>_ 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 FIND MATCH in the lobby. You'll be matched into a 5v5 game (bots fill empty slots after 10s).
Choose from 18 heroes, each with a passive and four actives — Q/W/E from level 1, the ultimate (R) at level 6. Picks alternate between teams.
You start in your fountain. Type move base (a shortcut that always means YOUR base) to leave, then move out onto a route.
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 base / move fountain 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 tier talent — a one-time left/right power choice unlocked at levels 10/15/20/25 | talent 10 left | — |
| status / map / scan | Print a quick readout (your stats / reachable zones / visible enemies). Free — costs no cycle | status | — |
| 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 — grab it with backup. Power-up caches spawn at cache-seawall/cache-shallows every 60 cycles and expire after 30; grab them with cache.
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.
In 5v5 and 3v3, the draft opens with a ban phase: teams take turns removing heroes from the pool before the snake pick. Banned heroes can't be picked by either side — use bans to burn a matchup you don't want to face.
The competitive ladder resets each season. Ranked games (no bots) move your seasonal rating (SR); from it you earn a rank tier — Iron → Bronze → Silver → Gold → Platinum → Diamond → Terminal. 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.