Hand of Gilgamech is a card-battler RPG across 18 chapters in four acts. The structure matters because almost every boss in it has elemental immunities, and walking into a fight with the wrong deck is the main way players get stuck.
The four acts
| Act | Where | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Act 1 | Green Fingers Grove → Goosebucket | Armilly and Copernica fight the guardian Gomphus, return to a burning Goosebucket, and free Galleo from a cage. They fight Captain Canary. |
| Act 2 | The school | The gates are sealed from outside; Tarah and Thayne help the party take the universal key from the woods. |
| Act 3 | The Cursed Woods | Inside the Cursed City. |
| Act 4 | The Darkfrost Mountains | Pursuing the dishonoured ancient hero before he can awaken the Behemoth. |
The party grows in that order: Armilly and Copernica, then Galleo (chapter 2, along with deck-building and Heroic Chains), then Orik, then the twins Tarah & Thayne.
Bosses with their immunities
| Boss | Immunities / resistances | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Gomphus | — | Chapter 1. The meaty introductory boss. Also summons Shroomlings. |
| Captain Canary | — | Chapter 2, with the Narcassian Dragon. |
| Headmistress Hyapathia | — | Two turns, hits all allies, can stop single targets. |
| Teras Koloss | — | — |
| The Dark Lord | — | — |
| Mechathiranos | — | — |
| Shadow Dragon | Physical immune, uses Arcane | Burn and Poison are essential — its HP is enormous |
| Shadow Headmistress | — | Always hits the whole party, so bring full-team heals |
| Shadow Koloss | Strong vs Frost and Arcane, weak to Fire | — |
| Gilgamech | None | The highest stats in the game |
Chapter 18: the finale
The final chapter is three battles against shadow versions of your own party, then Gilgamech.
Between each battle you can visit the merchant, and there are Hero Statues to heal and save. Each win grants Very Rare materials for card upgrades.
Important: if you quit part-way through, you keep the rewards for battles already won — but you must restart the chapter from the beginning.
Battle 1: Reckless Knight, Arrogant Alchemist, Brooding Hermit
| Target | Defenses | Threat |
|---|---|---|
| Reckless Knight (fake Galleo) | Physical +2, Fire immunity | Gains Fury at low health, raising attack strength |
| Arrogant Alchemist (fake Copernica) | Fire +2, Frost +2, Storm +2 | Protects her side with Mana Barriers; Heroic Chain Thunder Wave can Paralyse |
| Brooding Hermit (fake Orik) | Physical immunity, Arcane +2 | Heals allies; devastating Gigaton Punch |
Kill order: the Alchemist first. Her barriers erase multiple turns of work, she is not immune to anything, and she has the least HP.
Alternative reading from another source has Reckless Knight at Physical +2 and Fire immunity, the Alchemist resisting Shock/Frost/Fire, and the Hermit resisting Physical and immune to Fire — so check your own encounter rather than trusting either list.
Then aim physical damage at the Knight and elemental attacks at the Hermit.
Battle 2: Repressive Sister and Burdensome Brother
Both are immune to Arcane; the Brother resists Frost and the Sister resists Fire. The Sister uses Physical Strength moves, the Brother uses Magical Arcane moves.
The swap: take the same setup as the last fight, but change everything on Tarah and Thayne from Arcane to Physical.
Battle 3: Wayward Spirit, Demon Warrior, Jovial Deity
Spirit is immune to Thunder, Demon to Arcane, Deity to Frost.
Kill the Deity with strong focused attacks — weaker attacks will actually heal it or waste a turn. Or leave it for last, since confusion may otherwise cause your characters to heal it by accident.
Final: Gilgamech
Not immune to any element — just the highest stats in the game and some extremely painful cards. Use Poison, Blind, Flinch, Provoke and debuffs. If you are not poisoning him you are missing over 1,000 damage a turn.
The two farms in this chapter
- Repeat Chapter 18 for infinite Advanced Materials. The boss drops come back every time.
- Sell your Moonjuice — it adds up to over 700 gold.
If you are stuck
- Drop the difficulty to Squire. Immunities become tier 3 resistances and other resistances are nerfed, which changes the strategy significantly. You can switch difficulty during play.
- Grind the Colosseum of the Cursed, or replay earlier chapters.
- Re-equip for the element. The hard counters are not subtle: dragons need Arcane, the Koloss needs Fire, the twins need Physical.
Levelling
The hard level cap is 99, but enemies much lower level than you give negligible experience, so the soft cap lands near 50 — the enemies in the last few chapters are around level 50. The final boss falls to a team around level 45.
A good material farm before the finale: in Chapter 17, from the starting area go to the first save area near the shop, farm the monsters before the save room, then save to respawn them and repeat.
Related guides
- SteamWorld Quest Guide — the base game
- SteamWorld Dig 2 Collectibles — the other completion project
- Combat Guide — the card battle system
- Series Order Guide — where Quest fits
- Tips and Tricks — general series advice