This tutorial will go over the forbidden forest and the different modes available in the game. The guide will cover the deck requirements, spells to take and things to pay attention to.
This will not cover solo forest as it requires different decks for each level. Haunted Hollows and Deathly Dell will be covered in this guide instead.
The first difference is that Haunted Hollows has only eight stages, while Deathly Dell has 20 stages. The runs always look the same, regardless of the level. The main difference is that they get way harder on Deathly Dell. There are two decks with different strategies to play in the forest and I will expand a little on both decks.
Decks
Echo of Hermoine Granger
Hermoine is the best echo for this mode thanks to her ability to reduce mana consumption after every 3rd card. This allows you to double cast high damage spells. She also has a chance to increase the level of the next spell by one level, which comes in handy in tough situations.
The main card in the Forest is sadly Crucio. I know many new players will not have it, but it is the best card ever in the Forest, and there is no real replacement for it unfortunately. But do not worry, there will be cards you can use until you get it. This will be explained in the card placeholder section.
Crucio can stun bosses and most enemies. Even with just 1 copy, it already does a very good job. This card should be used alongside Aguamenti, which will be explained below.
Crucio is expensive at 30,000 gold in the shop (random), but it’s worth it. Prioritize getting a second Crucio to play it twice in a row if you have the gold for it.
Prior Incantato is a card you will want in all your decks in Forbidden Forest. It allows you to mimic the last spell used at the cost of 1 extra mana. This is best used after your strongest offensive spell.
Aguamenti is also excellent when upgraded in the Forest, as it shoots super fast and deals significant damage. When you get it to mythic tier, it is the best boss killer card. You do get this card in story mode so it will be a main stay in your deck.
Inflatus is just a very solid small spell to hold off a large number of creatures, making it very strong when upgraded in the Forest.
Expulso can deal large-scale AoE damage and knockback opponents, including air units.
Oppugno is also a great card for this mode. When there is only one opponent nearby, the Oppugno Jinx will deal a lot of damage to it.
Niffler is great for MP Regen, so I like it in my deck. You do need to protect him though.
During the run, you can always switch up some cards based on the situation. For example, if you get Thunderstorm and don’t have Aguamenti, you can replace it with Thunderstorm.
Companions like Ron, Hermione, and Ivy are great options depending on the stage, but Ivy is crucial for the last stage of Deathly Dell.
Ron – Groups all monsters, allowing you to AoE them easily.
Daniel – Good for healing
Cassandra – Good single target DPS.
For Hermione, good skill buffs are Shield on the Go, CQC Expert, Heavy Firepower, Mobile Caster, and Sharpshooter.
Echo of Severus Snape
The other deck is I would recommend is Snape, which is strong due to his ability to increase basic attacks up to 52% at legendary level. It also replaces every 2nd basic attack with Sectumsempra. Do keep in mind that this deck is basic attack heavy, so you will need basic attack skill buffs for it to work well. Otherwise, the Hermoine deck is better for new players.
Some cards are the same as before, like Expulso, Inflatus, Niffler, Oppugno and Crucio. You can also slot in Aguamenti if you want that extra boss damage.
Swelling Solution is particularly good with Snape, as it makes you attack faster and gives bonus movement speed. At only 2 mana cost, it is great for cycling your spells too.
Time Turner is amazing, especially when upgraded during the run. Summoning your clone in your opponent’s back row can restrict their movement options. Crucio and Time Turner are both crucial for Snape.
As for the companions, we will use the same as the Hermoine deck, except Ivy is not needed for Haunted Hollows.
For Snape skill buff recommendations, Attack Speed and Double Hits are excellent. I like Overwhelming Power, CQC Expert, and Sharpshooter as well on him.
Hermoine vs Snape
Between the two decks, Hermione is currently better. Getting Crucio for 3 MP is very powerful, and she works well with spells. Spam decks (summoning) are not recommended for Forest as the bosses are strong and often can kill them very easily.
Good Card Placeholders Before Obtaining Crucio
Spell Cards
Thunderstorm
This spell is great for damage prior to getting Crucio. When there is only one opponent in the arena, releasing Thunderstorm will cause it to take massive damage. Not only does it does decent single target damage, it also does good AoE damage to a group of enemies. You will need to get this card to mythic tier though, otherwise the damage will be lackluster.
Acromantula Venom is also good for early game. Despite being a ground only attack, it can hit flying units in forbidden forest. Perhaps a bug the devs didn’t account for. Otherwise, it is a decent control spell that slows enemies and does decent AoE damage.
Weasley’s Wildfire Whiz Bangs can deal decent AoE damage but it does not have an enhancement. Great for early game players until you can get Thunderstorm to mythic level.
Glacius can hit up to 8 enemies, releasing AoE damage for each enemies it touches, allowing overlapping AoE damage. However, it does not have enhancement and it only targets ground units. Still a good early game card though.
Bewitched Snowballs is much like Glacius and can cause overlapping damage. The good thing is that it hits both ground and air units and is a direct upgrade to Glacius once you can get this card leveled up.
Support and Control Cards
Episkey is a great healing card that does not turn yourself into a healer. Once you can enhance it, the spell no longer gets interrupted when you cast other spells. You will only need to enhance it once and it is more than enough.
Venti is a great spell for non-boss battles. It sends the enemy away in a single direction, lining them up for a nice AoE attack. It doesn’t have enhancements though, but I think it is still worth using. I use it for most non boss battles and also for Dark Wizard and sometimes Acromantula.
Fiendfyre is not worth bringing usually thanks to AI being bad at positioning. Also the bosses are strong and usually can one shot your summons in Deathly Dell.
Baby Antipodean Opaleye suffers the same fate as Fiendfyre. Not worth using in my opinion.
Battle Guide
Here is a short description of both modes.
Haunted Hollow (daily) – This is the easier raid mode that has 8 stages. You will meet a boss at the end of the stage. You can claim 1 reward per day and can stack up to 7 times. So you do not always have to play daily.
Deathly Dell (weekly) – Raid mode with 20 stages. There are 4 bosses with different mechanics you want to pay attention to. You can claim 2 rewards per week and unlike Haunted Hollow, you cannot stack them.
In every stage, you will be given 3 random spells, abilities or summons to choose and upgrade. Enhancing any of your spells/abilities/summons will grant them various bonuses that will help you in battle. All enhancements are reset at the end of the run.
Since some enhancements are better, you always want to know which one to pick. Enhancements can go up to 4 tiers and certain cards become really good once upgraded.
If you cannot get the upgrade for the card you want, you can always use the cards that are upgraded. When battling, you have the option to pick Easy, Hard or Hardest battle. Hardest battle usually gives the better upgrades, but it isn’t always the case. For the sake of time and ease of play, I always pick “Hard” battle only.
Merchant and Campfire
At the end before the boss stage in Haunted Hollow, you can choose either the merchant or campfire. I would pick campfire if I am low on health. Otherwise, I would pick merchant to get more attack buffs.
For Deathly Dell, I would always take either one when I see them. When meeting the merchant (twice every run), I would always go for health and attack buff. For the campfire, you can pass skill buffs to allies too.
When buying skills from the campfire, I like to pick the following:
- Sharpshooter – Provides bonus damage for ranged attacks.
- CQC Expert – Provides bonus damage when close to the enemy.
These 2 are the best because you will get some sort of damage buff regardless of the distance between you and the enemy. All other skills are catered to your deck and you pick them based on the strengths of the deck. For Hermoine or Snape:
- Mobile Caster – Great for Hermione deck.
- Heavy Firepower – Great for spell casting decks and pairs well with Hermoine.
- Double Hits – I get this for Snape since you can hit twice.
- Attack Speed Up – More attack speed, more damage for Snape deck!
- Overflowing Power – Boosts basic attacks. Great for Snape.
Remember that you can restart the run before facing the first boss, so take advantage of that and choose the best card bonuses. Crucio and Expulso are the top upgrades, followed by Aguamenti. Episkey and Thunderstorm become very strong when fully upgraded but carry some risk.
Speaking of potions, there are a few options available. The Blood Replenishing Potion gives you a bit of health back and can be used once by each player during a run. Another useful potion is the Invisibility Potion. When used, it immediately takes you to the next boss, skipping the stages in between. However, you still receive bonuses as if you had fought through the stages, but you won’t encounter a merchant or campfire. It’s a bit of a gamble, but it can have its benefits.
Bosses
Here is a quick rundown of the bosses you will meet (credit to PBT Gaming): If you want images for clarity, make sure to click the hyperlink and check out his beautifully made images on Ko-fi.
Dementor
- Avoid his minions and just go straight for him
- Dodge his special attack (orange path)
- Avoid the whirlwind circle
- Best to attack from range
Yeti
- Engage him from range
Acromantula
- Summons small spiders that can produce a poison pool after dying
- Utilize strong AoE spells like Venti, Thunderstorm to counter
- When Acromantula starts to lay eggs, start focusing on them
Dark Wizard
- Look for the blue wizard as he keeps summoning minions
- Try to use AoE attacks such as Glacius when minions are near him
Demiguise
- Try to stand at the bottom area for safety
- He can cast mist cloud on you. Run away when that happens.
- When he uses his special, stay outside at the far edge of the map where the circles overlap
Dark Wizard (Chess Master)
Here is a run by Harry Potter Magic Awakened channel and will help you visualize how to deal with the final boss. This boss is hard and do not feel bad if you cannot beat it.
You will need Ivy companion in this fight, with your allies needing them too. At the start, there will be a Big White Chess and 2 Gray Chess. You can use Ivy to destroy the Big White Chess by casting vanishing spell.
Since there will be 2 more Big White Chess spawning, you need to have the other 2 allies to cast it.
Once you get to the phase where you see red zones, you need to stay outside of these red zones to avoid taking damage. It takes a bit of practice and you will get the hang of it. Just make sure to cast your spells while doing so.
The next phase is when the floor starts having ice paths. If you don’t dodge it, you will get frozen.
Once the boss starts summoning the 2 Big White Chess, you can have the allies use their Ivy to take them out. After that, you will just be dealing with the boss.
When facing the boss in the final phase, the red zones that show up is a bit different from the previous ones and requires you to stay in safe areas. Just keep on casting spells at the boss while doing so.
If you fail to kill the boss, that’s fine. Just more practice and levels will make it easier next time.
Conclusion
That’s it for the Deathly Dell and Haunted Hollows Forest guide!
Remember to adapt your deck based on the situation, prioritize getting Crucio if possible, and switch to spell decks rather than summoning decks as you progress. Take advantage of the card bonuses and consider the merchant and campfire wisely. Finally, don’t forget about the potions. Good luck in the forest!
For additional decks, you can check out PBT Gaming’s infographics here.
Read also: Beginners Harry Potter Guide
Video Guide by Wizard Greene