Ultimate Guide to Kailinn | Godtear Champions
Unleash nature's wrath with Kailinn, the fastest Godtear champion — who can’t touch godtears.
Wait, what? How does that work? Let’s find out!
In today’s Ultimate Guide, we deep dive into how you could use Kailinn, the Fury of the Forest, in your Godtear warband.
(New to Godtear? Check out the beginner’s guide.)
Meet Kailinn, the Fury of the Forest
Kailinn changed when she was Chosen. Imbued with the wild rage of nature, the fierce champion bears little resemblance to the demure acolyte she once was. A pair of Virtues follow her — druid warriors of her order, charged with protecting and guiding their tragic sister on her path to godhood.
Fast, furious, and fantastic at assassinating enemy followers before they can flee, Kailinn is a Maelstrom champion with a maelstrom attitude. She’s the first centaur we’ve seen in the game, with a wicked-sharp horn made for skewering unsuspecting foes.
Love the outdoors? Good news. Kailinn is the third champion to hail from a forest region, alongside Lorsann (Slayer) and Finvarr (Guardian).
Now, with a forest champion of almost every class, you could field a full forest warband and unleash the wild rage of nature on your unsuspecting enemies. If you do give it a whirl, let us know how it goes in the official Discord.
But back to Kailinn. Her followers, two faithful druids sworn to serve their tragic sister, are almost as agile as Kailinn herself.
They’re capable warriors, too. Which is a good thing, because Kailinn’s approach to combat is aggressive. What else would you expect, from a Maelstrom champion imbued with the power of nature?
Kailinn’s Stats and Traits
Being a Maelstrom, Kailinn gains bonus steps on the battle ladder when she knocks out enemy followers.
Right out of the gate, her movement is one of Kailinn’s outstanding stats. The first champion with a native movement stat of 4 makes Kailinn the fastest champion in the game.
Oh, and she has the same movement stat of 4 in the Clash Phase, too.
At 7 health, Kailinn won’t go down easy, but it’s important you master using her speed to avoid taking damage.
No matter how fast she runs, there are places Kailinn can’t go. A true champion of nature, Kailinn is forbidden from touching godtears, which means she can’t enter objective hexes on the battlefield.
A master of the open plains? Absolutely. But a crusher of enemy banners? Sadly not. So, pair Kailinn with a Guardian champion to up your banner game. Horses for courses and all that.
(Sorry, not sorry.)
Luckily, Kailinn can still plant her own banner, as long as she’s standing beside an objective hex. So, you can still score points if Kailinn’s banner is still intact in the End Phase.
What Kailinn lacks in crushing banners, she makes up for in crushing followers.
First off, Kailinn can charge straight through (non-objective) hexes occupied by small followers, friendly or otherwise. This doesn’t damage the followers, but it does give Kailinn a pretty significant movement advantage, because minis can’t usually pass through hexes occupied by other minis.
Better yet, if she decides to stop in that hex, the followers standing there will dive out of the way, scattering into adjacent hexes of Kailinn’s choice. Super useful for repositioning enemies or friendlies ready for your next move.
Top Tip: Because of her speed, Kailinn does her best work in ‘split’ scenarios, where objective hexes are scattered around the board. That way, she can race around the battlefield and apply her strength exactly where it’s needed.
Kailinn’s Skills and Ultimate
Kailinn is what you might call an ‘assassin’ Maelstrom, better at charging across the field to take down their targets than laying low to swathes of followers in one hit.
Plot Phase Skills
You thought Kailinn was fast before? Try ‘Powerful Leap’ on for size. This skill pushes Kailinn’s prodigious movement speed into the stratosphere, letting her to move an incredible 6 hexes in the Plot Phase.
And that’s not all.
Because ‘Powerful Leap’ involves placing Kailinn instead of moving her, it lets Kailinn move through hexes she normally wouldn’t be able to — like those containing objective hexes, for example.
Has your opponent tried to make use Kailinn’s weakness by blocking her in with objective hexes? Kailinn can ‘Powerful Leap’ right over them!
But what if Kailinn’s not the one in need of a nudge? With ‘Thundering Hooves’, Kailinn can give a friendly champion hand (or a hoof) into an adjacent hex — and move a single hex herself, too.
Top Tip: Because ‘Thundering Hooves’ lets Kailinn move first, you can use that movement to get within the 2 hex range of the friendly champion you want to move.
Clash Phase Skills
Now we get to the sharp end of things! After positioning in the Plot Phase, the Clash Phase is where the action happens.
In keeping with the high-paced theme, if Kailinn makes an advance (movement) action before she uses ‘Brutal Charge’, ‘Brutal Charge’ becomes a bonus action — meaning you can take it in addition to your usual two action allowance.
(So, if advancing is one action, and ‘Brutal Charge’ becomes a bonus action, that leaves you with one action left to use... okay, you can do the math.)
TL;DR - Keep Kailinn moving and good things will happen. She’s made to be mobile.
With a hefty 6 damage dice, ‘Brutal Charge’ could even do significant damage to an enemy champion. Not bad for a Maelstrom whose usual M.O. is taking out followers.
Next up, ‘Flashing Blade’ capitalises on Kailinn’s centauric (if that’s not a word, it is now) ability to scatter enemy followers. Use it to split up followers gathered on the same hex before attacking two of them at once.
Like ‘Brutal Charge’, ‘Flashing Blade’ can also be used to put the hurt on enemy champions.
However you use her skills, remember that Kailinn is a Maelstrom at heart. That means she gains the same number of steps on the battle ladder for knocking out two followers as she does for knocking out an enemy champion.
And champions are typically tougher to take out than followers, especially for a Maelstrom.
Kailinn’s Ultimate: Impaling Horn
That horn isn’t just for show. Put that thing through an enemy follower and watch them crumble to dust, whether large or small. And that’s not all.
‘Impaling Horn’ is inevitable. There’s no hit or damage roll. Just single out the enemy follower you want to knock out and skewer them like freshly-cooked meat.
Not quite in range? No matter; Kailinn’s blistering speed strikes again. ‘Impaling Horn’ gives her an extra hex of movement, so she can close in on her target of choice.
Top Tip: Taking out a large follower with ‘Impaling Horn’ will net you 4 steps on the battle ladder. Watch out Shayle, Keera, and Styx players!
Kailinn’s Followers: the Virtues
Taking to the field in Kailinn’s slipstream, the fierce Virtues are never far behind their sister.
Virtues in the Plot Phase
To start with, being large followers, Virtues each have 4 health, plus a respectable dodge 3 and protection 2. These druids aren’t easy to take down!
It’ll often take two damaging skills to knock out just one of the Virtues. Like Styx’s hounds, this makes the Virtues pretty effective at blocking movement just by being in the way.
They’re also fast, too. Like, REALLY fast, with a movement stat of 4 in the Plot Phase and 2 in the Clash Phase. They need to be quick to keep up with Kailinn!
Speaking of Kailinn’s tendency to charge ahead, the Virtues take their sisterly duties seriously. With ‘Patience’, their patient counsel grants Kailinn a boon of your choice, helping her adapt to any situation.
Like their champion, the Virtues like holding out a helping hand. ‘Compassion’ is an echo of Kailinn’s ‘Thundering Hooves’, letting one Virtue move a single hex, and then allowing another friendly follower to move a single hex.
The above skills are made all the more useful by the Virtues’ trait, ‘Harmonious’. There’s strength in numbers, and these druids take that to the max. As long as both Virtues are on the board, you can use each skill with each virtue.
Yes, that means you can use ‘Patience’ and ‘Compassion’ twice in the Plot Phase — once for each Virtue. That’s two potential boons on Kailinn, and two friendly followers moved!
Top Tip: ‘Compassion’ can be used to move the other Virtue if you’d like. Just a thought...
Virtues in the Clash Phase
Not ones to be outdone — even by their champion — the Virtues can use ‘Serenity’ to serenely move two extra hexes and net a dodge boon.
They echo Kailinn’s ‘Brutal Charge’, too, with ‘Justice’. Like ‘Brutal Charge’, ‘Justice’ gets better when the Virtues make an advance (movement) action beforehand. But, instead of turning into a bonus action, ‘Justice’ gains an extra damage die.
Because characters can only perform two actions in a turn, these Clash Phase skills mean you’ll often find yourself choosing between making an advance and using ‘Justice’, or using ‘Serenity’ for the dodge boon before using ‘Justice’ without the extra die.
Top Tip: Keep in mind the difference between regular actions like recruit and advance, and skill actions like ‘Serenity’ and ‘Justice’. With the Virtues’ ‘Harmonious’ trait, you can repeat any skill actions you use as long as both Virtues are on the board — but regular actions can’t be repeated.
Tips and Tricks for Kailinn
All About That Base: Kailinn joins the large follower gang! With Kailinn, Keera, Shayle, and Styx, it’s possible to field a warband featuring all large followers.
Split Scenario Success: With her incredible speed, Kailinn is perfect for shifting the engagement from one area of the game board to another. Assist the left flank on turn 2, then wheel hard into the right flank on turn 3! Slower champions will seriously struggle to keep up. Pair her with other speedy champions like Blackjaw or Lorsann for maximum effect.
Recruit For The Win: ‘Harmonious’ is a brilliant trait for the Virtues to have, letting them give Kailinn twice as many boons in the Plot Phase, attack twice as many enemies in the Clash Phase, and more! Just remember to recruit both Virtues back when they’re knocked out, or ‘Harmonious’ won’t work. Friendly champions that aid with recruitment, like Helena, could help here.
Kailinn’s Pros and Cons
Pros:
Fastest champion in Godtear!
Seriously versatile! Her attacks are effective against followers and champions alike
Improves the mobility of your entire warband
Cons:
Can’t crush enemy banners
Can be hindered by clever placement of objective hexes
Fewer attack-based skills than other Maelstrom champions
Recruit Kailinn for your Godtear Warband
Like the sound of Kailinn? Good news: this swift centaur champion is now available to pre-order!
