An enemy mechanic in which specific orbs on the board become locked and cannot be changed until the orbs are unlocked. Removing orb locks can be done by removing the locked orbs (either by matching them or using a board refresh active), utilizing an [L] Increased Attack awakening
by matching an L shape of a specific color, or using one of a variety of active skills that removes Orb locks/unlocks Orbs.
Some enemies feature a status debuff in which skyfall orbs will come onto the board locked, such as Azathoth
and Seraphis
. This debuff can be removed with the L-Unlock awakening, which removes all turns of the debuff upon making an L shape of orbs.
Orb locks can also be self-inflicted by the player, as there exist many active skills that can lock specific colors of orbs, or lock the entire board, such as Cruel Frozen Hell Demon, Indigo
, White Feathered Knight, Bradamante
, and Mega Awoken Dragon Emperor, Sherias Roots
. This can be beneficial because orb locks can neutralize spinners (the locks prevent the spinners from changing the orbs) and can also block hazards spawning on the board from an enemy (as orbs cannot be spawned over locked orbs by an enemy). Orb locks may seem harmful at first but can lead to a lot of unorthodox strategies if utilized properly.