Frosthaven's Most Misunderstood: Banner Spear Character Guide

[@Kwprules]

That Unbreakable Wall->Resolved Courage combo is neat!

[@ucgxanathos2171]

Yeah I was super stoked when I found it

[@bphreezy]

Great guide, my group has struggled to use the Banner Spear effectively. This will help.

[@ucgxanathos2171]

@@bphreezy thanks and good luck!

[@ShaneARichards]

Insightful as always. Look forward to your next Frosthaven content.

[@ucgxanathos2171]

Thanks!

[@Pincii_]

Always stoked to see new content from you!! Keep it up

[@ucgxanathos2171]

Thanks! Will do!

[@garethangeli9219]

Nice guide. Great use of TTS to show how the formations look and play out.

[@ucgxanathos2171]

Thanks!

[@windo508]

Nice guide, would love to see your opinion in the level up cards as well

[@ucgxanathos2171]

I definitely considered it but I've only played her 1 time and retired before getting to try a lvl 7 card so I don't have much experience with them. I went Meat Grinder- Let Them Come- Boldening Blow- Hold the Line- Bolstering Shout. I really like the dynamic of how her lvl 1 cards change as you level: Javelin and Combined Effort both start as really nice top attacks, but as you get more options they shift into becoming really solid bottom actions for positioning. Also, if you have a summoning ally like Boneshaper going really late, you can have them move forward to summon directly into a spot for Boldening Blow allowing you to go at 6 speed the next turn and get into position to pass of super easy blesses and get that juicy disarm.

[@rara2ra2yrra3racjj2]

Ahhh this is what we've been waiting for. Your guides are still great :D can't wait for the first full run!

[@peterkay3686]

Finally the bottom of Javelin getting the respect it deserves! I think putting an attack 3 range 3 on the top of Javelin is problematic for new/casual players who will stick to the safe easy attack and not use the bottom to set up formations, so they don't start learning right away how to use that card to make formations easier for them. You could even argue that the player mat should point out Javelin bottom!

[@ucgxanathos2171]

I wholeheartedly agree with you it’s an absolute game changer when you focus on the bottom

[@MichaelJosten]

Really good and I really learned something "new", I didn't realised, even I love the Bannerspear and played her quiet long now. Thanks an please more of them. I would like to see Your thoughts about Blink Blade and Trap

[@ucgxanathos2171]

Thanks. Blinkblade I definitely need to do. I actually even started a guide for it before I made this banner spear one but never finished it. It’s by far the class I have the most time with so far in frosthaven. Trap I’ve barely touched

[@dwarf74]

You're doing a great job on this one. I'm a huge Banner Spear fan.

[@ucgxanathos2171]

Thanks

[@KimiZyy]

Amazing stuff! Im really loving the banner spear. At 12:40 I didn't know you can pull like that. Like to the side of you.

[@Pantoffel_CH]

I just startet a Solo - Run of Frosthaven. I'm playing solo with Banner Spear and Boneshaper. I'm like 3 Scenarios in and didn't use any formation yet because i wasn't planning good enought :). Pretty nice tips from your side! Do you have a guide about the boneshaper?

[@ucgxanathos2171]

Good luck :) that's a really fun combo to play. I only have guides for Banner Spear and Snowflake. I've played boneshaper twice but both were as my first character of a campaign and retired quite fast so I've never experienced her at a high level. I really love trying to get out as many curses as possible and swarming with skeletons by playing them from the discard when possible. My "default" card layout doesn't bring Decaying Will or Wrath of the Turned Earth after a couple levels but always keep them in mind to sub in for their loss effects when looking at a scenario before you start. There's are 2 enemy types who absolutely dominate your summons that really get shut down by those cards.

[@blubblubwhat]

Reuploead the lengthy version plz we want the long version too!

[@ucgxanathos2171]

I never finished it, just got about 1/2 way through the cards and decided against it. I'm doing a playthrough with Banner right now though, so maybe once I retire her I'll upload a follow up

[@blubblubwhat]

Thx for clarification

[@damons3253]

thanks for making this content!

[@alkaliaurange]

Funny enough, I tried deathwalker and couldn't get the feel for it and ended playing banner spear. This was a really great video! But also curious to know how you play deathwalker cause I couldn't get "it".

[@ucgxanathos2171]

Ahh I love Deathwalker. I really need to mess around with playing her in 3 or 4 player parties before I would want to make a guide on her

[@alkaliaurange]

@@ucgxanathos2171 maybe the problem was my party comp-- I'm playing with a geminate and blinkblade and they seem to have so much versatility/damage/utility that I seem to be left behind. Even as a banner spear, I feel a bit more useful in this team, but I'm not sure what to specialize in. (I'm leveling up from 1 to 2 and I want to be a decision to which lv 2 card I should take...) Do you have any recommendations?

[@ucgxanathos2171]

@@alkaliaurange I think meat grinder is amazing at lvl 2. Should work really well with your party. You can always ask blinkblade if they can go really fast and get behind, or geminate if they could possibly pull things in for you to help get formations out. I would buy tanky items and always use javelin for its bottom just trying to optimize the number of targets you’re hitting with formations.

[@alkaliaurange]

@@ucgxanathos2171 I will definitely try that! Thanks for the suggestions! Just discovered your frosthaven content and loving it btw :)

[@ucgxanathos2171]

@@alkaliaurange thanks

[@blubblubwhat]

Can u explain why armor is better in frosthaven? -how come? _is it stronger items so this would be true only later in a campaign _or are the attackvalkue of opponents lower? _is armor mor reusable than in gloomhaven? _ is it because of craftable gear beeing more consistantly available? _is it baucause of new potions? Im courious!

[@ucgxanathos2171]

For the most part everything you said is correct. There are significantly more armor options in Frosthaven and they become available extremely early. Some returning items from Gloomhaven were nerfed to add -1s without the perk so that makes it more valuable. Armor pieces that have charges i.e. Hide Armor will now reset all their charges on any long rest where as in Gloomhaven they couldn't be reset until all the charges had been used. Most armor pieces in Gloomhaven worked on charges so would negate 3 damage over the course of 3 attacks, but in frosthaven you can negate 3 from a single attack allowing you to more easily juggle aggro between the party members. This could be wrong but to me Frosthaven seems to have fewer enemies that hit harder, so having armor negate 1/3 of the attacks in a round is better than 1/6 you might have gotten in Gloomhaven. Regenerate can really help a tank heal to full and synergizes amazingly with long resting to refresh items. Shielding is also 2x effective vs Brittle.

[@Luca280]

Great video

[@dallintalbot539]

First

[@leamaron]

Wait... Unbreakabke wall. You said it works.like this xou changed positions from bannerspear and corps so the banner spear was at the blue point.... But.. isnt it wrong? The banner spear has exactly taking the grey spot and the corps the blue spot i think

[@ucgxanathos2171]

Formations can be rotated, mirrored, or flipped so for Unbreakable Wall it wouldn't matter who is in which position, just that Banner Spear is next to one of her allies.

[@leamaron]

@@ucgxanathos2171 i a group fro gloomhaven/frosthaven everyone says the Ally has to be the exact spot! Rotate ist right but you rotate the whole Thing but mirrored im really Not Sure about that!

[@ucgxanathos2171]

@@leamaron it’s on the banner spear character mat :)

[@leamaron]

@@ucgxanathos2171 i checked that today morning and you're right! Im sorry to bothered you ^^ i missed that

[@jorgg9145]

Are the solo scenarios included?

[@ucgxanathos2171]

Yeah they become unlocked once you reach lvl 5 on a character. They’re listed on an available scenario board in the bottom right hand corner

[@wampiroindoril]

12:41 -> Your formation does NOT match the formation required. So no, you cannot play Rallying Cry since you are standing right next to the enemy. Even where you alone created positions the Banner Spear failed. Even in the most idyllic situation it failed. I am playing currently as a Banner Spear, lvl 3. Worst character ever! Dmg is crap, AMD is crap, the formations are annoying and F-ed up for that nothing damage and the summons ? Good for 1 room per summon and they go bye-bye forever. Only his negative effects are good for anything when you manage to form a formation.

[@ucgxanathos2171]

I double checked the time stamp and rallying cry is definitely a valid formation there. Keep in mind all formations can be rotated/flipped/mirrored so the blue/gray hexes can be swapped from the way it’s shown on the card. But if banner spear isn’t the way to go for you there’s nothing wrong with rushing retirement or simply setting the character aside and trying someone else. I personally love Deathwalker and Boneshaper if either are available for you