Monster Train : The Last Divinity : A Great Game Gets Even Better

This is a follow up to our full review of Monster Train which you can find here!

On March 25th, 2021 Monster Train got it’s first major DLC expansion, The Last Divinity. Not to say that the game hasn’t grown and evolved since it’s release, but this is by far the largest expansion to date, and the game’s first paid expansion. For those keeping track of the game’s updates, the Herzals Workshop update in October added the ability for users to create mods. The Friends and Foes expansion in September added new champions, bosses, cards, and relics. And the first expansion, Wild Mutations, allowed players to create custom runs using over 35 mutators, and added expert challenges which could be completed at the hardest difficulty.

So what makes The Last Divinity special as compared to the three prior free expansions? The biggest change is the addition of a whole new clan called the Wurmkin. The main function of the Wurmkin focuses around storing and using charged echoes to power spells and troops. Charged echoes can be acquired either through troop abilities or by using infused spells. When you play as the Wurmkin some spell cards will be infused and add a charged echo to the floor. There will be a minimum of one infused card per pack when adding new cards, and there is a new relic which can increase that. This adds an additional decision point when tailoring your deck. Do you choose a card because it’s infused? Or do you take a card that might better fit your build?

Many new cards have the “reap” ability which damages enemies based on how many charged echoes are stored up on the floor. The other major mechanic that was added in The Last Divinity are the pact shards, these are used to unlock the new final boss, aptly named “The Final Divinity”. Pact shards are collected through events on the map. You can choose to get a gold or relic reward, or enhance a spell or troop to collect pact shards.

The two Wurmkin champions function very uniquely as compared to existing ones. The Spine Chief focuses on the charged echoes to directly damage enemies or to buff his allies. The second champion, the Echowright, focuses on buffing ally’s armor, hatching eggs, and recycling consumed spells. My favorite of these abilities is by far the Echowright’s recycling ability. Not only does this ability allow you to re-use some of your most powerful spells, but you can choose different upgrades instead of removing consume thus making your spells even stronger. Spine Chief’s corruptor build (+5 attack per charged echo) works great with quick and multi-strike units that can be found in the Hellhorned and Awoken clans.

The pact shard mechanic is usable for all clans and isn’t tied to just the Wurmkin. You’re given the first chance to make a pact immediately before the first fight, and it can greatly change the direction of the run. Collecting pact shards does come with a cost though, the more shards you collect the stronger enemies will be. This greed mechanic adds another level of decision making. You can easily collect a lot of pact shards and collect a lot of rewards, but the enemies could also out-scale your deck and lead to an early demise. The rewards for the pact shards can have a big impact on a run though. You can choose from relics, extra gold, or enhancements to troops or spells. For the low price of 25 shards you can sacrifice a troop and it will enhance another troop. This mechanic is exceptionally cool because it not only purges a card from your deck, but makes another troop stronger. This can be very useful if you end up with extra troops from events or if a troop has a cool ability but is otherwise not useful.

The whole point of collecting pact shards is to unlock the game’s new final boss, aptly named “The Last Divinity”. This guy is huge. I don’t want to spoil anything, but he takes up all three floors and each section has different attacks. If you manage to beat The Last Divinity there is a special stamp that will go on the cards used, similar to the special border you can unlock using a card to beat the original, final boss. There are also new concealed cavern events tied the The Last Divinity that offer up new cards and relics.

In addition to the major new content, Monster Train was also updated to version 2.0. This update included many changes including re-balancing some champion tiers, new expert challenges, relic changes, changes to some covenant tiers, and other minor quality of life tweaks and balance changes. The full patch notes can be found here on Steam.

At the time of writing The Last Divinity is available on Steam and Xbox for 10% off ($10.79 USD). If you played a ton of Monster Train in the past, this DLC is a must-buy. The amount of new content and clan combinations adds an insane amount of replayability into a game that is already entertaining for hundreds of hours. Check out my full review of Monster Train and hopefully you’ll give the game and the DLC a try.  Xbox owners can play the base game as part of Game Pass, but The Last Divinity must be purchased separately.