Hey all. New to Descent, (sort of), old hand to FFG tho. Stupid question that I could not find an answer to easily.

Expansions. Does it matter what order I pick them up in? Should I go for order of release or is it irrelevant.

Also, the Hero and Monster expansions. What are they, (please give me more than what the site tells me), and are they worth picking up?

Thanks, in advance for any and all assistance.

First of all, welcome!

Second of all, weird you couldn't find an answer to it, since there have been at least 20 topics like this.

You can find an answer in the Index of useful links stickied at the top of this forum ( https://community.fantasyflightgames.com/topic/180455-index-of-useful-links/ ) - its under Community Opinions.

Hope you find what you need.

To be honest, I have little faith in most forum search tools, so, I didn't try all that hard. Something about having to get exact wording matches or too many hits or what have you. Also, I JUST read the sticky at the top. Another bad habit of mine, assuming the sticky is a welcome or a stat gatherer or some such, (most of the other FFG forums it is one or the other). I actually thought the sticky was about external links till I opened it. Thanks for the assist, regardless.

p.s. in my defence, most entries involving the word expansion lead to threads about the new app

edited so I don't seem like a complete slug weenie

As a newbee my self I have been doing similar research so maybe I can help.

expansions recommended are

the extra campaign. (Heirs of blood)

then the boxes. (big box better value)

then the H&M expansions.

all the while getting the cream lieutenant packs for the stuff you have.

As for the H&M packs. they are 4 heros, some monsters and a single new quest encounter. Most of said heros/Monsters are reprint, resculpt and restating of 1st edition monsters. Basically good to pick up later to refresh the game a little. Unless ofc you really like a sculpt.

the extra campaign. (Heirs of blood)

After making sure your edition didn't come with Heirs of Blood in the first place

I myself chased down and bought everything but a three of the lieutenants that were out of print. Like many people suggest getting all the box sets is best advised. You get more heroes, more monsters, more campaigns and best of all more classes for the heroes to choose. The box sets provide the most for everyone bang for the buck. Well except for the latest expansion Mists.

personally I'd get them in this order

Shadows of Nerekhall - I like the monster groups here

Labyrinth of Ruin

Manor of Ravens - my group liked the classes here

Trolfens

Mists of Bilehall - mainly a boost for the Overlord

Lair of the Wyrm - its not bad but not great either. I think my group used a hero from here in our latest play.

the extra campaign. (Heirs of blood)

After making sure your edition didn't come with Heirs of Blood in the first place

I am pretty sure my copy did not come with this. I didn't buy my copy, I got it through my companies rewards program.

As to everyone else, thanks. This is amazing. Of course, I still have a metric FRAG ton of choices, but, at least now i have a base direction to go. Thanks again.

I would recommend getting a lieutenant box possible when you decide to get you first big box expansion. This is mainly because I adds an extra aspect of gameplay for the Overlord relatively early on.

I am normally overlord so my opinion does have some bias, but lieutenant boxes aren't that expensive so just a personal recommendation.

To be clear, heirs would not be an extra. A few months ago, they replaced the base game campaign (shadow rune) with heirs of blood- so heirs now IS the base game campaign.

Honestly, It doesn't really matter what order you get them in. FFG is very effective in just integrating everything together, so once you buy an expansion and place it in their respective piles, it seems like it's always been there. But if you're looking for something specifically:

Big Box Expansions - Adds a whole new 2 Act Main Campaign that you can choose to play through rather then the Core Game campaign ( Shadow Rune or Heirs of Blood.) Labryinth of Ruin , Shadows of Nerekhall

Small Box Expansions - These contain their own seperate campaign themselves, though they are very miniature versions. Typically, they are usually 3 Act1 Quests and an ACTII Quest. However the quests can also be used as part of the Rumor System. The Rumor Cards allow for these quests to be integrated into the larger full campaigns. The OL will have a Rumor Card deck and play Rumor Quest card, which may be one of the quests in the small Box Expansion. Two of the Small Box expansions - Lair of the Wyrm , Trollfens also introduce the Secret Room mechanic. Manor of Ravens is also another Small Box Expansion. Box expansions can include more Heroes, hero classes, OL Class Cards, More Act I and Act II items, etc.

Hero and Monster Collections - These Collections include 4 Heroes each and 3 Monster Groups. (Usually). Most of the heroes and monsters are re-released versions from the 1st Descent Edition. You also get a Rumor Card and two Quests that you can integrate into a Full Campaign and usually an OL Card that he can win as a reward. Guardians of Deephall, Visions of Dawn, Bonds of the Wild, Treaty of Champions, Oath of the Outcast, are just a few of these.

Lieutenant Packs - Replace your Lieutenant Tokens will fully made plastic figures. Each Lieutenant pack comes with Threat Tokens and a Plot Deck. Plot Decks are a seperate deck the OL can use along with the regular OL deck. He must gain threat to spend on buying and using the cards. Plus he can use the Summon Agent Plot Card to place an Agent version of the Lieutenant into any quest, except for interludes and Finales.

Co-OP Monster Packs - Tosses out the OL and sets a group of heroes on one long adventure. The Map changes as they explore deeper. Monsters are controlled by an Activation Deck. The only three Co-Ops released: Nature's Ire, Forgotten Souls and Dark Elements .

Note: Mists of Bilehall is a small Box expansion, though it's meant to played as a small Campaign. However with the upcoming The Chains That Rust it will be combined to form one large full campaign. For that reason, it's a bit different from most Small Box expansions, the quests can't be integrated into other large campaigns, though the other components like the new Condition and ACT1 Cards can. So bear that in mind.

Extras: Heirs of Blood Campaign Book. For those that have the Shadow Rune Campaign in the base game.

Dice Pack - If you need more dice.

That pretty much covers it.

Honestly, It doesn't really matter what order you get them in. FFG is very effective in just integrating everything together, so once you buy an expansion and place it in their respective piles, it seems like it's always been there. But if you're looking for something specifically:

Big Box Expansions - Adds a whole new 2 Act Main Campaign that you can choose to play through rather then the Core Game campaign ( Shadow Rune or Heirs of Blood.) Labryinth of Ruin , Shadows of Nerekhall

Small Box Expansions - These contain their own seperate campaign themselves, though they are very miniature versions. Typically, they are usually 3 Act1 Quests and an ACTII Quest. However the quests can also be used as part of the Rumor System. The Rumor Cards allow for these quests to be integrated into the larger full campaigns. The OL will have a Rumor Card deck and play Rumor Quest card, which may be one of the quests in the small Box Expansion. Two of the Small Box expansions - Lair of the Wyrm , Trollfens also introduce the Secret Room mechanic. Manor of Ravens is also another Small Box Expansion. Box expansions can include more Heroes, hero classes, OL Class Cards, More Act I and Act II items, etc.

Hero and Monster Collections - These Collections include 4 Heroes each and 3 Monster Groups. (Usually). Most of the heroes and monsters are re-released versions from the 1st Descent Edition. You also get a Rumor Card and two Quests that you can integrate into a Full Campaign and usually an OL Card that he can win as a reward. Guardians of Deephall, Visions of Dawn, Bonds of the Wild, Treaty of Champions, Oath of the Outcast, are just a few of these.

Lieutenant Packs - Replace your Lieutenant Tokens will fully made plastic figures. Each Lieutenant pack comes with Threat Tokens and a Plot Deck. Plot Decks are a seperate deck the OL can use along with the regular OL deck. He must gain threat to spend on buying and using the cards. Plus he can use the Summon Agent Plot Card to place an Agent version of the Lieutenant into any quest, except for interludes and Finales.

Co-OP Monster Packs - Tosses out the OL and sets a group of heroes on one long adventure. The Map changes as they explore deeper. Monsters are controlled by an Activation Deck. The only three Co-Ops released: Nature's Ire, Forgotten Souls and Dark Elements .

Note: Mists of Bilehall is a small Box expansion, though it's meant to played as a small Campaign. However with the upcoming The Chains That Rust it will be combined to form one large full campaign. For that reason, it's a bit different from most Small Box expansions, the quests can't be integrated into other large campaigns, though the other components like the new Condition and ACT1 Cards can. So bear that in mind.

Extras: Heirs of Blood Campaign Book. For those that have the Shadow Rune Campaign in the base game.

Dice Pack - If you need more dice.

That pretty much covers it.

As we may have a lot of new players on the run prowling the forum i ll give my ranking :

First some big box expansion and the dice pack (depending on number of players, at least one perhaps two sets) :

Shadows of Nerekhall : super quest with hidden information for heroes. Tiles are wondrous. Classes are cool. Monsters are interesting. Definitely the the best of all boxes.

Additionnaly you may want to upload Road to Legend app, to have some coop experience (forget about the coop expansions they are not useful anymore )

Then i will suggest to add some rumors cards to insert in the main campains that we already have. The rumor cards system is necessary to the balance of the game,

and to some extent is more challenging for the overlord. The added gold would be necessary for the heroes and all overlord cards gained are pretty cool to play.

I would go for Manor of ravens + Lair of the wyrm. Pretty nice monsters and quests, and the Relics are good added value for the heroes. Classes are really nice.

Then i would suggest some Heroes and monsters boxes in order to have some variety of heroes or monsters and again some rumor cards.

i would dare to say the best monsters mechanics are in those boxes.

bonds of the wild is a must have and i would add oath of the outcast (the healer is necessary for beginners) and crusade of the forgotten (very nice heroes and monsters).

After having played some campains then you may want to renew your content so i would pick :

Labyrinth of ruins : mainly for the classes and items, the ally system, and the additionnal pool of basic overlord cards (BAsic II).

Trollfens. Quest are nice but i find the classes not so usefull. One cool monster : plagueworm.

Then again some Heroes and Monsters packs.(visions of dawn or better treaty of champions)

And i will finish with the last small boxes :

Ruins and Chains due to the difficulty of quests and game play with these bloddy tainted cards that were intended to make life miserable for heroes.

that is it ! of course it is only personnal advice and some people would probably disagree .

You'll probably end up like the rest of us. I purchased the base set because I was nostalgic for Heroquest. I enjoyed it so much I then purchased Lair of the Wyrm. Two years later my Descent collection is nearly complete. Welcome to the addiction.

personally I'd get them in this order

Shadows of Nerekhall - I like the monster groups here

Labyrinth of Ruin

Manor of Ravens - my group liked the classes here

Trolfens

Mists of Bilehall - mainly a boost for the Overlord

Lair of the Wyrm - its not bad but not great either. I think my group used a hero from here in our latest play.

I'd place Mists of Bilehall higher than Trollfens, but that's the order I'd get them also. Shadows has the best campaign & story, some of the best monster groups and good classes.

Since there are new players with new viewpoints within this thread, I have added this thread to the proper area within the Index of Useful Links.

Honestly, It doesn't really matter what order you get them in. FFG is very effective in just integrating everything together, so once you buy an expansion and place it in their respective piles, it seems like it's always been there. But if you're looking for something specifically:

Big Box Expansions - Adds a whole new 2 Act Main Campaign that you can choose to play through rather then the Core Game campaign ( Shadow Rune or Heirs of Blood.) Labryinth of Ruin , Shadows of Nerekhall

Small Box Expansions - These contain their own seperate campaign themselves, though they are very miniature versions. Typically, they are usually 3 Act1 Quests and an ACTII Quest. However the quests can also be used as part of the Rumor System. The Rumor Cards allow for these quests to be integrated into the larger full campaigns. The OL will have a Rumor Card deck and play Rumor Quest card, which may be one of the quests in the small Box Expansion. Two of the Small Box expansions - Lair of the Wyrm , Trollfens also introduce the Secret Room mechanic. Manor of Ravens is also another Small Box Expansion. Box expansions can include more Heroes, hero classes, OL Class Cards, More Act I and Act II items, etc.

Hero and Monster Collections - These Collections include 4 Heroes each and 3 Monster Groups. (Usually). Most of the heroes and monsters are re-released versions from the 1st Descent Edition. You also get a Rumor Card and two Quests that you can integrate into a Full Campaign and usually an OL Card that he can win as a reward. Guardians of Deephall, Visions of Dawn, Bonds of the Wild, Treaty of Champions, Oath of the Outcast, are just a few of these.

Lieutenant Packs - Replace your Lieutenant Tokens will fully made plastic figures. Each Lieutenant pack comes with Threat Tokens and a Plot Deck. Plot Decks are a seperate deck the OL can use along with the regular OL deck. He must gain threat to spend on buying and using the cards. Plus he can use the Summon Agent Plot Card to place an Agent version of the Lieutenant into any quest, except for interludes and Finales.

Co-OP Monster Packs - Tosses out the OL and sets a group of heroes on one long adventure. The Map changes as they explore deeper. Monsters are controlled by an Activation Deck. The only three Co-Ops released: Nature's Ire, Forgotten Souls and Dark Elements .

Note: Mists of Bilehall is a small Box expansion, though it's meant to played as a small Campaign. However with the upcoming The Chains That Rust it will be combined to form one large full campaign. For that reason, it's a bit different from most Small Box expansions, the quests can't be integrated into other large campaigns, though the other components like the new Condition and ACT1 Cards can. So bear that in mind.

Extras: Heirs of Blood Campaign Book. For those that have the Shadow Rune Campaign in the base game.

Dice Pack - If you need more dice.

That pretty much covers it.

As we may have a lot of new players on the run prowling the forum i ll give my ranking :

First some big box expansion and the dice pack (depending on number of players, at least one perhaps two sets) :

Shadows of Nerekhall : super quest with hidden information for heroes. Tiles are wondrous. Classes are cool. Monsters are interesting. Definitely the the best of all boxes.

Additionnaly you may want to upload Road to Legend app, to have some coop experience (forget about the coop expansions they are not useful anymore )

Then i will suggest to add some rumors cards to insert in the main campains that we already have. The rumor cards system is necessary to the balance of the game,

and to some extent is more challenging for the overlord. The added gold would be necessary for the heroes and all overlord cards gained are pretty cool to play.

I would go for Manor of ravens + Lair of the wyrm. Pretty nice monsters and quests, and the Relics are good added value for the heroes. Classes are really nice.

Then i would suggest some Heroes and monsters boxes in order to have some variety of heroes or monsters and again some rumor cards.

i would dare to say the best monsters mechanics are in those boxes.

bonds of the wild is a must have and i would add oath of the outcast (the healer is necessary for beginners) and crusade of the forgotten (very nice heroes and monsters).

After having played some campains then you may want to renew your content so i would pick :

Labyrinth of ruins : mainly for the classes and items, the ally system, and the additionnal pool of basic overlord cards (BAsic II).

Trollfens. Quest are nice but i find the classes not so usefull. One cool monster : plagueworm.

Then again some Heroes and Monsters packs.(visions of dawn or better treaty of champions)

And i will finish with the last small boxes :

Ruins and Chains due to the difficulty of quests and game play with these bloddy tainted cards that were intended to make life miserable for heroes.

that is it ! of course it is only personnal advice and some people would probably disagree .

Looks like Hobby Games has the same opinion.

That is the order they've translated Descent add-ons to Russian:

Shadow of Nerekhall - Lair of the Wyrm - Manor of Ravens

You'll probably end up like the rest of us. I purchased the base set because I was nostalgic for Heroquest. I enjoyed it so much I then purchased Lair of the Wyrm. Two years later my Descent collection is nearly complete. Welcome to the addiction.

New to Descent, NOT new to FFG or boardgaming. Every expansion for Firefly, working on Xwing and Imperial Assault. My names Hersh, I've been gaming for 30 years, "Hi Hersh", :sits down:

Since there are new players with new viewpoints within this thread, I have added this thread to the proper area within the Index of Useful Links.

I've been stickied! YAY!!!!! Um, wait, that may have come out wrong....

In all seriousness, this is awesome, thanks all.

Next question You all discuss new mechanics for monsters in various expansions. Safe to assume those new rules/mechanics are one offs, in that they only apply to to monsters from that expansion? As in you never run into "new mechanic from box A is required to use monsters from box B"? I FFG wouldn't do that, but, safe to ask, right?

I cannot say for sure but.... all the monster abilities for that monsterare on the back of the monster cards that I have seen. so probably would be printed on every monster with that ability.

I really like this saves book flicking mid game.

I cannot say for sure but.... all the monster abilities for that monsterare on the back of the monster cards that I have seen. so probably would be printed on every monster with that ability.

I really like this saves book flicking mid game.

Very true. Hadn't thought of that. One more thing i like about FFG and some of their game designs.

Next question You all discuss new mechanics for monsters in various expansions. Safe to assume those new rules/mechanics are one offs, in that they only apply to to monsters from that expansion? As in you never run into "new mechanic from box A is required to use monsters from box B"? I FFG wouldn't do that, but, safe to ask, right?

There are no requirements between boxes. You can buy any expansion (together with the base game) and it will work. Nothing from other boxes needed.

That said, components from other boxes can (optionally) be used in campaigns from other boxes. For example: monsters (thats what 'open groups' are for), items, secret rooms, rumor cards,...

To answer you initial question: I would buy a big box and small box together if you can. You play the big box campaign and play one of the rumor quests from the small box

Shadow of Nerekhall works well thematically with Manor of Ravens

Labyrinth of Ruin with Trollfens,

Shadow Rune/Heirs of Blood with Lair of the Wyrm

i'm in the UK and am finding it really difficult to locate some of the earlier expansions like Lair of the wyrm, and Trolfens, anyone have any siggestions where i can pick these up, ebay and amazon have a few but they are overseas and shipping is a lot

i'm in the UK and am finding it really difficult to locate some of the earlier expansions like Lair of the wyrm, and Trolfens, anyone have any siggestions where i can pick these up, ebay and amazon have a few but they are overseas and shipping is a lot

You have a local game store you can order from? That is what I have been doing. The one I go to is pretty good about it. They basically check their distributers and get it. I know I tell mine to lump it in with his bigger shipments to save him on shipping(well me too.)

i'm in the UK and am finding it really difficult to locate some of the earlier expansions like Lair of the wyrm, and Trolfens, anyone have any siggestions where i can pick these up, ebay and amazon have a few but they are overseas and shipping is a lot

You have a local game store you can order from? That is what I have been doing. The one I go to is pretty good about it. They basically check their distributers and get it. I know I tell mine to lump it in with his bigger shipments to save him on shipping(well me too.)

I do but their waiting times from their distibutors are very long, like 2 months + so its a real drag

(December 2018- so more for people who google best expansions).

Ok first off you NEED the big boxes:

They have 4 monster groups and 4 heroes plus more stuff and large campaigns. They also both have campaigns for the free app

{Shadow of Nerekhall}

{Labyrinth of Ruin}

{Mists of Bilehall} & {Chains that Rust} (2x small boxes but combined give a large campaign and probable upcoming app campaign)

-Then get the small boxes:

{Lair of the Wyrm} (worst small box but access to the Embers of Dread campaign on the app if you have Labyrinth of Ruin)

{Manor of Ravens} (OL servant!)

{Trollfens}

-Then research the monsters and heores you want and get the corresponding Hero & Monster packs (there are 9)

-Lieutenant packs are 20 in number. Again reaserch the ones you want and you're golden.

PS get {Baron Zachoreth}!

-The Co-Op packs are alright.

-A 2nd {dice pack} is essencial!

Fingers crossed for more box expansions!!!

On 5/26/2016 at 5:51 PM, jtitmarsh86 said:

i'm in the UK and am finding it really difficult to locate some of the earlier expansions like Lair of the wyrm, and Trolfens, anyone have any siggestions where i can pick these up, ebay and amazon have a few but they are overseas and shipping is a lot

Amazon, Zatu Games, Thirsty Meeples

Finally have almost everything since I just picked up the Olliven brothers.

All I need now are Ardus and Zarihell, who are still out of stock. Any word in the rumor mill on when FFG is going to reprint them? It's been quite a while now.