Combat Screen & Card Tags, Explained
A number-by-number breakdown of everything on the Chaos Zero Nightmare battle screen, plus the card tags and rules new players ask about most.
The CZN battle screen packs a lot of icons into a small space. This page labels every one of them — both sides of the HUD, how a card's Cost/Type/Attribute/Tags fit together, and the AP/Attribute rules that decide who wins a fight.
Character Side HUD 12
The left side of the battle screen — your team's health, resources, hand of cards, and Ego Skills.
This is a zone-level sketch we drew ourselves (not a real screenshot) — exact placement can shift a little by device and resolution. Tap a number to jump to its row in the table.
| # | Element | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| ① | Team Health Points | Your entire team shares one Health bar. If it drops to zero, the battle ends in defeat. |
| ② | Stress Meter | Rises as enemies deal damage to a character. A full meter triggers a Mental Breakdown: the character acts erratically and the whole team loses a third of its HP. |
| ③ | Character Resource | A gauge tied to that specific character's own gimmick — what it tracks is different for every character. |
| ④ | Buffs & Debuffs | Icons for every active buff and debuff on your team, each with a stack count. Tap one to see exactly what it does. |
| ⑤ | Draw Pile | Shows how many cards are left to draw for the rest of the battle. |
| ⑥ | Ego Points | Fills up as you spend AP, defeat enemies, recover from a Breakdown, or end your turn. Spent to activate a character's Ego Skill. |
| ⑦ | Ego Skills | A character's strongest skill. It costs Ego Points (shown on the icon) and can only be used once per battle, unless that character recovers from a Breakdown. |
| ⑧ | Card Owner | Shows which character a card in your hand belongs to — useful once neutral cards without an owner start appearing. |
| ⑨ | Card Cost | The AP needed to play the card. Some cards show 'X' instead of a number: they spend all your remaining AP. |
| ⑩ | Card Title & Type | The card's name and its Type. Type matters a lot, since many card effects only trigger for a specific Type (Attack / Skill / Upgrade / Status Ailment). |
| ⑪ | Card Attribute | The card's element, usually matching its owner's Attribute. Hitting an enemy's weak Attribute increases Break value and deals +25% damage. |
| ⑫ | Action Points | Spent to play cards. Every character gets 3 AP at the start of their turn, and any AP left unspent is lost when the turn ends. |
Monster Side HUD 13
The right side of the battle screen — enemy state, incoming actions, and your Auto Battle/Protos Skill controls.
This is a zone-level sketch we drew ourselves (not a real screenshot) — exact placement can shift a little by device and resolution. Tap a number to jump to its row in the table.
| # | Element | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| ⑬ | Combat Rounds | Each circle represents one round of the encounter; a different set of enemies can show up per round. |
| ⑭ | Action Count | Ticks down every time you play a card. At zero, the enemy carries out its telegraphed action — an infinity symbol instead means it acts at the end of your turn. |
| ⑮ | Attribute Weakness | The enemy's weak Attribute. Attacking with the matching Attribute increases Break damage and deals +25% damage. |
| ⑯ | Anticipated Action | A preview icon showing what the enemy will do once its Action Count hits zero — an attack or a skill. |
| ⑰ | Menu | Opens game settings, or lets you leave the current match. |
| ⑱ | Auto Battle | Hands control of your team to the system — useful for repetitive content like daily Simulations. Not available in every mode (for example, Chaos Manifestation). |
| ⑲ | Total Damage | The damage total from the card or combo you just used. |
| ⑳ | Enemy Health Bar | The enemy's total Health. Emptying it defeats the enemy. |
| ㉑ | Tenacity Gauge | The enemy's Break meter. Emptying it staggers the enemy, reduces your team's Stress, and grants an extra Action Point. |
| ㉒ | Enemy Buffs & Debuffs | Every active buff/debuff on the enemy, shown under its Health bar. Tap one to see what it does, same as your own team's icons. |
| ㉓ | Graveyard Pile | Where used cards go after a turn ends. Cards played earlier in the same round are only marked with a '+' and don't formally enter the Graveyard until the turn actually ends. ⚠ The Graveyard is not the same as the Exhaust Pile: once the Draw Pile empties, the Graveyard reshuffles back into it, but Upgrade cards and any card tagged Exhaust never rejoin the deck for the rest of that battle. |
| ㉔ | Protos Skill | Spends Sands of Time to undo an action, or an entire turn. |
| ㉕ | End Turn | Tap the blue play icon to end your turn. Any cards left in hand and any unspent AP are discarded, unless a card or tag says otherwise. |
Card Tags — What Each One Actually Does 5
Tags change how a card behaves — how reliably you can play it, and how it works with the rest of your deck.
| Tag | What it does |
|---|---|
| Retain | Stays in your hand through the end-of-turn discard, so it's still there for you to play next turn too. |
| Exhaust | Moves to the Exhaust pile after use instead of the normal discard. It does not get reshuffled back into your Draw Pile, so you typically only get to play it once per battle. |
| Ultimate | Ends your turn the instant you play it — make sure you've already used your other cards and spent your AP first. |
| Lead | Has a chance to cost 1 less AP at the start of your turn. Playing any other card before it cancels that discount, so play it first. |
| Outbreak of War | Always sits on top of your Draw Pile at the start of a battle, so you draw — and can play — it on turn one. |
Epiphany upgrades can add, remove, or swap out a card's tags — always check what a card's current tags are before picking an upgrade for it.
Card Types 5
Every card belongs to one of five mechanical types (plus Neutral cards from investigation areas/the shop, and Monster cards from Chaos Manifestation enemies, which sit outside this list).
| Mechanic | What it means |
|---|---|
| Attack | The main damage-dealer type, though some Attack cards also attach a buff or debuff. |
| Skill | Deals damage far less often; mostly used for buffs/debuffs, healing, Shields, drawing extra cards, or generating Ego Points. |
| Upgrade | Boosts the user's own stats or effects, and the boost usually lasts for the rest of the battle. |
| Status Ailment | Usually a debuff that clutters your own hand and a card slot, disrupting your rotation rather than helping it. |
| Curse | A card you generally don't want to hold: most Curse cards do nothing when played, and instead apply a drawback just from sitting in your hand or being drawn, until discarded or Exhausted. |
The 5 Attributes — and the One Rule That Matters
Passion · Void · Instinct · Order · Justice. Every combatant, card and enemy carries exactly one of these five Attributes.
⚠ Attributes do not counter each other — combatants have no Attribute weaknesses at all. Only enemies have a weak Attribute (shown on the Monster HUD). Hitting it increases Break value and deals +25% damage.
Action Points (AP) — The Rules
Combat mechanics summarized in our own words from publicly available community guide content, cross-checked against in-game text. Where a mechanic wasn't confirmed, it is marked "not yet announced" rather than guessed at.
Keep Reading
FAQ
The battle ends immediately in defeat — Team Health Points is shared by the whole team, not per-character.
No — only enemies have an Attribute weakness. Combatants have none, so build around Attribute for offense (hitting the enemy's weak Attribute for +25% damage), not defense.
It's most likely tagged Exhaust, or it's an Upgrade card — both go to the Exhaust pile, which (unlike the Graveyard) never gets reshuffled back into your Draw Pile for the rest of that battle.
No — a blank Cost means the card can't be played directly and instead activates once a specific condition is met, rather than being cast like a normal card.