What you’ll learn
- Know what each card choice does
- Plan compatible evolution recipes
- Understand full slots and Bonds
1. Start with the partner’s actual move pool
A normal level-up move pool combines Normal moves with the partner’s species types. A Fire partner can therefore see Normal and Fire options; a dual-type partner has both type families. Check the partner’s available moves in the game before choosing an evolution goal.
An opening exception can add a move outside that ordinary pool. Psyduck is Water but starts with Confusion. You can upgrade that opening move; it does not mean every Psychic move becomes available as a new card. Check the starting move and the normal pool separately.
Plan one main attack and one useful alternative before filling every slot. Attack behavior matters: a projectile, an orbit and a dash solve different positioning problems. A type advantage is useful only when you can actually place the attack where it needs to land.
2. Match Physical and Special to your partner
Move type and attack category answer different questions. Fire, Water and the other types determine matchups and weather; Physical or Special determines which attack factor your partner uses and which defense the target uses. Your partner’s old single attack factor is the higher of its physical and special factors.
Swords Dance and Dragon Dance boost physical attack only. Nasty Plot boosts special attack and belongs to the Normal pool, so every partner can receive it. It does not help the damage of a physical attack. Choose a buff for the damaging moves you actually intend to use together.
The percentage beside a move in Level-up compares your partner’s attack factor for that category with its stronger factor. It is not a hit chance or measured DPS. Range, number of hits, enemy defenses, type and weather still affect the result.
| Choice | Check | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Karate Chop / Shadow Ball | Physical / Special | Machamp has a stronger physical factor; these two attacks do not use the same factor. |
| Swords Dance / Dragon Dance | Physical attack buffs | Useful only for the physical damage in your active slot or Bond group. |
| Nasty Plot | Special attack buff | Raises special damage; it does not strengthen physical hits. |
3. Learn what the three offers can change
A new-move card fills an empty slot with a compatible move. An upgrade card raises an owned move by one level, to a maximum of 5. A stat card improves the run or heals immediately. Each move has its own upgrade effects; a later level can increase count, coverage or uptime rather than simply add damage.
Only the active slot triggers moves. A new move gives you another attack to switch to, rather than automatically casting alongside the old one. Existing projectiles and timed buffs may continue briefly after switching. The game stops offering additional buff moves once you hold two; learn a damaging attack before relying on a support move.
Stat cards have different limits. Power can be picked 40 times, Sprint 8 and Reflexes 10 in this game build. Armor has a 12-pick limit and a separate 70% application cap. Percentage effects such as Power compound, so a pick count is not the same as an additive percentage.
The game first samples up to six eligible new moves. Attacks on your partner’s stronger side receive sampling weight 2 instead of 1; buff moves also receive weight 2. The later three-card draw uses its own weights. This favors suitable attacks without guaranteeing one or doubling its final appearance probability.
4. Reach both evolution requirements in the same run
An eligible move must reach level 5, and you must have selected at least one copy of its required stat card during the current run. You may take the stat card before or after level 5. Then choose its gold evolution card at a later level-up.
There are 65 base moves and 59 evolution paths; the six buff moves do not evolve. A ready evolution is given a guaranteed place among the offered cards for the first ready candidate. If several moves are ready, do not interpret that as every evolution appearing together.
One stat card can satisfy several recipes that use it, but each move still needs its own levels and gold choice. Ember and Water Gun both use Power. Confusion uses Reflexes. Use the examples below and the full Level-up list rather than guessing the requirement from the move’s type.
5. Pick upgrades for a problem, not a perfect sequence
Concentrate early move upgrades on one main attack and take its prerequisite when it appears. Once the first evolution is established, decide whether to improve coverage, movement or sustain. Card offers are random, so the plan must tolerate an alternative.
If a good defensive or recovery choice keeps the run alive, it can be more useful than waiting for a specific attack. Avoid collecting several incompatible goals simply because the cards look strong in isolation. A second evolution is valuable only if you can finish it and make use of its slot.
Use the expanded Level-up rows to compare what each next level changes. Raw per-hit damage is not a DPS ranking: cooldown, projectile count, area, pierce, enemy typing and your partner’s attack factor all affect the result. Use the Types page to compare an attack against each of an enemy’s defending types, multiplying the two factors for a dual-type target.
6. Use a Bond to free a slot
Each Rift victory grants a Bond. After returning from the arena, you can fuse two separate learned moves, then spend later Bonds to add a loose move to an unfinished group. A group holds up to four moves and the selected group casts together. One Bond does not immediately fuse four moves.
Fusion frees the slot previously occupied by a separate move, allowing new-move cards to appear again. It does not supply an unlearned move, free levels or an evolution. If fewer than two suitable separate moves exist, the Bond waits until you have a valid fusion choice.
Fuse attacks you want active at the same time, while keeping a deliberate alternative slot for a different situation. Enter a Rift when the current run is ready for its risk; having an appealing fusion planned is not itself a reason to enter with low health.
7. Use rerolls and save a flexible plan
You get one free card reroll per run. Purchased Card reroll levels add up to five more, for a maximum of six. Defeating a boss does not add another reroll in this game version. Ban can exclude up to three new moves for a partner. Repertoire adds a random eligible non-buff attack at the start, occupying a second slot.
These menu purchases are separate from run stat cards: owning a permanent Strength upgrade does not count as taking Power during the current run. When a gold card seems missing, check the owned move’s level and the exact prerequisite first.
Choose a partner and check its move pool before planning four compatible slots. Compare the Level-up evolution requirements, then note which stat cards the attacks share. Keep one alternative for a missing card instead of depending on a perfect sequence.
Compare move cards →Rules checked · Game 7c1976458d. Report a correction →