SteamWorld Quest: The Hand of Gilgamech is the latest game in the SteamWorld series, and it’s out for Nintendo Switch today! It’s a Fantasy Card Battle RPG! I made this guide to help players find all the items, secrets, and handle all the bosses! It’s still slightly a work in progress (the game came out today) but I’ll keep updating it. You can help me finish by helping out with the cards spreadsheet!

If you have any particularly good decks or strategies you like to use, let everyone know in the comments! Also see my Video Content on SteamWorld Quest. Also feel free to stop by my Discord Server.

Updates

2019-06-18: Added a nice searchable, sortable table of weapons and effects. Thanks to everyone who helped with the spreadsheet! Added preliminary card table. Need to tidy it up.

Added some official art to pretty things up. Added secret locations to some of the areas in Walkthrough.

SteamWorld Quest Quick Start Guide

General

You might think grinding wouldn’t matter much for a card battle game, only letting you get new cards. However, cards’ affects are based on your characters’ base stats, which grow significantly each level. If you’re stuck, don’t be afraid to grind, even one level can make a large difference.

Don’t worry about missing things; you can replay chapters later on, getting the opportunity to fully revisit the story, treasure, and enemy formations even if you miss something.

Difficulty can be changed at any time; feel free to adjust it up or down at will!

There’s no real penalty for losing; you’re shot back to the last Gilgamech statue you healed at but you’ll have to try again of course.

Battle

Don’t be afraid to swap cards with X! Unlike most card battle games, there is no downside to swapping out cards, as there is no discard pile and all cards are sorted right back into the deck. If you can’t or don’t want to use a card, it’s often best to switch it out.

Don’t be afraid to swap cards with X! Unlike most card battle games, there is no downside to swapping out cards, as there is no discard pile and all cards are sorted right back into the deck. If you can’t or don’t want to use a card, it’s often best to switch it out. At a certain vertical distance, enemies won’t detect you even if they appear to be looking at you. You can use this to run straight by certain formations you shouldn’t otherwise be able to.

Press Y to end your turn if you can’t place any more cards; make sure you’ve used up your card swaps for the turn! You won’t get any new cards just by passing the turn

Don’t neglect the gear and cards of any one player in your team; due to the random nature of draws, you’re likely to need to rely at least partially on all three party members in any serious fight.

Experience works on a relative scale, so going back and beating up super low level monsters will give little experience (but the same gold and items as before)

You can check immunities mid-battle quickly by using the L button; this also lets you check status effects and stats!

Almost all bosses are immune to Paralysis, Sleep, Confuse, Stop, Despair, and Berserk. Notably, this leaves them still completely vulnerable to Poison, Burn, Blind, Flinch, and any other unlisted effect.

If you die to a boss, you should almost always try changing up your deck. It makes a huge difference especially if you bump into a boss’s immunities or status effects.

Grinding

Grinding experience should always be done on the highest level enemies you can fight.

Grinding materials can be done on super weak enemies (less drops, but very fast) or recent enemies (if you want the experience and gold too)

Before you grind too much, be sure to go back and collect 100% of treasure from prior levels! It will include some fights to help you grind and can result in Card or Item rewards that can help you a lot

You don’t need to buy everything from the shop, especially early on. Consider forgoing an expensive and minor upgrade if you can buy something more significant instead.

Enemies can only drop specific Materials and amounts of gold; check the Bestiary in the Compendium to see which enemies have what you want.

When upgrading cards, straight damage upgrades are usually very weak, while upgrades that add or improve status are usually very worthwhile.

Cards

Cards are never lost in SteamWorld Quest, only gained, and the same card will always be unlocked in the same way; there’s no randomness involved in acquiring cards.

Each character’s deck is only 8 cards at a time, so it’s super easy to adjust; tinker often!

Skill cards often cost SP, but don’t generate SP even if their cost is 0. To balance your skill cards, I find it’s best to have 3-5 Strike or Upgrade cards to build Steam Pressure and more consistently allow you to play three cards in a row from a hero (to keep up Heroic Combos).

Enemies have their own unique cards! View them in the Compendium.

Quick Look Review

Mechanics

Stats

Stats in SteamWorld Quest are a lot different from usual Card Battle games; Your characters have base stats, and the damage for all cards is actually based on either your Strength or Magic stat. This means cards stay useful throughout the whole game, and level grinding is a significant part of improving your characters.

The numbers listed on a card are reflective of your character’s current stats, after applying any current buffs on that card, but before applying any specific enemies’ weakness or resistence. Of note, some cards may use the Strength or Magic stat even though at first blush you may assume them to be the opposite. If your character is lacking in a stat a critical card needs, consider rejiggering their Accessories.

Heroic Chain

Using 3 cards of the same character in one turn activates a Heroic Chain; a special card (determine by their currently equipped weapon) will be played after the card that activates the chain. Heroic Chain cards are often very useful or unique in their effects.

Swapping cards out with X can be a great way to finish a combo if you don’t have enough non-Skill cards or cards for the hero you wish to use. A Heroic Chain is usually worth swapping out a card or two for someone else.

Tag Team Combo

Certain cards in SteamWorld Quest have a Tag Team effect; an extra effect (often more damage or a status effect) will only be applied if you play a card of the matching character after the card listing the Tag Team effect.

Notably, if you use Haste or another card that allows playing more than 3 cards, you can use both a Tag Team and a Heroic Chain in the same turn!

Status Effects

Status effects in SteamWorld Quest are much more reliable than in many RPGs; infliction rate is written explicitly on the card (often 50% or 100%), and almost all enemies are vulnerable to almost all statuses.

Do note that almost all Boss units in SteamWorld Quest have the same status immunities: Paralysis, Sleep, Confuse, Stop, Despair, and Berserk. There’s plenty to work with outside of those however, so go nuts hamstringing bosses!

Berserk

Applied by enemy units to your party. The unit will automatically use a special Strike card on a random target on it’s turn and you cannot manually add or remove cards for them for the duration of the effect. Bosses are usually immune.

Bleed

Deals a percentage of the target’s HP in damage each time they act. For players, this can be avoided by not using cards of Bleeding members.

Blind

50% of attacks will miss, including magic attacks (unlike some RPGs).

Confuse

Unit may target incorrect unit when attacking. Bosses are usually immune.

Flinch

Flinch removes a single card from the enemy’s turn. Certain (probably boss?) cards apparently can’t be Flinched, though I’ve rarely seen this happen. If the target is using multiple cards, the first card up will be flinched away first. Multiple flinches in one turn can remove multiple cards.

Note that flinching a Strike or Upgrade card away also delays that enemy’s Steam Pressure, making it useful for bosses/suiciding enemies.

Paralysis

Adds a high (maybe 50%?) chance of preventing a target from acting on an affected turn. Severely debilitating, great to apply early to allow your team to build up SP and buffs. Paralysis can even interrupt counter attacks. Bosses are usually immune.

Characters

Steamworld Quest has 5 playable characters, all with their own set of cards and an associated Element and Material. Most of their cards will require their respective Material for crafting/upgrades, but not always.

To see which Cards a character can use, see the Cards Spreadsheet.

Armilly

Element: Fire (but mostly physical)

Material: Smoldering Ember

She’s your standard meathead Fighter/Knight. Lots of direct attacks, all based on her Strength stat, and some of her skills heal or buff her own attack as well. Later on she’ll start getting Flame skills.

She’s the simplest character to use and quite easy to replace as well; she deals solid single target damage and buffs herself up well, but has somewhat less interesting and complex strategy options. But this also means she depends less on setups from other characters.

Copernica

Element: Frost, Fire, Shock

Material: Scroll Fragment

Your standard Mage, she needs SP to use most of her powerful skills but midgame she gets some good Strike/Upgrade skills. She the most elements for one character (Frost, Shock, Fire), and you might need to shuffle your deck based on local enemies’ weaknesses to get the most use out of her. All in all, she’s a worthwhile and not too complicated fighter.

Notably, she can create lots of Overhealing shields that can add nearly unlimited extra HP that is depleted first when struck by an enemy. This can be useful in lieu of healing to soak up damage. Even better she can do this without Steam Pressure with some cards.

Note that while her melee range might look shorter outside of battle, the range for initiating preemptive attacks is fixed. You can only start a preemptive attack when the A button prompt appears over a target, and it appears no later even when Copernica is leading. The party leader is cosmetic.

Galleo

Element: Frost

Material: Trashinium

Galleo is a Healer/Tank/Status Magic kinda guy, and doesn’t easily fall in one niche until you start sorting his deck. He starts with some very expensive skills, but he has some useful zero cost stuff later on as well. He fits in well as a versatile character.

I find it best to use Galleo as medic & debuffer, his attack skills are alright (though few and far between), but it’s hard to ignore his support skills.

Orik

Element: Shock

Material: Lustrous Fiber

Something like a Stance character in a Fighting game, Orik gets special bonuses based on which Mask he’s currently wearing, which can be changed by special Skill cards in his deck. You get his current and previous effect’s bonus on the turn of a change, so frequent swapping is encouraged.

Orik’s skills frequently hinge on critical hits, boosting them or requiring them for extra effects. He thus benefits from luck/critical hit boosts, though he has cards to buff these stats to an incredible amount himself. Notably his Bushido Upgrade card can almost guarantee a crit, making it essential for some setups.

Tarah & Thayne

Element: Arcane

Material: Foul Liquid

Surprisingly flexible and strong, the Twins can steal stats, health, and gold from enemies, as well as deal formidable Physical and Arcane damage with significant side effects. The twins also have some significant support skills that let them trip up enemies.

The downside of the Twins is their bad HP and frequently high cost of their skills. I find them very effective and almost always have them tag along. Their steal is just too good (gold always comes in handy) and Twin Combo is some of the best damage any character can put out for 2 SP. The Leech combo card also really helps mitigate the problem of their health.

SteamWorld Quest Walkthrough

More maps coming soon, and I’ll be marking them up with the hidden rooms shortly.

Act 1

Chapter 1: The Knight and the Alchemist

There are no secret rooms in this chapter; treasure is all in plain sight.

Longplay Video.

Nothing should be too hard here; try practicing different tactics and if anything is really too much for you, try lowering the difficulty for a bit.

Chapter 2: The Village of Goosebucket

There’s one secret room with treasure in this chapter, marked on the map.

Longplay Video.

Captain Canary

This is likely the first fight you may have some difficulty on. Captain Canary uses two cards each turn and can deal a lot of damage.

Save up Skill Points for healing and you might want to keep a Mend card for some emergency healing. With consistent Barriers from Copernica you can stay pretty safe. Remember she can over-heal characters with her shields too!

Heroic Chains from Galleo and Copernica can help mitigate the incoming damage as well. All in all, unless you neglect healing there’s not too much of a problem here.

Chapter 3: Off to See the Heroes

Longplay Video.

Drillqueen

Defeating her drones only saves 10-20 damage per turn, which isn’t really worth the wasted damage. Instead, make sure Coperica or Galleo get a Heoric Chain to keep your shields and health high.

The queen and drones are weak to Ice, so Creeping Cold is great to clear away the drones while still hitting the queen.

Chapter 4: In Pursuit of an Evil Army

Longplay Video.

Keymaster Kleidon & Puppy

This chapter feels like a tutorial for the shop; the shop weapons, accessories, and cards are extremely useful for this fight. In particular I’d recommend buying all 3 weapons, and both Poison and Bleed null.

Take out Keymaster first as he’ll quickly show you how dangerous status effects are. If you can inflict bleed on him it’s an extra bonus, as he acts twice for each turn Puppy takes. The Super Soaker cards you should find for Galleo will also prove a wonderful combo with the weapon skills for Galleo and Copernica.

Puppy isn’t completely free once he’s alone; he’ll regenerate a lot of health and outputs okay damage. But no special strategy is required, though status effects can help. Keep your HP up and wale on him with your strongest attacks and he should go down.

Chapter 5: To The Rescue

Longplay Video.

No boss here, but the next stage is boss-only. Enemies shouldn’t be too tricky, there’s just a lot of them. Try learning to weave around enemies if necessary to reduce your damage burden.

Chapter 6: Canary in a Coal Mine

There is no treasure in this chapter.

Longplay Video.

Captain Canary & Narcassian Dragon

Recommended level: 17

Easily the hardest fight you’ve ever had; and nowhere to grind before it in this chapter! If you’re overwhelmed, peruse the shop, change cards, and grind by using System> Change Chapter. It’s a good time to go back and 100% prior chapters. Resisting Arcane is also useful for this fight.

The dragon’s a meat shield mostly, it won’t do tons of damage on it’s own and resists many major status ailments, and takes less physical and Arcane damage. It’s weak to Ice, but save it for after Canary is down.

The key to the fight is to afflict both targets with Poison and Blind; conveniently both sold in the shop for Galleo! Poison greatly reduces the amount of damage you’ll need to deal, and blind will reduce their damage output drastically.

Pummel Captain Canary after he or both of them are afflicted status effects to clear him first. With Canary down just wale on the dragon and heal anyone that gets too low. Flinch can cancel a surprising amount of his attacks and prevent him from charging up.

Act 2

Chapter 7: At The College Gate

There’s one Secret treasure here, and it’s a bit hard to show on a map.

Longplay Video, including the secret chest.

To get the secret chest in the forest, once you get into the 4 ways puzzle, go down (following the butterfly) then back up into the same door you come from (up). There’s a chest with 1000 coins.

You can now upgrade your cards at the shop! Pretty useful especially for the cards you use the most. Status-effect cards tend to get the biggest benefit.

The map has a pretty simple Lost Woods puzzle, just follow the butterfly if it wasn’t obvious.

Slime King

Same tactics as the last Captain Canary fight really; poison, blind, and flinch will keep it from really getting the upper hand. Poison in particular puts it’s high health to work against it. Don’t bother killing the Gooplings unless you have good AOE skills to use anyway. It’s better to status attack them or ignore them, since the Slime King will waste turns trying to Split either way.

Chapter 8

Longplay Video.

No boss here, but be on the lookout for several secrets throughout this area hidden behind walls. Watch for the A prompt to open chests that appear behind vision obstructions.

Chapter 9: Back to School

Longplay Video.

Another Dragon; Ice dragon this time. Very weak to fire, immune to ice and most status effects other than Poison, Flinch and Provoke. No longer resistant to physical however.

With proper status moves this should prove fairly simple as well.

New party member: Tarah & Thayne! They can steal money and stats from enemies. Watch for secrets to get the Magnum Opus book for Copernica.

Chapter 10: The Misguided Mentor

There is no treasure in this chapter.

Longplay Video.

Boss: Headmistress Hyapathia

Nothing super difficult here; she’ll disable one of your characters frequently with Stop and uses Frost, Shock, and Fire damage at random. She can also equal out your characters’ health, so keep everyone high, pile on the usual status effects for bosses, and do your best.

Act 3

Chapter 11: A Blooming Corruption

Watch for enemies immune to physical damage!

Boss: Captain Canary

Yep, him again. Stame tactics really, poison, any status effects really.

Chapter 12: Into Ruins

There’s a puzzle here but it’s pretty easy, just remember the 3 symbols. Not sure if they’re randomly generated or not yet.

Boss: Morghanan Dragon

Another dragon! Same basic blind/poison setup will help a lot, but this one has an annoying twist; it counters physical strikes with Storm damage. And a fair amount of it. It’s immune to Storm damage too, so leave your Electric cards behind. It is not weak to Ice however.

Copernica is a must for magic spam, Galleo is great to bring for healing, and the Rabbit Twins can deal some elemental damage as well. Armilly is probably best not to bring.

Chapter 13: Bread and Circus

There is no treasure in this chapter.

An ol’ fashioned Coliseum style match! Bring some method of healing the party (Copernica’s shields, Galleo’s various skills, and the Twins’ Drain Life all work well) because you don’t get to pause between fights.

Chapter 14: Never Trust a Druid

Treasure: Death’s Door (Card)

Another mazey map with tough enemies, but no boss. Don’t forget to explore every room and fight the Duck Truck to get the Pandora’s Box accessory.

Chapter 15: The Root of the Curse

There is no treasure in this chapter.

Boss: Teras Koloss

As an evil tree, it’s got weak resistance to Arcane and Frost damage, but a minor weakness to Fire. It summons branches.

If you have decent group healing you can ignore the branches and clear them as you’re able with AOE attacks; like prior trash mob spawning bosses, it won’t stop spawning them. He’ll eat his spawn every few turns anyway, healing significantly less HP than the trash units have.

I used the Twins (Twin Combo is just too good, plus their leech from Heroic Chain), Copernica (shields plus fire damage), and Galleo (can’t say no to status ailments).

Act 4

If you haven’t yet, you should probably buy the Learning Machine in the shop to reduce potential grind.

Chapter 16: Into The Mountains

There’s a hidden switch in the room just before the Gilgamech statue, it’s obscured by the foreground at the far right. Flip the switch and the locked door at the start of the area will be open. The Lightning Rod card is inside.

A bittersweet reunion with an old friend.

Chapter 17: On the Threshold of Fate

Things are going to start getting really hard here, especially the bosses, and especially on the highest difficulty! It’s a good time to grind, make sure you’ve 100%’d treasures before this map, and maybe check out the Colosseum. By this point I had bought every available card from the Store.

Note: Treasure on this map is bugged (the Retrospectre chests that give Moon Juice count each playthrough). Be sure to 100% the chests the first time so you know you’ve got it all. After that, you’ll start getting treasure numbers over 100%. Fortunately, there’s no tricky chests anyway.

Some great (and expensive!) weapons just got added to the store too. Get grinded, geared up, and get ready for the Boss Rush!

Boss: Shadow Dragon

Recommended level: 35+

Like the other dragons you already fought, but this one’s immune to physical and uses Arcane magic. Use plenty of status effects and elemental attacks, and otherwise you know how to handle dragons by now, right? It’s extreme HP makes it more of a target than ever for Burn and Poison. It can also poison the whole party.

The Mystic Gift card in this area can be useful, turning the Twins’ physical attacks into Arcane, letting you use them as normal for this fight.

Boss: Shadow Headmistress

Nothing too special here, just a two-turn taking, all-allies-hitting, single-target-stopping evil bird thing.

Anything you can do to reduce the damage her elemental spam or prevent her from taking turns will help a lot, as will Poison/Burn/Bleed/Blind like all bosses. Focus on full-team heals, she always hits the whole party.

Boss: Shadow Koloss

Another repeat, not too different; it’s strong against Frost and Arcane, weak to Fire. Same tactics as before should do it. Grind a bit on the nearby enemies if you’re not hitting hard enough.

Chapter 18: The Hand of Gilgamech

~Titledrop~

Note that you can repeat this chapter to get the drops from these bosses again, and thus farm infinite Advanced Materials for card crafting (or selling).

Boss: Reckless Knight, Arrogant Alchemist, Brooding Hermit

Recommended level: 40+

Drops: Adamantium Ingot, Phoenix Plume, Azoth Jar

It’s not an RPG until you fight your shadow-selves, right?

Fake Galleo is immune to Physical and resists Arcane, Fake Copernica resists Shock, Frost, and Fire, and Fake Armilly resists Physical and is immune to Fire. Match targets with elements carefully; nothing works on all of them, so just bring who you like and bring lots of elemental cards.

Rev up those status effects and full team buffs & heals. This is going to be a rough one no matter how you slice it. Try to take out Copernica first; she isn’t immune to anything, she has the least HP, and she has an absolutely infuriatingly strong full team shield that will erase multiple turns worth of effort each time it’s cast.

What I did was stock Galleo with provoke, blind, regen, fixer, and physical immunity. I used him to neutralize incoming damage mostly. Copernica I used for damage and shields and element ward to reduce incoming damage. I used Tarah and Thanye to deal heavy Arcane damage with Twin Combo, Arcane Shock, Skunk Spray and both Magic/Strength Drains. I took out Fake Copernica ASAP.

If you’re having too much trouble with the immunities, try turning the difficulty down to Squire; they turn into tier 3 resistances instead, and the other resistances are nerfed slightly too. Significantly changes the strategy required.

Boss: Repressive Sister, Burdensome Brother

Drops: Ghostly Flame, Focused Rage (Card)

Just two of them, but much more HP than the earlier fight. Both are immune to Arcane, the Brother is resistant to Frost and the Sister is resistant to Fire. It should be obvious, but in case you don’t use them yourself, the sister will use Physical Strength moves and the brother will use Magical Arcane moves.

It’s okay to take roughly the same setup as the last fight into this one, just swap everything on Tarah and Thanye to physical instead of Arcane. The twins are a fairly straightforward fight and unless your deck is a poor matchup, they shouldn’t cause you problems if you’ve come this far.

Boss: Wayward Spirit, Demon Warrior, Jovial Deity

Spirit is immune to Thunder, Demon to Arcane, Deity to Frost.

Drops: Gold Lotus

Take out the Deity with strong focused attacks; weaker attacks will actually heal it or be a waste of a turn. Alternately, it’s slower but safer to save it for last, as confusion may cause your characters to heal it instead.

Again, this shouldn’t be a big deal unless you won the first evil clone fight by sheer accident.

Boss: Gilgamech

Drops: True Heroes (Card), 15 of every basic Material

Not immune to any elements, phew! Just the highest stats in the game and some extremely painful cards.

Use your usual boss strategies. Poison, Blind, Flinch, Provoke and debuffs are extremely useful. If you don’t poison him, you’re missing over 1000 damage a turn!

He’s going to fake you out once he gets to half HP, fully healing then using his real attacks. Don’t waste too much SP before this, and use the time to build some buffs. Once he charges up (he even gets a status effect showing it’s happening) he casts Ultima, dealing over 1000 Arcane damage to all your crew. Make sure you’re ready to survive it.

Blinding him before Ultima or when he’s in Counter Stance can help a lot.

…

Heh. You didn’t think that was it, did ya?

Chapter 19: Behemoth

The final items have been added to the shop–and boy are they expensive!

Boss: Gilgamech

This washed-up dude again? At least his HP is nice and low. I wonder why this weird circle on the floor keeps lighting up with every attack. Probably nothing…

Ah.

Boss: Mechathiranos, Mamenta Astrum, Cruento Terram

Someone’s been playing too much Final Fantasy. Of course the boss has hand parts and latin names!

The hands have resistances, but not the head. The hands counter, too, but only once per turn; exploit this by hitting them several times at once. Not even a final boss is immune to our favorite statuses though: Poison, Blind, you remember.

Destroy the hands to open the mouth and make the boss vulnerable again. You’ll have to repeat this process multiple times. It’s going to be a long fight, so Regenerate + Copernica’s Shields will help a great deal. For the final round, it’s shields won’t go back up, so just focus on the face.

Once it’s fully charged it’s large SP bar, it will use a 100% damage (!!!) flame skill on the whole party. Make sure to have fire protection or Copernica’s shields up at this point. Element Ward is quite useful for the whole battle too.

Colosseum of the Cursed

Challenges here can be taken as soon as the end of Act 3, but you might want to grind a bit in Act 4 to be up to par for some of them. The level suggestions are pretty on point, though the special rules on most Cups make them a bit harder.

Note you get no experience in the Colosseum, so do your level grinding first.

Coglin Cup

Rewards: Gold, Repair Vial, Journeyman Badge (Accessory)

Nothing too challenging here, just coglins and orges.

Void Warrior Cup

Mostly Void Warriors, surprise surprise. You’re limited to 3 max SP, so pack lots of cards that don’t need much (or any) SP and you’ll be fine.

Fireball Cup I

Gold, Scroll Fragment, Phoenix Plume, ?

All Elemental (not physical) damage is higher here, as everyone starts with major reductions in elemental defenses. Enemies you fight will all use mostly elemental attacks. Bring good elemental attackers to take advantage.

Fireball Cup II

Rewards: Trashinium, Gold, Azoth Jar, Adamantium Ingot, Mystic Horn (Accessory)

More of the same, really.

Full Moon Cup I

This is where things start to get annoying. Your party will be permanently poisoned for the duration of this Cup, and there’s no negative effect on the enemy team. Permanent means permanent; heals, and even accessories that prevent poison will not stop it.

Instead, focus on healing, shielding, and regen. Copernica, Galleo, and Tarah & Thanye all have useful full party healing/shielding abilities. On the last turn of the fight, make sure to use any heals you can before KOing the final enemy.

The good news is the enemies you’ll fight aren’t super strong; mostly ghosts, nagas, and druids. Do watch for Despair which will block your healing. If you’re having trouble, item cards may help.

Full Moon Cup II

Gold, Berserker’s Band (Accessory), Pure Sash (Accessory), Ghostly Flame, Repair Elixir.

You know the drill. Same strategy as last time, though a higher level wouldn’t hurt. The final round is a couple of boss Mushroom dudes, which is honestly less annoying than other enemies in the set.

Abyssal Cup I

Rewards: Gold, Smoldering Ember, Repair Vial, Trashinium, Platinum Bracer.

Note the huge raise in level from the prior cup! Foes are fully healed at the end of each turn (!!!) so bring your highest power cards and focus on OHKOs and setups. Debuffs and status effects won’t be healed, but Poison does damage before the full heal, so they always start the turn at full.

Enemies all have exactly 1,600 HP, so if you can’t do that within a single extremely good card (Meteor, Twin Combo) it’s probably best to put this off.

Abyssal Cup II

Rewards: Gold, Spiked Collar (Accessory), Lustrous Fiber x30, Scroll Fragment x30, Repair Potion x3.

Same deal as before, though the final round is a bit rougher. The boss has 2,550 HP instead, and harshly resists frost and strongly resists electric, but is super weak to fire.

Beating this unlocks the last two cups at once!

Abyssal Cup III

Rewards: Murakumo (Weapon), Ghostly Flame, Foul Liquid x30, Adamantium Ingot, Gold, Gold Lotus, Frostfire (Weapon), Firebrand (Weapon), Phoenix Plume, Azoth Jar,

Same deal as before, with some enemies having 2,000 HP now, and a boss with 3,800 HP! It’ll help a lot to at least reach the soft cap of level 45 for your characters to hit hard enough. Keep lots of health and regeneration cards in your deck; I used Orik, Galleo, and Copernica.

Migas Grand Prix

Rewards: Increasing amounts of Gold

Special Rules: SP Gain is doubled, lose rounds after 7 turns.

Enemies are all bosses with huge HP pools. You get large amounts of gold, so it’s worth trying, though you’ll really need to be level ~50 to really mop up here

Cards

I’ve started a spreadsheet of all cards in SteamWorld Quest, which is currently publicly editable! The table below uses info filled in from that spreadsheet, thanks for the help!

Char Title Type Cost Damage Full Card Effects Aquire Strategy Notes Armilly Aspiring Hero Upgrade 0 Buffs STR by one grade for three turns.

Two grades if below 50% of her max HP

Three grades below 25% Armilly Bravado Upgrade 0 Heals Armilly by 75% MAG and raises her STR by two grades for three turns. Armilly To Victory Upgrade 0 Raises all allies STR by two grades for three turns. Armilly Double Edge Strike 0 Deals 180% STR as Physical damage to one foe and 35% STR as Physical damage to Armilly Armilly Heroic Strike Strike 0 Deal 145% STR as Physical damage to one foe Starting Card Armilly Hot Iron Strike 0 Deals 135% STR as Fire to one foe. Armilly All In Skill X Deals 200% STR as Physical damage to one foe.

Deals another 60% STR for each SP spent.

Orik Combo: Deals 90% STR for each SP spent instead. Armilly Brave Buster Skill 2 Deals 385% STR as Physical dmg to one foe. Starting Card Armilly Cleave Skill 4 Deals 470% STR as Physical dmg to one foe.If the foe is scrapped, any excess dmg will be dealt to all other foes Armilly Encourage Skill 1 Heals one Ally by 190% MAG and removes all harmful effects. Armilly Execute Skill 2 Deals 430% STR as Physical dmg if the foe is bellow 30% Health.Otherwise,it deals 150% STR.Galleo Combo:Has a 20% chance to instantly scrap them,unless they're a boss. Armilly Fiery Bash Skill 1 Deals 150% STR as Physical dmg to one for and lowers their Fire Defense by two grades for three turns. Armilly Fire Up Skill 2 Deals 130% STR as Fire dmg to all foes.Copernica Combo:Deals an additional 45% STR dmg. Armilly Fury Skill 3 Armilly Hamstring Skill 2 280% STR as Physical to one foe and lowers their Strength by 2^ for 3 turns.Twins Combo:Inflicts bleed for 3 turns. Armilly Heartbroken Hero Skill 3 Deals 460% STR Fire damage to one foe and 35% STR as Fire damage to Armilly. Inflicts Despair on the foe for three turns. Defeat Teras Koloss Armilly Intercept Skill 1 220% STR as Physical(one foe),70% chance to make them flinch. Armilly Issue Challenge Skill 0 Taunt,Lowers strength by 2^ for 3 turns Armilly Overpower Skill 4 Removes helpful effects from foe.250% STR Physical x2 Armilly Prey Skill 2 Mark enemy.(When the marked enemy is attacked,Armilly will attack even if it's not her turn.*Must Test*) Armilly Shout Skill 0 Lowers all foes Strength by 2^ for 3 turns Armilly Smolder Skill 1 Lowers Fire defense on all enemies by 2^ for 3 turns Armilly Lionheart Chain 0 100% STR Physical,Heal for 100% MAG Weapon Skill Armilly Lacerate Chain 0 25% STR Physical,inflict bleed 3 turns Weapon Skill Armilly Inflame Chain 0 75% STR Fire dmg,increase Armilly's Fire dmg by 1^ for 3 turns. Weapon Skill Copernica Arcane Detective Upgrade 0 Generates one aditional SP at the start of the turn for three turns. Copernica Burning Desire Upgrade 0 Raise Copernica's fire damage by one grades for three turns. (Two grades if Updgraded) Copernica Doubt Upgrade 0 Grant`'s Copernica a shield that absorbs all Fire, Frost and Storm damage taken and heals her for 50% of that ammount for two turns. Also inclicts Malfuncion (Can't use skill cards). Copernica Focus Upgrade 0 Raise Copernica's Magic by one grade for three turns and grants one additional redraw for the following two turns. Copernica Glass Cannon Upgrade 0 Raise Copernica's Magic by three grades(4 grades upgraded) but lowers all of her defenses by two grades each for three turns. Copernica Magic Mirror Upgrade 0 Allows Copernica to counter Fire, Frost and Storm attacks done to her with the same element for three turns. Copernica Mana Barrier Upgrade 0 Grants one ally a Damage Shield equal to 20% of their maximum Health for up to three turns. (30% if Upgraded) Copernica Book Bash Strike 0 100% STR Deals 100% STR Physical damage to one foe.When fully upgraded lowers Magic by 3^ for 3 turns. Starting Card Copernica Electrolyze Strike 0 38-113% MAG

STORM Deals 38-113% MAG as STORM damage to one foe. Draws one additional card next turn. (Two if Upgraded) Copernica Kilovolt Strike 0 60-180% MAG

STORM Deals 60-180%(68-203% upgraded) MAG as STORM damage to one foe. Copernica Searing Lash Strike 0 90% MAG

FIRE Deals 90% MAG as FIRE damage to one foe. (Has a 40 chance to inclict Burning for three turns if Upgraded max Rank) Copernica Blizzard Skill 2 160% MAG

FROST Deals 160% MAG as FROST damage to all foes. 20% MAG as FROST damage to all allies. Copernica Brain Freeze Skill 1 35% MAG

FROST Deals 35% MAG as FROST damage to all foes and lowers their Magic by one grade for three turns. Copernica Cold Feet Skill 1 Lowers all foe's FROST defense by one grade for three turns.(2 grades upgraded) Copernica Creeping Cold Skill 1 120% MAG

FROST Deals 120%(144% upgraded) MAG as FROST damage to one foe and an equal amount to another random foe. Copernica Dispel Skill 0 Removes all helpful effects on one foe. Copernica Element Ward Skill 1 Raise all allies Fire, Frost and Storm defenses by 2^ each for 3 turns.Galleo combo:Heals all allies by 100% Mag Copernica Elementary! Skill 3 220% STR as Fire,FROST and Storm dmg to one foe x3 Defeat Headmistress Hyapathia Copernica Final Flash Skill 5 360-1080% MAG as Storm dmg to one foe.Inflicts Paralysis on Copernica 3 turns. Copernica Fire Pillar Skill 1 95% Mag as Firs dmg x3 Copernica Flame Wave Skill 3 200% Mag FIRE dmg to all foes Copernica Inferno Skill 4 150% Mag Fire dmg to all foes and Inflicts Burn 3 turns.If the foe is already burning the attack deals 210% Mag instead. Copernica Meteor Skill 2 340% Mag Frost dmg(one foe) Copernica Sleep Skill 2 Inflicts Sleep on one foe for 5 turns.Twins Combo:Deal also 120% Mag as Arcane dmg Copernica Thunder Storm Skill 2 105% Mag as Storm dmg to random foes four times.Orik Combo:Hits one additional time. Copernica Barrier Field Chain 0 All allies get a Dmg Shield equal to 15% of their health 3 turns. Weapon Skill Copernica Thunder Wave Chain 0 25-75% MAG as Storm dmg to all foes,and 25% to inflict Paralysis Weapon Skill Copernica Flame Reaction Chain 0 50% Mag fire dmg to random foes.Hits an additional time for each element used this turn(max. 3 additional times) Weapon Skill Galleo Abs of Steel Upgrade 0 Physical immunity until next turn. Galleo Chill Out Upgrade 0 Raise an ally's Frost and Storm dmg by 2^ each for 3 turns. Galleo Fixer Upgrade 0 Generates 2(3 upgraded) additional SP(Can be used once per battle) Galleo Lunacy Upgrade 0 Raise Galleo's STR and MAG by 2^ each but Inflicts him with despair(can't be healed) Galleo Miracle Worker Upgrade 0 Raises an ally's Healing Power by 3^ for 3 turns( Galleo Pain Gain Upgrade 0 Galleo Shields Up Upgrade 0 Raises an ally increased Physical Defense(2^ for 3 turns) Galleo Insult to Injury Strike 0 75% STR Physical.If foe is taunted deal 160% STR instead.Twins Combo:Taunts the foe for 3 turns Galleo Steam Punch Strike 0 145% STR Physical Starting Card Galleo Water Bullet Strike 0 135% Mag as Frost dmg.Copernica Combo:deal additional 100% MAG Galleo Blindside Skill 0 Blinds an enemy.(Blinded targets have 50% chance to miss attacks) Galleo Fairy Ward Skill 1 Immunity to all status ailments(burn,bleed,poison,etc) for an ally for 3 turns Galleo Gigaton Punch Skill 4 560% STR Physical.Armilly combo:Deal additional 200% STR Galleo Guillotine Fist Skill X 130% STR Physical.Variable Skill:deal additional 40% STR and have a 10% chance to instant scrap the Target (bosses excluded) for each SP spent Galleo Ice Breaker Skill 2 385% STR FROST dmg Galleo Mend Skill 2 Heal an ally by 385% Mag Starting Card Galleo Overcharge Skill X Galleo Poison Skill 0 Inflicts Poison for 5 turns Galleo Power Play Skill 1 Raises Physical Def for all allies and lower Physical Def for all foes by 1^ each for 3 turns. Galleo Provoke Skill 0 Taunt a foe,Raise Galleo's Physical Def by 2^ for 3 turns Galleo Quick Fix Skill 1 Heal by 235% Mag,Remove poison,burn or bleed from ally. Galleo Regeneration Skill 1 Galleo Super Soaker Skill 1 175% Mag Frost dmg,lower Target's Frost and Storm Def by 1^ each for 3 turns. Galleo Team Repair Skill 3 Heal all allies for 170% Mag.Orik combo:Raise Galleo's healing power by 1^ for 3 turns. Galleo Tinkerer Skill 2 Grant random helpful effects on all allies,random harmful effects for all enemies.Lasts 3 turns. Galleo Unshrouded Light Skill 4 Remove all harmful effects on allies.Hits once for each effect removed dealing 100% STR Physical per hit.(Example:removes a burn and a poison,will hit twice each for 100% STR) Galleo Wrecking Ball Skill 3 350% STR Physical dmg,lowers target's Physical Def by 2^ for 3 turns. Galleo Guardian Chain 0 Heal all allies for 80% Mag and Physical Def by 1^ for the ongoing turn. Weapon Skill Galleo Water Jet Chain 0 150% Mag as Frost dmg.200% Mag Frost dmg(before applying weakness) if the foe is vulnerable Weapon Skill Galleo Quivering Palm Chain 0 125% STR physical,and make foe Flinch Weapon Skill Orik Bushido Upgrade 0 Increase an ally Crit by 60% for 3 turns Orik One With The Wind Upgrade 0 Switch to Fujin Mask.All physical dmg is converted to Storm dmg.Raises Storm dmg by 1^ Orik Iai Cut Strike 0 175% Str Physical if it's the first card played.115% STR otherwise. Starting Card Orik Wind Call Strike 0 100%Mag Storm dmg.50% chance to inflict Confusion. Orik Calming Wisdom Skill 1 Heal an ally by 235% Mag and removes confusion,despair and/or berserk Orik Cyclone Slash Skill X 42%Str Storm dmg x2.Additional x2 for each SP spent (Example:2 SP=Hits 6 times) Orik Fascination Skill 2 Heal an ally by 80% Mag.Grant Regeneration for 3 turns. Orik Fortune's Favor Skill 2 Heal all allies by 140% Mag.Switch to Fukunokami Mask which heals Orik for 4% of his max health Everytime he takes dmg.Galleo combo:heal by an additional 40% mag Orik Heartpiercer Skill 1 260% Str as Piercing Physical dmg. Orik Inspiring Grace Skill 1 210% STR as Physical.If this scores a Critical Hit,next turn you can play an additional card. Orik Melancholy Skill 1 Grants an ally the ability to Counter attacks.Passes on the status ailments they may be inflicted for 3 turns Orik Open Wound Skill 2 190%STR Physical dmg and Inflicts Bleed for 3 turns.Twins Combo:Inflicts also Poison for 3 turns. Orik Origin Skill 3 135%STR Storm dmg x3,Removes Masks and raises Orik's STR and MAG by 1^ each. Defeat Teras Koloss Orik Precision Cut Skill 3 300% Str Physical dmg.If it scores a Crit Hit deal additional 350% STR.Armilly Combo:Deal additional 120% STR.(Total STR for this card is 770% if Hits a Crit,and the combo is activated.This Means 7692 dmg with a Strength value of 999 with Murakumo equipped at lvl 87) Orik Raging Demon Skill 2 Switch to Hannya Mask.Deal 115% STR as arcane dmg to one foe x3 and 12% Str arcane dmg to Orik x3.mask grants 30% Crit chance. Orik Stone Lion Skill 0 Make a foe Flinch.Switch to Komainu Mask which raises All of Orik's defenses by 1^ each. Orik Stormbringer Skill 1 150% Str Storm dmg.lower target's Storm Def by 2^ for 3 turns. Orik Tengu Dance Skill 2 Orik Winds of Madness Skill 3 130%STR Storm dmg to all foes.50% chance to inflict Confusion Orik Yojimbo Skill 2 Mark an ally,and counter attack if the marked ally is attacked. Orik Haste Chain 0 Play one additional card next turn. Weapon Skill Orik Rain of Blades Chain 0 45% STR Physical dmg to random foes 4 times. Weapon Skill Orik Vagabond's Luck Chain 0 Raises all allies' luck by 2^ for 3 turns Weapon Skill Tarah & Thanye Against all Odds Upgrade 0 Raise all allies' Dodge chance by 5^ this turn. Tarah & Thanye Envenom Upgrade 0 Grants one Ally a 75% chance to inflict Poison witch Physical attacks for 3 turns. Tarah & Thanye Mystic Gift Upgrade 0 Raises T&T's Arcane damage by 1^ and Transforms Physical damage into Arcane damage for 3 turns Tarah & Thanye Siphon Mind Upgrade 0 Lowers one foe's Mag and raises T&T Mag by 2^ for 3 turns. Tarah & Thanye Steal Strength Upgrade 0 Lowers one foe's STR and raises T&T STR by 2^ for 3 turns. Tarah & Thanye Axe Chop Strike 0 145% STR Physical dmg. Starting Card Tarah & Thanye Culling Axe Strike 0 100% STR Physical dmg.150% if the enemy is affected by any status ailments. Tarah & Thanye Cutpurse Strike 0 60% STR Physical dmg and steals some gold(More powerful foes=More gold).Each foe can be stolen from just once per battle. Tarah & Thanye Arcane Shock Skill 2 295% Mag Arcane dmg.Lowers target's Arcane and Storm Def by 1^ each for 3 turns Tarah & Thanye Dagger Toss Skill 1 225% Str Physical dmg.Orik Combo:Raises all allies' Dodge chance by 1^ this turn. Tarah & Thanye Dark Matter Skill 2 Deal Arcane dmg to all foes equal to 25% of their current health up to 350% Mag.This dmg can't be improved or reduced. Tarah & Thanye Death Pulse Skill 3 190%Mag Arcane dmg to all foes.Repeat if a foe is scrapped.Copernica combo:deal additional 45% Mag. Tarah & Thanye Doom Skill 1 Inflicts a curse on an enemy which deals 3-5% of the victim's health as Arcane dmg whenever the Target takes dmg.Lasts for 5 turns.Weaker against stronger foes. Tarah & Thanye Double Swing Skill 3 240% STR Physical dmg x2.Armilly combo:additional 60% str per hit. Tarah & Thanye Drain Curse Skill 2 Whenever the afflicted foe takes Phyisic dmg,the attacker is healed for 50% of dmg dealt. Tarah & Thanye Drain Life Skill 3 145%Str Physical to all foes.Heal all allies for all the physical dmg dealt divided between them.Galleo Combo:Heal for 150% damage dealt instead divided equally. Tarah & Thanye Epidemic Skill 1 If the foe is inflicted with a Status Condition,the condition will spread to all of their allies. Tarah & Thanye Expose Skill 0 Lower a foe's Frost Def and Physical Def by 2^ each for 3 turns. Tarah & Thanye Fool's Gold Skill 2 Deal 130% Mag as Physical dmg to a foe x2.Each hit has a 15% chance to inflict confusion.Hits an additional time if Cutpurse was previously used on the target. Tarah & Thanye Hidden Blade Skill 2 290% Str as Piercing Physical dmg,inflicts despair for 3 turns. Tarah & Thanye Nightmare Skill 3 230% Mag Arcane dmg,50% chance to inflict sleep.If the foe is sleeping the attack deals 380% Mag and keeps him asleep. Tarah & Thanye Patch Up Skill 3 Heals all allies for 20% of their max Health. Tarah & Thanye Raven Strike Skill 2 300% Mag Arcane dmg,inflicts blindness for 3 turns. Tarah & Thanye Slight of Hand Skill 2 Adds a joker card to one foe's deck.When played,the joker card deals Arcane dmg to the foe based on their Mag.After being played,the Joker card will be removed. Tarah & Thanye Spike Trap Skill 2 80% Str as Piercing Physical dmg,35% to inflict bleed. Tarah & Thanye Terror Skill 0 Lower a foe's Arcane def and Str by 2^ each for 3 turns. Tarah & Thanye Thorns Skill 0 Grants one Ally a thorny shield for 3 turns.T Tarah & Thanye Twin Combo Skill 2 his reflects some of the Physical dmg back to the attacker.Grants also Regeneration for 3 turns. Tarah & Thanye Uncontrolled Rage Skill 2 80% Mag Arcane dmg to random foes x5,inflicts confusion on T&T for 3 turns. Tarah & Thanye Virulence Skill 2 Deals 320% Mag Arcane Damage to all Poisoned foes. Tarah & Thanye Leech Chain 0 Deals 90% Str Physical damage and heals T&T by an equal amount. Weapon Skill Tarah & Thanye Eclipse Chain 0 Deal 50% Mag Arcane dmg to all foes.The attack deals 90% Mag if the foe is afflicted by any status ailments. Weapon Skill Tarah & Thanye Skunk Spray Chain 0 Poisons all enemies. 3 Turns duration. Weapon Skill

Items

WIP, will probably do a table instead.

Materials

Smoldering Ember, Scroll Fragment, Trashinium Scrap, Lustrous Fiber, Foul Liquid

All enemies in SteamWorld Quest drop certain Materials, generally just grinding for levels will help you get a fair amount of basic materials too, but if you’re looking for specifics, check the compendium to see exactly what in your area drops it.

Advanced Materials

Phoenix Plume, Gold Lotus, Azoth Jar, Adamantium Ingot, Ghostly Flame

These items are only available for purchase in the final Act of the game for 5,000 each (one each), or for rewards in the Colosseum or for some boss drops. Since the boss drops are repeatable, I’d avoid buying them, you’ll get plenty

They’re rare because very few are needed, and they upgrade powerful cards. Like normal materials, they each upgrade cards of the character who’s color they match.

Weapons

Search to filter by character, effect, etc! Items with Notes have elemental or extra effects; expand the row with the plus sign to see them.

Title Char STR MAG Elem Chain Extra Effects Notes Valiant Sword Armilly 0% 0% None Lion Heart None Serrated Longsword Armilly 30% 0% None Lacerate None Serrated Broadsword Armilly 15% 0% None Lacerate None Valiant Longsword Armilly 30% 0% None Lion Heart None Valiant Zweihander Armilly 50% 0% None Lion Heart None Serrated Zweihander Armilly 50% 0% None Lacerate None Blazing Zweihander Armilly 50% 0% None Inflame None Serrated Claymore Armilly 70% 0% None Lacerate None Valiant Claymore Armilly 70% 0% None Lion Heart None Blazing Claymorr Armilly 70% 0% None Inflame None Firebrand Armilly 120% 0% Fire Power+ Inflame Grants PHYSICAL attacks a 50% chance to deal 50% MAG as FIRE damage. Yes Safety Quarto Copernica 0% 0% None Barrier Field None Safety Tome Copernica 0% 30% None Barrier Field None Sparking Octavo Copernica 0% 15% None Thunder Wave None Sparking Tome Copernica 0% 30% None Thunder Wave None Safety Codex Copernica 0% 50% None Barrier Field None Flaring Codex Copernica 0% 50% None Flame Reaction None Sparking Codex Copernica 0% 50% None Thunder Wave None Flaring Grimoire Copernica 0% 70% None Flame Reaction None Safety Grimoire Copernica 0% 70% None Barrier Field None Sparking Grimoire Copernica 0% 70% None Thunder Wave None Ironbound Tome Copernica 175% 0% None Barrier Field Only weapon for Copernica that gives Strength instead of Magic. Yes Frostfire Copernica 0% 80% None Flame Reaction Whenever this hero deals FIRE or FROST damage,damage dealt by the other element the same turn is also raised. Yes Phalanx Mitt Galleo 0% 0% None Guardian None Phalanx Knuckles Galleo 25% 25% None Guardian None Phalanx Gauntlets Galleo 45% 45% None Guardian None Phalanx Fist Galleo 60% 65% None Guardian None Hydro Gloves Galleo 12% 12% None Water Jet None Hydro Knuckles Galleo 25% 25% None Water Jet None Hydro Gauntlets Galleo 45% 45% None Water Jet None Hydro Fists Galleo 60% 65% None Water Jet None Martial Gauntlets Galleo 45% 45% None Quivering Palm None Martial Fists Galleo 65% 60% None Quivering Palm None Storming Mikazuki Orik 30% 0% None Haste None Impaling Katana Orik 15% 0% None Rain of Blades None Storming Mangetsu Orik 50% 0% None Haste None Impaling Mangetsu Orik 50% 0% None Rain of Blades None Storming Kusanagi Orik 70% 0% None Haste None Lucky Kusanagi Orik 70% 0% None Vagabond's Luck None Impaling Kusanagi Orik 70% 0% None Rain of Blades None Murakumo Orik 100% 60% Storm Power+ Haste Orik's only weapon that adds Magic Yes Bandits' Arms Tarah & Thayne 25% 25% None Leech None Bandits' Weaponry Tarah & Thayne 50% 40% None Leech None Bandits' Arsenal Tarah & Thayne 70% 50% None Leech None Vile Weaponry Tarah & Thayne 45% 45% None Skunk Spray None Vile Arsenal Tarah & Thayne 65% 65% None Skunk Spray None Basilisk Tarah & Thayne 20% 40% None Eclipse Grants attacks a 20% chance to inflict SLEEP. Lower stats, but the bonus effect can be worth it. Yes Lunar Arsenal Tarah & Thayne 50% 70% None Eclipse None

Video Walkthrough/Longplay

Here’s a Longplay of SteamWorld Quest by me going through every level and showing all the secret rooms I can. It’s currently up through Act 2, more chapters coming in the next days!

Addendum

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You can buy SteamWorld Quest here (digital only, Nintendo Switch)

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See the other games in SteamWorld Quest’s series on the Official Site

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