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Adventuring and Combat

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Tactical Quick Answer

Combat in Swag and Sorcery is turn-based and automated, so your active jobs are casting spells and hitting retreat. You set the marching order by the sequence in which you drag heroes onto horses at the Stable: the party advances left to right, so the rightmost hero leads and only the first row can use melee weapons at all. Equip healing potions, because heroes drink them on their own. A hero who hits zero health runs home and loses everything, Loot Bag included, while a hero you retreat deliberately keeps the Loot Bag and loses some or all of the loose resources.

Combat in Swag and Sorcery is turn-based and runs itself. Once you send a party out of the village, they advance and attack whatever they meet. You cannot pick targets or tell anyone to block. Your active role is casting spells and hitting the retreat button.

Success depends on how you set your team up before they leave town.

Sending a Party Out​

Adventures start at the Stable, and this is the part that is easy to miss. You drag a hero onto a horse, and the sequence in which you place them is the party order. There is no separate slot picker anywhere in the game.

The party then advances through the level from left to right, which makes the rightmost hero your lead. Equip that one for melee and the ones behind for ranged.

This matters more than a positioning preference, because it is a hard restriction:

  • Melee weapons only work in the first row. A sword on a hero further back is dead weight. The one exception is Mona's level 25 trait "No Contact" Attack, which lets her swing a melee weapon from any position.
  • How many heroes count as the first row is not documented. Party size caps at three, so it is somewhere between one and three.

Party size is not a function of how many heroes you own. You start able to send one, and the increases come from quests: a Spa mood quest raises you to two, and three arrives only with Guild III, which unlocks after the Dark Ruins boss. Hiring more heroes before then buys you crafters and a bench, not a bigger party. Once you have three Stables you can run three parties at once across different zones.

Building the Team​

Ignore the tank, ranged carry, and support template that circulates for this game. The roster does not support it. Every hero has exactly 60 points spread across the four main stats in steps of 10, 15, and 20, and there are two heroes for each primary stat. The spread between a hero's best and worst stat is 10 points, while a basic level 2 sword grants 4 to 14 Strength on its own. Gear decides far more than the hero does.

What actually matters:

  • Put your sturdiest hero on the right, where the contact damage lands. Mona is the game's best pick for that: health 92, armor 20, and Survival 98 are all roster bests.
  • Equip the lead for melee and everyone else for crossbows, muskets, staffs, or orbs.
  • Give everyone healing potions.
  • Group attacks exist, so no position is safe. Timber Wolves and Mystical Ents both hit the whole party.

Preparing for the Run​

You cannot scout a zone before you dispatch. Early on the level is covered in mist, and the game deliberately hides what your party will meet next. The mist clears gradually as quest rewards, and even fully cleared it shows you what is coming during the run instead of giving you a briefing beforehand. Fewer than half of all players ever clear it completely.

There is also no monster armor value to look up. Monsters record health, two special attacks, and their loot, and nothing else. Damage in this game splits five ways, physical plus fire, nature, ice, and dark, each with its own matching resistance, so there is no single "magic damage" to switch to. Bring a spread instead of trying to counter-pick.

What preparation actually means here:

  • Equip healing potions. Heroes drink them on their own mid-fight, and this is the single biggest thing you can do for a run. The Laboratory crafts four tiers restoring 150, 250, 350, and 450 health.
  • Match the zone's level band to your heroes. The Magical Forest is levels 1 to 5, the Battlefield and Dark Ruins 3 to 24, and the Hot Springs, Swamp, and Underground City 24 to 50.
  • Bring mana. Spells are your only live input, so a healing spell ready for a bad turn is worth the trip to the Laboratory.

Check the Spells and Magic guide for the full spell list and mana costs.

When to Retreat​

The rule that matters: a hero who reaches zero health runs home and you lose every item they were carrying, including their Loot Bag. Retreating deliberately is different, and it is the whole reason the Loot Bag exists. You keep everything in the Loot Bag and lose some or all of the loose resources in the main inventory. Retreating is what saves a bag, and never what costs you one.

This works per hero, not per party. One hero hitting zero sends that hero home with their haul gone while the rest carry on, so this is about protecting an individual's bag and not salvaging a whole run.

Any time you pick up a rare recipe or high-value drop, stash it in the Loot Bag right away.

Retreat is not instant. Clicking it sends the hero back to town at the end of their next action phase, so one more round of attacks resolves first. That is why you pull out with a margin and not at the last sliver of health.

The game's own threshold is more useful than a flat percentage: retreat when a hero is running low and has no healing potions equipped and you have no mana for a healing spell. If they still have potions, they will use them.

Frequently Asked Questions​

Can you control your heroes during combat in Swag and Sorcery?

Barely. Combat is turn-based and automated: heroes advance, attack what they meet, collect resources, and drink their own healing potions if you equipped any. You cannot pick targets or tell them to block. Casting spells and pressing retreat are your only active inputs.

How do you set the party order in Swag and Sorcery?

By the sequence in which you drag heroes onto horses at the Stable. There is no separate slot picker. The party advances left to right, so the rightmost hero leads and should carry the melee weapon, since melee weapons only work in the first row. Mona's level 25 trait is the one exception.

What happens if a hero runs out of health?

They run back to the village without finishing the adventure, and you lose every item they were carrying including their Loot Bag. Nobody dies permanently. It also works per hero and not per party, so the rest of the group carries on.

When should you hit the retreat button?

When a hero is running low and has no healing potions equipped and you have no mana for a healing spell. Retreat is not instant: the hero leaves at the end of their next action phase, so one more round of attacks lands first. Pull out with a margin.

How many heroes can you send on an adventure?

One at first. A Spa mood quest raises it to two, and three only arrives with Guild III, which unlocks after the Dark Ruins boss. Hiring more heroes before then gives you crafters and a bench, not a bigger party. Later you get three Stables and can run three parties at once.