Last Updated on by Samuel Franklin
Build a tanky support Sunkeeper with this guide to the traditional tank archetype of Gloomhaven. Detailing the Sunkeeper (Sun) build from starting cards to level 9 and including my recommendations for perks, enhancements and equipment options this is your template for scenario success.
Table of Contents:
– Sunkeeper Cards, Perks, Enhancements and Items Overview
– Sunkeeper Cards Detailed
– Sunkeeper Perks Detailed
– Sunkeeper Enhancements Detailed
– Sunkeeper Items Detailed
Gloomhaven Sunkeeper Guide Overview
This quick reference section assumes you’ll be regularly playing the bottom persistent action of Defensive Stance that trades 1 movement value on all of our movement actions for 1 shield with a priority upgrade on this to 2 shield that is incredibly effective at allowing us to soak up damage for the team.
Sunkeeper Cards Overview
- Level 1: Remove Brilliant Prayer, Lay on Hands and Purifying Aura to create your starting deck of cards
- Level 2: Practical Plans replaces Beacon of Light
- Level 3: Mobilizing Axiom replaces Protective Blessing
- Level 4: Righteous Strength replaces Glorious Bolt
- Level 5: Path of Glory replaces Daybreak
- Level 6: Illuminate the Target replaces Empowering Command
- Level 7: Weapon of Purity replaces Tactical Order
- Level 8: Cleansing Force replaces Dazzling Charge
- Level 9: Angelic Ascension replaces Holy Strike
Sunkeeper Perks Priority Overview
- Ignore negative item effects and add two +1 cards
- Replace one -2 card with one +0 card
- Remove two -1 cards (take twice)
- Replace one +0 card with one +2 card
- Remove four zeros
- Add rolling stun card
- Add two rolling light cards (take twice)
- Add two rolling +1 heal cards (take twice)
- Add two rolling +1 cards (take twice)
- Add two rolling shield self cards
Sunkeeper Enhancements Priority Overview
- Add Shield to the bottom of Defensive Stance
- Add Move to the bottom of Cautious Advance and/or Hammer Blow and/or Righteous Strength
- Add Stun/Wound to the top of Hammer Blow and/or Mobolizing Axiom
Sunkeeper Items Priority Overview
- Minor Stamina Potion
- Boots of Striding
- Minor Healing Potion
- Hide Armour
- Iron Helmet
Gloomhaven Sunkeeper Guide Detailed
This detailed section goes deeper into my recommendations and some alternatives depending on your team needs across your tank, support and damage options.
Sunkeeper Cards Detailed
These card recommendations are in order from level 1 to 9:
- Starting Cards: Most initial Sunkeeper cards are reliable but I recommend removing Brilliant Prayer as its a double loss and then Beacon of Light and Lay on Hands as they offer little value to our core playstyle. Beacon of Light has some limited uses in large parties and scenarios for the consistent heal which we can swap for Purifying Aura if necessary but we give up an easy way to strengthen ally attacks.
- Level 2 Cards: Level 2 provides us the powerful Practical Plans that is well ahead of other heroes with an attack and move 5 on a single card at only level 2. It will stay a staple of our hand all the way to level 9 with its flexible actions that can either allow us to hit hard or catch up if we fall behind and is far superior to the Unwavering Mandate alternative.
- Level 3 Cards: Mobilizing Axiom is our level 3 choice and while it seems like a basic card its the bread and butter of our light generation for a long time. The bottom action can be played in certain scenarios where the objective is based on movement or simply at the end of a scenario to claim an easy experience point. This card also adds a faster initiative card at 23 which is always welcome to ensure we can kill an enemy or shield up.
- Level 4 Cards: Once again we have a clear decision with Righteous Strength having two strong actions to bless all our allies if we can co-ordinate with them and a reliable move card. Once again we also find an attractive initiative in 18 that starts to give the Sunkeeper some potential for surprising speed as a tanky class.
- Level 5 Cards: Path of Glory is my default recommendation as damage is generally an effective method of reducing damage by defeating enemies. Scales of Justice is an interesting card and while you shouldn’t expect it to outperform Path of Glory using the retaliate is fun in certain scenarios with the right enemy mix if you want to try an alternative build although this is something the Jaws of the Lion Red Guard is more adapt at.
- Level 6 Cards: At level 6 the Sunkeeper has two different supporting cards and players need to analyse their current and future party. For default choiceI recommend Illuminate the Target with a powerful 5 damage and an amazing bottom attack of 6 provided we have the necessary melee ally to utilise it. Where we don’t have a melee ally Supportive Chant starts to look attractive as the initiative of 11 allows us to buff every attack of our allies and particularly powerful for multi target attacks.
- Level 7 Cards: For a tanking focused hero its surprising to find a move and attack bottom action as this provides some strong turns where we can output up to 8 base attack and even move while doing it. Weapon of Purity offers the most flexibility of our level 7 options but Bright Aegis is perfectly viable if you are taking a beating in a larger Gloomhaven party size with its high base shield, sometimes useful retaliate and the potential for another source of light generation. The bottom of Bright Aegis also isn’t terrible when light is available to sacrifice our cards for a powerful damage dealer that could allow them to access cards they should not be able to use twice in a scenario which is of course party dependent.
- Level 8 Cards: With the double burn actions of Inspiring Sanctity it is easy to skip this card. Instead we look towards the reliable Cleansing Force which has a strong bottom action with good movement, simple light generation to empower another card and a decent 25 initiative.
- Level 9 Cards: Level 9 as a Sunkeeper is not particularly exciting compared to other Gloomhaven heroes. From our options I always lean towards Angelic Ascension as it gives us our best move yet for the bulk of the scenario before we can spike our power for the last room in a scenario.
Sunkeeper Perks Detailed
Sunkeeper perk options are straightforward until we reach the rolling decision points. As a tank focused character the ignore negative item effects is a clear initial choice to remove the negative attack modifiers that defensive armour has. From here it’s a familiar perk loop that focuses on removing our negative values, adding positive ones and eventually removing all the zeroes that creates a surprisingly potent modifier deck for a tank focused character.
Where things become complex for the Sunkeeper is the rolling cards as these are impacted by your party. Personally I’ve found the stun and light are good first options given a stun is generally going to reduce incoming damage while the additional light means we can use access the higher power in our cards. While these rolling modifiers are never guaranteed if players are finding their team already has an abundance of control or elemental methods but lacks healing the rolling shield or healing choices may be slightly favoured.
Sunkeeper Enhancements Detailed
The Sunkeeper has many potential enhancements although we really don’t need to spend the gold to be effective so be considerate to your allies and the pace of gold income when playing friendly with others. One exception to that is if we decide to play the recommended Defensive Stance style of play as the extra shield is absolutely necessary given it provides an incredible amount of value. Following on from this players will want to buff movement cards although this is less important when not playing Defensive Stance as our movement options are actually solid at their default value. Beyond these considerations you’ll want to look at adding some of the useful debuffs to some of the Sunkeeper’s core attacking cards in the form of stun or wound and poison that provide another aspect to our support and should be informed by our party needs.
Sunkeeper Items Detailed
For non spoiler starting items the Sunkeeper like most melee characters benefits the Iron Helmet and the Hide Armour although hopefully you’ll have higher tier chest armours available when you unlock the Sunkeeper. Boots of Striding or similarly higher tier boots are also nice for the Defensive Stance style of play and a combination of healing and stamina potions. Beyond starting items players will want to look for items that provide shields, interact with the light element and allow us to mitigate some of the damage risks we will face with our shield focused build (such as wound and poison).
For information and build guides on other Gloomhaven character options visit our Gloomhaven classes overview and the related Gloomhaven class tier list.
