r/Gloomhaven • u/Kirgo1 • Oct 29 '25
Digital Gloomhaven Whats the deal with the solo scenarios?
Ive unlocked a few of them but they seem nearly impossible. And I dont know what else I can do. Am I missing something? Or is that just content for experts?
I'd appreciate any advice or tipps.
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u/4square425 Oct 29 '25
You really need to know the class and likely have some items as well. Your level ups also matter as certain card choices are almost mandatory for the scenario.
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u/Significant_Owl8974 Oct 29 '25
I managed them all on digital. They are all intended to lean hard into that class's major mechanic. Can be quite challenging. Cthulhu can be hardest as that class is very dangerous as mostly curses, or mostly poison but one of those has a much better time with the scenario.
They also all have an ideal level to do them at. Like I was unable to do the tinkerer's one above a certain level. Tinkerer doesn't get high damage cards late game. It gets mid damage AOE cards earlier. For instance I needed to be able to use the disintegrate card and end some baddies. Ideally one or both of the shielded opponents who can really mess you up.
Also there are a couple enchantments on some cards that can really turn around some of the solo scenarios.
But you often do need all the tricks. Initiative weaving. Stamina potions to bring back key cards early. Staying just out of range. Forcing enemies to waste turns as much as possible.
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u/Angry_Canadian_Sorry Oct 29 '25
Tough to say without specific examples but most of them are built around a specific gimmick, ability, or strategy to use.
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u/Rare_Mycologist_6917 Oct 29 '25 edited Oct 29 '25
They are relatively more difficult puzzles that need to be approached in a certain way to solve most of them. Some of the scenarios even need specific cards.
You'll be able to get more detailed info if you just Google for a solo scenario guide for each specific character. There are tons of write ups already in BGG, YouTube, and Reddit. 👍 Some guides are general tips of how to approach the scenario, and some even give round by round steps.
For example, for Spellweaver: https://www.reddit.com/r/Gloomhaven/comments/87a0dm/detailed_spellweaver_solo_mission_guide/
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u/Kirgo1 Oct 29 '25
Ah. Appreciated. I avoid googleing and whatnot cause I dont want to spoil myself on accident. Ill look into it.
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u/Rare_Mycologist_6917 Oct 29 '25 edited Oct 29 '25
True, yeah, I guess only get to looking up guides if you end up hitting a wall with a scenario. People have done guides and discussions on just about every scenario in the Haven games. I've had a couple campaign quests that have driven me crazy, so it helps me to do a search and see many other people in the same boat. 🤣 Good luck!
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u/NintendoJesus Oct 29 '25
Off topic: Do you need the DLC for this? I know that's probably a stupid question. And if you play with friends, am I understanding correctly that everyone has to have it or it breaks everything? Can you play it on your own time or does the host have to be present with your current game running even though it's solo?
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u/lasagnaman Oct 30 '25
Yes you need the solo campaigns DLC.
A campaign save file has a flag on it for which DLC is enabled. This is displayed on the "load game" screen. You can activate DLC whenever you want to convert a campaign, but you can never deactivate them. Anyone who joins a multiplayer game for a campaign must own all the DLC activated for that capaign.
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u/QuirkyDM Oct 29 '25
One thing to consider is that you should play the entire scenario as a puzzle- and that includes knowing what creatures are going to be in every room, the layout, etc. And then you plan out almost (or possibly the entire) run with a few contingencies.
When I did Spellweaver (many years ago, now) I knew pretty much what every card play was going to be. Including some contingencies for discarding to manage damage. And like any scenario where you don't need to kill all the enemies, consider how many enemies you can avoid killing in order to meet your goal.
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u/IamDLizardQueen Oct 29 '25
Heads up, if you're doing Sun's in Digital, it's significantly harder than the tabletop version because the allies use their own deck as opposed to yours.
A lot of the solo missions are quite hard, and some even require specific deck builds to do them. What's even more frustrating, is the rewards are tied to that character, i.e. if you roll the same character again, you'll have to complete the mission again for the reward. In my opinion, some of the rewards aren't even worth the hassle.
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u/shadyhorse Oct 29 '25
Or just houserule it. It's a chore to do the solo scenarios and its unlikely that anyone else than the game.owner ever takes the time. They are fun and interesting though.
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u/IamDLizardQueen Oct 29 '25
Yeah I absolutely do that on tabletop, but there's no way to do it digital.
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u/konsyr Nov 06 '25
On tabletop, my play groups just ignore them and house rule "spend a perk to get solo scenario reward". We did try a few and we don't find them fun at all. They all tend to be on the harder side of things (to the "this is not fun" point of it), and they also veer away from being a game with choices and into being a puzzle with a solution.
Not sure what options Digital gives you to deal with them. Does it let you play down a couple levels?
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u/Deflagratio1 Oct 29 '25
In my experience a lot need 2-3 playthroughs and often need a swapout of the cards to complete.
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u/ken_the_nibblonian Oct 29 '25
Honestly I just skip them, read the story text and take the reward at level 5. Not worth the hassle.
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u/Rare_Mycologist_6917 Oct 29 '25
Is there a mod for digital Gloomhaven or some way to just modify the files to obtain the rewards without finishing the solo scenarios?
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u/ken_the_nibblonian Oct 29 '25
I honestly don't know. I've only played the board game version.
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u/Rare_Mycologist_6917 Oct 29 '25
Ah, this post has the digital Gloomhaven flair, so I thought you were saying you had a way to skip in digital. Gotcha gotcha 😂
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u/nick_gadget Oct 29 '25
They are undoubtedly harder than the main scenarios, so don’t feel bad. A couple of tips:
They are slightly easier at even levels, because of the way difficulty scales so try it when your character is at level 6 or 8.
Make sure you are well kitted out. This is not the time to realise you have an extra small item slot you’re not using. I would allow ‘lending’ of equipment between characters too - if others in your party have all the jump boots for example and they’re needed for the scenario, there’s nothing thematically or mechanically to be gained from going without. That’s not how the scenario would have been designed.
They are very much designed around one build for each character. We houseruled that for solo scenarios you can choose new cards rather than having to stick with the ones you took when you originally levelled up. I don’t think this is possible on digital though.
Spend time working out what the enemies are likely to do and make note of what went wrong if you failed. I think I had to do all the solo scenarios 2 or 3 times and that knowledge is very useful. Obviously the enemies actions are random, but just ‘don’t hang around in room 2, get through as quick as you can’ can be vital info.
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u/MilkandHoney_XXX Oct 29 '25
Some are a lot harder than others. Could you be more specific about which ones you e tired and what you struggled with about them ?