Can i declare Dain as a defender against The Witch-King?

If i declare Dain as a defender Dain he must exhaust so his WIL is 1.

I´d say you can because at the time you declare him as a defender his WP is 2; at the time it drops to 1 he has already been declared as a defender and will thus carry it out to its conclusion. I base this partly on the once-an-attack-has-been-declared-it-will-resolve-fully-as-long-as-the-enemy-is-still-in-play-ruling.

I would NOT do it.

Technically your defender is "defending the attack" through the entire duration of the attack so if you cannot defend attacks made by the Witch-king with characters with 1 or less willpower, it is possible that you could declare Dain as a defender, but the attack would then go undefended (due to his willpower being subsequently reduced to 1). If you had a way of readying Dain after declaring him, he could defend the attack without it going undefended.

I honestly think it may just be poor wording on the Witch-king, but based on its wording, I think the above argument I've made could be valid.

Edit: I guess it really depends on two things:

1. Does Dain "exhausting to defend" mean that as soon as he exhausts he can longer fulfill the "to defend" part of the clause?; and

2. Does Dain's willpower being reduced to 1 or less after exhausting to defend (if allowed) constitute as being "removed from combat"?

That's the question.

I think the exhaustion is the cost of the "action" ... Exhaust X to declare X as a defender against Y

An attack is considered undefended if you can't or don't declare a defender so can you declare Dain as a defender by exhausting him?

1. Exhaust Dain -> WIL reduced to 1 -> he can't be declared as a defender but keeps being exhausted or
2. Exhaust Dain and declare him as the defender -> WIL reduced to 1 -> proceed with the next step of enemy attack

So .. i think it will be 2. because before you exhaust a character to declare hin as a defender you will check if its legal. After that you declare him by exhausting him, not the other way round.

That's the question.

I think the exhaustion is the cost of the "action" ... Exhaust X to declare X as a defender against Y

An attack is considered undefended if you can't or don't declare a defender so can you declare Dain as a defender by exhausting him?

1. Exhaust Dain -> WIL reduced to 1 -> he can't be declared as a defender but keeps being exhausted or
2. Exhaust Dain and declare him as the defender -> WIL reduced to 1 -> proceed with the next step of enemy attack

So .. i think it will be 2. because before you exhaust a character to declare hin as a defender you will check if its legal. After that you declare him by exhausting him, not the other way round.

Well, even if it is number 2, characters can be removed from combat even if they aren't removed from play.

The Core Set rules say:

If a defending character leaves play or is removed from combat before damage is assigned, the attack is considered undefended.

So if his willpower getting reduced "removes him from defending/combat" then it could become undefended even if he is allowed to exhaust to defend. This would then allow you to ready him and have him continue defending, I would think, so I'm not exactly sure what the definition of being "removed from combat" means.

I think you can declare Dain as the defender, but then the attack will become undefended once he has 1 willpower.

There's an analogous situation in the Flies and Spiders quest. You can declare a defender, then have that defender become unconscious due to poison given to it by a shadow effect. Unconscious characters cannot defend. In this scenario it's been previously ruled that this attack would now become undefended. See thread here .

Q: This question pertains to the "Flies and Spiders" scenario of 'On the Doorstep'. During the combat phase, I declare a character with 1 hit point (printed cost on card) as a defender against an enemy with the Venom trait. A shadow card is dealt to the attacking enemy that has the shadow effect that deals 1 poison to the defending character, which makes the character unconscious. Is the attack now undefended because unconscious characters can not defend, or is the attack still considered defended because the defender has already been declared (step 2 of 'Resolving Enemy Attack' on p. 18 of the rules)?

A: I'm afraid that if your defender becomes unconscious before the attack resolves, then the attack is considered undefended.

I think you can declare Dain as the defender, but then the attack will become undefended once he has 1 willpower.

There's an analogous situation in the Flies and Spiders quest. You can declare a defender, then have that defender become unconscious due to poison given to it by a shadow effect. Unconscious characters cannot defend. In this scenario it's been previously ruled that this attack would now become undefended. See thread here .

Q: This question pertains to the "Flies and Spiders" scenario of 'On the Doorstep'. During the combat phase, I declare a character with 1 hit point (printed cost on card) as a defender against an enemy with the Venom trait. A shadow card is dealt to the attacking enemy that has the shadow effect that deals 1 poison to the defending character, which makes the character unconscious. Is the attack now undefended because unconscious characters can not defend, or is the attack still considered defended because the defender has already been declared (step 2 of 'Resolving Enemy Attack' on p. 18 of the rules)?

A: I'm afraid that if your defender becomes unconscious before the attack resolves, then the attack is considered undefended.

This is a good example. This may be moot for Flies and Spiders (because it may be impossible, not sure), but if the character that was declared as a defender (and subsequently became unconscious) became conscious again during the resolution of that attack, would it then continue defending the attack or not?

This is important for the Dain example because it is entirely possible to have Dain ready again. I don't think the answer to the Flies and Spiders question is entirely clear in that respect.

I agree. Dain can be declared as a defender, but his defense will fail.

To contrast the wording with this card:

In this case, due to the different wording of the card, I could "declare" a defender that has resources in its pool, then spend all those resources on an event before the defense resolves and still be fine.

k, thanks a lot .. GrandSpleen's example and Seastan's Card helps a lot.