Relentless Gaze of the Sun
Card data, innate thresholds, special rules, growth options, presence track, and unique-card text parsed via scripts/wiki-fetch.py. Remaining [VERIFY]: Play Difficulty, aspect mechanics, live mindwanderer stats, board ratings.
Strategic framing from three Phantaskippy-style Wiki subpages (Top Track, Bottom Track, Contextual Builds) + BGG thread 3140073. Best-covered of the NI spirits.
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Expansion | Nature Incarnate |
| Complexity | High |
| Play Difficulty | [VERIFY] |
| Growth type | “one” — pick one growth per turn |
| Power summary (1–5) | Offense 5 · Control 1 · Fear 3 · Defense 2 · Utility 3 |
| Primary Elements | Sun (everything) · Moon (Harmonious Nature L1 — blight-to-destroy-presence) · Fire (Scorching) |
| Special Rules | Relentless Punishment (Repeat a Power at escalating Energy cost if 3+ Presence in origin land) |
| Aspects | None |
| Rei’s Guide | Not covered |
| latentoctopus | Not listed |
| Wiki Guides | Top Track + Bottom Track + Contextual |
Spirit Overview — Framing
Relentless Gaze is a concentrated-repeat cannon — uses triple-Presence stacks + high Energy to repeat Power cards on the same land (cost 0→1→3→6 cumulative). Unique in the game: the only innate that lets you destroy your own Presence instead of adding Blight, given 3 Sun + 1 Moon.
Wiki-printed playstyle note:
Concentrated-stack repeat-damage spirit. Every turn the question is “what power am I repeating, and how many times?”
Best-covered of NI — three Phantaskippy-style Wiki subpages + 12 BGG posts + YouTube walkthroughs.
Starting Setup
Put 2 Presence and 1 Badlands on your starting board, in the lowest-numbered Sands. You start with your 4 Unique Power Cards and 0 Energy.
Growth Options (growthtype: “one” — pick one per turn)
| Growth | Effects | Best when |
|---|---|---|
| G1 | Gaze (add presence + other effect — Gaze-specific bundle) | Signature spread |
| G2 | Reclaim + Add 3 Destroyed Presence Together | Reset + rebuild |
| G3 | Gain 1 Power Card | Card-gain |
| G4 | Gain Double Energy + Move 3 Presence Together | Energy spike + reposition |
Presence Tracks
- Energy:
energy1 → energy2sun → energy3fire → sun → energy4any → energy5 → (last slot empty) - CP:
card1 → card1 → card2 → sunX → card3 → reclaim1 → card4
Starting income: 1 Energy, 1 Card Play.
Core Mechanics & Special Rules
Special Rule: Relentless Punishment
After using a Power Card, if you had at least 3 Presence in the origin land, you may Repeat it any number of times on the same target land(s) (ignoring origin, Range, and target requirements) by paying:
- the Energy cost of the Power, and
- 1 Energy per previous use of the Power this turn each time you Repeat the Power.
Repeat-cascade with escalating cost: a 0-cost Power repeats at 0/1/3/6 Energy (0 initial + 0+1 first repeat + 0+2 second + 0+3 third = 0→1→3→6). 3+ Presence in origin land is the gate.
Innate: Scorching Convergence
- Speed: Slow · Range: 1 · Target: Any
| Level | Thresholds | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2  Sun | Move all of your Presence from origin land directly to target land. 1 Damage to Town/City only. |
| 2 | 3 Sun + 1  Fire | 3 Damage to Invaders. 3 Damage to Dahan. Add 1 Blight without cascading. |
| 3 | 4 Sun + 2 Fire + 1  Air | 3 Fear if this Power destroyed any Invaders. |
| 4 | 5 Sun + 3 Fire + 2 Air | 1 Damage per remaining Presence of yours in target land. |
Innate: Consider a Harmonious Nature
- Speed: Fast · Target: Yourself (passive)
| Level | Thresholds | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1  Moon + 3 Sun | When your Powers would Add Blight, you may Destroy 1 Presence instead. |
| 2 | 3 Sun + 1  Water | Your Powers don’t damage or destroy Dahan. |
| 3 | 3 Sun + 1  Plant | Choose another Spirit. They add 1 Destroyed Presence to one of your lands. |
| 4 | 3 Sun + 1 Water + 1 Plant | Give up to 3 of your Energy to the chosen Spirit. |
L1 is critical — converts Scorching L2’s Blight into Presence-destroy, feeding Gaze’s Presence-recycling.
Unique Cards (all 4, Wiki-verified names)
- Focus the Sun’s Rays
- Unbearable Gaze
- Blinding Glare
- Wither Bodies, Scar Stones
[VERIFY exact costs/text from physical copy.]
Key Strategic Principles
- Moon is critical, not optional. 335907: “my biggest pitfall originally was not grabbing power cards with moon element… Getting cards with moon is my top priority for the first few turns.”
- Top Track is default (rchandra: “My standard opener is G3 top then G2 bottom x2.”). Bottom Track for Russia.
- Repeat across multiple Powers, not one Power 3×. 814764: “repeating 3 minors each once is more efficient then repeating one of them 3 times.”
- Don’t auto-take Scorching L2. Dahan-kill + Blight-add is often worse than stopping at L1.
- Blight-adders are valuable because you can convert Blight → Destroy-Presence at 3 Sun + 1 Moon.
- Support cards are worse than usual. Gaze is plays-constrained.
Possible Openings
Shared starting state
- 2 Presence + 1 Badlands on lowest-Sands.
- 4 Uniques in hand.
- 0 Energy, 1 Card Play.
Opening A — Top Track 🟨 (default, rchandra)
T1 · Growth: G3 top (+1 presence, +1 card, +1 Energy). T1 · Play: Draft Minor (Moon priority — critical). Play Focus the Sun’s Rays + left innate to kill a Town, OR Unbearable Gaze to clear 2 lands.
T2 · Growth: G2 bottom. T2 · Play: Draft another Minor. Play the other opener. Keep drafting Moon.
T3 · Growth: G2 bottom. T3 · Play: Build toward 3 plays / 3 Energy.
T4+ · Growth: G1/G3 for repeat Energy. Blinding Glare becomes Ravage-skip + fear engine.
Opening B — Bottom Track (vs. Russia) 🟥
Wiki: “Place a presence from bottom track, draft a card, create a triple stack, then grow to 2 plays next turn.” Preserves left innate for later; Russia-specific (Beasts/Wilderness interaction).
Opening C — Contextual triggers 🟥
Wiki third subpage — when to skew top T1:
- Multi-land solution available via Unbearable Gaze.
- Sands-explore letting you clear starting land with innate.
- Immediate skip-land needed vs. cascade threat.
Opening Decision
- Default Opening A — balanced Top Track.
- Opening B vs Russia.
- Opening C in context-specific T1 situations.
Card Priority Ratings
Top 10 Minor Draft Picks (Moon > Sun > Fire)
| # | Card | Cost | Speed | Elements | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Predatory Nightmares | 0 | Fast | Moon, Animal | 0-cost Moon |
| 2 | Pull Beneath the Hungry Earth | 0 | Slow | Moon, Earth | 0-cost Moon |
| 3 | Call to Bloodshed | 0 | Slow | Moon, Animal | 0-cost Moon |
| 4 | Strange Tales of the Sky | 1 | Fast | Moon, Air | Moon + Air |
| 5 | Drift Down to Rest | 0 | Slow | Sun, Air, Plant | 0-cost Sun |
| 6 | Unrelenting Growth | 0 | Slow | Sun, Plant | 0-cost Sun |
| 7 | Song of Sanctity | 0 | Slow | Sun, Plant, Animal | 0-cost Sun |
| 8 | Gift of Power | 1 | Fast | Moon | Moon utility |
| 9 | Pyroclastic Friction | 1 | Fast | Fire, Earth | Fire-feeder |
| 10 | Elemental Boon | 0 | Fast | Sun, Moon, Fire, Air | 0-cost quadruple |
Top 5 Major Draft Picks
Blight-adders + Sun/Fire/Air Majors.
| # | Card | Cost | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Focus the Land’s Anguish | 5 | Sun-scaling |
| 2 | Poisoned Land | 4 | Blight-add (convertible) |
| 3 | Scour the Land | 4 | Blight-add multi-land |
| 4 | Pillar of Living Flame | 4 | Fire + Sun |
| 5 | Vigor of the Breaking Dawn | 4 | Sun + multi-land |
Adversary Matchup Matrix
| Adversary | Opening | Rating | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brandenburg-Prussia | A | ★★★★☆ | Single-land focused |
| Scotland | A | ★★★★☆ | Board-wipe wins (18 fear reports at L5) |
| England | A | ★★★☆☆ | Coastal scaling |
| Sweden | A | ★★★☆☆ | [VERIFY] |
| France-Plantation | A | ★★☆☆☆ | Building-limit adversaries block dump-and-skip |
| Russia | B | ★★★☆☆ | Bottom Track variant |
| Habsburg Mining | A | ★★★☆☆ | [VERIFY] |
| Habsburg Livestock | A | ★★★☆☆ | [VERIFY] |
Common Mistakes
- Skipping Moon — forces blight-add; eats your board.
- Replacing Withered Bodies T2 without stockpiling energy (Top Track wiki).
- Over-repeating single powers — spread across 3 Minors beats 1× three times.
- Auto-taking Scorching L2 — Dahan-kill + Blight is often worse than L1.
Tempo Profile
| Turn | Target state |
|---|---|
| 1 | G3 top + Moon Minor + Focus the Sun’s Rays / Unbearable |
| 2 | G2 bottom + 2nd Minor + remaining opener |
| 3 | G2 bottom + 3 plays / 3 Energy target |
| 4+ | Blinding Glare + repeat cycles |
Source Notes
- Mechanics:
data/references/wiki/relentless-gaze-of-the-sun.json(Wiki-parsed 2026-04-23). - Wiki guides: Top Track / Bottom Track / Contextual subpages.
- BGG: thread 3140073.