Systems ·
Lord of Mysteries Is Adding an Eight-Player Auto-Battler With 53 Pieces
Fool's Chess arrives September 17 with 53 pieces, 28 synergies, almost 200 talents and 106 Extraordinary items. Here is what Chinese reports reveal.
Lord of Mysteries is putting an auto-battler inside its MMO. The new mode, 愚者棋局, or Fool’s Chess, is due on September 17 in the China version. Chinese preview reports describe an eight-player match built from at least 53 pieces, 28 synergies, almost 200 talents and 106 Extraordinary items.
Those numbers make Fool’s Chess larger than a short event minigame. Its unit pool includes Tarot Club members, story characters and dungeon bosses. Players will combine factions, talents and equipment while a changing draw decides which pieces are available in each match.
The mode also gives the game a useful second pace. Since launch, Lord of Mysteries has asked players to clear story quests, spend vitality, join large PvP events and organise groups for May Manor. Fool’s Chess offers a match that uses the setting without asking everyone to run another MMO combat rotation.
Fool’s Chess launches on September 17
Both Chinese reports give the same date: 9月17日, September 17. They call the release a 节点版本, a milestone update, and use the name 愚者棋局 throughout.
One post gives the slogan 呼朋唤友，弈决高下. A natural English reading is “Call your friends and settle the match across the board.” The wording presents the mode as social, but the same report says a single player can also pursue a build. It does not explain whether friends can enter one competitive lobby together, so players should wait for the final queue rules before planning an eight-person group.
The announced scale is clear:
| Chinese preview term | English meaning |
|---|---|
| 八人同台 | Eight players in one match |
| 53+枚棋子 | At least 53 pieces |
| 28种共鸣 | 28 synergies |
| 近200天赋 | Almost 200 talents |
| 106件非凡装备 | 106 Extraordinary items |
| 9月17日上线 | Launches September 17 |
The reports do not give a match length, round count, ranked ladder or reward table. They also do not say whether Fool’s Chess has a permanent queue or a limited schedule. The September 17 client update should answer those questions.
Klein, Audrey and Alger are pieces, and so are dungeon bosses
The piece list crosses the story and the MMO’s combat content. Chinese previews name 克莱恩, Klein, 奥黛丽, Audrey, and 阿尔杰, Alger. They also name May Manor enemies including 巴尼先生, Mr. Barney, 安西娅, Ansia, and 异化猎犬, the Mutated Hound.
That mix gives Fool’s Chess a better foundation than a board filled with anonymous soldiers. A player who has cleared May Manor already knows what the Mutated Hound represents. Turning that boss into a recruitable piece lets the same enemy work in a new ruleset.
The preview language says heroes and marionette images are pulled from gaps in history and placed on the board. This connects the auto-battler format to the novel’s abilities instead of treating the mode as a separate arcade cabinet. Cattleya is said to have brought the game from above the Gray Fog, while spirituality guides the pieces into battle.
Image credit: Lord of Mysteries Fool’s Chess promotional art posted by TapTap user 娅娅. The visible Chinese text reads 呼朋唤友，弈决高下.
The promotional art confirms the named game and its invitation slogan. It does not show the playable interface, shop, economy or final unit statistics. Players should treat the character positions in the art as a presentation of the mode, not a guide to board placement.
Synergies link the Tarot Club, churches and locations
Fool’s Chess calls its faction bonuses 共鸣, or synergies. The announced pool contains 28 of them. Chinese reports name the 塔罗会, Tarot Club, 黑夜女神教会, Church of the Evernight Goddess, 五月庄园, May Manor, and 蒸汽时代, Steam Age, as examples.
Putting enough related pieces together will trigger different effects. The previews do not publish the thresholds or bonuses, so there is no confirmed best opening build yet. Still, the named groups show how the mode will sort its roster. Some synergies follow organisations, while others follow places or an era.
That structure can give one piece several reasons to join a board. A weak unit may finish a Tarot Club threshold. A May Manor boss may unlock a location bonus. A player can then decide whether to keep the piece, replace it with a stronger unit or change direction when the next shop does not support the original plan.
The claim that each deal changes matters because 53 pieces cannot appear at once. Players will need backup routes rather than one fixed list copied from a guide. The preview says the same pieces can produce different builds, which points to talents and equipment changing their jobs between matches.
The preview lists almost 200 talents and 106 items
The large talent and equipment pools may decide whether Fool’s Chess has staying power. The report promises 近200天赋, almost 200 talents, and 106件非凡装备, 106 Extraordinary items.
No complete list is available. The reports do not say whether talents belong to individual pieces, the player’s account or the current match. They also do not confirm how many items one piece can carry, how items combine or whether duplicate equipment can appear.
Players should avoid planning around the raw totals alone. Auto-battlers depend on how often choices appear, how strongly bonuses stack and whether poor draws leave room for recovery. Fifty-three pieces can support many line-ups, but the shop odds and board limits will decide how many of those line-ups are practical.
The mode has one useful advantage inside an existing MMO: it already has a large catalogue of characters, monsters, factions and Extraordinary equipment. Fool’s Chess can reuse that catalogue while giving it different combat rules. It can also introduce a boss or faction before a player reaches the related dungeon.
What English players should learn before the update
The first barrier will be terminology. The shop, unit details and synergy panel will arrive in Chinese. These labels are the likely starting set:
| Chinese label | English meaning |
|---|---|
| 棋子 | Piece or unit |
| 共鸣 | Synergy |
| 天赋 | Talent |
| 非凡装备 | Extraordinary equipment |
| 阵容 | Line-up or composition |
| 上阵 | Deploy |
| 刷新 | Refresh or reroll |
| 购买 | Buy |
| 出售 | Sell |
| 升级 | Upgrade |
The final interface may use different labels, so check the September 17 screen before relying on this table. A screenshot translator will be useful during the first matches because item and talent descriptions can carry more important information than the button names.
Players who still need access to the China client can use our China download and installation guide. The existing combat and PvP guide explains the MMO modes that Fool’s Chess will sit beside.
What to check when the mode opens
Start with the rules screen. Confirm whether the lobby is ranked, how many pieces fit on the board and which resource pays for rerolls. Then open one unit detail panel and identify its faction, talent slots and equipment limit.
During the first match, keep a record of the shop cost for each rarity and the number of copies needed for an upgrade. Check whether losing a round changes income or only removes health. Those details will matter more than a day-one tier list built from promotional numbers.
The early goal is to learn how 共鸣, talents and Extraordinary equipment interact. The 53-piece roster will take longer to solve. If the September 17 build supports a full rules page, translate that page before spending currency on repeated rerolls.
