Skirmish: captain, please steer
The squad has a leader. Unfortunately, it is you.
Give one creature the clipboard
Skirmish lasts 240 seconds. Bring eight fighters and choose a captain from that squad. Your captain starts on the field and moves under your control; deployed squad members still fight automatically. Choose one of two specializations for each fighter to trade one strength for another.
A captain has 1.6× the health of its specialization-adjusted regular version. Skirmish uses its own specialization stats rather than Classic staking levels. Your aim and positioning matter more than a bigger staking position.
A captain’s very short driving test
| Action | Mouse / touch | Keyboard |
|---|---|---|
| Move | Tap the field in Move mode; right-click also moves on desktop. | WASD or arrow keys; M selects Move. |
| Hold position | Let movement stop so the captain can attack nearby enemies. | Space cancels movement and casting. |
| Use skill | Choose Skill, then tap a target. | Q, then click your aim point. |
| Use ultimate | Choose Ultimate at 100 resolve, then aim. | R, then click your aim point. |
| Deploy backup | Choose a hand card, then tap blue territory. | 1–4, then click a deployment point. |
| Use relay barrier | Press the Barrier control after earning one. | E. |
| Open battle menu | Use the menu / pause control. | P or Escape. |
Skills have individual cooldowns and visible windups. An ultimate needs 100 resolve, consumes it, and has a 22-second cooldown. Moving interrupts a charge or healing channel; a stun can also spoil a carefully prepared move. Do not try to walk and channel at the same time.
Resolve starts at 25 and builds through combat, healing, and a small passive gain. Your elixir still caps at 10, regenerating at 0.58 per second, then 0.92 during the last minute.
Own the river, borrow a shield
The first river relay activates at 35 seconds. Stand within its capture circle and contest it with your squad. A captain counts as two units of presence. Enemies contesting the circle slow or prevent an easy capture.
Capturing grants one barrier charge, with up to two stored. Activate a charge to shield your living squad: each receives up to 220 shield, capped by 60% of its maximum health, for seven seconds. The next relay opportunity is scheduled 42 seconds after a capture.
A defeated captain returns after 14 seconds. The team loses 15 resolve, down to a minimum of zero. Losing a captain is a setback, not an automatic defeat.
Win, review, improve
Destroy the enemy king to win immediately. At four minutes, destroyed towers decide first, then total remaining tower health. Equal results are draws. The current rules do not add an overtime round.
Practice can be paused, and completed practice runs can be exported as JSON replays. Online battles keep running while you open a menu. Forfeiting gives the other player the win; check the on-screen entry terms before joining a token match.