A Co-op Boss Raid in Your Browser, Played Turn by Turn

Co-op games used to take organising: find a team, agree on a time, install a client. The boss fight in Solwaris turns that around. It starts in one click in the browser, it plays turn by turn, so at your own pace with no reflexes required, and it brings together up to three heroes against an opponent built to push them hard.

This article explains how that fight works, how it differs from a duel, and what separates a group that struggles from a group that wins.

One boss, up to three heroes, one board

Solwaris is first a tactical duel game: each player picks a hero from 6 classes and, every turn, spends 12 AP and 6 MP on movement and spells across a tiled arena. PvE keeps the same rules but flips the situation: instead of an opponent at your level, a far tougher boss with its own spells and its own map.

You can face it:

• alone, to learn its spells at your own pace;
• as a pair or a group of three: you join a queue, a panel shows who is waiting with you, and the fight starts as soon as the group is full.

The fight ends when the boss falls, when the team falls, or at the turn limit. Even a lost fight pays out: what counts is the damage dealt.

Why turn-based changes everything in co-op

In a real-time raid, coordination happens in split seconds, over voice. Turn by turn, it happens through thinking. Each hero plays their turn in order, the board stays in front of you, and every decision is made with full information. The basic rules are what give a group fight its bite:

• area spells hit everyone: a badly placed area spell also hurts your ally. Spreading out becomes second nature;
• line of sight decides who can strike: a well-placed ally opens the way, a badly placed one blocks yours;
• pushes shove a hero, right into danger if nobody is paying attention.

That is what makes a boss interesting with three: adding up three heroes is not enough, they have to complement each other.

Two example bosses, two ways to play

Each week has its own boss. They do not all fight the same way, and that is the point: you do not beat one the way you beat another.

Goleling King: bring down the court first

Goleling King rules a throne room, surrounded by his court. As long as one of his minions is alive, he is untouchable. The whole fight is about bringing the court down, then striking the King during the two turns he is exposed, before he calls back a larger court. With three players, the roles fall into place naturally: who handles the minions, who saves their big hits for the window. His full spell list is in the Goleling King guide.

The Archmage: read the board before you attack

The Archmage never lets you close in. He teleports, knocks back, and rains meteors on glyphs he draws one turn in advance, under your heroes and around them. Everything he prepares is visible: the orange zone of each glyph, the altars that flare up before a cataclysm hits the islands left in the dark. And while he channels his meteor shower, he stays still and vulnerable: that is when to strike. It is all explained in the Archmage guide.

Five habits that win a group fight

1. Read the board before acting. The dangers the boss prepares are visible a turn ahead. Ending your turn inside one costs far more than one spell less.
2. Spread out. The boss’s area attacks, like yours, punish a group that sticks together.
3. Save your big spells for the window. Most bosses have a moment when they take more damage: that is when everything should land.
4. Play your role. One hero holds the line and draws the hits, another strikes from range, a third controls: the six classes complement each other.
5. Think in damage, not just in victory. Even a lost fight pays out, in proportion to what the team took off the boss.

• WarriorMelee · Tank
• BruteMelee · Area
• ArcanistRanged · Damage
• ShadeTraps · Poison
• ClockmakerSwap · Control
• ArtificerBombs · Area

What a boss fight earns

Win or lose, every percent of health taken off the boss earns coins and a chance at a crystal, which is where skins, weapons and auras come from. The whole team’s damage also counts for the weekly leaderboard, shared equally among its members. The leaderboard resets every Monday. The details are on the Loot page.

Where to start

If you are new to the game, start with a duel or the guided fight to get a feel for AP, MP and line of sight: our beginner’s guide walks through them step by step. Then switch the menu selector to PvE, pick Solo, Duo or Trio, and start the fight. For more games you can play without installing anything, see our list of best browser games, and to understand what makes a good fight, our article on what a tactics game is.