How to win at Town of Duels
You win by bringing the rival lord from 25 health to zero, and only a character standing inside the enemy base can hurt that lord. Everything in this guide serves that one fact.
New to the game? Start with the rules and the seven tips for new lords, then come back here.
1. Think in strikes, not in fights
Beating enemy characters feels good, but it does not win the game by itself. Each turn, ask two questions: how close am I to a strike, and how close are they? A character in the enemy base with no enemy next to it strikes for its full attack. Three or four strikes from strong fighters end most games, so a fight only matters if it opens or closes a path to the base.
2. Read the Strike danger number
The top bar shows your Strike danger: how much the enemy could deal to your leader next turn. If that number is more than your health, stop everything else and deal with it. You do not need to kill an invader: a character standing next to it blocks its strike. A cheap Guard stepping beside an enemy can save the whole game.
3. Spend all 4 energy, every turn
You get 4 energy a turn and unused energy is lost, so wasted energy is the most common way to fall behind. Keep a mix of costs in your deck. A 3 energy character plus a 1 energy spell is a full turn. So are two 2 energy cards. You can summon only one character a turn, so spells are how you use the rest.
4. Summon before you need to
A new character waits until your next turn before it can act, and it can only arrive on your two home rows. It needs several turns to reach the far side. If you wait until the enemy is at your door, your new character can stand beside the invader, but it cannot attack yet. Plan one turn ahead.
5. Flank everything you can
A melee hit deals +1 damage when an ally stands next to the target. Melee characters reach all eight tiles around them, corners included, so moving two characters in together is worth far more than sending them one at a time. Over a whole game that +1 adds up to several extra hits.
6. Let ranged characters work for free
Ranged characters shoot up to 3 tiles in any direction, and melee enemies cannot hit back from that far. Keep them behind your front line and use them to finish wounded targets. If a ranged enemy targets your archer, remember other ranged characters can return fire, so close the distance with a fighter.
7. Respect Guards
Guards protect the allies around them, so you must defeat them before you can hit their friends. Do not throw every attack at the back line. Bring down the Guard first, or walk around its reach.
8. Watch stamina as well as health
Walking costs 1 stamina, and an attack or ability costs 2. Characters recover 2 stamina each turn. A fighter that marches all the way across the board may arrive too tired to strike. Stop one tile short, recover, then step in and strike with stamina to spare.
9. Take banners and hearts
Lord's banners appear in rounds 1 and 6 and give +1 attack. Heart charms appear in rounds 3 and 10 and give +1 health. They appear in mirrored pairs, and the bonus lasts for the rest of the battle. A banner on your best striker is often worth more than a whole card.
10. Save spells for the swing
Fireball deals 4 damage to any enemy anywhere on the board. Use it to remove a blocker next to your striker, not to chip at a healthy fighter. The same goes for shields and healing: cast them right before the big hit, not after it. See all 30 spells.
11. Play for the final bell
If no leader falls by the end of round 20, the bell rings and the lord with less health loses. If health is level, the stronger board wins. You get a warning 3 rounds before. So one early strike can win a cautious game: land it, then guard your base until the bell.
Three mistakes that lose games
- Charging in alone. One character on the far side gets surrounded and flanked. Move in pairs.
- Leaving an invader alone. Step next to it. You do not need to win the fight, just stop the strike.
- Ignoring the items. If the enemy takes both banners, every one of their hits gets stronger for the rest of the battle.
A simple plan for your first ten rounds
- Rounds 1 to 3: summon a front line character and a fighter, and send someone for the banner.
- Rounds 4 to 6: bring ranged and support behind them, and take the centre of the board.
- Rounds 7 to 10: trade with the enemy line using flanks, then push a pair into their base.