I'm about to buy the base Descent game and was planning on getting a couple of expansions at the same time (my gaming store offers discounts for "bundles.") I definitely will buy Road to Legend but I am not sure about what other expansion to get. Of the remaining expansions, which offers the "most bang for the buck?"

I *really* liked Tomb of Ice. It offers some very unique things that the other expansions just don't. The other expansions are a lot of "more of the same", more heroes similar to base heroes, more monsters similar, etc. Tomb of Ice offers some /very/ unique heroes, Feats are interesting, the dungeon tiles are unique (that massive room is cool) , the stomach is just a cool concept, and the Stealth Die is really neat.

-shnar

Thanks for the input. I take it as a good sign that you think the latest expansion is the best one. I did find a few comments about Tomb of Ice adding more "balance" to the game through the introduction of feats. Is balance a real issue in Descent? Does the overlord really have that much of an advantage?

Depends really on the experience of the players. Descent is not a very forgiving game for the Heroes. The OL can stop on them pretty badly if they make a few mistakes early on. Feats help a bit, giving the Heroes a few second chances, so inexperienced heroes can enjoy the game.

-shnar

The overlord got a significant power boost in the first two expansions (Well of Darkness and Altar of Despair), mostly through the addition of treachery. Tomb of Ice adds a new mechanic that helps the heroes (feats), which many suspect was designed to help balance out treachery. I would also tend to agree that Tomb of Ice has the most memorable heroes and monsters, though it has less in the way of new abilities, effects, and cards compared to the other expansions.

Well of Darkness is a good expansion to have on general principle because it evens out the treasure decks, so that melee and ranged weapons become as common as magic ones. It also has perhaps the most well-rounded mix of treachery, being the expansion that introduced it.

I personally liked Altar of Despair because it added in objectives other than just kill the final baddie.

Antistone said:

So get every expansion right? jk. So it looks like if you want more OL powers then AoD, or for more character power then ToI?

what i heard is that ToI only might being a bit too easy on the Heroes since it was (as mentioned) designed to even out the boosts the OL got in the first two expansions (which you won't have).

Well, sort of. ToI has Treachery as well, so the Feats balance out the ToI treachery.

And yes, BUY THEM ALL!

I believe that ToI has nine treachery cards. That's not even enough to use all of the treachery you're allowed on some quests, and it gives you precious little choice on the others. For practical purposes, you need WoD or AoD if you want to use treachery.