Hearth-Vigil

Spirit Overview — Framing

Wiki-printed playstyle note:

Very good at protecting Dahan in its lands, not so great at stopping Blight. In keeping with its nature, largely brings Dahan to its Presence (or vice versa); getting Dahan elsewhere may require a bit of forethought with Keep Watch for New Incursions. Very reactive, with reliable ways to deal with Invaders as they Ravage and Build, but has trouble handling established City that aren’t Ravaging.

Strategic framing [VERIFY: enhance with play experience].

Starting Setup

Put 3 Presence on your starting board: 1 in the highest-numbered land with Dahan and 2 in the lowest-numbered land with at least 2 Dahan . Add 1 Dahan in each of those lands (additional survivors of the Invaders’ diseases). You start with your 4 Unique Power Cards and 1 Energy.

Growth Options (one)

Growth token reference (Wiki shorthand):

• reclaim — Reclaim all discarded Power Cards.
• gain1p / gain2p — Gain 1 or 2 Power Cards (Minor).
• addpresence1 / addpresence2 / addpresence3 — Add 1 Presence from track, Range N.
• energy1 / energy2 / energy3 — +1/+2/+3 Energy.
• card1 / card2 — +1/+2 Card Plays this turn.
• (Other tokens documented on Wiki Spirit template reference pages.)

Presence Tracks

As Presence leaves each track, these values are revealed:

• Energy track: gather1dahan1land
• Card-play track: energy0, energy1sun, energy2, energy3animal, energy4, energy5sun

Core Mechanics & Special Rules

Special Rule

ROOTED IN THE COMMUNITY Blight added in your lands does not Destroy your Presence if Dahan are present. (Ravage Actions Destroy Dahan before added Blight destroys Presence and cascades.) FORTIFY HEART AND HEARTH Dahan have +4 Health (each) while in your lands. Event and Blight Card Actions don’t damage, destroy, or replace Dahan in your lands. (Ravages are not Event Actions even if caused by Events.) LOYAL GUARDIAN When all Dahan leave one of your lands, your Presence may Move with those Dahan. (Each Dahan can Bring any number of Presence.)

Innate: WARN OF IMPENDING CONFLICT

• Speed: fast · Range: · Target: yourself

Level	Thresholds	Effect
1	2 Sun + 1 Earth	In one of your lands, 1 Dahan deals Damage before Invaders during Ravages. (Choose a land when Invaders Ravage there.)
2	3 Sun + 1 Earth	In that land, another Dahan deals Damage before Invaders during Ravages.
3	4 Sun + 2 Earth	In that land, all Dahan deal Damage before Invaders during Ravages.
4	5 Sun + 3 Earth	Instead, all Dahan in all of your lands deal Damage before Invaders during Ravages.

Innate: KEEP WATCH FOR NEW INCURSIONS

• Speed: fast · Range: 1 (optionally from a sacredsitedahan site) · Target: any

Level	Thresholds	Effect
1	1 Animal	Gather up to 2 Dahan , from your lands only.
2	1 Sun + 2 Air + 3 Animal	Once this turn after Invaders are added or moved into target land, 1 Damage per Dahan in target land, to those added/moved Invaders only.
3	2 Sun + 3 Air + 4 Animal	Repeat this Power.

Unique Cards (all, Wiki-verified)

Card Priority Ratings

Uniques

No Unique cards listed.

Top 10 Minor Draft Picks (from full pool)

#	Card	Cost	Speed	Elements	Effect (truncated)	Why this pick
1	Promises of Protection	0	Fast	Sun, Earth, Animal	Gather up to 2 Dahan . Dahan have +2 Health while in target land.	elements animal+earth+sun → 14.4
2	Guardian Serpents	1	Fast	Sun, Moon, Earth, Animal	Add 1 Beasts in one of target Spirit’s lands. If target Spirit has a Sacred Site in that …	elements animal+earth+sun → 14.4
3	Call to Guard	0	Fast	Sun, Air, Earth	Gather up to 1 Dahan . Then, if Dahan are present, either: Defend 1 per Dahan. OR Afte…	elements air+earth+sun → 12.6
4	Call to Isolation	0	Fast	Sun, Air, Animal	Push 1 Explorer /Town per Dahan. OR Push 1 Dahan .	elements air+animal+sun → 13.5
5	Birds Cry Warning	1	Fast	Sun, Air, Animal	The next time Dahan would be Destroyed in target land, Destroy 2 fewer Dahan. OR Push…	elements air+animal+sun → 13.5
6	Sky Stretches to Shore	1	Fast	Sun, Air, Water, Earth	This turn, target Spirit may use 1 Slow Power as if it were Fast, or vice versa. Target S…	elements air+earth+sun → 12.6
7	Territorial Strife	0	Slow	Sun, Fire, Animal	3 Damage to Explorers/Towns. OR Add 1 Strife.	elements animal+sun → 11.4
8	Gift of Constancy	0	Fast	Sun, Earth	Target Spirit gains 2 Energy. At end of turn, target Spirit may Reclaim 1 Power Card inst…	elements earth+sun → 10.5
9	Blood Draws Predators	1	Fast	Sun, Fire, Water, Animal	After the next time Invaders are Destroyed in target land: Add 1 Beasts, then 1 Damage pe…	elements animal+sun → 11.4
10	Strong and Constant Currents	0	Fast	Sun, Water, Earth	Push 1 Explorer /Town to an adjacent Coastal land. OR Move up to 2 Dahan between targe…	elements earth+sun → 10.5

Top 5 Major Draft Picks (from full pool)

#	Card	Cost	Speed	Elements	Effect (truncated)	Why this pick
1	Unlock the Gates of Deepest Power	4	Fast	Sun, Moon, Fire, Air, Water, Earth, Plant, Animal	Target Spirit gains a Major Power by drawing 2 and keeping 1, without having to Forget an…	elements air+animal+earth+sun → 16.5
2	Bargains of Power and Protection	2	Fast	Sun, Water, Earth, Animal	Remove 1 of your Presence on the island from the game, setting it on the Reminder Card. F…	elements animal+earth+sun → 14.4
3	Wrap in Wings of Sunlight	3	Fast	Sun, Air, Animal	Move up to 5 Dahan to any land (including back into target land). If you moved at least 1…	elements air+animal+sun → 13.5
4	Instruments of Their Own Ruin	4	Fast	Sun, Fire, Air, Animal	Add 1 Strife. Each Invader with Strife deals Damage to other Invaders in target land.	elements air+animal+sun → 13.5
5	Manifest Incarnation	6	Slow	Sun, Moon, Earth, Animal	6 Fear . +1 Fear for each Town/City and for each of your Presence in target land. Remove 1…	elements animal+earth+sun → 14.4

HoSI Beginner Deck Bundle — for reference only

No HoSI beginner-deck bundle for this spirit.

Cards to Avoid (anti-synergy flagged)

Key Strategic Principles

[VERIFY and enhance] — strategic principles should be derived from Wiki-verified mechanics above.

1. Use the Special Rule to its fullest (see above for exact text).
2. Element thresholds drive innate firing — see the innate tables above.
3. Suggested draft cards are Wiki-recommended; pattern-match to your matchup.

Opener Mechanics — starter reference

Starting state

• Setup: Put 3 Presence on your starting board: 1 in the highest-numbered land with Dahan and 2 in the lowest-numbered land with at least 2 Dahan . Add 1 Dahan in each of those lands (additional survivors of the Invaders’ diseases). You start with your 4 Unique Power Cards and 1 Energy.
• Starting income (from presence_energy_track[0] = gather1dahan1land, presence_cardplay_track[0] = energy0): 0 Energy · 0 Card Play
• Hand at start: 4 Unique Power Cards (listed below)
• Growth type: one — pick one growth option per turn

Growth options

• G1: reclaim (Reclaim all discarded+played Power Cards); addpresence0 (Place 1 Presence from a track (Range 0))
• G2: gain1p (Gain 1 Power Card (Minor unless otherwise noted)); addpresence3dahan ((spirit-specific: addpresence3dahan — consult spirit panel))
• G3: addpresence2 (Place 1 Presence from a track (Range 2)); energy3 ((+3 Energy this turn — growth effect, not track reveal))

Presence-track reveal rules: placing Presence (via a growth option with addpresence*) reveals one track slot — either the next Energy slot or the next Card-Play slot, not both. The choice determines your permanent-income trajectory from that turn onward.

Energy track

gather1dahan1land — income as slots reveal: gather1dahan1land

Card-play track

energy0 · energy1sun · energy2 · energy3animal · energy4 · energy5sun — CP as slots reveal: energy0 → energy1sun → energy2 → energy3animal → energy4 → energy5sun

Innate Powers

• WARN OF IMPENDING CONFLICT (Speed: Fast · Range: ? · Target: yourself)
  • L1 — 2 Sun + 1 Earth: In one of your lands, 1 Dahan deals Damage before Invaders during Ravages. (Choose a land when Invaders Ravage there.)
  • L2 — 3 Sun + 1 Earth: In that land, another Dahan deals Damage before Invaders during Ravages.
  • L3 — 4 Sun + 2 Earth: In that land, all Dahan deal Damage before Invaders during Ravages.
  • L4 — 5 Sun + 3 Earth: Instead, all Dahan in all of your lands deal Damage before Invaders during Ravages.
• KEEP WATCH FOR NEW INCURSIONS (Speed: Fast · Range: 1 · Target: any)
  • L1 — 1 Animal: Gather up to 2 Dahan , from your lands only.
  • L2 — 1 Sun + 2 Air + 3 Animal: Once this turn after Invaders are added or moved into target land, 1 Damage per Dahan in target land, to those added/moved Invaders only.
  • L3 — 2 Sun + 3 Air + 4 Animal: Repeat this Power.

Fast-phase element ceiling from Uniques

Fast innates resolve in Fast phase and can only see elements from Fast cards played before the innate. Slow-card elements arrive too late to feed a Fast innate. This is the element ceiling Fast plays from your Uniques alone can contribute each turn:

• Fast-phase Unique elements: (no Fast Uniques — all innate firings require drafted Fast cards)
• Fast-phase L1 ceiling from Uniques alone is insufficient — need 2 Sun, Uniques give 0; need 1 Earth, Uniques give 0. L1 only fires T1 with a drafted Fast Minor providing the shortfall element(s).

Unique Power Cards

No Unique cards parsed.

Invader phase by turn (base deck)

Adversary escalation can shift this — check the adversary JSON for deviations (Sweden front-loads a Build; some Habsburg levels add early Builds).

Pause-point before writing T1 prose

Adversary Matchup Matrix

[VERIFY all grades] — template only; fill in per-adversary notes after play.

Strategy Cliffs — per-adversary-level shifts that change Hearth-Vigil’s math

England L5 — Buildings +1 HP

What changes: Towns become 3-HP (was 2), Cities become 4-HP (was 3). Damage-only Powers dealing 2 or 3 may no longer kill a Town/City in one go.

Mitigation for Hearth-Vigil: Stack damage from multiple plays or use downgrade Powers (Crops Wither, Tangled Trees) to soften before finishing.

England L3 — Coastal Lands build faster

What changes: England’s L3 escalation adds an extra Build in coastal lands. Ocean-adjacent spirits see compounded pressure on their home terrain.

Mitigation for Hearth-Vigil: Front-load coastal defense or disruption before T3’s first Ravage.

Brandenburg-Prussia — Cities drive Fear-per-kill (favorable swing)

What changes: BP’s escalation puts Cities on the board early, and each destroyed City dumps Fear into the pool. Damage-dealing spirits benefit from an inflated Fear curve; weaker spirits may struggle against pre-City pressure.

Mitigation for Hearth-Vigil: Aim at City-dense lands with your highest-damage plays for outsized Fear returns.

Board / Map Configuration

[VERIFY via play] — base boards A–D, Jagged Earth E–H, and thematic ratings pending per-spirit play experience.

Game-Phase Strategy

[VERIFY: needs play data].

Synergy Partners (Multiplayer)

[VERIFY: needs multi-spirit play data] — archetype-based hints from Archetype Index are the starting point.

Common Mistakes

[VERIFY: collect from play].

Tempo Profile

[VERIFY: per-round targets need playtest].

Expansion Sensitivity

• Base only: core Uniques + Innate + Special Rule functional if expansion = Base.
• + Branch & Claw: events + blight deck introduce variance.
• + Jagged Earth: Major/Minor pool deepens.
• + Nature Incarnate: additional aspects may unlock; check the aspect column above.

Per-expansion specifics [VERIFY].

Stat Snapshot

Source Notes

Chapter draft generated from Wiki data 2026-04-19. Strategic prose needs enhancement from play experience. See templates/SPIRIT_TEMPLATE.md for the full Rei-format spine.