Gloomhaven Jaws of the Lion Living Corpse – Overview & Strategy Guide

Hi there! Today is a cloudy and rainy day and I thought: what could be the best monster to write about if not Gloomhaven Jaws of the Lion Living Corpse?

For some reason, this monster makes me feel a bit sad and completely empty of the will to do anything, similarly to the effect of a rainy day in the Summer.

I talked about Imp in my last article, and today’s monster is kind of the opposite of those little swarming creatures. Let’s have a look at what is capable of!

There will be spoilers ahead, so if you arrived at this page by mistake I’d suggest you stop reading right now.

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Gloomhaven Jaws of the Lion Living Corpse

Living Corpses are giant humanoid-like figures covered with blood, rot and seeping fluids. They are tanky and quite slow, but if they catch you they will hit very hard.
These enemies are melee attackers only and have few ability cards that can inflict a variety of negative statuses, therefore keep your distance!

Where you can find this monster? Scenario: 9, 12.

Living Corpse Stat Cards

Looking at the hit points value I was a bit surprised at how low that value is. Thematically wise, I like the fact that this monster is tanky and very slow, but I’d have expected way more hit points.

The base movement is quite low and considering that this monster only has melee attacks, it will be very easy to kite.
Don’t underestimate its movement though (combined with a couple of high initiative cards); the threat coming from its high base attack is around the corner!

The Living Corpse also has innate poison at a high level, so be ready for that if you’re playing with an above average difficulty.

Living Corpse Ability Cards

Average Initiative value: 60.

As expected, with only 3 cards below 50 Initiative, this monster is very slow to act. Not to be underestimated entirely, as there are a couple of ability cards pretty nasty, with one of them in particular under the spotlight.

Hasty Assault, Nothing Special and Calculated Strike are average ability cards like we saw in other monsters’ decks.

Reckless Charge is a very slow ability thanks to which you can let him follow you throughout the dungeon, safely attacking him from a distance while he slowly loses hit points. Honestly, I’m not patient enough to follow such a strategy.

Violent Slam is another ability that deals damage to the monster itself. It is quite dangerous as it gives a +2 damage boost to an already high attack.

And now it’s time to talk about the 2 nasty abilities I mentioned a few rows above: Release Gas and Rotting Embrace.

The former is a move+attack ability with a +1 damage boost that inflicts poison status to all adjacent enemies. Very dangerous if your party is surrounded by Living Corpses.

Rotting Embrace is the ability you should pay the most attention to. It has the ability to immobilize your character for a follow-up attack that will likely strike very hard. Avoid being immobilized at all costs by putting a few hexes between you and the monster.

Strategy against Living Corpse

• Running away from this monster is probably the best strategy.
• Attacking from afar while moving around and kiting the monster is a very effective strategy.
• The attack and retreat strategy is also very powerful if you can time correctly your 2 actions.
• Inflicting negative statuses will help lower their hit points.

Gloomhaven Jaws of the Lion Living Corpse is a scary monster that could have been more threatening with just a few more Hit Points and a couple more powerful ability cards.
At the end of the day if you play with normal difficulty this enemy is quite easy to defeat due to the lack of ranged attacks and the low base movement.

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in:

Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion – Review
Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion Classes – Overview & Rank
Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion – Monsters Overview