The article I prepared for the Dear Readers today will continue the series of materials focusing on the Frosthaven most prominent, dangerous and nasty enemies. I shall present all the Monster Mats and Monster Ability Cards which are probably of the biggest interest to the players.
Then, we will do also the analysis of this data, trying to create some useful & interesting insights. Key statistics we will focus on will of course be monsters health, initiative, attack potential as well as their special abilities. In the end, all of this to create some suggested strategies how to deal with them.
GLOOMHAVEN:
FROSTHAVEN:
And believe me, that knowledge and those strategies will be very useful for you. Frosthaven is an unforgiving place, where adventures are not only difficult due to number of opponents but their special abilities and tactics. To create counter-measures you need to know your enemies. What worked in Gloomhaven might not be sufficient here.
We have already covered several monster groups in my articles, namely:
- Frosthaven Monsters Analysis & Strategies – Lurkers
- Frosthaven Monsters Analysis & Strategies – Unfettered
- Frosthaven Monsters Analysis & Strategies – Algox, Part 1
Today we shall continue with the mighty Algoxes – huge furred creatures, inhabiting in large numbers the northern reaches, extremely violent and dangerous – and not only to your company but to their compatriots too. And while in our last material we focused on pretty standard types of those monsters – Guards, Archers, Scouts & Priests – today we jump to incredibly interesting types among those opponents: Snowspeakers & Icespeakers!
Algox Snowspeaker
| Characteristic | Value |
|---|---|
| Initiative | |
| => minimum | 6 |
| => maximum | 66 |
| => average | ~34 (extremely fast) |
| => variation | From 6 to 66 = 60 (large) |
| Damage (lvl1-lvl7) | Regular: 2-5 Elite: 3-7 |
| Hit points (lvl1-lvl7) | Regular: 6-27 Elite: 8-35 |
| Weapon type | Ranged |
| Specials | Retaliate; Push; Brittle Immunity |
Evaluation:
Let us start with the obvious – these are not regular, standard Algoxes. These are special creatures who are revered among their sub-Algox tribes. Snowspeakers, as the name suggest, revere the Snow and everything connected to it. Stats wise, those are extremely nasty creatures. First and foremost – incredibly low average initiative means they might be easy faster than you in the turn.
Retaliate at the range of 5 at every level (OMG!) is mind blowing. Ability to push for Elites can put you in a real danger. Although they do not cover long distances in move, thanks to range attacks they can reach you almost always. And when they achieve higher levels – and remember, these are Algoxes so these are very high Hit Points opponents – they are getting Brittle immunity just when it would be helpful the most!
How to deal with them:
- Maximize your individual attack power – preferably by poison and using advantage – in order to decrease number of hits to kill this enemy and thus – number of Retaliate your team will have to soak up. Side not: it does not matter if you attack in range or melee – rarely you will outrange the retaliate.
- Use standard anti-ranged techniques. Approaching them and forcing to shoot at you from the disadvantage is always a good idea.
- One of the tricky things is that the more HPs this monster have, the more resilient it gets. Immunity to Brittle is only on Level 6 and 7. So you can use it on Levels 0-5, but then problems start. What can help here to quicker decrease vitality, is use of hazardous terrain / traps which will hit the enemy without retaliation.
Algox Icespeaker
| Characteristic | Value |
|---|---|
| Initiative | |
| => minimum | 8 |
| => maximum | 80 |
| => average | ~41 (fast) |
| => variation | From 8 to 80 = 72 (large) |
| Damage (lvl1-lvl7) | Regular: 3-5 Elite: 4-6 |
| Hit points (lvl1-lvl7) | Regular: 6-27 Elite: 8-35 |
| Weapon type | Mainly melee |
| Specials | Shield; Brittle; Brittle Immunity; Disarm; Stun |
Evaluation:
Let us now look at the other side of Algox community. Icespeakers revere Ice (and speak to it, LOL). They have fascinating graphic – I really like it 🙂 But their true nature lays in their skills and abilities. The obvious thing – huge hit point values – is further strengthened by the shield. They can brittle you while at the same time having the immunity to this condition.
While they usually attack in Melee, they can surprise you with the ranged attack (axes throwing? 🙂 ) But the real nasty thing is that they can stun or disarm you – and this without any elements, just as a part of regular attack.
How to deal with them:
- Immobilize / stun / disarm – use any of those and than attack without the fear of getting hit back. Especially Immobilize (“poor man’s stun”) will work nicely as that monster almost does not have ranged attacks! Just make sure to get out of range.
- Be early in the turn – you want to be able to react to potential Stun / Disarm from that enemy. Sometimes simply moving away and avoiding the nasty consequences will be enough.
- Of course, use the standard shield penetration tactics – 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, ignoring its shield.
Summary
With this article we concluded the analysis of most prominent and interesting monsters in the game – Lurkers, Unfettered and now Algoxes. They are very dangerous and oftentimes unpredictable enemies. The three main campaign paths follow their stories, in the end unveiling the great mystery of what really happened in Frosthaven.
But fear not – this is not the end of the series. We will look also at other, maybe less illustrious but equally nasty, enemies. Among many, we shall look at Daemons, Night Creatures, Undead and Imps!
Stay tuned!
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