself (for self-cast abilities) | cast w self |
| <hero-name> | Shorthand for hero: prefix | attack daemon |
Keyboard Shortcuts
─┐The command prompt takes focus first, and while it has focus it keeps every keystroke — that's what lets you type sell, tap or surrender. Press Esc on an empty prompt to hand the keyboard to the game: the prompt harden changes from >_ to [KEYS] and the keys below become live. Click the prompt to type again.
Game Concepts
─┐TERMINA commits every instruction at once, 4 seconds wide — one cycle. You queue ONE action per cycle. The action window is 3.5 seconds; your command resolves when the cycle commits.
Earn scrip from wave last-hits (40sc), hero kills (200sc base + streak and comeback bonuses), assists (100sc split), and passive income (4sc/cycle). Spend scrip at the shop in your base. Max 6 items.
You have no feed on ground you do not hold. You see your own zone and the zones next to it, your allies, your ice, and anywhere you have a camtap. Enemies outside that are not on your screen at all.
AI waves spawn every 8 cycles in each lane. 3 line + 1 sweep per wave (breach every 5th wave). Last-hit them for scrip. They push lanes automatically.
Each lane has 3 ice tiers per side: T1 1500 INTEG, T2 2000 INTEG, T3 2500 INTEG. ICE hit for 120 and prioritize heroes who attack under them, then waves. A ice kill splits 500sc among allies in the zone.
Each base houses its team's Terminal (6000 INTEG). It is invulnerable until at least one of that team's T3 ice falls; once exposed, heroes and waves in the base can attack it.
Gain XP from wave kills and hero kills, up to level 25. Q/W/E are usable from level 1 and get stronger at levels 1, 3, 5, 7. Your ultimate (R) unlocks at level 6 and strengthens at 12 and 18. Reaching levels 3, 6, 9 and 12 each grants a one-time talent choice (a left/right power pick): use `talent <tier> <left|right>` — the tier names stay 10/15/20/25 regardless.
Each hero has a passive + 4 active abilities (Q/W/E/R). Abilities cost BW and have cooldowns measured in cycles. Cast with: cast q [target]
There is NO innate regeneration — an INTEG or BW bar you spend stays spent. The only recoveries are: your fountain (15% INTEG / 15% BW per cycle, and only while out of combat), Trauma Patch and Charge Tab (consumables you carry), Clot Ring (2% max INTEG per cycle) and Drip Mask (2% max BW per cycle), and the regeneration cache (5% of both per cycle). Buy one of those before you plan to hold a route — otherwise every trade is one-way and the walk home costs you the wave.
Only the killing blow pays scrip: chip a wave to 1 INTEG and someone on your route takes it, you get nothing. You do NOT have to out-damage a wave unit to take it — a line unit spawns with 400 INTEG and grows all match, while you hit for 30–70 once per cycle. Instead, wait for the window: once a unit is at or below 35% of the INTEG it spawned with, it is carrying more than it can defend and attack wave:0 takes the payload outright, for 40sc and 40 XP (allies in the zone share 20 XP, so standing on the route is never worth zero). The ActionRow says which: STRIP means a unit is in the window right now, HIT means you would only be chipping. Burning is the mirror on your own side — once one of YOUR units drops below 50% INTEG, burn wave:0 takes it out so the enemy gets nothing, and you keep 20sc and 20 XP. Prefer STRIP / BURN on the ActionRow (or look then attack wave:N) over guessing an index: wave:N counts the living waves in your zone, so N shifts every cycle as waves die and waves spawn.
When you die, you respawn at your fountain after 3 cycles + 1 per level after level 1 (3 cycles at level 1, 12 at level 10). Buyback with scrip to return instantly (6 min cooldown).
CAMTAPs (75sc) grant vision of a zone for 45 cycles. Max 3 active per team. Place with: tap <zone>. Essential for map control.
Tenant (5000+ INTEG) lurks in hollow and drops the Backup when killed — pick it up with backup. Power-up caches spawn at cache-seawall/cache-shallows every 60 cycles and expire after 30; pick them up with grab.
Destroying any of a team's T3 ice exposes their Terminal (6000 INTEG) in their base. Destroy the enemy Terminal to win. Teams may also surrender after 15 minutes with a 60% vote.
Targets start closed. Code damage is halved into a closed target and hard control fails outright. breach <hero> opens a 5-cycle window for your whole crew (50 BW, 10-cycle cooldown). Kinetic never needs access. If you are the one opened, breach self flushes it.
Each cycle has two slots: MAIN (move, attack, cast, buy, burn, tap) and RIG (use <item>). An item active and an ability can fire in the SAME cycle — that is the combo. The HUD shows MAIN and RIG as open or committed.
The live path is quick-match: you search, bots fill after ten seconds, heroes are assigned. A 5v5 snake draft is not live yet. Party co-op puts your crew on CHAFF with bots filling the rest.
The competitive ladder resets each season. Ranked games (no bots) move your seasonal rating; from it you earn a rank — Unlisted → Stringer → Runner → Fixer → Shotcaller → Deepwater → Landfall. The leaderboard shows the current season; your lifetime rating is tracked separately.
Create a party from the lobby and share the 5-letter code with friends (up to 5). The leader can start a co-op game: your party takes Chaff and bots fill the rest — a no-pressure way to play together (co-op games don't affect your rating).
Found or join a guild to get a tag that rides next to your name on the leaderboard and your profile. Guilds are persistent — a home for your crew across seasons.
Postures
─┐You create the opening — mobility, stealth, silence, reveal, burst.
You keep what the crew already has — shields, heals, taunts, mitigation.
You are never where the fight was — links, swaps, teleports, map presence.
You win the long grind — sustain, scaling, and the hits that keep landing.