Death Howl combines the methodical combat of Soulslikes with the strategic thinking of deck builders to give you a fresh experience. But that’s also what makes the early game difficult. Once the combat system clicks into place, though, the game becomes a lot of fun.
In this guide, we’ll lay out 7 helpful combat tips to help you win against any enemy encounter in the game.
For more information on the game, check out their official website here.
Table of contents
The Starting Position Matters
When you start any battle in Death Howl, even boss fights, you’re first asked to select your Starting Position. This is the first meaningful decision you make going into combat, and despite how simple it looks, choosing the right tile makes a world of difference
Your starting position determines which enemies can reach you and which ones you can prioritize. For example, in the image above, choosing this tile means the Grimsnout won’t be able to reach us on the first turn, while we’re close enough to the Elder Gloomcroak to deal with it before it becomes a problem.
Alternatively, you can choose to go with the left-most tile to deal with the Grimsnout and Sobslug first before the Elder Gloomcroak, and Hatchwing can get close to you. This small choice can help you approach the battle in your own terms.
Use the Spirit Cards Teardrop Skill
Spirit Cards are one of the strongest Teardrop upgrades you can unlock when you enter a new Realm. This skill essentially gives you a temporary Spirit Card for free every time you defeat a monster. On top of that, these Spirit Cards usually only cost 1 or 2 Mana to use.
Once you further upgrade Spirit Cards in the Teardrop Skill Tree, the cost drops even further. These temporary cards can be used for repositioning, cleansing ailments, dealing extra damage, or even finishing off another Spirit. Sometimes you can chain multiple Spirit Cards together and end a fight in a single turn.
Build a Balanced Deck with Both Ranged and Melee Options
There’s a wide variety of attack cards in Death Howl. Some are ranged, some are melee, some hit adjacent targets, and others require distance to trigger.
When building your deck, you need a mix of all of these so you can handle different Spirit types across the Realm you’re currently in. You don’t want to go all-in on melee cards only to get kited by ranged enemies that run away after striking you. A balanced deck is always the smarter approach.
Combine Multi-Hits With Overwhelmed
The Overwhelmed Teardrop Skill, especially at level 1, might feel weak at first when paired with a single-hit card like Quick Attack or Defensive Strike. It only adds 1, 2, or 3 extra damage each turn, depending on your stack, and on a single card, that’s not too impressive.
But when you use Overwhelmed with multi-hit cards like Double Strike or Triple Strike, the damage skyrockets. Even +1 damage becomes +2 or +3 instantly. Learn how to utilize this interaction to deal massive damage to bosses and Elder Spirits.
Learn the Card Effects
Death Howl has a ton of card effects you’ll want to learn to use your cards properly. These range from simple effects like Push, which knocks enemies back a few tiles, to more complex ones like Echo, which keeps the card in your hand when triggered, or Backstab, which triggers when you strike an enemy from behind.
There are too many to cover here, so take some time to browse your in-game card menu. You can also hover over cards during battle to see what each effect does. Since there’s no timer during combat, read your card effects thoroughly so you can use them effectively.
Best Early-Game Totem
Totems are passive effects that give you special buffs in battle. At the start of the game, you can only equip one, but as you unlock more Teardrop upgrades, you can eventually equip up to four.
The best early-game Totem hands-down is Tree Roots. You can find it in the Nest south of the Northern Sacred Grove in the Forest of Howling Death. This Totem gives you +1 damage for the current turn every time you kill a Spirit. Combined with Overwhelmed, it lets you pile on huge damage if you can trigger it.
Debuff Removers Are Great
Some Spirits can inflict debuffs like Poison, which deals damage over time, or Freeze, which prevents movement for a few turns. Having at least one debuff remover in your deck keeps you prepared for these situations.
Cards like Cure Poison or Cleanse can come in handy when you’re low on health and have a negative debuff weighing you down. If a particular enemy or region keeps giving you trouble with status effects, swap in a debuff remover or two into your deck to make things easier, even if it’s only for a single battle.
Positional Cards Can Be Useful
Positioning is the most important tool at your disposal in Death Howl. You don’t want to face tank damage and trade hits with enemies just because you know you’ll win. Using the Sacred Grove to heal will cause all enemies to respawn. And since the latter areas will require you to fight multiple Spirits in a row before you reach another Sacred Grove, you need to negate as much damage as possible if you want to progress.
Positional cards like Sprint let you cross multiple tiles in one action and avoid being caught in an enemy’s attack range. When an enemy can attack you, you’ll see an exclamation mark above their head. Use this as a guide to reposition each turn safely.
This concludes this guide for Death Howl. For more interesting articles related to indie games, check out the links below:
- Into Indie Games Home Page
- Routine Walkthrough Hub
- Sleep Awake Complete Walkthrough – All Chapters
- Marvel Cosmic Invasion Review
- Winter Burrow Review
Muhit Rahman lives off two things: gaming marathons and endless cups of tea. He writes guides, reviews, and occasionally forgets that real life doesn’t come with checkpoints. His favorite genres are Soulslike and Metroidvania, with Dark Souls III, Hollow Knight, and Dota 2 forever holding top spots on his all-time list.
