Battle Formation

Battle Formation is one of the basic functions in the world of Pocket Knights, which allows players to design their formation of heroes in the actual fights. Being one of the most important strategic elements, an appropriate battle formation can result in glorious victories even when your opponent seems to be unbeatable.

Battle Formation Interface

In order to access Battle Formation Interface, go to Equip tab and select Formation. There are several functions you can use with Battle Formation:

Battle Formation - Interface

• There are 6 positions in the form of 3 rows x 2 colummns. Each hero can occupy one position. All of the equipped heroes will automatically appear in the formation, and players MUST equip the hero in order for them to appear in the Formation Interface (to equip a hero, go to Equip tab and select Equip Hero)
• Each player's heroes can occupy a maximum of 5 positions in the Formation. If you have friends in your friend list, you can invite your friends' Leader Hero into the battle with you, and your friends' Hero will occupy the final sixth position.
• You can freely change the position of your heroes by dragging them into your desired position. Dragging a hero to the position of another hero will cause a position switching between the two heroes.
• You can show the aggregate power of each hero by clicking the Display Power box on the top left corner. To turn it off, simply clicking the box again.
• Another important function of Battle Formation is the selection of Leader. You can freely choose any of your heroes to be the leader of your team, and the Leader Hero can execute his/her Leader Skill at the beginning of the battle. An appropriate Leader Skill can change the tide of the battle, so it is important to learn more about your heroes' Leader Skill before selecting the Leader.
• Only the equipped heroes can be chosen to be the leader. Their cards and leader skill information will appear in the right box. To designate a Leader Hero, simply clicking the Leader box next to their information. Only one hero can be the Leader at one time and only his/her Leader Skill can be executed. The Leader Skill's effect will last for the entire battle.
• To add more strength to your team to fight fearsome opponents, Battle Formation allows you to invite your friends' hero to join your battles. However, you can only invite your friends' Leader Hero to battle in World Dungeon. 
• Only up to 10 strongest Leader Heroes of your friends can appear in the recruitment list in the right side of the Interface. After recruiting any friend's Leader Hero, you will have to wait for 30 minutes before you can invite them again.
• If you have already invited your friends' Leader Heroes and bring them to the World Dungeon Battle, whether you win or lose the fight in World Dungeon, you will still have to wait for 30 minutes before you can recruit your friend again.
• If you do not want to invite a certain friend's hero but have already done so, you can either drag your friend's hero back to the list or invite another hero to replace the current invited hero. You can also change freely the position of your friend's hero with other heroes in the formation using the same mechanics.

Battle Formation - Friend Invitation

Battle Order & Battle Strategy

One of the most essential factors that make up the strategic part of Battle Formation is Battle Order. More precisely, all battles in the world of Pocket Knights follow certain patterns which allow players to take advantage of, which can result in various battle strategies with the combination of different heroes.

5-star Hunter Tharndir - Back Column attackers

• Any player who starts the fights (BOSS fights, world dungeon fights, arena fights) will be allowed to attack FIRST. The only exception is hitting other players in the Tower, where the opponent attacks first.
• The Battle Order goes from right to left if your team is on the left side, or from left to right if your team is on the right side; and from top to bottom. Players' heroes take turn to move.
• The Battle Order is divided into two columns. You will have to wipe out the heroes standing in the first columns completely before you can proceed to the second columns.
• The heroes will attack the opponents in the same rows first. If the opponent falls, the survived hero will start attacking the other opponents, according to the Battle Order.
• There are some heroes whose special abilities allow them to interfere with the Battle Order, thus having the potentials for many strategies. 5-star Hunter-typed hero Ygress, for example, has the special ability to deal very heavy damage to the opponent in the same row but the in the back column. Another example is 5-star Hunter-typed hero Tharndir, whose special ability is to attack the whole back column. Mage-typed heroes, such as 5-star Tao Yuan and 4-star Raciel, have the ability to cause AoE (Area of Effect) attack that damage all the opponents. And lastly, even Warrior-typed heroes, such as 6-star Rathim and 4-star Gorham VIII have the Front Raid ability to attack their front row, which is just as useful.

5-star Hunter Ygress - Back Row Attackers

The Battle Order is an extremely important mechanics that allows players to execute many different battle strategies. It also makes all heroes worth investing in and any special ability useful and powerful in certain situations. Therefore, it is extremely important to take time and consider your Battle Formation and Heroes before proceeding to battles. You can read a small but precise example on this Here.

Updated 28/12/2013.

Eden