hey quys! ive just finished reading the rules of play. i have some questions about the aim order!

1. if a hero wants to place an aim order, is this the only think he can do? i mean can he move at his speed and the place an order and execute it immiadiately (that thing cancels the advance action-no need to exist)? he can attack and also place the aim order and execute it immiadiately (that cancels the battle action- no need to exist)? he can move or attack and then place the aim order and execute it in his next turn?

2. can monsters use these orders ( aim, guard, dodge and rest)?

3.about dodge, guard, rest, a player can move or attack and use them or use only the order and end his turn?

thanks in advance!!!

ntouzieras said:

To further clarify, an Aim order doesn't allow you to make an aimed attack by itself, it allows you to convert a normal attack into an aimed attack--you need to already be entitled to a normal attack in order to use it. So for example, you could declare a Ready action, place an Aim order, then make an attack, and use the Aim order you just placed to turn it into an aimed attack--resulting in a total of 1 attack during your turn (compared to 2 for a battle), but it's aimed.

Aiming is hardly ever a good idea in normal Descent; the reroll just isn't that powerful, usually it's better to spend that half-action doing something else (like making another attack) rather than sacrificing it for a reroll on a future attack.

Leadership + Aim can be quite useful. It's also very useful with Power Potions, against high armour monsters, where you suspect the OL has a Dodge card or against Stealth.

Ordinarily monsters cannot use Ready Orders, though I think there are some Powers that enable them to do so and LTs and Avatars can use Ready Orders.

I believe i can have a aim order on this turn. If i did not move or take any wounds in the overlord turn.

I still keep my aim order my next turn.

Else the SOB captain skill is useless for aim. Which can only exhaust at the start of overlord turn.

Aim lasts until you move, take damage, change your gear, or use it on an attack. I'm not sure what Captain does, but it may very well be useless for aiming.

Jake yet again said:

Leadership doesn't normally make Aim any more useful than it already is; you still have the option to take an extra attack instead (via Guard), or place a Dodge or Rest.

Power Potions (in vanilla) suck and you don't use them, because you can usually do exactly the same thing but better by using vitality potions. If you did use them, the fact that you're doing more damage means that the monster's high armor is less of an issue, and it probably only increases the expected payout of a reroll by less than a single damage anyway, so it's still quite probable you're better off attacking twice.

Even with high armor, attacking twice is usually better than making one aimed attack up until the point where you're doing effectively no damage anywayfor example, if you have an Axe and 3 power dice, your maximum theoretical damage is 10, and aiming becomes better than battling when your target has an armor of nine (which is higher than even most named monsters). I'm sure the threshold is lower if you're using a Bow or something, but you can just buy Axes from the shop, so if you're using something that deals less damage against a high armor target, you're almost certainly doing it wrong.

You even land more hits (on average) by battling than by aiming when your target has Stealth. No, really. The odds of hitting a single monster at least once are slightly higher if you aim, but if you battle there's a large chance that the first attack hits, and you can then use the second attack on another target. Unless the only thing you care about is killing that one specific monster with Stealth (no other monsters, no resting, no defending against spawns, no movement, etc.), and you're certain you can kill it in one successful hit, battling (or more likely Ready with a Guard order) is still better than aiming.

If the OL has a Dodge card, you still probably want to battle, because one attack where the OL dodges and one normal attack (after he's used up his card) is better than just one normal attack (where aim and dodge cancel). It's more complicated than that because the overlord chooses to play dodge or not after the initial roll, which makes the math of calculating an exact answer hugely more complicated and circumstances-dependent, but unless the monster also has Stealth or ridiculously high armor, I'd be extremely surprised if you weren't still better off battling.

Jake yet again said:

There are no such Powers. There are cards that allow monsters to aim or dodge a specific attack, but nothing that actually places an order token on a monster.

whipko said:

Aim orders are the only order that you can keep through multiple turns, yes. You usually won't, but you theoretically can. That does give them another tiny sliver of usefulness in extremely contrived situations.