Order Automatica Forbidden Relic and Grid Synergy Guide

To survive the escalating ritual stages in Order Automatica, select Forbidden Relics that match your 3x3 grid layout and card deployment speed, then shift your gold spending from basic unit rerolls to high-tier relics and grid expansions once wave clears slow down.

Aligning Relic Triggers with Unit Formations

Forbidden Relics function as primary power modifiers that alter unit ability performance across the 3x3 grid. Choose relics based on how your current card queue deploys units rather than relying on raw stats alone:

• Front-Loaded Formations: Prioritize relics that grant area-of-effect damage or defensive shielding to protect vulnerable vanguard units.
• Rapid Deployment Queues: Select entry- or exit-triggered relics to gain passive value every time a unit cycles into play.
• Slow-Burn Squads: Choose relics that offer sustained mana regeneration or flat damage reduction to support high-cost units.

Always confirm the relic's trigger condition before buying to ensure your active grid placement supports its passive effect.

Managing Gold and Ritual Breakpoints

The ritual timer increases intensity as the run progresses, making enemy scaling overwhelming if gold is spent inefficiently. Identify your run's performance breakpoint—the point where your current units take significantly longer to clear incoming waves.

When you reach this threshold, stop spending gold on minor unit upgrades. Funnel your income directly into essential Forbidden Relics or grid expansions that counter upcoming boss-level threats.

If a relic includes an economic penalty, evaluate its sustainability using these standards:

• Income Impact: If a relic reduces your gold-per-turn income, maintain a float surplus of 15 to 20 gold before purchasing it.
• Grid Compatibility: Avoid purchasing relics that force you to sell your primary unit archetypes just to satisfy a trigger requirement.
• Late-Game Survival: Prefer defensive relics over purely offensive options in late stages to ensure your board survives long enough to complete the ritual.

Positioning Units and Sequencing Ability Queues

Grid layout controls draw priority and ability activation order. Use placement to manage threat distribution and ability timing:

1. Center Tile: Place high-health or self-healing units in the center to draw enemy aggro away from fragile allies.
2. Corner Tiles: Position high-damage glass cannons in the grid corners to reduce their exposure to splash damage.
3. Ability Queue Syncing: Arrange units to align activation order displayed at the bottom of the screen. Time high-impact damage abilities to trigger immediately after a defensive relic buff activates.

Countering Escalating Threat Levels

Late-game ritual stages introduce enemies with higher health pools and damage immunities. Diversify your board's damage sources using target rerolls to acquire secondary unit archetypes that bypass specific armor types or resistance traits.

If progress stalls against late-stage waves, swap underperforming offensive relics for defensive items that keep your core damage dealers alive through final wave encounters.