Hey Guys,

I have the Core Set. I'm only interested in the two sets with strong narratives beginning with eh Heirs of Numenor. So can I just go right into that expansion and skip Khazad Dum and the two previous adventure cycles?

also, I only play on EASY mode. I just like playing through the adventures and having fun, in stead of losing every time, which to me is NOT fun. Losing once or even twice is okay...just not 9/10 times. haha. Yes, I also play solo.

Thoughts??

Heirs of Numenor should be extremely hard with limited card pool even on easy mode.

Against the Shadow cycle itself is less punishing.

hey

yes you can skip any cycle as long as you

1. have core set

2. get the deluxe pack corresponding to the cycle you want to get

each cycle is stand alone pretty much

saga packs can be bought at any time, they only need core set

as for easy mode, well, this game is still pretty tough, with a limited card pool and just to pick up and play, but easy mode takes a lot of the bad cards out the often end the game, i would say go for it

Great. Yes, I would get the corresponding deluxe expansion for the cycle is goes with, I just want to skip Shadows of Mirkwood and the Dwerrodwelf cycles and KD expansion.

You will probably find the Against the Shadow Cycle and Heirs of Numenor pretty tough without half the card pool but suit yourself.

So your philosophy is get the whole game or don't get into it at all? As a consumer that makes no sense to me why a company would make a core product give you a bunch of options but say it's broken unless you buy the entire line of products. I would call that a rip off. So I have two "don't waste your time" and one "go for it!"

I haven't tried out "easy mode" myself, so I can't speak to how much easier it makes the Heirs of Numenor scenarios. How have you found the difficulty of the Core Set quests so far? This might give a gauge as to how you'll feel about the difficulty of Heirs.

Maybe consider getting the whole cycle at once? That would give you quite a good card pool, and you can start on something slightly easier than Into Ithilien...

I think you should go for it. There were certainly many strong cards in the first couple cycles, but you'll still have all the Core set staples, the Outlands deck and more. You can always revisit the earlier cards if you want a change of pace later on.

Well...I still get crushed on EASY mode some times. I'm just a casual player. It's easy mode that brought me back to the game at all. I hated it the first time I owned it. This is owning number three believe it or not. I have owned the previous two cycles and I was terrible at it. But I see these great stories being put into the game since HoN that I have come back and maybe I just play those cycles

you can definitley jump into heirs straight from core. It'll be more challenging than if you had the whole card pool leading up to it, but that doesn't mean you can't (besides, if it was easy, where would the fun be?).

I don't know why you want to skip Khazadum and Dwarrodelf, but Khazadum is one of my favourite releases of the game so far, so I'd urge you to reconsider that one.

Edit: while i was typing that, I see you posted that you've played those cycles before, so..nevermind.

If you're really in it just for the story, then pick up Heirs + Steward's Fear. The Outlands deck in the Steward's Fear should give you a fighting chance against the quests. Good luck!

So your philosophy is get the whole game or don't get into it at all? As a consumer that makes no sense to me why a company would make a core product give you a bunch of options but say it's broken unless you buy the entire line of products. I would call that a rip off. So I have two "don't waste your time" and one "go for it!"

I would say limiting by cycle or quest could hurt you. It's better to have an idea of what deck you want to build off of, get the packs that have those cards, and then buy for quests.

Yes, I would get the whole cycle with HoN and then VoI

If you're getting both of the newest cycles and only playing on Easy mode then you should be perfectly fine. You'll have a decent amount of cards, the fun narrative of these quests, be current with the new exciting quests and the Easy mode will make up for all the previous cards you don't have. And if this is untrue then the developers really do suck at making a game for people who don't want to purchase everything. Easy mode really seems to be for players who want to play more casually and don't have all the cards.

You want the game to be fairly easy but your picking the hardest cycle to start. I'm trying to help you here and I really wouldn't start with the Against the Shadow cycle. I'm not saying you have to pick up everything released before you get the Against the Shadow cycle but I would STRONGLY recommend choosing 1 of these options:

- Khazad dum and 3-6 of the Adventure packs in the dwarrowdelf cycle

- The Full Mirkwood cycle

I understand you are looking forward to the great quests and cool story of the Against the Shadow cycle. It really is great. But to enjoy it at all I think it is a must to have a fair amount of cards from 1 or both of the options above. Its just too hard and not enjoyable to play those quests with just a core, heirs, ATS cycle card pool.

That's my opinion.

Have fun,

Khamul

Personally I don't know how I'd live without the Song cards from the Mirkwood Cycle, but I prefer tri-sphere decks.

Vassal of the Windlord (Dead Marshes) with 3 attack and Winged Guardian(Hunt for Gollum) with 4 defense are really helpful with the Battle and Siege Quests.

But overall, I say go for it! I think it will be do-able if you're getting the whole cycle at a time. You'll be able to build a pretty good Gondor deck and Outlands. Pro-Tip: Mono-Tactics is the way to go on Cair Andros

Just start with Voice of Isengard and the current cycle and then go back to Against the shadow cycle if people think that one is so hard but getting Outlands early on will be super helpful and the cards from Heirs of Numenor are pretty powerful and especially help with defense so at least buy that Deluxe box now.

Since you say you do not want to lose repeatedly, it is just a bad, bad idea to start the game with Heirs of Numenor. To date, this box contains some of the most challenging quests in the game even with an expanded card pool.

You do not have to buy every pack in existence in order to enjoy the game, but really you just won't enjoy yourself if you get Cores + Heirs only. It IS a bad way to have distributed the game, but that's all said and done and all we can do is gripe... For an interesting thread on a mostly related topic, check out the ongoing discussion here.

Shadows of Mirkwood and the Khadad-dum cycle do have narrative, it's just really weak narrative. The story component is much more a part of the game in the current cycle and in Heirs/Against the Shadow. If you really want a story (and don't mind something familiar), I'd recommend the Hobbit saga expansions, which I still love as some of the most interesting quests in the game, and with a more varied difficulty level. You can also pick it up with just the Core Set and have a chance of winning.

edit: also, as for the people who are saying 'yeah go ahead, you'll be OK with HoN,' clearly those people are mechanical constructs and cannot relate to us flesh-and-blood mortals who, well, bleed.

If you wish for a moderate difficulty level and a narrative I agree that Saga Boxes are the thing to get. Start with the Black Riders, I enjoyed it a lot, much more than other cycles because I just love the story and also hate being pounded most of the time.

As for Heirs of Numenor, I would not recommend it. It is just the adventures are difficult. It might be very frustrating for a new player with limited card pool. I know it was for me.

Let's be honest here if you have played the first 2 cycles and you didn't like it, then it is very possible that you don't like the game (it is a mater of taste after all). Also if you find it very hard and you hate to lose then HoN will be frustration in a box for you.

Hmm Heirs is definitely a controversial box because of it's difficulty so you'll be getting lots of varied advice from people. Perhaps as iznax said this game isn't for you, but I'd say give it another shot on easy mode. How many of you have actually played Heirs solo and on easy mode?? A lot of the difficulty is taken away with easy and solo.

Getting the Hobbit sagas is a terrible idea, those quests are mostly broken with random riddle effects, super tough trolls or the poison- I think these quests are more difficult than the Heirs quests! The Black Riders however has some solid Hobbit cards and has a good narrative feel especially if you play Campaign mode (but then you'll need future Saga boxes).

Do you all forget that he will be playing on Easy mode?? Even though this doesn't take all the difficulty away it certainly helps and he can also house rule if he's really getting smashed still.

If you really want this game for the narrative then obviously the newest cycles are the best option, you clearly said you don't want to revisit the early cycles you've already played so people need to stop suggesting that.

He is playing solo which is best for the Against the Shadow Cycle- multiplayer is what gets really difficult as the encounter deck synergizes really well but can't do that in solo play.

In general I have really enjoyed the Voice of Isengard and the Ringmaker cycle so I would definitely suggest getting that but the player cards aren't very good so I would not start with this cycle even though the quests are amazing.

Heirs of Numenor and it's Against the Shadow cycle hooks you up with Outlands which are super powerful and easy to build; Beregond, Defender of Rammas and Gondorian Shield which give you amazing defending options so you can survive some of these difficult quests; and all the traps which are fun to play and powerful. So if you buy this whole cycle you will have good player cards to play with but still challenging quests.

The first two quests in the Against the Shadow are kind of annoying in that you need to build certain decks but otherwise these quests are just decent, the narrative definitely helps them be more enjoyable but I do really like other quests from other cycles better but you may enjoy these more if the narrative is that big of a factor.

So overall, Heirs and the Against the Shadow has difficult quests, sometimes not the most fun but the narrative is really cool. The player cards from all of this are pretty good especially for Outlands and Tactics defense stuff. So if you play for the narrative, on solo and easy mode you should be good. You can listen to whoever you want but I'd say definitely go for it!

So, the take-home message of this thread is that no one can **** agree which quests are hard.

Go not to the FFG forums for counsel, for they will say both no and yes.