Spells

Piercing Shot11 mana · range 16

Draw and loose three times over: instantly fire 3 real arrows at your target, ignoring armor entirely, each dealing your normal arrow damage plus 35 bonus damage. They are real attacks, so everything your bow has learned rides along.

Three real arrow shots rather than a flat nuke: each one deals whatever your bow currently deals plus 35, so every damage upgrade you have taken raises all three. Armor is ignored entirely, which makes it the Archer answer to heavily armored enemies that shrug off ordinary arrows. Because they are genuine attacks they follow your targeting setting and re-aim between shots, so a dying enemy does not swallow the whole burst.

Anything your bow does on hit happens three more times, so on-hit upgrades all fire with the burst.

Starts on: Archer · Ranger

Arrow Storm13 mana · range 16

A volley into the densest pack: 120 to the middle of it, and 60 to each of up to 4 others around it.

A volley into the densest pack: 120 to the enemy in the middle of it and 60 to each of up to 4 others around it. This is flat spell damage rather than a weapon burst, so it lands the same amount whatever your bow is currently hitting for. Aim it where the wave is tightest, because a loose group means most of the secondary hits find nothing.

Starts on: Archer · Ranger

Killshot11 mana · range 16

Fire one real rifle shot right now, ignoring armor entirely: your normal shot damage plus 90 bonus damage. The shot is a real attack, so it aims the way your rifle aims and it crits against an enemy your rifle has already marked.

One real rifle shot fired right now, ignoring armor entirely, dealing your normal shot damage plus 90. It is a genuine attack, so it aims the way your rifle aims, and against an enemy your rifle has already marked it crits, which is the largest single hit the Sniper can produce. It does not wait on the rifle's slow 2.5 second cadence, so it is the answer to something that arrives between your shots.

Your rifle marks whatever it is aiming at and gives the whole tower +40% crit chance against that enemy, so the mark is usually already sitting where you want this to land.

Starts on: Archer · Sniper

Frag Round13 mana · range 16

A shell that bursts on impact: 100 damage to every enemy within 2 range of the target.

A shell that bursts on impact for 100 damage to every enemy within 2 range of the target, with no falloff: the full 100 lands on each of them. It is flat spell damage rather than a rifle shot, so it lands the same whatever your rifle is hitting for. Save it for the moments the wave bunches up, since the rifle handles single enemies perfectly well on its own.

Starts on: Archer · Sniper

Bonus Rounds13 mana · range 6

Slap the trigger past its stop: instantly fire 3 bonus rounds at your target. They do not use your magazine, and each deals your normal round damage plus 50 bonus damage.

Three real rounds fired instantly at your target, each dealing your normal round damage plus 50, and none of them come out of your magazine. That is the point: the Gunner falls silent when the magazine empties, and this fires straight through the gap. It also leaves your normal attack cooldown alone, so casting mid-burst costs you nothing.

Starts on: Archer · Gunner

Barrel Sweep11 mana · range 6

Walk the barrel across the whole lane: your current target takes 100 damage, and up to 6 more enemies in range take 50 each.

Flat spell damage across the lane: your current target takes 100 and up to 6 more enemies in range take 50 each. It does not touch your magazine and does not use your gun's damage, so it lands the same whatever state your ammo is in. Its reach is the gun's own short range, so the pack has to be close before the cast is worth making.

It is the only wide answer the Gunner has, since the gun itself saws through one enemy at a time.

Starts on: Archer · Gunner

Fan of Knives9 mana · range 12

Six knives ripple outward: 50 damage to each of up to 6 enemies, and each hit strips 100 armor.

Fixed spell damage rather than a weapon burst: 50 to each of up to 6 enemies at once, independent of what your blades hit for. The real payoff is the armor, because every one of those hits strips 100 armor, which opens the whole pack for you and for every tower-mate firing into it. Cast it into a bunched armored wave before your team commits its damage.

If fewer than 6 enemies stand in range, only that many are struck; the spare knives are not saved for later.

Starts on: Rogue · Blade Dancer

Smoke Step9 mana · range 16

Vanish and reappear striking: instantly fire 3 real attacks at your target, every one a guaranteed critical hit, each dealing your normal attack damage plus 55 bonus damage.

Nothing is banked any more: it instantly fires 3 real attacks at your target, every one a guaranteed critical hit, each dealing your normal attack damage plus 110. Because they are real strikes they ricochet to nearby enemies and strip armor equal to the damage they deal, exactly as your ordinary blades do. That 110 is the largest flat bonus any of the burst spells carry, which is what makes this the Rogue's burst button.

Starts on: Rogue · Blade Dancer

Shiv Flurry9 mana · range 12

Three rapid stabs, right now: fire 3 real attacks at your target, each dealing your normal attack damage plus 35 bonus damage. Every stab is a real swing, so it ricochets, strips armor and builds your charge exactly as your attacks do.

Three real Shadow Blade strikes fired instantly at your target, each dealing your normal attack damage plus 35. They are genuine swings, so each one ricochets to a nearby enemy, strips armor equal to the damage it deals, and fills the blade's charge just as three ordinary attacks would. It is the Assassin's way to dump a burst into one tough enemy without waiting on the blade's slow 2.25 second cadence.

Starts on: Rogue · Assassin

Phantom Strikes11 mana · range 12

A blur of after-images: strike up to 5 enemies in range for 45 damage each, and your current target is struck twice. Every strike strips 15 armor.

Flat spell damage spread across the pack: up to 5 enemies in range take 45 each, and your current target is struck a second time, so it eats two of those hits. Every strike also strips 15 armor, so a wide cast shaves armor off five enemies at once instead of one. It is the Assassin's spread option next to Shiv Flurry's single-target burst.

Starts on: Rogue · Assassin

Skull Crack9 mana · range 12

Throw one heavy axe: 160 damage and a guaranteed brief stun (1 second) on one enemy.

One heavy axe for 160 damage and a stun that always lands, holding the enemy still for 1 second. Your ordinary axes only stun 10% of the time, so this is the Brawler's one reliable answer to a single dangerous enemy. It hits one enemy and one only, so save it for the thing your team cannot afford to let walk.

Starts on: Rogue · Brawler

Reckless Swing9 mana · range 16

Stop aiming, start breaking: instantly throw one real axe as a guaranteed critical hit at each of your usual 2 enemies, dealing your normal attack damage plus 33 bonus damage.

Nothing is banked any more: it instantly throws one real axe at each of the two enemies your axes already cover, both guaranteed critical hits, each dealing your normal attack damage plus 33. Because they are real throws they strip armor and can trigger the axes' own 10% chance to briefly stun (1.6 seconds). It resolves the moment you cast, so there is nothing left over to spend and nothing to waste.

Starts on: Rogue · Brawler

Pyroblast13 mana · range 13

Dump the whole flame at once: instantly fire 3 real fireballs at your target, each dealing your normal fireball damage plus 35 bonus damage. Every fireball carries its own splash, and each one leaves the enemy it lands on burning for 27 more over 3 seconds.

Three real fireballs at once, each dealing your normal fireball damage plus 35 and each carrying your usual splash, so all three blasts overlap on a bunched pack. The enemy each fireball lands on is also left burning for 27 more over 3 seconds; enemies caught only by the splash are not burned. Aim it at the thickest part of the wave, where the three splashes cover the most enemies.

Starts on: Sorcerer · Fire Mage

Immolate11 mana · range 13

Sets one enemy ablaze: 80 damage, then 80 more as it burns over 4 seconds. If the victim dies early, the remaining burn leaps to the nearest fresh enemy nearby.

One enemy takes 80 right away and 80 more as it burns over the next 4 seconds. If it dies before the burn finishes, the remainder jumps to the nearest fresh enemy, so casting it on something your team is about to kill is not wasted. It is single-target, so reach for Pyroblast when the pack is bunched instead.

Starts on: Sorcerer · Fire Mage

Lane Bomb13 mana · range 13

Empty the satchel: instantly fire 3 real attacks at your target, each dealing your normal attack damage plus 35 bonus damage. Every round straps or refreshes your explosive charge on what it hits, so the charge is always live when the target dies.

This is a burst of your own firebolts now, not a lane-wide nuke: three real attacks at your target, each dealing your normal attack damage plus 35. Every round straps your explosive charge to what it hits, or restarts the 5 second fuse on a charge already there, so the charge is guaranteed to still be live when that enemy dies and blows up the pack around it. Fire it at something your team is about to finish, so the explosion actually happens.

The Saboteur's charge fizzles if the fuse runs out before the enemy dies, which is exactly the problem this refresh solves.

Starts on: Sorcerer · Saboteur

Heavy Mine11 mana · range 99

Plants a mine on the path just ahead of the front enemy. It arms in half a second and blows up when an enemy walks onto it: 130 damage to the enemy that sets it off, and everything caught in the blast (that enemy included) takes 65 more. Mines stack, so every cast adds another one that waits for its own victim.

Plants a mine on the path just ahead of the front enemy. It arms in half a second and then waits: the enemy that steps on it takes 130, and everything caught in the blast, that enemy included, takes 65 more. Mines stack, so you can seed several down the lane before a wave arrives and let each one find its own victim.

Starts on: Sorcerer · Saboteur

Surge Capacitor15 mana · range 12

Dump the capacitor: instantly fire 4 bolts at your target. Each bolt deals your normal bolt damage plus 20, counts as a step toward your attack speed ramp, and sets the target burning with arcane flame (10 damage over 3 seconds).

Four real bolts fired at once, each dealing your normal bolt damage plus 20 and setting the target burning with arcane flame (10 damage over 3 seconds). Each bolt also counts as a step up your attack speed ramp, and the ramp is re-read between rounds, so the burst accelerates through itself and leaves you firing faster than it found you. Cast it the moment you settle onto a new target, when your ramp is at its slowest.

Overclock raises the ceiling the ramp climbs toward, so a Surge Capacitor cast inside an Overclock window pushes straight into the extra steps.

Starts on: Sorcerer · Arcane Mage

Overclock13 mana · range 12

Push the machine past its limit: for 7 seconds your attack speed ramp can climb 2 extra steps, up to one bolt every 0.4 seconds. Can be cast once per 7 seconds.

For 7 seconds your attack speed ramp may climb 2 steps past its normal top, up to one bolt every 0.4 seconds instead of the usual one every 0.6. It raises the ceiling rather than filling the ramp, so it does very little on its own if your ramp is still near the bottom. The cooldown is also 7 seconds, so with the mana to pay for it you can keep the window up almost continuously.

Starts on: Sorcerer · Arcane Mage

Ice Block13 mana · range 14

Freezes two enemies solid for 3.75 seconds and deals 130 damage to each on the way in.

Freezes the two nearest enemies for 3.75 seconds and deals 130 to each on the way in. This is a hard stop rather than a slow, so both enemies do nothing at all while it lasts and your whole tower gets free shots into them. Use it on front-runners closing on your base rather than on a healthy pack at the far end of the path.

Starts on: Enchantress · Frost Mage

Shatter11 mana · range 14

A heavy blow, four times over: instantly fire 4 real bolts, each dealing your normal bolt damage plus 15 bonus damage to each of your usual 2 enemies, and each bolt carries your frost slow.

Four real bolt volleys fired instantly, and each volley covers both of the two enemies your bolts normally hit, dealing your normal bolt damage plus 15 to each. Every one of those bolts carries your frost slow, so both enemies come out of the cast freshly slowed. It is a burst of your own weapon now rather than a flat nuke, so your damage upgrades raise all of it.

Starts on: Enchantress · Frost Mage

Howling Gale9 mana · range 14

A blast of wind slows up to 2 enemies by 80% for 4 seconds and deals 65 damage to the first one.

Two enemies are slowed by 80% for 4 seconds and the first of them also takes 65 damage. An 80% slow is close to a stop, and 4 seconds of it on the two enemies leading the wave buys your whole tower a run of extra shots. The damage is secondary here: cast this for the control.

Starts on: Enchantress · Stormcaller

Static Fork11 mana · range 14

The whole storm at once: instantly fire 7 real bolts, each dealing your normal bolt damage plus 25 bonus damage. Every bolt forks through the pack exactly as your attack does.

Seven real lightning bolts fired at once, each dealing your normal bolt damage plus 25, and each forking through the pack exactly as your ordinary attack does. They are real attacks, so they carry Chain Lightning's brief stun (0.85 seconds) on everything they strike: seven forked bolts amount to heavy crowd control as well as damage. The bolts re-aim between rounds, so a bunched wave absorbs the cast far better than a single enemy.

Starts on: Enchantress · Stormcaller

Riptide9 mana · range 14

A wave seizes the enemy closest to your base, deals 100 damage, and rapidly pushes it 4 path-units backward. It cannot be affected by other crowd control until it walks back to where it was.

The enemy closest to your base takes 100 damage and is shoved 4 path-units back down the lane, which is pure time bought for your team. While it is being pushed, and until it has walked back to where it was, no other crowd control can touch it, so a freeze or a slow aimed at it during that stretch is wasted. Use it on the single enemy about to reach your base, never as a pack answer.

Starts on: Enchantress · Water Mage

Geyser11 mana · range 14

A column of water erupts under one enemy: 150 damage and a brief stun (0.5 seconds). The eruption splashes 45 more onto everything right next to it, the struck enemy included.

One enemy takes 150 and a brief stun (0.5 seconds), and the eruption splashes 45 onto everything right next to it, the struck enemy included. It is the Water Mage's only real burst of damage, since the rest of the kit is built around dragging enemies backward rather than killing them. The half-second stun is short, so treat this as damage with a small interrupt attached rather than as crowd control.

Starts on: Enchantress · Water Mage

Blight Burst11 mana · range 14

Hurls a vial at the thickest pack: up to 3 enemies each catch a blight, a poison dealing 170 damage over 6 seconds. The blight is separate from your weapon poison, so both tick at once. Blighting an enemy again pays out the old blight's remaining damage instantly, so recasting is never wasted.

Up to 3 enemies in the thickest pack each catch a blight worth 170 damage over 6 seconds. The blight is a separate affliction from your weapon poison, so one enemy can carry both and take both at the same time. Blighting an enemy that already has one pays out the old blight's remaining damage immediately, so recasting early never throws anything away.

It seeks the thickest pack, so cast it into a bunched wave and three separate enemies catch it instead of one.

Starts on: Alchemist · Poisoner

Caustic Brand9 mana · range 14

Break the vial over your target: instantly fire 4 real attacks, each dealing your normal attack damage plus 20 bonus damage. Every hit carries your weapon poison, so the whole burst is real damage that can kill.

Four real attacks fired instantly at your target, each dealing your normal attack damage plus 20 and each carrying your weapon poison. This is ordinary damage, so it can land the killing blow and nothing about it is ever returned or refunded. It is the Poisoner's fast single-target burst, and every attack upgrade you own rides along on all four hits.

Starts on: Alchemist · Poisoner

Unveiling Powder8 mana · range 14

Throws a reagent cloud over the thickest pack: every enemy it touches takes 40 damage, cloaked enemies in it are revealed, and enemies it touches cannot cloak for 8 seconds.

A reagent cloud over the thickest pack: 40 damage to every enemy it touches, every cloaked enemy inside is revealed, and none of them can cloak again for 8 seconds. The reveal and the 8 second block matter far more than the damage, because an enemy your team cannot target walks past for free. It is the Death Dealer's hard counter to cloaking waves.

Starts on: Alchemist · Death Dealer

Seed Burst11 mana · range 14

Six seeds at once: instantly fire 6 real attacks, each dealing your normal attack damage plus 23 bonus damage. Every round plants your seed on what it hits.

Six real attacks fired at once, each dealing your normal attack damage plus 23 and planting your Seed of Death on what it hits. The rounds re-aim between shots exactly as your ordinary attacks do, so on the kit's default targeting they spread seeds across enemies that do not carry one yet instead of dumping all six into a single target. Each seed sits dormant for 6 seconds before exploding onto the nearest enemies, so the real payoff arrives well after the cast.

Hitting an enemy that already carries a seed does nothing beyond the impact damage: the fuse never resets and the explosion still lands on schedule.

Starts on: Alchemist · Death Dealer

Summon Zombie4 mana · range 12

Raise one zombie at your tower without waiting for a corpse. It bites 2 times and then falls, biting exactly like the zombies your poison raises: 3.3 damage plus an 11-damage poison over 1 second each. Its 2 bites never grow with your team's size.

At 4 mana this is the cheapest spell in the game, and it raises a zombie at your tower without waiting for anything to die holding your poison. The zombie walks backward into the wave and bites twice, each bite dealing 3.3 damage plus an 11 damage poison over 1 second, then it falls. Cast it early, in the waves where nothing has died yet and you have no corpses to work with.

Zombies raised by your poison get more bites as your team grows, from 2 bites at 8 units up to 20 at 60. This one is always exactly 2, so it stays a small on-demand body rather than a late-game one.

Starts on: Alchemist · Necromancer

Puppet Strings9 mana · range 14

Seizes up to 2 enemies nearest your base: each walks backward at half speed for 2 seconds, held off other crowd control, and takes a fast poison, 30 damage over 2 seconds.

Seizes the two enemies nearest your base and walks each of them backward at half speed for 2 seconds while a fast poison, 30 damage over 2 seconds, runs on both. While they are being walked back they are held off other crowd control, so a slow or a freeze aimed at them during those 2 seconds will not land. It buys ground rather than dealing damage, so cast it when the front of the wave is already close to your base.

Starts on: Alchemist · Necromancer

Dart Volley9 mana · range 14

A fistful of darts: instantly fire 6 real attacks, each dealing your normal attack damage plus 18 bonus damage. Every dart carries your weapon poison, so the whole burst is real damage that can kill, and anything that dies holding your poison still rises as your zombie.

Six real poison darts fired instantly, each dealing your normal attack damage plus 18 and carrying your weapon poison. That poison is what raises zombies, so any of those enemies that dies while holding it rises and fights for you. The rounds re-aim between shots the way your ordinary darts do, which spreads your poison across the pack rather than stacking it on one enemy.

It is real damage that can kill outright, which turns the Necromancer's deliberately weak dart into the kit's one genuine burst.

Starts on: Alchemist · Necromancer

Encore14 mana · range 12

You open with one real attack of your own, then every other player in your tower instantly repeats their attack at double damage. Plus a solo note: 17 damage + 35 more for every empty player slot in your tower.

You fire one real attack of your own first, then every other player in your tower instantly repeats their last attack at double damage. Almost all of the value sits in those repeats, so the spell is at its strongest in a full tower and at its weakest when you are alone. The solo note, 17 damage plus 35 more for every empty player slot in your tower, is the consolation for casting in a half-empty tower.

On a Minstrel the opening attack fires whichever tower-mate's class your lute is currently copying, exactly as an ordinary shot would, and it advances the copy rotation.

Starts on: Bard · Minstrel

Fortissimo11 mana · range 12

For 6.5 seconds your tune plays six times as loud, whichever tune you play.

For 6.5 seconds it multiplies by six whatever your bard kit gives the tower, and each kit has a different tune. On a Minstrel the damage buff you hand the rest of your tower goes from 10% to 60%; on a Dark Bard each Weaken note withholds six times as much health; on a Stage Master every enemy your Spotlight has marked takes six times the bonus damage from your tower. It adds nothing to your own attack, so time it to cover your tower's heaviest output, and note the 8 second cooldown leaves only a short gap between windows.

It does nothing at all for a Minstrel alone in a tower, because the Minstrel buff only ever touches other players.

Starts on: Bard · Minstrel, Bard · Dark Bard, Bard · Stage Master

Dark Encore14 mana · range 12

You open with one real attack of your own, then every other player in your tower instantly repeats their attack at double damage, and every enemy those repeats strike is Weakened for 22 more. Weaken counts toward your contribution only if the enemy dies before the damage returns. Plus a solo note: 19 damage + 25 more for every empty player slot in your tower.

You fire one real attack of your own, then every other player in your tower instantly repeats their attack at double damage, and every enemy those repeats strike is Weakened for 22 more. Weaken is withheld health rather than damage dealt: it only counts for you if the enemy dies before the damage returns, so cast it into enemies your tower is about to finish. It also plays the same solo note as Encore, 19 damage plus 25 more for every empty player slot in your tower.

Requiem makes every outstanding Weaken permanent, so Dark Encore first and Requiem second locks in everything this spread.

Starts on: Bard · Dark Bard

Requiem11 mana · range 14

Every enemy carrying your Weaken takes 65 damage, and the Weaken damage on them becomes permanent: it will never be returned. If fewer than 2 enemies carry your Weaken, the cast also strikes the enemies closest to your base, up to 2 struck in total.

Every enemy currently carrying your Weaken takes 65 damage and its Weaken becomes permanent, so that withheld health is never returned no matter what happens to the enemy afterward. If fewer than 2 enemies are carrying your Weaken, the cast also strikes the enemies closest to your base until 2 have been struck in total, so it is never a dead button. Cast it once your Weaken is spread wide, not before.

The Dirge of Fading puts Weaken on everything you attack and Dark Encore spreads more of it across the tower's repeats, so both feed this.

Starts on: Bard · Dark Bard

Encore: Limelight12 mana · range 12

Puts one enemy in the limelight: it takes 30% more damage from every source for 7.3 seconds in a 5-player match (shorter with more players), then you fire one real attack of your own into it and every other player in your tower immediately fires one attack at it, each hitting 25 harder. Prefers enemies not already marked.

The chosen enemy takes 30% more damage from every source for 7.3 seconds in a 5-player match (the window shortens as more players join), then you fire one real attack of your own into it and every other player in your tower immediately fires one attack at it, each hitting 25 harder. It prefers enemies that are not already marked, so it will not waste the mark on something your Spotlight is currently holding. The mark outlasts the volley by a long way, so the rest of your tower keeps cashing in after the cast finishes.

Starts on: Bard · Stage Master

Pyrotechnics10 mana · range 14

Set off the whole rig: instantly fire 4 real beams, each dealing your normal beam damage plus 35 bonus damage. Every beam marks what it hits, so those enemies take 15% more damage from everyone.

Four real Spotlight beams fired at once, each dealing your normal beam damage plus 35 and marking whatever it hits so that enemy takes 15% more damage from everyone on your team. Your beam normally holds only one mark at a time, so this is the Stage Master's only way to put marks on several enemies at once. The beams re-aim between rounds exactly as your ordinary beam does, preferring unmarked enemies, and that is what spreads the marks across the pack.

Starts on: Bard · Stage Master

Conjure Effigies0 mana · range 12

Free. Once every 40 seconds, conjure 3 effigies that strike the nearest enemies for 45 damage a second for 10 seconds, then crumble. Effigies grow with your damage upgrades, not spell damage.

A free spell, so it never competes with your other casts for mana, and it holds 2 charges so you can bank one for the next wave. Three effigies appear, strike the nearest enemies for 10 seconds, then crumble. They grow with your damage upgrades rather than your spell damage, so a build stacked on raw attack damage makes them noticeably bigger.

Granted by: Effigy

Reposition Turret0 mana · range 12

Free. Pick a tower and your Sentry Turret picks itself up and sets itself down beside that tower, keeping its firing timers. Once every 20 seconds, and it holds 2 charges.

This arrives alongside the Sentry Turret and does exactly one thing: you pick a tower, and the turret picks itself up and sets itself down beside it, keeping its firing timers so nothing is lost in the move. It is free and holds 2 charges on a 20 second cooldown, so relocating costs you no mana and no cast you would rather have made. Use it when the fight moves to a different stretch of the path and the turret is left shooting at nothing.

Granted by: Sentry Turret