High Priestess of the Thorny Root — Thornmother Vyorna: how to beat

High Priestess of the Thorny Root — Thornmother Vyorna — dungeon “Quillspike — The Thorny Barrow”, level 35. The deck: phases, turn cycle, damage and…

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Dungeon Quillspike — The Thorny Barrow, final boss, level 35.

The boss plays its own deck: every turn it plays the next line of its phase’s cycle, with no randomness. Learn the cycle and you know what is coming. The numbers on this page are the same as in the card tooltip in combat: before Hardiness and Defender’s Stance. Mechanics in detail — Boss mechanics.

In short

Modes: Heroic (at level 60), Normal (at the place’s level, 25–35), Keystone +10 (Mythic+, at level 60).
2 phases, 8 cards in the deck. Schools: 🌿 Nature 6, 🩸 Blood 1, ⚔ Physical 1.
“Frozen Ground” cold: every enemy turn, everyone through shields — heroic 380, keystone +10 320 to each before Hardiness. No cold in normal mode.
“Don't Trample!” test strike — on boss turns 8 and 15: heroic 7,000, keystone +10 8,000; 40% weaker with a defensive card on yourself.
The heaviest hit is “Don't Trample!”: heroic 7,000, keystone +10 8,000.

Phases and turn cycle

The phase changes with the boss’s Health. In each phase the boss goes round its own cycle: at the end it starts again. The boss’s next turn shows on its portrait.

1. “The Mistress” — from the start of the fight

Down to 40% Health.

Cycle step	What the boss plays
1	🌿 Thorny Whip
2	🌿 Thorny Whip + 🌿 Thorny Vine
3	🌿 Roots up the Sleeve + 🌿 Thorny Whip
4	🌿 Briars from Underground
5	⚔ Listening to the Earth + 🌿 Thorny Whip

2. “Root-Heart” — below 40% Health

Below 40%: the root-heart at once, the vine more often.

On entering the phase the boss plays at once: 🩸 Got Angry, 🌿 Root-Heart.

Cycle step	What the boss plays
1	🌿 Thorny Whip + 🌿 Thorny Vine
2	🌿 Briars from Underground
3	🌿 Thorny Whip + 🌿 Thorny Vine
4	🌿 Root-Heart
5	⚔ Listening to the Earth + 🌿 Thorny Whip

The “Don't Trample!” test strike is not part of the cycle: the boss announces it on its turns 7 and 14 and hits on turns 8 and 15.

Cards and numbers

The number is what a hit takes before Hardiness (through shields — from Health only), how much the boss heals itself, the shield it puts up, a minion’s Health. A dash means the card is not in that mode or has no number. Keystone: +10 numbers; hits are the same from +7 to +9 and weaker per level below +7.

Card	What it does	Heroic	Normal	Keystone +10	How to answer
🌿 Don't Trample! · Nature, test strike	A test strike on whoever holds the boss’s attention (usually the tank). The boss announces it on its own, outside the cycle, and hits on its 8th and 15th turn; one turn before, there is a countdown on the portrait and a warning above your hand. The target plays a defensive card on themselves before the hit — it is 40% weaker. Not in normal mode. Through shields.	7,000 · with a defensive card 4,200	—	8,000 · with a defensive card 4,800	Test strike, one turn of warning. The tank plays a defensive card, the healer tops him up in advance.
🌿 Thorny Whip · Nature, hit	A hit on whoever holds the boss’s attention (usually the tank).	2,350	400	4,100	A plain hit.
🌿 Thorny Vine · Nature, chain hit	The hit jumps across 3 fighters, each next one 25% stronger. Shields hold half.	564 → 705 → 846	64 → 80 → 96	656 → 820 → 984	Jumps across three and grows stronger with each jump. Keep everyone above half.
🌿 Roots up the Sleeve · Nature, card freeze	Freezes 1 card(s) in the hand of a damage dealer or the healer (past the tank) for a turn.	—	—	—	A card in the target's hand is locked for a turn. Play important cards in advance.
🌿 Briars from Underground · Nature, charge	A charge: in 1 turn it hits everyone, the number is for each. Shields hold half, ignores 50% of Hardiness.	987	112	1,148	One turn of warning. Half through shields at everyone: raise Health.
⚔ Listening to the Earth · Physical, opening: more damage to the boss	The boss is open: damage to it ×1.3 for 2 turns.	—	—	—	She froze: +30% damage to her for 1 party turn. Big cards here.
🌿 Root-Heart · Nature, summon with a task	Summons “Root-Heart”. While it lives, it heals the boss every turn.	Health 1,900 · heals the boss 1,140 per turn	Health 160 · heals the boss 100 per turn	Health 5,020 · heals the boss 3,010 per turn	Heals her for 1,140 (heroic) / 100 (normal) / 3,010 (keystone +10) per turn while it is whole. Fighters cut it first.
🩸 Got Angry · Blood, boss empower	The boss’s hits ×1.1 until the fight ends.	—	—	—	Stronger by 10% until the fight ends.

“Frozen Ground” cold

Hard to dig. The dead still need burying.

Heroic: 380 to each per enemy turn, before Hardiness.
Keystone +10: 320 to each per enemy turn, before Hardiness.
Hits every fighter in the party through shields; Hardiness reduces it — better gear takes less.
The answer is healing every turn: shields do not stop cold. Healer cards do it best — they heal Health only.
No cold in normal mode.

Test strike

“Don't Trample!” — on boss turns 8 and 15, through shields, on whoever holds the boss’s attention (usually the tank). On heroic, while the party’s tank is alive, it goes to the tank. Not in normal mode.
Heroic: 7,000 before Hardiness; 4,200 if the target answered with a defensive card.
Keystone +10: 8,000 before Hardiness; 4,800 if the target answered with a defensive card.
One turn before the hit there is a countdown on the portrait and a warning above your hand. The target plays a defensive card on themselves: a self-shield, damage reduction or “cannot be killed”. A card someone else plays on the target does not count.

Enrage

Heroic: from party turn 40, every boss turn is 4% stronger, and it stacks.
Normal: as before — if the fight drags on past its expected length, the boss hits harder every turn.
Keystone +10: as before — if the fight drags on past its expected length, the boss hits harder every turn.

Roles

Tank

The “Don't Trample!” test strike lands on the boss’s 8th and 15th turn (heroic and keystone +10). One turn before, play a defensive card on yourself — a self-shield, damage reduction or “cannot be killed”: the hit becomes 40% weaker. Keep such a card in hand for those turns.
Shields do not stop this hit: the healer tops up your Health before it.
“Thorny Whip” hits you. Keep Taunt on rhythm: while the boss hits the tank, the rest stay whole. The heaviest is “Thorny Whip” (“The Mistress” phase, cycle step 1).
Do not fall: on heroic, mythic and in keystones, without a living tank the boss’s hits on its focus go through shields. A resident can be the tank too.

Healer

“Frozen Ground” cold hits everyone through shields every enemy turn: heroic — 380, keystone +10 — 320 to each before Hardiness. Heal everyone every turn; healer cards do it best — they heal Health only.
“Briars from Underground” and “Thorny Vine” hit everyone. Before such turns, get everyone above half Health; they all go half through shields: shields hold half, the rest hits Health.
“Got Angry”: the boss hits harder — keep crystals and heals in reserve for those turns.

Damage dealers

“Root-Heart” heals the boss every turn — kill it first.
“Listening to the Earth”: the boss is open and takes more damage — save your strong cards for that turn.
“Roots up the Sleeve” hits your cards and crystals: do not hoard everything for one turn.
Do not drag it out: heroic — enrage from turn 40.

The heaviest hits

“Don't Trample!” — test strike, through shields.
“Thorny Whip” — on the tank; “The Mistress” phase, cycle step 1.
“Briars from Underground” — on everyone, half through shields, ignores 50% of Hardiness; “The Mistress” phase, cycle step 4.

Loot

All of the boss’s loot with rough drop chances is in the item atlas; rules and items by boss are on the Quillspike — The Thorny Barrow page.

Previous boss — Dire Boar Crookedfang.

All bosses of the place — Quillspike — The Thorny Barrow. Rules of a fight against a boss with a deck — How to beat: every boss.