When the Rival battles, it gains its strength from three sources:

1. Its Hero (whose strength is listed on its Solo Hero Card) and Power Tokens.

2. A random card drawn from the Plot Deck, which is added.

3. Any additional strength from Whisper/Events or Hero Card Abilities.

Determining the outcome is the same as in the Standard Game, with some changes:

• You must always decide whether to commit your optional card to the battle first, before the Rival draws and reveals its card. If the Rival is battling a non-player house, draw a card from the Plot Deck for the non-player house first.

• The Rival and non-player houses never need to pay any gold cost.

• If the Rival plays a Retreat (), the Rival always retreats. If it’s the attacker, it returns to the previous domain that it just moved from. If it’s the defender, it would retreat to the nearest unoccupied or Rival-controlled domain.

• The Rival Hero can never be removed from the Map. If the hero is defeated in battle, the Rival still loses 1 unit, prioritizing an Ally Power Token over its own house’s units. If none of the losing units in a battle can be removed, then all of them retreat.

• If the Rival wins a battle against a non-player house, 1 Power Token from that domain is added to the Rival's Ally Pool. Any remaining non-player house units retreat to the nearest unoccupied fief domain. (If there is a tie, you choose.)