Deep within the fiery depths lies the greatest demon in all of the Realm. A towering and terrifying beast that leaves destruction in his wake. Mighty arms crush any who would dare to fight against him. He is Azzoz the Accursed, and only the bravest and strongest can hope to defeat him…
Today we will talk about Azzoz and all that he encompasses. Not only is he big and bad, but he also introduces scourges to the game. Other bosses have scourges, but his particular ones are brutal—they’re curses.
The curse miniatures will be in clear-black plastic in the final form. Perfect for blighting a land.
Azzoz’s Mechanics
As you can see, he’s a lot to contend with. His minions leave curses the more of them are on the board, and he also leaves them as he advances onward to Monarch City. Plus, when you attack him, he deals a whopping three damage to the opposing hero. Oh, and a reduction in damage for reach rolled 1. Ouch!
Each boss has a dark effect, as well. Before reducing the darkness tracker, and in any order that you choose, boss dark effects happen. In Azzoz’s case, he deals three damage to any hero in his location. Make sure you get the heck out of the way of Azzoz when it comes to dark!
Boss Rewards
(Note that art is not final for these!)
When a boss is defeated, they drop their loot. You can choose to obtain three coins or one of the following cards: Flaming Lash, Azzoz’s True Name, or Hellgate Key. Add these to your hand immediately and reap the reward.
The Imps
Infernal imps are tricky and bothersome little creatures! They attack you at Dark, so any hero in a location with an imp loses a single health. For the elite mode, you’ll lose a health for each imp in that location.
What are elite modes? Fantastic question! They are simply a way to make the game just that much more difficult for those who want to experience more pain and suffering. Fun!
The Curse Board and the Curse Cards
Now that we know how Azzoz and his minions function, let’s talk about scourges.
In the core game, there are two kinds of scourges: ice and curses. Azzoz, obviously, deals in curses.
There is a curse deck of six cards, but only one is in play at any given time. Shuffle them and place one on top of the curse board. Then, six curses are placed on top of that curse card.
Curses are removed from the curse board onto the map by either Azzoz himself or his imps. When you would go to place a curse and there are no more to draw from, the card is permanently active.
And then you’re stuck dealing with that for the rest of the game!
Do not ignore curses. Why? Because as soon as those first six curses are on the map, you add an additional six curses to the curse board. Once those are empty? You lose the game. Don’t worry, that check only happens at Dark, so you do have a chance to get them back down.
Certain heroes are really great for dealing with curses. Samil, our Ranger and first hero that we talked about, can spend coins to test his skill and get them whittled down. But any hero may gain a darkness to test their arcane in an attempt to rid the land of an additional curse. No matter your build, curses can be dealt with! Just, y’know, maybe send the mage out there to handle them rather than the barbarian.
Azzoz is a fierce boss whose imps and scourges are sure to cause trouble if you and your fellow heroes don’t put a stop to them! Next time, we’ll talk about the mystical Krohl the Mage and card anatomy!