Monster Abilities

This article contains the full list of card sets available to Monsters in Guild Of Dungeoneering.

Alpine Cards
Alpine is a set used by Monsters in the Mountains of Numb, accessible via the Ice Cream Headaches DLC. The set is relatively non-threatening due to dealing low physical damage at all levels, with the exception of the tier 5 ability Avalanche. However, even the lower levels can be challenging due to the inclusion of special effects, and depending on how early the area is accessed (ICH content is accessible very early in the Grasslands).

The most notable quality of this set is the tier 3 and 4 ability Glacier, since the freeze effect effectively reduces the player's hand size to a single card in the following round.




 * Boulder - Level 1
 * Thin Air - Level 2
 * Glacier - Level 3
 * Glacier - Level 4
 * Avalanche - Level 5

Aquatic Cards
The Aquatic set is used by many Monsters in the Pirate's Cove area and a handful of Monsters in the Mountains of Numb, available via Pirate's Cove and Ice Cream Headaches DLC, respectively. The set deals low to medium magic damage with some decent magic blocking thrown in, but the stand-out is the new card recycle feature. Recycling doesn't always seem to work properly, sometimes resulting in a full discard rather than a discard/redraw, and when it does work properly its effects are very random since you never know if you will get a better card from your deck than the one thrown away.




 * Splash - Level 1
 * Spray - Level 2
 * Wave - Level 3
 * Drown - Level 4
 * Whirlwind - Level 5

Armed Cards
Armed is used almost exclusively by enemies in the grasslands. Keep a card with at least one physical block handy to take care of Head blow.




 * Strike - Level 1
 * Head Blow - Level 2
 * Parry - Level 3
 * Stagger - Level 4
 * Swipe - Level 5

Burly Cards
A set with solid damage and no self inflicted damage, Burly starts showing up in the jungle. Be particularly cautious of enemies with 3 or 4 ranks, as a poorly timed Recharge can easily turn the tide of any fight.




 * Beat - Level 1
 * Pummel - Level 2
 * Recharge - Level 3
 * Relentless - Level 4

Death Cards
Death is a low damage magic set used only in the grasslands. It can be a threat early in a dungeon when you have only your starting set and low level equipment, but has little effect on a leveled up hero. For the few enemies that have Curse, it is a good idea to save a card with 2 or more magic block if you have one.




 * Pain - Level 1
 * Darkness - Level 2
 * Acrid Fog - Level 3
 * Shadow Spear - Level 4
 * Curse - Level 5

Demonic Cards
Only a handful of enemies starting in the jungle and mines use the high magic damage Demonic set. If you have low health or limited magic blocking in your deck, it might be a good idea to avoid these enemies if possible.




 * Sweeping Blast - Level 1
 * Magic Blast - Level 2
 * Dark Pact - Level 3
 * Fiery Burst - Level 4

Electrical Cards
The Electrical set is used by a handful of Monsters in the Pirate's Cove area and one Monster in the Mountains of Numb, available via Pirate's Cove and Ice Cream Headaches DLC, respectively. The set is very non-threatening with low magic damage and a couple of discards thrown in, but these are easily negated by saving a little bit of magic blocking in your hand.




 * Spark - Level 1
 * Shock - Level 2
 * Zap - Level 3
 * Lighting Bolt - Level 4
 * Electrical Storm - Level 5

Feral Cards
The Feral set consists of relatively low damage physical attacks and has no serious threats, although Charge can be a pain for magic-based Heroes. This set is used by enemies from the start of the game through the jungle zone.




 * Bite - Level 1
 * Bite - Level 2
 * Charge - Level 3
 * Charge - Level 4
 * Savage - Level 5

Flame Cards
Primarily used by enemies in the grasslands, Flame is a relatively weak set that poses no serious threat to any but the weakest of Heroes.




 * Spark - Level 1
 * Flare - Level 2
 * Fiery Weapon - Level 3
 * Fireball - Level 4
 * Blaze - Level 5

Frost Cards
Frost is another set used by Monsters in the Mountains of Numb, accessible via the Ice Cream Headaches DLC. This is a low magic damage set which poses almost no risk other than the tier 3 ability Freeze which effectively reduces the player's hand size to a single card in the following round, and the tier 5 ability Blizzard with solid damage and a conceal effect.




 * Snowball - Level 1
 * Snowball - Level 2
 * Freeze - Level 3
 * Icicle - Level 4
 * Blizzard - Level 5

Ghoulish Cards
The Ghoulish set starts with some solid damage, and closes with the dangerous Siphon at both level 3 and 4. This set appears almost exclusively in the Dwarven mines. It is recommended to have some magic defense in your deck before facing off against enemies possessing higher level Ghoulish abilities.




 * Pain - Level 1
 * Torment - Level 2
 * Siphon - Level 3
 * Siphon - Level 4

Gunnery Cards
Gunnery is another set that is available only to a handful of Monsters in the Pirate's Cove area and one Monster in the Mountains of Numb, available via Pirate's Cove and Ice Cream Headaches DLC, respectively. Any magic-based Hero should have no trouble dealing with this, while physical Heroes could find it a little troublesome.




 * Shoot - Level 1
 * Reload - Level 2
 * Reload - Level 3
 * Aim - Level 4
 * Bullseye - Level 5

Irritable Cards
Although capable of dealing moderate damage relatively early in the game, Irritable loses effectiveness due to the self-inflicted damage present at every level. This set shows up in all zones, but is much more common with enemies in the starting zone.




 * Anger - Level 1
 * Headbutt - Level 2
 * Headbutt - Level 3
 * Body Slam - Level 4
 * Body Slam - Level 5

Monk Cards
The Monk set is used by a number of Monsters in the Mountains of Numb, accessible via the Ice Cream Headaches DLC. The set contains a wide range of abilities which can be troublesome to an uprepared hero.

The first 3 tiers do minimal damage but will either steal a card or cause the freeze effect if the damage is not blocked. The tier 4 ability Artisinal Attack deals low damage but due to the mix of physical and magic damage PLUS the inclusion of low blocking in both categories, it can be a pain. Finally, the tier 5 ability Selfie is an unblockable and powerful heal that can easily shift the tide of any close battle.




 * Scoop - Level 1
 * Scoop - Level 2
 * Before it was cool - Level 3
 * Artisanal Attack - Level 4
 * Selfie - Level 5

Nature Cards
Nature is a deceptively effective set. The low damage makes it appear very weak at first glance, however the special effects, healing, and inclusion of both physical and magic damage add versatility that can make for some difficult battles, particularly early on in a dungeon. This set shows up fairly commonly throughout the grasslands and jungle zones.




 * Claw - Level 1
 * Neurotoxin - Level 2
 * Restore - Level 3
 * Acid Spit - Level 4
 * Devitalise - Level 5

Pickpocket Cards
Pickpocket is the last of the card sets available only via DLC. It is used by many Monsters in the Pirate's Cove area and a handful of Monsters in the Mountains of Numb (Ice Cream Headaches DLC). This is one of the most bizarre sets available, as the steal mechanic has some very strange side-effects. The developers likely need to do a bit more work on it in order to fix some of the glitches (such as when an enemy steals and plays a card that allows drawing more cards). For the most part the set is very non-threatening, although if enough cards are stolen the Hero might be challenged by the limited hand/deck size.

Note: It is worth pointing out that if playing a Cartomancer, you should be extremely cautious when dealing with enemies with Pickpocket. If an enemy steals the Card Storm card, it can do massive damage!




 * Yoink! - Level 1
 * Ransack - Level 2
 * Plunder - Level 3
 * Pickpocket - Level 4

Rage Cards
Rage begins to replace Irritable more and more frequently starting in the jungle zone, and is essentially just a replica of that set but with slightly increased damage. A few cards with physical blocks can make short work of enemies utilizing this set, but an unprepared hero may very well find the damage too much to handle.




 * Lunge - Level 1
 * Thrash - Level 2
 * Thrash - Level 3
 * Maul - Level 4

Smarts Cards
Smarts is another set used only by Monsters in the Mountains of Numb, accessible via the Ice Cream Headaches DLC. The set deals low magic damage and introduces a conceal mechanic that causes the player's entire hand to be face down for the next round. This is easily dealt with by memorizing the positions of all cards in hand before the conceal effect takes place, but if no decent cards are currently in hand then it may be necessary to gamble by playing a newly drawn and completely unknown card.




 * Brain Fart - Level 1
 * Brain Fart - Level 2
 * Pick a Card - Level 3
 * Mind Wipe - Level 4
 * Brain Wave - Level 5

Snowman Cards
The Snowman set is used only by (you guessed it!) various Snowman Monsters (and a single boss) in the Mountains of Numb, accessible via the Ice Cream Headaches DLC. The set is unique in that there are actually 13 cards, although only 4 of them are a standard set while the remainder fall under the category of 'unique' Snowman cards (generally only one card per Snowman enemy).

The primary set consists of low physical damage with the only stand out being the tier 4 Thwamp ability, which deals 3 damage and conceals the player's hand in the following round.




 * Thump - Level 1
 * Stomp - Level 2
 * Clomp - Level 3
 * Thwamp - Level 4

The unique 'set' consists of a wide range of abilities, some of which are relatively harmless and some that can be a real pain. It is important to note that all Snowman enemies will have the Snowmanable ability which forces the unique Snowman cards to the top of the deck (they are always played first).



Sorcery Cards
The combination of solid magic damage and special effects makes Sorcery one of the most dangerous sets available to Monsters in the jungle and mines. Even at the lower levels the healing and forced discard effects can quickly swing a battle in favor of the enemy, and the conceal effect of Black Strike should never be underestimated.




 * Dark Strike - Level 1
 * Chaos - Level 2
 * Black Strike - Level 3
 * Pure Magic - Level 4

Spooky Cards
In spite of the relatively low damage of this set, Spooky is one of the more dangerous sets available to monsters at the beginning of the game. This is largely due to the fact that every level of Spooky contains either some blocking or healing in addition to the damage, which can be difficult for a lower tier Hero to deal with.




 * Spook - Level 1
 * Drain - Level 2
 * Drain - Level 3
 * Swoop - Level 4
 * Siphon - Level 5

Venom Cards
Venom begins replacing the Nature set in the jungle and mines, and although it contains a little higher damage on average, it loses the special effects and ends up being less of a threat to the higher tier Heroes. The only serious threat here is Disease, and that is only available to a single boss.




 * Spider Bite - Level 1
 * Venomous Bite - Level 2
 * Acid Spit - Level 3
 * Disease - Level 4

Stupidity Cards
Only a handful of Monsters have Stupidity cards in their deck. A well timed draw of this card by the enemy often means victory in a close fight, however many Heroes have died while trying to hold out in the hope that a Stupidity card would be drawn.




 * Stupidity - Level 1
 * Stupidity - Level 2
 * Stupidity - Level 3