Four changes in the fight
Cool-Headed adjusts four of the values the combat AI builds for each hero:
| Value | Change | What it governs |
|---|---|---|
| Courage | +0.10 | How long the hero keeps fighting as things go wrong |
| Kill hunger | −0.15 | The pull toward finishing wounded enemies |
| Poise | −0.04 | Extra misjudgement chance when hurt (lower is better) |
| Steadiness | −0.05 | How fast nerve drains (lower is better) |
These shift behaviour; they add no damage. Poise and steadiness are both built from Composure. A hero with Composure 10 starts at 0.14 poise, which means an extra 7% chance per decision to pick the wrong option at half health; Cool-Headed brings that to 5%. The same hero’s steadiness drops from 0.35 to 0.30, so their nerve drains about 14% more slowly as a fight turns bad.
The kill-hunger cut is the trait’s character: a Cool-Headed hero sticks to the plan instead of chasing the last hit. On a finisher that is a small cost, which Ambitious (+0.15) can offset on the same hero.
Halved morale swings
After each delve a hero gets a mark (Heroic, Inspired, Steady, Shaken or Unstable) and their morale moves with it: +2, +1, 0, −6 or −12 before scaling. For a Cool-Headed hero that swing is halved in both directions, the same as for Steady, Iron-Willed and Stalwart heroes. An Unstable delve costs about 6 instead of 12; a Heroic one gives about 1 instead of 2.
The swing is lopsided, so halving it is a net gain. Bad marks cost far more than good ones give, and morale never recovers on its own. In a hard season this is one of the most valuable things a trait can do for morale.
As party leader
- Retreat orders. You set when a party should retreat. Bold leaders push on a step longer, fearful ones pull back a step early. A Cool-Headed leader belongs to the steady group (with Stoic, Methodical, Steady, Iron-Willed, Unbreakable and Stalwart) and follows your order exactly.
- Aura. A leader’s aura gets +0.02 for each point in a small trait table; Cool-Headed scores 1, alongside Exacting, Ambitious, Methodical and Steady (Charismatic scores 2).
- Forks. Cool-Headed is one of the game’s careful leaders. With no other leanings, a careful leader takes a side room 60% of the time when the party is fresh but only 10% when it is hurt (anyone down, or average health under 60%), against 20% for an ordinary leader.
Away from the delve
- Festivals. Cool-Headed adds +3 in the wit discipline, one of the larger bonuses there (Quick-Witted gives +4).
- Council roles. When a retiring hero joins the Council, Cool-Headed adds 2 toward the physician’s post.
- Flavour. On pair duty the hero speaks with the “quiet” voice shared with Stoic, Quiet Example, Lone Wolf and Homebody.
The hero card links Cool-Headed to Composure and Decisions. That link is descriptive; the attributes are unchanged.
Conflicts and rarity
Cool-Headed can never appear with Hot-Headed, Reckless or Blood-Drunk.
- Rarity: uncommon, positive · draw weight 45 of 6,365 · about 1 recruit in 57
- Founding draft: any card.
- In the wiki’s archive: present in the earliest archived build, 1.9.6.
Recruiting
A strong all-round positive, and one of the best traits to look for in a future party leader: it keeps your retreat order, explores carefully, and steadies morale through a bad run.