AI Rules · 1. Combat behaviour
How AI units fight
AI rules apply to enemy Heroes and all Combats in Solo Campaigns and Coop.
AI rules apply to Enemy Heroes and all Combat encounters, including those against Neutral Units, in Solo Campaigns and Cooperative Scenarios. When an AI Hero activates a unit, first draw and resolve the next AI card.
When AI rules apply
Ground/Flying attack same tier first, then lower, then higher - the closest.
Enemy Ground and Flying units prioritize attacking units of the same tier; if impossible, a lower tier (descending to Bronze); if also impossible, a higher tier (ascending). With more than one valid target, they attack the closest; on a tie the player chooses.
Ground & Flying targeting
Ranged attack other Ranged first (by tier), else Ground/Flying; enemies can't Defend.
Ranged units prioritize other Ranged units in the same tier order (same, then lower, then higher); if there are no Ranged targets, they prioritize Ground and Flying units in the same order, attacking the closest. Enemy units cannot Defend unless instructed to.
Ranged targeting
AI Siege: Gate in front of the highest-HP unit; Arrow Tower acts as a Silver unit.
When Walls and Gate are mentioned but no arrangement is given, place the Gate in front of the unit with the highest HP. By default units do not attack the Walls - they fly over or move through the Gate toward their target, or Defend if they cannot. The Arrow Tower is treated like a Silver unit, but on tied targets it attacks the one with the least health remaining.
AI Siege
optional: AI targeting, PDF p.48
AI Rules · 2. AI Heroes
AI Heroes in Campaigns
AI Heroes have no Board, resources or Town; their units are fixed by the Scenario.
AI Heroes are used in Campaigns. They do not have a Town Board, Resources or a Hero Board. Their units are static and defined by the Scenario - locate the indicated unit cards during setup. If a unit shows a tier (Bronze, Silver, Golden, Azure) instead of Few or Pack, it is a Neutral Unit. If multiple AI Heroes share a unit and you lack copies, set up without that card and add it when you initiate Combat with them.
What AI Heroes are
AI Heroes cannot surrender and grant no rewards unless the Scenario says so.
AI Heroes cannot surrender and you cannot surrender to them; they fight until they run out of units. Winning Combat against an AI Hero does not grant any rewards unless stated by the Scenario.
Surrender & rewards
AI Hero turns: 3 MP, priority - reach the player's Hero, else nearest Mine/Settlement, else the Town.
Unless specified, AI Heroes start in their Town, take turns after the player, and have 3 MP, spent in descending priority: if a player's Hero is on the same Tile, move toward them to start Combat; else move toward the nearest Mine or Settlement they could flag; else move toward the player's Town. AI Heroes automatically win Combat against any Neutral Units, flagging/visiting Fields they pass through but gaining no benefits. They discover face-down Tiles as normal (1 MP); the player chooses the Tile's orientation.
AI Hero turns
optional: AI hero movement, PDF p.49
AI Rules · 3. AI card types
Shuffle the AI Deck before each Combat; each card's strength scales with Difficulty.
When an AI unit activates, you draw an AI card for it; AI Might cards modify the unit that is about to attack, boosting that single attack. If the currently active AI unit has no valid target to attack, the Might effect is not wasted - it instead applies to the next AI unit that is able to make an attack this activation.
Might
modifies the attacking unit
During setup build the AI Spell Deck from the Scenario's Spells; shuffle it before each Combat. When an AI Magic card is drawn, draw the next Spell from the AI Spell Deck and cast it; discarded Spells go to its own discard pile (reshuffle if it empties). The AI Spell Deck may hold more Spells than there are Magic cards - intentional. If a needed Spell is in your Deck and no copy is free, substitute a Magic Arrow.
Magic
cast the next Spell from the AI Spell Deck
If Skill cards are included, set aside the indicated related card (usually an Ability). When an AI Skill card is used, apply the assigned Ability card but do not discard it; discard the AI Skill card as usual. After resolving any AI card, discard it. If multiple AI armies share Decks/Skills without a rule saying whose, assume they are shared.
Skill
use the AI Hero's assigned Ability (not discarded)
optional: AI card faces, PDF p.50
AI Rules · 4. Complex Spells
How the AI casts complex Spells
Multi-target Spells (Fireball, Chain Lightning): hit a unit with adjacent allies.
When drawn, target any unit with one or two adjacent units from the player's army, prioritizing groups with more higher-tier units. If more than one valid group, attack the one with the least health remaining; if still tied, you choose. If no player units are adjacent to one another, target units not adjacent to any AI units. If that is also impossible, do not use this Spell.
Multi-target Spells
Instant Defense Spells (Stone Skin): Defense Token on the highest-Initiative unit.
Some AI Spell cards are Instant Defense effects, such as Stone Skin. When you draw one, place the card to the side of the Combat Board to show it is in play, then put a Defense Token on the AI unit with the highest Initiative. That unit now defends as normal - when it is attacked you re-roll the Attack Die and a +1 gives it 1 extra Defense against that attack.
Instant Defense
Healing Spells (Cure): heal the most-damaged AI unit, highest tier first.
Other AI Spell cards are Healing effects, such as Cure. When you draw one, find the AI unit that has taken the most damage and remove that damage, starting with the highest-tier unit available if several are equally hurt. This keeps the AI's strongest surviving units on the board, so Healing tends to prolong the fight against you.
Healing
Single-round buffs (Fire Shield) and attack-weakeners (Weakness): conditional use.
Single-round buffs (e.g. Fire Shield): check the tier of the target unit and count units of the same or higher tier on the Board; if more than half have already activated this Round, do not cast it. Attack-weakening Spells (e.g. Weakness): if the AI's activated unit is about to attack in a way that will provoke a Retaliation, cast it on the retaliating enemy to lower their attack.
Buffs & weakeners
optional: complex spell handling, PDF p.51