Two Minis / Phoenix class guide and strategy for Gloomhaven

[@thatguyyouknowandlove]

The amount of times you've said "BEAR that in mind" has made me smile internally every time.

[@MandatoryQuest]

;)

[@nicholaschan4481]

Disorientation roar imo is one of the best lvl 1 cards in the game for campaign mode. The top is fantastic, I pop it almost every time I open a room. At 2 range, you can lock melees in place and stop them from attacking, and the ones close up get muddled. Muddling a bunch of ranged enemies is still good, and you can stop them from retreating or repositioning. The bottom is straight up not balanced. Certain scenarios can be completely broken by this thing. Even just in combat, there is almost always a way to do something amazing with this. Swap in one of your mercs to drop an aoe nuke, or assassinate a high priority target. Grab the elite cannon/lurker pounding you from far away and swap with a slow moving elite golem. Often this character ends up far behind the team, so at the end of some scenarios, you can basically delete a powerful enemy by swapping yourself (if the objective allows). Incredible card and incredibly fun in my estimation.

[@hoodieheedie1]

So I’ve been using the top of Stone Sigil as an extra effective 15hp for my bear. My party does not currently have an active tank so my bear needs to be in the forefront, with Stone Sigil and the redirection card at level 5 my bear has an effective hp of 42 between the bears max hp, the tyrants max hp, and the Sigils max hp. Thanks for the guide though I’ve used it to fine tune my deck up to my current level 5!

[@yacobdabs0177]

That is usually the best use for it

[@kellinwinslow1988]

You could combine that build for the bear with the Sun keeper after you buy an extra shield enhancement on her Defensive Stance card. Then pair them with the Sawbones and have him give the Sunkeeper the bottom of Research the Cure and maybe even give her the bottom of Booster Shot as well. Combined with other cards such as Righteous Strength, as well as the Sunkeepers shield perk cards, or equipment such as the Sun shield or Spiked Shield ECT,and it's entirely possible to have her with a sheild of 8 or even more. Have her and the bear stay out front and tank and kill everything. Maybe toss in a Spellweaver in the back and you have a great party that can handle almost anything.

[@danhayes2456]

Hey man just wanted to say I've really been enjoying this guide, have watched it several times over and taken notes as I've leveled my wee tyrant from 1 to 9. Not sure if you know this or not, but I consider this to be pretty much the definitive guide on how to build for bear mode. So high five, pat yourself on the back, do whatcha gotta do, and enjoy knowing that you created some lasting content that helps guide newer players to the class enjoy the best summon character in Gloomhaven!

[@MandatoryQuest]

That's very kind of you to say. Glad you found it so useful!

[@michalisbouas7249]

Extremely useful video for starting out with this character - a much deeper play style than the Brute I'm used to!

[@MandatoryQuest]

Glad you found it useful thanks for the comment

[@MandatoryQuest]

** Command and doors** From the official rules FAQ you can’t open doors using command abilities. In Digital you seem to be able to currently which has been flagged as a bug. Become a Patron for early access to videos - www.patreon.com/mandatoryquest Grab some sweet merch - www.mandatoryquest.com

[@Ruffy1991]

One question. Have u already solved Envelope X?

[@MandatoryQuest]

I started but ended up just reading the solution. I’ve never been great at puzzles 😂

[@Ruffy1991]

@@MandatoryQuest okay is it possible to make also a guide to X 😁 And yeah I did the same. Some hints of runes could also be found on the map and on the headband of one char.

[@MandatoryQuest]

​@@Ruffy1991 I'm a little hesitant to do so because it is supposed to be a proper secret for people to seek out. I don't want to ruin the mystery for anyone.

[@Ruffy1991]

@@MandatoryQuest Well u can do a major Spoiler warning ⚠️ Maybe some people also have problems to solve the puzzle and search for the answer in the internet by them self. If they want to get spoiled then they watch the video.

[@MandatoryQuest]

Happy new year everyone! I had a lot of fun talking about this one, maybe too much as it went super long 😂

[@joostborst]

I really like your content but I hardly ever watch your entire videos. Maybe make a format to make these guides into 30 min videos?

[@MandatoryQuest]

​@@joostborst Thanks for the comment. I do have plans to do quicker videos in the future on each mercenary. These videos will probably end up as the full in depth look for those who really want it.

[@joostborst]

@@MandatoryQuest I'll proberbly watch the whole thing while folding the laundry anyway! Maybe put an alarmclock next o yourself and force yourself to talk only 1 minute a card or something.

[@genericusername546]

I think Stone Sigil is underrated in a bear build. It's not just something you need to drop and have tank in the last room - Borrowed Essence means you can use it as a battery of 14 HP (even a single Heal 14 if you want!) once it's not immediately needed in the current situation. Disorienting Roar means you can use it to tank a difficult first room AND drop it straight into the middle of the last room as well, by swapping out an enemy. The only drawback is that to get these advantages you're obviously tied to taking these cards too. Would I take it over rampage? It would depend on the party comp I think, but it's much more competitive than bear build guides give it credit for.

[@TheVlad1616]

I never thought of that usage for it, which is good potentially but not better than the other choice.

[@xethnyrrow]

Another great video! Some things/thoughts: - Disorienting Roar, the card you showed as the physical version isn't correct, the digital version is correct. That one is from the GH rebalance group and says that on the card. I actually find the wording of it with teleport much less concise. - Good note on Focused Aggression, I think its initiative is probably more valuable than the other options personally though. The bottom is a great way to finish a final room tough enemy and get good XP. - Venomous Ally is better than Soaring Ally because you can nicely use the bottom ranged poison attack to excellent effect in the first room before hopefully burning it on your first rest. - Tribal Sigil I think is more of a group support option if you have ranged damage dealers in your party, not for your own summons. Saying that, I agree that it's still too situational. Looking forward to more videos!

[@Dahras1]

Just unlocked this guy and opened a chest with Robe of Summoning in my first scenario with it. Its been insanely useful, as it turns your long rests into bear long rests and can be used as fodder to remove Wound/Poison. The lack of healing on long rest for the bear is a subtle disadvantage that really balances out the bears advantages, so negating that is just huge.

[@MandatoryQuest]

Once you get your rolling heal modifiers it gets easier too.

[@stevenseufert2520]

On the flip side, though, this is the only character that has the advantage of still "going" while you are long resting, since the bear still acts.

[@MandatoryQuest]

@@stevenseufert2520 there are other characters with summons too, but yes that’s a subtle benefit allowing you to long rest mid fight sometimes while still helping.

[@stevenseufert2520]

@@MandatoryQuest Ah yes, you're right. I should have thought of that since it's not the only character I've played with summons, though the Beast Tyrant is certainly the one I've played the most that uses summons.

[@markusjagering7449]

This Character was my inspiration for a two minis Character I thought of for my own: The Valrath twins. They both have a low life pool and on your turn you choose one of them to go first with only Standardactions and the other one goes after that with the actions from the cards. There's two builds: A melee build where you get bonuses from standing next to your twin, which has a higher damage output. And a range build where you get bonuses from targeting enemys next to your twin, which has more control.

[@ZDTcko]

love your chaptering!

[@MandatoryQuest]

I realise these are way too long so at least that helps! 😀

[@albertoangelgildelpozo1814]

@@MandatoryQuest yeah, is great way to navigate through the cards/levels ^_^ Thanks a lot!

[@erinnerung15]

Woo, finally we can get 2021 off to a better start! Thanks for the video!

[@MandatoryQuest]

Frosthaven soon cometh!

[@NerfBarb69]

Yo dude I just wanted to say thank you for all this content! I just got into the digital game and am pretty sad about loosing my Brute, just got him to 5 and all the perks I wanted and didn’t know that completing this personal quest retired him and gave me this beast tyrant dude, I’m thinking about switching over to guild master because I really miss my boy, but I’m gona give this beast guy a shot and see how it feels.

[@adamchalasify]

We just unlocked this one and I’m really considering trying it out. Thanks for the vid!

[@TheSilent333]

So excited to hear your take on this one. Just unlocked this character in our group, and it's so much fun. Happy new year to you!

[@MandatoryQuest]

And to you!

[@SpiderWaffle]

1:13:03 I think an opportunity was missed to discuss the combo with ancient ward and disorienting roar, in a later challenging room you can remove the strongest enemy for the beast tyrant, then he can disarm two enemies, possibly from a spot that's hard to reach. I love it for the first the last rooms which are often the hardest ones.

[@Valmar123123]

Correction:. The FAQ on the BGG says you can NOT use a command card to open doors with the bear. That changes a lot of things, imho.

[@user-sr9qe2zl9w]

You said it in another comment, but ring of haste is fantastic. I recently picked this character up and love her.

[@MandatoryQuest]

So good with concentrated rage!

[@RubenPaintsMinis]

“Bear that in mind.” Haha.

[@stevenseufert2520]

He said bear (or unbearable, etc.) around half a dozen times in the video and I chuckled every time.

[@joostborst]

I recently retired this one. I really miss doing so much damage every turn. It also took me some time to get used to having to use move cards again.

[@MandatoryQuest]

I know the damage output can be nuts, you feel so powerful with this character.

[@joostborst]

@@MandatoryQuest Yeah, you can do 3 attacks in a single turn. Playing the sun now. Fun, but so far a whole lot less complex then two minis.

[@Sulpherrr]

Bears opening doors through command blows my mind. I play the table top and it definitely helps us lol since we are all kinda squish

[@MandatoryQuest]

Tank bear is best bear :)

[@WildSlinkys]

You can’t open doors with the bear. It says so in the official FAQ that the bear cannot open doors even with a command.

[@MandatoryQuest]

@@WildSlinkys Don't know what to tell you, but you certainly can in Digital and its not been flagged as a bug or an incorrect rule.

[@WildSlinkys]

@@MandatoryQuest I'm aware of this but it's very specific in the official tabletop FAQ, go read for yourself. Just because it hasn't been flagges as a bug doesn't mean it isn't one. You can't really argue with the creator of the game

[@MandatoryQuest]

​@@WildSlinkys Yes I've seen it. Perhaps the rule has been relaxed since then, or its a conscious deviation never explained. Isaac consults on rule changes in Digital too. I have a line to the dev's so I will raise it with them.

[@Letaly]

great guide

[@MandatoryQuest]

Thanks, glad you liked it :)

[@danhayes2456]

Do we think their solo item will ever make it to digital?! Also, what specific move commands do you recommend adding jump to? There aren't any in the final build aside from Lash Out, which we probably want to use for the top.

[@MandatoryQuest]

It might happen they are working on more DLC, so there's only solo items or FC left in physical content to use. Spirit Swap isn't bad if you plan on using concentrated rage for jump. Otherwise maybe forceful swipe?

[@tbone9474]

I personally ALWAYS take Disorienting Roar. It's such a powerful card that can either help my beast tyrant get to the end, or simply get a partner closer. Plus very low initiative. Also, borrowed essence is always with me, it's so insane how you can basically heal your bear for all YOUR HP-1. can turn the tide

[@MandatoryQuest]

I think roar has a lot more good situational use in the campaign versus GM, so yeah I think that’s a fair choice. I like borrowed essence too, but I mainly run my Tyrant with a healer in the party.

[@tbone9474]

@@MandatoryQuest ah right then does make it redundant if you have a healer. Makes complete sense

[@Aurion254]

I'm currently playing as the beast tyrant in the physical game and I didn't know that the bear could open doors when using a move command so thank you for clearing that up. Wish I'd known that about 7 scenarios ago! The lack of control with this character has been so annoying. My main beef with the beast tyrant though is that his other summons are shockingly bad. I wish concentrated rage affected all summons' attacks. It would make them so much more meaningful. Either that or summons weren't lost cards. The problem I have with summons in general is that they are a surefire way to end up exhausted. It's particularly bad with beast tyrant as essentially if you're setting up concentrated rage from turn 1 (which you usually will be) then you are pretty much starting the game with the same number of cards as the scoundrel and so you have to be really conservative with burn cards. I haven't tried but I can't see how anyone could play beast tyrant in any other way to the 'bear build'.

[@Aurion254]

Hmm, just checked the FAQ and clearly states the bear cannot open doors

[@MandatoryQuest]

Yes to be super clear it cannot open doors. This was a bug in digital that at the time was never questioned. I actually never played BT in physical so I just assumed it was correct.

[@Aurion254]

Having played a lot more scenarios with the BT now, I'm a lot happier with it. I prefer playing with it in the physical game as you get to choose positioning of the bear a little better. I don't like how the digital version doesn't give you a choice if there are two viable tiles that the bear could land on. Makes it that much harder to pull off attacks against multiple targets. Also, I take back what I said about the other summons. They are awesome in missions that require you to survive a set number of rounds as you know you can safely play them without any fear of running out of cards.

[@Arcae95]

I really thought I’d be interested in this one I’ve been kind of excited about the prospect of plying the beast Tyrant And maybe I still will be at a higher level doing support but if you don’t move from the beginning spot I might as well just be playing a bear

[@MandatoryQuest]

You can play a bit more active witch a few different card choices, and to be honest at higher difficulty levels I actually like it a bit more. Its hard to turn down that damage output though with concentrated rage.

[@Gafweebo]

I've been calling this symbol "sad cow", you cannot unsee it

[@MandatoryQuest]

*sad moo noises*

[@SpiderWaffle]

What about Earth Spikes with a summoner, I know often you can't predict when the summons are going to be attacked before you choose the card, but after cards are chosen you do, so you could have two plans going initially and then potentially get the big play. Or the top could provide earth before Unstable Upheaval.

[@haren334]

Tried commanding the bear to open a door recently but it didn’t work :( Thanks for this guide tho! Very helpful.

[@MandatoryQuest]

Yeah that was a bug in the digital version. The official rules are very clear that summons can’t open doors ☹️

[@THEDRUMMERJOSH]

Stone Sigil is also 15 free healing if you redistribute health.

[@MandatoryQuest]

Yeah but healing is always going to be the weakest element of GH as long as card stamina remains the same.

[@jmeck2725]

Great video as always! Enhancement question, with the bear's attacks would Bless be a consideration for the bottom of patch fur, considering you do get Strengthen at level 2? Or do you think Strengthen is always better?

[@MandatoryQuest]

I always like strengthen over bless at the same cost, unless of course you have other ways to get advantage easily.

[@stevenseufert2520]

Absolutely go for Strengthen first. I would get it on Patch Fur first, it's cheap at 50 gold and you'll always use it. After that, go for Strengthen on the bottom of Blood Hunger. Having two strengthens (Energizing Strike and Patch Fur) is nice and adds a bit more consistency. However, once you add it on a third card (Blood Hunger), this dramatically changes how strong the bear is. This brings it up to a third of your cards, which means you can strengthen on almost every single turn (or every turn later during the scenario). If you're like me and love saving for enhancements, then you could go for Bless after these two Strengthens. The bottom of my Patch Fur now has Heal 4, Strengthen, Bless, which is wonderfully nuts!

[@rgill5000]

Ring of Brutality is great on the beast tyrant.

[@MandatoryQuest]

Ring of Haste too, both are a great suggestion.

[@Crazimir]

Love the vids. Doing Eclipse guide soon?

[@MandatoryQuest]

Yes its my next video coming soon!

[@Time21]

Concetrated Rage you use it once and then lost it or discard it? Lets say the upper attack has +3 damage then it adds another +3 so its +6 damage? does it have to be a command card so it can adds to the bear attack? Its confusing!

[@ScamFromSCll]

Hi man! I have question regarding digital version of GH. I have real problems with performance. The game is so slow, my GPU is melting. I have changed settings and all is set up on the lowest level. I play on laptop. I use external graphic card (4gb). Do you have any idea what is wrong?

[@MandatoryQuest]

I think it’s best you talk to the pros in the official game Discord. They can help you debug a bit because honestly I’m not the best person to help. Check it out here discord.com/invite/gloomhaven

[@joostborst]

14:30 I think poison is better then wound with two minis. In theory you could make the two minis do his standard attack, then use a top attack action and a bottom attack action, that way you're using that poison 3x in a single turn. But this card is not very usefull for this build, because one of the two minis is just going to stand at the entrance for the whole of the scenario. When I played it he rarely left the first room.

[@MandatoryQuest]

Yeah that was my take too, its a good attack under normal circumstances for any other class but we just don't move enough.

[@chrimbuloscron]

No. Bear can't open doors. Just tried it in the digital version today.

[@allenhelmuth2214]

1:32:45 hahaha, BEAR that in mind

[@sirhasslich536]

It just was pointed out to me that you're saying bear can open doors at 7:20 Pretty sure that's not the official ruling and definitely not how it works in Digital

[@mavindalightscribe9658]

I mean, Tribal Sigil did inpire a whole Frosthaven class...

[@wheelz79]

Thanks for this review. When you talk about Vicious Ally at level 3 being potentially a 2x 5 dmg attack, how do you come to this number? I know that you can forgo a top action with Concentrated Rage to do an extra 3 dmg but I dont get how playing the bottom of a card could be enhanced further. Any explanation would be very helpful!

[@MandatoryQuest]

The bottom of vicious ally is a target 2 attack, so it could attack 2 different things and both attacks would get the benefit of the concentrated rage buff :)

[@wheelz79]

@@MandatoryQuest Thanks, for some reason I never realized that any bottom attack action used in the same turn would ALSO utilize any damage buff used by not using a top action. Thanks and this makes the character seem somewhat brokenly good... lol

[@MandatoryQuest]

He is definitely a strong character with potentially the highest consistent single turn damage dealing potential. If you lump in the bears default turn you can easily do 15 damage per turn which is pretty crazy

[@maxmustermann-zx9yq]

can move ally abilities like mindthiefs "make ally move 4" move the stone sigil?

[@MandatoryQuest]

The wording on any kind of gifted move is very important. In fact its an old rule that I think has been simplified since, but yes Possession would work because of the way it is worded, however many gifted moves will not. You might find if your playing Digital that it is bugged though as its a very corner case situation which has been fixed in Frosthaven. Essentially if you ever see a move + x then that will not work, but if you see a move action with just a flat value then yes it 'should' work by the original GH rules.

[@cubano855]

It's so funny to hear you talk about not having good, you need that silly command loot to have any otherwise yes, no gold. It's good to have some good, rings and head ring refresh can do some really uber combos for like 30-40 damage in a turn.

[@MandatoryQuest]

Yeah I'm not a big fan of loot cards in general which sometimes makes characters with little mobility a bit poor. Rings are definitely awesome on this character especially with concentrated rage.

[@Luckyludog]

Second skin maybe?

[@MandatoryQuest]

Not a bad idea especially if you are doing concentrated rage and not moving. That build essentially makes all the usual body items useless.

[@therron15]

@7:15 you mention summons opening doors. This is false. Summons can't open doors, even under the command function. It's in the official FAQ.

[@Belhor-wz4dv]

So I can´t be summon master because my summons are kinda useless and will die in the same round... Can´t be support becuase no1 will notice it xD and I need to reach lvl 8 asap to feel thje power of the bear u.u isnt fair that my bear can wear some chest and helmet for damage mitigation. If I dont have a tank in the party,the bear cant handle all the dmg :(

[@TheVlad1616]

One thing this game didn’t do well, was printing good summons…. So many of these level 5+ summons wouldn’t be good at level 1 even… especially when you consider that they are all burns.

[@MandatoryQuest]

Summons are all over the place in GH. Some are incredible but many are very underwhelming. Typically ranged summon = good but melee = bad. Apart from the bear the beast tyrant really doesn't have any other stand out summons really, which is kind of weird considering his theme and name.

[@Hobobloke]

I'm confused, can you please direct me to where you are getting the ruling that the bear can open doors at your command? Everywhere I have looked says otherwise including the offiicial FAQ here boardgamegeek.com/thread/1897763/official-faq-game-no-rules-questions-please

[@MandatoryQuest]

Not sure where I got it initially because I’ve always done it that way, and it’s legal in Digital and not flagged as a bug or incorrect. Summons won’t open doors as part of their A.I but a command ability allows you to force the bear too.

[@gideonpepys]

Lol. That Frosthaven comment at the start didn’t age well!

[@Flamingcloud083]

Too many dumb missions in digital.. This is enhanced by not being able to choose which position summons (and enemies) go to when it is ambigious. Immune enemies that the bear stays attacking forever.. A scenario where you can take off an immune living spirit when you kill a non immune enemy.. doesn't work with bear kills.. Missions where you are intended to not kill the enemies and run to the end point(some of which Missions with tons destructible walls that the bear treats as an enemy and spends many turns hitting walls to rooms that have already been revealed.. Missions that have pressure plates you need to stand on Missions that require looting or divided looting When playing the physical board game... You could say.. "summons wont focus destructible walls in this scenario... or summons ignore immune enemies" ontop of that you get to see the scenario book, setup the scenario, look at the win condtion..... Then realize you need to put the swap with the bear card in(or swap with enemy).. I think we even played that you could command a bear to go into a fog tile and reveal a room when playing the board game version.. I feel like this class we loved in physical and felt was one of the strongest is now one of the worst due to the strict following of rules (and some degree of what feels like bugs)

[@Zoleeca]

You should be bringing more Move commands in those situations I believe, so that you can aid the bear to move closer to targets you intend to Attack. Also don't forget the +3 Move on hte Concentrated rage, with all that said you have an incredible ammount of control over the position of the bear.

[@randomstrategy7679]

For scenarios where the aim is to run to the exit, just bring disorienting roar and teleport yourself with an enemy right at the exit. Then summon a monolith to tank for you while your allies catch up. Your bear can just stay in the starting room; it doesn't matter.

[@larsberberich7567]

Thank you very much for that great build tut. Help me again very much. That the bear can open a door was a real eye opener, nearly messed up a board round when trying to open a door with the vermling. Keep up the great work.

[@MandatoryQuest]

Sorry to report I got that one wrong, you can’t open the door with the bear I’m afraid

[@larsberberich7567]

@@MandatoryQuest Thx for the reply, next time I read the comments upfront :D