SHARDFALL

Goal. Mine gold shards, build an army, and shatter the enemy crystal core before yours falls.

Economy. Miners walk to crystal nodes, mine shards, and carry them home. More miners, faster income. Switch miners to Repair to mend your core (costs shards).

Army. Train units with the bottom buttons (keys 1–7). Set the army to Hold near your core or Advance on the enemy (Q / E).

Command a hero. Tap or click any of your units to take direct control — commanded units gain a small hero's edge (a touch more damage, speed, and slow mending) — WASD/arrows or joystick to move, Space/ATK to strike, Esc to release. Gamepad: left stick moves, A attacks, B releases, Start pauses.

Commanding an archer or necromancer. Hold attack to draw the bow (or channel the staff): a dotted arc shows exactly where the shot will fly. Steer the arc with movement, release to loose. A necromancer's lob detonates where it lands. Both glide while you move them. Necromancers raise up to two skeletal servants, one at a time on a short cooldown — frail as dry twigs but the fastest things on the field, dagger-quick, free of the army cap, and commandable like any unit. Commanded necromancers raise them with the 💀 SUMMON (F) button.

The Healer. A hooded field-medic (300 shards, key 4) who cannot fight at all — but mends allies remarkably fast, always tending the most wounded soul in reach. Command one and hold its ✚ HEAL (F) button to channel mending onto the most wounded ally in reach.

Commanding a colossus. Press ⬢ QUAKE (F) and the giant splits the earth on the side it faces — a lingering tremor of middle reach that grinds and staggers everything caught in it. The ground needs a moment to settle between quakes.

Commanding a miner. Miners get their own work buttons: hold ⛏ MINE (F) beside a crystal node to swing the pick, hold ✚ REPAIR (R) beside your wounded core to mend it, and use attack to fight. Shards deposit automatically when you carry them home.

Camera. Drag or A/D to pan, scroll or pinch to zoom, tap the minimap to jump.

Upgrades. Open the War Council (U) to boost damage, health, mining, and training speed.

The Powerhouse. Battles earn ✦ Aether — more for higher difficulties, swift or flawless wins, elite kills, and every survival wave. Spend it in the Powerhouse to unlock and upgrade battlefield powers, then equip up to three per loadout. In battle, unleash them from the buttons above your training row (keys 8, 9, 0). Beware: cunning enemy commanders wield powers of their own.