Crusher

• HP: 199 (Ascension: 209)
• Act: Den
• Passive: Crab's Rage (when an ally dies, gains 6 Strength and 99 Block)

HP is modest at 199, but Crusher scales defensively. It stacks Block and Armor buffs, becoming a wall over time. It also spawns with minions — when those die, Crab's Rage fires and turbocharges the boss.

Crusher's core threat is Adapt and Defensive Strike stacking Block and Armor. As turns pile up, its defense climbs and your damage gets swallowed. Once Crab's Rage procs, the bonus 99 Block is effectively a massive HP refill.

Target priority is the critical call. Kill a minion first and Crab's Rage triggers: 6 Strength + 99 Block makes Crusher nearly untouchable. The default plan is to Focus Crusher itself and finish it first.

Ideal is burning it down before defenses lock in. Once Adapt stacks, the cards needed per point of damage balloon. Dump damage during the opening turns.

Armor-piercing effects shine here. Poison, Doom, and anything that bypasses Block entirely ignores Crusher's defensive scaling and is worth more than usual against this boss.

With AoE decks, beware of accidentally killing a minion. If your spread damage finishes a minion, Crab's Rage procs. Watch minion HP closely and pick attacks carefully.

• Ironclad: Single-target Focus on the body. Avoid Whirlwind — it risks killing minions. Short, high-damage Strength plans finish before defenses lock in.
• Silent: Piling Poison on the body is optimal. Poison ignores Block, completely nullifying Crusher's scaling — even post-Rage, the 99 Block does not stop Poison.
• Defect: Single-target orb damage on the body. Lightning hits random targets and may kill minions; prefer Focus + Dark orb combos for single-target pressure.
• Necrobinder: Direct minion targeting at the body. Guard against your minions killing Crusher's minions by accident.
• Regent: If powers deal damage to all enemies, monitor minion HP to control when Rage procs. Single-target power effects are preferred.