I own all of the box expansions to Descent 2e. I almost always play the OL. To date, I have not purchased any of the Lieutenant mini "expansions", and thus have not become familiar with, nor utilized any of the special cards that come with each of the Lieutenants.

I have a question for those of you who primarily play OL. How much do these additional Lieutenant cards alter the way you play any of the quests, either individually, or the campaign as a whole.

Essentially, I am trying to leverage the knowledge of those OL's that have actually used these "expansions", to try and determine whether or not I wish to invest in the Lieutenants. I would especially be interested in hearing how the additional cards, etc. help you, alter play, etc.

Thank you in advance for your input. Go go go go go go ...

Super fun. My personal favorite is Merrick Farrow. Grasping grave is a heartbreaking ability (heroes only roll 1 red die when reviving) and he's got other good ones as well. I think the overlord get's more out of threat than the heroes get from fortune, and personally I think that's fine because those pesky heroes can get pretty strong.

It's the perfect thing to get if you want to put more "theme" into your overlord style. For instance, if you constantly play with large monsters I believe Valyndra's deck has special cards based around that. Serena's deck has cards based on using monsters with the "civilized" trait (like flesh moulders).

You DON'T need to buy them all (I did though, I like options and I love minis:D). You should probably start by getting one that may work with your style of play. Like magic and magic overlord cards? Try adding in Merrick. Strong defense? Try Alric. I've heard Baron Zacareth has one of the best plot decks but I haven't ran it in a campaign yet, maybe start with him.

One thing I will say is don't worry about not being able to summon the agent due to quest/campaign restrictions. I honestly find the powers to be way more fun and useful than actually summoning in the lieutenant as an agent. It's not that it isn't a powerful move, I just think there's plenty of value to consider in the plot powers outside just summoning the guy to fight for you.

All in all, it's a fun little addition that adds flavor to the overlord and give's you an extra bag of tricks to pull from. I'd recommend giving a single one a try for 10 bucks, and see how you like it.

I've got them all, and I would play anymore without it.

But the summon card deceives me, returning the card to the plot deck each time the agent is killed is disapointing. And since it's the most interresting thing I think, it needs some house ruling

The plot decks are great, I have a ton of fun with them.

I've actually found that in general, the summoning agents is among the weaker things you can do with threat tokens, since it usually results in an overall drop in damage output, but depending on the agent it can be worthwhile on the right maps.

My favorites right now are actually Tristayne Olliven (SP?) and Baron Zachareth.

I agree that they add a lot to the experience of playing the OL, by giving more options to how your OL grows thematically. The powers really are the meat of the plot decks, also. Summoning the agent is a cool secondary option, but I only do it when I have a surplus of threat.

I purchased the six base lieutenants, and I have Valyndra and Bolgoreth on order. I have only played with the Splig deck so far, and I like it a lot. The deck definitely has one of the best cards for farming threat. I will purchase and try all of the different packs, I am sure they all have their advantages.

I, personally, will never play the OL without a plot deck, so I say get the ones you think look interesting, or just be like me and some others and get them all.

I have used the Merrick Farrow deck in the last two runs through the campaign and I can say without any hesitation that it is a incredibly fun deck to use. Having two cards that require 0 threat to use is really nice. Most groups will never take the Dark Pact offer, but the Dark Mark is one of the best cards in the game for bypassing defense. Plenty of hits will only do one or two damage, and transferring it turn after turn to the marked character keeps that hero in check by forcing him to constantly heal (or stay next to the healer).

Masques can also be a game breaking card. For a single threat you get to force a auto miss...yes please. How many missions come down a single roll for all the marbles? Its particularly good for negating powerful mage and warrior heroic feats in the second encounter of a quest.

Grasping grave can be really good as well, but I often find that the fortune tokens for the heroes are not worth the reduction in healing it gives. Still, if a hero gets off by himself, I could see its worth.

Bolt from the Blue is not worth it. If it was an auto hit then it would be a no-brainer, but since the heroes get the fortune token regardless of if you get the range or not, a single blue-yellow hit is not worth it to me.

Summon Merrick - No, don't.

Mystic Might, Cabal, and Thaumaturgy - Meh, you have to stack your OL deck with "magic" cards to really take advantage of these, and that is not a deck I am big on running. Although I am currently running an "infector" deck with Basic I, so maybe it will change my mind on these.

Overall I highly recommend this deck. It tends to be a very low threat requiring deck and gives the OL some nice abilities without feeling cheap like Baron Zach's deck.

I really appreciate all of the feedback to date. If anyone has other things to add, please do so. In the mean time, I think what I have read so far has me leaning towards acquiring some Lieutenant packs. Thanks.

If you intend to play the OL Infector class then the Bol'Goreth plot deck should get your attention. It synergizes very well with it. I am also playing the Mirklace plot deck in another campaign and I like it so far. A bit too soon for giving you a complete breakdown of the cards but I will as soon as I get more experience with it.

I will definately be collecting all of the Lieutenants since I have two (Zachareth and Belthir) and they are amazing. I love adding insult to injury when I am destroying the heroes.

It would be nice if they incorporated a rule for Epic Play since most people I play against get bored fast and only like playing one quest at a time, like maybe giving a set amount of threat if the heroes get a set amount of xp to give that experience.

It would be nice if they incorporated a rule for Epic Play since most people I play against get bored fast and only like playing one quest at a time, like maybe giving a set amount of threat if the heroes get a set amount of xp to give that experience.

Since the OL can spend 1 XP for 3 Threat, I imagine he could do this at the beginning of the game based on which level of Epic Play being used.

Masques can also be a game breaking card. For a single threat you get to force a auto miss...yes please. How many missions come down a single roll for all the marbles? Its particularly good for negating powerful mage and warrior heroic feats in the second encounter of a quest.

Two times for me in my current campaign! Love this card! I save it until it really does come to a single dice roll.

this masque card is really powerfull, it can break some overpowerfull heroes, or heroic feat, like widow Thara or Reinhart

It would be nice if they incorporated a rule for Epic Play since most people I play against get bored fast and only like playing one quest at a time, like maybe giving a set amount of threat if the heroes get a set amount of xp to give that experience.

I almost wish this was the case for me. I almost always play the OL, and I am far older than the rest of the group of "heroes" against whom I wage battle. For them, playing 24-48 straight hours is nothing. For me, I am ready for the hospital when it is all over. LOL.