Each character in the Set a Watch series has unique and interesting abilities, some are definitely more well-rounded and suitable for beginners. In this article, you will find our quick Strategy analysis of all characters in the Set a Watch series, with rankings.
Before we jump into the characters, here are a few general tips to keep in mind while playing Set a Watch:
You start the game with the campfire level at 7 and you are able to reveal 2 Creatures in the Line. Try to maintain this at all times so that the team can deal with the pesky First Position Creature powers before they trigger. Many character abilities work more effectively when there are more than one Creature revealed in the Line.
When forming a team of Adventurers, be sure to have at least 1-2 characters that either direct attack with range or can somehow reach beyond the first position with abilities.
Take full advantage of your character’s passive ability(s). If you didn’t draw the equippable passive ability card(s) at setup, make sure to take an Equip action at Camp to swap it in. Passive abilities are on-going and you can make use of it without exhausting the card.
While resting in camp, don’t forget to refresh one of your exhausted ability card for free. If you roll a 6, you can also take the Heal action to refresh an additional ability (for you or your teammate).
During the Watch phase, use dice with higher results to attack directly and the lower ones to trigger abilities without exhausting the card. Character abilities are generally more powerful than a direct attack so use them as often as you can.
Swap out any abilities that require you to put Creatures in the Horde as a cost with an Equip camp action if you happen to draw them during setup. Avoid adding Creatures to the Horde is paramount to increase your team’s chance of survival in the final round.
Set a watch: Base game - There are 6 characters in the retail version plus 2 more if you have the KS or deluxe version.
The Cleric -D6 ranged
Camp Action: Heal - Choose an Adventurer: Refresh 1 of their Ability cards (Requirement: 4+).
Passive Ability (Equippable): Protective Ward - Take the Creature in the first position of the Line and move it to the Horde (do not exhaust cards). Limit: once per Watch phase.
Never enter a dungeon without a cleric? Frankly, you can do without one in Set the Watch. Most of the Cleric's abilities target the Undead or the Unhallowed (Cleanse Undead, Rebuke, Banish). When these types of Creatures do not appear in the Line, these abilities would go untriggered during the Watch phase. Their passive ability Protective Ward serves as a temporary fix that actually makes the game harder in the final round. The only saving grace for the Cleric is that they can potentially heal twice when resting at Camp in addition to the free refresh. If you do end up choosing this character in your team, be sure to save their rests for when the team's exhaustion level is high.
Ranking: 2 out of 5
The Wizard -D6 ranged
Camp Action: Teleport - Draw the top 4 cards of the Unused Location deck, look at them, and then choose one of them to swap with the top card of the Map deck. Return the remaining cards to the bottom of the Unused Location deck in any order.
Passive Ability (Equippable): Illuminate - You may -1 🔥 to reveal the next Creature in the Line. Limit: 3 per round
The Wizard's Camp Action Teleport is a better version of Check Maps and can be a good supplemental action to take at the beginning of the game. For this reason, Wizard should take their 2 rests earlier on if possible.Their Passive ability Illuminate is only useful when the Campfire reveal level falls below 2 and should generally only be used as a last resort as it worsens the situation for the Adventurers in the long run.Having said that, this character can be still equipped with strong creature removal abilities (Chaos Blast, Polymorph, Shockbolt). Having these abilities equipped would help the wizard contribute meaningfully to the team's survival even with low die-roll results.
Ranking: 3 out of 5
Beast Master -D8 ranged
Camp Action: Set Trap - As soon as a Creature in the first position of the Line is revealed during the Watch phase, you may assign this result to that Creature as direct damage. If this defeats the Creature, its ability is not triggered.
Passive Ability (Equippable): Tracking - Once per round, you may tame a Forest Creature in the first position.
When resting, Beast Master can combine the Scout Ahead and Set Trap Camp actions and defeat a Creature with undesirable First position or Reveal effects. Their Tracking, Tame Beast, and Hunt abilities essentially turn small Forest Creature baddies into attack dice for later use. Even without the help of the tamed creatures, Beast Master can still do pretty good range damages with their D8s.However, if the Creature deck turns against Beast Master and those Forest Creatures don’t show up when they should, this character may experience some difficulties on Watch.
Ranking: 3 out of 5
The Rouge -D6 melee
Camp Action: Prepared- Perform an Equip action. You may then choose an Adventurer in Watch to perform an Equip action.
Passive Ability (Equippable): Stay Dead - Remove any Creature you defeat from the game.
With their passive ability Stay Dead, the Rogue can “customize” the deck and make things so much easier for the team in the long run. They can do this up to 3 times per Watch phase as long as they participated in defeating the Creature to be removed. It is vital to take full advantage of this ability in the first half (before the deck runs out) so none of the more pesky/powerful foes such as the Acolytes and the Unhallowed ever make it to future rounds. Although Backstab, Smoke Bomb, and Poison Blade are not particularity strong, they can still be useful during specific situations. The Rogue is set having any two of these abilities along with Stay Dead equipped . When they rest and take their camp action Prepared, the Rogue and a teammate can both take an Equip action. If the Rogue and someone else did not draw their passive abilities during setup, this is an excellent way to get both characters ready on the first turn. This camp action may also be helpful during the 7th or 8th round to the team swap in abilities that are more suitable for fighting the Horde.
Ranking: 4 out of 5
The Ranger - D8 ranged
Camp Action: Elven Scout - draw the top 4 cards of the Creature deck, look at them, and return them on top of the Creature deck in any order.
Passive Ability (Equippable): Sharpshooter - Once per round, you may choose a die spent on a direct attack: reroll that die and add it to your pool of unspent results.
Thanks to their passive ability Sharpshooter, the Ranger basically has a fourth D8 at their disposal during the Watch Phase. Their Camp Action Elven Scout can also be helpful to prevent adverse Creature First Position powers, especially when the campfire level fall belows 7. If you want to take on a supportive role and benefit everyone on Watch, the Elf Senses + Far Sight combo will allow Adventurers on Watch to reveal/attack an additional Creature in the Line. Otherwise, stick with Sharpshooter, Long Shot and Far Sight for to maximize the offensive potential for the Ranger.
Ranking: 4 out of 5
The Warrior (AKA the Dwarf) -D8 melee
Camp Ability : Wood Axe - Advance the Firewood token by +4 🔥.
Passive Ability (Equippable): Cleave - If you attack a Creature and deal more damage than its current HP, you may recover that die at the remaining value.
Most characters in this series have at least 1 or 2 “not-that-great” abilities; in contrast, all of the Warrior’s abilities are practical and effective for defeating Creatures. If you are playing the Warrior, the Berserker ability is must for range and double-kills. Throw Axe is another good ability as it allows The Warrior to target the second Creature if revealed with 8 damage. Their passive ability Cleave generates additional dice that are perfect for activating abilities after overkilling Creatures by direct attacking with a high-value dice. If Giantsbane and/or Wound are equipped, the Warrior could utilize low-value dice in combos. In other words, the Warrior’s dice will be put to good use regardless of the initial roll. The team would likely want to save the Warrior’s rests for the last few rounds as their Camp action Wood Axe is especially useful at this stage of the game. Towards the end, it becomes increasingly difficult to keep the campfire value above 7 and being able to raise the level by 4 could just be a lifesaver.
Ranking: 5 out of 5
The Knight - included in Set A Watch: KS or deluxe version & Doomed Run expansion. Please scroll to the Doomed Run section for more info on this character.
The Bard - included in Set A Watch: KS version & Doomed Run expansion. Please scroll to the Doomed Run section for more info on this character.
Set a Watch: Swords of the Coins - There are 6 characters in this version.
The Witch -D4 ranged
Camp Action: Dark Magic - Choose an Adventurer: refresh 1 of their Ability cards. Then, either add the top of the Creature deck to the Horde, or draw an additional Creature from the Creature deck and add it to the Line during this Watch phase.
Cat Familiar Passive Ability (Choose between Cat or Crow, always equipped): - The Cat can attack revealed Creatures in the first position (with a value of 5). When the Cat attacks, you may peek at the top card of the Creature deck.
Crow Familiar Passive Ability (Choose between Cat or Crow, always equipped): - The Crow can attack revealed Creatures in the first or second position (with a value of 3). When the Crow attacks, you may peek at the top 2 cards of the Creature deck.
The Witch’s passive ability comes in the form of a familiar, so this character essentially has an extra die. They choose between a Cat or a Crow during setup and can equip Transform to flip over and refresh the Familiar with the possibility to defeat a revealed Creature if its base 🖤 is relatively low. That’s the one remarkable thing we can say about the Witch. She will never be able to take the Heal action when resting at Camp as they only have D4s and cannot roll a 6. Her Camp action Dark Magic (an inferior Heal) actually increases the difficulty of the game by adding Creatures to the Line/Horde. We really want to like this character but other than Blood Ritual and Transform, the Witch’s abilities just do not stack up against the others.
Ranking: 1 out of 5
Bounty Hunter -D8 ranged
Camp Action: Collect Bounty - Discard up to 3 of your Trophies to the Graveyard. Then collect coins equal to the total damage of the just discarded Trophies.
Passive Ability (Equippable): Expertise - When resolving a direct attack, double the value of your dice against any Creature type in your Trophy collection then discard that trophy.
Similar to Beast Master, Bounty Hunter puts the Creatures to work as their personal arsenal, and they can keep up to 3 defeated Creatures as Trophies. Two of their abilities (Exploit and Expertise) can defeat Creatures by matching the Trophy Creature type with the target Creature’s, so we suggest hunting down Human, Undead and Golem Trophies early on as they would appear more often in Swords of the Coins. With range D8s, they should have no problem getting this prey. If you have Release the Beast equipped, then be sure to be on the lookout for a Creature with a reasonable card effect + base 🖤 to take full advantage of this abilities. Collecting a Creature as a Trophy does not trigger its Defeated power, and it may come in handy for certain cases. While resting, we actually recommend against taking Bounty Hunter’s Camp Action Collect Bounty as Trophies are precious commodities that are more valuable than coins.
Ranking: 3 out of 5
The Heretic -D6 melee
Camp Action: Seal - Search either the Graveyard or the Creature deck for an Unhallowed card of your choosing and place it at the bottom of the Unhallowed deck. Then, if you searched the Creature deck, shuffle that deck.
Passive Ability (Equippable): Dreadrot - You may assign one of your unspent dice to a revealed Creature in the Line to set its base 🖤 to that die value.
When playing the Heretic, it is important to keep track of the Graveyard and the Unhallowed. Their abilities Corpse Pyre and Pact of Doom compares the 🖤 of the top card of the Graveyard/Unhallowed deck and defeat a revealed Creature with lower or equal 🖤 . Having both of these equipped with Dreadrot, the Heretics can get rid of Creatures easily even if they did not roll well. The Heretics should rest after an Unhallow has been defeated in the previous Watch ( i.e. there is an Unhallowed card in the Graveyard) so they can promptly Seal it away and remove it from circulation.
Ranking: 4 out of 5
The Artificer -D6 ranged
Camp Action: Craft Item - Draw a number of cards from the Item deck equal to the value of the die spent to activate this ability. Keep one Item and return the rest to the top of the Item deck, in the order of your choosing.
Passive Ability (Always equipped): Artificer’s Staff - Once per round, you may defeat a revealed Creature in the Line with 🖤 equal to or lower than your current Charges. Then lose half of your Charges (rounded up).
Passive Ability (Equippable): Quick Craft - Once per round, you may spend Charges equal to the cost of an Item in the market to gain it. At the end of the round, shuffle it back into the Item deck (if able).
The Artificer begins the game with 8 charges on the Artificer’s Staff. These charges are mainly used to boost the damage of War Staff or spent to Quick Craft Items. Their other abilities all add charges back to the staff so we’d go with either Siphon Vortex or Soul Drain. When resting, the Artificer’s camp action Craft Item allows them to exchange a die for a free Item. Be on the lookout for Items that cost 4+ Coins as they tend to be more powerful. When quick crafting on Watch, you may want to go with Items with “Discard” triggers as they generally cost less so you can conserve charges. Since you don’t get to keep the Items made from Quick Craft, you might as well use these one-shot Items asap.
Ranking: 4 out of 5
The Monk -D6 melee (Upgradable via Camp action Meditate)
Camp Action: Meditate - Upgrade a single dice twice or two of your dice once ( D6 -> D8 -> D10 ).
Passive Ability (Equippable): Internal Strike - Each of your direct attacks deals an amount of extra damage equal to the attacked Creature’s damage.
The Monk should take their first rest on round 1 to upgrade two of their dice with Meditate, then rinse and repeat as soon as they have an exhausted ability. This way, the Monk will be on Watch for the rest of the game with two upgraded dice. When dealing direct melee damages, their attacks are boosted yet again by Internal Strike, so the Monk is fighting Creatures with D8/D10/D12s in a way. If the Monk needs range, they can activate either Chi Attack or Flying Kick to deal damage of any revealed Creature based on the total of their unspent or spent dice. Their utility type abilities Blind Fighter and Perfect Defense both complement and strengthen the Monk’s offense effectively. No matter what abilities you draw at setup, this upgradeable and well-balanced character is going to perform well on Watch.
Ranking: 5 out of 5
The Barbarian -D12 melee (w/at least +1 range when Stone Throw is equipped)
Camp Action: Primal Might - Choose one of your exhausted Ability cards and resolve an Equip action with it. Then refresh the just equipped Ability.
Passive Ability (Equippable): Stone Throw - For each Melee adventurer on Watch including the Barbarian, you may resolve a single-die direct attack with +1 range.
With their D12s and Stone Throw enabled range, the Barbarian’s stat is undoubtedly overpowered. Naturally, they must be given some type of handicap so the rest of the characters won’t feel bad about themselves. Therefore, the designers made it so this character can’t use dice to activate abilities. Don’t worry, the Barbarian is covered with their Camp action Primal Might, which allows them to get back two refreshed abilities in one rest. In a full game (9 rounds), the Barbarian has to cycle thru at least 4 of their abilities, if not all 5. The passive power Stone Throw is a must for range, and this should be equipped the entire time. The other four abilities are all pretty good, with Leap and Rampage being slightly less limited than Bloodied and Voracious. If the Barbarian is fighting in your team, look for any Items that can help them mitigate dice to get the most out of those D12s.
Ranking: 5 out of 5
Set a Watch: Forsaken Isles - There are 6 characters in this version.
The Druid -D6 ranged
Camp Action: Commune with Nature - Look through the Nature Deck and choose a card to shuffle into the Creature deck. Then you may rearrange the cards in the Nature Deck in the order of your choosing.
Passive Ability (Equippable): Forest Aid - Once per round, shuffle the top card of the Nature Deck into the Creature Deck.
The Druid’s Nature Deck consists of 6 Forest Creatures that have 🖤 of 2-7 with various positive powers when revealed (5) or defeated (1). Rather than equipping their passive ability Forest Aid, which just waters down the Creature Deck, we recommend keeping the Nature Deck by the Druid’s side and focus on Nature’s Call, Nature’s Power, and Beast Form instead. Since the Nature Deck is face up, the Druid can evaluate the best timing to activate the Forest Creature’s power (Nature’s Power), boost a die to deal damage (Beast Form), or to defeat and replace an unrevealed Creature with a weaker one (Nature’s Call). If the Druid can take their first rest early on, they can shuffle one “friendly” Forest Creature to the Creature deck then sort the rest. We recommend sending the Chipmunk out and keeping the Nature Deck in this order - Jaguar -> Stag -> Owl -> Badger -> Beaver. This way, the Druid will have a nice head start with their best buddies by their side.
Ranking: 3 out of 5
Fire Sorceress -D8 range
Camp Action: Burn Bright - Increase the Campfire reveal level by 1 until the end of the round.
Passive Ability (Equippable): Ignite- Once per round, -X 🔥 to deal 4X damage to a revealed Creature.
Fire Sorceress uses the campfire as a resource to fuel her three offensive abilities (Ignite/Inferno/Engulf). Ignite is the most flexible and effective one in the group. As we know maintaining the 🔥 level is of great importance in Set a Watch. Fire Sorceress should equip both Rekindle and Ember Flare if possible to keep that blaze going strong and use Ignite when necessary. The good thing is that they have ranged D8s to work with so they should be able to deal decent direct damage without having to decrease the campfire too often. Fire Sorceress should wait for their cue to rest when the 🔥 level drops below 5 or towards the end of the game, as that would be the best time to use their Camp ability Burn Bright.
Ranking: 3 out of 5
The Corsair -D6 melee
Camp Action: Black Powder - Shuffle a Black Powder card into the Creature Deck.
Passive Ability (Equippable): Treasure Hunter - Gain 1 Coin each time the Corsair defeats a Creature.
The Corsair has two Black Powder cards that blow up one adjacent Creature when they are revealed in Line. They can also gain Coins via Treasure Hunter, which makes it easier for Corsair to obtain better/more items. This is the ideal character for someone who likes to take risks and embraces randomness. Half of their abilities (Gamble, Cutlass, and Black Powder) can either pay off handsomely or fizzle out with little impact. If uncertainty is not your thing, then you would want to equip Fire Cannon, Sword Thrust, and Treasure Hunter to supplement the three D6s in your repertoire.
Ranking: 3 out of 5
The Merchant -D6 melee
Camp Action: Haggle - Reduce the cost of each Item in the Market by 2 Coins (to a minimum of 1 Coin).
Passive Ability (Equippable): Magic Potion - Once per round, turn one of your unspent dice to its maximum value, reveal a Creature, and refresh the Market.
Passive Ability (Equippable): Enchant Item - Once per round, recover and reroll a die spent on an item or spend 3 Coins to refresh an exhausted Item.
Passive Ability (Equippable): Refurbish - Each time an Item is discarded, you may reduce the sum of your unspent dice results by its cost to gain it (limited once per Item).
A stark contrast to the Corsair, the Merchant is for the calculative masterminds. Even though they only have one ability (Item Explosion) that has range and can target Creatures, this character can still support the team if they can tap into the potential of the Items in the Market. Bag of Wonders and Refurbish help the Merchant obtain Items while on Watch. If Enchanted Item is equipped, the Merchant should be on the lookout for Items with the Activate trigger, such as Iron Boomerang or Ricochet Bow, to make use of this passive ability. As the value of the Item seems to correspond with its cost proportionally in Set a Watch, the Merchant should rest when the Market is stocked with pricier Items. Using the Haggle camp action, the Merchant can purchase everything at a steep discount and pass them onto other Adventurers.
Ranking: 4 out of 5
Earth Golem -D12 melee
Camp Action: Rocky Barricade - Gain Charges equal to the number of Summon cards in this game. Reduce the Creatures faced at this location by 1.
Passive Ability (Always equipped): Golem’s Rock Charges - Spend a Charge to increase an unspent die by 1.
Passive Ability (Equippable): Land Slide - Spend X Charges, where X is equal to the number of Creature in the Line to recover and reroll a die.
Earth Golem begins the game with 2 (Easy) / 4 (Normal) / 6 (Hard) / 8 (Insane) Rock Charges that they use as currency for their passive abilities. They also have three equippable abilities that can deal damage or defeat Creatures based on the current Location’s Creature count (💀 icon on the top right of the location card), and our picks would be Earthquake and Rock Fist. If the team has the means to foresee an upcoming Summon card in Line either via peeking or card counting, triggering Rock Shield would be a good idea as a preventative measure. However, as this ability cannot negate the effect of a Summon card after it has been revealed, we are not convinced that it is worthy of an ability slot. Nevertheless, this character is armed with three D12s and should be able to deal considerable damage when direct attacking. Their abilities are added bonuses that can be activated with Charges or lower dice.
Ranking: 4 out of 5
Halfling Cavalier -D6 melee
Camp Action: Train Mount - You may flip your status card from On Foot to Mounted. Then, set one of your unspent die to any result.
Passive Ability (Equippable): Strong Bond - Each time that you defeat a Creature, you may increase one of your unspent dice by that Creature’s 🛡️.
Halfling Cavalier’s initial status is Mounted, and their direct attacks are increased by 4 while they remain in this state. Their two must-have abilities, Charge and Mighty Halberd, may be resolved twice if they choose to dismount after triggering it while mounted. The Ride Ahead ability provides range and the passive ability Strong Bond mitigates dice; either one is good to equip alongside the two aforementioned creature-defeating abilities. When Halfling Cavalier is on foot, they lose the +4 direct attack damage but gain +1 range. They can easily get back on the horse via Mount Up or by taking their camp action Train Mount when resting. We recommend the latter as it allows Halfling Cavalier to Heal with a 6 or activate Runes to Seal/Vanquish/Bolster with doubles that they didn’t initially roll. In essence, this character does not waste a single die at camp or on Watch.
Ranking: 5 out of 5
Set a Watch: Doomed Run - There are 7 characters (3 unhidden + 4 unlockable) in this version.
The Royal (AKA The Queen) -D8 ranged
Camp Action: Coin Purse - Gain Coins equal to half of the value of the die result (rounded up) placed here.
Passive Ability (Equippable): Royal Assassins - Once per Watch phase, you may spend Coins equal to a Creature’s 🛡️ to defeat it.
Passive Ability (Equippable): For the Realm - Each time you gain Doom, choose an Adventurer to reroll an unspent die and refresh your Falcon. If your Falcon is already refreshed, gain 1 coin.
The Royal feels like an upgraded Witch. Their trusty Falcon acts like an extra attack die that can direct attack any revealed Creature with at least 4 damage; another Adventurer in the Watch may also boost the attack power by spending 1 die (4 + X). Talon Scout allows the Royal to peek at 2 Creatures and defeat one if their base 🖤 is less than or equals to the Falcon’s 🛡️ plus the die (4 + X) used to activate this ability Once per Watch phase, the Royal can hire Royal Assassins with Coins to defeat Creatures. For the Realm lets you refresh the Falcon plus a bonus reroll or provides the funds to pay those assassins whenever they gain Doom. If the Royal is low on cash, they can rest and take their Camp action Coin Purse to refill their money bag. With 3x D8 range attack plus the Falcon and hirable royal assassins, the Royal is strong and flexible. You’d have to roll really poorly to have a bad time with this character.
Ranking: 5 out of 5 for Doomed Run or Forsaken Isles
The Knight -D8 melee
Camp Action: Assist- Give this die, without changing its value, to an Adventurer on Watch. That Adventurer cannot spend this die to activate abilities.
Passive Ability (Equippable): Inspire - Choose one Adventurer: turn their lowest die result to its highest value. Limit: once per Watch phase.
The Knight’s Magic Sword ability can defeat any Creature in the first position, no questions asked. Despite being a melee character, the Knight has two abilities (Shield Bash and Dragon Lance) that directly target the Creature in second position. Once per Watch phase, the Knight can use their passive ability Assist to boost one of the team’s dice. They can also give contribute a die to the Watch even when they rest at camp with Inspire. With a balanced collection of abilities, this character can take either the offensive or supportive roles based on the situation and make significant contribution to the team.
Ranking: 4 out of 5
The Bard -D6 melee (w/ no range limitations when Song of Pain is equipped)
Camp Action: Multi-Talented - Choose one of your ability cards and swap it with one ability card of an Adventurer not in play. The new ability card maintains the exhausted/unexhausted status of the swapped out card.
Passive Ability (Equippable): Song of Pain - You ignore Range limitations when attacking revealed Creatures in the Line. Creature powers cannot prevent this ability.
Passive Ability (Equippable): Harmonize - Choose an Adventurer: that Adventurer’s next direct attack is doubled. Limit: once per Watch phase.
The Bard has a couple of abilities that target human or goblin creatures and one that move Creatures around plus a reroll, but you will probably never use them. With Song of Pain and Harmonize, the Bard is arguably the best (OP) supporting character any team can have. To top it all off, their Camp Action Multi-Talented allows the character to possess any unused character’s best equipable ability as their own… need we say more?
Ranking: 5 out of 5
There are 4 more characters that can be unlocked during the Doomed Run campaign. To avoid spoiler, we have omitted them from this article. If you’d like to share your favorite character from Set a Watch, please comment below and let us know who they are and why!
-Jackie
(About the author - Jacqueline Chao is the executive producer and main content contributor at Show Me How to Win. Follow her board game journey on instagram @boardgamesetc )
Click here for the official Set a Watch FAQ and ERRATA thread on BGG for rule clarifications.
Set a Watch series is designed by Mike Gnade and Todd Walsh and published by Rock Manor Games in the US. We received our copy from the publisher.
