Been playing Imperial Assault and loving it, however I'm going to be going back to play a Descent campaign soon which I will be playing as the heroes and controlling all 4 though. I have a fondness for fantasy dwarfs and I'm considering my group makeup as the following......

1. Corbin (Knight)
2. Grisban (Champion or Marshal....leaning towards Champion)
3. Augur (Apothecary)
4. Leoric (Runemaster) or either Jain/Laurel (Wildlander)

I'd use Raythen if I had him but sadly I don't. Looking for all feedback regarding this group selection and any tips and/or criticism as well.

Mobility will be an issue but I'd like to see if I can find a way to overcome that.

Absolutely don't use Grisban as a Marshall, he doesn't have the knowledge attribute for it.

Overall your group looks to be very immobile. I'd recommend ditching Grisben and taking both a scout and mage. Leoric makes a fine runemaster, although I tend to prefer Widow Tarha for the job. Jain Fairwood is an excellent Wildlander.

Yeah...you are right about Grisban, I forgot all about By the Book and the other ability (forget what it's called) for Marshal requiring a good knowledge stat. The mobility issue I understood when putting this group together, however I was hoping that even though it would be a shortcoming (no pun intended) that it wouldn't be a terrible hindrance that would cost me the campaign. I'd like to keep as many Dwarves as possible.

So....

1. Corbin (Knight)
2. Augur (Apothecary)
3. Grisban (Champion)
4. Leoric (Runemaster) or Jain (Wildlander)

Yeah...you are right about Grisban, I forgot all about By the Book and the other ability (forget what it's called) for Marshal requiring a good knowledge stat. The mobility issue I understood when putting this group together, however I was hoping that even though it would be a shortcoming (no pun intended) that it wouldn't be a terrible hindrance that would cost me the campaign. I'd like to keep as many Dwarves as possible.

So....

1. Corbin (Knight)
2. Augur (Apothecary)
3. Grisban (Champion)
4. Leoric (Runemaster) or Jain (Wildlander)

Consider switching Grisban with Corbin for which class they have. Grisban is on the weak side, but the Knight can help compensate for his weaknesses in a big way. Corbin has more stamina, so he's slightly more mobile than Grisban. Thus, he needs the extra mobility of the Knight a bit less.

Choosing between a Runemaster and a Wildlander is tough, both are top tier classes and spectacular. I'd say take the Runemaster, as it's going to be always useful regardless of the situation (just having blast will often force overlords to abandon groups of small monsters, so even if you never use it, you're getting a huge benefit), whereas the Wildlander is one of those classes that gets stronger the better the Overlord is. Besides, the huge mobility of the Wildlander would be held back dramatically by the slow speed of the rest of the team.

Also, on Augur, the main advantage of the apothecary is the ability to pre-heal, of a sorts, and then split up. That can help a lot with your mobility issues, but your characters have to be tough enough to stand up on their own. This is at odds with your pick of the champion class, which provides the strongest benefits when your heroes are grouped up. I'd recommend switching Augur to the Disciple, or else switching the Champion out for the Beastmaster.

See, I'd go the other way- since his party is so immobile otherwise, I'd recommend Jain the Wildlander. With 5 stamina and Nimble + Fleet of Foot + her heroic feat, she's easily one of the fastest heroes/classes there is. If she really needs to, she can move 25 spaces in a single turn once per map. If she's lucky enough to have a stamina potion, it can be as many as 35. However, she can move 10 and rest every turn, and still have 1 additional action.

See, I'd go the other way- since his party is so immobile otherwise, I'd recommend Jain the Wildlander. With 5 stamina and Nimble + Fleet of Foot + her heroic feat, she's easily one of the fastest heroes/classes there is. If she really needs to, she can move 25 spaces in a single turn once per map. If she's lucky enough to have a stamina potion, it can be as many as 35. However, she can move 10 and rest every turn, and still have 1 additional action.

Right, but she's not particularly durable and separated from the group she'll get murdered pretty fast. The rest of the group is sufficiently slow that she'll easily get more than a full turn ahead if she makes full use of her mobility, meaning she won't be supported. This in turn has the indirect effect of nerfing her effective mobility.

Ok getting some good feedback on this and now I'm wondering what you said Whitewing in regards to switching the Champion out for Beastmaster. I just got done OL'ing for a group that used Beastmaster and even though I didn't use it I'm still burnt out from watching him played so I'm trying to avoid that class.

What if instead of making Grisban a Champion he was used as a Berserker, which could help with his lack of mobility much like Corbin would get by using the Knight.

1. Corbin (Knight)
2. Grisban (Berserker)
3. Augur (Apothecary)
4. Leoric (Runemaster) or Jain (Wildlander) both have their merits but I was leaning towards Jain for when I need someone that has to have mobility for that certain moment when it becomes imperative.

Also I don't have access to the Skirmisher class, just in case somebody makes that suggestion.

Jain doesnt need to leave the group- just buzz around it like a fly. getting tokens or attacking.

Ah, i was going to suggest looking at a shadow walker scout over Grisban ,who i find unable to recommend at any level aside from his typical dwarfish charm, but im guessing if you dont have the skirmisher class you wont have it either.

As others, and yourself have noted, the party looks robust but slow.

Im a little hazy on the berserker but i think that only charge gives any sort of additional mobility and its a rather unspectacular 3 on Grisban (also costing 2 xp and 2 stamina per use)?

Mileage may vary but i dont see him keeping up with the party, maybe Corbin as the berserker with his higher stamina for initial movement would allow a grisban knight to use oath of honor and advance to keep pace?

I know ideally these are not the heroes you would want grouped....but l'd like to try something different and my fondness for dwarves is urging me to go dwarf heavy.

So Grisban as the Knight and Corbin as the Berserker then? Originally I was thinking go with Corbin as the Knight because of his hero ability to take more damage which allows the Knight skill "Defend" to be used to it's full potential since he could use it without the need for healing as much compared to Grisban.

I could only recommend Corbin as knight for that defend perk if it synergized with Augur's hero ability, but it doesn't since you will stdill suffer 1 wound. Grisban should be the knight.

Corbin as champion is still better than berserker, the berserker is pretty weak. Skirmisher could be okay on him, but as you said you don't have it. Marshall would be a great addition if he had the knowledge for it, but he doesn't, and as you said, you're committed to dwarves.

I don't really see the point in bringing Jain if she's just going to spin circles around the party, having the pure damage output of a runemaster would be more useful, and Leoric's heroic ability synergizes pretty well with the main concept of this group.

Yeah...agree with you about Leoric......the -1 on all attack rolls definitely compliments the party better. So as it looks the group composition looks like....

1. Grisban (Knight)
2. Corbin (Champion)
3. Augur (Apothecary)
4. Leoric (Runemaster)

Lol....so what are my chances against a competent OL with this group do you think?

Well, with the setup you have, I'd say go all-in with your strengths and switch apothecary for disciple.

Frankly, I think your chances are poor, the total lack of mobility really nukes you hard, but it's possible if you fixate on your objectives and just power through.

From my point of view, depending on campaign and quality of OL i would say probably 30-50% (i know im giving a wide variable here), as long as you win early and keep winning to pick quests that have as minimal 'rush' element as possible then you can probably tank enough hits to keep on ticking over while picking up enough loot to buy stuff.

If you lose early and race quests are picked by the OL then your much more limited mobility is going to hurt you a lot in terms of winning quests so it might be best to double down on loot, i dont think the group has the flexibility to chase the proverbial 2 hares of winning and loot gathering.

Yeah...agree with you about Leoric......the -1 on all attack rolls definitely compliments the party better. So as it looks the group composition looks like....

1. Grisban (Knight)
2. Corbin (Champion)
3. Augur (Apothecary)
4. Leoric (Runemaster)

Lol....so what are my chances against a competent OL with this group do you think?

Considering you really wanna have as many dwarfesas possible and with this party selection...

1) I would make Grisban still a berserker and particular use Cripple for him (with a Strength of 5 he can always Immobilize a monster). Then I would purchase Counter Attack (you get a free attack if a monster attacks you) and Death Rage (on a surge you deal +1 damage for every 2 Health you have; so if he's full Health he could +7 damage on a surge!) to do some serious damage!

2) Corbin would be a good knight as he is likely one of the hardest to kill for the Overlord if you get Defense Training (adding a brown die for your defense roll) in combination with his hero ability. Also with his high Stamina he's gonna have great possibilities.

3) Augur is one of the best healers. In my opinion he would be a good Spiritspeaker as you start with Stoneskin (you or a hero in 3 spaces get an additionally grey dice), and then purchase Healing Rain (rolling a red die and each hero in 3 spaces recovers health) and Cloud of Mists (meaning the overlord has to spend surges to hit).

4a) Leoric is a good runemaster but I always play him as a necromancer. With his hero ability (a monster within 3 spaces gets -1 damage on all attack rolls), he kinda gets your skeleton a bit longer in play. Purchase Dark Pact (adding extra brown dice for your Skeleton and switch damage between you and him) and he plays as a tank while taking damage either for Leoric of for the Skeleton.

4b) What's wrong with Ulma? Then you have 4 dwarves. She has 5 Stamina and would be a good Spiritspeaker. Again I would opt for her getting Healing Rain and Cloud of Mists. But that would mean you can't take Augur as a Spiritspeaker. If you pick Ulma, make Augur then a Disciple and choose Armor of Faith (it adds 1 additional brown die to a hero's defense pool when using Prayer of Healing) and choose Time of Need (you get 2 movement points and recover 2 stamina). This might solve a lil bit the lack of speed.

With these 4 heroes in the confirmation I suggested, you have Grisban as the one doing damage and making sure with Immobilize you let the Overlord his minions frequently loose 1 of their actions. You have 2 tanks in the form of Corbin and Leoric (well mostly his skeleton). And you have a great healer with Augur, meaning he could especially keep Grisban full Health (considering his Death Rage). I think with this the Overlord is gonna have a hard time against you. Your only downside is, as mentioned many times, the lack of Speed.

If you would go for the classes you mentioned; I would go for Varikas (berserker), Reynhart (champion), Avric (apothecary) and Ravaella (runemaster).

Either way; have fun!!!

PS: If you rather keep Jain in it, I always use her as a thief. She is tougher then most scouts and thus easier with her movement to pick searches.

Dwarves with a wizard...you're making a parody of The Hobbit right?

Well....got a lot of nice feedback which I think has changed my original plans a lil going to go....

1. Grisban (Knight)
2. Corbin (Champion)
3. Augur (Apothecary)
4. Leoric (Runemaster)

Lack of mobility is certainly going to hinder my efforts however there is a lot of vitality to this group so I'm going to see if I can plow thru my obstacles and make it to the finish line. I do feel that I might have a slight edge in the sense I shouldn't be reviving a lot which frees them to take other actions. I've seen very mobile parties plagued by that very thing.

Thanks all for the input.....this should be fun

Dwarves with a wizard...you're making a parody of The Hobbit right?

I dont think any descent wizards have an impressive enough hat.

Dwarves with a wizard...you're making a parody of The Hobbit right?

I dont think any descent wizards have an impressive enough hat.

You mean Descent or decent wizard?

Decent Descent wizard maybe?

Yeah, lets go with that and not an inability to type the correct word.

So do you always pick your heroes? We're trying to randomize a bit since there are definetly weaker classes/heroes and that wouldn't really be great if we never use them. Do you think that makes OL too powerfull?

The apothecary is a good healer, but what I found myself is the apothecary actually shines as a booster.

Use brew Elixir on yourself and one another damage dealer

Use Concotion to gain Pierce 1 and 1 surge and +1 damage for 1 surge on your attacks for yourself

Use Secret formula to give yourself +2 HP and exhaust it when a hero with an elixir attacks to add a green power die and +2 damage for 1 surge.

If you give an elixir to Leoric and he has Exploding Rune, this can greatly amplify your crowd control

@Letanir Yeah I would never force the players to pick randomly. For starters you want the players to be engaged and have fun and I could not think of anything less fun than being forced to play a class or hero you have no interest in. Second I would definitely say that by doing so it gives the OL a unfair advantage. Simply because the group could easily lack any synergy or cohesion by doing it. If the players opt for a lack of cohesion fine, that's on them. Forcing a lack of it is another matter.

Well....got a lot of nice feedback which I think has changed my original plans a lil going to go....

1. Grisban (Knight)
2. Corbin (Champion)
3. Augur (Apothecary)
4. Leoric (Runemaster)

Lack of mobility is certainly going to hinder my efforts however there is a lot of vitality to this group so I'm going to see if I can plow thru my obstacles and make it to the finish line. I do feel that I might have a slight edge in the sense I shouldn't be reviving a lot which frees them to take other actions. I've seen very mobile parties plagued by that very thing.

Thanks all for the input.....this should be fun

That's correct. Mobility heavy teams typically are easier to knockdown, while slower teams are usually harder to knockdown. You're best shot is to win the first quest and pick quests which are not race reliant, and to snowball. If you manage to win the first quest, don't save your first XP point, spend it to get an edge in the next one, and try to win a bunch of early quests. You'll have to forfeit search tokens to accomplish this, but if you can keep winning quests the rewards should be worth it. You don't have the skirmisher, so you don't have to worry about Nerekhall overlord cards like Imploding Rift that would tear you apart. Fortunately, web trap is pretty useless against you. If I were overlord, I'd be running Baron Zachareth plot deck and Infector overlord cards to take you out, so beware of that.

I like the disciple for this group a bit better because of more potent healing abilities and because he'll be with the group anyway. The main advantage of the apothecary is pre-healing so you can split up, but you don't want to split up much with this group as is. Being able to prayer of healing 2 people at once and boost them both is pretty great, as is the other 3 xp card (beacon of light or something) that lets you heal everyone and hurt enemy monsters with no defense roll.