So we just bought the game me and 4 friends and we are supposed to start playing soon.

We only bought the original game, no expansions yet.

The person that is playing the overlord is using all his time to read guides and strategies lol.

So my question is:

What heroes should we pick to get of to the best start?

Are there any heroes that are way better then the others in the original game? We have no expansions yet.

What items should we aim for?

Nope, there's not.

the only one who's a little bad is the dwarf, that's all

Our group enjoys playing by selecting our heroes randomly (note that the following is based on the fact that we have all of the expansions and the CK for D1e). We shuffle all of our hero cards and deal 3 to each player. They then select 1 of the 3 to play.

Given that you only have the base game, I think there are two shop items that are must haves if you are lucky enough to draw them during the first act, and should be bought if not after the interlude.

The first is the the Crossbow which allows you to move figures. This can be critical if the OL plays a strategy of trying to block your movement, as many of the quests are races.

The second is Mana Weave. Mana Weave essentially gives all attacks 1 free surge, and it is the only item like this throughout the game.

Mana weave only gives a surge to ONE attack but its still one of the best and should definitely be purchased,

Also, when picking heroes/classes- think about how your hero pairs with your class, but also think about how your hero and class pairs with the rest of the party. Team synergy can be huge.

Mana weave only gives a surge to ONE attack but its still one of the best and should definitely be purchased,

Correct. I was not explicit enough. When I said all attacks, I meant it could be used for the remainder of the game, one attack per turn.

In the core game, the best heroes are Syndrael (Knight), Jain Fairwood (Wildlander), Avric Albright (Disciple), and Widow Tarha (Runemaster).

Essential abilities are advance for the Knight, Danger Sense for the Wildlander, Cleansing Touch (I think that's the name, the one that removes conditions) for the Disciple, and the ability that gives blast to your attack for the Runemaster.

Those are the best classes as well. Thief and berserker are kinda meh, spiritspeaker is bad because there's no hero that can possibly keep up with the fatigue requirements, and the necromancer is just not nearly as good as the runemaster.

As for items, the crossbow is the best ranged weapon in act 1 in the core game, bar none. Probably the best weapon period, so get that if you can. The Mana Weave is super solid as well. Both of these items were mentioned by any2cards.

There aren't that many exceptional items in the base game, apart from relics, so make sure to get as many relics as you can. In expansions, many great items like Runeplate, Bearded Axe, Archaic Scroll, and so on and so forth get added.

In the base game, Leoric of the Book is my favorite hero. In the expansions, Logan Lashley as the Treasure Hunter can be a bit overpowered.

Base game as the Grinding Axe in Act 2. That thing is... sick. The expansions have the Beaded Axe, which is better than most act 2 items.

I've always found the Bow of Bone act I bow to be a much greater pain in the OL's posterior than the crossbow. An extra green die if you don't move, a bonus to damage for 1 surge, a bonus to damage and +2 range for another surge. Complement that witha few, judicious skill choices and your OL will be screaming your name louder than Kirk screams "Khaaaaaaaannnn".

Crossbow has base piercing 1, surge for +2 damage, and surge for +1 and move target one space. It's no contest, especially given that the crossbow only takes 1 hand so you can use a shield too, and doesn't need restricted mobility to gain full power.

Also, the bow of bone isn't even in the base game, which is what we've been talking about.

IMHO, all of the abilities of the Crossbow pale in comparison to the fact that it allows you to move a figure. That one fact alone makes it worth its weight in gold

the crossbow has no surge for range, and it's a real big problem

Not really, I can count on one hand the amount of times I've seen a hero miss due to range. Most characters that make use of a bow have class abilities or other ways of boosting their range. One of the traits of 2nd edition descent is that situations where super long attacks are useful are rare because it's hard to get line of sight to a good distance given how the map design works and how figures block line of sight

The crossbow is especially hilarious if you have labyrinth of ruin and put it on Logan Lashley as the treasure hunter. The weapon turns into, with the right abilities (only 2 xp needed): automatic piercing 3, surge for +2 damage, surge for +1 damage and move target one space, and you get to move a space after attacking regardless of whether you hit or missed.

And it only takes 1 hand, meaning you can slap on the shield of the dark god too.

Not really, I can count on one hand the amount of times I've seen a hero miss due to range. Most characters that make use of a bow have class abilities or other ways of boosting their range. One of the traits of 2nd edition descent is that situations where super long attacks are useful are rare because it's hard to get line of sight to a good distance given how the map design works and how figures block line of sight

The crossbow is especially hilarious if you have labyrinth of ruin and put it on Logan Lashley as the treasure hunter. The weapon turns into, with the right abilities (only 2 xp needed): automatic piercing 3, surge for +2 damage, surge for +1 damage and move target one space, and you get to move a space after attacking regardless of whether you hit or missed.

And it only takes 1 hand, meaning you can slap on the shield of the dark god too.

Yeah, in our current campaing, logan Lashley, treasure hunter just got his hands on the crossbow at the Interlude shopping phase.

Our OL quickly found out that that's a bad thing, combined with guard the spoils, finder's keepers and sleight of hand and an elixir that heals one red die (hearts) of damage and one green die (surges) of fatigue. It makes the sneaky little runt VERY hard to kill...

Not really, I can count on one hand the amount of times I've seen a hero miss due to range. Most characters that make use of a bow have class abilities or other ways of boosting their range. One of the traits of 2nd edition descent is that situations where super long attacks are useful are rare because it's hard to get line of sight to a good distance given how the map design works and how figures block line of sight

The crossbow is especially hilarious if you have labyrinth of ruin and put it on Logan Lashley as the treasure hunter. The weapon turns into, with the right abilities (only 2 xp needed): automatic piercing 3, surge for +2 damage, surge for +1 damage and move target one space, and you get to move a space after attacking regardless of whether you hit or missed.

And it only takes 1 hand, meaning you can slap on the shield of the dark god too.

Yeah, in our current campaing, logan Lashley, treasure hunter just got his hands on the crossbow at the Interlude shopping phase.

Our OL quickly found out that that's a bad thing, combined with guard the spoils, finder's keepers and sleight of hand and an elixir that heals one red die (hearts) of damage and one green die (surges) of fatigue. It makes the sneaky little runt VERY hard to kill...

At least it happened to you for act 2 when your monsters are tough enough to deal with it. I once had him draw it from a treasure chest in the introduction quest.

Not really, I can count on one hand the amount of times I've seen a hero miss due to range. Most characters that make use of a bow have class abilities or other ways of boosting their range. One of the traits of 2nd edition descent is that situations where super long attacks are useful are rare because it's hard to get line of sight to a good distance given how the map design works and how figures block line of sight

The crossbow is especially hilarious if you have labyrinth of ruin and put it on Logan Lashley as the treasure hunter. The weapon turns into, with the right abilities (only 2 xp needed): automatic piercing 3, surge for +2 damage, surge for +1 damage and move target one space, and you get to move a space after attacking regardless of whether you hit or missed.

And it only takes 1 hand, meaning you can slap on the shield of the dark god too.

Yeah, in our current campaing, logan Lashley, treasure hunter just got his hands on the crossbow at the Interlude shopping phase.

Our OL quickly found out that that's a bad thing, combined with guard the spoils, finder's keepers and sleight of hand and an elixir that heals one red die (hearts) of damage and one green die (surges) of fatigue. It makes the sneaky little runt VERY hard to kill...

At least it happened to you for act 2 when your monsters are tough enough to deal with it. I once had him draw it from a treasure chest in the introduction quest.

Wow. That would have been seriously nasty to have to play all of ACT I with a hero with that archetype/class and that weapon.

Not really, I can count on one hand the amount of times I've seen a hero miss due to range. Most characters that make use of a bow have class abilities or other ways of boosting their range. One of the traits of 2nd edition descent is that situations where super long attacks are useful are rare because it's hard to get line of sight to a good distance given how the map design works and how figures block line of sight

The crossbow is especially hilarious if you have labyrinth of ruin and put it on Logan Lashley as the treasure hunter. The weapon turns into, with the right abilities (only 2 xp needed): automatic piercing 3, surge for +2 damage, surge for +1 damage and move target one space, and you get to move a space after attacking regardless of whether you hit or missed.

And it only takes 1 hand, meaning you can slap on the shield of the dark god too.

Yeah, in our current campaing, logan Lashley, treasure hunter just got his hands on the crossbow at the Interlude shopping phase.

Our OL quickly found out that that's a bad thing, combined with guard the spoils, finder's keepers and sleight of hand and an elixir that heals one red die (hearts) of damage and one green die (surges) of fatigue. It makes the sneaky little runt VERY hard to kill...

At least it happened to you for act 2 when your monsters are tough enough to deal with it. I once had him draw it from a treasure chest in the introduction quest.

Wow. That would have been seriously nasty to have to play all of ACT I with a hero with that archetype/class and that weapon.

Annoying yes, but I still won the introduction and 2/3 act 1 quests .

Always target the weak points, not the strengths. I don't even have the conversion kit, no OP monsters like kobolds needed.

I seriously laugh at the description of "OP Kobolds". In D1e, there were obstacles of more concern than Kobolds.

While the master's split ability in D2e is interesting, and can really assist in clogging up a corridor, I would hardly call them OP.

It would seem, however, base on other comments within this forum, I may be in the minority.

I actually have no idea what their stats are at all, I don't own 1st edition and don't have the CK. I'm just basing it off of what other people say.

I actually do just fine with the monsters in the expansions and the core. So many good versatile choices to plop down depending on the map. I think harpies and volucrux reavers are tied for my favorite.

This is not relevant if you have only the base but two overpowered combos are:

* Alchemist with bearded axe and concoction. Quite a monster in act1.

* Runemaster with Ghost armor and Obsidian Scalemail . Almost impossible to kill. To get even more ridiculous add in Black Iron Helm .

Reading this in 2017?

Thought you should know the answer: Yes. Some heroes/classes are strictly better and worse than others.
Games today are being more polished (and a new Descent edition should be ) and it's no wonder than newer players assume a level of balance that there is not in this game.

For example, consider Grisban the thirsty with Barbarian class. It has effectively overlapping skills and always yields less actions and less damage ultimately than Syndrael as kinght. The more expansions you have, more examples like this you will find

New players should be allowed to change heroes after the intro, IMO