Guide
Everything you need to know, from your first spell to an eight-spell Immortal combo. The game explains each thing the first time you meet it; this page has it all in one place.
Controls
| Keyboard | What it does |
|---|---|
Q W E | Load Quas (ice), Wex (lightning), Exort (fire). Up to three orbs; a fourth pushes out the oldest. |
R | Invoke the spell your three orbs make. It goes into slot D; the spell in D moves to F. |
D F | Cast the spell in that slot. It stays there until you invoke something else. |
U I O J K L | Use the item in that slot (PLAY only). The number keys 7 8 9 / 4 5 6 work too. |
Esc | Pause. From the pause: resume, or quit to the menu. |
H / G / M | Recipe list (menu and after a run) / recipe hint on or off / sound on or off. |
On a phone or tablet, the same buttons are on screen. In SETTINGS → MOVE BUTTONS you can drag them, split them into two groups (Q W E and R D F) and choose one of three sizes.
The ten recipes
Only the mix counts, not the order: QQW, QWQ and WQQ are all Ghost Walk. Invoking does not use up your orbs.
| Spell | Recipe | Spell | Recipe |
|---|---|---|---|
 Cold Snap |  EMP | ||
 Ghost Walk |  Alacrity | ||
 Ice Wall |  Chaos Meteor | ||
 Tornado |  Sun Strike | ||
 Deafening Blast |  Forge Spirit |
Enemies in PLAY
You start with 3 lives. The enemies get faster the longer your run lasts.
| Tier | Needs | When | Reward |
|---|---|---|---|
| Normal | 1 spell | Most enemies (the first nine are all normal) | 1 point |
| Elite | A chain of 2 spells, in order | Enemy 10, 15, 25, 35, 45... | 3 points, 5 gold |
| Overlord | A chain of 3 spells, in order | Enemy 20, 30, 40... | 10 points, 20 gold, a rune, the next stage |
| Immortal | A timed combo of 4 to 8 spells | By chance (see below) | 50 points, 100 gold, a rune, materials |
An enemy that reaches you costs one life for every spell still on its chain: an untouched overlord takes 3, one with a single spell left takes 1. Elites and overlords walk slower than normal enemies, and a wrong spell keeps the progress of a chain.
Runes
Every overlord and Immortal you beat gives a rune. With Aghanim's Scepter you choose it yourself.
| Rune | Effect |
|---|---|
| Regeneration | +1 life (up to 5) |
| Frost | Enemies walk at 60% speed for 15 seconds |
| Double Damage | Points ×2 for 20 seconds |
| Bounty | +25 gold |
| Shield | The next enemy that reaches you costs no life |
Items
Bought in the SHOP with the gold you earn in PLAY (there is nothing to buy with real money). They only work in PLAY; you have six slots. Every item has a second level, and level-2 upgrades need a material that only Immortals drop: Point Booster, Mystic Staff or Sacred Relic.
| Item | Level 1 | Level 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Blink Dagger | The enemy walks back for 3 s | Swift Blink: 4 s |
| Eul's Scepter | The enemy stands still for 2 s | Wind Waker: 3 s, and it is pushed back |
| Black King Bar | No life lost for 5 s | BKB II: 7 s |
| Refresher Orb | The chain loses 2 spells; against an Immortal, the next combo hits twice as hard | Refresher Orb II: shorter cooldown |
| Hand of Midas | +50% gold | Midas II: +100% gold |
| Octarine Core | Item cooldowns −25% | Octarine II: −40% |
| Aghanim's Scepter | Choose 1 of 2 runes | Aghanim's Blessing: 1 of 3 |
| Healing Salve / Cheese | +1 life / +2 lives (single use) | |
| Smoke of Deceit / Greater Smoke | Enemies slowed for 8 s / 12 s (single use) | |
Immortals
Beating an elite adds 10% to the IMMORTAL chance shown at the bottom of the screen, an overlord 20%. The chance is rolled at once; on a hit, an Immortal comes next and the chance goes back to 0%. A warning gives you four seconds to read its combo.
| Immortal | Combo |
|---|---|
| Rimefang | Tornado → EMP → Chaos Meteor → Deafening Blast |
| Cindermaw | Tornado → EMP → Sun Strike → Chaos Meteor → Deafening Blast |
| Gravehorn | Tornado → Sun Strike → Chaos Meteor → Deafening Blast → Cold Snap → Forge Spirit |
| Voltara | Tornado → EMP → Chaos Meteor → Deafening Blast → Chaos Meteor → Deafening Blast → Ice Wall |
| The Hollow King | Forge Spirit → Alacrity → Ice Wall → Cold Snap → Tornado → Sun Strike → Chaos Meteor → Deafening Blast |
Timing a combo
- Tornado lifts the Immortal for 2.5 seconds.
- Spells that land later must hit just as it comes down: Sun Strike lands 1.7 s after the cast, Chaos Meteor 1.3 s, EMP 2.9 s; Deafening Blast flies to it. Cast EMP right after Tornado, Sun Strike and Meteor a little later.
- Landing within 0.15 s of the touchdown is PERFECT, within 0.4 s GREAT, later in the window GOOD. Too early (still in the air) or too late misses.
- Other spells of a combo count by how quickly they follow the previous one: PERFECT within 1.2 s, GREAT within 2 s, GOOD within 3.2 s.
- Cold Snap freezes an Immortal, Ice Wall slows it and Ghost Walk makes it lose you, which buys time.
- A PERFECT combo wins at once; otherwise it takes two or three. With the recipe hint on, timing bars show when to cast each spell.
Practise every Immortal from IMMORTALS in the menu. Your best time against each is saved.
Survival
The endless test: one spell per enemy, 3 lives, no items or runes, and the speed keeps rising. It is ranked by the time you last.