Two losses that stop hurting
Thick-Skinned changes the morale cost of losing in two specific places:
| Loss | Ordinary hero | Thick-Skinned | Sore Loser |
|---|---|---|---|
| A lost Trial | −3 morale | 0 | −6 |
| An ill-fated or lost quest | −8 morale | −4 | −16 |
Wins and mixed results are unchanged, and so is everything else that moves morale: a bad delve mark, unpaid wages, a lowballed renewal, a comrade’s death. Stress is untouched too, so a failed quest still adds its 14 stress.
Why morale is worth protecting
Morale is the meter that never drifts back on its own. Every point lost has to be earned back through wins, fair pay or a good event choice, and low morale has costs at every level:
- Below 45, a hero is flagged unhappy, and rivals who come poaching look at unhappy heroes with modest hidden loyalty first.
- Below 45 the hero’s renewal ask also rises by 10%, and below 25 by 20%.
- Below 25, an ordinary hero may refuse to be selected for a delve at all.
So the trait’s value is not the 3 or 4 points on any single loss. It is the slow slide it prevents across a season of defeats, which for a hero on the wrong end of a hard schedule can add up to 20 or 30 points against a Sore Loser.
When it pays most
The trait is worth most in exactly the seasons that are hardest to manage:
- a newly promoted guild facing stronger opponents in Trials;
- a long run of high-risk contracts on the jobs board;
- heroes you rotate into tough fixtures to spare your core starters.
Sellsword jobs list Thick-Skinned among their liked traits, adding 5% to that hero’s suitability. A hired line loses as often as it holds, and this hero does not carry the losses home.
Pairing it
- Coin-Minded doubles the morale from a triumphant quest (+20). On a hero you send on risky, lucrative contracts, the pair turns quests into big wins and cheap losses.
- Cool-Headed, Steady, Iron-Willed or Stalwart halve the morale hit from a bad delve mark, which covers the loss Thick-Skinned does not.
- A strong leader or a good bond helps with the rest; see hero state for everything that moves morale.
Small hooks
Thick-Skinned gives no lean at a dungeon fork; as leader they use the default odds. Quest reports have their own Thick-Skinned lines. The hero card links it to Composure, which is descriptive: the attribute does not change.
Conflicts and rarity
Thick-Skinned can never appear on a hero who is Sore Loser or Vain.
- Rarity: common, positive · draw weight 100 of 6,365 · about 1 recruit in 25
- Founding draft: any card.
- In the wiki’s archive: first present in the 2.1.8 build (absent from 2.0.7).
Recruiting
A solid positive for any guild that expects to lose fixtures, which is most guilds in their first seasons. Worth a modest premium on starters, and a strong tie-breaker for the heroes you plan to send on risky contracts.