If you were to only use 1 expansion which one would make the game the most difficult?

Probably Innsmouth Horror. I am tempted to say Black Goat, but IH have more sickening Mythos, a whole new way to awaken the AO, and many more opportunities to get devoured. Oh, almost forgot the 2 Heralds which make Cthulhu more 'fun' to play against, and ensure that around 2 investigators are in Innsmouth all the time, even after Martial Law.

If you're going cheap(er) though, Black Goat of the Woods.

Fables429 said:

That's a difficult question. It'd depend on how literal you're being. Do you mean no Epic Battles, no Injury Madness, no monsters from other expansions?

Avi_dreader said:

Yes, if you were to only have 1 expansion, no access to any of the others.

Fables429 said:

Ehhhh.... I'm not really sure ;'D

Off the top of my head I'd guess Innsmouth or Kingsport (I'd actually be more inclined to say Kingsport— since it has Atlach).

Hrm... But the game doesn't really work that way, you can make an expansion really easy or really hard depending on how you use its components (you can only play great or horrible investigators, or weak or strong Ancient Ones). With Kingsport you could even add in Guardians.

::Shrug:: I think this question is so open ended it's difficult to answer.

Why do you want to know? Are you planning to buy only one expansion and you want to know which you can make the game the hardest with?

I think Black Goat of the Woods might be the hardest if you use the herald every time (there will be lots of gate surges). On the other hand, some of the base game Ancient Ones are pretty weak.

Ummm... Innsmouth is pretty tough if you use the Hydra/Dagon combo and it comes with several nasty AOs.

I don't think Dunwich is *that* hard.

Kingsport ::shrug:: it gives you epic battles and Atlach, nothing more need to be said (although Y'golonac's tough too).

I think just having Innsmouth would probably be the best idea... The only problem with this is your item decks will be easy to search through (for elder signs), and the monster pool won't be very strong.

Innsmouth or Kingsport will make the game hardest on their own. But I don't recommend using either on their own, for various reasons. However, they are fantastic together. Try Dunwich or Innsmouth.

I've played both the Innsmouth and Dunwich expansions without any other content (aside from the main game of course) and I would have to say....that it's a very tough call.

I'm tempted to say Innsmouth. Despite the fact that it's so much shorter, the Dunwich Horror track isn't as prevailing a threat as the Deep One Rising track. Dunwich will definitely provide you with a tougher monster pool, but Innsmouth isn't exactly anything to sneeze at either. You've got the extra Shoggoth's as well as the Proto-Shoggoths. Then there's the Lloigors and the terrifying Servitor of the Outer Gods, which, whenever playing with Innsmouth content exclusively, has popped up at least once every time, so you won't be without threats.

Strictly speaking on terms of difficulty, I'd say Innsmouth is the way to go. But if you don't own any other expansions, then you should get Dunwich first. It provides more overall content than Innsmouth.

Tibs said:

I've heard you say on several occasions how great it is to combine innsmouth and kingsport. May I ask why? (excpet, ofcours, for the obvious wich is how you can't use IH's plot cards without KH's epic battle cards)

kroen said:

I would guess that he's saying that because they both support Aquatic monsters. With so many aquatic locations, those Moonbeasts would be a lot more mobile. And a rift opening up right next to an Innsmouth vortex could spell big trouble for the investigators. The Deep One Rising track would fill up in no time at all.

Haha, no, actually, it's in regards to "what expansion should I buy" threads. Though the aquatic point is a good one.

I often recommend that a person should pick up a large expansion first. And of the three available, I do not recommend Kingsport (because there are no unstable locations) or Innsmouth (for a number of reasons, including no Arkham location gate bursts and no new items). So, they should get Dunwich.

However, if they're willing to shell out the dough, getting both Innsmouth and Kingsport really reduces the problems that each exhibit: you have more unstable locations, Arkham gate bursts, a significant difficulty increase, new items of all types, tons of new stuff, and (my favorite) Epic Battle.

So, essentially, when someone asks what their first expansion should be, I say either "Dunwich" or "both Kingsport and Innsmouth together, but not on their own."

Hmm.... this post is very subjective. Each expansion increases a certain aspect of difficulty. However, Innsmouth and Kingsport are definitely nasty! Once, I fought Atlach-Nacha with practically an army: 5 investigators and 8 allies. Guess what? Second round, all of my allies were snapped up by a nasty plot. From there, it was a slow agonizing death.....Goes to show that Ancient One Plot cards are definitely strong game mechanics.

Tibs said:

Personally I'd rather recomment Dunwich over Kingsport+Innsmouth. Why? Injury/Madness. They're MUCH more core mechanic then say Epic Battle. Sure, they actually make the game easier (unless you draw Amnesia/Double Vision but I like to send such investigators to Kingsport but they're a very improtant strategic tool. Not losing any items, clues, or sanity/stamina is AMAZING. I can't stress it enough how improtant Injury/Madness are needed to play.

True, I would agree with you that Injury/Madness is more core mechanic than even Epic Battle, and I've almost never let any investigator go through the normal insane/unconscious routine since I've got Dunwich. Thematically and chronologically, as well in terms of increasing difficulty, DH is the next natural step from the base game.

However, in response to the OP question, I would still say IH, as analysed above by Fables, Maltim, Tibs and Avi. I would say the IH mythos cards are actually the least friendly, among the big board expansions. For pure difficulty though, BGotW would probably surpass all in terms of mythos cards.