RtL Lava Question

By quartersmostly, in Descent: Journeys in the Dark

I had a situation where I used the Treasure Hunter's whip to move an enemy into a lava space. The next time it activated the order of activations didn't allow it to move so at the end of its activation it was defeated. Did I do this correctly? I couldn't find anything in the rules that indicated that it should move unless instructed.

You played correctly. The monster chose his actions poorly.

Sometimes the activations might be totally counter-intuitive. Having monster standing in lava or being affected by some other contition which is clearly important to be taken care of would take priority in my book.

For example, the activation might tell the monster to spot a hero in range of 4, then attack it. But the monster might already be in range without any possibility of getting proper LOS, in which case it skips all of its activations. I would personally move the monster out of lava or water or anything else that makes sense in such case, rather than keeping it in place. You can find it in the rules that when it comes to situations with multiple choices, heroes should choose based on their own point of view. So you can effectively tailor the game to either favor heroes or the overlord, yet I think that no real overlord would make such mistakes. :rolleyes:

-zxql

Sometimes the activations might be totally counter-intuitive. Having monster standing in lava or being affected by some other contition which is clearly important to be taken care of would take priority in my book.

For example, the activation might tell the monster to spot a hero in range of 4, then attack it. But the monster might already be in range without any possibility of getting proper LOS, in which case it skips all of its activations. I would personally move the monster out of lava or water or anything else that makes sense in such case, rather than keeping it in place. You can find it in the rules that when it comes to situations with multiple choices, heroes should choose based on their own point of view. So you can effectively tailor the game to either favor heroes or the overlord, yet I think that no real overlord would make such mistakes. :rolleyes:

-zxql

Couldn't have said it better my self. The section on decision making in the rulebook is my favorite addition to co-op rules. The game ultimately tailors itself to the level of difficulty you're looking for. The most important part is to not get bogged down in discussion at these moments. Keep the flow of the game going.

Isn't that section specifically when you are faced with decisons like which space to move into or which hero to attack? In the scenario I was in the option for the monster to move wasn't there so now I'm making decisions on actions that aren't present and I'm not sure that is the intention of the rule.

It is mostly related to having multiple identical options. I.e. attacking adjacent hero, when there are few heroes adjacent to you, all with same amount of health etc.. Ending a turn with two unused actions while standing in lava is something any AI would not do, despite the rules tell you to end the turn, it doesn't make for a difficult game. You should look at it as an exploit. The app is dumb, but you can help it along the way as any other overlord would do :) another option is to sctrictly follow the app, but sooner or later you will find yourself having to make decisions. It is up to you if you need more or less difficulty ;)

-zxql

It is mostly related to having multiple identical options. I.e. attacking adjacent hero, when there are few heroes adjacent to you, all with same amount of health etc.. Ending a turn with two unused actions while standing in lava is something any AI would not do, despite the rules tell you to end the turn, it doesn't make for a difficult game. You should look at it as an exploit. The app is dumb, but you can help it along the way as any other overlord would do :) another option is to sctrictly follow the app, but sooner or later you will find yourself having to make decisions. It is up to you if you need more or less difficulty ;)

-zxql

Precisely, now if you can Immobilize that monster so he can't get out of that space... well it's toast.

You can play it strictly by RAW or as my group likes to call it "Ultra Masochism Mode" and help out that dumb dumb A.I.

It's co-op, resolve as you wish and enjoy the game!

I don't know if it is an update, but in the RtL rules, last page, there is a rule that monsters avoid hazards and will only cross water and sludge if that uses less movement points.

ETA: the RtL rules also state a monster will not take actions that would lead it to be defeated before affecting a hero, in case that also happens. So no stepping in lava if it has only 1 HP remaining!

Edited by Alarmed

I don't know if it is an update, but in the RtL rules, last page, there is a rule that monsters avoid hazards and will only cross water and sludge if that uses less movement points.

ETA: the RtL rules also state a monster will not take actions that would lead it to be defeated before affecting a hero, in case that also happens. So no stepping in lava if it has only 1 HP remaining!

They update the rules in the Kindred Fire release.

The impression me and my playgroup have gotten is that Road to Legend is balanced around the AI being dumb as bricks at times. It took us 3 tries before we even beat the first quest of Kindred Fire without running out of morale. With the boss fight featuring an act 2 Merick, an elemental with practically double health regaining 4 health/turn and both of them having the ability to hit our entire team with their attacks, it was an utter mess. On top of all this, the times we decided to take a turn or two to heal up, Verminus, Skarn or Ariad would kick down the door and join the fight, practically dooming us as fighting them would take so long we would get more peril triggers, losing us this insane war of attrition.

The impression me and my playgroup have gotten is that Road to Legend is balanced around the AI being dumb as bricks at times. It took us 3 tries before we even beat the first quest of Kindred Fire without running out of morale. With the boss fight featuring an act 2 Merick, an elemental with practically double health regaining 4 health/turn and both of them having the ability to hit our entire team with their attacks, it was an utter mess. On top of all this, the times we decided to take a turn or two to heal up, Verminus, Skarn or Ariad would kick down the door and join the fight, practically dooming us as fighting them would take so long we would get more peril triggers, losing us this insane war of attrition.

As a side note, you not use the act 2 Merrick in that quest ... Dont be so hardcore :P

Edited by kraisto

The impression me and my playgroup have gotten is that Road to Legend is balanced around the AI being dumb as bricks at times. It took us 3 tries before we even beat the first quest of Kindred Fire without running out of morale. With the boss fight featuring an act 2 Merick, an elemental with practically double health regaining 4 health/turn and both of them having the ability to hit our entire team with their attacks, it was an utter mess. On top of all this, the times we decided to take a turn or two to heal up, Verminus, Skarn or Ariad would kick down the door and join the fight, practically dooming us as fighting them would take so long we would get more peril triggers, losing us this insane war of attrition.

As a side note, you not use the act 2 Merrick in that quest ... Dont be so hardcore :P

Yeah pretty sure the info panel for Merrick in that particular quest saying Act II is a bug. The app will say at a later time when to transition all monsters into their Act II variants.

Edited by Luijod

Ooooohh okay, that explains why we got utterly destroyed, makes things a lot easier without an act II Merick one-shotting your whole party. :lol:

The impression me and my playgroup have gotten is that Road to Legend is balanced around the AI being dumb as bricks at times. It took us 3 tries before we even beat the first quest of Kindred Fire without running out of morale. With the boss fight featuring an act 2 Merick, an elemental with practically double health regaining 4 health/turn and both of them having the ability to hit our entire team with their attacks, it was an utter mess. On top of all this, the times we decided to take a turn or two to heal up, Verminus, Skarn or Ariad would kick down the door and join the fight, practically dooming us as fighting them would take so long we would get more peril triggers, losing us this insane war of attrition.

As a side note, you not use the act 2 Merrick in that quest ... Dont be so hardcore :P

Yeah pretty sure the info panel for Merrick in that particular quest saying Act II is a bug. The app will say at a later time when to transition all monsters into their Act II variants.

Its not a bug, its the correct info for the surge priority in the act 2 for Merrick (you dont need a surge priority for one surge skill in act I :P ) . But I agree that they need to chance the text for a more clear information.

Edited by kraisto