The watcher in the water

By Dwarf king Bronze beard, in The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game

So this guest really makes me mad!


I have been tried this guest with my friend and we have been forgived at the first round because that striking tentacle killed my hero with only one attack (even i defended that attack) and theres really bad threat raising cards like disturbed waters, that makes you raise your threat by 5.



So any tips for me.


I have been used direct damage plan like Thalin and Hail of stones but it just didnt work and we havent been even completed that first stage before we had over 40 threat or one of our hero was killed. :(




ffg_striking-tentacle-twitw.jpg ffg_disturbed-waters-twitw.jpg


I've been struggling with this one myself. Thrashing tentacle is the worst.

The answer to the problem was found in the guest article on difficulty ratings on Tales from the cards:

http://talesfromthecards.wordpress.com/2013/09/16/lotr-rants-difficulty-rating/

Basically, some way to look at the top card of the encounter deck will help with those nasty tentacle effects. I found it a bit disappointing that both ways to defeat the quest rely on the same trick, rather than providing a real option, but that's what it is. Also this really isn't helped by the German translation that (as far as I can tell) seriously shifts the distribution of first letters.

If you have the Beorn hero, he eats tentacles for breakfast.

I like to play here: Denethor hero, and Hernamanth... to see when i can attack to tentacles, and how to go into the Door.

I like taking Boromir and Defending and killing all tentacles all by him.

OP - Do you only have the expansions up until Watcher? Boromir is a good idea. I did pretty well back in the day using Elladan & Elrohir.

The tentacles still cause problems for attackers and defenders no matter how well you plan. I love this quest for just that reason; I find that it can still be a meat grinder even if I use some of my best deck ideas. I always find that luck plays a big part, but I never feel like it is irritating when I get some bad luck unlike some treacheries or shadow effects that just randomly kill everybody. It's great to have an unsolvable quest. It's a giant octopus, too, I love the idea that you are asking for trouble by just going near his lake.

I also wonder how they will alter this encounter in actual Lord of the Rings saga.

hmmm never see any problems with this quest..... very boring and easy in my opinion. very important is time. time when you move from stage to stage. you must be ready to meet a Watcher. all others is just a matter of time. but maybe problem is your deck?

If playing multi-player or 2 decks solo, I can recommend Brand.

Use hands on the bow for the staging area to dispatch tentacles before they attack.

Use Straight shot to kill off tentacles right away, as most are not unique & have 0 defense.

And if you do so at the other end of the table, you get to ready a hero.

Thanks for good tips ;)

Ps: Where i can get Beorn (hero)

Thanks for good tips ;)

Ps: Where i can get Beorn (hero)

He's in the first Hobbit expansion (Over Hill and under Hill).

Tactics Boromir is even better IMO. Haven't tried the quest with Beregond yet, but he should also be quite helpful.

Another general strategy is to play cheap allies like crazy and use them as cannonfodder.

Why Boromir is good here? His hability of exploding?

Why Boromir is good here? His hability of exploding?

a) he can take 4 points of undefended damage

b) He can quest, defend and attack

c) he can kill multiple tentacles

d) yes, I used his sacrifice action already to win this scenario

e) he has a tactics icon that says "I am able to play Erebor Battle Master"

Now that I think of it, the famous "Thalin + Gondorian Spearman + Spear of the Citadel" Combo should own most of these tentacles, except Striking Tentacle.

Some more hints:

- if you attack Grasping tentacle it's always good to have a cheap ally to join the attack

- Shadow of the Past is an amazing card in this scenario

It is a perfect opportunity to attack with all those 0-attack power allies you've always wanted to attack with.

Another guestion concerning striking tentacle: If i defend with my ally againts this enemy and then discarded card is tentacle, do i have to place 4 damage tokens one of my hero?

I would say yes, but i am not shure of this so would be nice to get 100% rigth answer ;)

I don't see a reason why it wouldn't.

Thanks for quick answer :D

I would like to see this quest in Nmode….

If you're worried about the Striking Tentacle in particular, then you might want to include some tricks for soaking up that damage like:

- Frodo can take those undefended attacks over and over, as long as you can manage your threat

- Dori can serve as an emergency backup

- A 5 hit point hero with a bunch of healing available can also do the trick

More than anything you'll want at least one strong attack hero who can kill them off quickly, so you only have to worry about it once per Striking Tentacle. A Quick Strike is a good move to let you kill it before it can attack, and they're obviously a good Feint candidate as well.

I actually beated this guest today with only 1 try and i used boromir, prince imrahil and aragorn (lore) and i beated it so easily. Thank you all for good advices and now i try to beat it in 2-player mode. ;)

I actually beated this guest today with only 1 try and i used boromir, prince imrahil and aragorn (lore) and i beated it so easily. Thank you all for good advices and now i try to beat it in 2-player mode. ;)

WOOT :D

I also have a question about Striking Tentacle. The card text says that its forced effect triggers when ST attacks. I guess that means that you deal the extra card before declaring a defender?

I also have a question about Striking Tentacle. The card text says that its forced effect triggers when ST attacks. I guess that means that you deal the extra card before declaring a defender?

Yup, as they first have to attack before you can declare defenders, see :)

I also have a question about Striking Tentacle. The card text says that its forced effect triggers when ST attacks. I guess that means that you deal the extra card before declaring a defender?

Yup, as they first have to attack before you can declare defenders, see :)

Argh, looks like I always played it wrong.

*shakes fist at tentacles*