Rules update: The balance results below predate Construct blocking and the six-Construct Prismforge deck. Read the current Prismforge rules, deck and matched test results. These earlier full-faction rates are historical.
Current release: seven-faction balance 1. All seven factions, fourteen Companions, 143 card designs, companion paths and Ascensions are available from the main game. Every existing character remains available. Selected on independent-scenario screening for the smallest faction and companion distance from 50%, improved companion parity, near-even starting order and fewer extreme matchups. Card rules were locked before the new independent-scenario confirmation run.
Each version ran 11,648 games on eight unused seed blocks, with a distinct shuffle for every matchup, companion, seat, start and policy scenario: all 21 cross-faction pairings, both Companions from each faction, both seats, both starting players and four scoring/aggressive policy pairings. Seven same-faction companion pairings were tested separately. Each companion pairing has 128 distinct confirmation shuffles; screening used 64. Candidates share identical scenario seeds for paired comparisons. Mirrors do not inflate faction averages.
The before version uses unchanged card rules with the same improved practice-opponent logic as the release. This separates card changes from the Revelwild AI corrections. Wins count 1, draws ½ and losses 0.
| Faction | Before | Current | Change | Games per version |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hearthbound | 49.7% | 49.9% | 0.1 pp | 3072 |
| Skyrunners | 59.7% | 45.6% | -14.1 pp | 3072 |
| Veilborn | 55.0% | 52.7% | -2.3 pp | 3072 |
| Ironmaw | 65.6% | 52.6% | -13.1 pp | 3072 |
| Hourglass Covenant | 45.6% | 47.8% | 2.2 pp | 3072 |
| Revelwild | 35.1% | 56.0% | 20.9 pp | 3072 |
| Prismforge | 39.2% | 45.4% | 6.3 pp | 3072 |
| Faction | Companion | Before | Current | Own-faction companion mirror |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hearthbound | Brindle — Companion | 49.9% | 50.3% | 49.2% |
| Hearthbound | Korr — Companion | 49.6% | 49.5% | 50.8% |
| Skyrunners | Vey — Companion | 59.7% | 45.8% | 49.2% |
| Skyrunners | Nima — Companion | 59.7% | 45.5% | 50.8% |
| Veilborn | Nyxara | 56.2% | 52.9% | 53.1% |
| Veilborn | Morrow | 53.9% | 52.5% | 46.9% |
| Ironmaw | Rauk | 64.0% | 51.8% | 43.8% |
| Ironmaw | Skara | 67.2% | 53.3% | 56.3% |
| Hourglass Covenant | Orryx, the Unfinished | 48.3% | 48.1% | 50.8% |
| Hourglass Covenant | Saela, Keeper of Tomorrows | 42.8% | 47.4% | 49.2% |
| Revelwild | Zazri, the Grand Misrule | 34.9% | 57.6% | 54.7% |
| Revelwild | Pippa, Lanternheart | 35.4% | 54.4% | 45.3% |
| Prismforge | Vitra, the Shaping Heart | 40.9% | 44.9% | 46.9% |
| Prismforge | Keldrax, Walking Citadel | 37.5% | 46.0% | 53.1% |
Read across each row. We aim toward 50% overall for every faction and Companion; 45–55% is a working tolerance. Matchups outside 35–65% remain a review priority. These thresholds are goals, not guarantees.
| Faction | Hearthbound | Skyrunners | Veilborn | Ironmaw | Hourglass Covenant | Revelwild | Prismforge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hearthbound | — | 58.2% | 45.5% | 50.1% | 52.1% | 44.9% | 48.4% |
| Skyrunners | 41.8% | — | 51.6% | 35.2% | 50.0% | 44.7% | 50.6% |
| Veilborn | 54.5% | 48.4% | — | 55.1% | 55.3% | 46.9% | 56.3% |
| Ironmaw | 49.9% | 64.8% | 44.9% | — | 51.8% | 43.9% | 60.0% |
| Hourglass Covenant | 47.9% | 50.0% | 44.7% | 48.2% | — | 43.2% | 52.5% |
| Revelwild | 55.1% | 55.3% | 53.1% | 56.1% | 56.8% | — | 59.6% |
| Prismforge | 51.6% | 49.4% | 43.8% | 40.0% | 47.5% | 40.4% | — |
| Measure | Before | Current |
|---|---|---|
| First-player win score | 51.7% | 52.5% |
| Mean numbered round | 6.29 | 5.92 |
| Reached round 12 | 153 / 11648 | 131 / 11648 |
| Factions within 45–55% | 2 / 7 | 6 / 7 |
| Companions within 45–55% | 4 / 14 | 12 / 14 |
| Matchups outside 35–65% | 6 / 21 | 0 / 21 |
| Largest companion gap | 5.5 pp | 3.1 pp |
The opening remains: first player cannot Explore on their first turn; second player receives +1 available Charge on their first turn only. Capacity and later income are unchanged. The larger +2 opening bonus was rejected because it favored going second too strongly in screening.
Saela’s bonus applies to her next Explore after a Foretell resolves and expires that turn. Her optional normal move still exhausts. Skara’s Relentless now costs 2 Charge; Eightfold Ravager retains its twice-per-turn limit at 2 Charge per use. Keldrax’s location bonus applies only beside your own Construct at a normal Route.
| Faction | Card | Changes |
|---|---|---|
| Skyrunners | Gale Courier | cost 3 → 4 |
| Skyrunners | Guststep | cost 1 → 0 Move a friendly character to an adjacent Route without exhausting it. Does not ready it or consume its normal move, and ignores its normal movement limit. |
| Skyrunners | Tailwind | cost 1 → 2 |
| Hearthbound | Bellburrow | cost 3 → 2 |
| Skyrunners | Lantern Signals | cost 1 → 2 |
| Veilborn | Morrow | force 2 → 1 |
| Veilborn | Hexmantle | cost 3 → 2 |
| Ironmaw | Skara | force 2 → 1 Relentless - After its own Challenge defeats an Ally, you may pay 2 Charge to ready Skara. It cannot Explore this turn. Once per turn. Eight-legged predator with oversized interlocking fangs. |
| Ironmaw | Snapmaw | force 4 → 3 |
| Ironmaw | Bloodhowl | cost 4 → 5 |
| Hourglass Covenant | Saela, Keeper of Tomorrows | After your Foretell Tactic resolves, Saela gains +1 Insight for her next Explore this turn. If she is ready and has not moved normally, you may also move her to an adjacent normal Route for 0 Charge. This is her normal move and exhausts her. |
| Hourglass Covenant | Secondhand Sentinel | force 3 → 4 |
| Hourglass Covenant | Pendulum Warden | insight 0 → 1 |
| Hourglass Covenant | Borrowed Dawn | cost 0 → 1 |
| Revelwild | Tatterstep | guard 2 → 3 |
| Revelwild | Grumbleglow | cost 3 → 2 |
| Revelwild | Ribbon Duelist | insight 0 → 1 |
| Revelwild | Maskbearer | cost 3 → 2; guard 4 → 3; insight 1 → 2 |
| Revelwild | Parade Weaver | cost 3 → 2 |
| Revelwild | Crescendo Hulk | cost 4 → 3; insight 0 → 1 |
| Prismforge | Keldrax, Walking Citadel | force 1 → 2 Foundation — Your first Construct this match costs 1 less Charge, minimum 1. Keldrax has +2 Force while at a normal Route containing your Construct. |
| Prismforge | Refraction Mason | force 1 → 2 |
| Prismforge | Core Tender | cost 2 → 1 |
Companions still start with Guard 5. Normal movement exhausts; ready defenders block Explore; the defender chooses interception. The win target stays at 20 Renown. No unit cap, hidden comeback bonuses, manipulated draws or faction-specific opening advantages were added.
58,240 qualifying comparative games in this tuning pass, including screening and confirmation. Candidate selection used the four screening seed blocks only; confirmation used eight separate blocks. Early Saela experiments with an expiry defect were discarded. An earlier shared-seed candidate also failed confirmation and was rejected. Both are excluded from this evidence count; current trials use independent scenario shuffles. Confirmation games check JSON save/resume and exact card conservation after every action, alongside legal phases, Charge, Construct slots, locations, defeat cleanup and action-loop limits.
| Candidate | Factions in range | Companions in range | Extreme matchups | First-player score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| policybase | 3 / 7 | 5 / 14 | 5 / 21 | 51.3% |
| foundation | 4 / 7 | 8 / 14 | 2 / 21 | 51.0% |
| frontier | 5 / 7 | 9 / 14 | 1 / 21 | 51.0% |
| frontierready | 4 / 7 | 8 / 14 | 5 / 21 | 51.2% |
| settled | 6 / 7 | 11 / 14 | 1 / 21 | 51.0% |
| atlas | 6 / 7 | 12 / 14 | 1 / 21 | 50.7% |
| Faction | Lowest holdout block | Highest holdout block | Scoring policy | Aggressive policy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hearthbound | 44.5% | 52.2% | 49.2% | 50.6% |
| Skyrunners | 43.0% | 49.7% | 45.1% | 46.2% |
| Veilborn | 51.0% | 54.4% | 52.2% | 53.3% |
| Ironmaw | 48.2% | 58.1% | 47.9% | 57.2% |
| Hourglass Covenant | 44.8% | 50.5% | 47.9% | 47.6% |
| Revelwild | 53.4% | 58.6% | 55.3% | 56.7% |
| Prismforge | 42.4% | 49.5% | 45.4% | 45.4% |
These are heuristic AI diagnostics with fixed full decks and no mulligans, not human win-rate predictions, confidence intervals or proof that the game is finally balanced. Seed blocks, mirrored seats and policy pairings are dependent. Human playtests must validate skill, counterplay, duration and custom-deck balance. UI checks execute real controls in a minimal DOM; browser layout was unavailable for verification.
The release uses a new saved-match namespace. Resume four-faction v0.36 or resume the previous seven-faction rules. New games on the main page use the current release.