🃏 Death Howl Card Guide — Selected Cards and Rewards
Plan the shared mana budget, hand cycle, and legal deck size through 44 selected examples across attacks, defense, movement, spells, and Fylge support. The guide compares poison, back-positioning, and Echo-based approaches without making one archetype compulsory.
📑 Contents
🔮 Shared Mana: Movement and Card Play
A basic turn in Death Howl begins with 5 mana. This budget is shared between playing cards and movement (one tile normally costs one mana), so each turn requires deciding how far to move and which cards to play before ending in a safe position. Fylge summon cards add units with card-specific effects. Read each summon’s cost, attacks, and behavior; include setup, survival, and the current mode in the plan.
Basic mana
A basic turn begins with 5 mana.
Unused mana does not carry over to the next turn.
Fylge support
Read the specific summon’s effect.
An option whose value depends on setup and fight length.
Movement cost
One tile normally costs one mana.
Movement cards can improve the route and resource budget.
🔄 Hand Cycle: Know the Exceptions
At the end of a turn, inspect how the current cards are discarded, kept, or exhausted. Follow the card keywords and draw pile instead of assuming every card on the board returns to the same place or that the same five cards are drawn each turn. Examples include summoned Fylge, Keep effects, Exhaust effects, temporary Spirit Cards, and cards created through Echo instructions. Their behavior follows each keyword and card description. This means deck consistency needs planning rather than a promise that a small deck redraws every key card on every turn.
📦 Deck Size and Copy Restrictions
Use your mode’s deck-size limits and each card’s displayed copy conditions. A Realmless card avoids the extra out-of-realm mana penalty; check its individual deck conditions separately. Custom Mode can change minimum deck size and other rules.
| Category | Copy limit | Planning role | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Core choice | Use the current card’s displayed limit | Core choices for the plan | Choose effects that fit the deck rather than duplicating a card beyond its limit. |
| Supporting choice | Use the current card’s displayed limit | Supporting copies as needed | Repeat an effect only when it improves consistency and remains legal. |
| Realmless | Realm property, not universal exemption | Supporting copies as needed | Read the actual reward or summon effect; it is not an unrestricted extra-slot rule. |
⚠️ Overwhelmed, Spirit Cards, Doom, and Echo
💀 Overwhelmed / Doomed
Charge Overwhelmed through the applicable region and combat skills. Handle Doomed according to the encounter’s actual timer and removal conditions. These effects have different sources and do not create a universal deck-overflow rule.
👻 Spirit Cards
Spirit Cards are temporary options for the current battle obtained through the appropriate enemy and skill interactions. Read their effect and cost; they are not a general label for every card added to the hand.
🌀 Echo
Echo instructions can create or repeat effects according to the current card’s description. They can support Frostalite, but are not an automatic doubling of every card or a derived Bird Nest effect.
🐾 Fylge Basics
Summoning a Fylge addsa support unit with its own effect. Include its cost, placement, and vulnerability in the plan. Official patches change some behavior, including Bug’s occasional damage and Branch’s movement before firing.
🃏 Five Card Groups
Cards for dealing damage, pushing targets, and applying ailments. The proportion belongs to your deck plan rather than a fixed requirement that half the deck must be attacks.
Keywords: Direct / area / back attack / ranged / targeted attacks
Block and other defensive effects. Choose enough protection for the encounter; two or three cards in a fifteen-card example is not a universal rule.
Keywords: Block / ongoing effects / combinations / survival
Movement cards help spend the shared 5-mana budget efficiently while changing position on the grid.
Keywords: Movement distance / planning ahead / lower movement cost
Ailment removal, poison, draw, and other special effects. Choose them for the needs of the encounter.
Keywords: Cleanse / Poison / Draw / placed effects
Summon cards that add a unit with its own behavior. Read each Fylge’s resource and combat effects rather than assuming every summon has an identical mana rule.
Keywords: Summons / support / persistence / card-specific effects
🏆 Reading the Editorial Ratings
Tier S
A high-priority option to consider when it supports the deck’s plan.
Tier A
A strong option for a particular build or realm; not a universal requirement.
Tier B
A useful early or midgame option that may later be replaced.
Tier C
A basic option whose value depends on the surrounding synergies.
Attack — 23 examples
Damage options: choose the proportion for the deck’s plan.| Card | Mana | Effect | Source | Tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quick Strike | 1 | Launch observation: 1 damage and Push 2 | Realmless | B |
| Aim for the Heart | 2 | Launch observation: 3 ranged damage | Realmless | A |
| Furious Strike | 4 (-1/card) | Launch observation: 3 damage; cost falls by 1 for each card played earlier that turn | Realmless | A |
| Defensive Swing | 3 (-1/Shield) | Launch observation: 3 damage; cost falls by 1 for each current Block point | Realmless | A |
| Double Strike | See current card | Multi-hit attack; inspect current values | Distorted Hollows | B |
| Triple Strike | See current card | Three-hit attack; inspect current values | Distorted Hollows | A |
| Fireball | See current card | Fire damage option; inspect targets and area | Distorted Hollows | A |
| Rabid Attack | See current card | Attack-sequence option; inspect current text | Distorted Hollows | B |
| Stone Fist | See current card | Heavy attack option; inspect current cost and damage | Distorted Hollows | B |
| A Stream of Thoughts | See current card | Push 4; Exhaust; Last draws 4; Empty fills 4 mana in the recorded Normal Mode description | Cantharsis reward | S |
| Crushed from Above | See current card | Block-based attack; official patch removes Echo and consumes half the current Block | Piercing Winds | A |
| Heavy Blizzard | See current card | An area-attack option for grouped pieces. | Piercing Winds | A |
| Grand Spear | See current card | Spear attack option; inspect current reach and damage | Piercing Winds | A |
| A Burst of Ice | See current card | Recorded Normal Mode Realmless reward; verify its current effect and mode | Tradontoz reward | S |
| Sharpshooter | See current card | Ranged/rear-positioning option; inspect current conditions | Hostile Plains | A |
| Backstab | See current card | Rear-attack option; inspect its current bonus | Hostile Plains | S |
| Hunters Leap | See current card | Movement/attack option; inspect the landing tile | Hostile Plains | A |
| Tainted Spear | See current card | Damage option; a one-shot kill is not guaranteed | Hostile Plains | S |
| A Leap of Death | See current card | Recorded Exorath reward; name and effect must be checked by mode | Exorath reward | S |
| A Touch of Gloom | See current card | Recorded Cephagloom reward; inspect the current effect rather than assuming Poison | Cephagloom reward | S |
| Meteor Strike | See current card | Area-attack option; inspect targets and range | The Howling Mountain | S |
| Sun Beam | See current card | Line-attack option; inspect targets and range | The Howling Mountain | S |
| Frog Leap | See current card | Leap option; First now fills 2 mana after the official update | The Howling Mountain | A |
Defense — 5 examples
Choose enough protection for the actual encounter and legal deck size.| Card | Mana | Effect | Source | Tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Block of Wood | 2 | Launch observation: 2 Block | Realmless | B |
| Deep Meditation | See current card | Inspect Deep Meditation’s current effect; a large-Block effect is not established by the sources read | Realmless | A |
| Harden Soul | See current card | Block/support choice; inspect its current text and increased cost | Check current card realm | A |
| Ripples | See current card | Support/combination option; inspect current text | Realmless | B |
| Barkskin | See current card | Defensive option; inspect current effect | Realmless | B |
Movement — 3 examples
Positioning tools: choose enough for the arena and encounter.| Card | Mana | Effect | Source | Tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sprint | Launch observation: 1 mana and a card Sacrifice | Launch observation: move 2 tiles | Realmless | A |
| 2 Steps Ahead | See current card | Movement-planning option; inspect its current effect | Realmless | B |
| Light as a Feather | See current card | Resource/movement option; inspect the current description | Realmless | B |
Spell — 9 examples
Poison, removal, and special effects help define the deck’s plan.| Card | Mana | Effect | Source | Tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Light a Fire | See current card | Regional fire ability; nearby fire counters Chill in the recorded encounter | Piercing Winds | A |
| Cleanse | See current card | Removal for an ailment the current card can actually cleanse. | Distorted Hollows | A |
| Cure Poison | See current card | Poison-removal option; inspect its target and timing | Realmless | B |
| Warmth | See current card | Draw/support option; inspect the current effect | Realmless | B |
| Poisonous Grounds | See current card | Ground-targeted poison option; inspect affected tiles and timing | Gloomy Waters | S |
| Poisonous Winds | See current card | Poison option; inspect target restrictions and timing | Gloomy Waters | S |
| Poison Dart | See current card | Poison attack option; inspect current stacks | Gloomy Waters | A |
| Quiver of Poison Darts | See current card | Poison-support option; inspect targets and current values | Gloomy Waters | A |
| Blood Sacrifice | See current card | Official patch: fills 1 mana and Exhausts; not a poison-generation card | Gloomy Waters | A |
Fylge — 4 examples
Summon support with card-specific effects.| Card | Mana | Effect | Source | Tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bug Fylge | See current card | Companion summon; official update fixes its occasional one-damage behavior | Realmless | A |
| Cone Fylge | 2 | Recorded card UI: summon Cone; Exhaust | Piercing Winds | A |
| Branch Fylge | See current card | Companion option; an official fix allows one-tile movement before firing | The Wailing Marshes | A |
| Skull Fylge | See current card | Companion option; a realm-removal effect is not established | Hostile Plains | A |
In Death Howl, reward cards are options to evaluate. The four Great Spirits and the found card in The Glacial Maw provide different effects. A card’s Realmless realm property does not make it exempt from every deck restriction. Read current costs and conditions, and distinguish Normal Mode from REBIRTH, where Realmless card names and effects change. There is no fixed requirement to equip three or four of these cards before Sorg.
📝 Effect: A reward card with Push, Exhaust, and conditional draw/mana effects. It is not an ordinary damage attack or a reason to ignore deck restrictions.
💡 Role in the Deck: Obtain A Stream of Thoughts after defeating Cantharsis and read the Last and Empty conditions before using it. Time the Push and resource support within a turn; Exhaust means it is not an endlessly reusable basic attack, and spending all 5 mana does not also leave mana to move.
📝 Effect: A Tradontoz reward to inspect for its current cost and ice-related effect. Keep its Normal Mode and REBIRTH descriptions separate.
💡 Role in the Deck: Compare its conditions with the movement, protection, and damage the next encounter needs. Do not assume a reward automatically controls the whole arena or always freezes every target.
📝 Effect: A Cephagloom reward to compare with your poison-oriented plan; use its actual current effect.
💡 Role in the Deck: Check its realm, copy restrictions, and conditions before carrying it into later encounters. A reward is not automatically exempt from all deck rules or mandatory against Sorg.
📝 Effect: An Exorath reward in the launch-era observation. Check the current mode and description rather than assuming every target inherits Carapace’s doubled back-damage rule.
💡 Role in the Deck: Compare its movement and damage with the enemy’s facing. Sorg reacts to actions, so reaching the target’s earlier position does not guarantee the next attack will connect as planned.
📝 Effect: A Realmless card found through the bleeding-landscape interaction in The Glacial Maw. Its official later balance cost is 1 mana rather than the original 0; read the current effect before adding it.
💡 Role in the Deck: This is a found card, not a Great Spirit reward. Compare its actual resource effect with your deck’s needs; a claim of a generic long-range scouting effect is not used.
Death Howl rewards adapting cards to the realm and encounter. Review the deck between attempts and use the following ten examples as planning ideas rather than guaranteed solutions. Three particularly relevant examples are 1. Coordinated poison for Cephagloom / 2. Back-positioning for Exorath / 3. Strong sequences and optional Echo for Sorg, each adapted to the cards and resources you actually have.
🔑 Core Options
Poisonous Grounds / Poisonous Winds / A Touch of Gloom
⚙️ Support
Poison Dart / Quiver of Poison Darts / Blood Sacrifice / Infected Tooth Totem
Poisonous Grounds and Poisonous Winds can spread damage across the four tentacles. Coordinate their defeat, then prepare damage for the exposed 30-HP body’s three-turn window. Blood Sacrifice is a resource trade-off, not a source of guaranteed strong poison: the official update gives 1 mana and Exhaust. Check the health cost before using it.
🔑 Core Options
Backstab / Sharpshooter / A Leap of Death
⚙️ Support
Hunters Leap / Tainted Spear / Sprint / Goathoof Totem
Use movement to reach the backs of Carapaces, which take double damage there. Plan attacks against their 12 HP and refreshing 2 Block, then save damage for the one-turn body opening. Sprint, Hunters Leap, and damage cards are options; no particular card is a guaranteed one-shot against every target.
🔑 Core Options
Meteor Strike / Sun Beam / Frostalite Totem
⚙️ Support
A Stream of Thoughts / A Burst of Ice / A Leap of Death / Bug Fylge
Prepare strong action sequences for Sorg while reading new danger markers after each action. Echo effects can support Frostalite, whose end-of-turn damage depends on Echoes made and targets a random enemy. Include the actual cost and effect of any Fylge you use; this is not a guaranteed six-mana Meteor Strike/Sun Beam sequence.
🔑 Core Options
A Stream of Thoughts / A Burst of Ice / A Touch of Gloom / A Leap of Death
⚙️ Support
A Sight to Behold / Skull Fylge / Quick Strike / Aim for the Heart
Realmless cards can avoid the extra realm-cost penalty, but each still has its own effects and deck restrictions. Choose the ones that serve the plan instead of automatically adding all four rewards. Skull Fylge is not treated as a way to turn every crafted card into an unrestricted Realmless extra slot.
🔑 Core Options
Bug Fylge / Cone Fylge / Opal Totem
⚙️ Support
Furious Strike / Heavy Blizzard / Grand Spear / Bird Nest Totem
Plan around the summon you actually use: its opening cost, placement, survival, and resource effect. Check whether Opal applies to the intended card, and remember Bird Nest’s extra draw costs 1 more that turn. Multiple summons do not establish a universal seven-mana turn without their current effects and limits.
🔑 Core Options
Furious Strike / Defensive Swing
⚙️ Support
Block of Wood / Deep Meditation / Harden Soul / Ripples
When a card becomes cheaper after other actions or through Block, order the turn so the reduction applies before playing it. Read Furious Strike and Defensive Swing’s current conditions and realm penalty; do not assume every third card or every Block point always produces a free attack.
🔑 Core Options
Fireball / Heavy Blizzard / Quiver of Poison Darts
⚙️ Support
Meteor Strike / Sun Beam / Crushed from Above
Use area attacks when they remove several threats efficiently. Fireball, Heavy Blizzard, and poison options should be chosen for their actual target areas and costs. Against Puffballs and Shrooms, prioritize countdowns, pulls, and a safe ending position instead of damage to the boss alone.
🔑 Core Options
Triple Strike / Double Strike / Rabid Attack
⚙️ Support
Quick Strike / Stone Fist / Tree Root Totem
Tree Root gives a temporary attack bonus after a qualifying kill. Plan which enemy dies first and spend the bonus during the same turn with the multi-hit attacks you have. Check how each hit is targeted and how the buff applies before counting the total damage.
🔑 Core Options
Deep Meditation / Harden Soul / Ripples
⚙️ Support
Block of Wood / Barkskin / Thick Fur Totem / Amber Figurine Totem
Combine the defensive cards your deck can afford and use their actual durations. Harden Soul and other Piercing Winds combinations changed in balance updates, so check current costs before planning a long sequence. Thick Fur can protect against one fatal strike per battle; it does not make a long encounter harmless.
🔑 Core Options
Cleanse / Cure Poison / Warmth
⚙️ Support
Block of Wood / Quick Strike / Light as a Feather
Bring a response to the ailments the encounter actually applies. Read what Cleanse removes instead of treating it as an answer to every Curse card, Chill effect, or disruptive hand card. In Piercing Winds, the unlocked Light a Fire effect protects nearby Ro against Chill damage; that is a separate interaction.
A smaller legal deck can make key cards easier to find, but does not guarantee drawing the same cards every turn. Follow your mode’s minimum and maximum and understand what happens to played, discarded, kept, and exhausted cards.
Note: Use additional cards only when they solve a real problem. The goal is to avoid slots that do not support the plan, rather than enforcing fifteen cards in every mode.
Read the copy limit shown for each card in the current deck manager. Realmless describes a realm property that avoids the extra out-of-realm mana penalty. Read each card’s separate deck conditions.
Note: Choose a balanced set of attacks, movement, protection, and resources for the encounter. Choose quantities that support the planned sequence; Custom Mode can change card restrictions.
Read the card’s Echo instruction and the resulting card or repeated effect. Spirit Cards are temporary combat options obtained through the relevant skill and enemy interactions; neither category automatically raises deck limits.
Note: Use temporary cards according to their actual costs and effects. Ember is a damage/resource trade-off associated with the fire interaction, not simply a universal mana token.
Overwhelmed is a combat power unlocked and charged through the region’s skill system. It is not a punishment for having twenty cards, and does not automatically insert an instant-loss Curse when the deck is full.
Note: Doom threats belong to specific encounter effects such as the Totemite countdown. The later official update changes that timer from seven to six rounds. Handle the source of the threat; do not skip quest rewards because of an unsupported deck-overflow rule.
Review cards for the realm penalty and the next encounter. A familiar deck may need changes, but the game does not establish that completing it with one broad strategy is impossible.
Note: Poison for tentacles, back-positioning for Carapaces, and strong sequences for Sorg are examples. Adjust to your available cards instead of treating those three archetypes as mandatory.
If a Fylge supports the planned fight, budget its actual opening cost and protect its position. Check what mana and attacks remain after summoning; do not assume every Fylge always produces the same extra mana from a fixed third turn.
Note: In a short damage opening, a setup card may compete with an immediate attack. Compare its payoff with the duration of the encounter rather than using a universal three-turn rule.
🎯 Roles to Cover in a Legal Deck:
Reliable damage, protection, a way to reach safe positions, and the resources needed to play the intended sequence. Add Fylge or reward cards when their actual effect supports that plan; there is no universal fifteen-card ratio.
📌 Plan: Learn the basic cards and inspect the Cantharsis reward.
✅ Prioritize
- ▸ A Stream of Thoughts (Cantharsis reward)
- ▸ Triple Strike
- ▸ Fireball
- ▸ Cleanse
❌ Reconsider or Limit
- ▸ Stone Fist (compare with later attack options)
- ▸ Avoid cards with no role in the current plan.
💡 Tip: Bird Nest and Tree Root are useful early options from Nests in the Forest. Account for Bird Nest’s surcharge and Tree Root’s same-turn kill bonus. Keep a focused legal deck and inspect A Stream of Thoughts after defeating Cantharsis.
📌 Plan: Build a plan for cold pressure, ranged attacks, and Tradontoz’s hands.
✅ Prioritize
- ▸ A Burst of Ice (Tradontoz reward)
- ▸ Crushed from Above
- ▸ Heavy Blizzard
- ▸ Grand Spear
- ▸ Light a Fire
- ▸ Cone Fylge
❌ Reconsider or Limit
- ▸ Avoid more defense than the deck can use efficiently.
- ▸ Avoid relying on melee when a safe ranged opening is needed.
💡 Tip: Unlock the region’s Light a Fire through the Teardrop tree and use its nearby protection against Chill. Ember can deal damage at a mana/health cost. Evaluate Opal by its actual card-cost trigger rather than assuming a universal once-per-turn discount.
📌 Plan: Prepare coordinated tentacle damage; poison is an option.
✅ Prioritize
- ▸ A Touch of Gloom (Cephagloom reward)
- ▸ Poisonous Grounds
- ▸ Poisonous Winds
- ▸ Poison Dart
- ▸ Quiver of Poison Darts
- ▸ Blood Sacrifice
- ▸ Branch Fylge
❌ Reconsider or Limit
- ▸ Attacks that do not fit the current resource plan.
- ▸ Poison removal (check what your deck actually needs)
💡 Tip: Frozen Fish Head and Infected Tooth are Totem options to compare with the actual poison plan. Do not assume they fully cancel every health cost of Blood Sacrifice; calculate the trade-off using current card and Totem text.
📌 Plan: Prepare movement and back-positioning for Carapaces.
✅ Prioritize
- ▸ Exorath’s reward (check the current mode and name)
- ▸ Backstab
- ▸ Sharpshooter
- ▸ Hunters Leap
- ▸ Tainted Spear
- ▸ Skull Fylge
❌ Reconsider or Limit
- ▸ Carried-over poison cards that no longer fit the plan.
- ▸ Too many attacks that require an unsafe frontal position.
💡 Tip: Evaluate Push support and Amber Figurine’s first-turn 5 Block/next-Ailment protection. The opening matters, but one prescribed pair of Totems is not required to beat Exorath.
📌 Plan: Prepare damage, movement, and recovery for the final sequence.
✅ Prioritize
- ▸ Meteor Strike
- ▸ Sun Beam
- ▸ Frog Leap
- ▸ Reward cards that serve the current plan.
- ▸ Frostalite Totem
❌ Reconsider or Limit
- ▸ New summons that need more setup than the encounter allows.
- ▸ Slow setup cards that do not fit the available opening.
💡 Tip: Build a legal deck and plan around Sorg’s reactions to individual actions. Frostalite requires Echoes and targets randomly. For Moon Eel’s Roe, prepare movement or attacks that reach both sides; Hunters Leap is one option, not a universal requirement.
Q1 Which Death Howl cards are worth building around?
Choose cards for the encounter and realm rather than a single strongest-card ranking. The Great Spirit rewards have different effects: A Stream of Thoughts offers Push and conditional resource support, while other rewards should be read for their actual conditions. Tainted Spear is a damage option, but not an automatically Realmless card in every mode. Poisonous Grounds can help with several tentacles, while movement and attacks that reach across the arena are useful for Moon Eel. REBIRTH changes Realmless names and effects.
Q2 How many cards should a deck contain?
Use the legal minimum and maximum displayed by the deck manager in your mode. Keep a clear role for each card and check each card’s displayed copy and deck restrictions. A smaller legal deck can improve consistency, but adding cards is justified only if they solve a real resource, movement, or encounter problem. Custom Mode can change the minimum deck size and card restrictions, so this guide does not prescribe fifteen cards as a universal minimum or twenty as a universal maximum.
Q3 Should I include Fylge cards?
Fylge are summon cards with different effects. Choose one for the support it actually provides and include its cost, placement, and survival in the turn plan. Bug and Cone are not Totems or automatic extra equipment slots. The official balance updates also change some Fylge behavior—for example, Bug gains occasional damage and Branch can move into firing position—so compare the current card text instead of assuming every summon provides the same permanent mana return.
Q4 How should boss reward cards fit into the deck?
Inspect the actual reward’s cost, realm, conditions, and copy/deck restrictions in the current deck manager. A Stream of Thoughts is a resource/Push card with Exhaust, not a reusable basic damage attack. Do not assume all four rewards are extra unrestricted deck slots or compulsory choices. Cards found elsewhere, such as A Sight to Behold, also have their own conditions and have changed through balance updates. Keep Normal Mode and REBIRTH names and effects separate.
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