The central Orb in Battlerite, officially known as the Energy Rune, is an integral mechanic and often fundamental to winning. Granting Health and Energy, it spawns in the center of each map. Whomever lands the killing blow against the Energy Rune receives all its benefits, so there’s undoubtedly a great deal of pressure to secure it.

Spawn Timer

It’s important to prepare yourself for the Energy Rune and its spawn. Every 20 seconds it will appear, and the central spawn location will light up moments before. As long as you don’t destroy the Energy Rune, it will remain in play. With a total of 60 health, the Energy Rune can withstand a fair amount of punishment, so it’s important to not only control when your team capture it, but how they go about it.

Zoning

There’s two types of zoning when it comes to capturing the Energy Rune. The first is to play aggressively and push the enemy team back and away from it. The second is to physically body-block, so that you put yourself in front of the enemy line of sight, while still hitting the Energy Rune.

When it comes to zoning, it largely depends on your composition and the willingness of your team to push the enemy back. Ranged compositions work well for this by default (simply because it’s so oppressive), while dive-focused Champions (such as Rook or Raigon) can be still aggressive enough to force opponents back. This tactic is largely linked to the awareness of your team, and whether or not they’re able to play aggressively. In most instance - certainly what I’ve found - is that players naturally play aggressively in Battlerite. While this is a blessing as much as it is a curse, if your team is choosing to dive, it’s often worthwhile to simply join them. At least this way, you’ll push the opponents back to their own half of the arena, leaving you free to quickly take the Energy Rune.

Body Blocking

Body blocking is simply a case of positioning yourself in front of the enemies line of sight so that their attacks hit you, rather than the Energy Rune. In most instances, this means you’ll take some damage (with your back to your opponent), but ensures you can deal damage to the Energy Rune. This tactic is often the riskiest, simply because if you’re body blocking by yourself and have a slow pace at dealing damage, you’ll take a lot of damage before you capture the Energy Rune.

Despite that, if the Energy Rune is already low health, or you’re trying to wrestle for it 1 on 1, body blocking to secure it is often paramount. Unless the opponent has an ability that cleaves (such as Jade’s Snipe), or deals damage underneath the Energy Rune (such as Ashka’s Flame Strike) simply denying line of sight can be enough to secure it for your team. Even if you have lost health, the instant Energy and Health return can top you up, while your team receive the benefits (wherever they may be).

You can't miss when the central Orb spawns: it glows bright green.

Steal

A little trickier to undertake and typically only possible when the enemy are attempting to body block, or burst the Energy Rune. Stealing is simply securing the Energy Rune when the enemy are making every effort to deny it from you. Most often this involves waiting until the last second to release an ability you know you cannot miss with. Many Champions have something that can do this. Whether it’s Iva’s Rocket (which can deal AOE splash damage), Raigon’s Heavenly Strike, or Pestilus’ Blood Sucker, all can snatch an Energy Rune at the last second if timed correctly. It’s still important to gain line of sight (if you can), while attempting to look as though you’re not interested in the Energy Rune. Ideally, you want to know the exact damage your abilities do so that you can time the steal perfectly. Regardless of what ability you do lose, as long as you time it right, you can often snag an Energy Rune right under the nose of your opponent.

Burst

A common tactic for most players, bursting down the Energy Rune is often the quickest and easiest method of securing it. Champions such as Jade and Ruh Kaan are exceptional at this, as their Snipe and Shadowblast (respectively) deal massive damage. Although a burst capture of the Energy Rune still needs it to be around half health, if a team combines their attacks to hit it all at once, it will rarely be lost. Considering most Champions have a high burst ability, ensuring this is always available for when the Energy Rune spawns is imperative.


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Last Updated: Dec 12, 2017

About The Author

Lewis is a long standing journalist, who freelances to a variety of outlets.

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