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InInkulinati, your battles are fought using Beasts, drawn from Living Ink gathered from the battlefield. There are several unique tribes of Beasts, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. Because of the Boredom mechanic, in which you are punished for using the same Beasts each battle, you’ll want to grow a formidable army of several different Beasts.
Related:Inkulinati: Beginner Tips
There is a wide variety of Beasts to choose from, with some being stronger than others. Below, we’ll take a look at some of the best Beasts you may recruit in Inkulinati, as well as each of their strengths and weaknesses.
Inkulinati is currently in Early Access on Steam, so the content in this guide is subject to change as the game is updated.
Bishop Cat
The Bishop Cat is an extremelyversatileBeast, withhigh damage and support potential. This Beast canheal friendly Beasts for five healthand give them atwo Halos, making the Bishop Cat a greatback-line supporter. Additionally, the Bishop Cat isAnointed, meaning any enemy Beast that attacks it will bebranded a Heretic, causing them toreceive double damage from all Anointed Beasts.
This debuff can be used to great potential withPower Word. This attack can deal damage at range, and even gets a smalldamage bonus against Heretics. With the built-in Heresy debuff, Power Word can dealextremely high damage, one-shotting a lot of Beasts in the game. This alone makes Bishop Cat a great attacker, but itneeds support from other Anointed Beaststo consistently apply the Heresy debuff.
Jaw Exploder
The Jaw Exploder is one of severalExploder Beasts. When these Beasts die, theyexplode, dealingfive damage to all units on adjacent tiles. They can also bemanually exploded using the Hold Your Farts ability, or theDetonationHand Action.
The Jaw Exploder only costsfive Ink to summon, and canattack both adjacent tiles at the same time. This Beast is incredibly effectivefodder, especially when paired with otherExploder-type Beasts and Actions. The Jaw Exploder has a decent movement range, allowing you tomove it right into the enemy’s way, forcing them to either kill it and deal with the explosion, or leave it alone and risk its attacks next turn.
Additionally,Exploders grant one Living Ink when they die, allowing you to refund a bit of their cost for your next Beasts. This also helps play into the idea ofconstantly recycling your Exploders, summoning and resummoning them after they explode on the enemy.
Cook Exploder
The Cook Exploder is another Exploder Beast that can deal a ton of damage. Its main attack,Stew Catapult, launches anexplosion a few tiles away. Because thisattack counts as an explosion, the same as when an Exploder dies, italways deals five damage, and cantrigger Talents like Healing Explosions and Stronger Explosions.
The Cook Exploder can alsoheal a Beast for five health, but causes it to becomeBloated. If this ability,Bean Time, is used on a Beast that is already Bloated, it will becomeDouble Bloated,increasing the size of its explosion. If a Double Bloated Beast becomes Bloated again, it willinstantly explode. Be careful when using this ability to restore the health of Exploder Beasts, or use it purposefully to intentionally explode them.
Donkey Bard
The Donkey Bard is anotherversatileBeast thatexcels at multiple things. UsingBlow the Bagpipes, the Donkey Bard canwake up a friendly Beast from its nap, enabling it totake an extra turn. This ability also grantsMotivation, allowing the Beast toact after moving at its maximum range. This ability is invaluable, as it enablesdeeper strategies and Beast placement, letting youset up two-turn pushes or attacks in half the time.
In addition, the Donkey Bard can useFarting the Pipe,forcing enemy beasts within three tiles to immediately take a nap, and giving them aheadache on their next turn, making it so theycan’t move. This ability is incredible fordisabling the enemybefore they can even attack, letting your Beasts run wild while the enemy is vulnerable.
Bellow-Wielding Devil
The Bellow-Wielding Devil is an extremely powerful Beast that cancover the battlefield in fireandinstantly kill enemies that are in the fire. UsingMassive Pyroflatulence, the Bellow-Wielding Devil cancover three tiles in Fire Sparks, whichdeal three damage to any Beast or Tiny that ends its turn on it. Devil Beasts areinnately immune to this effect, so they will all perform best when paired together.
If you’re using a full set of Devil Beasts, you cansafely cover the entire battlefield in fire, causing consistent damage to the enemy, no matter where they go. This will also enable the Bellow-Wielding Devil’s second ability,A Puff of Bellows, whichinstantly kills any Beast, so long as it is standing on a Fire Sparkstile. Additionally, the Bellow-Wielding Devil canforce an adjacent target to take a nap, immediately endings its turn.
The downside to the Bellow-Wielding Devil, although very small, is that it, along with other Devil Beasts,takes more damage from Anointed Beasts. If you’re facing Cleric-type Beasts, be careful, as your Devils will take much more damage from them.
Flute-Wielding Skeleton
Every single Skeleton Beast is extremely strong, and represents one of thestrongest archetypesin the game. Due to theirinnate resistance to Fire, Bleed, Infection, and Danse Macabre, not much can challenge them. The Flute-Wielding Skeleton in particular is very strong in its role. Although it only has seven health, it canattack from up to six tiles away, and its attacksinflict Danse Macabre. This unique status effectcauses enemies with it at the end of the chapter to take five damage, unless theyattack or push, or are granted a Halo.
Although there are several ways to remove Danse Macabre,if the Flute-Wielding Skeleton moves after that particular Beast has already taken its turn, their options are heavily limited. Because of this, the Flute-Wielding Skeleton candeal very high damage while remaining far away from the enemy. In addition, it can useStinking Breath, causingInfectionto appear on a tile. Because Skeletons are immune to Infection, this can be used to great effect bycovering key points of the battlefield in Infection, forcing the enemy into it.
