Inspired from the " Terrifying power creep of shop item cards. " Where I found out that after act 1 you can buy any item, I was wondering, what do you guys pick up, if anything?

So far we haven’t reached a game after I found this out, so we haven used it. But the one item I am pretty sure always will be picked up is Mana Weave, in our experience this is just so strong.

I also imagine the boots that cost 50 and give 1 Movement point will be picked up, due to their utilty.

This is not to discuss if anything is Broken, overporwerd, or anything, just, what do you guys in the end pick up if anything?

Bearded Axe, Rune Plate are also great items.

Chainmail, Crossbow, Guardian Axe, Heavy Cloak, Magma Blast, Bow of Bone and Thiefs vest are good too

immolation is a nice pick since the inbound pierce1 is not netted to a surge. although i would mostly not take it if i diddnt loot...

often i cash in a leather west, since 75 gold is not so much and +1life and a brown dd is better than nothing.

mustbuys: runeplate, mana weave, elven boots, bearded axe.

crossbow is also a really good item but largely expensive. if you can get your hands on it early in the campaign it is nuts.

(inbound pierce, crit, enemy MOVEMENT!!)

if not pick up before, we usually take depending of heroes

Mana weave, elven boots, runeplate, beardead axe, ring of power, scorpion helm, crossbow

Depending on your Overlord's deck, anything that boosts character stats is a good buy. That and lucky charm makes attribute tests insignificant.

In the campaign I'm currently in, I intend to end Act 1 with:

Wildlander - Bone of Bow, Chainmail, Scorpion Helm, Ring of Power

Treasure Hunter - Crossbow, Thieves' Vest, Lucky Charm

Champion - Any of [Trident, Bearded Axe, Guardian Axe, Mace of Aver]; Any shield, No armor (playing Nanok)

Apothecary - Any decent weapon (currently have Rune of Teleportation, which is fine), Rune Plate, Mana Weave.

Right now I'm 3 games in to the LoR campaign (Intro, rumor quest, first quest) and I've lost all three, but I have most of that list. (Missing all 3 armors plus a weapon for the Champion.) I'm feeling pretty good going into the 2nd half of Act 1. Wouldn't mind the Elven Boots but my party is already really fast; I have the Belt of Waterwalking for the Champion, which I don't really care about for the movement ability but +1 to presence means my whole party has no less than a 3 presence, which is huge.

in contrast to the other 2 posts i once got scorpion helmet and i really disliked it. in the end most of the time it is not easy to find 2 trinket spaces free on every hero. and i did not found the general +1range worth the slot. nothing you couldnt acquire by smart placement or suffering of 1 fatigue.

the 75 gold is half an act II weapon, which seems to me would better be saved.

lucky charm is always a strong pick!

in contrast to the other 2 posts i once got scorpion helmet and i really disliked it. in the end most of the time it is not easy to find 2 trinket spaces free on every hero. and i did not found the general +1range worth the slot. nothing you couldnt acquire by smart placement or suffering of 1 fatigue.

the 75 gold is half an act II weapon, which seems to me would better be saved.

lucky charm is always a strong pick!

Scorpion helm is the worst act 1 shop item in the base game, Without a doubt.

Scorpion helm is the worst act 1 shop item in the base game, Without a doubt.

I don't think so ! It's really cool if you have some runes with "blue red" dice and helps to have some range.

Flash power si the worst one. If you fail the test, you lost an action for nothing. It's all or nothing, just about luck.

Mapstone - Everytime

...

Oh what to get? I thought it was "What I hate because it showed up twice through the treasure chest and once through the shop phase and we were undergeared leading up the mini campaign finale so we want to burn it"

I need to get some glasses or something, my eyes are going...

Scorpion helm is the worst act 1 shop item in the base game, Without a doubt.

I don't think so ! It's really cool if you have some runes with "blue red" dice and helps to have some range.

Flash power si the worst one. If you fail the test, you lost an action for nothing. It's all or nothing, just about luck.

I've used both and FP is very good on some one with 5 eyeball, whereas SH is a waste of money.

Mapstone - Everytime

...

Oh what to get? I thought it was "What I hate because it showed up twice through the treasure chest and once through the shop phase and we were undergeared leading up the mini campaign finale so we want to burn it"

I need to get some glasses or something, my eyes are going...

I wholeheartedly agree, it is THE absolute worst shop card released (which is why I specified the base game).

My group did burn it haha.

We've come to a consensus with our group that the Crossbow is the most useful Act 1 weapon, now we haven't played with all the weapons, but at first glance, that's what we came up with. That's why when I played OL in our last campaign I had the one Rumor card that let the OL pick a item category card and exclude it from the shop items for a shopping phase... didn't think twice when I said exotic

Now we're starting a new one and the Heroes just got their hands on Mana Weave and Elven Boots.

As for the initial post, my list of valuable Act 1 Items: Crossbow, Bearded Axe, Rune Plate, Scorpion Helm, Elven Boots, Mana Weave, Shield of Light, [Can't Think of Name] - the trinket that lets you cash in Class cards for one hero and get Xp back equal to the total amount, its a one time use and its from SoN

Scorpion Helm -

I don't mind this thing. At some point, my Wildlander will trade with my Apothecary for the Ring of Power, and my Apothecary will be perfectly happy with it - I think there's only 1 other trinket my Apothecary wants. With a Treasure Hunter, I'm swimming in gold, and 75 isn't a big deal. Meanwhile, with the Bow of Bone + Mana Weave, the Scorpion Helm extends my MINIMUM range to 5, and I can safely fire at something 7 spaces away (I forget what the odds are, but over 80% of hits make 7+ range with those items.) And higher range with the Bow of Bone isn't just fewer misses, it's more shots I can safely take with the additional green die, so more damage, more surges, and even more range.

I'm not saying that I'd be running around desperate to get the Scorpion Helm, and it may well be the weakest item in the Act 1 shop deck save the Mapstone. (Djinn's Lamp also, probably.) But in certain builds, and especially in combo with the Bone of Bow, I think it's worthwhile.

My list of other worst Act 1 items: Belt of Alchemy, Poisoned Blowgun, Handbow (neat idea, but you're spending 150 gold 'just in case'.)

Poisoned Blowgun is a poor man's Crossbow, its a Exotic Pierce one handed ranged weapon. Belt of Alchemy has its uses - When you're a low Might hero who's been poisoned and your Disciple/Bard/Apothecary (Psh, who uses SpiritSpeaker/Prophet anyways) is in the lou - THAT'S where its useful! ... ... YEAH!

Now if instead of an Action to use it, it was something like an action or "Exhaust this card and spend 2 Fatigue" or something like that, then it'd be worth it. Otherwise it loses out in the "Belt" category to Belt of Waterwalking.

Handbow is definitely one of those "Hey this is a neat idea... wait... why would I use this?"

Handbow is definitely one of those "Hey this is a neat idea... wait... why would I use this?"

One of my friends plays Apothecary Augur Grissom with the Obsidian Scalemail, Shield of the Dark God, Shield of Light and the Handbow. Combined with Concoction (I think?) it's a hilarious trinket-class "weapon" that shoots for Pierce 2 with Blue/Yellow/Green dice, while being a ludicrously defensive powerhouse that recovers health and fatigue when an attack fails to get through Grey/Black and two shields (thanks to the Obsidian Scalemail and his own hero ability).

Anyway, I was under the impression that it would be best to build on your defensive pool in the first act with items like Chainmail and the Rune Plate, saving what gold you can in order to get the big bad nasty weapons in the second act. It's generally a sticky situation when you're up against Ogres and Ettins rolling Blue/Red/Red when all you have to save your bacon is a single gray die.

I will admit, double shield + handbow is cute. But in this specific case - an Apothecary - Handbow is once per turn, which means you're missing out on Bottled Courage, which is one of the strongest skills in the game. Maybe a Spiritspeaker, who has spells that don't trigger off the weapon, could use this combo to good effect.

I haven't played as a hero yet (always Overlord), but my assumption would be to get any Act I item that has a red power die to replace a yellow power die weapon.

One of my friends plays Apothecary Augur Grissom with the Obsidian Scalemail, Shield of the Dark God, Shield of Light and the Handbow. Combined with Concoction (I think?) it's a hilarious trinket-class "weapon" that shoots for Pierce 2 with Blue/Yellow/Green dice, while being a ludicrously defensive powerhouse that recovers health and fatigue when an attack fails to get through Grey/Black and two shields (thanks to the Obsidian Scalemail and his own hero ability).

That's a pretty snazzy way to use the Handbow, I'll admit. Might have to point that out to our Healer next time we play (wait, why would I do that)

Anyway, I was under the impression that it would be best to build on your defensive pool in the first act with items like Chainmail and the Rune Plate, saving what gold you can in order to get the big bad nasty weapons in the second act. It's generally a sticky situation when you're up against Ogres and Ettins rolling Blue/Red/Red when all you have to save your bacon is a single gray die.

Its true, most of the time you'd want to build up your defenses in Act 1 to prepare for Act 2. I'd think more about what kind of items have effects that are exclusive to Act 1 Items. Crossbow (Moving targets), Elven Boots (free movement), Mana Weave (free surges), Scorpion Helm (free range), Thief's Vest (free Might/Awareness) are all things that you can't find an equivalent in Act 2 Items for the same slot. If you're looking for raw damage, then yes there's no point in getting Act 1, other than upgrading starting equipment. If you're no pumping out enough damage to blow open blockades then the OL is winning. If the OL is winning (and using a Lieutenant Pack), then he might start running away with the campaign.

I haven't played as a hero yet (always Overlord), but my assumption would be to get any Act I item that has a red power die to replace a yellow power die weapon.

No, you can't really do that - even with a Treasure Hunter, money is just too limited to go for upgrades "just because". Plus, there are plenty of times you might do the reverse - most of the Warrior starter weapons are blue red, for instance, and the Light Hammer (blue yellow) is an upgrade to all of them. The starter weapons do generally stink, though, so upgrading them ASAP is important.

I'm overlord for a 3 player campaign. We are running labyrinth. After into, gathering foretold, and the rumor 3 heads, treasure hunter Logan has leather armor and cross bow lucky charm, Augur disciple has mace of aver, chainmail, and pathfinder durik beastmaster has bearded axe sun stone and immunity elixir. I'm getting rocked. What can I do?!?

I do have Splig's revenge and am running the Splig plot deck so I'm going to need some fat goblin love.

I'm overlord for a 3 player campaign. We are running labyrinth. After into, gathering foretold, and the rumor 3 heads, treasure hunter Logan has leather armor and cross bow lucky charm, Augur disciple has mace of aver, chainmail, and pathfinder durik beastmaster has bearded axe sun stone and immunity elixir. I'm getting rocked. What can I do?!?

I do have Splig's revenge and am running the Splig plot deck so I'm going to need some fat goblin love.

Play 4 hero, trust me it has the best balance.

I hear ya but it is hard to find 4 other people that can commit. I guess the could share a character.

You should go back in time and tell your Scout player to not be a total cheeseball. Logan as a treasure hunter is just lame.

For now, though -

1. Choose Kobolds whenever you can. (This is my advice to everyone all the time.) Sounds like they can pretty much 1-shot everything you throw at them, so don't invest in powerful monsters. Go for numbers.

2. Play damage control for the rest of act 1. If they're trashing you at this point, well, it's not going to get easier until after the Interlude. So rather than trying to win, focus on keeping down the amount of gold they get, building up threat, etc. Stealing the Sun Stone is a huge win for you. If you can accomplish some of those goals, it's worth giving up on quests you were probably going to lose anyway.

treasure hunters leather whip is really awesome (replacement of monsters)

thiefstartweapon is really good (+1 fixed crit by adjacency, nice placement does the job)

[also a thief would do +another crit when skilled with that "monsters which hadnt line of sight skill"], which will net him alot of damage in melee

runemaster combined with his startskill does pierce2,crit2, which is all u will need in act 1

prophet startflail is just AWSOME. +1fixed crit (as long as hand is empty) and a possibility of weaken!!!!

beastmasters startweaponS (!) are okish to good (+3 crit on surge is nice), because of their versatility

hexer is okish, since she can heal herself&cirt, or safe a +1crit with a hex token (surgebound)

championweapon is okish, since it can generate a surge on fatigue

spiritspeaker, berserker, stalker, knight, wildlander are average to bad, but will keep their weapons until a mustby is found.

disciple can stun, stalker can immobilize, geo can immobilize, but without damage nobody cares (=bad, to OMG i diddnt even think i would do anything!!)

necros startweapon is crap

apothecary is bad (try roll that double surge!)