By D. Brad Talton Jr.

Presented by Level 99 Games

Preview Game

Ba leCON captures the fast-paced head-to-head intensity of a 2D ghting video game and tempers it with the strategic decision-making of a card game. As new villains appear to lay claim to the world of Indines, new heroes rise to challenge them. Ba leCON: Devastation of Indines puts you in control of 18 mighty heroes and deadly villains to decide the fate of the world. Each character's play style requires new strategies, but uses the same foundational tactics, making a new character easy to learn, but challenging to master. Ba leCON: Devastation of Indines can be played stand-alone, or combined with other Ba leCON games to create an even greater pool of characters and play modes.

Hi there, thanks for trying out Ba leCON! Ba leCON is probably a bit dierent than D. Brad Talton Jr. most board or card games you own or have played before. It is not intended to be taken o Lead Character Illustrator played on Eunice Abigael Tiu (Nokomento) the shelf and taughtitanddesigned tosome select occasions. Instead, is be an ongoing game played regularly by a group of Design & Concept Artist experienced friends. Fbio Fontes Each character requires a bit of work to master, and each matchup requires a new strategy to win. Each strategy requires a new counterSupporting Illustrators Christelle Hyunh, Victor P. Corbella, Yuting strategy to defeat. By playing regularly with an established group, Ba leCON develops a metaLian, Victoria Parker, and Anika Rnowicz game where players begin to eectively expect their opponents tactics and adapt their own Playtesters John Parmalee, John Kirk, John Celino, Jessey styles, creating a living game that grows beyond just the box. Wright, Joseph Tenney, Bo King, Lorenzo Weve packed as many options, play modes, Batallones, Ryan Ozzy Lawrence, Bryan and possibilities as we can into this box, so that Graham, Marco De Santos, Yaron Raca, Aaron you can have a new experience each time you Gresham, Ma hew Locklin, Ma hew Fournier, play, even with (and especially with) friends who Andrey Trubitsin, Dmitry Trubitstin, Danil have the same level of experience as you. Trubitsin, omas Woodru, Sean Whe on, If this all sounds a bit daunting, dont fear. James Johnes, Marco De Santos, Maksim Penzin, Weve worked just as hard to make the game C. A. DuChane, Dennis Crenshaw, Mark accessible as we have to make it deep. Every Roberts, Ari Tykkylinen, Noah Selzer, Ryan element, from the characters to the play variants Gerstein, Vladimir "Grey Swan" Perepelkin, Noah Bogart, Steve Ripberger, Ar-j Castelo, Icon has been marked with a diculty rating, which will help you to start on a solid footing and Ortega, Kiko Santos, Travis 'KingOfOdonata' advance towards more specialized characters, Schneider, Nick Eglinton, Richard Peppers, play modes, and strategies. So grab some friends Ferdinand Andrew Capitulo, Helder Arajo and get ready to explore and experience Ba leCON! Special anks It is my sincerest hope that Ba leCON brings Kevin Bridgeman, Steven Pe it, Steven ompson, Graham Russell, Lance Myxter, Tom you endless hours of entertainment with friends and family! Vasel, Lynda Yang, Kevin Brusky, Brandon Happy gaming! Ragnar Johnson, Mac Ko, Mark Hadley, Alex Sieland

Level 99 Production Staff Designers Foreword

Lead Designer

D. Brad Talton Jr. Lead Designer

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What is BattleCON?

you can gradually explore the more advanced characters and play variants. e diculty of characters and variants comes in three avors: Basic - You can jump right in and play with these characters and play modes. Intermediate - When you feel comfortable with the basics of the game, try these out. Advanced - When you are ready for a challenge that tests even the abilities of a seasoned player, try these.

Ba leCON is a board game based on the principles of intense action, direct confrontation, and tactical positioning present in ghting video games. Unlike its peers in console gaming, however, Ba leCON provides strategic elements and a more thoughtful paceallowing the player to choose carefully his next moves and gauge his opponents strengths and motives. Ba leCON is a standalone game that comes as a complete boxed set. ere are no random packs to buy, no exclusives, and no chase cards you get the complete game up front in the box. While you can expand Ba leCON with additional sets featuring new characters, there is no buy-in to collect more powerful cards and no expensive rare cards to chase downwhen you get a box, you know exactly what you are ge ing.

The World of Indines

Welcome to Indines (pronounced In-deans), a land of mystery, magic, wonder, and war. In this game, you will take on the roles of the champions of each nation or faction, participating in duels to determine their fates and the fate of the world as a whole. Each duel is short and fast-paced, as two combatants move across the eld a empting to strike one another and avoid being struck. Only the one whose wits are strongest and whose strategy is surest will be able to claim victory.

Learning the Game

Don't be intimidated by this rulebook or the number of cards in the game! Ba leCON is an extremely simple game, and most of the cards and rules in this book exist to allow you to play dierent variants and to increase the replayability of the base game. In fact, each player will only use 15 cards over the course of a duel. If this is your rst time playing, use characters listed as 'Basic' in the character guide (Shekhtur and Eligor), and follow along with the graphic quick-rules comic. A er you feel comfortable with the basic mechanics and rules,

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Building the Print and Play

A er all this, you should have the the following supplies ready to play: Eligor Character Kit: - 1 Character Card (Eligor Larington) - 5 Vengeance Tokens - 5 Styles (Chained, Counter, Martial, Retribution, Vengeful) - 1 Base (Aegis) - 1 Finisher (Sweet Revenge / Sheet Lightning) Shekhtur Character Kit: - 1 Character Card (Shekhtur Lenmorre) - 5 Malice Tokens - 5 Styles (Combination, Jugular, Reaver, Spiral, Unleashed) - 1 Base (Brand) - 1 Finisher (Soul Cracker / Con Nails) Joal Character Kit: - 1 Character Card ( Joal Kalmor) - 5 Styles (Cu hroat, Dual Wield, Relentless, Slayers, Warded) - 5 Bases (Knuckles, Binding Knife, Hand Cannon, Ironstar, Runeblade) - 1 Finisher (Annihilator / Neutralizer) Malandrax Character Kit: - 1 Character Card (Malandrax Mecchi) - 4 Trap Cards (Alarm Trap, Electroshock Trap, Smasher Trap, Wall Spike Trap) - 5 Styles (Calculated, Ingenious, Leading, Plo ing, Precision) - 1 Base (Master Plan) - 1 Finisher (Deathtrap / Plots Within Plots) 2 Base Sets: - 6 Bases (Strike, Shot, Grasp, Dash, Drive, Burst) 1 Game Board 2 Reference Cards (Beat Sequence + Setup) 2 Life Counters (supplied by you) 4 Double-sided standups

To Build your own Ba leCON: Devastation of Indines Print and Play, follow these steps: 1. Print up all cards and gameboards in this document. ere should be 8 pages of cards and tokens, and one gameboard. * Many cards will have incomplete bleeds on the le or right sides. is is intentional. Cut them out along the white lines. Even if the bleeds dont look quite right on the sheet, they will once you set up the game. 2. Sleeve the cards so that all bases are in one color sleeve, and all styles are in another. Styles are the cards with their numbers aligned to the right (they are the le side of an a ack pair). Bases are the cards with their numbers aligned to the le (they are the right side of an a ack pair). Take note that Joal has more bases than other characters. 2a. Malandraxs Trap Cards can be sleeved as any third color, to dierentiate them from other card types. 2b. Sleeve each characters Finisher cards in clear sleeves so that they are double-sided. Each side should have a dierent Finisher for the same character. 3. Assemble the character Standups. You can build your character standups by pasting them together, or by folding them along the do ed line, gluing them together, then cu ing the shapes down to be er match the character sizes. 4. Cut out all Tokens. Shekhtur and Eligor each have 5 tokens they need. Cut these out as well. 5. Acquire two life counters. Youll need two counters that go from twenty down to zero. Poker chips, glass drops, a 20-sided dice, or even scrap paper work ne for this purpose. 6. Separate Character Kits. Use plastic bags or card cases to separate each character and the basic cards. Every characters cards will have that characters name at the bo om center of the card. For tokens, check the Character Introductions at the end of this guide to see what goes with whom.

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Gameplay Overview

Your primary goal in Ba leCON is to win matches against other players in a head-to-head ba le. Both you and your opponent will select one of the eighteen characters in the game, and play a match. A single match consists of two or three duels. A duel is a complete game, beginning at 20 life points and ending with one player reaching 0 life. A single duel takes between 10 and 20 minutes, so a match is typically between 30 minutes and an hour long. e player who wins two out of the three duels is declared the winner of the match. In the course of a single duel, the goal of each player is to reduce their opponent's life total to zero or fewer points. e rst to accomplish this is declared the winner of that duel. A duel consists of up to een rounds, called beats. In a beat, both players act simultaneously as they play out all of the steps of the beat. ere are no 'turns' in Ba leCONboth players are constantly engaged in the con ict. If youre just learning the game, it is recommended to use the two characters Shekhtur Lenmorre and Eligor Larington and follow along with the introductory rules comic. A er following through the comic, you can use the detailed rules here to answer any questions that come up as you play the game.

Character Card Overview

Characters are speci c personas that you use on the eld of ba le. Each player will select a dierent character at the start of the game and must use all of the styles and bases that are associated with that speci c character. Each character card has the following components: 1. Name e name of the character. 2. Unique Ability One or more unique abilities that this character possesses. ese are staples of their personal strategy and are used during gameplay. e reverse side of each character contains a description of how that character ghts and some insight as to how you can pick them up to play quickly. Some characters are more dicult to learn than others, or require a familiarity with the core gameplay that makes them dicult to learn rst. We suggest starting with basic characters. e diculty of a character can be found in their strategy section on the reverse of this card.

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Base Card Overview

ese cards are printed with their numbers aligned to the le and may be either unique to a character or generic. ose that are unique to a character have that character's picture on them. Bases are the foundations of an a ack pair. All bases have the following parts. 1. Name e name of the base. 2. Range is is what distance the a ack will strike at. Some ranges are expressed as two values (i.e.: 1~4). ese ranges target all spaces included in the range (so 1~4 would target spaces at range 1, 2, 3, and 4). A acks with a range of N/A will never hit unless they have some special eect that says they do. Range can never be less than 0. 3. Power is is how much damage the a ack will do. A acks with a power of N/A will not do any damage. Power can never be less than zero. 4. Priority e speed of the a ack. Higher priority a acks have the advantage of going rst in combat--allowing you to stun or escape your opponent in many instances. Priority may be negative on some a acks. 5. Eects Special eects that are part of the a ack. ese are explained in more detail later.

Style Card Overview

ese cards are printed with their numbers aligned to the right and are all speci c to a certain character. Each style can be paired with a base to form an a ack pair. A style has the following parts. 1. Name e name of the style. is pairs with the name of the base to form the name of the a ack. For example, a 'Calculated' style and a 'Strike' base combine to form the 'Calculated Strike' a ack. 2. Range Modi er e range of the a ack is modi ed up or down by this amount. i. If only one side of the a ack has a variable range like (1~4), add the single number to both sides (so 1~4 plus 2 would be 3~6). ii. If both sides of the a ack range are variable, calculate the complete range by adding the highest and lowest parts of both sides (so 1~4 plus 2~4 would be 3~8). 3. Power Modi er e power of the a ack is modi ed up or down by this amount. 4. Priority Modi er e priority of the a ack is modi ed up or down by this amount. 5. Eects ese eects are added on to the eects of the base, giving the a ack additional powers. Style eects work the same way as base eects.

1 2 3

1 2 3

4 5 5

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Finisher Card Overview

Each character has a Finisher card that they can make use of during play. We recommend not using the Finisher cards during your rst few games of Ba leCON, and instead introducing them a er you feel comfortable with the basic gameplay.

e nisher card looks just like a style, except that it has a purple overlay and a complete border around the edge. A nisher is not half of an a ack pair thoughit replaces the entire a ack pair, and whatever base or style you play does not modify it. Finishers have two sides. During setup, each player should secretly select which nisher they wish to use, then reveal those simultaneously. Finishers can be used during ante if a player has 7 life or less remaining. Just ante your nisher and take your a ack pair back into your hand. Do not recycle discard piles a er using a nisher. Instead just remove the Finisher from the game.

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Game Setup

1. Character Selection Each player chooses one character (choose secretly in a competitive game). ey take all of that character's cards (1 character card, 5 styles, 1 nisher card, and 1 base), plus a set of generic bases (6 basesStrike, Dash, Drive, Grasp, Burst, and Shot), to form a starting hand. Each player should also nd any tokens or markers their character uses and place them beside their character card or into play as speci ed by their unique abilities. Each characters complete kit is listed below their portrait in the character guide, later in these rules. e name of the character kit a card belongs to is always listed in the bo om center of the card. 2. Board Setup - Place the players on the second and sixth spaces respectively (as shown below), so that each character is on its owner's le hand side of the board. Use the spinning life dials to keep track of each player's life points. All players start with 20 life.

3. Initial Discards - Each player chooses two bases and two styles*. ese will form two pairs that should be placed in discard 1 and discard 2 respectively. ese cards will not be available at the start of the game but will become available soon. Make sure your two discard piles are clearly separated and that you know which is which, as they both have very important functions (see Recycle for more information). 3b. Character Setup - Some characters (particularly advanced characters) require some additional setup. e characters Unique Ability will tell you what extra setup steps they may have to complete. 4. Game Start - Once you have completed these actions and lled both discard piles, you are ready to begin the game. * When learning the game or trying a new character, the bases and styles marked with a 1 and 2 form the starting discard piles. ese are optional, but are intended to help you to set up the game and jump into a new character quickly.

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1 - Select Attack Pairs

Each player chooses one style and one base from his hand, then places those cards face down in front of him where their opponent can see the backs of the cards clearly. A legal a ack pair always has one red-backed and one bluebacked card. Once both players have a ack pairs placed down in front of them, move on to the next step.

The Core Mechanic

An a ack pair is formed by selecting one style and one base from the player's hand and placing those face-down in front of him. An a ack pair has the power, range, and priority of the base, plus the modi ers speci ed on the style and all the eects of both cards. Since there are 5 styles and 7 bases, each character has 35 possible a acks (and even more when you factor in Unique Abilities!)

Objective

e objective of each duel is to reduce the opponent's life points to zero before your opponent can do the same to you. e rst player whose life points reach zero is eliminated, and the remaining player is declared the winner of the duel. A duel has a time limit of 15 beats (just a fancy name for rounds). At the end of the 15th beat, if no player has eliminated the other, then the player with the highest life total is declared the winner.

2 - Ante Phase

Play Sequence

Every beat in Ba leCON follows a similar pa ern. Each of these steps is done by each player simultaneously. 1. Select a ack pairs 2. Ante Tokens 3. Reveal a ack pairs 4. Execute a acks 5. Recycle

A character's unique ability may provide that character with with tokens. ese tokens are chosen and spent during the ante step, a er both players have selected a ack pairs. A token's exact eect depends on the unique ability of the character using it. Tokens are in a character's token pool area until they are used. A er being used, they are typically moved to the token discard pool. Unless otherwise stated by a character's unique ability, tokens are discarded to their own separate discard pile and cannot be retrieved except by the eects of that character's styles and bases. Not all characters are able to retrieve their tokens, so pay a ention to your options for recovery before you use them recklessly! Players may ante tokens in any order, and may always ante more tokens (as far as their unique abilities allow), but antes can never be taken back. Once both players have elected to pass on adding tokens, move on to the next step.

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3 - Reveal Attack Pairs

Both players simultaneously ip over their face-down a ack pairs. Any Reveal Eects occur at this time. Reveal eects can occur in any order the players wish. A er resolving all reveal eects, check the priorities of both a acks (considering any modi cations provided by tokens, styles, and passive special abilities). If the total priorities tie, then a clash occurs. Reveal eects do not have any timing, and only serve to improve the priority of the styles they are printed on. Players can execute reveal eects in either order, even simultaneously. ey continue to provide their bene ts, even a er a clash, and are never activated more than once per beat.

4 - Active Attack

e Active Player activates his a ack rst by performing the following steps*: 1. He performs any Before Activating eects listed on his cards. If there are multiple eects, he chooses which order to use them. 2. He checks to see if the opponent is within his range. Range is counted in spaces, with the space occupied by the player being space zero (so adjacent characters are at range 1, and characters at the start of a match are at range 4). * It is possible for some eects, such as Eligors Counter style, to stun the Active Player. If this happens, his a ack is skipped, and you should move straight to the next step, Reactive A ack.

Priority Tie? - Clash!

In a clash, both players must play a new base face-down from their hands. ey simultaneously reveal the played base and put it on top of the old one, hiding the eects and stats of the original base and forming a new a ack. Players then check to see if another clash has occurred. If it has, continue again as above. If any player runs out of cards during the clash, then skip directly to recycling their top a ack pairs (without activating any End of Beat eects) and a new beat begins. During the Recycle step, only recycle the top a ack pair (the one your character actually used), and return all other cards to your hand. e player who has higher priority a er Reveal eects are resolved is called the Active Player, and the one with lower priority is called the Reactive Player. A er Reveal eects and Active/Reactive player are resolved (by clashes if necessary), Start of Beat eects take place. e Active Player executes all of his Start of Beat eects, then the Reactive Player executes all of his Start of Beat eects. Once the Start of Beat eects are resolved, a acks begin. !

Special Ranges

Some a acks have special ranges of X or N/A. ese a acks are treated dierently than normal. A acks with a range of N/A never hit opponents. A acks with a range of X (on either side of the a ack pair) have their range de ned by some special passive or triggered eect. Range boosts or penalties do not apply to these special rangesthey can only hit or miss due to their eects.

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3. If the opponent is in range, then the active player resolves any On Hit eects. 4. If the opponent was hit by the a ack, then the opponent takes damage equal to the power of the a ack, reducing the damage taken by his own a ack's Soak value (if he has this eectsee common eects). 5. If any damage was done, On Damage eects are resolved. Also, if any damage was done, the opponent may be stunned. is stun can be prevented by an opponent with Stun Guard (see the section on Stun, page 25). 6. If a player's life is reduced to zero or fewer points, the game immediately ends, with the remaining player being declared the winner. 7. e active player resolves any A er Activating eects, regardless of whether or not the a ack hit or did damage.

Once you have recycled your discard piles, advance the turn timer by one beat, and you are all set to start the next beat!

e recycling of discard piles means that each A ack Pair you play will take 2 beats of cycling before it can be recombined into new a acks. Be careful before you use your strongest a ackit might be more useful as two parts instead of one!

4B - Reactive Attack

If the Reactive Player is not stunned, then he may activate his a ack by following the same steps as the Active Player. A stunned player skips activation entirely, including any Before Activating and A er Activating eects. Once the reactive player has resolved his a ack (or been stunned), move on to the next step.

5 - Recycle

Both players activate any End of Beat eects they possess. If both players have End of Beat eects, the Active Player executes all of his eects rst. End of Beat eects will still be executed by the reactive player even if he was stunned. Finally, both players: 1. Pick up their second (outermost) discard pile, 2. Move their rst (innermost) discard pile into their second discard pile, and 3. Move the a ack pair they just played face-up into their rst discard pile.

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Resolving Effects

Advance is movement brings you closer to an opponent. (ex: Advance 1, 2, or 3 spaces)

During the course of the game, you will need to resolve many special eects that your a acks have. How to resolve these eects is explained in detail here. ere are two kinds of eects, Passive Eects and Triggered Eects. Passive eects are always active from the time the a ack is revealed until the end of the beat. For example, Shekhturs Combination Style states " is a ack does not hit opponents at range 3 or greater." is is a passive eect and should be followed as long as it is face-up on the player's current a ack pair. Its instructions should be obeyed by both players at all times. Triggered eects have two parts: a trigger and an eect. An example of a triggered eect might be "Before Activating: Advance 1 or 2 spaces." is means that the eect is triggered and resolved during the Before Activating step (during step 4 of the turn). If a player controls multiple triggered eects with the same trigger, then he chooses what order to activate them. All triggered eects are mandatoryyou must use them when they trigger. If triggered and passive eects would con ict with one another, the passive eects take precedence.

Retreat is movement takes you further from an opponent. (ex: Retreat 1 space.)

Pull is movement brings an opponent closer to you. (ex: Pull the opponent up to 2 spaces)

Push is movement puts an opponent further from you. (ex: Push the opponent up to 2 spaces)

Status Effects

Some triggered eects will apply powers to the next beat of combat. ese are called Status Eects and are separate from the cards, tokens, or abilities that generate them. e box contains some tokens that you can use to track status eects, but status eects are not tokens.

Move You may choose either direction for this movement. (ex: Move 1 space)

Movement

Many eects will cause characters to move. e only way to move on the board is by these eects or by the unique abilities of characters. Movement will be speci ed by triggered eects or a character's unique abilities in the form of eects such as A er Activating: Advance 1, 2, or 3 spaces. ere are 6 kinds of movement:

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Move directly Teleport immediately to the Stun, Guard, & Immunity space speci ed, without moving into or out of spaces in between. Some eects may prevent you All a acks have the potential to stun from moving over your opponent. ese opponents when they hit. A stunned opponent is eects do not apply to direct movement. unable to react with an a ack of his own. us, in order to score hits a player must either be fast enough to strike rst, maneuverable enough to avoid damage, or defensive enough to prevent stun. A stun occurs whenever a player takes damage greater than his Stun Guard value. A acks that have no Stun Guard on them have a Stun Guard Movement eects are mandatory. If an eect says 'advance 1 or 2 spaces', then the player of zero. Here are a few examples that you can follow along with using your own cards. All of must move either 1 space forwards or 2 spaces forwards. He cannot choose to remain where he these examples ignore range and movement. Example 1 - Hit and taking damage: is. For all moves except direct movement, you Shekhtur and Eligor dueling. Shekhtur uses a 'Jugular Grasp' (7 priority) and Eligor uses a must pass through the spaces between your 'Retribution Drive' (4 priority). Shekhtur will go current position and your nal destination. rst. She hits Eligor for 1 damage. Because Eligor If an eect speci es 'Advance up to 2 spaces', has no Stun Guard or Soak eects, he takes 1 then the player has the option of choosing a damage and is stunned. He will not be able to use movement of zero (which is less than 2) and any of his eects, since Before Activating is an remaining stationary. Negative movement is A ack trigger, and he will not a ack this beat. never allowed. Example 2 - Taking no damage: Eligor uses When moving, you hop over opponents and 'Retribution Aegis' with 3 tokens (priority -1, do not count the spaces they occupy against your Soak 3, Stun Guard 6) and Shekhtur uses 'Jugular movement. (See the example for Advancing) Grasp' (priority 7). Shekhtur will hit rst, If a player cannot complete a retreat due to dealing 1 point of damage to Eligor. Eligor has the presence of a wall, then he moves as far as Soak 3, which reduces the damage he takes by up possible and stops. e same holds true for a player advancing against a player who is adjacent to 3 points. us, he takes 0 damage. Because he has not taken any damage, he is able to retaliate to a wall. e presence of walls may preclude and score 2 damage on Shekhtur. movement entirely. In this case, movement is ignored. If a legal movement is possible given the eect moving the character, then it must be taken. (Example: Arec must move 1 space forwards or backwards, but there is a wall behind him. In this case, he is forced to choose the forwards movement, since it is the only legal, available move). Advance and Pull just determine the initial direction of the movement. Its possible to pull someone past you so that they are further away than when they started, and its possible to advance far past someone in order to create distance.

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Example 3 - Stun Guard greater than damage: Eligor uses 'Vengeful Strike' (priority 3, Stun Guard 8) and Shekhtur is using 'Spiral Drive' with 2 tokens (priority 5). Shekhtur will hit rst, as usual, and deal 4 points of damage. Eligor takes the damage, but because the damage is lower than or equal to his Stun Guard value, he is not stunned. He can hit Shekhtur back for 5 damage. Example 4 - Damage greater than Stun Guard: Eligor uses 'Counter Strike' (priority 2, Stun Guard 5) and Shekhtur uses 'Combination Drive' (priority 4). Shekhtur will hit rst, dealing 6 damage to Eligor (+2 from Combinations eect). Eligor takes the damage, and since it is higher than his Stun Guard value, he is stunned and will not activate his a ack. Example 5 - Stun by eect: Eligor uses an extremely defensive 'Vengeful Aegis' with 4 tokens (priority 0, Soak 4, Stun Guard 11). Shekhtur uses her nisher, 'Soul Breaker' (priority 3). Shekhtur will go rst, dealing 3 damage to Eligor. Eligor's Soak absorbs the rst 4 points of the damage, so he takes none. However, Shekhtur's Finisher has a special eect "On Hit: e opponent is stunned..." Eligor is stunned because of the eect and will not activate his a ack. is is called an auto-stun eect and can stun regardless of the opponent's Stun Guard and Soak. Example 6 - Stun Immunity: Eligor uses the same 'Vengeful Aegis' and Shekhtur uses her same 'Soul Breaker' as above. is time, however, Eligor decides to ante all 5 of his Vengeance tokens during the Ante phase. is ante gives him the eect of Stun Immunity due to his unique ability. Now when Shekhtur hits rst, her Soul Breakers eect will a empt to stun Eligor. Eligor is immune to stun, however, so no eect and no amount of damage can prevent him from executing his a ack this beat.

is always a passive eect. A acks with no Stun Guard speci ed have an implied Stun Guard of 0. If a player would take damage multiple times in a turn, Stun Guard applies separately to each one. e player must take damage higher than his Stun Guard in a single a ack for his Stun Guard to be broken. Soak A number will be speci ed (i.e.: Soak 3, Soak 1, Soak 2). Whenever the player would take damage this turn, he reduces the damage taken by the amount speci ed. Multiple Soak eects stack together (so Soak 3 + Soak 1 = Soak 4). Soak is always a passive eect. If a player would take damage multiple times in a turn, his Soak applies to each individual time he would take the damage. Lose Life Eects that say lose life do not ever cause stun. Only eects that deal damage can cause stuns. Soak does not prevent loss of life from these eects. Loss of life can never reduce a player to below 1 life. Stun Immunity e character cannot be stunned by any means or eects. Stun Immunity overrides any eect or damage that would normally stun a character. It does not prevent any damage. e opponent is stunned - e opponent becomes stunned. is ignores any soak and stun guard eects the opponent may have, but will not bypass Stun Immunity.

Common Effects

Stun Guard A number will be speci ed (i.e.: Stun Guard 5, Stun Guard 3). Whenever the player takes damage this turn, he is not stunned unless the total damage taken this turn is greater than his Stun Guard rating. Stun Guard

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Playing Eligor

Eligor is a dedicated defensive ghter whose heavy armor and combat training allow him to stand up against the most powerful a acks without inching. He excels in countera acking, and ghts most eectively when he can predict the opponent and bait certain a acks. Start out with Eligor if you prefer to hold your ground and watch your opponents strategies unwind in the face of your defenses.

Playing Shekhtur

Shekhtur is a deadly rushdown character who can do great damage to opponents and maintain signi cant pressure. Her abilities revolve around creating and maintaining favorable corner traps and staying in close melee with opponents. Start out with Shekhtur if you like to take the oensive early and stay on the a ack as much as possible.

Eligor Larington
It only takes one hero to stand up and change the world for the better.

Shekhtur Lenmorre
This power was meant for evil, but maybe I can use it for good instead.

Eligor acquires Vengeance Tokens as he takes damage, and these tokens further increase his defensive potential and ability to eectively countera ack. He is a great choice for players who prefer to play defensively and make contingency plans for their opponents options. Diculty: Basic Complete Kit: - 1 Character Card (Eligor Larington) - 5 Vengeance Tokens - 5 Styles (Chained, Counter, Martial, Retribution, Vengeful) - 1 Base (Aegis) - 1 Finisher (Sweet Revenge / Sheet Lightning)

Shekhtur gains Malice Tokens as she does damage, and these tokens further increase her speed and damage-dealing ability. She is a great choice for players who like to use reckless, unstoppable force as an alternative to a more paced combat style. Diculty: Basic Complete Kit: - 1 Character Card (Shekhtur Lenmorre) - 5 Malice Tokens - 5 Styles (Combination, Jugular, Reaver, Spiral, Unleashed) - 1 Base (Brand) - 1 Finisher (Soul Cracker / Con Nails)

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Playing Joal

Joal is a slightly more advanced jack-of-all trades type ghter. His additional bases give him the ability to adapt to all sorts of situations, and making the best move in any given position isnt always easy. Once youve played a few games with Shekhtur or Eligor, try out Joal and get a feel for the breadth of possibilities Ba leCON has to oer in a more technical ghter.

Playing Malandrax

Malandrax is an advanced character, a scheming trap-se er who relies heavily on an opponents paranoia and recklessness to create deadly setups. Once youve played everyone else and feel comfortable with the games core mechanics, try out Malandrax to see how much an outlandish Unique Ability can change the game and force you to think dierently.

Joal Kalmor
Even the immortal dragons can be hunted if you know their weakness.

Malandrax Mecchi
As expected, everything is playing out splendidly.

Joal possesses additional unique bases, and can swap out his starting selection of bases to put new strategies into place. He is a great pick for players who like to adapt their abilities to match each opponent. Diculty: Intermediate Complete Kit: - 1 Character Card ( Joal Kalmor) - 5 Styles (Cu hroat, Dual Wield, Relentless, Slayers, Warded) - 5 Bases (Knuckles, Binding Knife, Hand Cannon, Ironstar, Runeblade) - 1 Finisher (Annihilator / Neutralizer)

Malandrax sets traps for opponents, activating them instantly when the conditions are right, based on his opponents movements. He is suitable for tricky players who like to induce paranoia in opponents to make them trip up. Diculty: Advanced Complete Kit: - 1 Character Card (Malandrax Mecchi) - 4 Trap Cards (Alarm Trap, Electroshock Trap, Smasher Trap, Wall Spike Trap) - 5 Styles (Calculated, Ingenious, Leading, Plo ing, Precision) - 1 Base (Master Plan) - 1 Finisher (Deathtrap / Plots Within Plots)

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Frequently Asked Questions

For a more complete and up-to-date FAQ, check out www.ba leconnection.com

Malandrax

Q: Can my Smasher Trap be used to trigger a hit with my Master Plan? A: No. Smasher Trap only activates during End of Beat, and Master Plan has already missed the opponent at this point. Q: Do I have to activate a trap immediately when its relevant? A: No, you can always wait to activate a trap, but if your opponent moves on to the next eect and doesnt give you another chance to activate, then youve missed your opportunity! Q: Can I interrupt movement with a trap? A: Yes, you can activate a trap in the middle of another players movement eect. Once the trap eect is complete, the other players eect continues as normal.

Common Questions

Q: Does damage cause life loss, and viceversa? A: No. ese are two dierent things. Damage is usually caused by a acks based on their power. Life loss is typically caused by triggered eects. e primary dierence between these two are that life loss cannot reduce a character below 1 life, will never stun a character, and bypasses soak.

Q: What happens if priority changes a er the Reveal? A: Nothing. Once priority order is resolved, Shekhtur changes to priority do not alter that order later Q: Exactly what happens when I hit with the on in the beat. Triggered eects (like Marmelees Soul Breaker Finisher? Petrifying style) can still alter the priority order. A: Treat it as though your opponents Unique Ability text were completely blank. Eligor - Eligor can no longer ante or acquire tokens. - Joals stockpile cannot be accessed anymore Q: What is included in the power of my Aegis (he keeps extra bases already in play though). base? - Malandrax can no longer set traps. A: Any numbers printed in the power Any eects or abilities that reference tokens, section of your opponents a ack pair. Bonuses, traps, or the stockpile stop working. like those provided by Malandraxs Ingenious style or Shekhturs 3rd and 5th tokens are not included. Gameplay Tips

Joal
Q: When do I select my stockpile? A: Anything that happens during setup (such as choosing the stockpile or se ing your starting discards) happens secretly and is revealed simultaneously right before the duel begins.

Start out by sticking with a single character and mastering them. e more you play a single character, the be er youll get. Only once you have all of your own eects and capabilities mastered will you be able to nd the ways to exploit an opponents weaknesses and to compensate for your own. Never give up. Except in a very few situations, theres always a winning move that will make a positive exchange (or at least avoid

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negative exchange). If things get tough, buckle down and pay more a ention to your opponents discards and play style. Play best of three matches. Especially with new characters, a rst match will rarely tell you anything about the depth and possibilities of your character. A rst match lets each side know what the other is capable of, but the second match gives those possibilities time to sink in, so that the other side can eectively counterplay. Ba leCON plays the best with full information and mastery on both sides of the eld. Playing a complete match rather than just one duel gives you the opportunity to correct mistakes made in the rst duel and experiment with new strategies that can deal with your opponents kit. Unconventional opponents require unconventional play. Not all matches will be as easy as others, but all matches are winnable. Sometimes a match will require a completely dierent set of strategies from what youve become accustomed to. Characters with extreme mobility, speed, defense, or certain tricks can completely shut down the core strategies of your favorite character. Finding a new strategy to overcome these tactics is part of the fun of Ba leCON, and one of the most satisfying parts of mastering a character is when you can handily win a ght that looks impossible at rst glance.

Thanks for checking out

You can visit www.ba leconnection.com to get a copy of the complete game, or to check out additional characters, gameplay reviews, backstory notes, and strategy guides! If youve had fun with this small slice of the complete game, theres tons more where it came from. e complete Devastation of Indines game has over 18 characters, multiplayer modes, massive cooperative bosses to ght, and even solo dungeons to tackle. anks from all of us at Level 99 Games for taking the time to try out Ba leCON!

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