27 replies to this topic

[Tiandes]

Yeah I think solo Into Ithilien is easier then Siege and for multi it's the opposite, since you can overcome the brutal starting threat of the staging area more easily in multi for Siege.

Going Solo into Ithilien, you just reveal one card at a time, preventing some really nasty combination.

As for Siege, Solo, you really need to tailor your deck to put a lot of cannon fodder because every ennemy will likely kill your main blocker with the numerous +attack shadow cards in the deck. The worst is Orc Rabble (HON) with is low 28 threat treshold.

[RobbyStark]

Scenarios that are more difficult include the Battle of Laketown, Shadow & Flame and all of the scenarios in the Numenor box.

we tried them all and heres how it went down: all of these are duo.

ithilien: that one is impossible we get our face kicked by these harads and spiders and stuff no matter what deck we use.

cair andros: we didn't win yet but we don't lose as brutally as ithilien. orc rabble can easily one-shot anyone even beregond with the right shadow cards

shadow and flames: this one's easy. one player defends himself with feint and hama, the other with a bunch of cheap allies. flood the board with snowbourn scouts and a very good tale. legolas with a few attachments one-shots goblins as they appear. dont engage the fat troll

laketown: that one is also a lot easier than ithilien. we came very close but didn't win yet so I won't brag too much. beregond+shield and a bunch of behind strong wall to defend. Ironfoot and his million dwarves for willpower and we were almost there.

[Tragic]

The thing is the designers have to speak to the future of the game. The simple fact that it is a deck construction game means that the player decks get more and more powerful, plus this game has some pretty insane power creep. Quest that seams super hard now, will be easy pie in a year.. just like Massing for example. I think this is a good idea for the game, while it can make the bleeding edge of the releases frustrating and feel a bit random, my experience is that quests people used to "hate" soon become manageable and eventually to easy.

Also, the way I see it the current quests are not "complete". Remember that the entire cycle and the associated big box are all designed together, they share keywords and concepts. The deck archetypes are getting introduced, but the "deck" will not be at full power until the end of the cycle. More defense cards will come out, more ways to manipulate icons for battle / siege etc etc.

So do not be discouraged, the card pool will soon have the cards that were designed specifically for these and the associated cycle, once you have those you will find deck builds that should raise you win ratio into acceptable levels. Plus by then you will most likely realise, as you are a new player, that what ever builds you are using right now probably are not that good in the first place.

[Tiandes]

@Tragic

You bring an interesting subject.

Personnaly, I think the designers should split their approachh to the game in 2. Making quests in the AP harder as the number of players cards get bigger and bigger.

But in the same time, they should treat the Saga Expansion as stand-alone games, making it more of a boardgame experience then a deck-building one. That and the fact that the next saga expansion will be a lot mor thematic, that would make the game a lot more appealing to casual player then just another TCG.

[Booored]

But in the same time, they should treat the Saga Expansion as stand-alone games, making it more of a boardgame experience then a deck-building one. That and the fact that the next saga expansion will be a lot mor thematic, that would make the game a lot more appealing to casual player then just another TCG.

This is exactly what the saga boxes are.. so it is not "they should" as they have already done it.

[Tiandes]

@Booored

I know, the "should" was just to insure that they will keep treating those as it is.

[Jhaelen]

But in the same time, they should treat the Saga Expansion as stand-alone games, making it more of a boardgame experience then a deck-building one.

Yup, that's what I'm hoping. I'm currently not planning to buy more APs but will get the next Saga expansion. If the Saga scenarios turns out to be as hard as the ones in the Numenor box, I'll abandon the game.

[spurries]

I find Ithilien tough. The ithillen road is,a hurdle to overcome early, but, blocking wargs errataed is still pretty bad, i think its shadow is even worse. If you defend with a 1 hp ally, and you get blocking wargs then you get an undefended attack. The hadrim elite forced attack from staging area and shadow for an additional attack is pretty bad. The spider with low engagment cost can be a problem and even the bat will do two damage two questing hero and remove the hero from the quest. Not to mention Mumak showing up early on. The encounter deck can hit hard and fast. Yes, all this can be overcome, but I've never found it easy. Its even harder in multi player. The worst card is southern support. In a 4 player game if you get this card and cant cancel it it will add 4 hadrad enemies to the staging in addition to normal staging. Its pretty much game over at that point.

Another one that scales really bad with the number of players is Druadan Forest. My group of four never made it past the 2 nd round on a number of attempts, but solo i've only lost a a few times on numerous games and deck builds.

Siege of Cair Andros i've never had an issue with, as long as im playing the right deck for it.

Man I must have gotten lucky draws but think I have beat Ithilien 6/9 times or so. Its really all about making past the Road on the first turn, and avoiding an early Mumak or something.

I found the 3rd quest in that box much harder(Siege of Cair Andros). It has like 80% shadow cards, half of which chain to more shadow cards. Brutal. I haven;t played Lake Town but I hear that one is the hardest as well.