Overlord Victories in Mist of Bilehall

By Sidious78, in Descent: Journeys in the Dark

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Greetings.

My play group will soon embark on the Bilehall campaign, and as the OL I've started reading up on the different quests. I notice that almost every quest has "If all heroes are knocked down" as the OL victory condition. Needless to say this is a major shift away from how I have played the OL-role so far (having mostly relied on delay tacs...)

Is this win condition even viable, or are the tainted cards really that powerful?

Any overlords out there having played through this campaign? Any tips? How was your win/loss-ratio?

I hope to be pleasantly surprised by this campaign, but TBH I'm a little put of now after reading the quests.

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Yes tainted cards are strong, but some heroes are hard to get down, especially with the +2 health. So I think it will depend on your group.

The campaign I played was 2-3 in favor of the heroes.

http://d2etracker.com/campaign_overview.php?urlGamingID=78427283

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The tainted card really are helpful to this end, but it requires a different approach as OL for sure. Once a hero gets KO, he will not be able to provide healing to other KO heroes during the encounter (save via heroic feat). Taking out the healer first (or early) is probably a good call. Also, since standing up is off the table, isolation tactics become very important- divide and conquer.

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I haven't played Mists of Bilehall yet, but that actually sounds like a pretty positive change, since it really ups the value in knocking out heroes. Knocking out all heroes at once can be hard, though, for sure.

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I haven't played Mists of Bilehall yet, but that actually sounds like a pretty positive change, since it really ups the value in knocking out heroes. Knocking out all heroes at once can be hard, though, for sure.

It's made easier by tainted cards making it significantly more difficult for heroes to get back up. Best of all, it gets harder the longer the quest goes on.

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I am a little bit worried - isn't the campaign too hard for heroes? Or is it pretty well balanced?

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I am a little bit worried - isn't the campaign too hard for heroes? Or is it pretty well balanced?

There isn't a whole lot of data on the d2e tracker for this campaign (it looks like a small population size) but my experience with this campaign has been mostly positive. It is challenging for the heroes, make no mistake- but that's because it addresses some of the loopholes in the other campaigns which (sometimes) allow the heroes to walk all over the overlord.

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Heroes and Overlords, play Mists of Bilehall, the d2e tracker needs data! :)

I hope I can convince my playgroup to do the same. This campaign looks fun!

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Yes! Gimme your precious data!! Nom nom nom!

Anyway, like I mentioned, its sometimes not so easy to down the heroes, an my group has more trouble with 'timed' quests. So I guess it was easier for them.

Edited by Atom4geVampire
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From what I recall from my campaign play ( http://d2etracker.com/campaign_overview.php?urlGamingID=67629012 ) it is pretty easy to KO the healer or any other squishy hero, even with that additional health, if you focusing him ofc. Additionally, the terrain really slows heroes, so the Overlord doesn't have to worry about a fast objective play from the heroes.
However, what screwed me up in my campaign were the rumors and that Jaes found the Rune Plate in early stage of the campaign.
Tips for the OL:
-Terrain (Sludge, Difficult Terrain, Old Walls, Hazard), Broodwalkers and Bone Horrors are your best friends here. Just the master Bone Horror can spread the heroes and they will have a hard time trying to reunite. Use Broodwalkers to either slow or terrified the heroes, and use the master for those tanky heroes (just try to protect or heal him). Just remember, difficult terrain only affects the heroes.
-Use a poke strategy. Because of the terrain, heroes will have a hard time to deal with range units. place them behind an Old Wall or very far from them. If they go for a range composition, they will lack in damage for those Broodwalkers, and if they go for damage, they will not have enough range to deal with your monsters.
-Reanimates. Although they are not very useful as the other two, they prove to be a great headache if used properly. Their “reanimation” skill allow them to absorb damage other monsters could be receiving (*coff* Broodwalkers *coff*). Another option could be to pair them with some Kobolds and watch the heroes feel like they are chocking.
-Exploit the Terrified condition. Apply it as fast as possible to the damage maker and keep that hero terrified.
-Philological Warfare. Because of the mentioned above, your job is more to make them feel hopeless, like they don't have enough advance so they become deseperate to finish the quest and comit mistake over mistake...in the end, this campaigns is designed this way, that’s why is one of my favorite.
Tips for the heroes:
-Go for good mobility or high Awareness/Knowledge composition, some maps are covered with the difficult terrain and this characteristics will make easier to go arround the map.
-A condition dealer is a must have in this campaign. If not, you can ask Zaltyre for his meme :lol:
-Go for tanky heroes, the overlord will be force to use then high damage monsters, which then means that heroes will have more mobility.
-The Chosen One(s). Grab one or two heroes to be the MVP of the party. Most of the Overlords’ victory condition is to defeat all of the heroes, and by doing that, he’s forced to taint all of them. Therefore, having a hero that won’t get tainted will drive the Overlord crazy. He will become desperate figuring out how to KO that he will become careless. Preferably the healer or the mage, because the healer can keep the party back on, or the mage can deal with monsters faster and then reviving the other heroes. Or a one man army, a warrior with tons of health and very good damage.
-Potions are now you best friends.

-Heroes will need burst damage, someone that could take most of the monsters in just one attack, for the reanimates and the broodwalkers.

-Some scenarios are big and the Overlord has low mobility monsters, allowing the scout to scout around the map freely.

In conclusion, this campaign, although is short, I think is for very skilled heroes and Overlord. It is very challenging and strategic. One mistake can cost someone’s life (and by this, I mean those precious lieutenants too). In general, don't worry about balance, as you see my campaign ended 50/50 in favor of the heroes.
Oh one other last thing, you should probably worn your heroes that they may spend a couple of rounds KO because they can be caught in a hard situation where reviving others is not an option.
Edited by Volkren
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That last post was interesting reading.

Surely this type of gameplay would also affect the "ideal" OL deck? When "Web Trap" is no longer that interesting, what would be the best selection for a max dps deck?

Also, I have all the LT-packs now. I've read the plot guide (Insightful, although I strongly disagree on some of his analyses), and can only figure this type of game play will make some "bad" LTs more interesting now. Especially in the context of DPS/Damage reduction (for mobs).

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Web trap no longer interesting? Did you not see all the Sludge/Hazard terrain on the tiles? :o

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Web trap no longer interesting? Did you not see all the Sludge/Hazard terrain on the tiles? :o

Bad example on my part, considering the lava-type effects. My point was: A lot of people in these forums will stress "focus on the victory condition" and "knocking out heroes is a bad strategy" when it comes to overlord tactics. Surely DPS is not only more needed, but downright necessary to win this campaign.

I would love to hear opinions on nasty DPS builds, and about LTs excelling as far as dps goes.

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Yes. TY.

It's a carry-over from MMOs and other games, but I prefer a defensive play style. Probably not a good OL philosophy. We are currently doing Heirs of Blood - with me playing the Ardus LT-deck (I'm most displeased after finishing the Interlude). Basic I and Alric Farrow seems like a good combination of DPS/Defence.

Time will tell.