Phase-Based Keyword Combat — Battle for Visby
Combat in Battle for Visby uses a phase-based system inspired by trading card games. When armies clash, the battle unfolds across six sequential phases. Each unit type has keywords that determine when it acts, what special abilities it has, and how it interacts with enemy forces.
Understanding phases and keywords is key to building effective armies and winning battles.
Every estate-vs-estate battle flows through these phases in order. Casualties from earlier phases carry into later ones — units killed by archers in the First Attack phase won't fight in the Main Attack.
Armies arrive on the battlefield. Siege units (catapults and sappers) weaken enemy fortifications, reducing the defensive bonus that forts provide. Siege units suffer a penalty against regular troops. Sappers withdraw immediately after this phase — they skip all combat but can be caught by pursuit cavalry during Withdraw.
Armies jockey for position. Intimidating units (knights) can cause weak or fragile enemy units to rout — fleeing the battle before it begins. Units with Haste are immune to rout. Routed units don't fight but may be hunted down during the Withdraw phase.
Units with First Strike (archers) fire before anyone else, dealing damage to the enemy army. If the defender has Shield Wall units (vikings, templars), they absorb a portion of this incoming damage, protecting the rest of the army.
Units with Charge (cavalry, knights, spearmen) strike before the main melee. Shield Wall units absorb incoming charge damage. Spearmen with Spear Wall deal +50% bonus damage if the enemy has mounted units.
The main melee. All remaining units that haven't already dealt damage (militia, vikings, templars, catapults, monks, shamans) fight here. Vigilance (templars) reduces incoming damage, Divine Protection from monks further reduces casualties, and Frenzy on shamans grows stronger for every ally killed in earlier phases.
The battle ends. Units with Pursuit (cavalry) hunt down enemies that routed during the Positioning phase, dealing bonus damage to fleeing troops. The side with surviving units wins — ties go to the defender.
Keywords define what makes each unit type special. They are shown on unit cards in your army panel. Equipped gear can grant additional keywords to your units — for example, halberds grant Anti-Cavalry and crossbows grant First Strike.
Deals damage before other units in the First Attack phase. Strike first, strike hard.
Active in: First Attack
Deals damage in the Charge phase, before the main attack. Strike early and hard.
Active in: Charge
Absorbs 40% of incoming damage during First Attack and Charge phases, protecting the rest of the army. The shield wall units themselves take casualties from this absorbed damage.
Active in: First Attack, Charge
Reduces incoming damage by 25% during the Main Attack phase. A steadfast defense.
Active in: Main Attack
During Positioning, enemy fragile or low-defense units have a chance to rout and flee the battle before it starts. More intimidating units increase the rout chance (up to 35%).
Active in: Positioning
Immune to rout effects during the Positioning phase. These units are too fast to be scared off.
Active in: Positioning
+15% defense and 30% reduced chance of being routed during Positioning. Granted to militia trained at a barracks with a drill instructor expert who has studied Squad Tactics.
Active in: Positioning, Main Attack
More vulnerable to rout from Intimidate and takes higher damage priority. Cheap units come at a cost.
Active in: Positioning
Reduces the effectiveness of enemy fortifications (forts). However, siege units deal less damage against regular troops (-25%).
Active in: Enter Battle
Digs through enemy fortifications before retreating. Participates only in Enter Battle (applying siege effects), then withdraws — skipping all combat phases. Vulnerable to pursuit cavalry during Withdraw.
Active in: Enter Battle, Withdraw
Each monk reduces incoming damage by 10% during Main Attack (capped at 30% with 3 monks). A blessing upon your army.
Active in: Main Attack
Gains +3% offensive power per allied casualty in prior phases (capped at +50%). The more your army bleeds, the harder shamans hit.
Active in: Main Attack
Hunts down enemy units that routed during Positioning, dealing bonus damage to fleeing troops.
Active in: Withdraw
Deals +50% bonus damage against armies containing mounted units. The bane of cavalry charges.
Active in: Charge, Main Attack
Deals +50% bonus damage against mounted units. Granted by equipping halberds — turn your infantry into cavalry-killers.
Active in: Main Attack
Attacks twice in the unit's damage phase, dealing double damage. Granted by equipping long bows to archers.
Active in: First Attack
Fights on horseback. Vulnerable to Spear Wall and Anti-Cavalry units, which deal bonus damage against mounted troops.
Passive tag
After combat against bandits, each monk or shaman gives an 8% chance to convert surviving enemy units to your cause (capped at 30%, max 5 per unit type). Does not work against warlords.
Post-combat (bandits only)
Every unit type has inherent keywords that define its role on the battlefield. Choose your army composition wisely.
| Unit | ⚔️ | 🛡️ | Damage Phase | Keywords |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🛡️ Militia | 5 | 4 | Main Attack | 💔 Fragile |
| 🗡️ Spearman | 8 | 12 | Charge | 🐎 Charge🔱 Spear Wall |
| 🏹 Archer | 15 | 6 | First Attack | 🏹 First Strike |
| 🐴 Cavalry | 20 | 10 | Charge | 🐎 Charge💨 Haste🐺 Pursuit🐴 Mounted |
| ⚔️ Knight | 35 | 30 | Charge | 🐎 Charge💨 Haste💀 Intimidate🐴 Mounted |
| 🎯 Catapult | 50 | 5 | Main Attack | 🏰 Siege💔 Fragile |
| ⛏️ Sapper | 3 | 4 | Enter Battle | 🏰 Siege⛏️ Sapping |
| 📿 Monk | 5 | 15 | Main Attack | ✠️ Divine Protection🙏 Convert |
| 🔮 Shaman | 15 | 5 | Main Attack | 🔥 Frenzy🙏 Convert |
| ⚔️ Viking | 18 | 14 | Main Attack | 🛡️ Shield Wall💨 Haste |
| ✝️ Templar | 14 | 18 | Main Attack | 🛡️ Shield Wall👁️ Vigilance |
In each damage phase (First Attack, Charge, Main Attack), participating units deal damage based on their offensive power. Damage is then distributed across the enemy army — weaker units (lower defensive stat) take proportionally more casualties.
The scaling factor ensures battles aren't instantly lethal. Defensive keywords, rituals, gear, and fortifications all reduce incoming damage before casualties are calculated.
When damage comes in during a phase, it passes through these filters:
Vikings and Templars absorb 40% of incoming damage, taking losses themselves to protect the rest of the army.
Templars reduce incoming damage by 25% during the Main Attack — damage simply vanishes.
Each monk reduces incoming damage by 10%, up to a maximum of 30% with 3 monks.
Active rituals and legendary abilities can further reduce damage before it's distributed.
After all six phases resolve:
If one side has surviving units and the other doesn't, the side with survivors wins. If both sides have survivors, the side that dealt more total damage across all phases wins. If both sides are wiped out, the defender wins.
Crafted weapons from the Armory can grant powerful combat keywords to your units. Only units equipped with the gear gain the keyword — if only some of your units have the gear, the army splits: equipped units fight with the keyword, unequipped units fight without it.
| Gear | Applicable Units | Granted Keyword | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🗡️ Halberd | Militia, Spearman, Viking | 🗡️ Anti-Cavalry | +50% damage vs mounted units |
| 🏹 Crossbow | Militia, Spearman, Archer | ⚡ First Strike | Attack in First Attack phase |
| 🏹 Long Bow | Archer | ⚔️ Double Strike | Attack twice (2x damage) |
If you have 50 militia but only 30 crossbows, the 30 equipped militia will fight in the First Attack phase while the remaining 20 fight in the Main Attack phase as normal. Craft enough gear to equip your full army for maximum effect.
Shield Wall absorbs First Strike damage. Without shield wall units, archers will devastate your fragile militia before they can fight back.
Spear Wall gives spearmen +50% bonus damage against mounted units. If the enemy relies on cavalry or knights, a wall of spears will tear them apart during the Charge phase.
Knights have Intimidate — cheap militia armies with lots of fragile units will lose troops before the battle even starts. Back up militia with haste units like cavalry or vikings.
Cavalry have Pursuit — if your knights rout enemy militia, your cavalry will hunt them down during the Withdraw phase for bonus kills. But beware spearmen.
Vikings combine Shield Wall with Haste — they absorb damage for your army while being immune to rout. Higher offense than templars makes them a strong frontline for Aesir players.
Templars combine Shield Wall with Vigilance — they absorb early damage AND reduce Main Attack damage by 25%. The ultimate defensive unit for Christian players.
2-3 monks provide up to 30% damage reduction via Divine Protection, plus their defensive aura. They don't deal much damage, but they keep your army alive.
Frenzy means shamans hit harder the more allies have died. Pair shamans with expendable militia — the militia absorb damage in early phases, powering up the shaman's offense in the Main Attack.
Catapults have the highest offensive stat (50) but are Fragile and slow (speed 3). Sappers are fast (speed 10) and reduce fortifications before withdrawing, but deal minimal damage. Use catapults for heavy assaults on fortified positions; use sappers for quick raids where you want to soften defenses without committing slow siege engines.
Equip crossbows on militia to give them First Strike — they'll deal damage before the main battle begins. A swarm of cheap crossbow militia can soften the enemy before your main force engages.
Facing a cavalry-heavy opponent? Equip halberds on your spearmen for Anti-Cavalry on top of their inherent Spear Wall — that's two separate +50% bonuses stacking against mounted units.
Archers with long bows gain Double Strike, attacking twice in the First Attack phase. Combined with their inherent First Strike, they become devastating ranged damage dealers before the enemy can close in.
After every battle, check the Combat Log. It shows a full phase-by-phase breakdown including which keywords triggered, damage dealt per phase, and casualties at each step. Use this to refine your army composition.