Minigame: Battle

The Battle mini-game is the heart of the Puzzle Quest game experience. The player may initiate a battle by clicking on a ship on the star system screen, or may be attacked by hostile ships upon entering a star system in. The player must also complete various battles as part of the main quest storyline or side quests. Battles pit the player's ship versus an enemy ship and is over when one ship has no more Hull strength.

In Puzzle Quest 2, battles are initiated by guiding your character to an enemy and choosing to fight them. Enemies that stand in your way must be defeated to progress, unless they are a part of a Quest (most of the time they can be skipped).

Ships
Each side in a battle is allowed one ship which defines their Hull strength, Shield strength and energy levels (Gunnery, Science and Engineering). The ship also has an inherent speed and Equipment capacity. The player may choose a ship on any map screen, but may not change this setting once a battle has begun. New ships may be acquired during quests, or purchased at shops

Outfitting Items
A ship may have up to 8 slots for Items. The player may outfit the ship during map screens, but the Energy Cost of all items must be less than or equal to the Energy Rating of the ship. Inventing creative combinations of items is one of the most satisfying aspects of the game.

Using Items
Every Item has an Energy Cost associated with it, indicated by red, yellow and green icons next to on the Battle Screen. The player may only use that Item if they have acquired sufficient Energy to meet the cost. After use, every Item has a specified recharge time that must be passed before it can be used again. The recharge time will appear as a number next to the item, and may be affected by various other items.

Galactrix Combat Gameplay
As noted before, every ship has a Speed rating. The ship with the higher speed rating gets the first turn. In the case that both ships have the same Speed rating, the starting player is randomly chosen. During their turn, the player may choose to match gems, or use an Item. The effect of matching Items varies with the gem matched.

Bonus Matches
The normal match is three gems, but the player may receive bonuses for matching more gems. Matching four gems gives you an extra three points of energy, while matching five gems gives you an extra five points, as well as an extra turn.

Gravity
As the player moves gems on the board, other gems "fall" into the playing field from off the board. The direction of this "gravity" is based on the direction of the gem that the player moved. Clever use of gravity is key to successful gameplay. Note that there are various Items which can affect gravity. For example, the Orbital Array cause an opponent's gravity to rotate constantly for 6 turns, making it difficult to predict the effect of moving gems.

Cascades
As gems are matched and create a vacuum, other gems move in to take their place. Reconfiguration of the gameboard can lead to matches other than the initial one caused by the player, and these are called "cascades". Four cascades is called a "Nova" and results in double the value of that match. Six cascades is called a "Supernova" and results in triple value, as well as an extra turn.

Mines
Matching Mines causes direct damage to the opponent's Shields and then Hull, if Shields are destroyed. The damage is calculated by adding up the numbers on the matching Mines (1, 3, 5 or 10), then adding any modifiers. Mine damage modifiers include:
 * Character Level (e.g. a Level 50 character gets a +10 Damage bonus to Mines)
 * Bonus Matches (Four-In-A-Row or Five-In-A-Row)
 * Items (e.g. the Mass Drive adds +1 Damage for every 2 Yellow Gems in play)
 * Cascades (i.e. Nova or Super Nova)

Galactrix Rewards
Whether the player wins or loses a battle, they get to keep any Intel or Psi resources they gathered during the course of the battle. If the player wins the battle, not only do they receive said resources, but they may receive random amounts of physical resources (e.g. Alloys or Technology). Additionally, opponents may sometimes drop plans which may be used to craft items. Winning quest battles may also grant rewards specific to that quest.

Puzzle Quest 2 Rewards
If a player wins a battle, they gain Gold, experience, and random amounts of items.