Three Marks walkthrough: all five battles on the trail
The trail in Three Marks has five battles: Old Crossing, Flooded Mill, Echo Caves, Tower Steps and The Belfry. Each battle opens when you win the one before it. This page shows every monster with its real numbers, and a plan for each fight.
Monsters fight with the same rules as your heroes. Each one has a calling, uses that calling's numbers, and plays cards from that calling's starter set. Only life and sometimes armor or accuracy are changed for each battle. The monsters' first two stand in their front rank; a third starts in the back.
The monsters at a glance
| Battle | Monster | Calling | Life | Guard | Body | Reflex | Will | Accuracy | Armor | Starts in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 · Old Crossing | Bramble Wolf | Quick | 7 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 0 | Front |
| 1 · Old Crossing | Marsh Toad | Scarred | 8 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 0 | Front |
| 2 · Flooded Mill | Moss Golem | Warden | 14 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 1 | Front |
| 3 · Echo Caves | Cave Drake | Scarred | 10 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 0 | Front |
| 3 · Echo Caves | Bramble Wolf | Quick | 8 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 0 | Front |
| 3 · Echo Caves | Lantern Moth | Spark | 7 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 0 | Back |
| 4 · Tower Steps | Moss Golem | Warden | 12 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 3 | Front |
| 4 · Tower Steps | Lantern Moth | Spark | 11 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 0 | Front |
| 5 · The Belfry | Bronze Wyvern | Scarred | 16 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 0 | Front |
| 5 · The Belfry | Cave Drake | Quick | 8 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 0 | Front |
| 5 · The Belfry | Lantern Moth | Voice | 7 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 0 | Back |
The lowest defense of each monster is its weak spot. Aim your strikes there, using the dice and damage tables to see your chances.
Battle 1: Old Crossing
"Clear the bridge. The wolf is quick, but the toad grows stronger when hurt."
Two monsters wait on the bridge at dawn. Both are close fighters, so a hero in your back rank is safe while your front rank stands.
- Bramble Wolf (Quick): low Body and Will. It strikes harder at heroes who are afflicted or flanked.
- Marsh Toad (Scarred): a Body of 5 but a Guard of only 2. Every time you hurt it, it gains a scar, and scars pay for its Heavy Swing (5 damage) and Crash (7 damage).
Plan: bring the wolf down first; it has less life and is easy to hit at Body or Will. Then turn on the toad with Guard strikes. When a monster falls Down, strike it again to take it Out before the other one can rescue it. The full walkthrough is on your first battle.
Battle 2: Flooded Mill
"A moss golem blocks the mill door. Its stone hide absorbs weak blows."
One big monster, in daylight. The Moss Golem fights as a Warden with 14 life and armor 1. It plays Warden cards: Hold Fast (+2 Guard), Brace (+1 armor), Wall (your strikes on it are one step worse) and its own strikes at Guard.
- Its Guard is 4, the highest on the trail, and its Reflex is only 2.
- Its armor of 1 takes 1 off every strike, so a graze for 1 does nothing. Will strikes ignore armor: Voice cards, Warn Them, Headbutt, Mind Tap and the Spark's lances all do full damage.
- Worn (from Measured Blow, Open Cut, Bleed Them or Kidney) drops its armor to 0 while it lasts.
- Because it stands alone, it always counts as front rank: Shield Bash cannot push it away, and all your close fighters can reach it.
Plan: aim at Reflex and Will, and keep up steady pressure. Do not step back from the front rank while it stands there, because a Warden gets a free strike on heroes who step back.
Battle 3: Echo Caves
"Follow the bell rope into the caves. The moth casts from behind the drake and wolf."
Three monsters, in the dark of the caves. The Cave Drake and the Bramble Wolf hold the front. The Lantern Moth casts from the back with accuracy 5, the sharpest aim on the trail.
- The moth is a Spark: it strikes at Reflex and Will from the back and gains sparks when it hits. Its Lance Storm prints 6 damage.
- Your close fighters cannot reach the moth while the drake or the wolf still stands. Your Voice or Spark can: ranged heroes strike any rank.
- Cave Drake (Scarred): strong Body, weak Guard, just like the toad.
- Bramble Wolf (Quick): weak Body and Will, and now 8 life.
Plan: bring a ranged hero. Let it chip at the moth (7 life) while your front rank fights the wolf and the drake. Heroes with a low Reflex or Will are the moth's favourite targets, so keep them healthy.
Battle 4: Tower Steps
"Break through the tower guard. The golem shields the moth on the stairs."
At dusk, the Moss Golem returns with armor 3, and the Lantern Moth now has 11 life. Both stand in the front rank.
- Armor 3 soaks up almost all normal strikes on the golem. A hit or crit still does at least 1, but that is slow. Will strikes ignore armor, so they are your best tool against it.
- The golem may play Challenge: then your front-rank heroes must strike the golem. Heroes in your back rank are not bound by Challenge, so a back-rank Voice or Spark can still pick the moth.
- The moth is in the front rank this time, so your close fighters can reach it.
Plan: take the moth Out first. It has no armor, and every hero can reach it. Then wear the golem down with Will strikes and Worn.
Battle 5: The Belfry
"The wyvern holds the bell in its jaws. Bring down its brood to ring the bell."
The final battle, at dusk in the bell tower. Three monsters, led by the Bronze Wyvern with 16 life, the most on the trail.
- Bronze Wyvern (Scarred): strong Body, weak Guard. It gains scars when hurt, so its Crash and Last Scar get scarier as the fight goes on.
- Cave Drake (Quick): this time the drake fights as a Quick. Weak Body and Will, 8 life.
- Lantern Moth (Voice): in the back, with 7 life. It starts with 1 note and gains another every round. While it has a note, it gives the wyvern +1 Guard. It can heal the wyvern with Mend Song and prepare Last Word, a Slow spell that prints 7 damage.
Plan: the moth is the heart of this fight. Strike it with your ranged heroes: it has only 7 life. Its Will is 5, so Will strikes rarely land, but a Spark's Reflex strikes (Jab, Snap) aim at its Reflex of 3. When it prepares Last Word, break the spell with a hit or crit on the moth, or with Counterverse or Snuff. Once the moth is Out, the wyvern loses its extra Guard and its healer.
Win, and the bronze wyvern lets go of the bell. You pull the rope, and the villagers walk home across the bridge by lantern light.
Playing a battle again
- You can choose any battle you have already cleared again from camp.
- A lost battle can be retried for free, as often as you like.
- Abandon battle in the Pause menu leaves a battle without losing any cleared battle.
