Dream team of heros

By mimo69, in Descent: Journeys in the Dark

Hi,

Though it may exist a treath about the best hero, here, it's more about the best team.

so far for me it would be :

Tobin simply the best archer

Thalia her ability is kind of powerfull plus very annoying for the OL

Kel shadowcloak? behind a monster/ obstacle? who care dieeeeeeeeeeee monster :)

Jeas simply the best mage/tank :)

For me 2 mages is a must, since it have a lot of good weapon for mages :)

Of course i'm waiting your point of view :)

Best regards.

This team also depends on which Quest/Advanced Campaign you're playing. For example, Runemaster Thorn is by far the best "wizard" in the game if you're playing Sea of Blood. Lord Hawthorne's inherit Reach ability is extremely useful in RtL with all those trees (no more shadowcloak). Corbin can be ungodly as a tank with the right equipment, etc.

-shnar

Thanks for your output, yes the rune master seems very good for SOB :)

But reach is useless for shadowcloak since you need to be adjacent.

Indeed Corbin can be cool later in the campain :)

Er, sorry, I mean Ghost :)

-shnar

Then presumably you also meant Tomb of Ice (the expansion that introduces Ghost), not Road to Legend (because trees really do give Shadowcloak, which is a counter to Reach, not the other way around).

For Beating the Overlord In Vanilla

Landrec the Wise

Zyla

Krutzbeck

Kirga

In RtL

Nanok of the Blade

Battlemage Jaes

Zyla

Tahlia

My Favorite Party

One Fist

Corbin

Silhouette

Runewitch Astarra

phelanward said:

In RtL

Nanok of the Blade

Battlemage Jaes

Zyla

Tahlia

There is no 'best' party, because it varies depending on the circumstances. What quest, what Avatar, what strategy the OL plays...
I quoted the above party because it is a classic example. That is an amazing party.
But it is absolutely dead in the water against an OL who uses a strong map strategy and has good Soar-ers. Not only can you not afford 2 melee heroes, but the not-melee heroes are relatively weak combatants. Alric will eat this party for breakfast, even if he takes 3 days to do it. So will Kratz.
Note, this is not a commentary or judgement on the skills or choices of the poster - it obviously works against the Avatars and/or OL style he has played with/against. The point is that 'best' parties are wildly divergent in different circumstances.

In general , here is what I look for in a party.
1. Vanilla+RtL, a tank. 16W/2A and Mv3 is preferred. Tahlia and Nanok are the best. SoB, a warrior. Must have 3 dice and preferably a combat bonus of some sort (2 dice and a combat bonus is maybe acceptable). Laughlin is the best, Tahlia and Hawthorne close behind, and possibly, just possibly (I don't like all 5 dice) Karak is acceptable or Trenloe (that's actually qute a useful special, especially in ACs, much under-rated IMO).
2. Hard hitting Mage. Not-really-FFG-work Kell is the cheesy option (that I wouldn't allow). Landrec is undisputed #1 except SoB. Carthos #2. Thorn (#1 SoB) and Astarra both highly acceptable.
3. Ranger. Kirga is #1 outside SoB. Laurel probably #1 for SoB. Tobin of course, but as he is also not-really-FFG-work broken, I wouldn't allow him either. The gap down from these is significant.
4. Runner. Zyla or Astarra are joint #1s. Thorn, Okaluk or Silhouette acceptable. Nanok, Jaes or One-Fist acceptable, though they depend heavily on the rest of the party makeup.

Hi,

thanks, it's nice to read you point of view :)

i'm more into advanced campain :) , since the Avatar is chosen after the hero (good for the OL :) ), the party need to chose without knowing it.

the porblem with Nanok the blade is than for the advanced campain, is abilit has been reduced to the stric minimum => useless hero :(

One fist is nice for the begining, but later in the campain, his ability become useless :(

Zyla, is more annoying for the OL than effectif again LT or big boss, it will become 3 heros againt the boss.

Silhouette : has good stat, 5 speed, 5 fatigue and one in armor, so yes, but her ability is not that good :)

Yes tobin is too good for a archer, but i don't really see a another good archer (i mean not useless)

Landrec the Wise : very good offence power, with a spiritwalker he can be very good :) , since he is a bit slow and no armor, but what can ask more for only 2 CP gran_risa.gif

Laurel , i have a party whom took her, she can give a lot of dommage, but for that she need to reach the monster demonio.gif (i'm a part time OL).

Kirga is annoying for the OL and his skill a bit too powerfull for small donjon :( ,

Krutzbeck : hmm honestly , good than CP value is low ( 2CP) otherwise, i would say useless, you would need to find a way to keep him to 4 life, which mean he can be easly killed with a trap except if you have Ghost armor :) :)

I would like try Corbin see how he can manage in a campain :)

of course it's only my point of view :) Thanks again,

As for RTL, I'd go for:

Tahlia (melee DPS)

Nanok (melee tank)

Tobin (ranged DPS)

Gherinn (mage DPS)

All members of this party have higher than average damage output (Nanok is the least powerfull, rolling only two power dice, but he's definitely going to buy dice up to 5 very early in the campaign, since it also means reaching 7 points of Armor, which is absolutely unprecedented in Copper Campaign) and they are all pretty sturdy, giving the Overlord no easy-kill.

Tahlia: get leadership (you can get it with anyone, just remember to use it on her to give her the Guard Order)...if you move her well, she's going to be almost untouchable, and definitely unkillable consdering her high HP and Armor. Then buy her skills increasing her damage potential (Weapon Master) and dice. Otherwise, get her Knight+Battlecry+Unmovable. Considering her natural ability, this thing is sick. Really. She also likes Tiger Tattoo very much. Give her the heaviest armors and best damage dealing weapons (axes usually).

Nanok: Buy 3 power dice asap, then go for Enduring. An armor value of 8, and he's not even taking precious Armors away from your reserve. Add in Ox tattoo and Taunt. Try to find the Rumor giving him Ironskin (Armor 8 with Ironskin and Unstoppable...and enemies within 5 spaces have to target him if they can...). Too bad, Bear Tattoo cannot be used anymore, because he was the man to give it. Since you have a couple skills yet to give this guy, improve him as a runner (Swift, Acrobat, Tiger Tattoo should do the work). Sword and Shield...not that much for damage output (more than enough during Copper Campaign, but you'll discover he'll be in trouble killing midway during Silver...things should get better as soon as you reach gold campaign, since Rage Blade is pretty strong) but the Overlord will really get frustrated over him.

Tobin: Whatever increases his damage output is welcome. He's there for that. Eagle Eye, Skilled (extra fatigue always works), Born to the Bow, Master Archer, Rapid Fire (especially with Skilled) are all tools you will like to have. Crack Shot and Precision are also utilities he might enjoy in full. Build him as you prefer. With any of those, he'll be a slayer. Give him a Bow as starting weapon to get the best of his ability (he's the only character I'd ever buy a bow for, perhaps) and equip him heavily. He's a tank, you know. Later on, give him the best stuff you find. He'll always use it to great effect. Oh, and there's Pick Pocket...if you get it as starter it may be a useful choice (very handful at the beginning of the campaign), otherwise don't spend time/money/xp to get it.

Gherinn: Quick Casting is a must, as is Prodigy. Since he's pretty heavy mage (12HP, 2 Armor) and can be put in first line, Spiritwaler is less needed. Personally I also like Blessing and Inner Fire (far worse than Blessing, but still gives an edge at the beginning of the campaign) isn't that bad on my opinion. Bogg's a nice utility and with this party (which might be slow moving) even Mata and Kata could come in handy. Wild Talent might be nice for the extra help against traps, since he's the character with least HP in the party and hence the Trap-Magnet. Earth Pact might be useful with this guy (but than, a Spiritwalker might also combo well), since he's spending HP to make aimed attacks and if you choose to give him staves (the cursed Bronze staff is possibly better than Silver Treasure mage weapons and the Gold Level staff is very much comparable to Runes for damage output and general utility), get fire pact for extra damage (and protection as well) and/or waterpact for the tactical advantage of knockback.

Of course there are several alternatives to this party:

Melee: Varikas, Hawthorne, Nara are in my top tiers. Corbin and Hugo are PURE TANKING top tiers. Glyr is interesting alternative and can get pretty strong. Krutzbeck is simply too much fun to bench him. If you need DPS melee fighters Laughin Buldar and Karnon also work just fine.

Ranged: Kirga is the best (excellent shooter and broken ability). Then come Silouette, Tatianna (both excellent shooters and Runners), and Laurel (only shooter comparable to Tobin for DPS and pretty decent runner too, but beware, she's paperthin for Conquest3). Grey Ker is a bit worse (IMHO), but still very good choice. Also, I like Vyrah's familiar.

Magic: Kel and Landrec are other attack monsters (Kel's more on the utility side, while Landrec is on the DPS side), and Astarra is a magnificent Runner/Utility. Jaes is also a solid alternative to Gherinn. Also Thorn is a very strong utility mage. I've also got a liking for Andira, since her damage potential is nice and her stats are pretty ok for a mage. If nothing better pops-up, Shiver and Mok may be usable utilities (Mok's ability may be a hindrance and Shiver...well get knockback and use guard orders...it will be nasty damage).

Both Lindel and Zyla are interesting characters which may fill any role left uncovered by the party. Take them into account when making a party.