The Banner Saga 3 – Krumr’s Mentor Alternate Strategy / The Zefr Blitz

Unlike most folks who build a party around Alette’s Overwatch, this strategy is built around Zefr’s Breeze ability. Wait, is Zefr that other mender that nobody ever uses? Yup. Read on…

Zefr casts breeze on three tanks. Instead of sitting back and building a wall around Alette’s Overwatch, you blitz the enemy with a flurry of Tempests and the match is basically over before it starts.

Krumr’s Mentor Alternate Strategy / The Zefr Blitz

Note: Credit goes to samplotkin

I hope you find this a useful strategy in achieving Kumr’s Mentor. Goodluck and please let me know how it goes!

Unlike most folks who build a party around Alette’s Overwatch, this strategy is built around Zefr’s Breeze ability. Wait, is Zefr that other mender that nobody ever uses? Yup. Read on…

High level: Zefr casts breeze on three tanks. Instead of sitting back and building a wall around Alette’s Overwatch, you blitz the enemy with a flurry of Tempests and the match is basically over before it starts.

Why this is a better strategy than the Alette-centered Overwatch:

• It’s really hard to keep Alette alive through all 30 battles. As careful as you might be, some enemy will eventually get behind your defense and kill her. Therefore, you need some luck to make it through with her alive.
• It’s slow. You build a wall and wait for enemies to come to you. In BS3, this doesn’t always work because of the wave battles. If you haven’t taken everyone down before reinforcements arrive, you can end up in a tough spot.

Don’t get me wrong, Overwatch is OP and I’ve successfully achieved Kumr’s Mentor using this strategy in both BS2 and BS3. I just find the Zefr Blitz to be more effective.

As a bonus, this strategy is fast and works REALLY well for achieving both Make it Count (500 turns our less) and Zefr’s Wind (200 minutes or less). I got both achievements by accident (was on a Krumr’s Mentor run) while still fighting almost every extra wave. Using this lineup (and no Human subs), you’ll also achieve Just Some Fantasy.

Turn order and basic strategy:

1. Apostate – cast Umbrage
2. Zefr – cast Breeze on Krumr, Iver, and Kivi
3. Krumr – Tempest some Dredge
4. Iver – Tempest whoever else is clumped together
5. Kivi – Kindle or Drumfire a large group
6. Canary (or whoever) – Attack someone

Hero Details:

Apostate – The Wolf – Cast Umbrage on the first turn of every battle. This is one of the most powerful abilities in the game., but having a mender on hand is key so that they can restore the lost armor caused by this ability. Umbrage uses up two turns, but if there’s anybody left by his third turn, let Apostate join the fray as a melee character. The Wolf heroic title offers some much needed movement speed with lower agro and +strength as a nice bonus.

• Item: Clasp of Kyn or any other all around bonus item

Zefr – The Whisper – Breeze is the center of this strategy, allowing up to three characters move anywhere on the map on their next turn. Use it to put Krumr, Iver, and Kivi in the middle of as many enemies as possible and by using a mix of Tempest and Drumfire, they should be able to do crippling damage to 6-8 enemy units on the first turn! By the end of the second turn, once they have the Umbrage buff, the battle should be pretty much wrapped up. The Whisper heroic title helps keep Zefr out of trouble.

• Item: Anything that offers at least +1 will per turn

Krumr – Dredge Breaker – The combination of +3 attack from Dredge Breaker and his Heavy Impact passive causes Krumr to do 4 damage from the splash alone. Just go ahead and have a field day with Tempest. Note that the Dredge Breaker bonus works against Warped Dredge as well.

• Item: Ringmother (+3 all talents + great attack and defense bonuses), Vena Doll, or any other strong defensive item

Iver – The Foolish – Same as Krumr, just run up to enemies and wipe them out with Tempest by doing huge critical damage from The Foolish heroic title. Option to go with The Mountain heroic title here, but I found that to be overly conservative.

• Item: Vena Doll or any other strong defensive item

Kivi – Bloodletter – In addition to being nearly unkillable, Kivi + Bloodletter does massive damage because both his abilities (Kindle and Drumfire) can hit multiple enemies at once, causing 6 bleed damage total (per enemy) over the next two turns. Use Kindle against Dredge and Drumfire when non-Dredge are lined up. I usually level up Kivi’s heroic title first and find him to be probably the best all-around character in BS3.

• Item: Coin Bracelet (offers defense, sheds armor which automatically causes bleed and lets you do 8 break damage with Kindle)

Canary – The Foresaken – Just able to do massive damage and huge critical hits.

• Item: Anything with +attack and +crit

Other Useful Rotational Characters:

• Alette – don’t get me wrong Alette’s Overwatch with Monster Killer heroic title is amazing. Feel free to use her as your 6th character and she’ll be especially useful in longer battles with multiple waves. I just found that the battle was usually over before she could really get too involved. Also keep in mind that most knockback items were nerfed in BS3 so she’s a little less unkillable as compared to in BS2. The one exception is if you can find her The Dredge Clapper (for knockback on Str>3) – that’s pretty much game over. It’s likely to only show up late in the game though as it’s a level 15 item. Otherwise, a high attack, high crit item should be effective.
• Rook – my third favorite ranged character behind Canary and Alette. Pair with Shield Cleaver and he offers both great support and attack.
• Eirik – The Bear speaks for itself
• Eyvind – Will use as a reinforcement if Zefr has taken damage
• Petrus – Another great reinforcement option – Summon an extra unit!
• Hakon – if one of your big tanks dies, sub in Hakon (or Bastion for that matter).
• Egil – I’ll usually pair him with The Granite One heroic title and a +3 agro item. Just throw him into the middle, cast Shield Wall, and let him soak up enormous damage.

Additional Strategy:

• Very important to sacrifice less-important characters in the early game. Use the 6th slot to rotate heroes through, send them to their death, and give them a Viking Funeral with a useless item. This will give you approximately 20 extra renown per turn!