I have been bought a copy of descent for my birthday, it's still shrink wrapped at home as I can't open it until my birthday.

Could someone give me some advice as to what expansions I should get first and what order I should get the other expansions?

Is road to legend still used? I saw that see of blood has the updated campaign rules, does this make RTL obsolete or are there still elements to that expansion that can be used in the game?

I would buy them in order of decreasing coolness––

1) Altar of Despair -- best additional monsters, skills, and heroes.

2) Tomb of Ice -- good heroes and monsters, introduces feats, fun quests

3) Well of Darkness -- best treachery cards, some good skills

Road to Legend has innumerable problems, but it's still pretty much better than Sea of Blood in all respects. It plays rather blandly without the other expansions––though it very well might be best-balanced that way.

Sea of Blood is rather like a poorly-tested alternative for those who already understand the campaign mechanics of Road to Legend.

People almost never listen to advice like this when it's given, but–– I really recommend playing at least a half-dozen times before getting any expansion . Virtually all perceived flaws of the base-game are put in overdrive when you add more expansions: Spawn cards get stronger , hero and skill strengths get more disparate, disruptive Overlord actions get more plentiful and playable, quests get seriously more difficult, and the line between winning and losing gets even more narrow. Don't sink your money into something that you aren't absolutely certain you want. FFG's entire business model seems to be based on roping in buyers by focusing on presentation, flare, and product-association rather then by careful playtesting and creating tight or elegant rules mechanics. Sea of Blood is basically an example of a product that was sold completely by its flashy components and association with Descent. Don't send the message to FFG that you're willing to buy just anything that has a cool-looking box.

-pw

phelanward said:

Is pretty much the way to go.

As an alternative you can pick up expansions depending on who usually has the upper hand. If the heroes then get WoD or AoD first, if the overlord seems too far ahead get ToI first.

RtL and SoB are... not really that great.

I agree about the purchasing order, but I love the advanced campaign boxes--apparently the previous posters don't. I just recommend downloading and reading the rulebooks for them and see if they appeal to you. We're doing Sea of Blood right now and having a blast!

Tomb of Ice

Alter of Despair

Well of Darkness

Road to Legend

Sea of Blood

I couldn't fathom playing the advanced campaigns without all the vanilla expansions. It makes it the most balanced. If you get Sea of Blood, then add the dungeon levels to RtL for the best playability.

Above all else, I would recommend actually playing the base game before you start planning the purchase of expansions. I know it's an exciting game, but it also has a tendency to not be what new players expect it to be - better to make sure you actually like it before you go spending your own money on more.

As far as ACs go, I've only played RtL despite owning both. They certainly have their place in the franchise, but it's definitely worthwhile getting the vanilla boxes first. The more vanilla experience you can get behind you before moving on to the ACs, the better.

Thanks to everyone for the advice.

I've played a few games using a friends copy of Descent (no expansions) which was why I wanted to get my own copy of the game.

If it is best to play more vanilla games first is it a good idea to start with the quest compendium? I assume the quests are compatable with the vanilla game.

mulletcheese said:

The quest compendium is a series of vanilla quests, yes. Those quests are a bit more complicated than normal quests and will likely raise a few rules questions. I'd also suggest making sure you get the errata for the compendium before digging into it - there were apparently a large number of mistakes that needed to be corrected.