The Nineth Realm

Take on the role of a Guardian with the ability to summon monsters and cast spells. Fight opponents from around the world in online battles.



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GAME GUIDE

Practice mode
The Basics
How do I move?
How do I attack?
How do I use a Rune Stone?
How do I spawn a monster?
How do I equip an item?
How do I cast a spell?

RUNE STONES

How do I get more Rune Stones?
What is a Rune Chest?
How do I edit my Rune Chest?
What do Common, Fabled, Arcane and Ancient mean?
How do I sell my Rune Stones?

EFFECTS

Effects Overview
List of Effects

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GETTING STARTED

Practice Mode

If you’ve made it through the tutorial but are still unsure of how to play then you can enter ‘Practice Mode’ to play against a computer opponent. In practice mode no stats are saved so you can get acquainted with the game in a friendly environment.

To enter practice mode click the ‘Play’ tab along the bottom of the screen after logging in. Then click ‘Practice” and hit ‘Continue’ after choosing a map.

The Basics

The aim of The Ninth Realm is to kill the enemy Guardian whilst keeping your own alive. When you first join a game you will have 20 seconds to choose a ‘Discipline’ for that game. Every turn you will be given +1 of your chosen element. Choose wisely because this can have a large impact on the game. When you start the game you get given 3 of each element type.

It’s a turn-based game so you can only act when it is your turn. When it is your turn a sound will play and a message will popup on screen telling you it is your turn. On your turn you have 60 seconds to make whatever moves you wish. You can move your characters around the board or use your Rune Stones to cast spells, equip items or spawn monsters.

Keep an eye on the timer at the top of the screen to see how long you have left to make your moves:

When you are done making your moves click ‘End Turn’ at the top of the screen to end your turn. If you have no moves left to make your turn will be ended automatically. At the end of every turn you will draw a new Rune Stone from your Rune Chest. Note that you can only carry 7 Rune Stones at any one time. If you have 7 at the end of your turn then you will still draw a new one but you will be asked to discard one.

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At the start of every turn you will also be given your resource delivery. You get +1 of whatever resource discipline you chose at the start of the game and a further +1 for any resource nodes that you have flagged at the start of your turn. There are other ways to increase your income or add to a resource type that you will discover as you play the game. There are also ways to prevent the enemy from getting resources or destroying the resources that they already have.

Your current resources are shown in the bottom right. The bigger number shows how much of each resource you current own. The numbers in brackets are your income. The first number is standard income (gained by playing income Rune Stones). The second number is any income that comes from equipped items or flagged resource nodes. These are split up in this way because some Rune Stones allow you to destroy income that is generated by income Rune Stones.

It is important to gain control of resource nodes on the board as soon as possible so this should almost always be your first priority when starting a game. Resource nodes can be identified by the Earth, Air, Fire or Water symbols on the nodes.

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How do I move?

To move a character first click it to select it. Icons will appear on neighbouring nodes that you can move to (nodes are connected by pathways, you can only move along these pathways). Click the ‘Move’ icon (which looks like a pair of boots) on the node that you wish to move to and your character will move there.

You can click a selected character a second time to deselect it.

How do I attack?

Attacking works in exactly the same way as moving. Click the character you wish to attack with to select it. If you are adjacent to an enemy character then instead of a Move icon appearing, an ‘Attack’ icon will appear (this looks like a fist).

Click the Attack icon to attack the enemy. Each character can only attack once in a turn.

You can click a selected character a second time to deselect it.

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How do I use a Rune Stone?

Rune Stones cost resources to use. Rune Stones that you can afford are highlighted. You can see how much of each resource you require to use a Rune Stone on the top left of the Rune Stone.

Different Rune Stones act in different ways. The following sections describe how to use different types of Rune Stones. You can check what kind of Rune Stone you are looking at by hovering over it. If the ‘Usage’ is ‘Equipable’ then it is an item that you can give to any of your characters. Items have a satchel icon at the top of the info box. Spells have a spell-book icon and monsters will have a list of stats including health and attack damage.

You can click a selected Rune Stone a second time to deselect it.

Note: You cannot use Rune Stones on your first turn.

How do I spawn a monster?

Monsters need to be spawned into the battlefield to be used. To do so click the monster Rune Stone to select it. Arrows will appear above any of your empty flagged nodes (nodes that you have visited will have flags of your colour flying next to them). To spawn the monster simply click the available node that you wish to spawn it at. Monsters can be moved on the same turn that they are spawned.

How do I equip an item?

Equipable items can be given to your Guardian (unless otherwise specified) or any of your spawned monsters. Click the Rune Stone that you wish to equip (make sure its Usage type is ‘Equipable’). Satchel icons will then appear over friendly characters that you can give this item to. Choose who you want to give it to and click the icon to equip it.

Note that all characters can only carry one item at a time! If you give an item to a character that already has an item it will replace the one that is currently equipped.

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How do I cast a spell?

Spell Rune Stones are identified by a spell-book icon at the top of the info box that appears when you hover over it. Check the ‘Usage’ type of spells to see who they will affect. Some spells will be used instantly as soon as you click the Rune Stone (such as ‘Instant’ usage types or spells that you use on all friendlies/enemies). Other spells will require you to select either a node, friendly character, or enemy character. In those cases spell-book icons will appear over eligible targets for the spell.

RUNE STONES

How do I get more Rune Stones?

When you play the game you will earn XP for causing damage to enemies. You will also get an XP bonus if you see a game through to the end (even if you lose). As you earn XP you will level up and every time you level up you will be given a random Rune Stone. These Rune Stones are taken from the standard set and have a high chance of being Common, a smaller chance of being Fabled and a low chance of being Arcane.

What is a Rune Chest?

Your Rune Chest contains your current selection of Rune Stones. This is the list of Rune Stones that you will take into battle with you. During battles Rune Stones are drawn from your chest at random so a large part of the strategy involved in the game comes from making sure your chest is set up as effectively as possible.

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How do I edit my Rune Chest?

Click the ‘Rune Chest’ icon at the bottom of the screen to load up your current set of Rune Stones. Runes currently in your chest are displayed along the top and Runes that are available to put into your chest are shown below. You can click any Rune Stone to either add it to or remove it from your chest. Hovering over a Rune Stone will bring up a description of it on the right.

You can also toggle which Rune Stones are currently visible by checking/unchecking the various toggles on the left. For example, if you only want to see your Earth monsters, uncheck all the toggles except the monster toggle and the Earth toggle.

Your edited Rune Chest will only be saved when you leave the Rune Chest screen so if you are changing your setup in between battles make sure you exit this screen before the game starts or your changes will not take effect until the game after.

What do Common, Fabled, Arcane and Ancient mean?

Common, Fabled, Arcane and Ancient refer to the rarety of the Rune Stones. Common are obviously the most common Rune Stones whereas Ancient are the rarest. You can tell what rarety each Rune Stone is by the colour of the border around it. Brown = Common, Silver = Fabled, Gold = Arcane, Black = Ancient.

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How do I sell my Rune Stones?

If for whatever reason you decide you no longer want a particular Rune Stone you can sell it by visiting the shop and clicking ‘Sell Runes’.

You may only sell Runes that you have bought or earned from levelling up. From the Sell Runes screen if you click the Rune Stone you wish to sell you will be shown a popup telling you the amount of Tokens that you will receive in return.

EFFECTS

Effects Overview

Various monsters, spells and items can cause effects. The percentage chance of causing an effect is shown in brackets next to the effect name in the info box for each Rune Stone. These percentages stack so if you have a monster that has 50% chance of causing curse and you give him an item that gives the bearer a 50% chance of causing curse then that monster will now have a 100% chance of causing curse.

Effects can also be removed by certain spells and items. If you give a character an item that protects them from an effect that they are already affected by, that effect will be removed.

If a character is protected against an effect that you try to cause to it, the effect will not be caused. Make sure you keep an eye on what protections enemy characters have to avoid trying to cause effects that they are protected against.

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List of Effects

Negative effects (effects you cause to enemies):

Poison – Causes 3 damage every turn, lasts for 5 turns

Fire – Causes 5 damage every turn, lasts for 3 turns

Ice – Freezes the unit in place and causes 2 damage every turn. Ice smashes if damage is sustained, lasts for 2 turns

Stun – Stunned units cannot move and deal half damage if attacked, lasts for 1 turn

Drain – Drained units always do the lowest damage in their attack range -1, lasts for 5 turns

Disrupt – Removes the effects of any armour the unit is wearing, lasts indefinitely

Curse – Lowers all of the unit’s stats (attack -1, armour -1, critical -10%), lasts indefinitely

Slow – Reduces the unit’s movement to 1 (cannot go below 1, so if the unit’s movement is already 1 slow will be ineffective), lasts for 4 turns

Destroy Item – Destroys the item the enemy unit has equipped (if any)
Steal – Steals the item the enemy unit has equipped (if any)

Knock-Back – Knocks the enemy back to a random empty adjacent node (if there is one). Note that Knock-Back only applies when you are the attacking unit.

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Positive effects (effects you cause to friendlies):

Haste – Gives the unit 1 extra movement point every turn, lasts for 4 turns

Bless – Raises all of the unit’s stats (attack +1, armour +1, critical +10%), lasts indefinitely

Berserk – Berserk units always do the highest damage in their attack range +1, lasts for 5 turns

Regen – Unit restores health every turn (health +4), lasts for 4 turns

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