Blood Throne: the Alchemist in Depth

Written By Reece Robbins

Hey everyone, Reecius here with another in-depth article—this time covering the Alchemist class!

Back Blood Throne Here!

Sorry for the delay between articles. The team and I have been hard at work getting all of the physical print materials to the factory. Ensuring everything is print-ready is a fastidious process, but we’re making steady progress! I will have more updates soon on that. Also, I will get the Shaman Class Podcast recorded on Friday to get caught up on that, for those that wanted to hear it. 

We’ve previously covered the following classes:

Martial Characters:

Skill Classes:

Arcane Classes:

The Alchemist

The Alchemist class in Blood Throne is a true jack-of-all-trades. Able to deal damage, heal, and apply or remove status effects at range, the Alchemist is an incredibly versatile choice. Interestingly, in playtesting, the Alchemist was consistently the most frequently selected class and often finished with the highest total EXP. Their ability to contribute from range means they are not only useful, but also less likely to be Knocked Out.

While less common in fantasy games than the Fighter-Rogue-Wizard trio, the Alchemist still features in most major RPG systems. Personally, I’ve always loved the idea of a battle chemist charging into danger with a bag of ingredients and sharp wits, so I was excited to bring that concept to Blood Throne.

Jib Job, the Alchemist from the Core Box, is also extremely hard to hit. His Goblin Heritage Skill allows him to leave combat once per game without triggering attacks of opportunity, making him especially resilient. Let’s dive into the details!

Bombs, Poisons, and Potions

The core identity of the Alchemist is the ability to craft and deploy alchemical concoctions on the fly. A mix of scientist and warrior, the Alchemist can adapt to nearly any situation.

Mechanically, Blood Throne includes consumable items bought from the Merchant after building the appropriate structure in your base. These fall into four categories: Bombs, Potions, Utility Items and Scrolls. Bombs are thrown for various effects—explosions, DoTs, smoke clouds, etc. Potions offer beneficial effects like healing, while Scrolls replicate spell-like abilities. Utility Items are single use items such as Grappling Hooks which have a variety of uses but are mundane in nature.

Alchemists expand on this concept by creating Bombs and Potions during play, rather than buying them. (They can’t craft Scrolls, as those fall outside their scientific focus.)

This makes the Alchemist exceptionally flexible, with tools for boosting allies or disrupting enemies as needed.

Equipment Restrictions

Alchemists, like Bards, must equip a Tool in their Main-Hand. Tools are non-damaging weapons that cannot Parry unless upgraded, representing a trade-off in offense for utility. The Bard’s Instrument boosts Metaphysics; the Alchemist’s Alchemy Set allows the Alchemist to make a Throw Action as a Simple Action each Activation.

This gives the Alchemist improved action economy—critical for Skill Archetype classes. Without it, they often felt underwhelming during playtests due to limited available Actions after movement.

In practice, the Alchemist can move and make two Throw Actions per turn. Throw Actions are Medium Range, giving them a rare ability to use both offensive and supportive skills from a distance. This allows the Alchemist to stay behind frontline allies and avoid Engagement, which would otherwise prevent Throw Actions.

Outside of this, Alchemists follow typical Skill Archetype rules: Medium Armor and Backup Weapons in the Off-Hand, since their Main-Hand is always occupied by a Two-Handed Tool. Backup Weapons offer flexibility—be it a melee weapon for defense, or a Flintlock or Hand Crossbow for extra firepower. But realistically, you’ll be spending most turns throwing concoctions, so simple utility in your Off-Hand is usually best.

Class Ability

The Alchemist’s Class Ability, meaning they automatically get the card in their Hero Deck every game, is Alchemist’s Bombs. This skill is quite simple, it is a Melee Range (3×3 squares) AoE that deals 2 Raw Damage Dice (RD) to all targets in the area of effect that are hit. Be wary as it hits friend or foe. This humble ability is deceptively good as RD ignores Damage Reduction and cannot typically be Blocked or Parried. It is a great way to hit many targets or to chip away at very tough targets. 

This Class Skill also has a bevy of potential upgrades. At level 4 you can increase the damage of this skill to 3 RD damage. At level 6 you can opt to either increase the AoE to Reach Range, hitting 4 more squares, or have the AoE of the skill affect foes only, allowing you to throw it near allies with no fear of hurting them. Finally at level 8 you can increase the damage by +1 RD to potentially deal 4 RD damage to all targets!

This creates a versatile, scalable skill that is good against any target in the game. Truly a staple ability to reliably deal damage to multiple targets.

Primary Skill Tree

The main suite of abilities for the Alchemist is applying and removing Status Effects. They have a number of abilities to enable this function.

Remedy Potion

At level 1 the Alchemist gets their counter status card, Remedy Potion. This is a very straightforward skill, it heals the target for 2 RD HP and removes all Afflictions from them. As a reminder, Afflictions are short duration negative status effects such as DoTs, Stun, etc. This not only allows the Alchemist to do more healing, but if timed correctly can greatly reduce debuffs on a fellow Hero, allowing them to function at full capacity when they Activate.

Smoke Bomb

At level 2 the Alchemist gets Smoke Bomb, a truly amazing skill. The Alchemist throws the Smoke Bomb into a square causing it, and all squares within melee range of the target square to become a Smoke Hazard (again 3×3 squares). Mechanically, smoke obscures LoS (meaning you cannot see through it) and limits LoS to models within it to Melee Range, meaning you must be in an adjacent square to see a model in the cloud, and the models in the cloud can likewise only see into adjacent squares.

The uses for this are multitude. For one, obviously, you can block LoS for ranged monsters or heroes, shutting down a lane of attack. However, as you also need LoS to declare a Charge, throwing smoke on or in front of a melee monster or hero means they cannot charge within or through it. This eats one of their Actions as they have to move out of the cloud to function, or simply use an action to move into Melee Range of a model, and then attack them with a subsequent Action. 

You can also throw smoke onto a Treasure Chest to provide cover for another Hero going to secure an objective, or onto a hurt Hero that needs some cover until they can get healing or run away. Truly it is one of the most useful skills in the game. Just be wary of Monsters or Heroes with the True Sight ability, allowing them to see Invisible Models or through Smoke Hazards, or abilities like Winds of Judgement, a spell the Priest class has, which removes smoke hazards it passes through.

Flash Bangs

At level 4 the Alchemist gains access to Flash Bangs. Another great skill that is particularly good when dealing with high level Monsters or powerful Heroes. This skill does not deal damage but applies 4 Afflictions to the target all in one! The unfortunate model successfully hit by a Flash Bang is Stunned, Blinded, Silenced and Vulnerable! What this means is they lose an action, ALL of their Action Modifiers go to 0 for a turn, and the next Action that targets them counts as originating in the Rear Arc, meaning the afflicted model cannot take any defensive actions against it. Truly a nasty bundle of debuffs. As stated, this is best used against very scary Monsters or Heroes which rely on one key stat to do what they are good at, such as a Wizard that relies on their Metaphysics to successfully cast spells, or a hard hitting melee monster that relies on their Accuracy to hit you.

Battle Brew

At level 6 the Alchemist gains access to Battle Brew. This applies the Berserk status to a friendly model. Berserk is a very powerful buff that grants the Hero +1 Power dice and Advantage on all of their Actions for their Activation, plus allows them to re-roll any dice in their Damage Dice Pool! This greatly increases their average damage output. The downside is they must charge if able and after their Activation they take 2 RD damage as the potion wears off. This is a strong buff that enables a heavy hitter like the Barbarian or Rogue to absolutely smash a Monster. 

Jekel’s Draught

Finally at level 10, the Alchemist’s ultimate ability is Jekel’s Draught. This extremely powerful buff only affects the Alchemist and as with all ultimate cards is Once Per Game, but is a Blessing, meaning it lasts all game unless removed. It gives the Alchemist the Truesight status, meaning they see Invisible models and through Smoke, and allows them to make Throw Actions at Long Range. Long Range is any square in LoS! The Alchemist can hurl their potions at extreme range making them extra deadly. Just remember, any actions performed over Medium Range are done so with Disadvantage, meaning they have higher chance of failure. That said, this is an amazing ability.

Secondary Skill Tree

The Alchemist’s secondary area of expertise is dealing damage at range. Their Class Ability is their main entry in this category but they also sport they very effective Alchemical Concoctions.

Alchemical Concoctions

At level 1 the Alchemist gets their other go-to skill for applying single target damage, Alchemical Concoctions. This skill hits one target for 2 RD damage and applies one of the three DoT effects of the Alchemist’s choice to the target model: Poison, On Fire or Acid. What makes this so good is that not only does it deal 5 RD over time to the target, but as you can choose which DoT to apply you can stack multiples on the same target. So, for big, tough monsters or enemy Heroes, you can apply several DoTs to rapidly melt/burn/poison them into a pool of goo! This skill plus Alchemist’s Bomb allow the Alchemist to chip away at even the toughest enemies and take them out over time from range. It truly is a very powerful combo. 

As if that weren’t enough, at level 8 you can opt to take the Potent Mix Feat which increases the DoT damage by +1 RD so the first turn it deals 3 RD initially, 3 RD on the first Activation and 2 RD on the second Activation. This makes this skill truly scary dealing a brutal 8RD damage over time to a single target.

Tertiary Skill Tree

The Alchemist’s last area of focus is healing. They have a limited but very useful selection of abilities in this category. As noted, what makes them unique is their ability to heal from a greater distance than is normal.

Rejuvenate Potion

The Rejuvenate Potion is one you will find yourself using quite often. It is very simple: the target Hero immediately heals 2 RD HP and gains the Rejuvenate HoT (heal over time), basically the inverse of a DoT. In total it will heal 5 RD HP over time, making it quite useful. In practice players would sometimes throw this on a Hero in advance of them going into combat knowing they would likely take damage and the healing on their next Activation would be useful. This is a no frills but very useful skill that will find its way into your Hero Deck more often than not.

Elixir

At level 8 the Alchemist gains access to their other Once Per Game skill. Elixir is an absolute doozy. It fully heals the target model and removes any Afflictions. Again, at Medium Range this makes it relatively unique and the only other class that has a full heal ability is the Priest, making this a very strong card. High HP models like the Barbarian or Fighter are obvious targets for this as they tend to aggro a lot of damage. In PvP games this card is absolutely demoralizing when you finally get a tank Hero down to single digit HP and then they go back to full!

Not much explanation needed, this is just a great skill.

Feats

Alchemists have the choice to be better at dealing damage or to be better at throwing generally. As a refresher, Heroes gain a class feat choice very even level, the choices are permanent.

At level 2 the Alchemist may either take Long Bomb, which increases the range of Throw Actions by +1 square or Accurate Bombs which increases the Alchemist’s Accuracy by +1. Being more accurate is obviously useful, and the +1 square range, as we have explained in previous articles, is good not only to target more potential squares but because it means the Alchemist can throw from outside of denial range.

At level 4 the Alchemist may choose between Close Quarters Tosser, allowing them to make Throw Actions even if Engaged by an opponent at targets within Reach Range of the Alchemist, or to increase the damage of Alchemist’s Bomb by +1. The increased damage makes the Alchemist Bomb quite scary, particularly if stacked with the additional damage boost at level 8. Being able to make Throw Actions even if Engaged is also every useful as otherwise, if the Alchemist is Engaged by an enemy, they cannot do so. Both are very strong choices.

At level 6 the Alchemist may choose between Massive Explosions, increasing the AoE of Alchemist’s Bomb to Reach Range, meaning it affects 4 additional squares, or Precise Bombs which means only opposing models in the AoE of Alchemist’s Bombs are targeted. So in effect, you can hit more targets, friend or foe, or only hit foe’s in the normal AoE. Both are very good choices and it comes down to your play style. 

At level 8 the Alchemist may choose between Inferno Bombs providing a +1 RD damage boost to Alchemist’s Bombs, meaning it could be a whopping total of 4 RD, or Potent Mix which increases the damage of Alchemical Concoction by +1 RD. Both of these are great choices as you can either crank up Alchemist’s Bombs to potentially 4RD hitting multiple targets or put a brutal 8RD on a single target over time. 

Playing Jib Job

Jib Job is a very fun Hero to play as he always has something to do and is quite resilient. Beyond his stats, he is just a fun character. He is a brilliant Goblin and has a fun affectation to his speech which we enjoyed writing. In the Blood Throne universe, Goblins are not the prototypical dumb, evil, cannon fodder monsters you typically see. While some of them do fill that role, in the lore they are quite inventive and capable of a lot with the right resources. Just like a human that were to grow up in the wastelands of Cheol would likely be an uneducated, violent individual, the same applies to Goblins. Jib Job grew up in the Underhive, which is a vast underground city full of peoples often rejected on the surface. While it is a dangerous place, it is a highly advanced society and Jib Job had access to excellent, practical education. 

Beyond his fun personality on the table he is very effective. He has a whopping Evasion of 8, making him very hard to hit, and a solid Fortitude and Will of 4, with Damage Reduction of 1 via his Light Armor and 16 HP which is quite respectable. He sports a Stiletto in his Off-Hand for emergency stabbing or more commonly for parrying. With Accuracy and Finesse of 3 he is likely to hit what he aims at or disarm the trap on a Chest. He also has a solid 3 Class Skills, but as so many Alchemist Skills are solid you are likely going to want to choose gear and Feats that give him more choices as you go.

As a Goblin, Jib Job has Movement 4 which is limiting but as his abilities are relatively long range, you don’t notice it nearly as much. Best of all, as mentioned earlier in the article, Jib Job has the Sneaky Git Heritage Skill which lets him leave combat without taking free strikes once per game! This is so good as if your plans don’t go exactly as you hoped and he does get tagged in combat, you can just walk away!

Jib Job can do really anything which is why he was the most commonly chosen Hero in play-testing. Having him follow the tanks up the table, supporting them with cover via smoke, healing and status effect removal while lobbing armor ignoring bombs or debilitating debuffs on the enemy is just extremely useful. He often can scoop up objectives as well, while the melee heroes run forward to engage the enemy. 

Due to his high defenses, he often does not get Knocked Out, meaning you can use him more frequently. As such he typically levels up fairly quickly. On the whole, he is just a great Hero and quite fun to play.

Playing Against Jib Job

Jib Job can be a tough nut to crack in PvP games as he is so hard to hit. He can be really good at taking down your best tank characters as well by hitting them with Raw Damage over time, wearing them down. The best bet is to hit him with Special Actions that target Fortitude or Will as his Evasion is so high, or to try and lower his Evasion via a Status like Dazzled. If you can hit him with the Confused status, which disallows the target model from using any Special Actions, this is absolutely brutal against Job Job as without his cards he is limited to poking you with his Stiletto. 

Be wary of just engaging him with a Hero thinking you shut down his throwing as with his Heritage ability he will just walk out of combat. I cannot tell you how many times this catches people off guard! With his high Evasion, he can just risk walking out of combat even without his Heritage Skill and hope his opponent misses with the Attack of Opportunity. With Light Armor and 16 HP, it will take at least two higher damage hits to take him out in most instances so plan on that when trying to get at him.

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed learning more about the Alchemist Class. It is genuinely one of the most well rounded classes in the game, and a lot of fun to play. Next time we will cover the Priest Class!

Reece Robbins
Next

Blood Throne: the Priest Class in Dpeth