Battle moves
How do you change a creature's battle moves? With gene edits. A creature holds five moves, one in each slot. Once its three stats all reach level 10, each gene edit can mutate one ability: the slot rolls again from its own list, and the roll never gives back the move it held.
Gene edits
Battles in the Holo-Arena fill a creature's Mutation Progress, and each full bar is one gene edit. A creature first spends its edits on its stats, Combat, Agility, and Health, one level per edit, up to level 10 in each. That makes 30 edits, and the game calls the result maximum genetic potential. Until then Mutate Ability stays shut, with the line "Cannot edit until creature has reached max potential".
Edits keep coming after that. The bar grows longer with each edit a creature has earned, from 350 progress for the first to 1250 from edit 29 on, and it stays there. An edit earned early waits unspent, so a creature can come to its full potential with edits in hand for its moves.
| Gene edit | Mutation progress |
|---|---|
| 1 to 2 | 350 |
| 3 | 400 |
| 4 | 450 |
| 5 to 11 | 500 |
| 12 to 18 | 650 |
| 19 to 25 | 800 |
| 26 to 28 | 950 |
| 29 and on | 1250 |
What a level of a stat adds is on creature stats.
Retroviral Pellets
A Retroviral Pellet is one gene edit in a pill. Feed it to a companion and it adds one unspent edit, the same as a full Mutation Progress bar, so after full potential it pays for one mutation of a move. It does not pick a move by itself: the mutation rolls as any other.
A won battle can drop one, most often the daily challenge of Iteration: Oceanus, 75% of the time, and a system champion, 60%. The Arena League section below lists every battle.
The Arena League
Pet battles are fought at Holo-Arenas, and the Arena League runs them. A player meets it in this order.
- Iteration: Oceanus. A collector at the Holo-Arena aboard the Space Anomaly. They teach the first battle and hand over a Retroviral Pellet, then a Holo-Arena Invitation.
- Challengers. A Challenger's Invitation marks a Holo-Arena on a nearby planet. Beat the challenger and the next invitation comes on its own.
- The champion. After every 3 challenger wins, the next invitation is a Champion's Invitation instead: the system champion, who fights with creatures from the planets of that system. Beat them and a new Challenger's Invitation starts the round again, so it is 3 challengers, then a champion, for as long as you play.
- Oceanus again. On request Oceanus gives a training battle, which pays little but always hands out a Challenger's Invitation. Each day they also hold a hard daily challenge with the same team for every Traveller; it pays the most Nanites and the best pellet chance.
| Battle | Retroviral Pellet | Nanites | Invitation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Against another player | none | none | — |
| Iteration: Oceanus, training battle | none | 5 to 10 | Challenger's Invitation |
| Settlement | none | 5 to 10 | — |
| Challenger, from a Challenger's Invitation, or a trading post | 3% | 12 to 20 | — |
| Planetary archive | 3% | 10 to 20 | — |
| Pirate station | 3% | 10 to 20 | — |
| Space station | 8% | 15 to 30 | — |
| Deep-Space Outpost | 8% | 15 to 30 | — |
| System champion, from a Champion's Invitation | 60% | 30 to 50 | Challenger's Invitation |
| Iteration: Oceanus, daily challenge | 75% | 175 to 250 | — |
The other tables of the list need no invitation: each stands in a building of its own. A space station or a Deep-Space Outpost gives a pellet 8% of the time, a trading post the same 3% as a challenger, and a settlement none.
Medals and their eggs
Wins count toward five medals in the Catalogue, each with ten ranks and a title per rank. At the top rank of each, Oceanus's Arena League Rewards give one egg for free. Each hatches with all three grades at S and one of the fixed kits below. 30 daily challenges won bring the Wandering Shrimp Tank, 60 champions beaten the Aeron Crab, and 220 battles won the Geno-Prawn.
| Medal | Counts | For the egg | Top rank | Egg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apex Companions | Creatures at full potential | 20 | Morphogeneticist | Boundary Horror |
| Iteration: Oceanus | Daily challenges won | 30 | Grandmaster | Wandering Shrimp Tank |
| Hatch Eggs | Eggs hatched | 30 | Egg Expert | Corrupted Quadruped |
| Champions Defeated | System champions beaten | 60 | Galactic Champion | Aeron Crab |
| Holo-Arena Victories | Battles won | 220 | Gold Crest | Geno-Prawn |
Eggs of your companions
A companion can lay an egg, a Companion Egg, and the egg carries its parent's battle grades. What the game asks of the parent:
- Fed and petted. Hunger and loneliness both at 10% or less; the card names what is missing ("Feeling hungry", "Feeling sad", "Requires additional nutrition"). Trust is not among the reasons the card gives.
- In its native climate, and grown at least 3.5 days if it hatched from an egg itself.
- One egg at a time. 24 hours between two eggs, no other egg of yours lying nearby, and a free egg slot.
The egg hatches 24 hours later. Before that the Egg Sequencer on the Space Anomaly can re-sequence it with ingredients: size, temperament, colour, and accessories can shift, and the body can change, but the battle grades and moves stay out of its reach.
The battle grades come from the species, and the egg copies them, so a hatchling has its parent's letters: an all-S creature lays all-S eggs, and a medal egg's creature, the Wandering Shrimp Tank among them, keeps its three S in its eggs. Its five moves are drawn again on hatching, from the same species roll, so a hatchling starts with the moves its parent first had, not the ones mutated since.
Every egg you hatch counts toward the Hatch Eggs medal: 30 hatched bring the Corrupted Quadruped.
The five slots
Every creature draws from the same lists, whatever its affinity; only its moves of its own affinity take that affinity. There are 57 moves across the five slots, and each slot has a job of its own.
A new creature draws each slot by the weights of its list: that is Chance. A mutation draws again from the same list but skips the move the slot holds, so a heavy move held makes the others likelier, and On a mutation shows the least and the most a move can get. To land one move, keep mutating that slot; a light move takes many tries.
Slot 1: plain hits
The hit of the creature's own affinity comes up 74% of the time, and it is the one to keep. A hit of another affinity is worth it only against the creatures it is strong against, and the physical hit is never strong against anything.
| Move | What it does | Chance | On a mutation | Cooldown |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hit | One hit of the creature's own affinity. | 74% | 76% to 83% | 0 |
| Physical hit | One physical hit, strong and weak against nothing. | 11% | 11% to 42% | 0 |
| Frost hit | One Frost hit, whatever the creature's own affinity. | 2.1% | 2.2% to 8.3% | 0 |
| Fire hit | One Fire hit, whatever the creature's own affinity. | 2.1% | 2.2% to 8.3% | 0 |
| Desert hit | One Desert hit, whatever the creature's own affinity. | 2.1% | 2.2% to 8.3% | 0 |
| Tropical hit | One Tropical hit, whatever the creature's own affinity. | 2.1% | 2.2% to 8.3% | 0 |
| Anomalous hit | One Anomalous hit, whatever the creature's own affinity. | 2.1% | 2.2% to 8.3% | 0 |
| Radioactive hit | One Radioactive hit, whatever the creature's own affinity. | 2.1% | 2.2% to 8.3% | 0 |
| Toxic hit | One Toxic hit, whatever the creature's own affinity. | 2.1% | 2.2% to 8.3% | 0 |
Slot 2: heavier attacks
The two wild moves are near useless: physical, with an extra half chance to miss. Barrage lands three hits in one turn; hit-and-wound and the multi-turn hit spread their damage over later turns, which a fight can end before.
| Move | What it does | Chance | On a mutation | Cooldown |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barrage | Three hits of its own affinity in one turn, each heavier than the last. | 23% | 23% to 29% | 1 to 2 |
| Hit and wound | A hit of its own affinity, then more damage of it at the start of the next turns. | 19% | 20% to 25% | 1 to 2 |
| Multi-turn hit | Hits of its own affinity on three turns in a row, heavier each turn. | 14% | 15% to 19% | 3 to 5 |
| Ramping hit | A hit of its own affinity that grows each time it is used. | 13% | 14% to 17% | 0 to 1 |
| Wild charge | A physical hit with an extra half chance to miss, as the wild hit. | 13% | 13% to 16% | 1 to 2 |
| Hit on their agility | A hit of its own affinity that grows with the enemy's agility. | 5.8% | 5.9% to 7.5% | 1 to 2 |
| Hit on its agility | A hit of its own affinity that grows with its own agility. | 5.8% | 5.9% to 7.5% | 1 to 2 |
| Physical hit and wound | A physical hit, then more physical damage at the start of the next turns. | 3.8% | 3.9% to 5% | 1 to 2 |
| Wild hit | A physical hit with an extra half chance to miss. | 1.9% | 2% to 2.5% | 1 to 2 |
Slot 3: attacks with a catch
Every move here weighs the same, so each has the same chance. Avoid the reckless hit that heals the enemy, and mind the two that hurt your own creature. Players count buff removal, which Purge does, among the strongest picks.
| Move | What it does | Chance | On a mutation | Cooldown |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wound | Damage of its own affinity at the start of each turn for a few turns. | 9.1% | 10% | 1 to 3 |
| Delayed blast | Damage of its own affinity that lands three turns later. | 9.1% | 10% | 3 to 4 |
| Reckless hit, crit | A hit that seldom misses, but the enemy's critical hit chance rises. | 9.1% | 10% | 2 |
| Reckless hit, damage | A hit that seldom misses, but the enemy's damage rises. | 9.1% | 10% | 2 |
| Reckless hit, heal | A hit that seldom misses, but the enemy heals over the next turns. | 9.1% | 10% | 2 |
| Self-wounding hit | A hit that seldom misses, and damage over time on itself. | 9.1% | 10% | 3 to 5 |
| Hit both | Hits the enemy and itself. | 9.1% | 10% | 3 to 5 |
| Ticking wound | Damage of its own affinity that bursts four turns later. | 9.1% | 10% | 3 to 4 |
| Purge | Removes the enemy's good effects. | 9.1% | 10% | 2 to 3 |
| Charged hit | Lowers its own damage reduction for a turn, then hits twice as hard. | 9.1% | 10% | 3 to 5 |
| Powered hit | Raises its own damage over two turns, then hits twice as hard. | 9.1% | 10% | 2 to 4 |
Slot 4: heals and shields
The plain Heal lands on the turn you use it; heal over time and the delayed heal pay later, and Absorb heals only while the enemy hits. How much each heals in the end is not on this page yet.
| Move | What it does | Chance | On a mutation | Cooldown |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delayed heal | Heals itself three turns later. | 18% | 19% to 22% | 1 to 3 |
| Heal | Heals itself at once. | 18% | 19% to 22% | 1 to 3 |
| Heal over time | Heals itself at the end of each turn for a few turns. | 18% | 19% to 22% | 1 to 4 |
| Cleanse | Removes its own bad effects. | 12% | 12% to 14% | 1 to 2 |
| Absorb | For a few turns part of the damage it takes heals it. | 5.9% | 6.2% to 7.1% | 2 to 5 |
| Reflect | For a few turns part of the damage it takes goes back to the enemy. | 5.9% | 6.2% to 7.1% | 2 to 5 |
| Shield | For a few turns part of the damage it takes is blocked. | 5.9% | 6.2% to 7.1% | 2 to 5 |
| Absorbing barrier | A barrier that turns all damage into health until it breaks. | 5.9% | 6.2% to 7.1% | 2 to 5 |
| Barrier | A barrier that blocks all damage until it breaks. | 5.9% | 6.2% to 7.1% | 2 to 5 |
| Mirror barrier | A barrier that sends all damage back until it breaks. | 5.9% | 6.2% to 7.1% | 2 to 5 |
Slot 5: tricks
Players rate Stun, which costs the enemy a turn, and Change affinity, which turns the enemy into the affinity your creature hits hardest, above the rest. Revive is no revive: it acts as the sacrifice for defence.
| Move | What it does | Chance | On a mutation | Cooldown |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trap | Lowers the enemy's damage, and bursts if the enemy removes it. | 14% | 14% to 16% | 3 to 4 |
| Change affinity | Turns the enemy into the affinity its own is strong against, for a few turns. | 14% | 14% to 16% | 5 |
| Reset | Clears all its cooldowns. | 14% | 14% to 16% | 3 |
| Burrow | A certain dodge for one turn. | 6.8% | 6.9% to 7.9% | 2 to 3 |
| Stun | The enemy loses a turn. | 6.8% | 6.9% to 7.9% | 2 |
| Sacrifice for damage | A heavy hit on itself, and the team's damage rises. | 6.8% | 6.9% to 7.9% | 4 |
| Sacrifice for defence | A heavy hit on itself, and the team's damage reduction rises. | 6.8% | 6.9% to 7.9% | 4 |
| Burst of speed | A large rise in agility for one turn. | 3.4% | 3.4% to 3.9% | 1 |
| Raise crit | Raises its critical hit chance for a few turns. | 3.4% | 3.4% to 3.9% | 2 to 5 |
| Raise damage | Raises its damage for a few turns. | 3.4% | 3.4% to 3.9% | 2 to 5 |
| Lower accuracy | Lowers the enemy's accuracy for a few turns. | 3.4% | 3.4% to 3.9% | 2 to 5 |
| Lower defence | Lowers the enemy's damage reduction for a few turns. | 3.4% | 3.4% to 3.9% | 2 to 5 |
| Lower damage and accuracy | Lowers the enemy's damage and accuracy for a few turns. | 3.4% | 3.4% to 3.9% | 2 to 5 |
| Lower damage | Lowers the enemy's damage for a few turns. | 3.4% | 3.4% to 3.9% | 2 to 5 |
| Revive | Named a revive, it acts as the sacrifice for defence: a heavy hit on itself, and the team's damage reduction rises. | 2.7% | 2.8% to 3.1% | 6 |
| Raise accuracy | Raises its accuracy for a few turns. | 2% | 2.1% to 2.4% | 2 to 5 |
| Raise agility | Raises its agility for a few turns. | 2% | 2.1% to 2.4% | 2 to 5 |
| Raise dodge | Raises its dodge chance for a few turns. | 1.4% | 1.4% to 1.6% | 2 to 5 |
Names
The game names a move by its kind and the creature's affinity, so one move shows a different name on a Fire creature than on a Frost one. A kind can have more than one name, and which one a creature shows is fixed for that creature: it keeps its names for good, and two creatures of one affinity can show different ones.
| Kind | Tropical | Frost | Fire | Toxic | Desert | Radioactive | Anomalous | Mechanical | Physical |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hit | Lash, Razorleaf, Pester | Freeze, Frostburn, Icy Blast | Burn, Scorch, Sear | Sting, Spit | Landslide | Alpha Strike, Ion Stream | Phase Beam, Graviton Beam | Laser Cannon, Plasma Beam, Laser-Eyes | Swipe, Lunge, Bite |
| Barrage, hit on agility | Thunderstorm, Barrage | Flurry, Blizzard | Firestorm, Lava Surge, Incinerate | Corrosive Jet, Poison Flurry | Mudslide, Sandblast | Irradiate, Megaton Beam | Supernova | Arcstorm | — |
| Hit and wound | Barbed Lash, Spawn Pests, Grasping Tendrils | Snowfall, Marrowfreeze | Immolate, Instant Ignition | Toxic Spit, Burrowing Worms, Diseased Bite | Rockfall | Half-Life, Deep Wound | Void Egg | Biological Suppression | Serrated Claws, Mangle, Flurry |
| Wild hit or charge | Apex Predator | Frostshock, Shardspear | Wildfire | Acid Spray, Slime Spray | Pound | Gamma Burst, Blast Wave | Starfall, Meteor Shower | Shockbolt, Shockwave | Wild Charge, Roar, Wild Swing |
| Multi-turn or ramping hit | Rampage, Pack Hunter | Howling Wind, Shrieking Gale | Pillar of Flame, Conflagration | Envenom | Relentless | Chain Reaction, Hellfire | Leviathan Beam, Resonance Frequency | Electron-Storm | — |
| Wound | Throw Spores, Spore Cloud, Thorns | Frostbite, Needle | Ignite, Flame Spit, Spit Fire | Necrosis, Rot, Infestation | Wither, Creeping Dust | Slow Decay, Beta Decay | Crumble | Delta Wave Corruption, Nagging Pain, Rust | — |
| Delayed blast | Bug Bomb | Fractal Pain | Magma Bomb | Inject Larvae, Parasitic Larvae | Boulder | Nuclear Blast, Poisoned Water | Boundary Failure, Spacetime Corruption | Detonate, Core Detonation | — |
| Reckless hit | Enraging Blow, Thunderstruck, Primal Rage | Voidfrost | Flashpoint, Inferno | Infect, Release Spores | Sulphurous Touch | Fallout | Crimson Rage | Dissonance | — |
| Self-wounding hit | Plague, Backlash | Cold Snap | Eruption, Scorched Earth, Self Immolation | Parasitic Growth, Novel Pathogen | Curse of Bones | Contaminate, Splash Damage | Dark Energy, Plasmic Accident | Dereference Reality | — |
| Hit both | Cyclone, Boiling Rain, Chaos | Hailstorm, Drown | Thermal Runaway, Volcano, Pyroclasm | Fetid Cloud, Swamp Gas | Undermine, Tremor | Free Radical, Meltdown | Gravity Overload | EMP Pulse, Haywire | — |
| Ticking wound | Solar Ray | Deep Freeze | White Hot | Fester, Bonerot | Cactus Flesh | Supercritical | Tick Tock, Doom | Neutron Bomb, Countdown | — |
| Purge | Purge, Sunbleached | Sleet | Purged by Fire, Melt | Acid Wash | Desert Wind | Genetic Collapse | Mindwipe | Data Harvest | — |
| Charged or powered hit | Bubbling Rage | Absolute Zero | Solar Flare | Outbreak | Sandstorm | Containment Breach | Resonate | Aeron Protocol | — |
| Delayed heal | Lifeblood, Emeril Dream, Paradise Waits | Glacial Energy | Await the Dawn | Produce Larvae | Nightfall | Cellular Fusion | Tap Leyline | Matter Transfer | — |
| Heal | Restoration, Downpour | Transfusion | Cauterise, Warm Blooded | Wallow, Antivenom | Oasis | Knit Flesh | Fractal Growth | Repair, Reconstruction | — |
| Heal over time | Regrowth, Photosynthesis, Overgrowth | Icy Veins | Inner Fire | Regenerate Blood | Fresh Breeze | Transfuse, Rejuvenate | Harmonise, Reinforce Boundary | Living Metal, Self-Assembly | — |
| Cleanse | Purify, Cleanse | Fresh Snow | Cleansing Fire | Sterilise | Bleached Bones | Transmute | Anomaly Ward | Debugging Agent | — |
| Absorb, absorbing barrier | Siphon, Leech Shield | Supercooled | Thermal Transfer, Shadowburn | Mucal Field | Consuming Echo, Lithosphere | Absorb Energy, Extremophile | Atlas Touched | Dynamo, Failsafe | — |
| Reflect, mirror barrier | Spiny Carapace, Reflective Bubble | Prismatic Shield | Mirrorlight | Caustic Skin, Caustic Blood | Mirage | Forcefield | Skin of Glass, Terrorsphere | Magnetosphere, Encrypt Self | — |
| Shield, barrier | Ironbark, Hardened Shell, Thick Plating | Crystal Barrier, Ice Wall | Firewall, Fire Shield | Impenetrable Slime | Stonewall, Heart of Stone, Ferrite Skin | Plasma Shield | Cocoon, Boundary Wall | Barricade, Bulwark, Heavy Armour | — |
| Burst of speed | Zephyr, Uncoil | Antifreeze Blood, Thaw | Boiling Point | Hormone Sacs | Blistering Speed | Feedback Loop | Frameshift | Apply Oil, Lubricate, Self-Greasing | — |
| Trap | Nagging Itch, Swarm of Flies, Warning Growl | Permafrost | Parch | Gelatinous Mass, Suspicious Fluid | Burning Lungs | Genemelt | <IMG>PR_10<> | Overload | — |
| Burrow | Burrow, Camouflage | Hibernate, Burrow | Evaporate | Limb Drop | Fissure | Shelter | Wormhole, Reality Tear | Phase Shift, Decoy | — |
| Stun | Snaring Roots, Rootbound, Entangle | Icy Chains, Entomb, Crystalise | Heatstroke, Thermal Shock | Paralyse, Sticky Web | Petrify, Fossilize | Stun, Terrify | Banish, Somnal Dust | Containment Field, Signal Jammer | — |
| Change affinity | Call of the Wild | Deep Blue Void | Called by the Sun | Swamp Thing | Dessicate | Mutate | <IMG>PR_0<><IMG>PR_5<> | Clockwork Heart | — |
| Raise accuracy | Hawkeye | Sharpened Vision | Fire Eater | Precision Delivery | Viper's Fangs | Deadeye | Quicksilver | Overclock, Amplitude | — |
| Raise dodge or agility | Butterfly Wings, Mistwalker | Well Insulated | Shimmer, Hot Feet | Scuttle | Shifting Sands | Twisted Helix | Polyrhythm | Dislocation, Servo-Boost | — |
| Raise crit | Precision, Piercing Claws, Sharpened Talons | Indium Heart | Consume Phosphorus, Stoke Up | Limb Breaker | Cold-Blooded | Temporary Eyes | Aeron's Blessing | Spring-Loaded, High-Voltage | — |
| Raise damage | Growth Hormone, Dominance, Heavy Hitter | Frostbloom | Flameclaw | Biological Horror | Swell Up | Gene Cleaver, Grow Limbs | Drink the Water | Supercharge | — |
| Lower accuracy | Throw Dust, Mistveil, Sticky Sap | Snowblind | Heatblind, Blinding Light | Sticky Ooze, Carrion Flies | Quicksand, Dustbowl | Lose Focus | Haunt, [ REDACTED ] | Anomaly Suppression, Oil Spill | — |
| Lower defence, or damage and accuracy | Leafmold, Snaring Vines, Rot | Cold Feet, Numb Heart, Frozen Bones | Dehydrate | Enslime | Blind, Sandtrap | Catastrophe | Bewilder | X-Ray Blast | — |
| Lower damage | Declaw | Freezing Fog | Baked | Morass, Lockjaw | Haunting Wail, Whispering Echoes | Corrupting Touch | Consume Sentience | Safety Valve | — |
| Reset | Recharge, Wild Growth | Refresh | Phoenix Feather | Self-Consumption | Shed Skin | Hydra, Immortality | Iteration Reset | Protocol Override | — |
| Sacrifice, revive | Sacrifice | Storm-born | Phoenix Kiss, From Ashes | Recycle Flesh | To Dust | Next Generation | Rebirth | Self-Destruct, Killswitch | — |
Fixed kits
The five medal eggs always hold the same five moves, one in each slot, with no list to draw from. A mutation of one of their slots swaps the kit move for the plain hit of the creature's own affinity, and the next mutation of that slot brings the kit move back, so a slot of theirs only ever swaps between the two. Where the kit move already is that plain hit, as in the first slot of the Aeron Crab and the Corrupted Quadruped, a mutation spends the edit and leaves the move as it was.
| Creature | Slot 1 | Slot 2 | Slot 3 | Slot 4 | Slot 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Geno-Prawn | Hit and wound | Lower accuracy | Lower damage | Heal | Trap |
| Wandering Shrimp Tank | Hit both | Self-wounding hit | Purge | Sacrifice for defence | Absorbing barrier |
| Corrupted Quadruped | Hit | Reset | Raise dodge | Stun | Ramping hit |
| Boundary Horror | Hit on its agility | Raise agility | Shield | Barrage | Burst of speed |
| Aeron Crab | Hit | Multi-turn hit | Cleanse | Change affinity | Shield |
That is the end of the trail of the guides, from the galaxy down to the creature. How it works walks it again, down to the short list on a system page.