Last Updated on by Samuel Franklin
Start your Frosthaven journey full of confidence with this comprehensive guide to the six unique starting classes. This page includes class design, role, hand size, health, complexity, race, traits, starting cards and an overall ranking to help select your ideal character.
Table of Contents:
– Frosthaven Starting Classes Ranked & Overview
– Blinkblade – Drifter – Deathwalker – Boneshaper – Geminate – Banner Spear
Frosthaven Starting Classes Ranked & Overview
While Gloomhaven starting classes resembled traditional RPG archetypes the Frosthaven starting characters feature advanced gameplay mechanics and unique themes. The below quick overview is for players that want to start Frosthaven as soon as possible with information from the respective character cards and a power ranking based on my personal experience and community ratings.
| Symbol/Name | Power Ranking | Hand Size | Health (Level 1 / 10) | Main Roles | Complexity | Race & Traits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Blinkblade |
#1 | 10 | Medium (8 / 20) | Melee / Mobility | 5 | Â Quatryl
Educated |
 Â Drifter |
#2 | 12 | High (10 / 26) | Melee / Ranged / Support / Defence | 1 | Inox
Outcast |
 Deathwalker |
#3 | 11 | Low (6 / 14) | Ranged / Melee | 3 | Valwrath
Arcane |
 Boneshaper |
#4 | 12 | Low (6 / 14) | Defence / Melee | 4 | Aesther
Arcane |
 Geminate |
#5 | 7 + 7 | Medium (8 / 20) | Melee / Ranged | 5 | Harrower
Arcane |
Banner Spear |
#6 | 10 | High (10 / 26) | Defence / Melee | 2 | Human
Armoured |
Frosthaven Starting Classes Detailed
This section dives deeper into the starting classes of Frosthaven with lore information, class hand size implications, notable card themes and starting cards. For spoilers beyond starting cards use the Gloomhaven Cards website.
1 – Blinkblade Class Overview
Similar to other Quatryls the Blinkblade is a strange technology specialist to overcome their small stature and become a devastating technological themed assassin. Utilising familiar and new equipment the Blickblade has experimental temporal drives as a key mechanic.
The Blinkblade is a highly mobile melee character rated 5/5 for complexity with no elemental affinities. With a hand size of 10 they have sufficient cards for their role and have the support of a medium sized starting health pool of 8 to test and learn the class mechanic.
This mechanic is time manipulation where players swap between fast and slow modes which impacts your cards and initiatives. Generally the fast mode results in higher damage and larger moves while slow mode is the opposite although there are beneficial slow cards for slowing down at the right time. Going fast is limited to your availability of time tokens from going slow so players will find a constant balance to the Blinkblade as you think many turns ahead. Given the assassin theme your team role is focused around dealing high damage to enemies with card themes of large movement, high damage, status effects and the occasional heal to correct mistakes given the high but rewarding skill cap of the Blinkblade.
2 – Drifter Class Overview
The Inox Drifter comes from the Inox clan of the Great Cove where strength and self-reliance are valued. Like others in the Inox species the Drifter brings durability with a warrior theme ideal for players new to the Gloomhaven franchise.
With a complexity rating of 1/5 the Drifter is easy to play given their forviging high starting health pool of 10 and large hand size of 12. They also have high flexibility across support, defence, melee and ranged options so players will always find a combination of cards that meets their preferences.
The primary mechanic of the Drifter is persistent effects that buff attacks, healing, add ranged attacks, increase movement values and other effects for the next six turns. Upon most level ups players will have the option to add a new persistent effect to their deck and while it can tempting to have all the persistent effects a balance of 2 or 3 is recommended given they can quickly reduce your effective hand size. Ultimately the Drifter can slot into any team with roles across damage (both melee and ranged), tanking and support based on the cards you select.
3 – Deathwalker Class Overview
The Valrath Deathwalker arrives in the wake of tragedy to ensure that the dead find rest while also seeking to atone for the Valrath’s historical aggression towards other races. While this Valrath is far from the lands of the Red Desert they have opted for a nomad life to perform this important role wherever tragedy takes them.
With a middle complexity rating of 3/5 the Deathwalker has a low starting health pool of 6 and a hand size of 11. These cards are primarily focused on ranged attacks although still has some melee and mobility options to attack swiftly and avoid retaliation.
The core mechanic of the Deathwalker is shadow tokens which fill up the battlefield and can be activated for various powers. From empowering your attacks, damaging enemies that land on shadows or attacking from the shadow tokens the potential manipulation of the battlefield is high. Other card themes include summons and status effects that double down on your battlefield control focus and results in the Deathwalker playing a control and damage role that steadily builds in power during the course of a scenario.
4 – Boneshaper Class Overview
The Aesther Boneshaper like the Aesther Summoner of Gloomhaven brings living things into existence through undead summons. Having once been a human who fell to a great tragedy the Boneshaper has travelled along the infinite planes seeking knowledge while occasionally returning to the plane we know for a specific task.
The Boneshaper is a 4/5 complexity rated class driven by their mechanics which inflict damage on themselves and a low starting health pool at 6. To counter this the Boneshaper has a hand size of 12 which makes it one of the larger options in the starting classes of Frosthaven. Elemental affinities include earth and dark with a focus on defensive play that is paired with a balance of melee and summon attacks.
A core unique mechanic to the Boneshaper is the ability to summon Shambling Skeletons that serve as disposal summons that cost health and unlike other summons the card can be recovered. The Boneshaper is complex because many card abilities inflict self damage with limited self healing options available to compensate without allies or equipment. With levels though players will find themselves unlocking new summons, abilities to grant their summons actions and some conditional self heals to help balance the damage taken when summoning skeletons. With these cards available the Boneshaper plays a defensive role in the team through their summons to soak up damage but can also deal respectable damage through initiative control. The Boneshaper does prefer a party where they have appropriate support to take monster aggression or provide an alternative healing source.
5 – Geminate Class Overview
The Geminate belongs to the rare breed of Harrowers where the swarm of insects have been unable to decide on a single mind and instead operate on an equilibrium of two wills. This phenomenon known as a Geminate results in two vastly different configurations that have their own abilities and desires which adds another complex element to the usually hermit nature of the Harrower species.
Rated as a full 5/5 complexity the Geminate uniquely provides two 7 hand sizes that need to be carefully managed to avoid exhaustion which pairs with a medium starting health value of 8 and an elemental awareness of fire, ice and light.
A dual hand mechanic is the core element of the Geminate with players switching between ranged and melee forms based on the cards they play. Players need to balance switching form and remain relatively balanced in terms of hand sizes as exhausting either form will result in your total exhaustion. Another minor mechanic of the Geminate is specified ranges for their attacks which require monsters to be at a specific distance for an attack. As players level up you still only have two cards to select from (one for each of your forms). The team role for the Geminate is a flexible one with players able to balance melee and ranged or lean a little deeper into one to cover a gap in your Frosthaven party.
6 – Banner Spear Class Overview
The Banner Spear is a human warrior that belongs to the northern settlements and played a vital role in the defence and expansion of the Merchant’s Guild during eras long past. In the current Frosthaven story they are the sign of human resilience and survival that no matter the odds continue to forge forward.
The Banner Spear is rated as a 2/5 complexity character with an affinity for the element of wind who prefers to be in melee range while having appropriate defensive tools for themselves and allies. With a middling hand size of 10 and a high starting health pool of 10 you can afford to burn some cards and soak up damage when required.
The specialty of the Banner Spear is area attacks with many of these requiring an ally to be in a specific position for your attack which gives the Banner Spear some similarities to the Scoundrel in Gloomhaven although the positioning of allies has harsher requirements in Frosthaven. Another central mechanic is their banner summoning abilities that provide aura benefits to yourself and allies although cannot move by themselves. Through your cards players will find the opportunity to summon other support units onto the battlefield, strong conditional attacks, cards that allow you to move others and some basic healing options. Given this the Banner Spear pairs well with allies that are comfortable being in the front line alongside them with high levels of co-operation maximising this class potential.
