Eleanor 7 1 1 2 3
[Hero]
Gondor. Noble.
Response: Exhaust Eleanor to cancel the the "when revealed" effects of a treachery card just revealed by the encounter deck. Then, discard that card, and replace it with the next card from the encounter deck.

While playing again, I noticed that Eleanor would allow me to cancel a treachery card, and then put another encounter deck in the staging deck. I soon realized that this power was very useless since the next card is usually equally nasty (in my case another treachery card). I would think her power to be useful would allow you to cancel a card without picking up another card. Can someone explain how her ability is useful.

Journey to Rhosgobel. She's a must have.

There have definitely been times when a treachery card was revealed for me that would have killed a hero or two. Something like that is the perfect time to cancel the effects. Your heroes won't die which could change the game. Sure you get a new card that might be nasty, but it's likely to be something different that you might be better prepared to deal with.

I wouldn't consider it one of the best hero effects since it is fairly situational, but it can be a lifesaver on occasion. You're essentially trading a potentially devastating effect for hopefully something else that you can deal with at the moment. Maybe there are no enemies in the staging area and you get a treachery, cancel it and the next card could be an enemy that you are ready to deal with versus the treachery that could really mess with you.

peterstepon said:

There was a time when I shared this sentiment. There are points to make:

In Rhosgobel, Eleanor is probably the best as she gets to cancel a treachery and increase a chance to reveal Athelas at the same time.

It really depends on the quest. In those that are mild on treachery, Eleanor is not great. There are quests though where a treachery can be utterly devastating and Eleanor is the only way to save the day (if one cannot play A Test of Will at the moment). Of course, it is situational. However, her ability works well with her nice defensive value - being Gondorian also helps. One needs to build a deck around a bit but that can be done and applies to many heroes. You can then find out that you will use Eleanor in most of the rounds.

And she is cheap!

And she is hot!!!

The real issue with Elanor is that you need to save her for the quest phase. You could never possibly quest with Elanor... She does almost no damage and while she has respectable armour she doesnt have the hit points to use as a reliable defender, basically if she doesnt cancel a treachery effect she would likely remained untapped this turn. Not to mention that if you are playing mono spirit, blockers are almost useless since at this stage you dont have anyone that could ever deal with an enemy, you would need to rely on the ranged characters of other players to eliminate an engaged enemy. Compare this to Beravor who, if you save for combat and her services arent required, you can just tap her for cards at the end of the turn- she is never wasted. Thats my problem with Elanor

Think of it this way though- if you had Elanor in a game you could potentially NOT run all of the cancel when revealed effects since you would just be able to nuke it with Elanor. I know at this stage the card pool isnt big enough to say, "well you can put better stuff in there now since you just freed up 3/6 card slots but its a thought.

lleimmoen said:

Is anyone else building a rounded deck and playing a random adventure? Or do you tailor make your decks for the adventure? There seems to be a lot of "that's a complete waste of time except in this quest" cards at the moment...

I really want to do all the Mirkwood scenarios with one deck... (sorry for OT)

ianhancock1985 said:

I try to bulid up all of my decks as you say round. To play against every scenario not against certain quest. For me is more interesting.

Glaurung said:

And I cannot wait to hear your experiences with Rhosgobel. I had to tinker a bit with my deck to get a chance at completing that quest (baring the inconceivable luck of drawing multible Athelas cards early in the quest). Good luck though.

I generally take the same view, build a all-round deck, but I will vary what heroes I bring, if only after having played the quest.

peterstepon said:

I started out thinking exactly like you do here friend. "What good is she if you simple get another bad card instead of the one you draw?"

But I soon changed my mind.

You see that point here is that different BAD Encounter Cards hit your Heroes differently depending on circumstances. Therefore, two Encounter cards that look equally bad "on paper" will have hugely different effects in any given game situation:

Example:

"The Necromancer's Reach" was one of the worst cards ever in the core set if you ask me... it killed more than one Hero and Ally. But only if you have a lot of Exhausted Characters... sometimes you don't. And sometimes you can take it. Some times you'd much rather take a "Treacherous Fog" sometimes you don't... depending on how high Threat Levels you have and Howmany locations you have in Staging.

See? Your assumption that any given Treachery effect is just as bad as anyone else for a given situation in the game is simply NOT TRUE.

I use Eleanor A LOT! I love her and wouldn't trade her for anything. I also use her as a "Blocker" if I didn't already Exhaust her during Questing to use her Ability.

/wolf

Kløve said:

Yes i already heard this one is hard one. I sow the encounter cards and ups look very nasty. Good i like challenge.

I replaced Eowyn with Eleanor. The last two quests have been less about Questing than situation management and Eleanor is way better at that.

I put 2x Dunadain Warnings on her and an Unexpected Courage so she could interfere with Treachery cards and defend each round.

Troymk1 said:

Same things what i done and she is perfect. My deck Aragorn/ Frodo /Eleanor working very good and also have very low starting threat.

Glaurung said:

That's who I use too.

I play double fisted, the other deck uses Gimlli, Legolas and Beravor.

I should get you to play-test a scenario I am developing Glaurung

I find her really useful. The ability to cancel a treachery card is HUGE! Yeah, you'll still have to play another card, but odds are against it being as detrimental as the one you cancelled.

Yes there are some quests she's better for than others and you won't use her ability every round, but I almost always miss her when she isn't being used.

Troymk1 said:

Sure im ready!!! Thanks a lot for invite.

hey Glaurung, I sent a friends request asking for your email. But if you're not seeing that. Mine is my user name at Hotmail. Thanks mate

Glaurung said:

I don't think it is all that hard. The biggest key is being able to heal at the right time. Most of the enemies, save for the baddies from the very first quest(Chieftain, Spawn) are very easy. Questing isn't all that difficult. The problem is that the deck has a bunch of cards which deal damage when revealed, the new treacheries and the old standbys like Dol Guldur Orcs and The Necromancer's Reach. But if you can heal as you go along, it's ok. Then, you have to manage Wilyador because the encounter makes it hard to heal him. I find that the key is to be ready and make your move, at the right time. It is sort of like The Carrock, when you are ready, you take on the trolls. Here, when you are ready, you heal Wilyador to the necessary level, which may vary, then quest and flip the final card for the victory.

Titan said:

Exactly This and the last quest are more about managing the situation than about rushing through the quest

just another question regarding her ability :

after a 'when revealed' effect of a treachery card is canceled, the treachery card is discarded and replaced by the next card from encounter deck. As the term 'replaced' is used it seems not to be revealed, hence according FAQ 1.1 the 'when revealed' effect of the replacing card would not trigger.

Up to now I play differently, and trigger the 'when revealed' effect of the replacing card in case of, but re-reading the description of Eleanor's effect I may play to difficult.

Does replace mean the complete card draw is replaced, i.e. the next card comes with resolving the 'when revealed' effect ? Or the 'when revealed' effect is passed and the new card comes to the staging area without resolving that ?

Samuraibel said:

Excellent observation. I would also like to know the answer of this now.

You're still having to reveal the new card though, right?

Cards can get brought out through all sorts of means, but a "When Revealed" affect always occurs when that card is flipped over, for whatever reason.

At least, that's my take.

Was also my first thought, but the FAQ definitly refers to a form of the word 'reveal' for the game effect that causes the card to enter play to trigger the 'when revealed' effect of the card --> see below. I am not an English native speaker, but 'replace' and 'reveal' sounds for me not equivalent - but I may be wrong..

------------------------------------

Excerpt from FAQ 1.1

(1.22) "When Revealed" Effects
A card is only considered to be revealed if the card or game effect causing the card to enter play specifically uses a form of the word "reveal".
Example: If the players use the Stage 3b "Don't Leave the Path!" (CORE 121) quest card effect to search for a Forest Spider and put it into play, the "When Revealed" effect on the Forest Spider will not trigger, since the effect on "Don't Leave the Path!" does not spcifically use a form of the word "reveal".

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Samuraibel's interpretation is correct as the game stands now. Hopefully the next FAQ will clear up some of these more persistent issues. And no, "reveal" and "replace" are not synonyms.

radiskull said:

Seriously? I cannot believe that it has come to this. Obviously, if you replace a revealed card, the card that replace it is only revealed.

Now, when the next FAQ shoots me down, I owe you an apology, but until then, this interpretation is inconceivable!

I would also agree that if you reveal a card, and then replace the revealed card, that the new card is also revealed. The situation with Elanor is in no way analogous to the forest spider example. Hopefully, the next Faq will clarify this.