"The Narval Line: The Art of Ramming (Charge)"
There's a sound every Dovion player learns to fear: a hull tearing through the water at full speed, headed straight for their flank. That's the Narval line in a nutshell — no artillery duel, no patient siege, just a sea-going battering ram that turns speed into damage. If you dream of sinking enemies through pure contact, Narval is your line.
From Corsaire to Trirème des Sirènes
The line unfolds over three hulls: Corsaire at level 15, Corsaire noir at level 30, and the striking Trirème des Sirènes (Siren Trireme) at level 45. It's one of the 9 lines in the ship tree, and arguably the most radical in intent: everything about it revolves around impact.
The Trirème des Sirènes deserves a special mention: it's the hull that pushes the famous siren sled the furthest, harnessing up to 10 sirens and 5 draft whales. A warship pulled by sea creatures — we go into more detail in our article dedicated to the sled.
The Charge: your speed is your damage
The line's active ability, triggered with the E key, is called the Charge: a ramming rush whose damage depends directly on your speed at the moment of impact. In practice:
- A Charge launched at full speed, with momentum behind it, hurts a lot.
- A weak Charge, triggered while stopped or mid-turn, barely does anything.
- The cooldown is shown on screen — learn it by heart.
The Narval plays like a predator: you create distance, you line up your prey, you accelerate... and you strike. To amplify the impact further, the Ram stat increases collision damage — the natural marriage for this line, detailed in our Ram stat guide.
The golden rule: never charge into empty water
This is THE trap of the line, and it's deliberate: charging into empty water stuns you instead. Missing your target isn't just wasting a cooldown — it leaves you dazed, immobile, and offered up to every cannon in the sector.
A few habits to avoid the humiliation:
- Charge predictable targets: a ship busy mining, a big slow hull, an enemy locked in another fight.
- Watch out for fast opponents who saw you coming — a last-second sidestep, and you're the one left dazed.
- When in doubt, keep your Charge in reserve: it also doubles as an excellent tool for fleeing or finishing off a runner.
Who the Narval shines against (and struggles with)
The Narval loves slow, massive targets: big hulls can take a hit, sure, but they don't dodge a well-timed Charge. Merchants with a full hold and stationary gunners are its favorite prey.
On the other side, two families make it sweat. Pièges first: a well-placed barricade stops a rush cold — those log walls block ships and damage on contact. Highly mobile hulls come next, dodging at the last instant and leaving you dazed. For the full picture of matchups, check out Who Beats Who? Line Counters Explained.
The profile of a good Narval player
This line rewards patience and punishes haste — a paradox for a battering ram. You have to know how to wait for the right angle, walk away from a shaky Charge, and accept that your main weapon is also your biggest risk. If that kind of gamble appeals to you, few feelings in Dovion match a perfect ram on a ship that never saw you coming.
Ready to make hulls tremble? Play Dovion for free and land your first Charge.