Decktamer - The Hound strikes the Final Boss again at the Pioneer Difficulty

Another Pioneer difficulty boss rotation finished. The Lanturn Dog was reigning supreme, the moment he picked up the Timid Curse and followed by the Devil's Advocate talent to make the same curse positive. Speaking of curses, the next run will feature the Curse mode. How bad can the curse get? Time will tell :P

Once again, the Lanturn Dog arrived. When evolved, the Bolt attack only needs 1 more damage (for a total of 7), to take down the Boss' Lightbringer. As for my supporting group of monsters, I could pick between either the Ants or the Bell Rat. I went with my old time favorite Bell Rat, because it can absorb more damage.

The first fight was obvious. The Skrimp group had nothing major going for it, including the special reward. The Silver Hornet's group had plenty. The Hornet had both Pollinator talent and the Suicide Sting move. It could 1 shot most early enemies and leave the Honey on death. If I had another meat, I would have caught the Drop Bat too. I love Vampirisim. The Special Foraging gave me a chance to replenish my Meat supply.

The next battle was more balanced. The Wolly Tamaraw's party could offer me the mutated Maniaruk and the Metabolism reward. The other group did not have much to catch, but it was much easier to fight. The Syringe reward had the Devil's Advocate talent as an option. I just adore this talent. I always feel safer when I have it and it lets me adapt better to the curses I am likely to find anyway.

3rd fight was a little spooky. The Gumursa party had way to many monsters who could hit for 4-5 (Pheromones) damage. The Irontail Salamander's group was trivial in comparison, but I misplayed the fight a bit. I should have used my Silver Hornet to slay the Iron Salamander on the first turn. I was forced to do it next turn anyway, but this caused me to take extra damage for no reason. I got the lily Goose, the Plant of Might and the Former Human. I was hoping to evolve the latter, for the sake of the bestiary.

Finally, an opportunity to get a curse was here. My Lanturn Dog became 7/7 and got the timid curse. The Devil's Advocate turned it around and gave me 2 extra strength instead. I also got mutated Mimilang, who could farm a few extra Fruits of Might.

The 5th battle was here. This was another non choice. I needed the Golden Beetle to evolve my Lanturn Dog to Hound. Between the strength bonus from the Timid, the Hound's bolt attack and the Chandelier talent, I now had enough damage to take down Boss' lightbringer.

The next fight could have went either way. The fights and the rewards were well balanced against each other. However, the Crookpoach group featured both the Thousand-Year Deer and the Mystery Trade reward. I caught the Deer, extracted his Mystic Presence and traded the monster away to get the High Stakes Trade achievement on Steam. The Swamp Beast with the Warcry talent was nice too.

Last fight before the Boss. One of the Groups had the Chasm Horror. I captured it because it had a multi hitting move. If you combine multi hit attacks with enough strength, you can kill the Boss' Amalgamate on the first turn. The Feast event gave me even more health to play with, but this was unnecessary.

The Final Boss went exactly as planned. The Lanturn Hound demolished the Lightbringer. The Swampbeast took out the Amalgamate and the Clawed Spider. Easy-peasy :)


Starting the run 0:00

Golden Beetle 39:52

Final Boss 1:01:06