Fangor the Scaled: how to beat

Fangor the Scaled — dungeon “Howling Caverns”, level 19. The deck: phases, turn cycle, damage and healing by mode, cold, test strike, role tips.

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Dungeon Howling Caverns, boss 4 of 6, 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, 15–21), Keystone +10 (Mythic+, at level 60).
2 phases, 5 cards in the deck. Schools: 🌿 Nature 3, 🩸 Blood 1, ⚔ Physical 1.
“Ground Frost” cold: every enemy turn, everyone through shields — heroic 440, keystone +10 360 to each before Hardiness. No cold in normal mode.
“Don't Trample” test strike — on boss turns 8 and 16: 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. “Planting” — from the start of the fight

Down to 35%: saplings every 4 turns.

Cycle step	What the boss plays
1	⚔ Trowel
2	⚔ Trowel + 🌿 Saplings
3	⚔ Trowel + 🌿 Branch to the Forehead
4	⚔ Trowel

2. “Who Trampled the Flowerbed” — below 35% Health

Below 35%: angry and plants more often.

On entering the phase the boss plays at once: 🩸 Who Trampled the Flowerbed, 🌿 Saplings.

Cycle step	What the boss plays
1	⚔ Trowel + 🌿 Branch to the Forehead
2	⚔ Trowel + 🌿 Saplings
3	⚔ Trowel

The “Don't Trample” test strike is not part of the cycle: the boss announces it on its turns 7 and 15 and hits on turns 8 and 16.

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 16th 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.
⚔ Trowel · Physical, hit	A hit on whoever holds the boss’s attention (usually the tank).	2,350	250	4,100	A plain hit.
🌿 Saplings · Nature, summon with a task	Summons “Sapling” ×2. While it lives, it heals the boss every turn.	Health 1,750 · hits 71 · heals the boss 840 per turn	Health 100 · hits 8 · heals the boss 50 per turn	Health 6,950 · hits 123 · heals the boss 3,340 per turn	Each heals him for 840 (heroic) / 50 (normal) / 3,340 (keystone +10) per turn. Kill them first.
🌿 Branch to the Forehead · Nature, hit	A hit on the healthiest.	1,410	150	2,460	Hits whoever has the most Health. Keep everyone even.
🩸 Who Trampled the Flowerbed · Blood, boss empower	The boss’s hits ×1.15 until the fight ends.	—	—	—	Stronger by 15% until the fight ends.

“Ground Frost” cold

He feels sorry for the seedlings. He did not count the people.

Heroic: 440 to each per enemy turn, before Hardiness.
Keystone +10: 360 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 16, 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 16th 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.
“Trowel” hits you. Keep Taunt on rhythm: while the boss hits the tank, the rest stay whole. The heaviest is “Trowel” (“Planting” 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

“Ground Frost” cold hits everyone through shields every enemy turn: heroic — 440, keystone +10 — 360 to each before Hardiness. Heal everyone every turn; healer cards do it best — they heal Health only.
“Branch to the Forehead” (the healthiest) hits past the tank. Watch everyone, not just the tank.
“Who Trampled the Flowerbed”: the boss hits harder — keep crystals and heals in reserve for those turns.

Damage dealers

“Sapling” heals the boss every turn — kill it first.
Do not drag it out: heroic — enrage from turn 40.

The heaviest hits

“Don't Trample” — test strike, through shields.
“Trowel” — on the tank; “Planting” phase, cycle step 1.
“Branch to the Forehead” — on the healthiest; “Planting” phase, cycle step 3.

Loot

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

Previous boss — Cobrahn the Scaled. Next boss — Naralex the Sleeping Seer.

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