This week I am continuing my Gloomhaven monster analysis, with the special focus on Demons class. I will provide the monster ability and skill cards, statistics derived based on them as well as experiences of my group after ~40 scenarios in this fantastic but demanding world of Gloomhaven.
In that nasty and problematic group we have following types:
- Earth Demons
- Flame Demons
- Frost Demons
- Night Demons
- Sun Demons
- Wind Demons
First three I described in my previous article. Today the time is to have a closer look on the last three. Let us start!
Other articled in the world of Gloomhaven: Strategy guide - Brute Strategy guide - Spellweaver Strategy guide - Doomstalker Strategy guide - Tinkerer Strategy guide – Soothsinger Most often errors and overlooked rules Monsters analysis & strategies – Earth, Flame and Frost demons Monsters analysis & strategies – Night, Sun and Wind demons Monsters analysis & strategies – Inox
Night Demon
| Characteristic | Value |
|---|---|
| Initiative | |
| => minimum | 04 |
| => maximum | 46 |
| => average | ~25 (very fast!) |
| => varation | From 04 to 46 = 42 (small) |
| Damage (lvl1-lvl7) | Regular: 3-6 Elite: 4-8 |
| Hit points (lvl1-lvl7) | Regular: 3-15 Elite: 5-21 |
| Weapon type | Melee |
| Specials | Attacker gains Disadvanatge |
Evaluation:
Pretty formidable enemy. A very fast (average initiative 25) and very predictable (maximum initiative 46) demon – we will see today one more such creature. Its hit points grow decently but the best of his skills is of course Disadvantage for whomever attacks him. For adventurers with thin attack deck and many rolling modifiers that can result in unexpected Nulls. If you look at the damage dealt by that opponent, it is also something to reckon with.
How to deal with them:
- If possible, attack when you are Strengthen, so that your condition will nullify Demon’s Disadvantage.
- As it is melee monster, immobilizing him and attacking from range is a good idea.
- He can easily got Invisible. Angry Face has a card for it which is anyhow base play for that character. Should help.
- Wound / poison will speed up its demise, you can also stun him to prevent from inflicting damage on your group. You might need some more turns then average due to its Disadvantage ability.
- As there is no shield, when your attack lands, it does a full damage. In the end, that should be all what is needed 🙂
Sun Demon
| Characteristic | Value |
|---|---|
| Initiative | |
| => minimum | 17 |
| => maximum | 95 |
| => average | ~58 (average) |
| => varation | From 17 to 95 = 78 (large) |
| Damage (lvl1-lvl7) | Regular: 2-4 Elite: 3-5 |
| Hit points (lvl1-lvl7) | Regular: 5-12 Elite: 9-18 |
| Weapon type | Melee |
| Specials | Flying, Advantage, Shield |
Evaluation:
A demon who combines in a very interesting way couple of features – completely unpredictable initiative; average hit points and shield which together provides decent protection. On top of this Flying ability and Advantage in attacks. Two of his cards (25%) change the attack to range, almost all have move and attack. Lack of consistency can either made him a very easy opponent or an unexpectedly hard to tackle.
How to deal with them:
- It has advantage on his attacks so simply deny it. Stun, immobilize and attack from range, disarm. Those three things are critical. Many characters have those, line Tinkerers card Stun Shot (Stun).
- As shield can be a nuisance, use Wound and Poison to offset it (Tinkerer Toxic Bolt (Poison)). Also, the pierce can be useful for such a low value of demons protection – like Brut’s card Trample (Pierce 2).
- It is relatively slowly moving, so usually it is possible to outpace it.
Wind Demon
| Characteristic | Value |
|---|---|
| Initiative | |
| => minimum | 02 |
| => maximum | 41 |
| => average | ~26 (very fast) |
| => varation | From 02 to 43 = 41 (small) |
| Damage (lvl1-lvl7) | Regular: 2-4 Elite: 3-5 |
| Hit points (lvl1-lvl7) | Regular: 3-11 Elite: 5-13 |
| Weapon type | Range |
| Specials | Flying, Disarm, Shield |
Evaluation:
Very fast demon, with crazy low initiative 02 card! So far, only my Scoundrel on lvl9 had something which can be comparable. It is also a very predictable creature, with low variation in speed, slowest card being at 43.
It can both attack and heal himself. Usually a very nasty opponent on higher levels as it can disarm you using the range attack, hiding behind the other monsters backs. And please observe it has “Attack” on every ability card plus sometimes it is multiple targets. I do not need to explain what would happen if most of your team is disarmed and unable to attack during the turn. What is even worse, Wind has a flying ability, so it can almost always move back and attack you without disadvantage for adjacency to target. You really would like to neutralize him at the first chance.
How to deal with them:
- Stun or disarm as soon as possible. Do not let him disarm you! Could be tricky with his very fast initiative.
- Once you have that demon’s attack ability temporarily neutralized, start eliminating it by using Wounds (will work under the Shield) and Poison (to get enough attack strength to inflict damage).
- Piercing Bow and possibly Eagle-Eye Goggles is always a good combo to get behind the shield and deal pure damage – simple Pierce of Brut’s card Trample (Pierce 2) might not be enough.
- Even better would be an instant kill, for example Scoundrel card Visage of the Inevitable. Pity that one works only for normal enemies but is a non-lost card.
- Last but not least, a heavy attack – a brute force approach – should also do the trick. Not so quickly due to shield unfortunately.
Summary
In the two articles I covered all six types of Demons monsters roaming in various locations of Gloomhaven world. You would have doubtful pleasure to meet them more than often than you would wish – usually in most unexpected circumstances. Should you encounter Earth or Frost type, for an experienced player that will be nothing more than a nuisance. The Sun and Night types will definitely be much more of the problem and will require focus of the whole group. But when you encounter high level Flame or Wind one’s, especially in group, then it can really mean serious trouble for your group and special tactics and strategies has to be utilized to overcome those enemies. By this I mean preparing specific cards or items just to tackle such scenario.
In the end, I am sure you will overcome even the toughest monsters. That is just the matter of time, experience and preparation. Good luck!
The Boardgames Chronicle 
Important help may be to burn their elements quick. When multiple monsters of some type start using their extra powers game may no longer be pleasant. Demons usually come up in 2-3-man teams, rarely single ones, so f.e. Sun Demon isn’t that powerful, but attack all in range 4 with advantage exectued by 2-3 of them may be devastating, large AOE disarms by elite Wind Demons may completely ruin strategy. Good to have some charactess that utilize various or any elements in Your team. Night Demon may strike hard, but is the easiest one, without flying there are often some traps to push/pull into.
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I’ve never played this game, but it is difficult to read about boardgames without mention of Gloomhaven. It looks a bit too complicated for my tastes.
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I think you would find it pretty enjoyable. Not everybody is so obsessed as my group to analyze the enemies to such detail 🙂 And with good teacher / experienced player it really would be fun!
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