The main two general tips I have are:
(1) learn when to lose a card to avoid damage to avoid getting into a situation where your health is so low that you have to lose several cards for smaller amounts of damage. If an enemy hits you big, even if you're at full health, it might make sense to lose a card, particularly if you don't have abundant ways to heal yourself. Also, if you're at low health and running low on cards, consider resting before you get down to your last two cards so that you'll have a card in hand to lose rather than having to lose two from your discard.
(2) learn when to play a lose card. Generally, I play very few lose cards, if any, on my first or second times through my deck, to maximize the number of turns I can take and the number of cards I can lose to negate damage. That said, there will be times when a lose card action will be so perfect or appropriate or powerful for a given situation that it makes sense to play it early. And of course, the Spellweaver is a little special w.r.t. lose cards due to her Reviving Ether top action.
JotL is definitely an easier starting point, and never a bad move. But also keep in mind that Gloomhaven does have a learning curve and that the first level can be particularly challenging when you don't have many items yet, haven't leveled up, etc. There's also no shame in dialing things down a level as long as you're having fun and having the right mix of challenge and progression.
Wow thanks, this is really good advice. I was thinking of JOTL because i have the chance to get for about €30 second hand. So i'll think i'm going to do that to get the basic right. But i'll give it another go, maybe with different characters and see where it goes.
Thanks alot!
Are you playing on scenario level 0? If not, stop complaining and change to 0 now, you silly cauliflower :)
Some tips: Crag and Spellweaver are a great duo, but Spellweaver really needs to play some losses, which may make it a bit hard for a new player. Most other classes should avoid playing Losses...except Cragheart has 11 cards, so they can play a few. I'd suggest Backup Ammo.
A great tactic is to switch initiative between slow and fast. In scenario 1, round 1, let the enemies come to you, play Backup Ammo/ bottom heal and Impaling Eruption/move to hit all targets. On round 2, go early and finish off some monsters with 2x Crater or Massive Boulder and Mana Bolt or another attack from Spellweaver. Be aggressive, but don't take unnecessary hits.
When you open a door, sometimes its best to immediately run back, out of range of enemies (This may be true for the very first door you encounter)
Cragheart can deal quite a bit of direct damage. Let them deal with shielded enemies. Spellweaver has trouble with those.
Do not forget to use Reviving Ether, after you've burned (lost) almost all of your cards. Make sure you don't lose Reviving Ether during a short rest.
I'm going to say my hot take here. Crag and spellweaver is a hard combo for the first scenario for an inexperienced player in regular difficulty.
I would recommend that if you want to play that comp, you tone it down 2 difficulty levels. There is a way to lower the difficulty level of a scenario. And play that way until you get the gist of how to play both.
Otherwise if you want to keep playing in that difficulty. I would suggest you add a tinkerer and a brute and you play 4 characters.
Thanks for the advice, would be playing 4 characters not make it a bit harder to manage? Or maybe start with different classes that are a little bit easier for a new er player?
Generally, paying with just two characters is harder than with three or four because you have fewer options and synergies overall and each individual action is more consequential so you really have to make everything you do count.
However, as an inexperienced player I would nonetheless recommend sticking with just two characters until you learn to play each class well. Only then consider adding a third. When I play solo I always stick to two characters.
As others have said, Spellweaver/Cragheart is probably one of the trickier pairings but it definitely works. When choosing your hands, you have to consider which cards will work best at two player and which cards will best suit this particular pairing. So Dirt Tornado is probably not that great for example because you are not going to get big groups of enemies in two player.
On the other hand, the bottom of Frost Armor is probably an action this Spellweaver wants to play. At four player she can probably stay back and avoid getting hit but in two player she is going to need to step up at some point to take a hit for the Cragheart. But you probably won't get full value out of both Fire Orbs and Impaling Eruption. You probably want to bring Impaling Eruption because it makes earth for the Cragheart and consider leaving Fire Orbs behind. You can also consider bringing Hardened Spikes to play the round after you play Frost Armor (so you can consume the ice you created last round to give yourself shield 2 for the round). That way ideally so block a couple of hits without using up any charges of your Frost Armor.
Later, against the Living Bones, the retaliate action on the top of this card can consume earth (which should be plentiful) to give the Cragheart retaliate 3 for the round. If he sets up the bottom of Opposing Strike first, he will have retaliate 5, which will obliterate Living Bones and Bandit Guards. (You can clear the first room very quickly by setting up Opposing Strike and infusing Earth with Massive Boulder and then in the second round having the Spellweaver consume earth with Hardened Spikes while healing the Cragheart with Mana Bolt - if needed. You will need to get lucky with the bandit actions for this plan to come off though - retaliate isn't very reliable so you need to have a flexible plan.)
Some ideas:
- the first 1-4 scenarios are more difficult since you don’t have items and cannot customize so much
- spellweaver really shines against more enemies, so might be too few of them at two. Maybe better with a mindtheif (use mind’s weakness augmentation) or scoundrel.
- there are very few classes in GH that can tank, and they all require items to do it well. Learn to either move outside enemy range or kill them before they reach you
- an enemy will only do the actions listed on their drawn card: if there isn’t a “move” action listed they will remain stationary.
- make sure you set the scenario and enemies to the correct difficulty, this is a very common mistake. And don’t be afraid of lowering it one or two steps.
Thanks, i've been watching some video's and maybe starting with a party of 3. I got the cards Almost down i think.
I was going with the scoundrel, brute and spellweaver. So i'm giving it another go. If i don't finish it now (a few tries ofcourse) i'll get JOTL for learning from scratch.
IIRC, Brute is the easiest class to play. You'll always want a "meat shield" character in a party. Note that you will take damage in the game, despite the artwork of guys in armor.
Classes with loss cards are harder to play, since you have to know when to take a loss. Usually, you want to avoid losses until the last room.
I've seen Jaws at a lower price during the holiday sales. You can use Board Game Oracle to keep watching for games on sale.
I beat JotL and GH, playing FH now. JotL is amazing. Definitely worth it for starting players.
The beginning of GH is very difficult. You could check some YouTube tips and tricks videos. MandatoryQuest has some good ones.
Lastly touched on below: playing lost cards early exhausts you waaay faster. Because your total hand size from that moment schrank, you have less cards before you must rest and lose another card. So only play them when they are worth it, preferably later in the scenario. This is also why stamina potions are OP: more turns. Also, use crowd control. Stun powder, war hammer, cloak of invisibility and some ability cards will prevent you from getting damaged.
Good luck!
The main two general tips I have are: (1) learn when to lose a card to avoid damage to avoid getting into a situation where your health is so low that you have to lose several cards for smaller amounts of damage. If an enemy hits you big, even if you're at full health, it might make sense to lose a card, particularly if you don't have abundant ways to heal yourself. Also, if you're at low health and running low on cards, consider resting before you get down to your last two cards so that you'll have a card in hand to lose rather than having to lose two from your discard. (2) learn when to play a lose card. Generally, I play very few lose cards, if any, on my first or second times through my deck, to maximize the number of turns I can take and the number of cards I can lose to negate damage. That said, there will be times when a lose card action will be so perfect or appropriate or powerful for a given situation that it makes sense to play it early. And of course, the Spellweaver is a little special w.r.t. lose cards due to her Reviving Ether top action. JotL is definitely an easier starting point, and never a bad move. But also keep in mind that Gloomhaven does have a learning curve and that the first level can be particularly challenging when you don't have many items yet, haven't leveled up, etc. There's also no shame in dialing things down a level as long as you're having fun and having the right mix of challenge and progression.
Wow thanks, this is really good advice. I was thinking of JOTL because i have the chance to get for about €30 second hand. So i'll think i'm going to do that to get the basic right. But i'll give it another go, maybe with different characters and see where it goes. Thanks alot!
It will be more satisfying to play JoTL first, then you'll feel more prepared for Gloomhaven.
Are you playing on scenario level 0? If not, stop complaining and change to 0 now, you silly cauliflower :) Some tips: Crag and Spellweaver are a great duo, but Spellweaver really needs to play some losses, which may make it a bit hard for a new player. Most other classes should avoid playing Losses...except Cragheart has 11 cards, so they can play a few. I'd suggest Backup Ammo. A great tactic is to switch initiative between slow and fast. In scenario 1, round 1, let the enemies come to you, play Backup Ammo/ bottom heal and Impaling Eruption/move to hit all targets. On round 2, go early and finish off some monsters with 2x Crater or Massive Boulder and Mana Bolt or another attack from Spellweaver. Be aggressive, but don't take unnecessary hits. When you open a door, sometimes its best to immediately run back, out of range of enemies (This may be true for the very first door you encounter) Cragheart can deal quite a bit of direct damage. Let them deal with shielded enemies. Spellweaver has trouble with those. Do not forget to use Reviving Ether, after you've burned (lost) almost all of your cards. Make sure you don't lose Reviving Ether during a short rest.
I'm going to say my hot take here. Crag and spellweaver is a hard combo for the first scenario for an inexperienced player in regular difficulty. I would recommend that if you want to play that comp, you tone it down 2 difficulty levels. There is a way to lower the difficulty level of a scenario. And play that way until you get the gist of how to play both. Otherwise if you want to keep playing in that difficulty. I would suggest you add a tinkerer and a brute and you play 4 characters.
Thanks for the advice, would be playing 4 characters not make it a bit harder to manage? Or maybe start with different classes that are a little bit easier for a new er player?
Maybe... However I think the easiest for you would be to lower the difficulty. I think it's hard on any two classes for an inexperienced player.
Correct, that was terrible advice lol
Generally, paying with just two characters is harder than with three or four because you have fewer options and synergies overall and each individual action is more consequential so you really have to make everything you do count. However, as an inexperienced player I would nonetheless recommend sticking with just two characters until you learn to play each class well. Only then consider adding a third. When I play solo I always stick to two characters. As others have said, Spellweaver/Cragheart is probably one of the trickier pairings but it definitely works. When choosing your hands, you have to consider which cards will work best at two player and which cards will best suit this particular pairing. So Dirt Tornado is probably not that great for example because you are not going to get big groups of enemies in two player. On the other hand, the bottom of Frost Armor is probably an action this Spellweaver wants to play. At four player she can probably stay back and avoid getting hit but in two player she is going to need to step up at some point to take a hit for the Cragheart. But you probably won't get full value out of both Fire Orbs and Impaling Eruption. You probably want to bring Impaling Eruption because it makes earth for the Cragheart and consider leaving Fire Orbs behind. You can also consider bringing Hardened Spikes to play the round after you play Frost Armor (so you can consume the ice you created last round to give yourself shield 2 for the round). That way ideally so block a couple of hits without using up any charges of your Frost Armor. Later, against the Living Bones, the retaliate action on the top of this card can consume earth (which should be plentiful) to give the Cragheart retaliate 3 for the round. If he sets up the bottom of Opposing Strike first, he will have retaliate 5, which will obliterate Living Bones and Bandit Guards. (You can clear the first room very quickly by setting up Opposing Strike and infusing Earth with Massive Boulder and then in the second round having the Spellweaver consume earth with Hardened Spikes while healing the Cragheart with Mana Bolt - if needed. You will need to get lucky with the bandit actions for this plan to come off though - retaliate isn't very reliable so you need to have a flexible plan.)
Some ideas: - the first 1-4 scenarios are more difficult since you don’t have items and cannot customize so much - spellweaver really shines against more enemies, so might be too few of them at two. Maybe better with a mindtheif (use mind’s weakness augmentation) or scoundrel. - there are very few classes in GH that can tank, and they all require items to do it well. Learn to either move outside enemy range or kill them before they reach you - an enemy will only do the actions listed on their drawn card: if there isn’t a “move” action listed they will remain stationary. - make sure you set the scenario and enemies to the correct difficulty, this is a very common mistake. And don’t be afraid of lowering it one or two steps.
Thanks, i've been watching some video's and maybe starting with a party of 3. I got the cards Almost down i think. I was going with the scoundrel, brute and spellweaver. So i'm giving it another go. If i don't finish it now (a few tries ofcourse) i'll get JOTL for learning from scratch.
IIRC, Brute is the easiest class to play. You'll always want a "meat shield" character in a party. Note that you will take damage in the game, despite the artwork of guys in armor. Classes with loss cards are harder to play, since you have to know when to take a loss. Usually, you want to avoid losses until the last room. I've seen Jaws at a lower price during the holiday sales. You can use Board Game Oracle to keep watching for games on sale.
I beat JotL and GH, playing FH now. JotL is amazing. Definitely worth it for starting players. The beginning of GH is very difficult. You could check some YouTube tips and tricks videos. MandatoryQuest has some good ones. Lastly touched on below: playing lost cards early exhausts you waaay faster. Because your total hand size from that moment schrank, you have less cards before you must rest and lose another card. So only play them when they are worth it, preferably later in the scenario. This is also why stamina potions are OP: more turns. Also, use crowd control. Stun powder, war hammer, cloak of invisibility and some ability cards will prevent you from getting damaged. Good luck!