Hi.

I´ve been playing LotR on and of almost since the core set were released. Sadly I´ve not enjoyed it as much as I would like to becuase of the games complexity. I´ve never played a lcg before, but I got it because of the theme, art and the co-op aspect. And I feel I am in dire need of aid with constructing decks. I´ve been useing both the optional easy rules by taking away cards and skipped using Shadow Effects but still the game seems impossible to beat. I´ve done it a couple of time but every time I beat it it just feels like dumb luck.

Im trying to beat the scenarios in Sons of Numenor set, so I one day can begin the rest of the series. This is the stuff I have bought for the game:

Core set

Heirs of Numenor boxed set

Khazad-Dum boxed set

The Stewards Fear

The Druadan Forest

Encounter at Amon Din

Assult on Osgiliath

Blood of Gondor

The Morgul Vale

Im trying to build two player set and a solo deck to beat these. Someone that have any suggestions? I know many people claim Outlands deck is super but I´ve not noticed it yet.

Heirs of Numenor is arguably the most difficult box of quests in the game. Even if you have the full card pool, it can often come down to a lot of luck. In my opinion, you should either

- Move on to the rest of the cycle

- Buy more cards so you can build stronger decks

- or play online for a little bit using OCTGN or Lackey, so you can try it out with the full set of cards so you can know if you really want to keep playing and buying more of the game.

Heirs of Numenor is a beast. I had every expansion available and proxy the core set cards to three and it was still really hard. First, are you looking for a deck to beat the quests solo or are you playing coop? Next, a lot of people, including me, feel that the Dwarrowdelf cycle contains a lot of the power cards available so far. You have a decent amount of cards, but in some sense you have skipped ahead to Gondor. (No Mirkwood or Dwarrowdelf cards, and no Hobbit saga cards.). This means that you don't have the cards to build the archetypes that people were using at the time to beat these quests.

I know that sounds like I'm saying "buy more stuff", but this is really why we keep saying buy the stuff in release order. The quests were designed assuming that you had the available cards. The designers have to do it that way or the game becomes too easy. So if you skip ahead, as you have done, then it becomes extremely difficult.

There are a lot of good decks posted here in the strategy forum and at cardgamedb. Take a look at these decks and find some that you like and try them. Get some sleeves and proxy the core set cards to three copies each if you want to. As an example, if you are playing with Leadership, the three copies of Sneak Attack and three copies of Gandalf are a must. You'll have to proxy the Sneak Attack to three.

Good luck!

I'd like to chime in with this: my friends and I used to leave out shadow effects for a pretty long time, because we figured they made the game too difficult. Then someone I chatted with online (might've been here, or on another website) pointed out that not dealing shadow cards does not necessarily make the game easier. In fact, it might have the opposite effect. Some very nasty cards have not-so-bad shadow effects, and some enemies like Cave Troll have no effect at all - which makes it great to discard as a shadow card! I think my group has actually made better progress since we started using shadow effects.

That said, Númenor sure is difficult and we have not yet beaten Into Ithilien 3- or 4-player. Currently, we want to play through the quests in order and have a hard time with the Carrock.

I beat the HON box quests without too much difficulty with this deck. You have almost all the cards other than Dunedain Watcher and Path of Need which you can readily replace with something else.

These decks are (I feel) nice and thematic too.

Nice decks, the only suggestion I'd make is add Gondorian Fire, 2 or 3 copies. It's an amazing card that makes whoever has Steward into a killing machine.

I smashed those quests using a lot of Tactics-only decks, or tactics-heavy plus a little leadership / spirit when needed (usually swapping between Aragorn or Glorfindel + Light of Valinor + Asfaloth). They gave me a shitload of trouble until I figured out how to beat them, but once I did it went really well. Sadly, I can't remember the exact decks I used, but I'm pretty sure the heroes I focused on with Tactics were Legolas, Eomer, Theoden, Beregond, and Beorn.

If you really are having just too much trouble, there's no shame in using an Outlands deck (best heroes for Outlands are Hirluin the Fair, Glorfindel, and Elrond). Yeah, it's kind of "easy mode", but the cards exist and it's better than getting infuriated at the game and quitting. Other key cards with this setup are Light of Valinor and Asfaloth for Glorfindel, Men of the West, Vilya to help bring characters into play, A Very Good Tale to bring characters into play (which is your goal with this deck), Gandalf + Feint, and Steward of Gondor. With that setup you can smash most quests with ease. Include a couple characters who can heal (which works with Elrond's ability) and you're off to the races.

The one scenario that gave me loads of trouble was The Morgul Vale ,and I finally just beat it so here's my advice on that when you get to it: use Tactics only. Your goal is to kill each "boss" the very turn they come onto the board. The first two should not be a problem. Use Feint to prevent attacks and Book of Eldacar to recur Feint. The last boss could prove a problem because he has high defense and no matter how much damage you do it is always reduced to 1. So your goal is to hit him many times, not in one big swoop. To do this, use a lot of direct damage cards, but save them for the last boss if at all possible (like Gondoarian Spearman, Farmer Maggot, Spear of the Citadel, Galadhon Archer, Rumil, Swift Strike, Hail of Stones, Rain of Arrows, etc.). Use Pursuing the Enemy to bounce Rumil and Galadhon Archer into your hand (it will also deal damage to the boss) and then replay them to do their damage again. You should also look to include any cheap Eagle characters and maybe one copy of each of the strong ones.

I realize you don't have the Silvan cards, but the same strategy applies. Plink him with direct damage, and you can down him in one or two turns no problem.

man I hate to tell you this but never start out with the against the shadow cycle. No wonder you feel like the game sucks, because you have some of the best quest, but also some of the hardest. People are telling you decks and thats good, but if you really like this game, which is amazing if you start with the right sets, I say start buying knew sets. I know it can be pricy but man, is it worth it! If I were you, I would get conflict at carrock, which is a reasonably easy quest which makes you feel like a boss when you beat it for moral, then, since you have KD, buy foundations of stone. it has a good quest and unarguably the best player cards of all the sets. Then go with Shadow and flame. It has a challenging but awesome quest and great player cards. from there, you will will have some easier quest and some good player cards. Massing at osgiliath is also a good idea, because, even though it doesn't have player cards, it gives you the full, lotr lcg flavor, with enemies locations, and treacheries galore with a few objective allies in there. It will make you feel good about your self and you'll have fun! after that, maybe complete the dwarrowdelf cycle.

you see, the quests get harder and harder the deeper you go into this game because there are more player cards to use, and you dove in in the middle of the deep end.

What hero line-up are you using in your Outlands deck? My experience showed me that Beravor / Glorfindel (FoS) / Hirluin was the optimal one. After Celebrimbor's Secret, I changed it to Grima / Hirluin / Galadriel and find this one to be even stronger, since it achieves the perfect balance between card draw and resource acceleration (aided, of course, by specific cards in the deck). Just because you put Outlands in your deck, it doesn't mean that your victories vs the HoN quests are guaranteed. I still lose 1 out of 3 games in Peril in Pelargir, Into Ithilien is still a nightmare, even though doable, with only The Siege being the one quest where you need both skill and negative orbs in synastry to lose. At the point you are now, your cheapest bet would be to buy FoS for Glorfindel and his toys and unleash your Outlands army to the Gondorian fields. You'll need extreme luck to beat Into Ithilien, but the other two quests will be beaten.

I disagree with the previous poster, in that my experience with Outlands v HON was more successful. The following deck is by no means the optimal Outlands hero line-up but it is thematically Gondorian. I made short work of the HON box with it - Peril in Pelargir actually proving the toughest proposition - and beat the five first quests of Against the Shadow without difficulty before stalling in the Morgul Vale.

The OP would have a problem using this as he/she does not have the Hobbit boxes, and A Very Good Tale is pretty vital.

Thx everyone for feedback. Especially for the card builds.

Heroes

• Aragorn Core Set 1

• Boromir Heirs of Númenor 2

• Beregond Heirs of Númenor 1

Deck

2x Citadel Custodian (Heirs of Númenor 4)

1x • Denethor (Encounter at Amon Dîn 57)

3x Errand-rider (Heirs of Númenor 3)

1x • Faramir (Core Set 14)

2x Guard of the Citadel (Core Set 13)

3x Pelargir Ship Captain (The Morgul Vale 135)

3x Squire of the Citadel (The Blood of Gondor 108)

2x • Steward of Gondor (Core Set 26)

3x • Sword that was Broken (The Watcher in the Water 55)

3x • Visionary Leadership (The Morgul Vale 136)

3x Wealth of Gondor (Heirs of Númenor 6)

3x Defender of Rammas (Heirs of Númenor 7)

3x Gondorian Spearman (Core Set 29)

3x Gondorian Shield (The Steward's Fear 5)

2x • Horn of Gondor (Core Set 42)

3x Spear of the Citadel (Heirs of Númenor 9)

1x Behind Strong Walls (Heirs of Númenor 8)

3x Feint (Core Set 34)

3x Gondorian Discipline (Encounter at Amon Dîn 60)

3x Envoy of Pelargir (Heirs of Númenor 18)

These decks are (I feel) nice and thematic too.

So I would want to try this deck. Now anyone I need one more deck for a second player. For example an Outlands deck that might work together with this? The deck below have some overlap. I could borrow most cards from a friend build both these sets. BUT Boromir and Steward of Gondor can´t be in both decks. Would the deck bellow fall apart without them? What could replace them?