I've been wondering...

What are the (five to ten) strongest monsters?

I compared the demon and the dragon and for one I would say a demon is stronger than a dragon...

The top 5 in no particular order

Demon, Dragon, Troll, Giant, Ice Drake

In my opinion the Giant sucks somehow....

I'd go for Deamon, Chaosbeast (!), Dragon, Deep Elf, Troll

Haven't played ToI yet so no experience with these monsters.

MaHaPaTe said:

Indeed, giant has nothing to do there. Hard to kill, but too slow to achieve anything, and its DPS are nothing to brag about.

These choices are solid indeed. I'd put master beastmen there too, as command is probably the most brutal skill in the game (especially when you stack several of these).

Hi,

Galdred said:

What does DPS mean? (The meaning I know is "damage per second", but this wouldn't make much sense in this context... )

-Kylearan

I'd agree with the Demon being top-dollar, but think that ToI has added some lovely additions at all levels.

Whilst by no means the most powerful, I have to say that the most annoying of low level creatures (and hence my personal favourite!) has rapidly become the Shade - especially the Master with his Pierce 4. These guys are great against tanks - even Captain Awesome (AKA Nanuk) had issues with my Shades (because he couldn't hit them back ).

New Ice Wyrms eating power looks pretty cool, too (but not had chance to play with it yet).

As to the comment regarding Master Beastmen, yeah their command and commoness make them a pain in the neck. But I actually prefer Master Kobolds. You get 2 for the price of 1, and they also reduce the cost of your traps. Keep them well away from the party and they can prove to be a great hinderance.

If you want command pick the Master Naga. He is tougher, has Sorcery, Grapple and a Magic attack

The Giant is tough but slow. His attack is reach and sweep. Damage output may not be high like a troll but he can hit more than 1 hero.

Kylearan said:

Indeed, it means damage per second in a Real Time Strategy Game, I forgot to just write damage but that could be damage per shot in descent

About the Dragon vs Demon argument, Demons are much harder to kill (higher fear + aura), but dragons have better damages, so it evens out.

The main problem with these 2 is that they are very rare.

Master trolls can hit more than 1 hero too, and deal real damages to them. They may even one shot the whole party if you aim (which you should always do with a troll). Master beastmen are wy better than nagas for command:they are easier to spawn, faster, and grapple is stupid on a beast you want to protect at all cost, especially when the monster itself is not a close combat one. Nagas are big monsters, which means they are harder to screen with other monsters. The toughness difference doesn't make up for all the drawbacks IMO, as they still are still somewhat easy to kill (I've seen some go out with a single sunburst blast).

apbevan said:

The Troll has Reach, too. In the master 'version' (which one you get by the spawn card) he gains Sweep. So it's the same... Spawn him + Enraged + Aim can easily end (if the heroes stand close) in a total party kill. And even if they don't stand this close he's still a 'one hit - one kill - machine' .

yes, always aim your trolls, it will make them go from 66% chance of missing to 15%. They are not in the same leage as the other big melee humanoid monsters.

Hi,

MaHaPaTe said:

I don't think this is legal. As far as I know, you're limited to only one event card per trigger, and Rage + Aim would be two cards.

-Kylearan

Kylearan said:

Are you sure? Could you tell me where this is listed? We play a lot and i never heard of a rule like this. But still with one attack the Troll will (almost everytime) be able to kill at least one hero.

p.11 in the JitD rulebook

EVENT CARDS: note: only one event card may be played per triggering condition. So, for example, each time a monster is attacked, the overlord may only play one dodge card.

Your attack with the troll is one condition, so you can only use one card on him. Otherwise you could make quite some heavy attacks due to combination of different cards.

Off course, in case of the example from the rulebook, you can play for each attack made on your monster one dodge card.

k, thanks fot that!

I don't have my descent materials with me, but I believe rage + aim is allowed. The trigger for rage is before you activate a monster. The trigger for aim is when you attack before rolling dice. these are two separate and distinct triggers, so the one card per trigger rule doesn't apply.

That's how we interpret it at least

Rage: "Play when you activate a monste r. The monster may attack twice during this activation (four times if it has Quick Shot)"

Aim: "Play immediately after declaring an attack but before rolling any dice . Your attack is an aimed attack"

They are two different triggering conditions as far as I can tell. One is activation, the other is making an actual attack with that monster so it should be legal. Only one of the attacks will be Aimed however.

That's how we played it... The attack after playing the aim card is aimed... the other one isn't.

Yui... didn't do an illegal move!! My party would be angry.....

That is correct. Aim and Rage/Enrage can be played on the same monster.

nothing prevents you from aiming both attacks though

Hi,

I stand corrected - thanks! Learning something new about this game every day.

-Kylearan

Galdred said:

Very true, as long as you have two Aim cards.

Damage wise, at least in RtL the master naga is King. If it's close enough to use all its sorcery for damage, it will average out more damage then anything else its level, with the possible exception of troll bashes and master deep elves against someone with 8-10 armor.

Badend said:

The master manticore has better damages r at high level, and the master medusa probably too. But command is sexy , so it is always a good choice.

Glad to see I wasn't cheating when I managed to spawn a Master Troll with Rage and Aim on turn one of Into the Dark for a TPK...

I love Master Trolls.