Up Close & Personal battles is not my favorite. Since only melee units can be used in this battle, this kind of fight becomes how to maximize your damage output through abilities and positioning. One wrong move can cause your whole line to fall apart and a lot of missed damage just because a few of your units need to be in the front to attack.

On the contrary, what makes this ruleset interesting is how different modifiers and abilities suddenly matter more than usual. Simple things like counters or unit order can decide the match unexpectedly. I don't like this kind of battles because it's very restrictive and punishes wrong lineups very hard but it does reward players who really understand melee fights.

Modifiers

Up Close & Personal - Only Units with Melee attack may be used in battles.

• In Up Close & Personal Modifier, counters and strategy are really important. Since everyone is forced to use melee units, you will see a lot of direct trades every round. This is where abilities like Shield and Thorns can easily swing the match in your favor or against you if you are not careful.

5 Combos You Can Do with Up Close & Personal Modifier

Modifier	Name	Description
	Shield	Reduced damage from Melee and Ranged attacks by 50%.
		- Shield ability is very strong in Up Close & Personal battles especially when most attacks are melee. Halving melee attacks can keep your frontline unit alive much longer than expected. This is very good if your tank have it which technically doubles your good armor and health. The downside of Shield Modifier is when the enemy also has it. Fights become slower and less predictable because both sides struggle to finish units quickly. When both you and the enemy have both Shields on your tank, generally, the first tank to die loses the whole game.
	Thorns	When hit with a Melee attack, does 2 Meele damage back to the attacker.
		- Thorns Modifier is scary in melee only battles because every hit can damage attackers back. Melee units take 2 damage every time they attack which can stack fast especially when the units aren't supported by any heals. This makes Thorns very good for in Up Close & Personal modifier where all of your enemies have melee attacks as well. On the other hand, Thorns is not always perfect. If the enemy misses their attack then they do not take damage which can feel bad. Shield ability also halves Thorns damage so pitting Shield against Thorns can reduce its impact a lot.
	Equal Opportunity	All units have Opportunity (targets the enemy unit with the least health).
		- Equal Opportunity Modifier is a good combo with Up Close & Personal Modifier since not all melee units can attack from any position. With this modifier more melee units gain Opportunity letting them attack from the backline. This opens a lot of creative lineup options that normally would not work. Being able to attack from anywhere means you can focus more on stats and abilities that matter the most. Still you must be careful because the lowest health units are the priority target in this modifier. So, make sure you keep the highest damage units with the most health or else they would be the ones to die first.
	Piercing	If melee or ranged attack damage is in excess of the target's armor, the remainder will damage the target's Health.
		- Piercing ability is very useful when armor is everywhere. In Up Close & Personal battles, many players stack armor to survive longer. Piercing allows excess damage to go straight to health which can kills enemy units faster. This ability works very well with units with high melee attacks. Most of these came from Fire Element. If the enemy has only 1 armor and you deal 4 damage then 3 goes to health which makes killing them much easier for your other units. Without Piercing you might waste damage every turn.
	Flank	At the beginning of battle, if this unit is in the first position, the unit in the second position gains reach.
		- Flank ability gives the unit next to it Reach ability which is very useful in melee only fights. Reach allows melee units to attack from the second position which increases your total damage output. This can surprise enemies who expect only one attacks per round. The problem with Flank is positioning. If your unit with Flank is not in the first position then the ability becomes useless. One mistake in unit order can waste the whole benefit so you need to plan carefully before the match starts.