Tabletop game Gloomhaven has been one of the biggest in the genre since its release in 2017, and has recently had its debut online in the form of a tactical RPG from Asmodee Digital. It's a game of up to four players who choose characters with special skills to form a guild of adventurers attempting to uncover the mysteries of a fantasy world plagued by corruption and darkness. It’s also set to get a sequel in Frosthaven, which has just become the most-funded Kickstarter boardgame of all time.
Gloomhaven sees your group playing through numerous deadly scenarios where your choices and decisions alter the story and its conclusion. At the beginning of the game, you can choose from six characters: Cragheart, Mindthief, Spellweaver, Scoundrel, Brute and Tinkerer.
Throughout your group’s campaign, you retire characters as they meet their lifelong ambitions and in doing so select new ones to play. During retirement, you may even unlock one of the 11 'hidden' characters, some of which prove more useful to your team than others.
A warning for those who have not yet opened all boxes, there are spoilers ahead for hidden characters.
10 Savvas Cragheart
The Savvas Cragheart is one of the six starter characters available to your team at the beginning of the game. Savvas are a severe and exclusionary race that values power over anything else. Savvas devote their lives to the mastery of an element, but if they fail, the chest cavity that houses their energy is shattered and they become exiled.
Cragheart is a brilliantly versatile character to play, and is great to start with whether you’re a one-person party or four. It's a defensive tank and a healer, with the capability for large melee and ranged attacks. Craghearts’ greatest ability is in creating and throwing obstacles to alter the playing field and dealing large ranged damage to multiple enemies at once.
9 Orchid Spellweaver
The Orchid Spellweaver is another of the six starter characters. Spellweavers are an ancient order of the meditative Orchid race who believe in drawing power from nature and crafting it into concentrated attacks to fight off threats.
The Spellweaver’s greatest asset is her ability to hit multiple enemies at once, allowing other members of the party to quickly finish them off. The Spellweaver attacks early and can utilize all elements available, so ensuring these are set up early is the key to using her well.
8 Valrath Sunkeeper
Valrath are a mostly fair and well-mannered race looking to solve problems through diplomacy rather than violence, but are often feared for their demonic-like appearance. Valrath can become Sunkeepers — those who can tap into their demonic heritage and harness their powers for righteousness.
The Sunkeeper is an almost Paladin-like build, having high melee damage alongside excellent healing capabilities. She’s an asset to any team whether it’s one player or four, becoming an excellent tank and healer for support classes alongside harnessing the light element for some truly amazing close combat attacks.
7 Harrower Plagueherald
Harrower’s are actually a swarm of insects who have merged into a hivemind capable of sophisticated thought. Harrowers have a poor reputation in society, mostly for their small sect of Plagueheralds who embrace a world of sickness and corruption.
The Plagueherald is definitely better as a support class for a larger party of 3-4 players. Although it has a small number of hit points, it has the capability to cause high damage and status effects such as muddle and poison to multiple enemies over a wide area. It can also continually curse the monster deck, rendering its enemies close to useless.
6 Orchid Doomstalker
Orchids are an ancient race that are mostly meditative, though some believe enlightenment should instead come from hard work and so traveled here to build settlements and raise livestock in the wilds. Doomstalker’s are Orchids that help keep these settlements safe through their calm mind and affinity with the bow.
The Doomstalkers’ main ability is marking their prey with ‘Doom’ before swiftly eliminating them with powerful range-based attacks. The Doomstalker attacks quickly and can support their team with animal summons, traps, and enhancing their allies’ damage capabilities.
5 Human Scoundrel
The Human Scoundrel is one of the six starter characters — and arguably the most powerful. The Scoundrel is out for themselves, assuming everything is theirs and doing whatever it takes to obtain what they desire.
The Scoundrel’s damage output is outrageous, killing normal enemies in one hit and being able to attack with poison. With few hit points, her large movement allows for a hit-and-run style of attack, getting her to get to exactly where she's needed in any scenario.
4 Inox Berserker
Inox are a nomadic and often barbaric race, existing by hunting and fighting off the powerful beasts of the wilds. The epitome of Inox strength and ferocity exists in the Berserker; a tribal warrior who goes to self-sacrificing lengths to keep her people safe, giving her unnatural reserves of power.
The Berserker is a tank, using her hit points to boost her own strength and combative abilities. She’s also ridiculously fast, often being the first to rush into battle and deal brutal melee damage. Just be careful to keep enough hit points back to tackle retaliation.
3 Quatryl Soothsinger
The Quatryl are a small, friendly race that values knowledge and possesses expertise in critical fields. Quatryl’s nimble fingers and distinctive vocal traits make them the most sought-after bards in the land, with some ‘Soothsingers’ being known to use their musical expertise to bolster their allies and bring enemies down with a single strum of their lute.
The Soothsinger has the ability to bless allies and assist them with faster movement, higher damage, and greater range capabilities, making her the ultimate support class for three to four players. She can also plague monsters with curse and muddle, riddle them with status effects and limit their damage output, allowing the other members of the party to easily overpower them.
2 Valrath Quartermaster
Valrath as mentioned, are diplomatic but often feared for their appearance. They are some of the greatest merchants in Gloomhaven, often becoming Quartermasters and maximizing the effectiveness of their own equipment.
The Quartermaster is a melee tank and an excellent support class, whether you’re playing with one person or four. They deal heavy melee and range-based damage, and their special ability allows them to refresh spent items for themselves and teammates alongside providing occasional healing and defense.
1 Aesther Nightshroud
The Aesther are a solitary race that are thought to have once been humans that, through the pursuit of knowledge into the planes, became trapped within them. Some Aesthers developed an affinity for the darkest of these planes, cloaking themselves in shadow and using their stealth to eliminate foes.
The Nightshroud’s abilities excel with the element of darkness, so you should always make sure it’s available to use. Darkness allows the Nightshroud to become invisible and take out enemies in a single hit. Its high movement can also allow it to move to any area of the board it deems fit, proving useful both in battle and on certain missions.