Triangles / Tri-force class guide and strategy for Gloomhaven

[@MandatoryQuest]

We did 1000 subs! thank you all so much, don't forget to drop your comments down below for the Q&A!

[@erinnerung15]

I wish this guide had been out when I tried Triangles for the first time. I got frustrated very quickly with inconsistent/low damage output no matter what I did. You have inspired me to give this class another chance once I retire my current character. Thank you!

[@MandatoryQuest]

I was exactly the same as you! I hated this character on my first attempt. I gave it another chance with a more combo focus, and actually it’s just that you need to be on the ball and really understand your flow of play. It’s not a play style I particular love but I can absolutely see the appeal.

[@maxmustermann-zx9yq]

he looks like craigs nerdy little brother xd

[@PenatiLorenzo]

I think that lava eruption is by far the best lvl 1 card, you can very relaibly play it at the start of the last room of the dungeon with minimal setup: formless power+power pot+pierce bow+ any buff from an ally or from any other item istantly clears the last room even at lvl 9 or below. On top of that you should pick obsidian shard over winter's edge ( your role in a team should be to deal with groups of enemy instead of the single strong enemy with alot of armor ( it may vary in a 2 man party), obsidian shard is also strictly better than simulacrum wich needs 4 different elements ( 4 out of 6, instead of 2 specific ones) but you should take it aniway because eye of the hurricane is trash. This character has an amazing synergy with the musical note character, just like the with the spellweaver, aoe can be amazing with wistful wounding ( for example lava eruption and crystallizing blast). If you pair this character with the musical note character give her a mana pot to aid your spells and 2 elements rods for the same reason.

[@KrzysztofPinguje]

I dont think you can use Piercing Bow with Lava Eruption. Attack on this card doesn't specify range of the attack, so it is considered to be melee. For attack to be ranged it has to state for example "Attack 3 Range 3", which isn't the case with lava eruption.

[@anthonyc4951]

Excellent guide. I especially like the turn order suggestions. This is a good idea since this class is a bit challenging to play well. I've already started to use Shaping the Ether to help me unlock the Sun class quicker. Thanks again. Looking forward to your other guide for the newly released classes

[@tbone9474]

Thanks for this, I've started gloomhaven a few months ago with the tinkerer, now doing a spellweaver because I got intimidated by the elementalist complexity. Will have to give him a shot

[@Venturello]

Thanks, that was a very good guide for a complicated class. Liked a lot the diagram on how to go from turn to turn. As a somewhat experienced player that's what I was trying to do (think ahead, generate elements for my next round) but nice to see them structured like this. Good guide, long, but appreciate the index and think the long time is not due to unnecessary things (that you where padding to make it long!), but rather all of it is super useful for anyone who wants to play this complex card well. And get to that niiiice lvl 7 card hahah!

[@MandatoryQuest]

Awesome, yes I'm trying to tread the line of being too long vs giving enough detail. I will being doing a mix of both going forward i think depending on if the class warrants it. I'm now treating these long ones almost like mini podcasts ;)

[@danhayes2456]

@@MandatoryQuest Keep doing the long ones!

[@MandatoryQuest]

Linked to fixed level 1 card overlay. Ill repost the video later once I've fixed the cards but due to the length it takes an age to upload imgur.com/a/PeL81SL Become a Patron for early access to videos - www.patreon.com/mandatoryquest Grab some sweet merch - www.mandatoryquest.com

[@ytgg405]

Still busted? Cards look a lot better than my level 1 cards. ;)

[@ProjectIcarusFE]

I find by the time your about level 4 or 5, instead of playing that rigid generate/use element system, you are generating so many elements that at the start of each round, it's like a buffet of abilities and what to do with them, and that's when the character starts to become really fun.

[@MandatoryQuest]

Yes I'd agree with that. Triangles for me is the most fun between levels 3 to 6ish. You get a lot of flexibility with lots of elements flowing, but you haven't unlocked Vengeance yet which warps the play style.

[@maxmustermann-zx9yq]

Unless you are playing with equivalent of a rogue player and you get to watch your team gobble them all up

[@MuLangeMu]

Wow really good job with this one. Best one so far and i like all your guides. Now i want to play triforce next.

[@MuLangeMu]

My only input is Vengace is not that good in 4p since more elites, rarely more than 1 normal adjacent to eachother when you open a new room.

[@suikodin2501]

MQ here did a great job, ty MQ. Does anyone else have some play patterns for triangles to share? What's your favorite card to play? And how can you consistently setup for it (since that's a major issue with triangles)? (I enjoy triangles and want to hear MOAR!) :)

[@theLanceInPants]

I played up to level 7 in the board game my first time playing elementalist and it was terrible without money for enhancements and not being level 9. Playing digital, I was able to afford extra hex vengeance, curse crystalline blast, +1 dmg eternal equilibrium, wild element generation bot move card on top of items that give +dmg consuming elements. Night and day. Lava eruption, infernal vortex and tremulent cyclone (probably will only be able to take 1-2 at lvl 9) bottom move with enhanced element (ideally wild for flexibility but fixed element for winters edge or obsidian shards works too). I had great success with having bottom element generation set up for my next move rather than doing an AOE like crystalline blast and hope I can scrounge something up. At level 9, I'm prioritizing the use of eternal equilibrium, so turn 1, I typically will open with my bottom dark/light move with a top action like crystalline blast to spread curse and generate extra elements for +dmg consumes, Tap boots for better positioning as needed. Turn 2, let it rip. Formless power bottom to consume elements for +1 dmg and more +dmg for whatever left over elements there are. Helmets that increase range, dmg pots go a long way. Stam pots to do it over again.

[@williampruett6528]

Dope guide love the content are there any melee "tanky" build for the elementalist?

[@richardebourne6332]

Afternoon MQ, I ran the elementalist for the first time at the weekend. We are prosperity level 4 and he is our first post retirement unlock (we are goodies so have Sun already). Very exciting and I had a blast as we've had a random staff of elements lying around and no mage in the party! First outing we did I found rocket boots. With cloak of pockets to stock up on stamina and mana potions plus some healing (as I retired our lvl6 tinkerer support) I feel like this could be v powerful before I even hit lvl7. Sadly my personal quest might be done in 5 missions as others near their personal endgames and we sort of promised we wouldn't keep enlisting the same Merc class over and over..... The guide is super helpful as always and the pointers on enhancements and perks should help me avoid any costly mistakes.

[@MandatoryQuest]

Sounds like you got an amazing set of items right away which is great. This character can be very inflexible at early levels and without items to fill gaps so you should get a great running start. Unless your whole party is super tight on rules I would hand wave a retirement if you want to delay it to say 10 scenarios minimum considering the average is 15 usually.

[@richardebourne6332]

@@MandatoryQuest thanks, yes lucky there's no spell weaver in this party, but it is my game so I'd prob have pulled rank! Eclipse is next and not sure if he'd be more fun than Elias the Elementalist.... Trying to resist spoiler temptation!

[@GymLeaderJustin]

Thanks for this! I really like the concept of Triangles but have been utilizing him well.

[@suikodin2501]

I was opening the comments the moment you said you dislike him. Thankfully you acknowledged that some of us love it. Personally, I've never used the "kill normal" spell, since I basically ignore normal monsters with any of my team compositions. In my 4-charactet Insane difficulty guildmaster mode... He does 90% of my team's damage. Everyone else is just there to generate elements and loot bodies. Hilarious.

[@MandatoryQuest]

Arguably the game is more fun if you don’t use vengeance anyway 😂

[@Stridshorn]

Necroing an old comment here - how do you play him with a party if you dont vacuum up every element you see?

[@suikodin2501]

@@Stridshorn it's been a while since I've played. But in general you generate a lot of your own elements using three different methods: Add elements to your attack deck and AoE a bunch of monsters to draw multiple elements for your next turn. Movement cards that generate elements. (Consistent, but I only rely on it early levels) Expend cards that generate elements. (You don't need more actions if everyone is dead). I rely on the first one the most, and am usually generating many extra elements for my team to use. Just focus on a few single explosive turns, instead of spending elements every turn.

[@Mirsset]

Great deep guide. For my personal taste I would drop Ice Spikes from LVL9 deck and replace it with some low intitative move+create element card.

[@marcoval]

"right away we get a benefit from our formless power bottom" Giggle

[@xethnyrrow]

Good guide, thank you for making it! I would probably look to get Pragmatic Reinforcement at level 8 instead of Boiling Arc, mostly for the bottom. It's useful as a lead attack on a turn to soften up elites if you add fire to it.

[@MandatoryQuest]

I actively avoided pragmatic because of the the temptation to just cycle vengeance / eternal with the top so never considered the bottom action, but yeah really its quite good.

[@suikodin2501]

Yeah, I enjoy having a couple good element spenders to cast after my big AoE turns, and this one works nice. Elementalist was the first character where the levels of cards felt weird. There are many levels I skip both cards and go back for an older one. Both level 2s are great move cards, but I always keep in Raw/Pure as my move cards of choice. Probably because I like to turret up with the elementalist, then do a major move, then repeat. Its weird that the best move cards are all level 2 or lower. (There is the element dependant one higher along, but I always struggle to find a place to use it, I don't know why).

[@dtnuh]

Also, adding Curse on Crystallizing Blast is awesome!

[@dtnuh]

Also, I'd argue that Eternal Equilibrium is better than Vengeance in 4 player groups, as there are usually too many Elites to use it effectively.

[@MandatoryQuest]

It’s awesome to add curse but also makes the game too easy in my opinion. Curse and disarm are just too strong to be an available enhancement. Yeah Eternal is better with more enemies so higher party size makes a difference, but vengeance just makes the game much simpler at a base level. Just being able to remove 1 or 2 enemies in a room swings it heavily in the players favour.

[@danhayes2456]

You mentioned having to do a lot of research for this character, including Themris' guide, etc. How does it feel to be part of my research now? ;p It looks like you cut the two early initiative move 2 element generators. Do you find you can manage okay with 27 being your fastest card? I appreciate the 2 move 4's in your build- have you considered jump on them, if not move+1? Perhaps any element is a better fit on primal duality and the move 2's you cut?

[@MandatoryQuest]

The circle of Gloomhaven theory crafting continues :) You have 15 initiative on Primal Duality which usually does enough for me. Triangles isn't really a super fast class, or at least doesn't need to be as much. You can actually buy initiative boots too in the late game if its an issue. You kind of need to keep the move 2's that make elements until level 3+ just to fuel you, but later you could just enhance and keep one that makes either Ice/Wind for Winters Edge or Fire/Earth for Obsidian Shards. You could also consider Earth/Ice for easy Shaping the Ether top. For the Move 4's yes you could enhance them and I would go jump over +1 as its just more useful in combination with + movement boots if your using those. Primal Duality is just typically used for "that level 7 combo" so not really worth putting the extra element on. If however you wanted to stay away from vengeance it could be nice fuel for Simulacrum if you did that.

[@Aicirt8]

Very helpful video, thank you.

[@rockgi123]

Nice video, thanks for the tips on the class. I bought the video game a few days ago, is there the possibility to set the level of the characters, the gold and unlock the missions and characters from the beginning? Thanks

[@MandatoryQuest]

You could do with mods i expect from Steam workshop, but not using just the game I'm afraid.

[@oswold33]

Why not drop back and pick up Obsidian Shards at level 6, feel like it might be a bit easier to pull off than Simulacrum? Thank you for your guides a great way to learn how to play.

[@MandatoryQuest]

You could do I just find it nice to have a big element sink type card. The. you can just dump everything into the effect without worrying about what elements you have.

[@carlhermanson7011]

FYI your starting cards graphic has a bunch of cards that are above level 1 in it.

[@MandatoryQuest]

Ahhh shoot, thanks for the heads up. I’ll repost the video once I have it sorted

[@Lukio79]

Very comprehensive guide, would've been great to see some battle examples though.

[@MandatoryQuest]

Thanks for watching and the feedback I’ll consider that for future guides 😄

[@Lukio79]

@@MandatoryQuest These guides are great so maybe just a short video of actually showing them in action using the tactics from these guides?

[@danhayes2456]

The perks in current digital are at least slightly different than those in this video. Rolling push in the video has no numerical value associated with it, but in current digital, it is +1 rolling push 1. Does this change the order at which you pick it up?

[@MandatoryQuest]

Maybe slightly but realistically this character is destined to draw a lot of +0 make elements. Your damage is written on the card so anything flipped is just a bonus. You should use your AoE's and multitargets to just hopefully create a bunch of elements for the next turn.

[@rickwirch1165]

I am surprised that you didn't keep obsidian shards because the bottom is a set up for Vengence and the bottom of primal duality can then be used as a setup for eternal equilibrium. Finally, I would set up a level one card so that you have dirt and fire together so that you can use it with either the top of obsidian shards or shaping the ether. What are your thoughts on this?

[@MandatoryQuest]

I think the major problem with Obsidian Shards is that it doesn't have movement, so once you get some items and enhancements the bottom doesn't do enough for you as one of the most sluggish characters. If you can solve this problem in another way with items or party comp (gifted movement) then I can see it being better. The top is great though, so yeah I can see getting a guaranteed setup being very useful. The issue though is this character becomes just loop Vengeance / Eternal Equilibrium / Shaping the Ether at later levels, so you might not be able to fit Obsidian top into your rotation very easily. Your plan is sound though so could be a fun little change to the build for more options :)

[@cubano855]

This character is such a horrible nightmare and - 1 fun factor. I'd play spell weaver any time over this.

[@MandatoryQuest]

I have grown to like the character a bit more over time, but I agree that this character is too fiddly for the payoff.

[@battsonbikes1919]

Thankyou

[@MandatoryQuest]

No problem :)

[@suikodin2501]

Ya almost lost me at "Lava Eruption is underwhelming". Even with level 1 items+cards this thing can clear two rooms at a time. You ain't lived if you haven't buffed the elementalist, had him open two doors at once (using raw/pure w/jump + boots) and nuked down 10+ bad guys. It's even better than the Spellweaver's lvl 9 Inferno. Simply because you can stand in a door and hit two entire rooms. (Made easier with music note class ability or items that give +range). Tinkerer at lvl 1 can pump the damage, and at lvl 3 can give you a second cast. Later levels, when monsters are beefier, you just stack (and re-use) power potions and other damage increase items. Adding wound is a must in my opinion. I've Turn 1 cleared a 3-room dungeon with this explosive card (it's named after a volcano after all), Elementalist took out the two unexplored rooms, and the rest of the team took out the first room. No crits required.

[@MandatoryQuest]

When I say underwhelming it’s purely in the context of that card in a vacuum. Many cards can be broken when paired with items, enhancements, or other characters in their party. I wanted this guide to be a “fair” way to play the character, this is also why I don’t go to into the curse bomb crystallising blast potential too much until the end. I don’t know about clearing two rooms with an attack 1 with level 1 items. The best you could do is maybe tinkerer buff and music note buff (only applies to single target) and power potion so maybe an attack of 8 with a 2X on a single target, but the average damage will level out to 3.You’ll have to let me know you’re working out on that one.

[@suikodin2501]

@@MandatoryQuest The turn one clear is at higher level, the double room kill at low levels takes at least a turn to setup. Previous turn: Tinkerer by the door. A bless or two from music note. Formless power (that the right name?) on triangles. Turn of: Strengthen from music note. (Advantage with base cards is ~+1? High variance though). Aura from tinkerer. (+1) Formless power consuming element from last turn or from tinkerer. (+1) Power potion. (+1) Piercing bow. (Pierce) With base deck and advantage we will say: 1+1+1+1+1+pierce. That doesn't kill everything, but any low hp creatures like vermlings, hounds, imps, and even bandits can/will die from that, even clear out elites for some of them. You're not going to clear both rooms every time, but it will happen, and it feels awesome when it does. Everything you add after that is crazy. Wound enhance +2 potion Range helms (I use refresh helm) Dmg robes Dmg staff (lose pierce) Some of these are very accessible depending on when you unlock the class. Considering it's just everyone doing what they are meant to do, I don't call it a cheese strategy when considering power level and balance, but it's definitely an outlier that will have you question your game difficulty. In general, I prefer to play elementalist as a setup for big turns kinda character. The large AoEs make him unique, and the more targets you hit the more random elements you'll pull from your deck. Then you see what spells you can flex into the next turn to use said elements.

[@MandatoryQuest]

@@suikodin2501 That's powerful if you can do it, but that's certainly a best case scenario when all the stars align. Certainly not a strat I could recommend for people wanting to play with any party comp and with any degree of reliability. Its not cheesing its just all in which I don't mind, that's fair game in my eyes. It wouldn't be possible in a multiplayer game though. I played Triangles as an all in character before and to be honest got bored very quickly as it was too boom or bust. I'm starting to become very aware that Guildmaster has been influencing my builds too much with the luxury of gold, items, and easy party comps.

[@suikodin2501]

@@MandatoryQuest for sure, guildmaster is a different beast. But each gloomhaven group is it's own beast as well. I don't recommend all-in or boom/bust for everyone, but it's the discussion of possibilities that I'd like to see. Basically, 'why did Isaac include this card, and what thoughts were behind its balance?'. Take for instance the tinkerer. I also dont play the trap build in guildmaster, but in person I'd 100% be trying to work out traps with a buddy playing a push/pull build. It would be a very unique to tinkerer game, and the coordination is the fun and challenging part for me. The 'silent' coordination and execution is great fun. So that's why I don't like Lava Eruption being dismissed. It's something that makes the elementalist unique, and should be an accolade to aim for. Cragheart stunning an entire room with upheaval. Mindthief getting every killing blow with mind control. Mindthief rats + tinkerer spiders coordination (with or without house rules). 20xp and only lasting 10 rounds on spellweaver. Lasting 30 rounds as spellweaver. I personally prefer the baskin robins discussions. Look at all these different flavors, which one is for you. Even if vanilla is my favorite flavor. (Sorry, I didn't expect this convo to be so much, but apparently I care more than I realized.) I'm glad your making this content, I only comment because I care.

[@MandatoryQuest]

@@suikodin2501 Of course its part of the fun of the game trying out all the different possibilities. My aim with these guides is to offer a solid way to play, so I have to draw a line somewhere. These videos are long enough as is, so imagine if I theory crafted on every card! ;)

[@CarlChipman]

I feel like if you were playing four player teams, a Vengeance just isn’t that good. Very rarely leave ever get the situation to do more than just a single kill

[@MandatoryQuest]

Vengeance is definitely weaker at 4 players due to the high number of elites, but I'd argue even just instant kill 1/2 enemies on a non burn every room is still too good.

[@CarlChipman]

@@MandatoryQuest I’ll build a new one and give it a try.

[@Timlagor]

I found you had to work really hard to get the elements to.. be as good as anyone else

[@jhfgujfgfgjufgj4173]

compared to your other guides, which are quite useful this is the most terrible one. so many super wrong decisions and understandings. anyways, i like those thoughts you have on them

[@MandatoryQuest]

Triangles has a lot of different playstyles and card selection options. In fact it might be the most flexible of all the classes in Gloomhaven. However I've always been critical and honest that this class is not one of my favourites. Having said that I think I put a good foot forward on this guide, and I have very good success playing it the way I do when I have to play it. I knew that this one in particular was going to be divisive because a lot of people love this character and play it very differently to me.

[@danhayes2456]

@@MandatoryQuest I'm lovin' this guide! I think there are a definitive starting 8 cards (which you have established Boiling Arc as the 8th) and two real flex slots, in this case Ice Spikes and Simulacrum, which can also be those or any combination of Infernal Vortex, Lava Eruption, Pragmatic Reinforcement, and Obsidian Shards for the people that like it ;p