How to Play Mage Knight: Ultimate Edition
Mage Knight: Ultimate Edition combines exploration, hand management, deck development and tactical combat. The box includes the original game plus The Lost Legion, Krang and Shades of Tezla; new players should learn the base system first before mixing in expansion rules.
Your turn starts with cards
Your hand is your action economy. Cards generate core effects such as Move, Influence, Attack and Block. Many cards have a stronger effect that requires mana of a particular color.
Move and explore
Spend Move points to travel across terrain. Terrain types have different movement costs, and Day/Night can alter some rules. When you reach the edge of the revealed map, you can spend movement to reveal new map tiles when the scenario permits.
Interact with sites
Villages, monasteries and other inhabited sites let you use Influence for recruitment or other interactions. Fortified sites and adventure locations often require combat and may have special entry rules.
Recruit Units
Units provide reusable abilities during a round and can contribute movement, influence, attacks, blocks or other effects. Some Units can also absorb damage, but wounds and resistances must be handled using the combat rules.
Combat sequence
Combat can include several stages:
- Ranged/Siege Attack phase: eliminate eligible enemies before they attack.
- Block phase: block attacks from enemies that remain.
- Assign Damage: unblocked attacks cause wounds according to armor and resistance rules.
- Attack phase: generate enough valid Attack to defeat remaining enemies.
Enemy abilities and site rules can modify this sequence. See Mage Knight Combat, Block & Wounds for the core distinctions.
Mana and powered card effects
Mana lets you use the stronger text on action cards. The Source provides dice that can make mana available, while crystals and other effects let you store or generate mana under the normal rules.
Because powered actions are much stronger, matching your mana supply to your hand is a major part of turn planning.
End of turn and deck cycle
Played cards normally go to discard, and you draw back toward your hand limit. When a player’s Deed deck is empty, the end-of-round process can begin according to the scenario rules. A new Day or Night refreshes much of your temporary capacity.
Fame and leveling
Defeating enemies and completing objectives earns Fame. Leveling can improve your armor, command capacity, skills and deck quality depending on the reward.
Scenario objective
Mage Knight is scenario-driven. The win condition, map shape, round limit and city objectives depend on the scenario you selected. The First Reconnaissance walkthrough scenario is designed to teach the game before the full conquest scenarios.
Common beginner mistakes
- Trying to learn all Ultimate Edition expansion content at once.
- Spending movement without planning the interaction or combat that follows.
- Treating Attack and Block as interchangeable numbers.
- Forgetting mana requirements for strong card effects.
- Ignoring the round/scenario clock while building a perfect deck.
Related Mage Knight guides
See the Mage Knight: Ultimate Edition game guide for the overview. Continue with Mage Knight Strategy for hand planning, mana and tempo.