How to play

1. The goal

You bring a team of 3 Soltokemons, one in the arena at a time. You win when all 3 of your opponent's creatures faint. Each round you and your opponent secretly pick an action at the same time, then both actions resolve in Speed order. You cannot see their choice first, so good play is about reading them.

2. The four stats

• HP (Health): how much damage the creature can take before it faints. The raw number you see.
• Attack: a multiplier on the damage you deal. 1.30 means you hit 30% harder than average; 0.85 means 15% softer.
• Defense: a multiplier that reduces the damage you take. Higher is better. Damage scales with the attacker's Attack divided by your Defense.
• Speed: decides who acts first each round. The faster creature lands its move (and its status) before the slower one. Ties are random.

3. Type matchups

Two type cycles. Within each cycle a type beats the next and loses to the one before it; matchups between the two cycles are neutral.

Core cycle

Electric

→

Water

→

Fire

→

Grass

↺

Etheria cycle

Rock

→

Ice

→

Etherial

→

Wind

↺

Wind spawns everywhere in the wild like the core types; Etherial is the endgame element, found only in the Lands of Etheria. A type only resists or is super-effective within its own cycle; matchups across the two cycles are neutral.

• Hitting a type you beat (super effective): 1.5x damage.
• Hitting a type that beats you (resisted): 0.66x damage.
• Neutral matchup: 1x damage.

We keep this at 1.5x on purpose. A full 2x would let the type matchup decide the whole game. At 1.5x type is a strong edge, but a bad matchup is something you answer by switching, not a death sentence.

Ice and the second cycle

Cryomon (and its evolutions) sit OUTSIDE the 4-element rock-paper-scissors cycle above: against Electric, Water, Grass or Fire, every Ice matchup resolves at a neutral 1x type multiplier. Ice instead belongs to the SECOND cycle - Rock beats Ice, Ice beats Etherial, Etherial beats Wind, and Wind beats Rock - so its type edges live there. Against the core four, Cryomon's edge is its kit (a Frost Bite that chills the foe + balanced stats), not the type chart: treat ice as a controller you bring for utility, not for a free type win.

4. How damage is calculated

Every hit runs through this formula:

• Power: the move's base power (see the moves table below).
• STAB (Same-Type Attack Bonus): 1.25x if the move's type matches the user's own type, otherwise 1x. So your Strike and Burst always get the bonus, Tackle never does.
• Type: 1.5x super effective, 0.66x resisted, or 1x neutral (section 3).
• Attack ÷ Defense: your Attack multiplier divided by the target's Defense multiplier.
• Random: a small roll between 0.90 and 1.00, so damage is never fully fixed.
• Critical hit: a flat 6.25% chance (1 in 16) on any damaging move to deal an extra 1.5x.
• Damage is always at least 1. Status moves deal no direct damage.

5. Energy ⚡

Energy is the heart of the game. You start each creature at 5 energy and gain +2 at the end of every turn, up to a maximum of 9. Every move has an energy cost, and that +2 regen is lower than a Strike (3), so you cannot just spam your best attack. Each turn the real decision is: spend now, or bank energy for a Burst?

Energy is tracked per creature. Switching does not let you dump a charged Burst onto a fresh fighter, the new one has its own energy bar.

6. The six moves

Every Soltokemon has the same six roles, themed to its element. Each one exists for a clear reason:

Move names by type

7. Status effects

Each type's Signature move inflicts a different status for 3 turns. This is what gives every creature a real playstyle. The exact numbers:

• A creature can carry only one status at a time. Applying a new one (or the same one again) refreshes it back to 3 turns.
• A status sticks to the creature. It only ticks down and deals its damage while that creature is the active fighter.

8. Switching

You can swap your active Soltokemon for one on your bench, but switching uses your whole turn: the opponent gets a free hit on the creature coming in. Switch to gain a type advantage or to save a low fighter, while predicting what they will do. When a creature faints, sending in the next one is free and does not cost your turn.

9. What happens each turn

1. You and your opponent pick an action secretly, at the same time.
2. Any switches happen first (the switching side does not also attack).
3. Remaining attacks resolve in Speed order, faster creature first.
4. End of turn: status damage (Burn, Leech) is applied, then both active creatures gain +2 energy.

10. Quick tips

• Lead with a type edge, or with fast Sparkmon to land Shock first.
• Use Tackle on turns where you are saving energy for a Burst.
• Status first, then attack. A Burned or Soaked foe deals far less damage.
• Do not stay in against the type that beats you. Switch to the one you beat.
• Speed wins races. The faster creature lands its move and its status first.

11. Genetic mutations

Caught Soltokemons have up to 4 mutation slots that permanently boost them. You don't roll a fight, you roll their genes. Two items drive the chase, Dr. Helix's inventions from the Wilderwood Gene Lab, freely stocked at the Solana City Market - just bring coins. A Soltokemon must be LEVEL 15 or higher before you can use either item on it:

• Mutagen 🧬: fills one EMPTY slot with a random mutation. Useless on a creature with all 4 slots full.
• Helix Spinner 🌀: re-rolls EVERY existing mutation on a creature. Useless on a creature with 0 mutations.
• Three tiers, marked by colour and a letter on the slot pill: white C (common, +5%), blue R (rare, +10%), pink E (epic, +18%).
• Ten kinds: +HP, +ATK, +DEF, +SPD, vs Electric / Water / Grass / Fire, Wild Hunter (vs wilds), Duelist Edge (vs trainers).
• Bonuses are additive across slots. A full set of 4 epics on the same channel caps around +72% - real, but never enough to ignore type matchup or level.
• Mutations are PER-CREATURE, not per-element. They live on CAUGHT instances; the mascot you picked at the start is a synthetic LEAD slot, so to mutate something for your lead element you catch one in the wild and put it in team slot 0 from the Bag.

Mutations are server-rolled with a secret seed, so you cannot grind for a specific id by timing your clicks. The Mutagen always sticks (it goes into an empty slot); the Helix Spinner is the chase - re-roll a 4-common set hunting for that epic +ATK, but every re-roll costs another spinner.

12. Evolutions

Every element evolves by LEVEL, with no extra item or trade. The evolved sprite glows with the type's colour and gains stars (✦) per stage:

• Stage 1 - Level 30. A mid-game milestone (around the city + a couple of trainers). One ✦ star, one glow ring.
• Stage 2 - Level 75. An endgame milestone. Two ✦ stars, a stronger glow.
• Stats already scale with level under the hood (engine.ts), so the evolved sprite is the VISIBLE celebration of growth, not a separate stat jump.
• Evolutions are OPT-IN: when you cross 30 or 75 the game asks. Decline and you stay on the base form even at high level. You can accept later from the Bag (the ✨ button on the card).
• Acceptance is tracked PER ELEMENT, in your save, so it follows your account across devices.

Combat power is per-ELEMENT. An old Lv.1 capture catches up automatically to your element's level - the Bag shows the effective battle level, not the stale capture level.

13. Daily Expedition and the Signal

Open the Quest Journal (the 📖 book icon in the overworld) for the Daily Expedition: three quick missions that reset every day at 00:00 UTC. It is the fastest daily loop for free coins and items, and it is separate from the story quests.

• The three missions: win 3 wild battles, catch 1 creature with a Capture Net, and visit the day's target zone. Each pays coins plus a Net or a Lure.
• Finish all three to open the Expedition Chest (160 coins + an EXP Candy). Claim it on consecutive days to build a streak, shown as a badge.
• Spotlight element: each day one battle type is highlighted, cycling through every element. The catch mission is easiest when you hunt the spotlight type.
• Signal: a free, once-a-day, 15-minute booster. Fire it and about 1 in 3 of your wild encounters is the spotlight type, in tall grass AND out at sea. It only changes the encounter's element, never its level or species.
• Use the Signal to farm the spotlight fast: for the daily catch, for a type you are missing, or to gather that element's Essences, Gems and upgrade materials.

The Signal is the free cousin of a Lure: a Lure raises how OFTEN you meet wilds, the Signal biases WHICH element they are, and they stack. The missions, the chest and the Signal are all server-tracked, so your streak and daily reset follow your account across every device.