Gilnid the Smelter: how to beat

Gilnid the Smelter — dungeon “The Deadmines”, level 19. The deck: phases, turn cycle, damage and healing by mode, cold, test strike, role tips.

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Dungeon The Deadmines, boss 2 of 5, level 19.

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, 17–26), Keystone +10 (Mythic+, at level 60).
2 phases, 6 cards in the deck. Schools: 🔥 Fire 4, ⛰ Earth 2.
“Furnace on a Break” cold: every enemy turn, everyone through shields — heroic 1,000, keystone +10 840 to each before Hardiness. No cold in normal mode.
“Testing It on You” test strike — on boss turns 9 and 17: heroic 7,000, keystone +10 8,000; 40% weaker with a defensive card on yourself.
The heaviest hit is “Testing It on You”: 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. “Furnace Shift” — from the start of the fight

Down to 40%: a casting every 4 turns.

Cycle step	What the boss plays
1	🔥 Ladle
2	🔥 Ladle + ⛰ Casting
3	🔥 Ladle + 🔥 Metal Splashes
4	🔥 Ladle

2. “Furnace at Full” — below 40% Health

Below 40%: pours more often and harder.

On entering the phase the boss plays at once: 🔥 Furnace at Full, ⛰ Casting.

Cycle step	What the boss plays
1	🔥 Ladle + 🔥 Metal Splashes
2	⛰ Casting
3	🔥 Ladle

The “Testing It on You” test strike is not part of the cycle: the boss announces it on its turns 8 and 16 and hits on turns 9 and 17.

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
🔥 Testing It on You · Fire, 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 9th and 17th 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.
🔥 Ladle · Fire, hit	A hit on whoever holds the boss’s attention (usually the tank).	2,350	200	4,100	A plain hit.
⛰ Casting · Earth, summon with a task	Summons “Ingot” ×2. If it survives 2 turns it explodes: “The Ingots Stood Up”.	Health 490	Health 50	Health 2,930	Two ingots. Smash them within 2 turns, or they stand up and hit everyone.
⛰ The Ingots Stood Up · Earth, hit on everyone	A hit on everyone: the number is for each. Shields hold half.	529	30	615	If an ingot was not smashed. Half through shields.
🔥 Metal Splashes · Fire, damage over time	Damage over time past the tank: on a damage dealer or the healer. The number is per turn, for 3 turns. A repeat refreshes it.	353 per turn	30 per turn	615 per turn	Burns for 3 turns. Outheal it; a cleanse, if you have one, removes it.
🔥 Furnace at Full · Fire, boss empower	The boss’s hits ×1.15 until the fight ends.	—	—	—	Stronger by 15% until the fight ends.

“Furnace on a Break” cold

They only heat it for the shift. Between shifts the walls go cold at once.

Heroic: 1,000 to each per enemy turn, before Hardiness.
Keystone +10: 840 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

“Testing It on You” — on boss turns 9 and 17, 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 “Testing It on You” test strike lands on the boss’s 9th and 17th 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.
“Ladle” hits you. Keep Taunt on rhythm: while the boss hits the tank, the rest stay whole. The heaviest is “Ladle” (“Furnace Shift” 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

“Furnace on a Break” cold hits everyone through shields every enemy turn: heroic — 1,000, keystone +10 — 840 to each before Hardiness. Heal everyone every turn; healer cards do it best — they heal Health only.
“The Ingots Stood Up” hits everyone. Before that turn, get everyone above half Health; it goes half through shields: shields hold half, the rest hits Health.
“Metal Splashes” (a damage dealer or the healer) hits past the tank. Watch everyone, not just the tank.
“Metal Splashes”: damage over time — outheal it; a cleanse helps.
“Furnace at Full”: the boss hits harder — keep crystals and heals in reserve for those turns.

Damage dealers

“Ingot” explodes if it survives 2 turns — kill it before then.
Do not drag it out: heroic — enrage from turn 40.

The heaviest hits

“Testing It on You” — test strike, through shields.
“Ladle” — on the tank; “Furnace Shift” phase, cycle step 1.
“The Ingots Stood Up” — on everyone, half through shields.

Loot

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

Previous boss — Rakk'zor the Hammerer. Next boss — Mr. Hammer.

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