Boneshaper guide

Official line

Summoner of the undead who sacrifices their health to create and heal allies.

Complexity on the rulebook scale: Medium. That is a learning label, not a power rank.

Summon and health planning

Editorial recommendation: reserve health and a legal summon hex before committing to an undead engine. Treat summon movement and door opening as separate problems: commanding a summon does not let it open a door unless scenario rules explicitly permit it.

The Heal 1 skull modifier heals the Boneshaper, including when a summon draws it, but line of sight from that summon is required. The modifier that kills the attacking summon for +4 is optional; you may instead keep the summon and use +1.

Dead on Arrival still charges the normal damage and grants the normal XP. Its summon acts before your first turn, including round 1. Editorial perk priority: evaluate this opening tempo against your available health and healing rather than treating it as free.

• Summon looting counts as your looting for battle goals and item use.
• The 15-kills mastery requires actual class effects that kill summons, in one successful scenario. Dismissing them or walking them into traps is insufficient.
• Exploding Corpse is the Boneshaper's attack, not the summon attacking; retaliation checks the Boneshaper's position.
• In small parties, discuss who opens doors. In large parties, leave routes and summon hexes available.

Related guides

Sources

• Official Frosthaven FAQ — Board game, section 8.5 (#page_85): summon control, modifiers, masteries and Dead on Arrival.