Mana fuels each hero's Special Skill. It is shown as the bar immediately under the health bar for your hero when looking at the battlefield. Titans and bosses also have mana bars for their own special skills. Mana bars begin each fight empty and fill as you make matches.
For heroes, the mana bar fills when you make matches of the same element as the hero. Even more mana is gained when the tiles are 'ghosted' (when the tiles do not hit an enemy).
Bosses, titans, and enemy heroes in raids and wars gain mana when they are hit by titles. Even more mana is gained when they are hit with their own element.
Mana Speed
There are 5 levels of mana speed possible. These levels correspond with how many matched tiles it takes to fill their mana bar. Ghosted tiles (tiles that hit no monster) provide twice as much mana as those that hit (thus for Slow it would be 12 hits or 6 ghosts).
- Very Slow: 13.5 tiles
- Slow: 12 tiles
- Average: 10 tiles
- Fast: 8 tiles
- Very Fast: 6.5 tiles
Mana Troops
There are also troops available (3* and 4* only) that can speed up mana generation. These have important breakpoints in the leveling process:
- Lvl 5: Very Slow decreases from 14(13,5) to 13 tiles
- Lvl 11: Very Fast decreases to an even 6 tiles
- Lvl 17: Slow decreases from 12 to 11 tiles
- Lvl 23: Average decreases from 10 to 9 tiles
- Lvl 23: Very Slow decreases from 13 to 12 tiles
- Lvl 29: Fast decreases from 8 to 7 tiles
Due to the nature of the match 3 gameplay levels 11 and 23 are particularly impactful. (Source)
These numbers may also be affected by a hero's Talents.
Special Skills That Affect Mana
Likewise, some special skills can affect mana speed and/or mana levels. Offensively they are the Mana Reducers, while defensively they are the Mana Raisers. There are only 5 heroes that raise party mana generation. They are:
| 3* Heroes | 4* Heroes | 5* Heroes |
|---|---|---|
| Friar Tuck | Sir Lancelot | Alberich |
| Boss Wolf | ||
| Khagan |
Red Hood also has a unique interaction with mana in that her minions prevent the heroes that they're protecting from losing mana due to effects that normally would drain mana.