Keywords and timing rules

Exhaust and Ethereal

Exhaust removes a card from the normal draw cycle until combat ends. Explicit retrieval effects, such as Summon Forth, can bring eligible cards back. Permanent removal at a Merchant changes the run’s deck instead. An Exhaust payoff such as Feel No Pain rewards the combat event; removing a card between fights is a different action.

Ethereal makes a card Exhaust if it remains in hand at the end of the turn. That can activate an Exhaust payoff, but it may also remove a tool you intended to use later. A card that cannot remain in hand is not automatically a recurring defense.

Retain and Innate

Retain prevents the normal end-of-turn discard. It can help align a card with a later resource or target. Keeping the card does not pay its cost, however, and a retained expensive card may occupy hand space while the deck needs immediate answers.

Innate puts a card in the starting hand. That improves access to that card while consuming an opening-hand position. Several slow Innate cards can reduce the immediate attacks or Block available in the same opening. See opening-hand consistency.

Sly only triggers before the turn ends

A Sly card discarded from hand during the turn plays for free. The normal discard that ends the turn does not produce the same result. Use an actual discard action such as Prepared or Acrobatics to choose the card while you can still act.

A card with Sly may have an unattractive ordinary Energy cost. It can become efficient with a reliable outlet, but taking several before that outlet arrives can produce expensive, ineffective hands. The Sly build explains the setup and its alternatives.

Eternal and Unplayable

Eternal prevents permanent removal or transformation. It does not mean the card provides an automatic benefit every turn. Read the actual effect and any other attached rules before selecting a reward or an event option that changes it.

Unplayable means the card cannot be played normally. Other card effects may still reference, discard, transform or Exhaust an eligible card according to their own rules. Check the specific effect rather than treating every interaction with an Unplayable card as prohibited.

Character resources

Orbs, Focus, Doom, Souls, Stars, Forge and Osty are character mechanics with their own rules. A keyword tooltip explains the rule; the character guides explain how to make decisions around it. Related synergy pages distinguish a complete connected interaction from two cards that merely mention the same mechanic.

Combat effects

Strength

Changes damage dealt by Attacks according to the Strength amount. Multiple hits can each benefit; effects that cause direct HP loss are a different damage source.

Dexterity

Changes Block gained from cards. It does not turn every source of Block into a card effect.

Focus

Changes eligible Orb effects. Lightning, Frost and Dark use Focus; Plasma’s Energy output does not increase.

Buffer

Each charge prevents one event that would lose HP. A multi-hit attack can consume a charge on one hit while later hits still deal damage. Block can prevent an event from needing a charge. Buffer and multi-hit examples ↗

Poison

Poisoned creatures lose HP at the start of their turn. The Poison amount then decreases; extra Poison triggers can consume a small stack more quickly. Doom and Poison timing ↗

Doom

At the end of the enemy turn, a creature with HP at or below its Doom amount dies. Reaching the threshold does not cancel the enemy action that precedes this check. Doom and Poison timing ↗

Weak

Weakened creatures deal 25% less damage with Attacks. The rule concerns Attack damage rather than every source of HP loss.

Vulnerable

The affected creature takes 50% more damage from Attacks for the listed duration. Sequence applications before the attacks that should benefit.

Frail

While Frail, gain 25% less Block from cards. Compare card Block with other defensive sources rather than assuming all protection is reduced alike.

Artifact

Negates debuff applications. Count the effects applied, not just the size of a stack, and check their order when one card applies several debuffs. Application order and examples ↗

A discard outlet can make the same defense cheaper