Heart of the Wildfire

Frequently Asked Questions

Blighted Island cards
Effect Rules
Elements and Elemental Thresholds
  • Can the different thresholds of an innate power be used separately?
    No, the thresholds are all part of a single power. All effects must be used on the same target land (or same target Spirit), and you use the effects of every threshold you meet{1}, in the order they're printed{2}.
    For example, Lightning's Swift Strike's innate power of Thundering Destruction used with 5 Fire, 4 Air, and 1 Water can destroy two buildings in the same land, but it cannot destroy two buildings in different lands. Even the final threshold on Serpent Slumbering Beneath the Island's Serpent Rouses in Anger targets a single land, although it affects all lands on the board in addition to the one that it targets.
    One sort-of-exception: innate powers that say "Repeat this Power," like A Spread of Rampant Green's innate Creepers Tear into Mortar. When a power is Repeated, you use the power from the beginning, which means you can target a new land.
    {1} = You are allowed to pretend you have fewer Elements than you really do — e.g., to activate only the lower level of an innate — but that decision is made for the entire Power, not each threshold individually. Once you've chosen, you must activate every threshold those elements qualify for. Particularly, for Shadows Flicker Like Flames' innate power Darkness Swallows the Unwary, there is no set of elements which can activate the second threshold without also activating the first threshold. If you destroy 2 Explorers to earn fear, you must first gather an explorer (if able).
    {2} = Effects which modify Speed, Range, or targeting obviously apply when you check Speed / Range / targeting.
    (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Elements, Lightning's Swift Strike, A Spread of Rampant Green, Serpent Slumbering Beneath the Island, 15 more...
General Play
Power Cards
Setup
Spirit Phase
  • Do I have to do everything shown in a Growth option I pick?
    Yes. You can do them in any order, but must do everything shown if possible.
    Usually, there's no downside: Reclaiming, gaining Energy/Power Cards, and adding Presence are strictly good. (You can always move a Presence already on the island when adding Presence [p. 14], so "running out" isn't a concern.) Spirits with "Move a Presence up to Range N" Growth effects can Move it 0. However, a few Spirits do include things you'll have to work around - eg:
    • Ocean's Hungry Grasp often requires you to Push or Gather Presence;
    • Heart of the Wildfire often adds Blight along with Presence, so being required to add Presence can be dangerous.
    If you can't do something in a Growth option, you do as much as you can and skip the rest. (Eg: if you're supposed to Push Presence from each Ocean, and there's a board where none of your Presence is in the Ocean, you don't Push on that board.)
  • The only rules constraints are that each individual Spirit must Grow / Gain Energy / Play Power Cards in that order, and that all Spirits must complete the Spirit Phase before anyone starts resolving Fast Powers. [p. 8] Other than that, players play simultaneously and may confer as they wish, so for instance, one Spirit could plan out their whole turn before another decides which Growth they're taking, or two Spirits gaining Power Cards could base their decisions on what to keep based on each others' draws. How lenient you are about individual Spirits rewinding - eg, going back to choose a different Growth option - is ultimately a playgroup decision, but most people seem to be fine with it so long as you're not rewinding "gain a Power Card".
    In some cases outside of the core game, a Spirit's Growth may even change the board - waiting for this is also fine. (E.g., Keeper of the Forbidden Wilds could push Dahan by making a Sacred Site, changing what lands Thunderspeaker could add Presence to.)
    (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Growth, Timing, Gaining Power Cards, Keeper of the Forbidden Wilds, 1 more...
Spirits and Innate Powers
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