Keywords Quick Reference Guide

A Detailed Look at Various Skills and Abilities in Eternal Card Game.

Introduction

The purpose of this guide is to provide a place for anyone and everyone to come look for relevant* information regarding the various keywords that exist in Eternal. I know it can be hard to remember all of the keywords off the top of your head without running the game to hover over a card with the keyword(s) you need to reference for your discussion, so hopefully this will be a place you can come to get the correct information you need on how the keywords work. I intend to keep this guide up-to-date once they start adding new keywords, but as of the writing of this guide the game is still in Beta (or Early Access or whatever you want to call it) so there's only the 27 keywords that it started out with.

"27? Surely there's more than that," some of you may be saying. And while that is an arguable point, I'm counting only the non-name, non-subtype bolded words in rules text as keywords for the purposes of this guide. I'll include a section for the non-bolded game terms that have relevant rules interactions, though, so don't worry (right now that's really only "invulnerable to damage").

In addition to what the keywords do, I'll also include whether or not they are Battle skills (relevant for Hero of the People, a 3J Unit that gains the battle skills of other Units you play and gets +1/+1 for each such skill) and whether the skill can be granted by Crown of Possibilities. As I can understand the annoyance of having to look through an entire list of things when you only want to see a subset of those things, there will be sections devoted solely to the Battle Skills and the Crown of Possibilities skills. And if I have the time and patience for it, I might even include a section showcasing the various visual effects the game uses for each skill. I'm a bit inept at fancy image creation, so this guide will likely spend a majority of its lifetime without many images.

*Relevance is usually subjective, and as such I may have included some information that isn't actually relevant.

Empty Throne Keywords

Aegis ‒ Protects a Unit or player from one enemy effect. Aegis can be refreshed, but only after it has protected a Unit or player from an effect. If Aegis hasn't been removed yet, additional instances are redundant. Represented in-game as a blue aura surrounding the card or player. (Battle and Crown)

Ambush ‒ Allows you to play the card during the enemy's attack before you block or at the end of the enemy's turn. Redirects attacks from Relic Weapons and Killer to the Unit with Ambush. So far only shows up on Unit cards. (Crown)

Charge ‒ Allows you to attack with the Unit the turn it is played. Multiple instances of Charge are redundant. (Battle and Crown)

Deadly ‒ Makes all non-zero damage lethal to Units. Multiple instances of Deadly are redundant. Represented in-game by a green skull icon in the bottom middle of the card frame and surrounding the strength value in a green glow. (Battle and Crown)

Depleted ‒ Only seen in reference to Power cards. Increases your maximum power, but does not yield usable power the turn you play it.

Destiny ‒ When you draw a card with this skill, it will be played immediately regardless of whether you have enough power to play it or the influence required to play it. Then you draw a card. (Crown)

Double Damage ‒ All damage that the Unit (or theoretically also Spell; currently there are no Spells or Relic Weapons with Double Damage in the game) would deal is doubled before being assigned. Multiple instances of Double Damage are redundant. Represented in-game with a "x2" symbol in the bottom middle of the card frame and surrounding the strength value in an orange glow. (Battle and Crown)

Echo ‒ When you draw a card with this skill, you get an additional copy of the card. The copy will count as an extra draw for cards that trigger off of draws. Multiple instances of Echo are redundant, and if an effect gives Echo to a card in your deck it will skip any cards that already have Echo. (Crown)

Empower ‒ Usually parsed "Empower: {effect}." Triggers whenever you play a Power card, either from your hand or from an effect of a card (such as with Secret Pages).

Endurance ‒ Units with this skill can't be stunned or exhausted by enemy effects and ready at the beginning of each turn. They can still become exhausted from attacking, blocking, or effects you control. Represented in-game by a shield icon in the bottom middle of the card frame. (Battle and Crown)

Entomb ‒ Usually parsed "Entomb: {effect}." Triggers when the permanent with it is killed.

Fate ‒ Usually parsed "Fate: {effect}." Triggers when you draw the card. If the effect makes you play a Unit or otherwise affects the board in some manner, it will be revealed to the enemy. If it puts a card in your hand, usually it will appear to the enemy as though you drew a card with Echo (Nictotraxian seems to get revealed, although I don't know if this will change at some point in the future).

Flying ‒ This skill makes it such that a Unit can't be blocked except by other Units with Flying. Represented in-game by causing the Unit to hover above the playing field. (Battle and Crown)

Infiltrate ‒ Usually parsed "Infiltrate: {effect}." Triggers when the Unit with Infiltrate or wielding the Weapon with Infiltrate deals damage to the enemy player (excluding when the enemy player attacks the Unit with a Relic Weapon). Usually only triggers once, but can be refreshed if the Unit or Weapon is brought back from the Void. Represented in-game by a purple arrow pulsing from the bottom of the card to the top.

Killer ‒ Allows the Unit to attack an enemy Unit directly, including the turn the Unit is played. Any abilities the enemy Unit has that trigger on blocking will trigger. Killer can be refreshed, but only after the Unit has attacked an enemy Unit. Otherwise, multiple instances of Killer are redundant. Represented in-game by a purple knife in the bottom middle of the card frame. (Battle and Crown)

Lifesteal ‒ Damage dealt by a source with Lifesteal also causes its controller to gain that much health. Multiple instances of Lifesteal are redundant. Represented in-game as a red heart with a black + in the center in the bottom middle of the card frame. (Battle and Crown)

Overwhelm ‒ Allows a Unit to deal any remaining damage to the enemy player if blocked. Works well with Deadly and/or Killer. Multiple instances of Overwhelm are redundant. Represented in-game by a gauntleted fist in the bottom middle of the card frame. (Battle and Crown)

Quickdraw ‒ Allows the Unit or player to deal damage to blocking Units before receiving damage. Only works when attacking. Works well with Deadly. Multiple instances of Quickdraw are redundant. Represented in-game as a gun in the bottom middle of the card frame. (Battle and Crown)

Reckless ‒ Causes a Unit to attack every turn, if able. Multiple instances of Reckless are redundant.

Silence ‒ Removes all text from a card's text box. A silenced card has a purple X in the bottom middle of the card frame.

Stun ‒ Keeps a Unit from attacking, blocking, or using activated abilities. Represented in-game by a blue runic circle, typically with two or fewer smaller runes traveling along the edge to signify the number of turns until the creature becomes unstunned. Currently only two cards, Ice Sprite and Permafrost, provide a stun without a duration.

Summon ‒ Usually parsed "Summon: {effect}." Triggers when you play the card.

Transmute ‒ Usually parsed "Transmute N: {description of card after activation}." where N is a number. Causes the card to transform into something else when your maximum power reaches the specified number. Currently only seen on five Power cards, each with Transmute 5.

Ultimate ‒ Usually parsed "Ultimate: {effect}." Of the currently available Ultimate cards, only one triggers off of another event (playing a Unit with strength 5 or greater). The rest are activated abilities involving an investment of power.

Unblockable ‒ Units with this skill or wielding a Weapon with this skill can't be blocked by enemy Units. Multiple instances of Unblockable are redundant. Represented in-game by a blue attack animation border and a pair of eyes in the bottom middle of the card frame. (Battle and Crown)

Warcry ‒ Triggers when attacking with the Unit or Relic Weapon. Grants a permanent +1/+1 buff to the topmost Unit or Weapon card in your deck. In most cases stacks, but does not stack on Hero of the People (at least when playing other Units with Warcry, which is probably for the better). When stacked, parsed as "Warcry N" where N is the number of instances of Warcry on the Unit or Weapon. Represented in-game by a horn icon in the bottom middle of the card frame. (Battle and Crown)

Omens of the Past Keywords

Lifeforce ‒ Usually parsed "Lifeforce: {effect}." On Units, triggers when you gain health unless stated otherwise (such as "at the end of your turn"). On Spells, does something based on the amount of health you've gained for the specified duration.

Mentor ‒ Usually parsed "Mentor: {effect}." When you play a card with Mentor, you may exhaust a unit to designate it as a Student and trigger the effect of the Mentor card. The effect usually cares about some quality of the Student.

Revenge ‒ The first time a Unit with this skill is killed in a game, it will gain Destiny and be put in a random position within the top ten cards of your deck. Spells with this skill will gain Destiny after they have been played and be put in a random position within the top ten cards of your deck. (Battle and Crown)

Spark ‒ Usually parsed "Spark: {effect}." Triggers when you play the card, but only if an opponent was dealt damage in the same turn.

Student ‒ See Mentor.

Warp ‒ Cards with this skill are visible to their owners when they are the topmost card of the deck. You may play cards with Warp from the top of your deck as though they were in your hand.

Battle Skills

The following are all considered Battle Skills. Cards that refer to Battle Skills are looking specifically for these skills.

Aegis ‒ Protects a Unit or player from one enemy effect. Aegis can be refreshed, but only after it has protected a Unit or player from an effect. If Aegis hasn't been removed yet, additional instances are redundant. Represented in-game as a blue aura surrounding the card or player.

Charge ‒ Allows you to attack with the Unit the turn it is played. Multiple instances of Charge are redundant.

Deadly ‒ Makes all non-zero damage lethal to Units. Multiple instances of Deadly are redundant. Represented in-game by a green skull icon in the bottom middle of the card frame and surrounding the strength value in a green glow.

Double Damage ‒ All damage that the Unit would deal is doubled before being assigned. Multiple instances of Double Damage are redundant. Represented in-game with a "x2" symbol in the bottom middle of the card frame and surrounding the strength value in an orange glow.

Endurance ‒ Units with this skill can't be stunned or exhausted by enemy effects and ready at the beginning of each turn. They can still become exhausted from attacking, blocking, or effects you control. Represented in-game by a shield icon in the bottom middle of the card frame.

Flying ‒ This skill makes it such that a Unit can't be blocked except by other Units with Flying. Represented in-game by causing the Unit to hover above the playing field.

Killer ‒ Allows the Unit to attack an enemy Unit directly, including the turn the Unit is played. Any abilities the enemy Unit has that trigger on blocking will trigger. Killer can be refreshed, but only after the Unit has attacked an enemy Unit. Otherwise, multiple instances of Killer are redundant. Represented in-game by a purple knife in the bottom middle of the card frame.

Lifesteal ‒ Damage dealt by a source with Lifesteal also causes its controller to gain that much health. Multiple instances of Lifesteal are redundant. Represented in-game as a red heart with a black + in the center in the bottom middle of the card frame.

Overwhelm ‒ Allows a Unit to deal any remaining damage to the enemy player if blocked. Works well with Deadly and/or Killer. Multiple instances of Overwhelm are redundant. Represented in-game by a gauntleted fist in the bottom middle of the card frame.

Quickdraw ‒ Allows the Unit or player to deal damage to blocking Units before receiving damage. Only works when attacking. Works well with Deadly. Multiple instances of Quickdraw are redundant. Represented in-game as a gun in the bottom middle of the card frame.

Revenge ‒ The first time a Unit with this skill is killed in a game, it will gain Destiny and be put in a random position within the top ten cards of your deck. Spells with this skill will gain Destiny after they have been played and be put in a random position within the top ten cards of your deck.

Unblockable ‒ Units with this skill or wielding a Weapon with this skill can't be blocked by enemy Units. Multiple instances of Unblockable are redundant. Represented in-game by a blue attack animation border and a pair of eyes in the bottom middle of the card frame.

Warcry ‒ Triggers when attacking with the Unit or Relic Weapon. Grants a permanent +1/+1 buff to the topmost Unit or Weapon card in your deck. In most cases stacks, but does not stack on Hero of the People (at least when playing other Units with Warcry, which is probably for the better). When stacked, parsed as "Warcry N" where N is the number of instances of Warcry on the Unit or Weapon. Represented in-game by a horn icon in the bottom middle of the card frame.

Crown Skills

The following are all of the skills that can be granted by Crown of Possibilities. I spent three days durdling around in Gauntlet with a Crown of Possibilities deck to determine exactly which skills it could give. As far as I could tell, the Crown will never give a Unit the same skill twice if you somehow get it back on top of your deck.

Aegis ‒ Protects a Unit or player from one enemy effect. Aegis can be refreshed, but only after it has protected a Unit or player from an effect. If Aegis hasn't been removed yet, additional instances are redundant. Represented in-game as a blue aura surrounding the card or player.

Ambush ‒ Allows you to play the card during the enemy's attack before you block or at the end of the enemy's turn. Redirects attacks from Relic Weapons and Killer to the Unit with Ambush. So far only shows up on Unit cards.

Charge ‒ Allows you to attack with the Unit the turn it is played. Multiple instances of Charge are redundant.

Deadly ‒ Makes all non-zero damage lethal to Units. Multiple instances of Deadly are redundant. Represented in-game by a green skull icon in the bottom middle of the card frame and surrounding the strength value in a green glow.

Destiny ‒ When you draw a card with this skill, it will be played immediately regardless of whether you have enough power to play it or the influence required to play it. Then you draw a card.

Double Damage ‒ All damage that the Unit would deal is doubled before being assigned. Multiple instances of Double Damage are redundant. Represented in-game with a "x2" symbol in the bottom middle of the card frame and surrounding the strength value in an orange glow.

Echo ‒ When you draw a card with this skill, you get an additional copy of the card. The copy will count as an extra draw for cards that trigger off of draws. Multiple instances of Echo are redundant, and if an effect gives Echo to a card in your deck it will skip any cards that already have Echo.

Endurance ‒ Units with this skill can't be stunned or exhausted by enemy effects and ready at the beginning of each turn. They can still become exhausted from attacking, blocking, or effects you control. Represented in-game by a shield icon in the bottom middle of the card frame.

Flying ‒ This skill makes it such that a Unit can't be blocked except by other Units with Flying. Represented in-game by causing the Unit to hover above the playing field.

Killer ‒ Allows the Unit to attack an enemy Unit directly, including the turn the Unit is played. Any abilities the enemy Unit has that trigger on blocking will trigger. Killer can be refreshed, but only after the Unit has attacked an enemy Unit. Otherwise, multiple instances of Killer are redundant. Represented in-game by a purple knife in the bottom middle of the card frame.

Lifesteal ‒ Damage dealt by a source with Lifesteal also causes its controller to gain that much health. Multiple instances of Lifesteal are redundant. Represented in-game as a red heart with a black + in the center in the bottom middle of the card frame.

Overwhelm ‒ Allows a Unit to deal any remaining damage to the enemy player if blocked. Works well with Deadly and/or Killer. Multiple instances of Overwhelm are redundant. Represented in-game by a gauntleted fist in the bottom middle of the card frame.

Quickdraw ‒ Allows the Unit or player to deal damage to blocking Units before receiving damage. Only works when attacking. Works well with Deadly. Multiple instances of Quickdraw are redundant. Represented in-game as a gun in the bottom middle of the card frame.

Revenge ‒ The first time a Unit with this skill is killed in a game, it will gain Destiny and be put in a random position within the top ten cards of your deck. Spells with this skill will gain Destiny after they have been played and be put in a random position within the top ten cards of your deck.

Unblockable ‒ Units with this skill or wielding a Weapon with this skill can't be blocked by enemy Units. Multiple instances of Unblockable are redundant. Represented in-game by a blue attack animation border and a pair of eyes in the bottom middle of the card frame.

Warcry ‒ Triggers when attacking with the Unit or Relic Weapon. Grants a permanent +1/+1 buff to the topmost Unit or Weapon card in your deck. In most cases stacks, but does not stack on Hero of the People (at least when playing other Units with Warcry, which is probably for the better). When stacked, parsed as "Warcry N" where N is the number of instances of Warcry on the Unit or Weapon. Represented in-game by a horn icon in the bottom middle of the card frame.

Specific Skill Interactions

Deadly + Overwhelm ‒ The attacking Unit will deal 1 damage to each blocking Unit and deal all remaining damage to the enemy player.
Corner Case: Using the Relic Weapon known as The Last Word with the Spell known as Obliterate, it is possible to kill an enemy Unit and deal 5 damage to the enemy player. Outside of this interaction (which I do not encourage you to pursue outside of Gauntlet), it is currently impossible to get both Deadly and Overwhelm on your avatar at the same time.

Deadly + Quickdraw ‒ The attacking Unit will kill a number of blocking Units equal to its strength before taking any damage.

Double Damage + Overwhelm ‒ In order to know how much damage will get through to the enemy player, first double the strength value of the Unit (or damage value, if using a Unit with a direct damage ability), then subtract the total health of Units blocking the attacking Unit.

Echo + Destiny ‒ First Echo will trigger, giving you a second card that also has Destiny. Then both cards will be played at the same time, followed by drawing two cards, one at a time. Destiny on the first card drawn this way will trigger before you draw the second card from the Echo + Destiny card (or at least game animations make it seem that way).

Ambush vs Killer ‒ When a player attempts to attack an enemy Unit with a Killer Unit, the defending player will be presented with an option to play Ambush Units if they have any in hand. Doing so will cause the Killer Unit to instead attack the Ambush Unit.

Significant Non-Keywords

Invulnerable to Damage ‒ All damage that would be dealt to the affected Unit or player is reduced to 0. This will prevent Deadly, Double Damage, Infiltrate, Lifesteal, and Overwhelm from working. Technically also Killer, but why you'd waste it on a Unit affected by invulnerability is beyond me. Represented in-game by a yellow arc just above the affected Unit or player.

"Retired" Keywords

This section contains keywords that used to exist but got removed for some reason or another.

Powersurge ‒ Used to be seen on three cards: Charchain Flail, Copper Conduit, and Flame Blast. Cards that had this ability used to cost X power to play, where X was all of the available power you had for the turn.

Changelog

6/30/2017: Added Omens of the Past keywords visible on the Spoiler page (without descriptions or Battle/Crown viability; I missed the "prerelease" event due to travel so I have no idea what any of the new keywords do right now, although Mentor/Student and Lifeforce seem rather straightforward).
Also added Echo + Destiny interaction description.

7/3/2017: Found the five Omens of the Past cards that were available during the event while I was doing a search for unowned cards to create with Shiftstone (note: don't bother trying to create any of them, it's disabled until Omens of the Past releases). Added descriptions of the abilities found on those cards.

7/14/2017: Added Spark, its description, and Warp's description, while making some tweaks to other descriptions. Also moved Omens of the Past keywords to their own section due to running into character limit.

7/17/2017: Changed the posterchild for the Battle Skills section.

8/19/2017: Added section titled "'Retired' Keywords" and moved/altered Powersurge description to that section. Probably a pointless section to have. For that matter, puzzles have probably obsoleted this guide.

9/3/2017: Updated Battle Skill and Crown Skill images to reflect current collection view.

[XolNight]

@judas any combat skill works with killer as it is treated as a seperate combat phase.

[Rodrick]

Nice guide , to add to Specific Skill Interactions
Killer + Quickdraw , the creature with killer its treated as attacker so it triggers quickdraw
Killer + Overwhelm , triggers with killer
Aegis does not block Killer (Its a directed attack not an ability or spell)

To test killer + warcry , never happened to me so idk but i assume it triggers