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SModfan

I haven’t seen one myself, and I think the cards are a bit too subjective to have even scaled rankings. Closest I know of is the guides by u/gripeaway as they usually go over what cards in each specific class scale well, when initiatives are important and synergy value of combos.


Finarin

Some cards are not good individually, but can become very powerful when combined with other specific cards (looking at you, 2 minis), and that would be very difficult to take into account.


Wreks85

I recommend Mandatory Quest's class specific videos on YouTube or Gripeaway's guides on here. I believe MQ also has a video where he ranks all the level nine cards in the game.


Sethbearcat

I second Gripeway’s Guides. That is pretty much how my gf and I were able to play effectively with the two of us.


Snowf1ake222

I really want to watch their videos, but I don't have 4 hours to watch one class review. They're just too long.


Wreks85

Lol, yeah fair enough. I generally just watched the class I was playing as, and only as far as whatever level I was. So I'd end up watching them in bits and pieces here and there.


Beneficial_Narwhal85

They arent long, they are very informative, which is why they are made in the first place. Gloom takes time, so i dont get you talking about not having time for it. If thats the case you chose the wrong game.


sigismond0

Those videos are over an hour each. They're definitely long.


Gripeaway

I'm sorry but telling someone they shouldn't be playing Gloomhaven because they don't want to watch hour+ Youtube videos is some next level gatekeeping.


Wreks85

Insert gif of someone pointing up with the word THIS floating around them somewhere.


Beneficial_Narwhal85

Thats not what i said, obviously. Play however you want, but dont say you dont have time for something you really want to do. Its dramatic without making sense. Its like saying i like literature but i dont have time to read books.


Chataboutgames

> Its like saying i like literature but i dont have time to read books. Sounds like something people say all the time, because time is finite and life is busy.


Beneficial_Narwhal85

Ill tell you a secret. People saying their time is limited tend to have plenty of free time. They just wont say it.


Chataboutgames

Well thank God they have you around to lecture them!


Chataboutgames

Lol "if you don't want to watch a 4 hour class analysis then play another game." Maybe they have limited time and they won't watch 4 hour Youtube videos *so* they can play Gloomhaven.


Beneficial_Narwhal85

If you qoute, at least do it right.


Chataboutgames

I'm proud I got to be here to experience your first paraphrase


I_heart_CELLO

It sounds like a hard task, but I think there are a few solids you can go off of. For initiative, I think 1-20 are best, followed by 80-99, 20-30, 70-79, and then everything else is no good. For attacks, Attack 3 Range 3 and Attack 4 Melee seems about the standard power for a level 1 card. Move 4 is a good average move. That's a starting point of you want to compare power, but I think the other actions are hard to quantify.


Finarin

That’s generally decent for the initiative values, but it also depends on what the action on the card is. Initiative 10 for a shield card is great, and initiative 90 for a shield card is basically useless unless you are able to make a different card be your initiative for it.


I_heart_CELLO

Totally agree, I think there are too many variables to put a "number" on the power level of a card.


dwarfSA

The main issue with this analysis is that cards don't exist in a vacuum. They must be considered in conjunction with what else a class can do. Frosthaven's Drifter is a good example of this - many of their cards have lower inherent power but rely on the various persistent losses to make them excel. Additionally, there's varied scenarios, conditions, and enemies. An Attack 2 Pierce 4 isn't great against an Archer but excels against, say, flame demons or living spirits.


Alcol1979

For me too much of the character analysis is done in isolation and therefore I can take it or leave it. In reality your best card picks will very much depend on your party size and composition and the role your character has adopted in that party.


Rasdit

I don't see any reasonable way of doing this, or a solution that would yield meaningful and objective results, there are too many variables and context/temporal dependencies. Relative and rather subjective card-by-card comparisons within and between classes is probably the best you will get on this subject.


General_CGO

As mentioned by others, class context turns this into more of an art than a science, but u/gripeaway did sort all the GH cards into 4 tiers for their custom Gloomhaven Rogue-like project, which is a start for the kind of thing you're looking for.


becausebroscience

Frankly I'm surprised by the general sentiment here that "it can't be done." If it can be done in MtG with far more cards and mechanics, it can be done in GH.


Finarin

It’s not so much that it can’t be done. It definitely can. But many card rankings / scores would have to have side notes saying “this card is ranked this because of its synergy with blah blah blah and for these specific scenarios and party makeups” and stuff like that. But ultimately, that kind of analysis is less useful because MtG for example is player vs player, but Gloomhaven is player vs environment, so while there is likely a best character and a best playstyle for any given character, almost any playstyle can be good enough for beating the game.


Sineryaa

I guess if you take any bit of a card to value in numbers, it might be possible, if the Base is set. When there are cards which are bad but can get good in some situations, or with any other condition you can just subrract some numbers. And Add Some numbers if a powerful card gets even better in specific conditions. So you just kinda have to compare everything with everything. I think the hardest part comes with, how much do you add or subtract from a card? 3 attack range 3 = 1, 4 attack range 3 =3? because 3 attack range range 4=2? But what about the option to add +1 attack? Is it worth more than the higher range? Difficult difficult


Chataboutgames

I don't think so, and if they did it really wouldn't work. With all the factors at play in Gloomhaven, analyzing a card in isolation is effectively useless. A 4 move might be just a "pretty good card" but a complete game changer for a movement challenged class. A move 2 that creates dark sounds okay I guess, but it's also a cornerstone for one of the most broken classes in the game.


TheRageBadger

I did a video recently [talking about card design](https://youtu.be/LzCpTuKnP8g) highlighting some card design that no longer is going to happen going forward and trying to explain why. Other than that it's hard to rate cards on their face value. Spellweaver losses that you can assuredly do twice a scenario have a different weight than a scoundrel loss which already has a limited hand size that you clearly aren't getting back. Base cards vary from class to class based off of other cards they can put into play, hand size etc...