Gloomhaven · Board game rules
In what order does enemies act?
Enemies, or monsters, act in the following order:
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Initiative Order: At the beginning of a round, each player selects two cards from their hand, and a monster ability card for each type of monster on the map is revealed. The initiative order is determined by the initiative values on these cards, with the lowest initiative value acting first (Page 18).
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Monster Type: All monsters of the same type act together. Elite monsters of that type activate first, followed by normal monsters (Page 29).
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Monster Standee Number: Within the same monster type, monsters activate in ascending numerical order according to the numbers on their standees. For example, an elite monster with standee number 1 will activate before an elite monster with standee number 2 (Page 29).
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Monster Focus: Before performing any action, each monster will focus on a specific enemy figure based on who it can attack with the least amount of movement (Page 29).
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Monster Actions: Monsters perform the actions listed on their ability card in the order written. They will move and attack based on their focus and the specific actions listed on their card (Pages 29-30).
If there is a tie in initiative between a player and a monster type, the player goes first. If there is a tie between two monster types, the players decide which goes first (Page 18).
For Bosses the same principles apply with the exception that Bosses are not considered normal or elite monsters. Bosses perform special actions on their turn that are summarized on their stat card (Page 34).