Evoke

Evoke is a mechanic exclusive to The Defect that triggers an Orb's powerful one-time effect and then removes it from the Orb slots. Each Orb type has a distinct Evoke effect: Lightning deals significant damage to a random enemy, Frost grants a large amount of Block, Dark deals its accumulated damage to a single enemy, and Plasma grants 2 Energy. After being Evoked, an Orb slot becomes empty and can accept new Orbs.

Evoke effects scale with the Focus buff — higher Focus increases both passive Orb effects and Evoke values. Cards that directly Evoke Orbs (such as Consume, Chill, and Glacier for Frost, or Electrodynamics for Lightning) provide controlled Evoke timing rather than waiting for passive slot overflow. Dark Orbs in particular benefit from being held for many turns to accumulate large damage, then being Evoked at the optimal moment for a powerful burst.