RulingHall of Heroes (rules 1.7)2026-03-19

A question came up regarding the ability of a friendly character to do a basic attack on a target who cannot…

Question

A question came up regarding the ability of a friendly character to do a basic attack on a target who cannot take damage. In RRG 1.7, under “Target”, we see the following statement: ‘A target that “cannot take damage” is not a valid target for an ability whose only affect on that target is to deal it damage.’ However, a basic power is not defined as an ability in the RRG. Under “Basic Power”, it is defined as a “statistic that allows a character to perform a certain game function”.
Elsewhere, they are defined as “game functions”. The particular scenario that this question arose from was the following: Can the Whirlwind linked ally from Trickster Magic do a basic attack on the Enchantress villain while Future of Despair is in play in order to remove threat from schemes, per his ability (Future of Despair says that Enchantress cannot take damage). While I’m sure I know the intent of the rules, can you please confirm if a basic attack is allowed in those conditions in general, and whether that basic attack on Enchantress would be allowed in particular.

Answer

Using a basic power is not considered to be using an ability, that is why it’s generally referred to as a “game function.” However, a basic power was not intended to be exempt from that particular bullet under “target”, it should have said a target that “cannot take damage” is not a valid target for an ability or game function whose only effect on that target is to deal it damage, which would include a basic power. Additionally, for Whirlwind to trigger his ability, he must first have a valid target for his attack. While Future of Despair is in play, Enchantress cannot take damage, and is not a valid target for a basic attack, even if an ability triggered by that attack would have an additional effect on the board state. Whirlwind could not attack Enchantress in this case.

— Alex