The PERFECT party composition in Gloomhaven

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00:00 Building a good party
07:43 Starting characters
16:03 Unlockable characters (SPOILERS)
25:49 My favourite parties
31:40 Outro
#gloomhaven #boardgames #digitalboardgames #gloomhavendigital

[@Handalidoo]

Man, I don't know why but I love your voice. It's really easy to listen to.

[@MandatoryQuest]

Haha thanks dude

[@brendancoakley632]

I think mobility is another crucial aspect. Scoundrel really shines with that flexibility, being able to handle all sorts of weird mission objectives and looting.

[@MandatoryQuest]

Yep definitely not to be neglected, but it can be solved through items. In order to get good damage output on most melee damage characters you need to have good movement and some jump I’d say.

[@haerdalis84]

The well mission comes to mind. She can grab the doll and make a wild dash for the well while keeping herself invisible.

[@mikeduggan8038]

My friend and I found Gloomhaven a couple months ago and really appreciate the content MQ! The toolkit you linked is amazing and a wealth of information.

[@polydipsiac]

I love how you’ve attempted to quantify the characters strengths. Super helpful to understand forming a starting party

[@MandatoryQuest]

Thanks I'm happy you found it useful :)

[@Daily_lotr_meme_shorts]

Excellent video as always, MQ!! Great one!

[@MandatoryQuest]

Thanks guys :)

[@erinnerung15]

Finally, the video I have been waiting for! Thank you for sharing your thoughts! While Music Note does shine with more party members, we were able to make it work with my husband playing the Sun. Music Note and Cthulhu turned out to be my two most favourite characters, dishing out curses and pretty good damage (with the right setup).

[@MandatoryQuest]

Awesome yeah that's my favourite combo too. It has great synergy and feels really satisfy to play when its all clicking.

[@ethanbarton]

Honestly quite insightful man, appreciate that you actually got into some good theory rather than staying surface level

[@MandatoryQuest]

Thanks man, I try to dig in a bit more with my videos. I realise that sometimes it means they are too long, but I don't think you can do things justice sometimes in a quick video.

[@GwydionAE]

Looking at your chart to see where my favorites to play (so far) land, and, well, yeah, alright, that explains a lot. XD Scoundrel and Eclipse, my beloveds, lol. To be honest, though, probably my group's best combo so far has been Music Note, Three Spears, and Sun. It was fun playing with Three Spears' hand management cards, and Music Note was seriously the MVP once my sister got the hang of her. Thanks for the video!

[@JEBryak]

Excellent video, as always. Based on your numbers and recommended values, I conclude that Beast Tyrant + Mind Thief is the best 2 member party. They meet all of your recommended values with only 2 members! For a 3 person party you would add Doomstalker for added damage output, and for a 4th you would add Berzerker for more added damage and control.

[@MandatoryQuest]

They would work nicely together yes, get that bear in there doing some tanking and you also have ready access to great control too.

[@TruckDrivinGamer]

I love this, your videos are so helpful! Thank you for the advice. My one wish is that these videos could include the JotL classes, because I love my Voidwarden so much, and I'm curious how she would fit in with the base game characters. Not a complaint, just a request😎

[@MandatoryQuest]

Honestly I haven’t played enough JoTL yet to really make great assessments on them, but when I do a future video will be coming :)

[@olivierjodoin2283]

While playing Gloomhaven digital (beta) last year we used the Summoner and Beast Tyrant in a 4 character party and it was a lot of fun. The summons sometimes got in the way of our movement as we occupied a lot of the hexes of a room. We kept saying "let's build a zoo" while playing.

[@MandatoryQuest]

It is nice to go wide with summons for sure, and if you can build the perfect buffing party (I don't want to spoil them) it can be a successful strategy.

[@skartimusprime4779]

I've been playing the Sun following your guide, was our first unlock. Actually think she does a fair whack of damage. Very single target, but she has a pretty good deck so she just kinda doinks people on the head and then rolls a 6 base into a 10-12 with all her extra damage roll cards and such. She reliably just knocks targets down. We now have the Musical Note in our party and combining Sun's Shield + Retaliation with Music Notes retaliation is actually hilarious. 5 direct damage every time she's hit and everything she takes reduced by 2 😂 in certain situations where you have a large bulk of melee enemies that normally the Sun is less effective with, she can wipe them in a turn while long resting in the middle of the room by just being a punching bag with a bit of spice 😂

[@scoobiusmaximus9508]

I know you said it in the video but I really do think damage should be split into single target and multi target because they are often of pretty different importance. Spellweaver for example is great at multi target and can easily do very high total damage compared to most of the other starting characters (and at level 9 it can obviously do absurd damage in the right rooms) but is generally awful if you really want the most dangerous enemy in the room dead. If you're in a scenario where you have a small number of high hp enemies the Spellweaver isn't going to be doing all that much damage compared to a Scoundrel or Mindthief, but I've also had games where the Spellweaver probably did more damage than the Scoundrel and Mindthief combined, and it doesn't even require being level 9, just good Eagle Eyes + Power Potion usage on the right turn(s).

[@siriactuallysara]

My level 9 beast tyrant bear was an amazing tank and high dmg dealer for single targets. Since his draw deck gets a lot of +1 heals and they come up often. Plus he has the blood rage to attack and then heal 3. And 29 HPs I can put him in front with the other 3 ranges and spell casters behind. I am playing a complete bear build of cards. My tyrant doesn’t move much himself.

[@dangilboa6496]

The best party composition is the one you enjoy playing the most :) I am playing with my daughter a Tinkerer+ Brute team, which seems a completely not viable option (for lack of damage and control) on your chart and we are doing just fine (Level 6 around 15 scenarios). We are by no way sailing through it but we have our share of good combos and stellar moves. And most importantly, we are having a blast, high fiving every successful mission. So, "Fun factor", the one missing category on your chart, is the most important one. Excellent video, twice in a row. subscribing.

[@MandatoryQuest]

Yeah that should totally be the case, and actually at two player things can get a bit wonky with my chart. I think you have a pretty decent pairing there as both have access to all the different effects in the game so are quite versatile. At 2P really the more versatile characters tend to be better as scenarios can toss all kinds of weird things at you. As long as your having fun that's all that really matters and thanks for the sub!

[@lastsymphony1300]

My favorite party comp is Music Note, Cthulhu, Eclipse, and Three Spears(To use icon names), going for that 1 turn KO, nerfed a bit by the exchange of Sun for Music Note, but a) Three Spears can off-tank without losing his survivability, b) it's fun to try and face every room as they slowly work towards you on insane, c) It allows me to sometimes choose to go curse annihilation instead of poison annihilation when I want a more challenging fight. So I prefer Music Note to Sun for that 4 party comp.

[@MandatoryQuest]

I like it for a laugh and to show off how unbalanced the game is, but i like to dial it back a bit with just the Note and Cthulhu as my go to powerful but not completely broken party.

[@PMMagro]

I just started with four (4) players. No Brute and Crag is all range. My poor scoundrel hurts, but I do get that gold...

[@blaiseancona1652]

Nice Video! I'm playing an active beast Tyrant as well. Could you do a build video for that or list out the cards and items your would take? Thanks!

[@MandatoryQuest]

Possibly, I have been enjoying it more and more on my increased difficulty run-throughs.

[@Ancona55]

Awesome! Looking forward to it!

[@MandatoryQuest]

So what’s some of your favourite party comps and why do they include the music note? ;-) My GH tools and resources spreadsheet bit.ly/3me4u6p Become a Patron for early access to videos - www.patreon.com/mandatoryquest Grab some sweet merch - www.mandatoryquest.com

[@tdunbar6148]

not seen the music note in my game :)

[@jfseguin4005]

Lightning Bolt, Saw, Music Note and any other of your choice ! Angry Face or Squid would be good options

[@Aurion254]

I know this is old hat now that frosthaven is out but I'm still having fun experimenting with gloomhaven parties. Currently running a solo 4-character campaign and my current party make up is music note (lvl 9), cthulu (7), spears (7)and spellweaver (9). So very OP at this point.

[@Infinity-0033]

I love playing Sunkeeper with Divine Intervention, drakescale armor, empowering talisman, a helix ring, and summoning items….it’s unbelievably overpowered. I hold control of damage incoming, protect any ally and summon, and can heal 25 twice with helix ring and my armor means I’m never poisoned so the heal goes off…I also if using 2 characters will play with Soothesinger using Tranquil trill and control cards mixed with all the attack cards the class has because the modifier deck is seriously the best in the game. I use Booming proclamation with piercing bow, power potions, and goggles so I can light up a room. To be thematic I will sometimes choose the solo scenario item for Soothesinger. My brother will choose Berserker and Scoundrel (two of his favorites) who will contribute massive damage, and will not die and benefit immensely from Divine Intervention and Tranquil Trill healing….so much fun and we play max difficultly and still win with max health haha. We like to utterly destroy the enemy. But still we play with other characters and all sorts of comps

[@Infinity-0033]

Or if you want you can play Spellweaver inferno to melt the room and stamina potions to abuse it…I’ve used it like that and the enemies disappear, but it’s more fun to be indestructible with health imo, and my brother can wreak havoc and do whatever he wants for max damage without worries

[@sethnewman9350]

Who would be your top 3 weakest characters? And the top 3 hardest to play effectively characters? For example for me elementalist fits in there somewhere but I’m not sure if it’s weak or just complicated because I’ve never really built a group around it as much as just threw it in with whatever group I had going. I’ve had the bg since the original Kickstarter but the amount of playtime I can save in digital has allowed me to really advance my level of play and now I’m more interested in trying deep dives into some of the characters I didn’t appreciate as much before. Ty ahead of time for being so approachable and responsive you’re really doing gloomhaven a great service sharing your knowledge and expertise and helping new people learn (hopefully before getting too overwhelmed by the punishing learning curve)

[@MandatoryQuest]

Weakest I would say is the Tinkerer unfortunately, and this is especially the case with the changed chimeric formula in Digital that does really block some fun combos you could at least facilitate. Other generally weak characters are Circles and Brute I’d say. Hardest to play well is probably Three Spears as there are a lot of moving pieces that need to work together to make it truly broken. I don’t think every player grasps that initially. Other hard classes to play well are Triangles and maybe Circles, although honestly I don’t think they are particularly complex it’s just that without planning they both tend to fall flat. I think that’s why Circles is kinda bad because you need to be good with it to just get average results.

[@Fear910]

The Sun+ plague + Soothsinger is also my favorite combo, and it works just fine with 4 players as well!! Need more physical DPS? Berserker, Scoundrel and Beast Tyrant got you covered! Tyrant can be even stronger because if soothsinger or sun use the "command ally to attack" cards they get the bennefit of concentrated rage if they act later in the round. Need more AoE? Quartermaster, Spellweaver or Elementalist can dish out a lot of that and even off-tank / off-support Lots of elites in that map? Eclipse will take them out of the board scott-free. Boss fight? Doomstalker is the man for the job. Any other character can fit on that team and it will work!

[@ProfuDeCub]

We currently have Berserker, Doomstalker, Spellweaver, Quartermaster. It feels like no one is doing a good tanking and we were so close to die in front of black imps. Thanks to you and you data, now i understand perfect why. We had only damage, no good control, no good healing and no good tanking. We dont feel lime a team, more like a group of mercenaries withe the same purpose and no coordination.

[@MandatoryQuest]

Its an easy trap to fall into for sure. Glad this video helped you out!

[@glimftw7255]

You have excelent party TBH, FoA on lightning, DS on angry face are among the Best skill in game. Three speers without items really isnt Stella but far from weak And SW has many tricks up her sleeve if you know her in And out. Perhaps your problém is playing bad way (looking for "tank" looking for "Healer".. While the Best way to control the enemies is simply work together to kill them ASAP... Your party should not have any problems at all. Arguably all the Best AoE classes/skills in game. Some support, reason able CC. Even impressive boss killing capability. Comp is really, really strong, you(as party) dont understand how to play it.

[@chaslyndrilling7380]

I'm surprised you don't have the lightning bolt class a little higher for tanking since they want to tank damage anyway for some of the builds.

[@MandatoryQuest]

Might be some of my deadly difficulty tendencies at work

[@Raynis1]

Great video! Are you planning to do one with the Jaws of the Lion characters?

[@MandatoryQuest]

Yes once I've played a bit more of the DLC

[@Raynis1]

@@MandatoryQuest Awesome! I’ve been playing around with the demolitionist. Seems like a fun class.

[@danhayes2456]

Greetings sir! Have only recently discovered your channel and (as you can probably see) have watched a metric shit ton of your videos. Having gotten some classes to level 9, with Sawbones being my first, I am wondering if you still think he is only a 5 when it comes to control? For me, he comes awfully close to Soothsinger. Like, if Soothsinger is 9, I put Sawbones at 8. He has 2 aoe disarms (one with 5 dmg attached), 2 bottom stuns, 2 (potentially 3!!) top executes, as well as aoe muddle and free strengthen attached to free heal attached to a move 4. Maybe it is because I always pair him with Sunkeeper that I feel invulnerable, but it also seems like the enemies just aren't ever doing much when Sawbones is around.

[@MandatoryQuest]

Yeah I think that's fair. He does get a lot more tools as he levels, and is one of the most under rated characters in the game. I was probably thinking a bit too much on lower levels, and that he usually has to put himself in danger being melee, but he's a monster by level 9. Glad you have been enjoying the videos :)

[@tbone9474]

Best composition is what ever you enjoy playing... unless you play on insane difficulty:)

[@MandatoryQuest]

Depends on if you enjoy winning a lot too 😉

[@tbone9474]

@@MandatoryQuest well so far on normal we're having fun with whatever strikes our fancy:)

[@MandatoryQuest]

Nice, I think if you understand the game fundamentals well you can have good success with any party on normal and sometimes even +1. Unfortunately though I think a lot of new players don't grasp that very well so struggle a lot.

[@eledorusso]

​@@MandatoryQuest totally. Dont listen to this person, this video is gold

[@slothy33711]

Music Note, Cthulhu, Sun & Beast Tyrant is what I am currently using to power through the PC Game.

[@MandatoryQuest]

Nice, love that Cthulhu and Note Synergy and I'm guessing you have the BT on a more damage build?

[@slothy33711]

@@MandatoryQuest Yes, he is a Beast! Pun intended.

[@pinguincoder]

My wife and I have ordered the board game and will start to play soon. We plan on using the Cragheart (as kinda of a tank) and the spellweaver. is this combination good for 2 players? And will we also be good when playing with another couple (4 Players in total)?

[@MandatoryQuest]

I would say you're a bit light on control effects to begin with, but when the spellweaver gets to level 4 that will change. It's also possible to just kill things quickly with 2P instead of needing to control enemies due to less monsters. If you are just starting out I think it's a good pairing but the spellweaver is a tricky first one to learn. If you don't plan on increasing the difficulty right from the beginning you'll be fine, and they will both work nicely with others too when you go to 4.

[@pinguincoder]

@@MandatoryQuest thank you for the reply. We will probably reduce difficulty to easy if we cant beat normal.

[@sethnewman9350]

I think Craigheart could be ranked a bit higher in the control category with his ability to funnel rooms at will… surprised by the 3 on that.

[@MandatoryQuest]

Yeah maybe. I marked it down because you can’t always use it, it doesn’t work on all enemy’s (flying/range) and new players might not grasp it easily so it can be quite conditional.

[@amansparekh]

New to gloomhaven, starting my first campaign, planning to play 3 handed solo. I like the look of spell weaver and mindthief, who would round off the team well? Would scoundrel be viable or too much of a glass cannon?

[@MandatoryQuest]

Scoundrel would be a bit rough IMO if you are new as you'll be a bit weak up front. I would go with a Brute as you'll want to devote your brain power to learning and executing the other 2 well first, and he's such a safe, easy, and reliable character. If you don't fancy that then the Cragheart is a bit more thinky, but has a large hand size and HP to roll with the punches in the front line too.

[@amansparekh]

@@MandatoryQuest I’m not completely new, have played through all of Jotl 2-handed hatchet + red guard at +2 diff

[@MandatoryQuest]

@@amansparekh Oh that's like a veteran then really! In that case its just a bit risky, so just make sure you are stunning regularly, planning initiative, and focus firing stuff down.

[@amansparekh]

@@MandatoryQuest yeah neither the brute nor the cragheart really call to me but mindthief and spell weaver look so cool

[@josephrobitaille469]

I looked my next characters up and it got me worried. I have a lot of control, tankiness and healing but I hope I won't lack damage. My next characters after retirements are Sawbones, Quartermaster, Soothsinger and Sunkeeper. I thought that with the icons on sawbones and quartermaster, they would do damage but they do less damage than scoundrel and mindthief... Any idea on what I should do ?

[@MandatoryQuest]

If you have a lot of longevity then damage might not be too much of an issue. Your party actually sounds very strong in my opinion, but your main downside is going to be AoE attacks for scenarios with lots of enemies. I would play both the Quartermaster and the Sunkeeper as dual tanks allowing you to mix in damage cards for both of them. In theory once your levels creep up the busted nature of Music Note and Quartermaster will make things very easy for you. I wouldn't worry too much because you have the best control character (music note) and the best healing (Saw) so you should be able to use more attacking cards with both the Quartermaster and the Sunkeeper safely. Keep an eye out for the big AoE attacks on the Quartermaster too as must haves to clear rooms quicker.

[@ethanbarton]

Why does the spellweaver have such a high control value? In her level 1 and X cards, I see no stuns or poisons. There's one immobilize which is melee, and a conditional wound

[@MandatoryQuest]

Cold fire is an insane ability she gets from level 3 that's so good it kind of warps that stat for her a bit.

[@charleshammel8541]

Team Zoo: sun (zookeeper) + beast tyrant (trainer) + summoner (trainer) + soothsayer (director)

[@adastra3147]

Damage dealing and a tank, if you cannot rotate aggro properly. If you can, just go full DPS. Especially with melee crag. ALWAYS go melee crag 💪🏻

[@MandatoryQuest]

There is only one correct Crag build

[@Just_enterTained]

​@@MandatoryQuest ranged?

[@MandatoryQuest]

@@Just_enterTained False

[@JMik622]

For how many players is this system (10 control for example)

[@MandatoryQuest]

Based on a party of 3/4

[@kingwitty123]

Brute with only damage 5? In my 4 mercenary koop game, the brute often deals the most damage. With the fire sword and the phalanx card.

[@MandatoryQuest]

Many mercs with the right cards and items can do a lot of damage, but this list was done considering base power level compared to all others. Other characters can immediately be stronger plus they did the Brute dirty on his attack modifier deck and perks.

[@kingwitty123]

@@MandatoryQuest ok thank you for comment. i only know a few character so i was wondering. still a beginner in this game. thank you for your guides btw.

[@kingwitty123]

I don't use often controlling cards, I try to kill as much enemies as I can. Maybe at a higher difficulty, it is more important

[@MandatoryQuest]

Killing is the best of course, but yeah at high levels of difficulty its not always possible so pick what you can kill and control the others. You can lose in a single round the enemies do so much damage compared to your health.

[@kingwitty123]

@@MandatoryQuest ok thanks.

[@sanjakazakov2265]

i am new here , just realised there is more then 6 champs !! omg ! how to unlock all of them ?

[@MandatoryQuest]

It depends on the mode, but if you go to my tools spreadsheet it lists how in each mode bit.ly/3me4u6p

[@thearchivist250]

I'm in the back half of a solo campaign with high level characters, and I find four player comp better than three. It's a little frustrating, because I want to play three player comp to increase the speed of the game, but something is wonky with the scaling. Maybe it's just my comp.

[@MandatoryQuest]

I think with 3 the challenge of having to actively compliment the party is more fun. At 4 usually if you chuck any 4 together it just works, but 3 makes you think a little more about the synergies and roles.

[@skeletonfish110]

quartermaster should be top damage, lets be real here

[@vohbovohborian28]

The amount of control an Eclipse can do by just standing in the way can't possibly result in a score of 1.

[@MandatoryQuest]

I don't include invisibility as a hard control method although it can be in doors and tight corridors. I had to draw a line somewhere so control is purely negative condition abilities.

[@mightymangojuice42]

Lots of scores I agree with but just can't see Cthulhu getting a 3 for control. Crazy AOE stun at level 1 into tons of curses makes this character so strong in 4p parties.

[@MandatoryQuest]

I generally dislike any burn stuns as they are a one time deal. I could see it creep up to 4 though with all his curses.

[@SirFluffy100]

DPR, damage per round.

[@freeguy7628]

Elements are only empowered at the end of your turn, so you can never use an element that you make yourself. That nerfs perverse edge / frigid apparition completely, I assume? Just checking, thanks!

[@MandatoryQuest]

Your right, but no because you just alternate them over 2 rounds. The ideas is to stun lock an enemy over those two turns which is incredibly powerful.

[@spacecowboy301]

I use berserker for tank too... mainly due to him having decently high health, a heal to full card and some other good tank cards.. feel like he should be 4 or 5 pts for tanking.

[@alfarabi73]

Quartermaster ranking is just bewildering at face value...

[@MandatoryQuest]

He’s item dependent and hard to play. I don’t want to give newer players false impressions, but he can get crazy of course.