# Echo: three charges, spent once each.

> Hexodic's only scarce resource — an optional burst at the end of a turn that either captures more or locks the ground.

Echo is the optional third step of a Hexodic turn: spend one of your three charges on an Echo-Capture or an Echo-Lock. Charges never come back, so timing an Echo is the mid-game.

Canonical HTML: https://hexodic.com/rules/echo
Site index for agents: https://hexodic.com/llms.txt

Echo is the optional third step of a Hexodic turn: the player may spend a charge on either an Echo-Capture or an Echo-Lock. Each Hexodic player has 3 charges for the whole game, at most one Echo happens per turn, and no rule ever gives a charge back.

Reviewed 2026-09-15 against the Hexodic rules engine.

## Echo-Capture and Echo-Lock

- [Echo-Capture](/rules/echo-capture) — after the normal capture check, run a second, group capture check in which enemy stones next to a target count as walls instead of protection. Echo-Capture is legal whenever you hold a charge, even if it would capture nothing.
- [Echo-Lock](/rules/lock) — permanently lock a tier-2 cell that one of your stones stands on. Each player may Echo-Lock once per game.

Skipping the Echo costs nothing, and most Hexodic turns skip it.

## Why charges are the mid-game

Because charges never return, every Echo is a decision about the rest of the game. An Echo-Capture spent early for one stone is a charge that cannot collapse a larger sealed group later; an Echo-Lock spent too early protects a cell the Network may never use. The Echo → Echo-Capture → [Takeover](/rules/takeover) chain is the fastest way to convert position into captures, which is why a player holding charges is a threat even on a quiet board.

## Related

- [Capture](/rules/capture) — the normal check Echo-Capture extends.
- [Glossary: Echo and Charge](/glossary#echo)
- [Hexodic FAQ](/faq)
- [All rules](/rules)

[Get the Hexodic app](/download) and save a charge for the endgame.

## Where to go next

- [Echo-Capture](https://hexodic.com/rules/echo-capture) — Taking a sealed group in a single turn.
- [Strategy](https://hexodic.com/strategy) — The principles that follow from the rules, not from habit.
- [How it works](https://hexodic.com/how-it-works) — The whole turn, in plain language.

## Questions this page answers

- What is Echo in Hexodic?
- How many charges do you get in Hexodic?