Spirit Island Dahan Strategy: Allies Who Fight Back

New players treat the Dahan as scenery, or as something to protect. They are both of those things. They are also the strongest free resource on the Island. Every Dahan that survives a Ravage deals 2 Damage back to the Invaders in its land, and that Damage costs you no Energy and no Card Plays.

This lesson is the math of that fight, and how to set it up on purpose.

The rules that matter

From the core rulebook:

• Each Island board starts with 6 Dahan.
• A Dahan has 2 Health. Damage from Spirits never hurts them, though some Powers cost Dahan lives as a side effect.
• During a Ravage, the Invaders’ Damage hits the land and the Dahan at the same time. Every 2 Damage destroys one Dahan, as efficiently as possible. A leftover point damages one more.
• Then each surviving Dahan deals 2 Damage to the Invaders in that land. Damaged Dahan count; they survived.
• Defend reduces the Damage the Invaders do to both the land and the Dahan.
• The Dahan attack only when a Power tells them to, or when they are attacked.

Ravage math

Here is what happens in a Ravage with no Defend, using the rulebook’s Damage and Health numbers. “Wins” means the Dahan’s fight back destroys every Invader in the land.

Read the table for the patterns:

• The land still takes Blight. In every row but the lone Explorer, the Invaders deal 2 or more Damage, so the land gets 1 Blight before the Dahan strike back. The Dahan avenge a land; on their own, they do not save it.
• A City needs three Dahan, or two plus help. Three Dahan against a City is the rulebook’s own Gather and Push example: one is destroyed, the other two destroy the City, and you gain 2 Fear.
• A lone Explorer is free. One Dahan handles it with no Blight, because 1 Damage is not enough to Blight the land.

Defend changes everything

Defend lowers the Invaders’ Damage before it is dealt. Look at a City against two Dahan:

• No Defend: 3 Damage. The land takes Blight, one Dahan is destroyed, the survivor deals 2, and the City (3 Health) lives.
• Defend 1: 2 Damage. The land still takes Blight and one Dahan still falls. The City lives.
• Defend 2: 1 Damage. No Blight, both Dahan survive, they deal 4, and the City is destroyed.

Defend 2 there does three jobs: it saves the land, saves the Dahan, and destroys a City for 2 Fear. That is why Defend in a land with Dahan is often worth more than the same Defend in an empty land.

Moving the Dahan

The rulebook’s advice is short and sound:

• Move Dahan into lands with a few Invaders. Many Fear effects scare Invaders away from lands with Dahan or send the Dahan on the attack, and surviving Dahan fight back in a Ravage.
• Move Dahan out of lands with many Invaders. If a Ravage would wipe them out, get them clear.

Gather and Push move pieces exactly one land, from or to lands adjacent to the target. So a Gather in a Ravage land pulls Dahan in from its neighbors. Plan the move a turn early if you can: a Slow Gather after the cards slide can put Dahan in a land that Ravages next turn.

Where the Dahan help most

• Against Towns. Two Dahan beat a lone Town with one to spare. Towns are also Explore sources, so destroying them slows the spread.
• In Fear-heavy games. Each Town or City the Dahan destroy generates Fear like any other destruction.
• On the scoreboard. The rulebook’s optional scoring adds a point for every X living Dahan, where X is the number of players.

Spirits who care

Some Spirits are built around the Dahan. In the base box, Thunderspeaker moves with them, and Shadows Flicker Like Flame can pay Energy to reach any land with Dahan. The Spirits lesson later in this level covers Thunderspeaker in full.

Losing the Dahan

The Dahan do not come back on their own. The rulebook notes that population growth happens only through a few Powers. Every Dahan lost early is fight back you will not have later. When a Ravage is coming and you cannot win it, moving the Dahan out is often the best thing you can do.