Food & Items That Win Boss Fights

Buffs decide boss fights in TRADESMAN. This is what community members actually run, with the numbers they reported.

#Pancake — the best-value food right now

Reported by a community member after the late-game food update:

• How to get it: carry 40 flour on a road and you can trigger the Grinder encounter; after winning, the recipe unlocks. Crafting cost: 4 flour = 1 pancake.
• Buffs per serving: +100 HP and stamina, +2 attack, +0.06 attack speed, +5% crit chance, +1 crit multiplier.
• Why it matters: per serving it beats Eggnog and sits just below feeding everyone a Shawarma — at a fraction of the ingredient cost.

#Shawarma — the boss-fight standard

Nearly every successful boss report includes "everyone ate Shawarma." With Barbar's innate food-modifier doubling (pre-nerf), the top-tier shivarma pushed one player to roughly 40% crit rate and 600 damage per attack. Even after nerfs, Shawarma remains the default pre-boss meal.

#Scrolls: how mercs actually grow

• Mercenaries level by reading scrolls, not fighting.
• Hunter scroll III: +50% damage vs beasts (reported as the top choice against beast bosses like Throatcrusher).
• Beast-damage scrolls: +30% variants are common; the 50% tier was reduced by the developer from 50 to 25 percent for balance.
• Redirection scroll: makes a tank taunt — core of the Black Horse strategy.
• Double-resistance scroll: used on position-2 tanks to survive crits.
• Second-chance scroll: a revive effect, popular in 6-merc boss comps.

#Strength of Seven — the secret potion

A one-time permanent buff: +10 attack for the merchant for the rest of the run. The developer added it without publishing a recipe, and as of launch day the community has not cracked it — multiple players have posted failed brewing attempts. If you find the recipe, it is worth reporting to the forums.

#Stinky Hat — read the description carefully

Weakens all beast types by 10% — including beast mercenaries on your own side. If you run a beast squad (a popular strategy for their shared Fiasco passive), leave this item in storage at Grampstead.

#Sources

• Steam thread: New food is a godsend (CN) — pancake stats
• Steam thread: Some trick to defeat Throatcrusher — shawarma + scroll numbers, developer nerf confirmation
• Steam thread: Strength of Seven (RU) — unsolved recipe
• Steam thread: About "Stinky hat" — friendly-fire caveat

Numbers are community-reported from launch week, not datamined.