The Clockmaker hits softer than anyone. They do not win by dealing damage, they win by folding space: every time one of their spells swaps two entities, they get action points back and arm a time bomb on their target. It is the hardest class in the game, and the one that climbs highest when the chain holds.
Five movement points, the lowest in the game. It is not a punishment: the Clockmaker does not walk, they teleport. Reflection costs 2 AP and has practically no usage limit — it is their real means of travel, and it goes through walls.
Every time one of your spells swaps two entities, you get 2 AP back (once per spell per turn) and Reflection recharges.
A swapped enemy also takes a Time charge: 0 damage to start with, but every new swap makes it grow — 4, 10, 18, 28, 42, 61, 86, 120, 167… with no cap, though the growth eases off markedly from the tenth swap — and pushes its explosion back a turn. It goes off at the start of the target’s first turn where it has taken no swap since its previous turn.
Read that last sentence twice: it is the whole class. The charge only hurts if you stop swapping, and it only grows if you keep going. The Clockmaker therefore spends the match stacking swaps, none of which does any visible damage, until the turn they cannot any more — and then the opponent takes all at once what has been accumulated.
The 2 AP given back change the arithmetic of the turn. Three different spells that swap in the same turn make 6 AP recovered: a well-played Clockmaker regularly spends more than 12 AP a turn.
10 to 15 damage. In a cross of 2 tiles around the target point, every entity moves to the opposite arm, on the other side of the centre. Two entities facing each other trade places: swap. Only enemies take the damage — your Automatons pass through unharmed. Aim at the centre between you and your target, not at the target.
22 to 30 damage — your strongest spell — then the target goes back to the tile it occupied before its last move, and you too return to your previous tile. If the return tile is occupied, it is a trade: swap. Cast on an empty tile or on an Automaton it deals no damage: only the return happens.
21 to 29 damage, then the target is thrown to the other side of you, at the same distance. If someone occupies the destination tile, the two trade places: swap. On an Automaton it moves it without hurting it — that is how you reposition a foothold six tiles away for 4 AP.
11 to 16 damage, the target loses 1 to 2 AP for 2 turns, then it trades places with your Automaton nearest to it: swap. With no Automaton on the map there is no trade — so no swap and no 2 AP back. The AP steal, though, always applies.
Aim at an entity: you reappear on the other side of it, at the same distance. If the destination tile is occupied, you trade places with its occupant: swap. Its one-turn cooldown is reset by any swap — by chaining, you recast it indefinitely within the same turn. It is the heart of the class engine.
Swap places with one of your Automatons, wherever it is. It is a guaranteed swap: 2 AP back, Reflection recharged, net cost 1 AP. It is also your only way to cross the arena in one spell — place an Automaton far away and you have an escape hatch for six turns.
Sends an entity — or yourself — back to the tile where it started its turn. No damage. If someone is standing there, they trade places: swap. Cancelling an opponent’s entire move in one go, just after they closed the distance, for 2 AP, is one of the best deals in the game.
Places an Automaton with 110 health and 3 MP, with no attack at all, which you move on its own turn. Two at most, six turns each. It serves one purpose only: to be a foothold for your swaps — and every swap made with it gives you 2 more AP on the next turn, if it is still standing. Cast again on an Automaton already placed, the spell removes it and gives you the 2 AP back.
Spent: 9 AP. Given back: 4. Real cost 5 AP out of 12, and your opponent starts their turn with a primed Time charge, less AP, and a position they did not choose.
Reflection costs 2 AP and has no cast limit per turn: only its one-turn cooldown stops it. And any swap resets that cooldown. As long as you alternate a Reflection that swaps and another spell that swaps, you can keep going in the same turn — and every swap grows the opponent’s Time charge by one step: 4, then 10, 18, 28, 42…
In practice the chain stops for want of useful tiles: each time, the destination tile has to be occupied for a trade to happen. That is why you keep two Automatons on the map — two reliable occupants, that you can reposition with Reversal for 4 AP.
The Charge goes off at the start of the target’s first turn where it has taken no swap since its previous turn. In other words: you choose the moment of detonation by deciding not to swap. A Clockmaker who has stacked seven swaps, then spends a turn placing an Automaton and backing off, sets off 61 points — 86 on the eighth — without casting anything offensive.
Swapping one more time "because there were 2 AP left", on the turn the charge was about to go off. The detonation is pushed back a turn, and your opponent gets one more turn to kill you. Count before you spend.
Against the Warrior, watch their Anchor: if they have cast it, do not spend your AP on failed swaps, spend a turn on Hourglass to strip their AP instead. Against the Brute you are favoured: they only have 20% resistance to AP steal and no way to prevent a trade.
Against the Arcanist, Winder and Reversal are there to bring them close to you: their Focus strips their damage in contact. Against the Shade, an invisible target can no longer be targeted: place your Automatons as cover and wait for them to reappear. Against the Artificer, their charges are entities like any other — Pivot rotates them with everything else, and a line of charges shifted by one tile is worth nothing.
The Clockmaker is played by chaining swaps: every position swap gives them 2 AP back, recharges Reflection and grows the opponent’s Time charge. You first place an Automaton for 2 AP, which serves as a foothold, then alternate Reflection and a spell that swaps. It is the most demanding class in the game, and the one that asks you to count three turns ahead.
The Time charge is placed on every enemy the Clockmaker swaps, and it starts at 0 damage. Each new swap makes it grow — 4, 10, 18, 28, 42, 61, 86, 120, then 167 — and pushes its explosion back a turn. It goes off at the start of the target’s first turn where it has taken no swap since its previous turn.
The Clockmaker has 720 health, 12 action points and 5 movement points, the lowest in the game. Those 5 MP are not a punishment: Reflection, at 2 AP and with no cast limit per turn, is their real means of travel, and it goes through walls.
Reflection, for 2 AP: you reappear on the other side of the targeted entity, at the same distance, with no line of sight needed. If the destination tile is occupied, you trade places with its occupant, and that is a swap. Its one-turn cooldown is reset by any swap, which lets you chain it within the same turn.
By destroying their Automatons and preventing the trades. Each Automaton has only 110 health and no defence; without them, Hourglass no longer swaps and Recall no longer exists. The Warrior’s Anchor, for 2 AP, makes its target impossible to move for a whole turn.
The Clockmaker asks you to count three turns ahead. It is the most demanding class in the game — and the most satisfying when the chain holds.
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