The rule
Every hit a Giant-Killer lands on a named enemy is multiplied by 1.25. Named enemies are the ones the game gives a proper name: dungeon bosses, the single foe waiting in a “Lair of …” side room, and other named monsters. Ordinary enemies take normal damage.
The Giant-Killer bonus is the first multiplier the damage code applies, and everything after it multiplies on top:
| Also on the hero | Damage to a named foe |
|---|---|
| Giant-Killer alone | ×1.25 |
| A quarry vow against that kind of foe (×1.15) | ×1.44 |
| Blood-Drunk at half health (×1.25) | ×1.56 |
| Blood-Drunk at 15% health (×1.425) | ×1.78 |
Why a narrow bonus is worth so much
Delves are usually won or lost in a handful of fights. The ordinary rooms wear a party down; the boss decides whether the floor is cleared, the purse paid in full and the delve report reads well. A trait that adds a quarter to your damage exactly there is worth more than a small all-round bonus.
It also shortens the fights that hurt most. A shorter boss fight means fewer hits taken, fewer heroes finishing waves below 40% health, and fewer chances of being downed, with the one-in-four injury roll that follows. Cutting the hardest fight short protects the whole party.
The Lair and the route
At a dungeon fork, the alternative to the known path is sometimes a “Lair”: one named foe at one danger level below the dungeon, plus a gold bonus. A Giant-Killer leader leans +2 toward that room, which with nothing pulling the other way means taking it about 80% of the time it is offered. For once the lean and the trait agree: the room the leader wants is the room where their damage bonus applies. The other side rooms get no lean, so the leader treats them like anyone else (60% with a fresh party, 20% with a hurt one).
Bounties
Bounty postings list Giant-Killer among their liked traits (“A named beast with a price on it. This is the thing they were made for”), adding 5% to the hero’s suitability for the hunt. Bounties are short (3–6 days) and pay well in renown, so a Giant-Killer is the natural lead for them.
Who should carry it
- Your main damage dealer. The bonus scales with the damage the hero already does.
- Ranged attackers who can keep hitting the boss without being pulled into the melee.
- Any hero bound for the deepest floors, where named foes are the main obstacle.
It does nothing for a tank or healer who rarely deals the damage, so it is wasted on them. On a front-line damage dealer, pair it with Death-Defying so they survive long enough to land the hits.
Small hooks
Quest reports have their own Giant-Killer lines. The hero card links the trait to Power and Bravery; that link is descriptive and does not change either attribute.
Conflicts and rarity
Giant-Killer can never appear with Cowardly.
- Rarity: rare, positive · draw weight 14 of 6,365 · about 1 recruit in 180
- Founding draft: only on the wildcard card.
- In the wiki’s archive: first present in the 2.1.8 build (absent from 2.0.7).
Recruiting
Worth a real premium on any damage dealer. If you are building a roster to push for promotion, this is one of the traits to look for first.