The Core Loop

Every combat follows the same rhythm. Learn this once and the rest of the game builds on it.

The per-run loop

1. Map — pick your next node on the branching path (15 floors per act, 3 acts)
2. Combat — fight 1–3 monsters with your dice
3. Reward — pick a relic, a consumable, or the skip bonus
4. Repeat — until the act boss is dead, or you are

A combat turn, step by step

Turns alternate: you go first, then every living enemy resolves its intent.

1. Roll. Your full dice pool rolls (5d6 base, 6d6 with Twin Dice). Each die has a small chance to come up elemental — see Elements.
2. Hold & reroll. You have 2 rerolls per turn (base). Lock the dice you want to keep and reroll the rest. Held dice keep their element. Rerolls can be spent a few at a time.
3. Use innate abilities and consumables (optional). Nudge a die ±1, Reroll+ for extra rerolls, or spend a consumable like Set Die, Clone, Flip, or Shatter. All of these happen before you score.
4. Pick your target. Click an enemy to aim your hand at them.
5. Score. The game finds the best hand in your dice and deals damage: (base_chips + scoring_die_values) × multiplier.
6. Elemental combo check. If your elemental dice match a combo pattern, the combo fires after hand damage. Only the highest-tier combo triggers.
7. Stun check. If a single hit deals more than 30% of the target's max HP (40% for bosses), the target is stunned for 1 turn.
8. Enemy phase. Every living, non-stunned enemy resolves its telegraphed intent — attack, defend, heal, buff, or interfere with your dice.
9. Status tick. Burn ticks damage. Freeze, Vulnerable, Chill, and Stun all lose a turn.

Then the next turn starts.

What carries across turns

• Your HP, gold, consumables, and relics
• Status effects on enemies (Burn, Freeze, Chill, Vulnerable — see Status Effects)
• Locked dice — dice held with the Lock consumable keep their value into the next turn

What resets each turn

• Your dice pool (freshly rolled)
• Your rerolls (back to base)
• Your mana (back to 3, modified by relics)

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Related: Combat Flow · Hands & Scoring · Elements