Ocean's Hungry Grasp

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SETUP

Put 2 Presence onto your starting board: 1 in the Ocean, and 1 in a Coastal land of your choice.

PLAY STYLE

Extremely good at assaulting the coasts where the Invaders start out strong, but quite weak island - the ocean is not accustomed to affecting events so far ashore. Its Presence shifts in and out like the tide, which can be tricky to manage, but permits re-positioning and tactical retreats or offensives in the hands of a skillful player. Has fairly inexpensive Unique Powers, but the energy gained from drowning Invaders can be necessary in stepping up to more potent Powers.

COMPLEXITY

HIGH

GROWTH (PICK ONE)
Reclaimall.png
Reclaim Cards
Gaincardicon.png
Gain Power Card

Gathertoocean.png
Gather 1 Presence into EACH Ocean
Energy Plus 2.png
Gain 2 Energy
+ Presenceicon.png
Ocean.png
Add a Presence in any Ocean
+ Presenceicon.png
Ocean.png
Add a Presence in any Ocean
Energy Plus 1.png
Gain 1 Energy
Gaincardicon.png
Gain Power Card
+ Presenceicon.png
COASTAL
1
Range

Add a Presence to Coastal Land

Pushfromocean.png
Push 1 Presence from EACH Ocean
PRESENCE
Energy 0.png

Energy/Turn
Moonenergy.png

Moon
Waterenergy.png

Water
Energy 1.png

1
Earthenergy.png

Earth
Waterenergy.png

Water
Energy 2.png

2
Cardplay1.png

Card Plays
Cardplay2.png

2
Cardplay2.png

2
Cardplay3.png

3
Cardplay4.png

4
Cardplay5.png

5

SPECIAL RULES

OCEAN IN PLAY
You may add/move Presence into Oceans, but may not add/move Presence into Inland lands. On boards where you have 1 or more Presence, Oceans are treated as Coastal Wetlands for Spirit Powers and Blight. You Drown any Invaders or Dahan moved to those Oceans.

DROWNING
Destroy Drowned pieces, placing Drowned Invaders here. At any time you may exchange (X) Health of these Invaders for 1 Energy, where X = number of players. (Ignore modifiers to Invader Health.)

POUND SHIPS TO SPLINTERS
SPEED
RANGE
TARGET LAND
Fast
0
Range
COASTAL
1 Moon 1 Air 2 Water 1 Fear.
2 Moon 1 Air 3 Water +1 Fear.
3 Moon 2 Air 4 Water +2 Fear.
OCEAN BREAKS THE SHORE
SPEED
RANGE
TARGET LAND
Slow
0
Range
COASTAL
2 Water 1 Earth Drown 1 Townicon.png.
3 Water 2 Earth You may instead Drown 1 Cityicon.png.
4 Water 3 Earth Also, Drown 1 Townicon.png / Cityicon.png.

SUMMARY OF POWERS

 
         
         
         
         
         
Offense Control Fear Defense Utility
 
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Ocean's Hungry Grasp.png

From the Spirit Panel

The hunger of the ocean runs deep and powerful, sometimes patient, sometimes tempestuous and angry. It slowly wears away at rocky shores, or devours half an island during a hurricane. It lures humans out onto the water with its sire call, then consumes ship and crew alike unless the proper offerings are made.

The ocean's voraciousness keeps the Dahan from frequent sea travel, though they still manage a trading expedition every decade or so. These trading-trips take the cooperation of several families, and always involve at least two spirit-speakers. That way, even if one perishes abroad, the expedition will still be able to get home.

Design Lore

The seas around Spirit Island were not always so dangerous as they now are; when the Dahan's ancestors first arrived, the journey was no more (or less) perilous than any other voyage between islands. Several centuries ago, between the Second Reckoning and the rise of the Spirit-speakers, Ocean's Hungry Grasp arrived in the nearby waters. It has severely curtailed the Dahan's trade with other islands, though not extinguished it: expeditions are careful to propitiate the Ocean before setting out and upon their return. Some smaller ocean spirits still exist - some playful, some indifferent, some moody - but all are overshadowed by the hungry, waiting presence lurking deep offshore, and many have fled. Thus far, the tall-shipped Invaders have mostly escaped its attention, but that is sure to shift soon.

Ocean's Hungry Grasp is by turns tempestuous and patient; it may slowly eat away a rocky shore over centuries or devour half an island in a hurricane. It has an awful fascination to it, luring sailors to founder and people to hurl themselves into its embrace. The one constant is that it is always willing to consume more, until all things lie beneath the waves.
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Important note: If playing as Ocean's Hungry Grasp, you start the game with these Unique Power Cards in your hand.

0
1
No SunMoonNo FireAirWaterNo EarthNo PlantNo Animal
Call of the Deeps.png
SPEED
RANGE
TARGET LAND
Fast
0
Range
COASTAL
Gather 1 Explorer.

If target land is the Ocean, you may Gather another Explorer.
ArtistSymbol.png Joshua Wright
1
1
No SunMoonNo FireNo AirWaterNo EarthNo PlantNo Animal
Grasping Tide.png
SPEED
RANGE
TARGET LAND
Fast
1
Range
COASTAL
2 Fear.
Defend 4.
ArtistSymbol.png Joshua Wright
0
1
No SunNo MoonNo FireNo AirWaterEarthNo PlantNo Animal
Swallow the Land-Dwellers.png
SPEED
RANGE
TARGET LAND
Slow
0
Range
COASTAL
Drown 1 Explorer, 1 Town, and 1 Dahan.
ArtistSymbol.png Joshua Wright
1
1
No SunMoonNo FireNo AirWaterEarthNo PlantNo Animal
Tidal Boon.png
SPEED
RANGE
TARGET
Slow
No Range
ANOTHER Spirit
Target Spirit gains 2 Energy and may Push 1 Town and up to 2 Dahan from one of their lands.

If Dahan are pushed to your ocean, you may move them to any Coastal land instead of Drowning them.
ArtistSymbol.png Joshua Wright


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General Strategy

Let's start with its special rules, because they're fundamental to understanding how the spirit plays:

  • Ocean's Home / Oceans In Play: In most games of Spirit Island, the oceans aren't in play, they're just there to show which lands are readily accessible from the coast. (This affects where Invaders Explore and where some Powers can be targeted.) Ocean's Hungry Grasp changes this: it can place Presence in the ocean, and where it does, Spirits may use their Powers as if those oceans were wetlands.
  • Drowning: Why is this relevant? Any Invader that's moved into an ocean is drowned (destroyed) - and Ocean gains Energy from consuming them! So other Spirits can use Powers which Push or Gather Invaders to entice, harry, flood, or blow Invaders into the sea, feeding their ally.
  • However, Ocean is limited to the coasts: it can't place Presence into inland (non-coastal) lands. It can still affect them with Powers, if those Powers have the range to reach, but for the most part other Spirits will have to pick up the slack on inland areas.

Once we know this, some other things on the Spirit panel become clear:

  • Growth: Ocean's main "add Presence" growth option lets it add 2 Presence at any range - but only to Oceans! Another of its choices has it surging onto the shores, placing one Presence in a coastal land and Pushing one Presence out of each Ocean. ("Push" means "move out to an adjacent land".) Its final option lets it regather its spent Power Cards, but it must also Gather ("move in from an adjacent land") one Presence into each Ocean, retreating back to the sea. Most Spirits don't move their Presence around much once it's placed; Ocean is a clear exception - it can't avoid it!
  • Presence: What are those things on the Energy track? They're Elements - the same as you see on the side of Power Cards. Most mid- and high-complexity spirits have some bonus Elements on their Presence tracks; while those spaces are uncovered, the Spirit gains the shown elements every turn. This makes Innate Powers easier to trigger as the game goes on, and helps with Major Power thresholds.
  • Presence: Once we look past the Elements, we notice something else: the Energy track is terrible. But Ocean gains Energy for drowning Invaders, so it has an alternate supply. A couple of the Growth options give Energy, too, particularly the one involving pulling back to the ocean and regathering strength.
  • Innate: Pound Ships to Splinters - Fear, fear, and more fear. Straightforward enough. It takes Moon, Water, and Air to trigger; the first two are obvious aspects of Ocean, but Air?
  • Innate: Ocean Breaks the Shore - A way to drown Invaders directly, in coastal lands with Ocean's Presence. Takes Water and Earth; two of this Spirit's core elements. (Not all ocean spirits would be Earth-aspected, but this one is: it's a spirit not just of the waves but of the ocean floor, erosion, patience, and depths, all of which give it Earth as a strong secondary element.)

Let's look at its Unique Power Cards:

Some general patterns:

  • They all have Water, and most have Moon. But only two have Earth, and only one has Air. When taking new Powers, there's going to be a tension between taking powers with (Air + Water/Moon) and those with (Earth + Water); the former will empower Pound Ships to Splinters, the latter Ocean Breaks the Shore. Thematically, the question is whether Ocean's Hungry Grasp shifts more towards its aspect of "stormy sea, sinker of ships, drowner of sailors" or its aspect of "eroding waves, breaker of stone, devourer of islands" as it grows.
  • All of its Powers cost 0 or 1 Energy. Good thing, given its limited base Energy income.
  • Two of the four Powers involve moving Invaders, and one of the four Drowns Invaders directly. So it does start with some ability to feed itself, though it certainly benefits from help by other Spirits.
  • Two of its Power Cards and both its Innate Powers have Range 0. Presence placement is going to be extremely important.
  • The only way Ocean's Hungry Grasp can directly target inland lands at first is by working through another Spirit. A definite weak spot!

The individual cards:

  • Call of the Deep - moving Explorers at Fast (before Invaders go) is generally quite useful, as emptying a just-Explored land keeps Invaders from Building there. In this case, though, it's even better: Ocean's Hungry Grasp can Gather Explorers into its briny embrace and eat them. This can only be done at a Sacred Site, though! Here, Ocean's intrinsic mobility can work for or against it: moving Presence inland or out to sea can form - or break up - Sacred Sites. There's another subtlety worth noting: this Power targets coastal lands. This can be used on an ocean, but if it's used on a normal coastal land, some of those Explorers could be Gathered to the shore from places further inland. Yes! A way to affect the inland game, though it may be tricky to set up, and doesn't result in eating anything immediately.
  • Grasping Tide - Defense! Ocean isn't just good at swallowing Invaders, but keeping them occupied on the shorelines so they don't do as much damage. It's hard to farm - or fight - when the waters of shore and river reach out of their beds and tear your gear apart. It's also pretty intimidating.
  • Swallow the Land-Dwellers - Subsidence, sinkholes, and floods. Sadly, this Power causes Dahan casualties as a side-effect. While Ocean's Hungry Grasp doesn't personally care about the Dahan, it gets nothing from drowning them - the sustenance gained is cancelled out by lessened propitiation from all surviving Dahan on the island - and they're allies in the current fight, so this Power is best used on lands without Dahan.
  • Tidal Boon - Grants another Spirit the shifting energies of the ocean, and with them the power to shift and move both Invaders and Dahan. This benevolence extends to any Dahan the target Spirit may send Ocean's way, granting them safe passage to another coast of the island.

Overall: Early in the game, Ocean is going to be primarily concerned with building up and building Energy while keeping the shorelines from getting too badly overrun. As it gets more Presence onto the board, it will gain in raw power level and in ability to target; all those Range-0 powers start being a little easier to find targets for. How it goes from there depends on a combination of which Presence track has been pushed, Power choices, and Energy availability: Ocean's hungry Grasp can grow into a whirlwind frenzy of Fear generation, a full-island "keep the shores under control" defender with moderate coastal offense on the side, or an immense stompy powerhouse slamming the coast with multiple Major Powers.

Links to Guides

Sacred Site Ocean's Hungry Grasp/Antistone's Opening[1]

Sacred Site Ocean's Hungry Grasp/Phantaskippy's Guide[2]

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Spirit Spotlight

Theme Music

Gallery

Ocean's Hungry Grasp Avatar.png
Island Avatar
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Replaces Innate Power: Pound Ships to Splinters
Complexity Up.png
WATER EATS AWAY THE DEEP ROOTS OF THE EARTH
SPEED
RANGE
TARGET LAND
Slow
1
Range
COASTAL
2 Water Add 1 Deeps.
3 Water Add 1 Deeps to a different Coastal land (on any board).
3 Moon 4 Water 3 Earth Add 1 Deeps to a third Coastal land (on any board).
RECLAIMED BY THE DEEPS
SPEED
RANGE
TARGET LAND
Slow
1
Range
COASTAL
2 Water 1 Damage per Deeps, to Town/City only.
4 Water 2 Earth If at least 3 Deeps and no Town/City are present:
Drown all Explorer/Dahan. Push all but 2 Deeps. Target land permanently becomes part of the Ocean on its board. Flip all remaining Deeps; they are reminder markers for the expanded Ocean.
2 Moon 3 Water Repeat this Power in target land or in a land with your Presence.
Nature incarnate expansion symbol.png

Rulings for Ocean's Hungry Grasp

OCEAN IN PLAY

  • "You Drown any Invaders or Dahan moved to those Oceans.": If 1 or more Invaders/Dahan aren't Destroyed successfully, rather than leave them in the ocean, Push them to non-Ocean lands (as part of the same Trigger Action).[1] If you cannot Push them (due to, e.g., Isolate), the Invaders/Dahan that are still in the ocean are considered to be in an illegal state, and are cleaned up into the nearest legal land. "Clean up" is a correction of the game state; it is not an Action, it is not a Move/Push/Gather, and it does not trigger anything.[2]

Notes