This series in which I present various enemies and monsters from the world of Gloomhaven – providing detailed analysis on opponents skills and abilities – enjoys unflagging popularity. As a fan of various types of statistics and comparisons, that gives me tons of fun and also knowledge needed to deal with even most problematic enemies. It is also good to see what we can expect from them, how quick they are, what are their strengths and weaknesses.
Today the focus will be on a pretty common group of enemies – humans only – which represent two distinct dimension of the great city life – Bandits and City Law Enforcers.
In the below article as always you will find detailed skills and abilities cards for the Gloomhaven opponents as well as some statistical analysis of what they can do plus how to deal with them. That format is very helpful to me and I hope Dear Readers will also find it useful.
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 Monsters analysis & strategies – The Undead Monsters analysis & strategies – Drakes Monsters analysis & strategies – Vermlings Monsters analysis & strategies – The Dark Creatures
Archers
Bandit:
| Characteristic | Value |
|---|---|
| Initiative | |
| => minimum | 14 |
| => maximum | 68 |
| => average | ~36 (quite fast) |
| => varation | From 14 to 68 = 54 (average) |
| Damage (lvl1-lvl7) | Regular: 2-4 Elite: 3-5 |
| Hit points (lvl1-lvl7) | Regular: 4-13 Elite: 6-17 |
| Weapon type | Range |
| Specials | Poison |
City:
| Characteristic | Value |
|---|---|
| Initiative | |
| => minimum | 14 |
| => maximum | 68 |
| => average | ~36 (quite fast) |
| => varation | From 14 to 68 = 54 (average) |
| Damage (lvl1-lvl7) | Regular: 2-4 Elite: 3-6 |
| Hit points (lvl1-lvl7) | Regular: 4-10 Elite: 6-13 |
| Weapon type | Range |
| Specials | Pierce, Shield |
Evaluation:
Archers are pretty fast (average initiative of 36) and pretty predictable (variation of 54) enemies. You can count on their swiftness, speed and agility. On top of this, they have pretty good range, which starts at 3 hexes and gradually grows to even enormous value of 7.
The Bandit type uses Poison from Level 4 as their main additional treat, while the City ones already from Lvl1 add a Shield and Pierce abilities. In general, the Law Enforces have better range, damage and penetration as those archers are equipped with … crossbow! They also seem to be more formidable and better equipped enemy from those two.
How to deal with them:
- These are range enemies, so approaching them and forcing to shoot at you from the disadvantage is always a good idea.
- There is usually at least two of them if not more, and almost always accompanied by guards, so some crowd-control techniques are a must. Some of the basic ones are:
- Brut – Disarm & Push (especially on traps!)
- Tinkerer – Stun (usually you want to save it for more powerful enemies), Area of Effect attacks or Pulls – especially through the traps and to put the enemy as disadvantage
- Scoundrel – Pull and Force Movement
- Mindthief and his arsenal of Push, Stun, Muddle, Forced Movement.
- Do not waste an immobilizing on them, as due to great range that will rarely help. But be aware that they can pretty quickly put this on you!
- For City, use standard shield penetration tactics – the lower levels can be dealt with by brute force, but higher need special approach: a perfect combo is the range attack using the Piercing Bow and possibly Eagle-Eye Goggles. That way you ignore shield and have advantage in the attack. Another tactic is use of wound condition. That will cripple the creature every turn, speeding up significantly its demise.
Guards
Bandit:
| Characteristic | Value |
|---|---|
| Initiative | |
| => minimum | 15 |
| => maximum | 70 |
| => average | ~40 (medium fast) |
| => varation | From 15 to 70 = 65 (large) |
| Damage (lvl1-lvl7) | Regular: 2-4 Elite: 3-5 |
| Hit points (lvl1-lvl7) | Regular: 5-16 Elite: 9-14 |
| Weapon type | Melee |
| Specials | Muddle, Shield |
City:
| Characteristic | Value |
|---|---|
| Initiative | |
| => minimum | 15 |
| => maximum | 70 |
| => average | ~40 (medium fast) |
| => varation | From 15 to 70 = 65 (large) |
| Damage (lvl1-lvl7) | Regular: 2-4 Elite: 3-6 |
| Hit points (lvl1-lvl7) | Regular: 5-13 Elite: 6-14 |
| Weapon type | Melee |
| Specials | Retaliate, Shield |
Evaluation:
Surprisingly fast for melee opponents (average initiative of 40), they can be pretty unpredictable, as their initiative range from 15 to 70. That is further strengthened by various effects which the Action Cards can bring: poison, strengthen, retaliate or range attack. So you really do not know what and when to expect from them!
All of those have pretty good defense in close combat, with Bandit an featuring average shield, and City a pretty decent armor and retaliate on top.
How to deal with them:
- First and foremost – keep them at bay. There is couple of reasons for this:
- Simply, that makes their melee attacks useless
- That negates the Bandit ability to Muddle you
- That prevents Poison and Retaliate from both types
- How to make sure you can achieve it? Immobilize or disarm would be the best and cheapest ways to achieve this. Stun usually is a lost card and those are not such formidable enemies to lose it.
- Of course, as with every close combat enemy it is advised to attack them from range distance, inflicting the damage with impunity.
- Remember about their Shield – I presented some of the shield penetration tactics in the Archers chapter so use them here too.
Summary
Those pretty common enemies usually occur in larger packs of mutually supporting units – with Guards quickly closing on you while Archers using their range ability to deal effective damage, enhanced with Pierce (City) or Poison (Bandit). While easy to take down individually, they might quickly overwhelm your company if not checked in time. So use crowd control tactics and proper de-buffs to deal with them!
Good luck!
The Boardgames Chronicle 
Those bandit archers, at early stage, since lvl 1 may pose big threat, especially when in a group, they have a long range, not easy to get to them. They make Scenario 1 not as easy as some people hoped. By the way , get ready to roll Michal! I’ve heard that You plan to resume our sessions in about a month . Do You still remember rules and how to use Your Scoundrel? My bard Kosmateusz awaits friends to kill some fiends and other monsters.
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