Gloomhaven Hatchet Guide – Cards, Builds, Perks, Enhancements & Items

Last Updated on June 3, 2025 by Samuel Franklin

This Jaws of the Lion Gloomhaven Hatchet guide optimises this ranged and melee hybrid attacker who relies on his favourite axe to attack and push enemies. This guide includes recommendations for individual starting and level up card options along with perks, enhancements and equipment options.

Table of Contents:
– Hatchet Cards, Perks, Enhancements and Items Overview
– Hatchet Cards Detailed
– Hatchet Perks Detailed
– Hatchet Enhancements Detailed
– Hatchet Items Detailed

Gloomhaven Hatchet Guide Overview

This portion of the Hatchet guide is a reference list of the key decision points tobuild a primarily ranged ranged damage dealer. This ensures you have methods to acquire your favourite hatchet back and gives your team some light utility with your push actions that can make traps on the floor the Hatchet’s best friend.

Hatchet Cards Overview

• Level 1: Remove Double Throw, Extra Lift and Stopping Power to create your starting deck of cards
• Level 2: Repeat Shot replaces Care Package
• Level 3: Fearsome Efficiency Replaces Power Pitch
• Level 4: Ripped From The Flesh replaces Retrieval
• Level 5: The New Favourite replaces The Favourite
• Level 6: Quick Turnaround replaces Fancy Hat
• Level 7: Brutalize replaces Ripped From The Flesh
• Level 8: Camaraderie replaces Second Wind
• Level 9: Heart Seeker replaces Follow Through

Hatchet Perks Priority Overview

• Remove two -1 cards (take twice)
• Replace one +0 with one +2 Muddle
• Add one +2 Wind (take three times)
• Replace one +1 with one +3 card (take three times)
• Replace one +0 with +0 Stun
• Replace one +1 with +1 Stun
• Replace one +0 with +1 Poison
• Replace one +0 with +1 Wound

Hatchet Enhancements Priority Overview

• Add Move or Jump to the bottom of Centre Mass
• Add +1 Attack to Brutalize
• Add Range or Target to Disorientating Barrage

Hatchet Items Priority Overview

• Minor Stamina Potion
• Eagle-Eye Goggles
• Boots of Striding
• Piercing Bow

Gloomhaven Hatchet Guide Detailed

In this detailed section I explain each decision and recommend some alternative decisions to consider based on your own playstyle or Gloomhaven party composition.

Hatchet Cards Detailed

The detailed card section includes starting cards all the way to level 9:

• Starting Cards: Double Throw is an obvious removal for the Hatchet given it is a double burn card and while we are a 10 card hand character we will always have our Favourite card active that effectively reduces us to 9 cards. Stopping Power and Extra Lift are both removed given they are weak attacks that don’t have particularly attractive bottom actions compared to our other options and we simply have better attack options that don’t need the Wind element to be useful given we have limited generation options.
• Level 2 Cards: At level 2 the Repeat Shot provides a high attack value of 5 on enemies that have our Favourite token which is well above the average of a level 2 card although it is conditional. Ricochet itself isn’t terrible if players enchant the top twice to boost it’s damage and feels fun to use in a thematic sense but simply can’t match the consistent unenchanted value of Repeat Shot. While I recommend removing Care Package at this point in the overview section if your team is short on healing it isn’t a bad card to keep around for a little longer to remove the pesky poison or wound you and your allies might accumulate and if this interests you then consider removing Power Pitch instead.
• Level 3 Cards: With the Hatchet having plenty of other methods in time to apply wound the top of Sharpened Blades is not that attractive, especially given we don’t want to rely on burn cards with our smaller effective hand size of 9 after playing The Favourite. The bottom four move is tempting but if we can be hyper efficient with the move we do have you will see better results from selecting Fearsome Efficiency as this gives us a bottom attack that should be used when we have a solid position already and expect to kill an enemy for a 3 attack. We will rarely use the top of Fearsome Efficiency as it’s not particularly useful to us but is a good card to generate some experience towards the end of a scenario.
• Level 4 Cards: Level 4 offers a decent persistent burn card in Overwatch as it can easily be 10 damage in a single turn depending on enemy numbers and their movement although it will be split damage. That being said I prefer the safety of Ripped The Flesh as it gives the Hatchet an easy method to reclaim their Favourite token while also providing some direct damage and wound utility to your team. If those reasons don’t align with your playstyle or team feel free to take the easy to use top attack and one of our better persistent burns in Overwatch.
• Level 5 Cards: While I have experimented a few times with either not taking this card or keeping both Favourite cards for nearly all players I think level 5 is an easy select and replace. The benefit of a Wound and push on your Favourite is definitely nice added utility for various enemy threats you will face and there aren’t any particularly strong pre level 5 cards to take instead anyway. If you find yourself frustrated with a lack of jump (or need it for a specific scenario) you can always bring the level 1 Favourite card back for that purpose which has the added benefit of another low initiative card.
• Level 6 Cards: The fast initiative of Quick Turnaround paired with the solid top attack and bottom provides another method to recover our token so it is an obvious choice at this level and much stronger than the level 6 alternative. While Fancy Hat has served well as a combo with Disorientating Barrage so far it’s generally around this level that our perks begin to carry our damage output so we can replace that card which was only there for that combo.
• Level 7 Cards: Brutalize is a clear winner of the level 7 options as it adds a powerful melee attack to move into an enemy that has our Favourite and hit them hard while retrieving it. The flexibility of this card is well above the alternative and provides a clear replacement for Ripped From The Flesh. If you want to hold onto the Wound and loot for party reasons then Follow Through which performs a similar role although at a distance could be replaced instead.
• Level 8 Cards: A flexible level for the Hatchet where either is a viable choice and it will depend on your party and playstyle with the main primary factors being your role in the team and the allies you find yourself with. My default option is the Camaraderie card that gives a simple top heal that with some co-ordination provides a massive heal 6 to the team split across 2 heroes while the bottom card helps us keep pace. If neither of these sound appealing for your current situation Shrapnel is not a terrible choice to give you another attacking option against two different targets while wounding them both.
• Level 9 Cards: Executioner’s Axe might have been a great theme for a level 9 card but it’s not our strongest option at this pinnacle level despite the large 12 guaranteed damage on the top and instant Favourite return if we killed an enemy given we already have an abundance of Favourite return options. Instead I prefer to take the reliable attack card that not only hits hard from a range of 4 but provides a guaranteed stun on a priority target that we need to disable for an entire round.

Hatchet Perks Detailed

The Hatchet is not unique for perk choices in Gloomhaven although has some special considerations with a +3 and a wealth of poison, wound and stun debuffs that turn your axes into deadly weapons. Start with removing any negative perks before buffing your options with less +0s, some +2s that will generate the occasional wind and finally grab those delicious +3 perks.

From here I recommend the perks in order of stun, poison and wound as I would rate them in that order of strength for the Hatchet. This is because we are never disappointed when we pull out a stun given its ability to disable an enemy for a round and poison can be a great team debuff to boost everyone’s damage given we already have reliable ways to trigger a wound with our cards if necessary.

Hatchet Enhancements Detailed

The Hatchet lacks significant enhancement opportunities but still has some critical quality of life options to maximise this axe wielding Inox. The first is adding additional movement or jump to your kit through the likes of Centre Mass as this is one of the few cards that stay with you from level 1 to 9 that has an enhancement available on the move action. While jump is generally not a huge priority for a ranged/melee hybrid the utility of being able to position around obstacles and/or traps is definitely welcome for usability.

Another potential option to help with playability is to buff Disorienting Barrage with extra range of targets which translates to extra damage or an easier time being in range. At larger party sizes I’d favour the additional target while smaller parties you may wish to get the added range to ensure you can maximise your targets hit at all times. The last notable recommendation here is adding an additional attack to Brutalize given it’s a staple damage card in our kit and one of the few other enhancements we actually have available.

Hatchet Items Detailed

Starting item choices for the Hatchet in Gloomhaven are aligned with similar damage dealing focused party members with players benefiting from the Eagle Eye Googles for our Fancy Hat and Disorientating Barrage combo early on. Adding in the always useful Minor Stamina Potion I suggest you grab the Piercing Bow to help deal with any shielded enemies for your team and the Boots of Striding to help counter our small movement speed values that make achieving the positions we want difficult.

After these starting items I recommend items that allow you to convert your ranged or melee attacks into area of effect attacks given the Hatchet has some hard hitting cards and perks. Upgrades to boots and anything you can find that gives additional turns, extra range or brings back your items to ensure you have the tools for a devastating turn.

For information and build guides on other Gloomhaven character options visit our Gloomhaven classes overview and the related Gloomhaven class tier list.

Written by

Samuel Franklin

Samuel Franklin is the founder and lead editor of the Games Finder team and enjoys video games across all genres and platforms.

As a seasoned Gloomhaven adventurer Sam has delved into both the physical board game and the digital adaption for hundreds of scenario hours. While he enjoys the camaraderie and social aspect of the tabletop experience the digital version conveniences make it his preferred way to play where he has unlocked all of the Steam achievements. Sam frequently commands the Spellweaver, an elemental spellcasting powerhouse that he finds immensely satisfying for the risky, high reward playstyle that the class offers.