The title of this article might sound like the catchphrase of evil alien robots, but it actually refers to the three different ways (excluding matching) of taking gems off the board in Gem of War. Many Troops have Spells that perform one of these actions. All three abilities take gems off the board, but in very different ways.
Remove
Remove does what it says, removes one or more gems from the board. But that’s it; you get no direct benefit from them. You don’t get any Mana or do any damage, it’s as if the gems just disappeared. Of course, the remaining gems might then fall and create a match – for which you do get the benefit.
Many Troops with a Remove spell use the number of gems removed to boost whatever else their spell does. For example the Common Troop Mammoth removes all blue gems and does damage to a single enemy boosted by the number removed. By contrast, the Legendary troop Krystenax lets you choose the colour of gem to remove then does damage to all enemies, boosted by number of gems removed.
If you’re using a Troop that Removes a particular colour, then you probably don’t want to have a team that relies on matching gems of that colour. You might even want to use a three-colour banner with a negative for the colour you’re going to be Removing. For example, if you’re using Flame Maiden you might select the Volcanic Banner (Red++,Brown+,Blue-).
Destroy and Explode
Destroy and Explode both also take gems off the board, however with these effects you do gain mana and do any relevant damage for Skulls taken away. Some Troops also use the number of gems taken off the board to boost the rest of their spell effects.
So what’s the difference between Destroy and Explode? Well, destroy just takes the specified gems off the board, and you get full credit for them. Explode removes not just the specified gems but all those adjacent to them in any direction. That means that if the spell says, for example, “Explode a Row” then it will also take away all the gems in both adjacent Rows as well. Three rows is a lot of gems, so with Explode you only get 50% of normal mana. Some Troop Spells let you choose the gems to target, others select them at random or according to some set criteria.
Using Destroy and Explode
As a beginner, you’ll probably concentrate on targeting Skulls/Doomskulls for your Remove and Explode spells. When you’re facing low level Troops, those few points of damage can make a big impact. However as you progress, you’ll find that the damage done this way becomes trivial against more powerful opponents. Destroy and Explode remain useful, just in different ways.
The other important use of these abilities is mana generation. In some cases you’ll be able to select the range of gems that gives most of the colour gem you want for your Troops. Some Troops target a specific colour of gem, in which case you will hopefully have paired them with a powerful Ally which needs that colour. Although higher Rarity Troops need more mana, the requirement never becomes enough to invalidate the use of Destroy/Explode.
The third main use of these abilities is to target Heroic Gems. You might want to team up a Destroy/Explode Troop with an Ally that generates Heroic Gems. Or, if your opponent is producing them, you can hijack them for yourself and remove the threat.
When I’m playing, if I’m facing an annoying Heroic Gem like Lycanthropy or Web then I usually prioritise targeting these.