Artifact – Keyword Glossary

by Falagar / Articles, Misc. Guides / 27 Oct 2018

Active Ability

An active ability may be used during the action phase. An active ability with a cooldown may not be used again until that number of rounds have passed. Active abilities may not be used if their owner is stunned or silenced.

Allied Neighhbors

The units directly to the left and right of a unit.

Armor

Armor reduces each incoming damage source by that amount.

Attack

The amount of damage a unit deals during battle.

Battle Damage

Any damage assigned during a battle, most often during the combat phase.

Cleave

When blocked during the combat phase, in addition to battle damage to the blocking unit, also deal the Cleave damage to that unit’s neighbors.

Condemn

Mark a unit, improvement, or equipment for death. Death Shields may save a condemned unit, but Damage Immunity does not.

Creep

A creep is a non-hero unit. Unlike a hero, a creep cannot equip items, and does not return to play after it is killed. It is worth 1 Bounty to the opponent when killed.

Death Shield

If a unit would die, instead remove its death shield and it survives with 1 Health. A unit may only have one death shield at a time.

Disarm

A disarmed unit does not attack its target during battles.

Enemy Neighbors

Any enemies in the three enemy combat positions closest to this unit.

Get Initiative

After you play this spell, you get the initiative coin and may immediately take another action. If you use this action to pass, you will retain initiave and may act first in the next lane.

Health

The amount of damage a unit can sustain before dying. Damage persists across rounds.

Hero

A hero is a unit that allows you to play cards of its color in its lane. A hero can equip items. When it is killed, it is worth 5 Bounty to the opponent and retuns to the Fountain to be redeployed later.

Item

An item is a card that can be purchased during the shopping phase using gold. A Weapon, Armor, or Accessory item is equipped onto a hero to buff its stats. A Consumable item has a one-time effect and is then removed from the game.

Lock

Cards cannot be played as long as they are locked. Lock is applied for a duration in rounds. At the end of a round, all locked cards lose 1 Lock.

Improvement

An Improvement is a card that has a permanent effect on a tower. Improvements are cross-lane cards (when played, they use man and heroes from the active lane, but can be played into any lane.) Improvements are not units and do not occupy combat positions.

Mana

Mana is a resource used to play non-item cards. Each round, towers refresh their mana and increase the amount by 1.

Modify

When an effect modifies another card it applies a permanent buff or debuff to the target. Heroes retain modifiers through death.

Piercing

Piercing damage is not reduced by the target’s armor.

Play Effect

An additional effect that is processed at the time you play this creep.

Pulse

A delay between the effects of a spell or ability. Continuous effects are updated, reactive abilities are processed, and units that have been condemned or dealt lethal damage are destroyed.

Retaliate

When attacked during a battle (even outside of the combat phase), deal this much damage to the attackers.

Siege

When blocked during the combat phase, in addition to battle damage to the blocking unit, also deal Sige damage to the enemy tower.

Silence

A silenced unit cannot use its active abilities or item’s active abilities. A silenced hero cannot be used to play cards of its color.

Summon

Create a unit and immediately put it into a random empty combat position.

Stun

A stunned unit is silenced (cannot use any active abilities and cannot be used to play cards of its color) and disarmed (does not attack its target during battles).

Taunt

When a unit taunts all of its enemy neighbors change their combat target to that unit.

Tower

Each lane contains an allied tower that must be defended and an enemy tower that must be destroyed. The objective of the game is to destroy any 2 enemy towers. The tower can be a target of some spells and abilities.

Unit

A unit is any creep or hero in a combat position. Towers are not units.

Falagar

He is the founder and editor of Magic Game World. He loved gaming from the moment he got a PlayStation 1 with Gran Turismo on his 7th birthday.
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