Official Game Guide
Abalon uses a background property for all cards called "tier". Tier determines when a particular card can drop or surface within the game. Tier also corresponds to the gold value of a card.
I initially assigned tiers to create a natural progression for deck building. Tiers 1-4 represent spell and unit cards. Since each spell/unit card in Abalon has unique tactical advantages, from the lowliest squirrel to the mightiest dragon, I opted for the concept of tiers over the more common TCG mechanic of rarity to emphasis how each card has value and power within the deck given the right combinations and circumstances. Tier is intentionally a hidden background property rather than directly surfaced because I didn't want to create a natural impulse to always pick the highest tier card when presented with a choice.
Tier 1 cards are generally lower mana cost and have simpler rulesets that make it easier to understand their gameplay value. Tier 1 includes cards such as Fireball, Animal Growth, Killer Bunnies, and Skeleton Warriors. Note that spells like Fireball are still incredibly powerful and are a staple of direct damage themed decks. Their power is immediately obvious and applicable to most scenarios, and that's part of what I mean by natural progression to deck building.
Tier 2 cards include spells like Bonus Attack, Back, to the Future!, Exploding Fireball, Detonate, and Poison. These spells start to introduce more complex gameplay mechanics (ex: Poison, gravity, time travel) or have more situational usage (like Bonus Attack). Tier 2 units typically add-on versatility to the base mechanics of Tier 1 units. For example, Ironclad Soldier is a Tier 1 unit. Ironclad Captain (which buffs Ironclads) is a Tier 2 unit.
Tier 3 adds further complexity, with units like Frog Demon, Minotaur, and Gnome Scholar. Some Tier 3 spells include Counterspell, Redirect, Dark Temptation, and Dispel Magic. These spells are distinguished by unique mechanics that are extremely powerful, but not until later gameplay when you have more cards available (increasing the need for deck manipulation) and start fighting enemies with spell casting abilities of their own that require effective counters to defeat efficiently.
Finally, Tier 4 spells typically have the highest mana cost and/or highly specialized mechanics (Disintegrate, Restoration, Temporal Storm and Transfer Consciousness), and aspirationally large and powerful mythological units like dragons and cyclops. Red Imp, with his unit swapping ability, and Dreamstealer, with his spell stealing ability, are also Tier 4 units. I also wanted the progression to have an escalating feel to it, aligned with player expectations of more grander and legendary units being rewarded at higher stages of the game, so that's the other part of my reasoning allocating larger and more epic feeling units and spells to this tier.
A subset of the spell and unit cards are also shop-exclusive, meaning they can only be found in shop encounters, and are not dropped through combat scenarios.
Here's a break down of the gold costs for Tier 1-4: Tier 1 spells cost 100 gold, shop exclusive 125. Units are 150 (no shop exclusive units). Tier 2 spells cost 150 gold, shop exclusive 200. Units are 200 and shop exclusive are 250. Tier 3 spells cost 200 gold, shop exclusive 275. Units are 250, shop exclusive 325. Tier 4 spells cost 250, shop exclusive 350. Units are 300, shop exclusive 400.
Tiers for spell and unit cards correspond to the number of battles your summoner has won during an adventure (with starting bonuses given for fast adventure). The game will initially reward tier 1 cards (exclusive to your primary magic color) and gradually drop higher tiers as well as cards from your secondary magic color and freewill magic group.
Tiers 5-9 were added to represent the many satchel cards that were added to the game overtime. Unlike the spells and units that comprise the players' deck (which have equal strengths and weaknesses relative to their mana cost and abilities), satchel cards don't cost mana and were designed to scale in power as the game progresses. Satchel cards come in two main varieties, consumables and artifacts. Consumables are one-use items, like potions or scrolls, that provide benefits such as healing, extra mana, or summoned creatures. Some consumables also bestow permanent or persistent abilities (such as increased health or the creation of a loyal unit). Artifacts are equippable relics that grant a permanent ability that increases the strength of a particular unit or changes the core mechanics of the game and create opportunities for even stronger deck builds. Artifacts are unique meaning that only one instance of the card is discoverable per game adventure. There are also common equipment, which are persistent as well, but multiple copies can be found in shops or on weapon and armor racks.
Here's a breakdown of the gold costs for Tier 5-9: Tier 5 satchel cards are 150-400 gold Tier 6 satchel cards are 450-675 gold Tier 7 satchel cards are 700-950 gold Tier 8 satchel cards are 1000-1500 gold Tier 9 satchel cards are 1600-2000 gold
Tier 9 was created as of version 2.70. These cards are only dropped by bosses and sold only at select shops (like Ross's Rare Relics in the Harvest biome). Some items are also classified as Tier 0, meaning that they only drop for special events, such as Bigbeard's Helmet and the Chronomancer Top Hat.
Tiers for satchel cards correspond to the chapter and type of drop:
