How a match works

The goal

1. Destroy the enemy Shield Generator before time runs out. It sits behind their defense turrets at the back of their base. That's an instant win.
2. If time runs out, the side that destroyed more turrets wins.
3. If it's still tied, the match goes to Sudden Death: the first side to destroy a turret or the Shield Generator wins. If nobody does before Sudden Death ends, it's a draw.

In the original game a match ran 3 minutes, and the Reborn build follows the same structure. Late in the match the game announces 2x energy regen, so the final stretch is when the biggest pushes happen. You'll also get warnings at 60 and 10 seconds left.

The battlefield

• Two lanes, top and bottom, split by obstacles in the middle and joined by crossings. Units walk the lane you drop them in.
• Each side has 3 turrets: one guarding each lane and a center turret in front of the Shield Generator. In Reborn, the center turret can't be targeted or damaged until one of the side turrets is destroyed, so rushing the middle no longer works.
• A health pack sits behind each lane turret and comes back after a while. Once you break an enemy lane turret, their health pack is yours to steal, and it takes a long time to return.
• Your deploy zone grows as you destroy enemy turrets, so every turret you take lets you drop units closer to their base.

Energy and cards

• Energy refills at 1 cell every 3 seconds, up to a maximum of 10. A full bar is wasted energy, so always have something to spend it on.
• Every card has an energy cost shown on it. Your deck's average cost tells you how often you'll be able to play.
• Tap a card to deploy it right next to your leader. Drag a card to place it exactly where you want. Drag for precise air strikes and to drop units behind enemy lines; tap in emergencies.
• You can't deploy in the red zone around enemy turrets. Units have to walk in from outside it.
• Your hand cycles. You hold a few cards with the next one shown; play a card and the next slides in, while the played card goes to the back of your deck. Cheap cards help you cycle to the one you need.
• Killing an enemy leader gives you bonus energy, which is why a leader kill is the best moment to push.
• Some cards can only be on the field once at a time. Wait until the first one is gone before playing another.

Your leader

• Tap the ground to move, and tap an enemy to attack it. Your leader keeps attacking until you give another order.
• Double-tap to sprint. It uses stamina, so save it for escaping, chasing or dodging a big attack.
• The skill button (bottom right) fires your leader's special skill. It has a cooldown, and skills that need a target won't fire if nothing is in range. Press and hold any skill or effect icon to read its details.
• Your skill starts the match on cooldown, so don't plan your opening around it.
• Leaders don't heal on their own. Grab a health pack, or accept that dying brings you back at full health. Don't waste a long respawn walking around at low health.
• Leaders take only 35% damage from units (turrets and enemy leaders deal full damage). Your leader can wade through squads, but should respect turrets and the other leader.
• When your leader dies, they respawn in front of your Shield Generator after a short wait. Each death adds 1 second to your next respawn, so deaths late in the match cost more.
• Your leader's passive (the Leadership ability) is always on. Read it in the Deck menu, because it usually tells you which cards to build around.

Units, structures and support

Stormtroopers

Rebel Troopers

Squads

Units that walk the lane and fight on their own. Some are melee, some ranged; some organic, some tech. They target whatever is closest, so place them where you want the fight to happen.

Ben Kenobi

Doctor Aphra

Unique squads

Named heroes like Ben Kenobi, Chewbacca or Doctor Aphra. Stronger than normal units, often with special effects. Each Unique belongs to one leader, and only that leader can use it. See every pairing.

X-Wing

TIE Fighter

Battle support

Air strikes, grenades and buffs. They act instantly where you drop them. In Arcade 2v2, support cards deal 50% less damage to turrets and the Shield Generator.

Auto Blaster Turret

Imperial Laser Turret

Structures

Turrets you can build, like the Auto Blaster Turret or Imperial Laser Turret. They hold ground and last a set time.

Turrets and the base

• Turrets protect the Shield Generator. Break them to open the way, and every turret you destroy counts toward a time-out win.
• Turrets shoot squad units before leaders. Send units in first and let your leader hit the turret while it's busy.
• Battle supplies (health and energy packs) appear on the field during a match. Grabbing them can swing a fight.
• The mini-map shows every unit and turret health. Glance at it often; the game also warns you when an ally turret is under attack.

Beginner mistakes to avoid

1. Sitting at 10 energy. Every second at full is energy thrown away. Spend it, even on a cheap card.
2. Walking your leader into a turret alone. Stop just outside range, drop units, and go in once the turret is shooting them.
3. Wasting air strikes on small groups your turret would kill anyway. Save them for clumps, leaders and finishing turrets.
4. Using your skill on trash units. Save it for the enemy leader or a turret push.
5. Ignoring the mini-map. One lone enemy dot in the other lane can take a turret while you're busy.
6. Not pushing after a leader kill. Their respawn timer plus your bonus energy is the best window in the match.
7. Upgrading everything. Pick one main leader and deck and put your Credits there first. See Upgrades and resources.

Settings worth knowing

• Card Assistance auto-deploys cards when your energy hits 10. Good while learning, but it wastes cards in ranked.
• Open matchmaking lets you face your own side after 10 seconds of searching, for faster matches.
• Zoom with the magnifier at the top left of the battle screen (or the mouse wheel on PC).
• Ping shows a spot to your teammate only. Emotes are seen by everyone.

PC controls

From the PC build's keybind file. You can rebind keys in pc_keybinds.json in the game's data folder.