Gloomhaven - Ultimate Cthulhu/Squid Guide

[@neuralnetgames6540]

Come and watch me play Magic The Gathering: Arena!! The BEST decks to beat the meta!! kzbin.info/door/XFLYWi1sEIbgSb-kYvssJg

[@Mirsset]

I loved that detailed level 8 section. :)

[@neuralnetgames6540]

Thanks, so glad you enjoyed!

[@Daiker01]

Totally worth it!

[@ChristianCaldeira]

Just started at a level 3 as a Plague Herald. This video was super helpful in getting a solid grasp on it's play style. Cheers!

[@donaldnoland3989]

Excellent guide. I liked the commentary on level 8. In depth is always better in my opinion. As tough as this one was, I look forward to your “tri-force” class guide.

[@neuralnetgames6540]

I'm so scared lol. I am playing it now as it has been awhile and I feel like I am going to constantly be like "if you do this do that", "if you take this card, then take this card" Subconsciously I believe I have left it to last because the class is so polarizing. In certain party comps it is a rockstar, and others it is awful. At low prosperity it's tough but higher it is much better. I am going to try and cover all of that stuff so everyone get ready for a long-ass guide!

[@deusfortier5635]

Gotta say, I really enjoy it when your personality comes through (unplanned moments). Thanks for putting in the research time and sharing the spoils. Much appreciated 🙏

[@neuralnetgames6540]

Thanks so much for watching! My wife likes to bug me a little because I am just downstairs talking and laughing away as I make these videos lol

[@degnash]

I really enjoy your Gloomhaven content! I like going back and looking at guides for classes I haven’t tried yet. This video was more entertaining for multiple reasons. I love when you introduce cards with vigor, even if the cards stink. It gives the viewer that quick second of, “I wonder if he’s gonna love or hate this card.” It makes the vids exciting. Additionally, pairing with the last thought, the names of the Plagueherald cards are hilarious. Hearing you fire them off one by one was great. And yes, finally, the level 8 explanation was something you could write a thesis on. Seriously, please keep making these vids, if you’re bored, I’d love to see any/all classes covered eventually! Please keep up the good work 👍👍

[@neuralnetgames6540]

Thanks so much this comment totally made my day! So glad you enjoyed it and I think I have guides on all but 2 classes now. Music Note coming up next Wednesday, and thanks so much for watching!!

[@DreamzyG]

Waited so long for this guide. My wife played it and looked awesome

[@neuralnetgames6540]

So many ways to play the class. It’s fun!

[@nixquev]

Love your guide and it shows you are practical and play the class not just theory. Would love it if you included what cards you take out at each level to make room for your picks !

[@gremlin171]

That would be great.

[@05weasel]

Just unlocked Plagueherald on digital. My first unlocked character in gloomhaven period. I’m excited to see how it plays out

[@midwestwhet3555]

You have really helped me to sift through all the goings on in gloomhaven. Ty!

[@wesbaker4468]

How did you know I just unlocked Plagueherald? Get out of my head! Killer guide - thanks!

[@neuralnetgames6540]

lol nice, working on my telepathy game!

[@glowe8911]

I loved the in depth discussion you had for level 8. In general, I love your guides because you often have fresh ideas for builds that I haven't thought of yet. I never thought of using grim bargain because of the curse prerequisite and the synergy of spreading scourge with cursing the enemy, but now I want to try it. I think the downside can be mitigated in certain party compositions that take supporting classes that don't rely on their modifier deck much (tinkerer, music note) or classes that frequently get advantage (sun). Especially in larger comps that results in more monsters, you may need the extra burst damage and multitarget. One recommendation for your videos in general: the endings sound a bit abrupt. It might help to have a sign-off and/or some outro music. Thanks for all the work you put into your videos. Keep up the great work!

[@neuralnetgames6540]

Thanks for the feedback, I'm slowly working on improving my editing game lol Glad you enjoyed the guide and thanks for watching!

[@givigiviful]

Just unlocked this class and your video helps me a lot to figure out how I should play him! Thanks a ton! Great vid as always :)

[@mandomerlie1997]

By far your best video! I thought your Level 8 thoughts were really good as I've struggled with that one myself. I think I agree with you now though.

[@neuralnetgames6540]

Thanks so much! Plague Herald is a bit weird because there are so many competing persistent losses that can really change how you play and I wanted to try to assess and compare them to each other!

This was the last class for me to unlock. And I am really glad I could come to your guide here to hear your thoughts on the cards. Because I found it quite difficult to figure out. Really.lookobg forward to playing with the to permanent losses. Sounds like a really fun build. Thanks for all the awesome content you have put out. Really sad to see your channel so abandoned for so many months. I wish you would come back. :)

[@saradeschamps1899]

I just unlocked the squid and your video is super helpful! Can’t wait to explore this character.

[@ericthompson5274]

Current quest will unlock this guy; can't wait!

[@neuralnetgames6540]

Nice! Lots of things to do with this class and powerful too!

[@vohbovohborian28]

That low initiative move 2 shield 1, you can put strengthen on it for two turns of advantage attacks

[@PRwellness]

This class can go really well with the scoundrel and with a soothsayer running lullaby, you will never have to worry about being poisoned

[@neuralnetgames6540]

true

[@Allanfallan]

Adding a Curse to Biting Gnats, and maybe later an extra target, can make the card really useful. 1XP Attack 2 Target 2(3) Range 4 Curse, Move 4 (with upgrade option) bottom is nuts. It is a really good card for investment once you can afford it IMO. Wretched Storm with All Element on bottom is another good option. You'll almost always save the top for later in the scenario, so you can get good mileage out of the element upgrade on bottom.

[@neuralnetgames6540]

Good enhancements!

[@maikobriegert9]

The balance on details and summing up about the class is pretty well. Feel free to continue more complex details about variation and different ways to build these classes... =)

[@neuralnetgames6540]

For sure. I have one class left for my Ultimate Guide series and then I will be putting out a series with exact build paths and card picks for every level. Stay tuned!

[@madmullet1174]

A few thoughts that you may (or may not) find interesting: - Virulent Strain (top) - It's slow if Plagueherald is the only poisoner in the party and is 'pre-Level 5'. If, however, you have other classes that can poison, going later in initiative order after they have 'attacked + poisoned' an enemy is a useful resource. Note that this is also range-less and doesn't require LoS. If your party has to split up, this is a great way to provide additional damage to help out from way across the map. - Creeping Curse (bottom) - Synergizes with 'Paralyzing Bite'. Stun enemies after they have gone and then move into to curse them. - Storm of Wings - This is better than it looks. I didn't choose it when I first played the class but I experimented with it in a later build and it was really, really valuable. Being almost guaranteed of going last with a Move 5 is exceptionally useful for positioning. Since Plagueherald has so many good bottom halves ('Spread the Plague' for example) this brings a lot of added value to make 'other turns' more efficient. - Willing Sacrifice (top) - This can also be used multiple times by using items that grant additional turns and/or move actions. A heck of lot of true damage can be put out this way. - Airborne Toxin (bottom) - I think you massively under-estimated how powerful this can be when played well. 'Accelerated End', 'Willing Sacrifice' and 'Massive Extinction' at Level 9, you can just melt enemies across the entire map. There's risk with getting lots of enemies on the map but ample reward as well. With certain items, the Plagueherald can dish out obscene amounts of true-damage to every single enemy on the map irrespective or range and LoS whilst ignoring shield, modifier draws etc. - Grim Bargain (top) - The damage-output of this can be insane if played well. Whilst I don't disagree with all that you said, there are some parties which affect your calculations quite heavily. Think 'Shield-Spikes'-build Redguard who can happily be the Plagueherald's curse-sponge. In Gloomhaven, I also used 'Grim Bargain'-Plagueherald with a summoning class. With a summoning class popping out four or five low damage attacks per. round, those curses are only negating an 'Attack 2' each time whilst damage-output is still being maintained through other summons. It's still a nerf to your stooge-summoner but a fairly insignificant one when compared to the huge increase in damage-output from the Plagueherald.

[@neuralnetgames6540]

I have seen you post a lot on reddit, bgg, etc and I think you are one of the best commenters in the community so yes I am interested and thanks for taking the time to post such detailed thoughts! I think a lot of what you have here is pretty party dependent and in those situations different cards can definitely work and in a variety of situations blanket recommendations don't always hold up. The one part that I don't think I really would ever use is taking Storm of Wings for the move. In my opinion just don't need it. After I finish with the Ultimate Guide series I will be doing videos that have specific builds with card choices and those will cover off some of the "and if" situations. If you have any really cool alternate builds you would like to see please feel free to share. I may even do a couple of guest build videos if anyone is interested in doing one!

[@madmullet1174]

​ @Neural Net Games Thanks for the compliment. If you're on BGG, stop by and say 'hi' - would be good to put a name to the face. :-) Re. Your dislike of 'Storm of Winds', I think this is because of your preference for 'Under the Skin' at Level 2. You, yourself, mention the value of that Level 2 'Move 4' because of the usable top-halves of high movement Level 1/X cards. If, however, you choose 'Rot Maggots' (which is a good choice as well), 'Storm of Wings' Move 5 gives that movement and frees up use of other top actions (which, in fairness, you do mention) as well as positioning for those 'double-attack turns' with 'Spread the Plague'. The 'pierce' of 'Under the Skin' holds little value for a poison-build Cthulhu as the true damage just shreds shielded enemies anyway and Initiative 91 is excellent for a class with so much in and around that 30-70 space. Probably not the place for a lengthy discussion on this but I wanted to offer an alternative route that most definitely works. Keep up the good work on the channel.

[@nixquev]

At level 3, I go back and take the level 2 card I didn't pick. Always serves me better than the level 3 cards.

[@matteobertotti]

You could have mentioned the absolute best turn 1: Winged Congregation bottom on leading initiative + Mass Exinction top + Ring of Brutality for Banful Hex top. You mass-curse and wound all the room (in some scenarios you're using all 10 curses at once) while going on 16 initiative and healing your allies. If you've enhanced it with a bless (you should have mentioned that too) you are making even more profit. And let's not forget that Wind+Dark, if you have an Eclipse or Triangles in your party it's gg from turn 1.

[@neuralnetgames6540]

Powerful but I don’t like to use such high prosperity item spoilers in my vids. Thanks for watching!

[@matteobertotti]

@@neuralnetgames6540 Even without that item, play Hex on t2, but those two cards on t1 are a game breaking combo. Anyway, good video as always, but this deficiency bugged me a bit :)

[@neuralnetgames6540]

Ya I mean it’s a level 9 card so how often are people really going to be able to use that exact combo? It’s good but you will only use it for a very short time. This video is already long enough lol

[@matteobertotti]

@@neuralnetgames6540 Ahah, maybe your approach is the best regarding educational purposes. I'm a minmaxer myself, so I'm really into this stuff, but I get that your videos should address a way less experienced audience too. Wish you a good day :)

[@viesturskokarevics2427]

"I am taking this card most of the time..." not a first time I heard this sentence 😉 How many times you finished campaign? You mostly play TTS or tabletop game?

[@anthonyc4951]

Another good guide. Really good detail especially around your level 8 analysis. A suggestion for any future guides may be to show which cards you replace when you level up. That way we can see how your build progresses up to level 9 which would gives us some ideas on how we can build it.

[@neuralnetgames6540]

Thanks Anthony, hope you are enjoying JOTL! After I finish with the Ultimate Guide series I will be doing much more specific builds with a theme and exact card pics for every single level, etc!

[@anthonyc4951]

@@neuralnetgames6540 I'm loving JoTL. I'll be finishing my second campaign of it this weekend hopefully. Thanks again so much for your generosity and keep up the content. You're doing a great job! Also I'm sure you have a lot of content coming down the line with all the latest Frosthaven info that has been released recently.

[@geerstyresoil3136]

My son just retired triangles, and is really looking forward to this one. Seems just as complex...

[@neuralnetgames6540]

Yeah they are close. Triangles probably a bit harder to play although party composition is a big factor

[@iheartcello0]

Nice video, and nice grim bargain explanation! I feel like that card would work really well if you had music note in your party. You could just curse them over and over, since they typically don't attack much.

[@neuralnetgames6540]

Thank you! For sure, Music Note rarely attacks, except for when you do the melee build, so great target for the GB curse!

[@Iandaredh]

My level 8 choice was to take the other level 7 card :-D Nice guide anyways

[@neuralnetgames6540]

lol fair enough!

[@LamirLakantry]

My issue is that because of my low initiative, I really struggling to gain XP and coins. I level way slower than all my friends, and I have way far less items. Even when I flew into the center of the enemies last session and tanked a ton of damage to desperately used my loot 2 card on the following turn, my team mates looted almost the entire room before I got my turn. There were 7 coins and a chest in range at the start of my turn. I got one coin and the chest. And a twice earlier, my friends had used their reusable loot cards to take the coins I was standing on. This class seems awesome on paper, but it's incredibly situational and frustrating and slow. The only time it's come in clutch so far was during a scenario where we had to get to certain points on the map in time past enemies and traps, and I used my flight and speed to just bee-line it. But even then, I had to tank for multiple rounds, running through enemies and discarding cards like crazy. I really want this class to work, but I just don't get much done with it and I don't level and can't afford anything.

[@tobiasnenseter8044]

Imagine going plague herald and voidwarden as a duo (maby a 3. as a tank). And go full curse/poison and grim embrace, cause void warden dosent deal dmg if you skip a few cards. That would be so fun and probably hard.

[@johanneskramer9490]

We played Cthulu, Music Note and Lightning. It was the best comp we had and it was like playing on easy difficulty

[@ashleytrenorden2404]

Ive got 380 odd hours of Gloomhaven on Steam and I would have to guess at least 200 of those have been spent rocking Gerald the Plagueherald (or one of his many cousins) and I disagreed with very very little of what you had to say here!! Best character around. Mass Extinction + Baneful Hex + a 2xperked Nightmarish Affliction with a certain Musical ally will render almost any scenario irrelevant. Add a Sun character and stunning the enemy actually becomes detrimental to you!!

[@uberporkypine]

I have just built this character at lvl 9 and haven’t played it yet so take this with a grain of salt but I think a lot of people as sleeping on the +1 to your entire attack action card combos. If you play Spread the Plague and Foul Wind, that has incredible potential with all of the multi-target attacks you have. Even more so if you combo it with power potions and robes of evocation. If we look at the lvl 8 card Grim Bargain with this set up, it is incredible as it will essentially triple the value of your +1 modifiers on any of your single target attacks and adds that same damage increase to your multi attacks as well. Yeah, you are going to be hurting your teammates a little but I feel the benefit is there. Definitely need to be playing at 4 players to have enough monsters to attack to justify having so many targets though and to spread the ally hurt around a little.

[@jfseguin4005]

As for enhencements, Biting Gnats is a great canvas. +1 damage or wound , and +1 target. Yes it's expensive but it gives you a reusable non loss Fire orbs at range 4 and 1 xp. Pretty great

[@neuralnetgames6540]

I do like Fire Orbs!

[@adamgibson6836]

I've made my way through most of your videos. One critic I've had is that you don't read the cards as you introduce them. If you do Frosthaven guides, would you please consider doing this? Thanks for the content. I get a lot out of it.

[@Feedyoursouldaily]

perhaps my second favorite class. I'm a curse and crowd control type of guy

[@neuralnetgames6540]

Ya it’s really quite fun! So many interesting cards as well. Played around a lot with grim bargain

[@ericthompson5274]

What's your top class, then? Inquiring minds want to know

[@Feedyoursouldaily]

@@neuralnetgames6540 interesting. Grim bargain was never on my radar. I'll have to have a closer look.

[@Feedyoursouldaily]

@@ericthompson5274 My favorite class is music note.

[@peterkandrup3620]

A Plague Herald and a Scoundrel walks into a bar. The bartender asks…….What’s your poison? 😁

[@iamspamus8784]

For level 8 I took the other level 7... :)

[@johanveenbaas2062]

I play Gloomhaven digital (besides Jaws and Frosthaven ) I just retired the Cragheart(lvl 9) and added the beserker , now I als retired the scoundrel(lvl9) .I have the Sawbone at lvl 9 ,Beserker at 5 and now have to choose between the Sunkeeper or this awsome dude, the plagueharald. With one should I take !?

[@Frankzoar]

My favorite character ;)

[@neuralnetgames6540]

It's up there for me too! When my friend unlocked it I was so damn jealous he pretty much had to tell me to get lost so he could actually look at it himself lol

[@viesturskokarevics2427]

''I take this card most of the time'' :) How many times you finished campaign? And do you play mostly TTS or tabletop version of game?

[@neuralnetgames6540]

hmmm I would say I have played enough to have finished 3 times over, although I haven't played it from start to finish per say, except for the first time. I play a lot but different scenarios to try things out that make sense for a specific class so I end up jumping around a bit. I play more table top because I really like using the components but if I am short on time I play on TTS. For Gloomhaven online I haven't played a lot, I think I have 50-60 hours in. I actually love it they have done such a good job so I plan on playing a lot more in the near future!

[@leedogification]

Card combos / card combo strings?

[@ShpakRoma]

What do you think about this character in 2 player games? Without a tank?

[@neuralnetgames6540]

Can still work just go more damage focused and make sure the other class is as well!

[@ibervang]

I think Virulent strain is good vs high armor, low hp mobs. Like those faeries. They have like 2-3 armor, but only 3 life. Maybe it's the map(s) we did when i played and/or our team composition. But for me, the plagueherald sucked. Low range combined with low initiative, and the mobs are right in front of you, so you got disadvantage. The target 2, range 2. How open are you that close to 2 mobs, and none are infront of you. You barely get any xp, if you want to actualy be effective, as the xp cards has some negative to them, like low range. If feels like they took cards from other classes, made them worse, then threw in a little curse, when they made this char. Boosting damage comes at a cost. The tinker can boost his and others within range 1, without doing anything negative. The quartermaster, later and, can do it with range 2. The curse thing, is a hit or miss, as there can only be a certain number of curse cards in play. We had a scenario, where we had to start with 3 curse cards each. Luckely me and 1 other (we were 3), had picked the perk to ignore negative scenario effect. So i think we hit a point where all was in play, so i couldn't put in more. But at one point, the mobs also cursed, but because i had already cursed some mobs, it was limited how much we could get cursed. Then add in his huge aoe that poisons. That also poisons your allie. I guess if you had like Soothsinger, he could be very powerfull. Boost range. Or make his huge aoe add wound. Thought the curseing did seem to save us a couple of times

[@nathanmays7926]

The bottom of Convert the Flock is an absolute travesty for a level 9. The designer should be ashamed for that one. When a level 9 is worse than Tinkerer's level 1 Enhancement Field you know there's a problem.

[@neuralnetgames6540]

lol it's definitely not one of the better level 9 cards...

[@chrismcclaughry6857]

Your obsession with low initiative grows tiresome quick. Other than that cool video.

[@Mirsset]

Initiative is important. :)

[@jkfodor]

Gah, spoiler warning at the front please, got this on auto play and spoiled within first few seconds before could hit pause.

[@neuralnetgames6540]

Sorry about that