Boulders, Dark Glyphs, Treachery, oh my!

By Veinman, in Descent: Journeys in the Dark

I've just recently purchased Well of Darkness and Altar of Despair (leaving Road to Legend as the only part I don't yet have). With treachery points at such a premium in quests, it's tough to decide on how to spend them, now that I've got so many options.

I'm hoping some people can provide some insight on specific quests where, for example, a rolling boulder trap was especially useful / not useful, as well as when they decided to use Dark Glyphs, Dark Relics, etc. Thanks!

Part of the game is choosing something that sounds good to you. I have played most of the scenarios trying to choose different things each time. I like to try it all out and find what works and what doesn't. You can come up with some interesting choices that you might not expect during the course of an adventure.

Poltergeist can be deadly in alot of the scenarios. I had no desire to play this card and just stuck it in my deck on a whim and it ended up being one of my favorite cards.

Try em' all, you'll undoubtedly find a gem you overlooked.

Veinman after you have figured out Dark Relics take a look at my Quest 'Relics of Doom' on the Creator under WoD it may answer a few questions for you.

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A tactically placed Dark Glyph in Vanilla Descent can save almost any OL´s day (mostly the grenn sundered one). I mostly refrain from using them in WoD quests.

In RtL a green Glyph can be a nice tactic to lure the heros deeper into a dungeon. If they only got 1 CT in Level 1, they might not be as eager to flee early. Yet by the time the OL has two green treachery points, the heros might be well armed to delve deeper...

Quest 4 in AoD, two words: Guiding Forces. You will have at least 3 trolls (assuming you spend the threat for them) and aimed bash attacks are huge. I also like Dark Servant (why not upgrade one of those trolls to a master and get sweep?), some dangers and maybe the master dark priest spawn to add threat and conquest value to the heroes.

In general, I don't think you can go wrong with Dangers-threat is good. Crushing blows and poltergeist as well as enraged are event that I like in addition to being able to aim all my attacks... I'm a big fan of lone trolls and legions of the dead for monster treachery. Basically, these are spawns that can result in a kill or more all by themselves. Trap treachery is personal preference, but you can never go wrong with and extra dark charm. A second trapmaster may not get played, but it does double your chance of getting one out...and two at once is just nasty. Personally, I also like poison spiked pits, but I have a friend who swears by scything blades.

Treachery is cool because customizing your deck really allows you to develop your own play style. Other than dark balm, lone golem and a few others, I really can't think of too many treachery cards that are just worthless. Look through them and think of how you might use them in a game and/or what other cards you might be able to combine them with for a really powerful blow against the heroes.

Veinman said:

I'm hoping some people can provide some insight on specific quests where, for example, a rolling boulder trap was especially useful

A boulder is perfect in the third basic quest "Problems of Life and Death", the Naga-quest.

Save your boulder-trap-card for the last rooms. Play the boulder-trap when the heroes are walking through that large corridor, quite at the end of the corridor. In this way, you can block the last room for a few rounds - enough time to save some threat tokens and enough time to spawn a lot of creatures next to the commanding Nagas.

If you are a really nasty overlord, then you can let the first hero walk into the Nagas room before your are blocking the corridor with the boulder. A lonesome hero will be Naga-food.

Thanks for the suggestions, everyone. "Problems of Life and Death" is actually the next quest I was planning on trying with the group. I might have to try a boulder. That sundered relic seems almost too mean. gran_risa.gif

Particularly on the Tomb of Ice quests... every one of them makes the heroes fight through at least 2 rooms to get a glyph.

Reading through the quest a few times is critical for picking the best treachery, because what is best in one quest, could be only an inconvenience to the heroes in another.

Yes, I do love scything blades, but only in a quest/dungeon that forces the heroes to cross a path multiple times. This creates the biggest bang for your buck. It's great when you hit a hero with them, but it's REALLY great when the entire group has to walk over them a couple of times.

That being said, I am intrigued about the glyphs and relics. I'd like to see how they play in RTL. I should soon be able to do that because (prepare for a tangental leap) we are gett to a point in the quest where I am now purchasing treachery. This is because Sunday saw what could possible by the most devastating dungeon for the heroes that I've seen or maybe even read about. Here's the set up: 43-Cavern of the Wyrm. It is a ToI level that has a master Ice Wyrm as the boss. I chose the wendigo and three razorwings as my other monsters. We started the level at 125 total conquest, so we weren't that far into the campaign. I have silver eldritch (Ice Wyrm is eldritch). The heroes were repeatedly swallowed and killed. The Wyrm was repeatedly healed because of this. The heroes are at a point that running away could make them lose a secret training for copper, so they were hesitant to leave. Conquest totals for a single dungeon level: Heroes 11, OL 42.

Needless to say, I am looking forward to purchasing some more treachery in the upcoming rounds, so I will be doing some experimenting with combinations.

Feraldis said:

Reading through the quest a few times is critical for picking the best treachery, because what is best in one quest, could be only an inconvenience to the heroes in another.

Yes, I do love scything blades, but only in a quest/dungeon that forces the heroes to cross a path multiple times. This creates the biggest bang for your buck. It's great when you hit a hero with them, but it's REALLY great when the entire group has to walk over them a couple of times.

That being said, I am intrigued about the glyphs and relics. I'd like to see how they play in RTL. I should soon be able to do that because (prepare for a tangental leap) we are gett to a point in the quest where I am now purchasing treachery. This is because Sunday saw what could possible by the most devastating dungeon for the heroes that I've seen or maybe even read about. Here's the set up: 43-Cavern of the Wyrm. It is a ToI level that has a master Ice Wyrm as the boss. I chose the wendigo and three razorwings as my other monsters. We started the level at 125 total conquest, so we weren't that far into the campaign. I have silver eldritch (Ice Wyrm is eldritch). The heroes were repeatedly swallowed and killed. The Wyrm was repeatedly healed because of this. The heroes are at a point that running away could make them lose a secret training for copper, so they were hesitant to leave. Conquest totals for a single dungeon level: Heroes 11, OL 42.

Needless to say, I am looking forward to purchasing some more treachery in the upcoming rounds, so I will be doing some experimenting with combinations.

If that **** wyrm didn't have 6 armor and Ironskin, it wouldn't have been so bad. If it didn't have Unstoppable, we could've at least dropped daze tokens all over it. If it weren't ELDRITCH, it's life wouldn't have been so ridiculous. If we weren't mid-copper, we might have been able to put some more damage on it. If either of the two chests would've yielded ONE POTION, I think we could've put a stop to it much earlier. If we could've rolled blanks in the stomach or not SO MANY blanks when attacking the thing, it would've died sooner. If it didn't heal every time it KILLED someone, there may have been a chance for a decent showing. All in all, that fight was just ridiculous given the circumstances in the campaign where we faced it. Very unfortunate, but now we will get our training and have our revenge...I hope.

Still not sure if we did the right thing or not. Giving up that many turns on the world map to get back for secret training when your up against siege engines and obsidian shackles (2 dice rolled for raze) seems like a bad idea. Then again, so does dying over and over and over again. Only time will tell. As always, I have a plan...as I'm sure you do as well.