Loop Hero boss guide: How to defeat them all, and the rewards you get
Struggling against a particular Loop Hero boss? If you're having trouble with any of Loop Hero's end-of-chapter bosses, then you're in the right place. Chances are they're giving you a hard time; None of them are afraid to end your run in the blink of an eye.
With that in mind, I've put together the strategies to take them down—and the rewards you get once you do so—so you can see the light at the end of the loop. So here's how to beat each big bad, including the Loop Hero secret boss, Frog King.
How the Loop Hero boss spawn works
As you place tiles on the map, you'll slowly fill the map completion gauge (not to be confused with the night/day bar) in the upper-left corner. When the bar maxes out, the boss of the chapter will appear on your campfire space, and you'll be able to fight them to finish the chapter.
The rewards for beating the standard bosses are curious, though. Each will give you a choice of a Resource Pack or a new trait. If you choose the latter, your trait will be added to your list of available ones. That means you won't get the trait permanently, you'll just have the chance of getting it in future runs.
The secret boss is different, so skip to the bottom section of this guide for that.
Boss 1: The Lich
Loop Hero first boss: How to defeat The Lich
The Lich isn't too difficult, but it'll quickly end your run if you go in unprepared.
When The Lich spawns, the seven towers surrounding the campfire will become The Lich's Palace. Each tile boosts The Lich's stats by five percent, up to 35 percent, so you should do start by doing something about them. Build around the campfire to prevent the palaces from spawning in the first place, and save your Oblivion cards for any spots you missed. While you can still beat The Lich with the 35 percent buff, it's much easier if you knock out some (if not all) of those tiles first.
Rewards:
- Resource Pack (3 Stable Wood, 1 Preserved Rock, 1 Stable Metal, 4 Food Supply, 1 Book of Memories, 1 Orb of Evolution) OR
- A new trait (randomly appears in future runs)
Boss 2: The Priestess
Loop Hero second boss: How to defeat The Priestess
The Priestess can be a rude awakening if you haven't been trying out other Loop Hero classes, besides the Warrior. While The Priestess doesn't have any overworld tiles to deal with, her trick is her Iconoclast ability. This allows The Priestess to summon five windows, and there is a 20 percent chance she'll be protected by them. It's difficult to take these mirrors down quickly unless you use the Necromancer.
The Necromancer fights with skeletons rather than a traditional weapon, so raising your max skeletons is your way to victory. You'll also need at least 150 percent attack speed, as The Priestess will recast The Iconoclast often.
If you're really struggling, make some resource runs and unlock the Forest and River cards. Also, upgrade the Herbalist's Hut at camp. Eight upgraded potions was what I needed to finally take The Priestess down.
Rewards:
- Resource Pack OR
- A new trait
Boss 3: The Hunter
Loop Hero third boss: How to defeat The Hunter
For The Hunter, choose the Rogue. While attack speed is still very important for this boss, using the Necromancer makes it harder to build up enough. You'll have unlocked (or are close to unlocking) the River tile, a crucial card that doubles the effects of adjacent tiles. With a Thicket, that means a bonus four percent attack speed per tile.
You'll have two hounds to contend with against The Hunter, and the Star Gunpowder ability means you'll have to take them down first. Place an Outpost or two right on your Campfire so some guards can soak up/give a few hits, and take the Friend of the Forest trait if it pops up, too.
The Hunter and his hounds are annoying in that they'll force you to attack in different directions and, naturally, you can't control who your hero is assaulting. Once you finally kill an enemy, the remaining enemies will heal a bit, as well. Prepare yourself for a battle of attrition and try to summon The Hunter as early as possible for lower stats, and you'll eventually pull through.
Rewards:
- Resource Pack OR
- A new trait
Boss 4: Omega
Loop Hero fourth boss: How to defeat Omega
Chapter 4 has a 'fun' twist: You need to beat the previous three bosses again before facing the final boss, Omega.
To take on this fearsome gauntlet, you first need to upgrade some campfire structures. Without cards like Suburbs, Smithy's Forge, and the Storm Temple, you're going to have a lot of problems, so you'll need to upgrade the Smithy, Gymnasium, and Smelter for those. Finally, place a Hungry Grove adjacent to your campfire by placing a Grove and Blood Grove, then using Oblivion on the Grove. This is one of the more useful Loop Hero combos as it will eat any boss below 20 percent HP, but know that it'll occasionally attack you.
A proper deck setup is important, too. With a run lasting so many loops, blitzing bosses with high attack speed is no longer viable: If you have it's too high, you'll just run out of stamina which will make you vulnerable.
The Necromancer is the best class for Chapter 4. With it it's easier to handle monsters' increasing strength, simply with the power of numbers. Decent attack speed, a good skeleton level, and at least 4 max skeletons should be your focus. That doesn't mean the Rogue is unviable, though, so experiment with favoured class.
Omega himself is an RNG nightmare. Every third attack, 'I Am' activates, which erases a random stat. If Omega deletes your most important stats, you're just stuck. Pray to the RNGesus, prepare as best as you can, and you'll win the day.
Rewards:
- Resource Pack
- A new trait
Secret boss: Frog King
Loop Hero secret boss: How to defeat Frog King
The Frog King is the Loop Hero secret boss, and it's unlocked in a different way to the standard four. It's fairly easy to unlock, once you know the trick to it, but it's extremely unlikely for Frog King to be summoned by accident, don't worry.
To unlock the Frog King, you need to cover every road tile with a Swamp tile. That's easier said than done, of course, but with a proper deck build, it's doable. It just takes a while. Bring as few road tiles as you can, and bring some Oblivion cards, just in case.
Once the map is covered, the Frog King appears. Surprisingly it only has 2 HP… but the twist is it also has absurdly high evasion, so you'll miss almost all of your attacks. He also has a special armor skill, so each hit only does 1 HP of damage. In other words, you need to land two hits. Again, easier said than done. With high attack speed, proper gear to keep you alive while you try to land a hit, and an awful lot of time, you'll eventually send the Frog King to its maker.
Rewards:
- Cards and equipment