Portal — Mechanics and Synergies

Portal is the Time building that sends the kingdom two years into the past when it reaches level 3. Its trigger is reaching the required level, so a Portal plan needs both a route to that level and enough surviving combat strength to make use of the additional time.

A Portal and a Rewind are different cards

Portal changes the run calendar. Rewind is a tome that replaces the hand when thrown into the pit. Their names share a time theme, but their triggers and outputs are different. A layout guide should not tell a player to discard Portal to obtain Rewind's hand-copy effect, nor describe a Rewind discard as an automatic two-year calendar jump.

For Portal, identify the cards or effects that provide the required upgrades. A regular identical-card upgrade, Wildcard and other level-changing effects have different acquisition costs and timing. The finished board should record how the Portal reaches its trigger instead of assuming the upgrades appear immediately.

Protect the opportunity cost

The building consumes a plot while developing. Ask whether placing it now replaces an essential defender or a damage source for the next battle. Two extra years are useful only if the kingdom can survive the surrounding encounters. A support-heavy diagram that cannot pass the opening fights is not a usable Time build.

Use a staged plan: establish combat first, reserve a Portal location, and identify the upgrade route. Record the active decree and perk loadout alongside the layout, especially when they change leveling, destruction or card supply. This is an editorial planning method rather than a measured infinite-build prescription.

Do not infer unlimited travel

Patch 24 introduced a constraint after 33 years of time travel: attempting to break the time continuum triggers the nearest boss encounter. Patch 31 fixed a soft lock associated with that state. A bug fix does not establish that the travel constraint was removed.

Likewise, Regression preserves stats while lowering a plot's level, but combining its description with Portal's trigger does not prove a safe unlimited loop. Current event rules, generated trash cards, hand supply and mode-specific constraints still apply. This page does not advertise a guaranteed infinite result from that combination.

Current fixes

Patch 29 fixed a critical Portal interaction with Illuminism, and Patch 30 fixed a Dismantling-related Portal soft lock. Those changes are reasons to prefer current-version evidence over an older exploit video. They do not define every possible order of level and destruction effects.

Sources and verification

The official card reference establishes the level-three trigger; Patch 24 establishes the 33-year travel limit and nearest-boss encounter, while the Patch 31 announcement records the latest continuum fix. Checked through Patch 31 / 0.9.8 on 13 October 2026. Read the Time build guide and compare calendar versus hand effects in the card database.