Frosthaven: Deathwalker Stats

[@machineguncomic]

I just got to lvl 7 for the deathwalker and I think the character is great as a support. Basically I spend a lot of time cursing and disarming foes. Turn 1 call of the abyss and a move action to create darkness. Turn 2, deadbolt to get a curse with consuming darkness. Turn 3, Restless Spirits for another curse. Works well with lvl 4 pulled across as you can run up hit them, and then you're invisible. Used perks to add 3 curses in attack modifier deck and the rolling disarm. Get the perk to curse when you short rest and the perk for attackers get disadvantage when you're in a shadow so they're drawing twice as many cards to hit the curses. With the curses, rolling disarm on attacks, and disadvantage, character can really disrupt things. I can't heal allies, but every missed attack or disarm is preventing about 1-5 damage.

[@lucyinthesky4701]

Loved this deep dive. Like to see the same for the Banner Spear and the Drifter!

[@barleyhopsandtabletops]

Glad you enjoyed. Yep, got both of them on deck!

[@justinmaynard8305]

How did to find levellig up, i found it pretty alow compared to others, any tips?

[@Jamie-ek6ct]

Thanks for the stats again, I had a very similar experience. Played (ranged) deathwalker from level 1-4. Level's 1/2 are really a struggle to get shadows down and in position and I felt like my only consistent attack was creating dark with call of the doom bottom followed by a black barrage top. I really felt useless these first two levels. Once I was level 3-4 I think it got much better though. A lot of my early level attacks like black barrage I started using for the bottom to move shadows, and having that alongside fleeting dusk bottom allowed me to more consistently get a shadow into position and use it regardless of the board state. I think that my level 5 card would've definitely been Medium for the bottom as well. However: I 100% agree that it's really finicky for less payoff. After retiring I played the Blinkblade which is meant to be a more difficult class, and while there are more options, I felt like whatever I did was useful, and I was doing a lot of damage, while with a deathwalker I was squeezing my brain to not do as much damage (just a bit safer I guess)

[@barleyhopsandtabletops]

"squeezing my brain to not do as much damage" absolutely sums up my experience. We definitely had the same type of play with the Deathwalker, and yeah overall I just found it annoying. You bring up another interesting point with the DWalker, that the bottom row actions in general are really useful and have lots to offer compared to other classes. But this is also a problem, because it becomes a tough balance to move yourself, move shadows, and use those bottom row losses. Another sorta game within the game puzzle, that adds more "brain squeezing" into the DWalker. Good thoughts here!

[@TheAndrewlifland]

I really recommend starting with Eclipse top + Call bottom at lower levels. That gives you four shadows and dark. So next turn you can choose between an attack 5 (Fluid Night or Strength of the Abyss) or an attack 3 range 2 target 2 (Forceful Spirits.) Starting with Call of the Abyss top in the first room tends to be too slow. Later on when your cards and modifier deck are more powerful, it’s more plausible to start this way.

[@barleyhopsandtabletops]

Yep I agree, this is pretty much how we were playing the Deathwalker, Eclipse combo'd with Anger of the Dead bottom, and then Call's bottom a round or two later for an extra shadow. But once we got a few levels higher and had more "remove the shadow" cards, this couldn't keep up. But as powerful as those "remove the shadow" cards are, I think I would use less of them and focus more on a hybrid approach next time

[@CanegmSemse]

I found that the deathwalker felt terrible when the shadow count was low. Melee usually worked better for me. Most important note is you don’t always have to be the one to kill to get shadows. Tag a monster and let the party finish it off. Initiative weave to go late and get a kill, then go early to get another token down and let the party get you more shadows. Also their summon is non loss and not only can generate shadows but also tank a hit, which was nice to help keep the melee walker alive. I think hybrid mostly melee some range is the way to go. As you mentioned forceful spirits R2 is very unwieldy… unless you use it to supplement melee. Run a few range cards for when you need to back out of the scrum

[@barleyhopsandtabletops]

I like the summons for tanking a hit idea, I could see that working well in the Melee build. But yep I agree hybrid is probably the best way to go, still a tough class to pull off the really powerful stuff, but does have a fun game mechanic

[@jacobedler296]

I really enjoyed the Deathwalker, which I took to Level 9. I dealt crazy damage but found myself burning out first on almost every scenario. I was nuking enemies with the ranged build, often playing Eclipse loss in the first cycle though. I probably moved 3 times per scenario. Terrible looting potential.

[@444Phoenix444]

Currently playing a melee deathwalker in a 4p at level 3and I like him a lot. I’m able to do multiple attack 5 or more in a round. I don’t feel too squishy as I’m using my teamates as shield and playing around initiatives. Playing eclipse at the beginning is really important to get the momentum going. Once the rythmn as started you just snowball from there.

[@barleyhopsandtabletops]

Glad to hear this, I mean just looking at the cards, it's clear a lot of the melee cards are more powerful. You mentioned one key point to the melee Deathwalker, and thats having a tankier player in the party. Really important part I think to make this work. But overall, awesome to hear the melee build does work! I would definitely be doing some hybrid next time, focused around Eclipse and using less "remove the shadow" cards. But prolly wont get to trying that for a while, too many characters to still play!

[@horizononegloomhaven5417]

And what about buying Flea-Bitten Shawl at the beginning of the campaign ? You get initiative 99 for the targetting purpose. The melee DW seems more powerfull but more risky also.

[@444Phoenix444]

@@horizononegloomhaven5417 yeah he's definitely more risky to play. We aren't bringing items from Gloomhaven so I can't say for sure. But usually when I'm targeted it's not because of initiative it's usually because of positioning