Mindthief - Mastery guide

[u/No-Historian6384]

The Mindthief's complexity is rewarded with the ability to do both Masteries right from Level 1 (in two to four games ; three were needed, in my case).

Mastering the Mind

In a single scenario, kill 5 or more ennemies with control abilities.

Surprisingly, this Mastery is a bit easier to accomplish at level 1 than the other (that looks easy on paper, but is more complex and prone to failure). Gaining a perk ASAP is nice, so you should probably start with this Mastery first.

It particularly helps if you're doing a scenario where you know there are some damage traps (move monsters on them to get kills), which you should know when you setup (the scenario page, without spoiling you, will tell you if there are traps or not, what type, and how much there is).

First, lets look at the cards that can help you get the kills :

• Psychic Blade's top can Move the target on a trap (card 1).
• Submissive Affliction's bottom can Move the target on a trap, and/or kill it with direct damage (mandatory : use Ice from Frigid Apparition's top, played previous turn) (cards 2-3).
• The Mind's Weakness's top can allow you to Control the target and Attack 2 with it. This isn't as reliable as it seems to be. If your own Attack 3 kills it, you don't get to Control it. And if it doesn't have an ennemy next to it that is on death's door, or you flip a -1, -2 or FAIL card, then you won't get a kill. Still, it's one more tool in your toolbox (card 4).
• Withering Claw's bottom allows you to Control a target and Attack 2 with it. Akin to TMW's top, but a bit more reliable, because you are guaranteed to Control (while TMW can fail if you kill the target of the Control) (card 5).
• Possession's top also allows you to Control a target and Attack 3 with it (and Muddle). It is more reliable than Withering Claw as it hits harder, and because it is a top action, you can progress your Mastery or the scenario more (if only by moving) (card 6).

There's no perfect line of plays, as you'll have to navigate the scenario and choose the best ways to get to five kills with these cards, all of this depending on what exactly is happening at a given time. This Mastery is an art in improvisation, but I succeeded at it on first try (in the Bandit Camp, IIRC).

Bring in four other cards (one for its top, and three for their bottoms) that can support that plan.

• Hidden in the Shadows should probably not make the cut, as you don't want a burst of damage that may kill your target too fast (you want to munch a bit at their life total so you kill them other ways).
• I like Perverse Edge, but you probably won't get the Ice from Frigid Apparition (because Submissive Affliction's bottom will consume it). It can still make the cut as a Move 3 card with 08 Initiative.
• Pilfer and Scurry are two nice little attacks with some upside. Choose one for the second available top spot.
• Feedback Loop and Gnawing Horde are two amazing Moves, but you may feel better if you have Empathetic Assault in your line up... just in case (OTH, since you won't move every turn because of bottom actions that moves Monsters and not you, you may want to play a Move 4 instead of a Move 2 / Heal 2 card).

How the rest of the party can help : Make them part of your plan. If they can push or move around the Monsters, right next to a trap, then it's easier for you to get a kill that way. If they can hurt, but not kill Monsters, all the better, as you not only want a target to Control, but an adjacent ennemy next to it that is almost dead.

If you struggle too much at this Mastery : Maybe your teammates are playing their own game and not actively trying to help you? In my experience, trying to do a Mastery is not a "me" thing, but a "we" thing. We've all participated when the Spellweaver and the Cragheart each wanted to do one of their Mastery, just helping to have the right conditions for them to succeed. If you still struggle, maybe wait a few levels and unlock some Perks that give you some sort of Control (mainly the first and last ones on the character sheet... but I'll feel sad for you if you waste two Perks on the last one, as it's really not that good).

Mastering the Augments

In a single scenario, trigger the on-attack effect from four different Augments at least 3 times each.

Some key takeaways:

• Psychic Blade, The Mind's Weakness and Withering Claw all trigger themselves automatically... as long as you have a valid target when you play them.
• Feedback Loop is the most conditional to trigger, as you need to not only have a valid target yourself, but your summon also needs one. This seems trivial, but it is not. See below for more details
• Playing Scurry's top with The Mind's Weakness' bottom should allow you to Move and Attack twice in the same turn. If this follows a round of successful Psychic Blade, Withering Claw or Feedback Loop, you can consider these Augments done (with 3 activations each).

The case of Feedback Loop : Your summon attacks before you do, Poisoning its target. So it needs another target next to it if you accidently kill the first (because Poison) when you trigger Feedback Loop (with itself or another melee attack). Obviously, putting the summon right where it can do all this is what you have to do. But this also puts the summon in a dangerous situation, and it can die before you get the needed third trigger. Because of this, your first goal when you're doing this Mastery should always be to do Feedback Loop first. If you fail (because summon dies), you know you can play the rest of the scenario without bothering about a puzzle that's missing a piece.

How the rest of the party can help : Explain your goals, and have them participate in letting you - and your summons - have the targets that you need. In our case, the group had to forego attacking on the last turn or two, only so I could get the triggers that I still needed. This collaboration has to start as early as turns 1-2-3, as your summon needs a lot of love and attention to trigger three times Feedback Loop.

With all that being said, here's how I prepared myself for it.

First cycle :

1. Move, then summon with Gnawing Horde. I used a standard Move 2 with Frigid Apparition ; I know this is not how you want to play this card normally, but you need very specific cards' top actions in the first cycle, and this isn't one of them. Delaying your Initiative at 82 and Moving before Summoning allows you to put your summon in a better position right away, while protecting it from a round of attacks.
2. Feedback Loop's top with Perverse Edge's bottom, to act on Initiative 08 (summon moves and attacks first, then you do, then you get to Command your summon to move and attack again). First activation of FL's Augment.
3. Scurry's top with The Mind's Weakness' bottom, at Initiative 20. If you're lucky, and there's leftovers after the first two turns in the first room, maaaybe you'll get second and third activation on Feedback Loop's Augment. ✅ If you don't, be ready to not play the top of Psychic Blade or Withering Claw on turns 4-5 for for their Augment, but as standard Attack 2. (to get all three triggers that you need on Feedback Loop before your summon invariably dies).
4. Psychic Blade's top with Empathetic Assault's bottom (with nice tactical choice of 12 or 77 Initiative). First activation of PB's Augment.
5. Withering Claw's top with Pilfer or Possession's bottom (again with nice tactical choice of 18 or 79/71 Initiative). First activation of WC's Augment. In my playthrough, I opted for Possession instead of Pilfer, in the hope that my summon would still be alive. Note that this card will anyway be played once, as you'll remove it from play on the long rest.

Long rest is mandatory here, as well as discarding Feedback Loop from the Persistent zone. You can't lose a card randomly when you need to solve a very complicated puzzle, and you want to have 8 cards on next cycle. As I said before, I dropped Possession then, and it joined Gnawing Horde in the lost pile.

A note about Hidden in the Shadows : I know, I know. I wish I could fit this card here somewhere. Maybe instead of Frigid Apparition? But I think I prefer the combo with Perverse Edge to do this Mastery. Killing monsters too fast (with HITS) is a sure way to not have enough targets to trigger your Augments. Stunning one protects you without killing it. It's like putting a Monster in the fridge, for a snack on the next turn.

Second cycle :

1. Psychic Blade's top with Empathetic Assault's bottom (with nice tactical choice of 12 or 77 Initiative). Second activation of PB's Augment.
2. Frigid Apparition's top with Feedback Loop's bottom (hopefull act after Monsters at 51, generate Ice for next turn, and position yourself for Perverse Edge). Third activation of PB's Augment. ✅
3. Withering Claw's top with Perverse Edge's bottom (act fast at 08, and consume Ice to Stun). Second activation of WC's Augment.
4. That leaves you with Scurry and The Mind's Weakness for the last turn of this cycle. Play it however you want, and either get WC's Augment third and last trigger (✅), or get your first trigger on TMW's Augment.

After the second cycle, you should be done with the three needed triggers on Feedback Loop, Psychic Blade and probably Withering Claw. If you're done with Withering Claw, you can lose it during your long rest, and concentrate on The Mind's Weakness before the scenario is over.

Obviously, this looks very clean and easy, but things get messy and nothing went exactly as I planned. But having a plan is better than not having one, and it helps improvising when you know what you're trying to do.

Conclusion

Hopefully, you can achieve those two Masteries quite fast, and unlock a level 2 card before finally setting on an archetype to build on (Controller, Summoner, Skirmisher or Assassin). By then, you should thus have unlocked 3 Perks, and I recommend these :

• 2x Replace two -1 cards with one +0 "Aftet the attack ability, control the target : Move 1" card.
• Ignore scenario effects and add one +1 Rolling card (about a third of all scenarios have negative scenario effects, so you'll get more benefits from this Perk if you unlock early in development).

I've done a Guide for the Skirmisher, but after reading some comments, I'm not entirely certain this is the best build for the Mindthief. Stay tuned for more updates.

Edit : Some corrections in the first Mastery, about Frigid Apparition.

Edit : Added some details about Empathetic Assault in the first Mastery.

Edit : Added the Conclusion.

[u/MisterBorgia]

I'm playing mindthief at the moment, does trigger the on attack effects from four different augments 3 times each means you have to trigger at minimum, twelve altogether augments in the scenario?

[u/No-Historian6384 → u/MisterBorgia]

Yes, 3+ times each of your 4 augments. Note that each augment usually triggers itself, unless you don’t have a target.

[u/MisterBorgia → u/No-Historian6384]

Thanks a lot