8 replies to this topic

[4wallz]

Hey everybody. I am a big Netrunner player. But It's hard in the small area I live in to get people to play the game with me. So I was interested in this game because it can be played with one player. So I wanted to ask some LOTR players if it is worth getting into just to play by myself?

Does the game translate well for one player? How about deckbuilding? Is it deep and fun? I appreciate any replies. And thanks in advance.

[WasteMaLife]

This game is extremely good solo. There is the official solo rules (witch I much much prefer) where you play with one party, but as it is co-op some people enjoy playing multiple hands... as if it was a two player game but them controlling both decks. In the same way you can play solo Arkham Horror or something by playing more than one investigator.

I would say I play it more solo than co-op infact, as most people I know would prefer to play a good duel game like Netrunner or CoC than a co-op, but it plays well for both.

Just note that the game has a high frustration factor and can cause table flips. I wouldn't call the game hard but you can loose the game on single card flips and this can happen at any time. Sometimes you will spend more time shuffling the decks and setting up than playing, as you will die before the turn 1 even starts. These threats can not be played around or deck build against, not really. In fact to protect yourself from some threats will dilute your deck, so it is better for scoring to just not worry about the threat and hope you do not draw it in that run. Yes skill and deck building do make a difference, but even so there are many many many situations where is doesn't count for anything. This is also frustrating as you feel your deck building doesn't really matter.

As for the deck building, it is not that deep. LoTR as it uses this quest system for the expansion packs means that 1/2 the cards in a pack are in fact encounter deck cards. So LoTR has a very slow expanding card pool. Even now 2+ years pr w/e from release the pool is pretty small. Netrunner for example will pass it in pool size this year. So the card pool is slow to expand, meaning the deck building feels limited as you play the same decks for ages.

Also regarding deck building, there is a strong emphasis on tribes. As a way to enforce theme into the game they focus greatly on tribes.. like Dwarvesor Outlands or w/e. This of course encourages you to use those cards together and create a themeish deck. The problem is that these decks are so obvious due to the card pool that you just grab the cards with the tribe trait. Dwarf and Outlands being 2 of the most powerful decks in the game. Also it means these decks are 'pre-constructed" in a way by the designers.

Even so the game is fun and I think the randomness of the quest is far form a bad thing. You never really know what is coming and that makes for a exciting quest, something that is very hard to do in co-op as it lacks the duel aspect.

All in all I recommend this game to any constructed player looking for a solo game. There is no other option in fact. It is this or nothing, and lucky it is pretty darn good.

[mnBroncos]

I play Lotr solo 90 percent of the time an it the reason collect it. I am like you and in small area so don't get to play often (not online) so lotr is my gaming outlet when playing alone, and does an amazing job

[mnBroncos]

Also I sometime play with two decks it's coop so not really cheating just overs different deck building.

[slothgodfather]

I haven't tried it yet myself, but I'm really interested to see if I can make a trap recursion deck that works well enough for solo. Have either of you found that you need to run 1 sphere most often to have a "reliable" solo game? (I say "reliable" because I know there is random install kill cards that can ruin any plan).

[WasteMaLife]

Have either of you found that you need to run 1 sphere most often to have a "reliable" solo game? (I say "reliable" because I know there is random install kill cards that can ruin any plan).

Not at all. .. In fact never. There is two viable mono decks imo, but they are not top tier. Caldara's Graveyard (Mono Spirit) and The Elrond's Endless Allies deck, though I think that works with 1 spirit hero.

If you own the mirkwood cycle you have access to songs that enable you to pay for cards off non faction heroes. Song of Battle for example. Also in Mirkwood is the Rivendale Minstrel witch allows you to fetch these songs. This means that you can make tri or even quad colour decks and still have them function very well. Tri is about where I stop though.

A common set up is 2 / 1 sphere set up. This allows you to cast any 2 cost in the "main" sphere at any given turn. A common is 2 lore +.. that way you can minstrel for a song every 2 turns. Splashing leadership for steward of gondor and sneak attack is very common to make it tri colour.

The thing is that when you play multiplayer you split the deck threats across the players. While in solo you have to basicaly deal with everything yourself. Oh btw I am talking about official solo rules.. not multi-hand solo. So restricting yourself to a mono sphere is usually a very bad idea as you simply do not have the utility to deal with a wider variety of situations.

really interested to see if I can make a trap recursion deck that works well enough for solo.

The ranger / trap deck is what I am working on myself. I love encounter deck manipulation, as a solo player where you reveal a single card a turn it is also extremely powerful. So traps and stuff fits perfectly into my favored play style. I would not really call a trap deck a "recursion" deck.. though with Hammersmith and the new Anborn there is defiantly some of that going on.. not enough to design a deck around. Spirit is the recursion king with out a doubt.

I am working on a few ranger decks and one of the more fun is based on a old deck that was popular back when mirkwood first started, before Beravor was nurffed. The idea is to draw as much into the hand as possible. Use Hammersmith and Anborn as needed, but use Will of the West to shuffle the entire discard pile. What this effect means is that due to card draw and 80% of your deck being on the table or in your hand every crad you draw will again be a trap or another card you are looking for. It is still work in progress, but I am enjoying it as it is a little more fun than the standard Dunhere trap deck that is in fact pretty powerful.

Also I sometime play with two decks it's coop so not really cheating just overs different deck building.

You know I have never done this. Maybe I'll give it a go in a virtual environment.. like yeah I have done it in lackey before to test multiplayer deck before going ot a mates.. but still having to hands and 2 decks on the table seam really fiddly to me .. just holding it all and placing them down.. I dunno.

[KennedyHawk]

I haven't tried it yet myself, but I'm really interested to see if I can make a trap recursion deck that works well enough for solo. Have either of you found that you need to run 1 sphere most often to have a "reliable" solo game? (I say "reliable" because I know there is random install kill cards that can ruin any plan).

I'm currently running a monosphere green trap deck and it works pretty well, once you get enough out there it can really handle the one flip,per turn from the encounter deck, it's had so,e trouble with scenarios like the stewards dear where multiple cards can enter the staging area per turn but it's good fun.

[Anna]

I sure think it is! I have yet to play a true multiplayer game, It is definately worth getting just for solo play.

[OldShrimpEyes]

It is worth getting for certain. I would however echo what has been already said regarding the frustration factor. Sometimes you will lose a game due to the whims of the encounter deck and have done absolutely nothing wrong. You pull the wrong card at the wrong time and it's game over. Pure chance, which can be a real pain in the ass.