I have moved on to the Hunt for Gollum after realizing I would not be ready to solo dol goldur until my library of cards expanded a bit. I have picked up the first 3 expansions, but do not want to "cheat" by pulling cards from the next two expansions until i feel like I'm ready to play the quests that they came with. I figure once i go through the whole story, i'll go back and replay the earlier quests with the new cards.

So for now, i'd like to limit myself to the core set and the hunt for gollum. After trying to construct a 50 card deck, I noticed something weird... none of the starter premade decks are actually legal per deck building guidelines. They don't have the 50 minimum cards. Just wanted to point that out.

I built a deck with Aragorn, Bilbo, and that guy that gives out 1 resource everytime he quests (to get aragorn un-exhausted). I just included all leadership cards and what lore cards seemed to work best in relation with them. Last night, I realized I needed to be a little pickier after drawing 3 of the same card in a row (forgive my lack of memorization of card names... it cost 1 leadership resource and lets all players draw one card). This basically shut me down and was completely useless in a single play game. I tried to swap them out, but the remaining lore cards I had weren't much better... basically resource 3 allies, which was completely dependent on Bilbo drawing the steward of gondor to really have the backing to play them.

Does anyone have a suggestion on how to best build a deck this early in the game? Like I said, which I have the 2nd and 3rd expansion, I don't want to included their cards until I really get some use out of the ones that were designed for this particular quest. I thought I was on the right track... lots of card draw and high resources, and fairly reliable sneak attack gandalfs.. and maybe its just a byproduct of the games very hard solo play, but i feel like the quest should be somewhat more feasable than my luck has been the last few tries... but like I said, maybe a leadership deck that dabbles in lore isn't really the way to go this early in the game.

I think you have made the best decision in going though teh packs they way you are.. kudos.. before I sugest anything.. how many copies of core do you own? So a solo player experience you are probably going to have to get a 2nd set, you can find them if you pay attention going 2nd hand on ebay for cheap nowdays.

booored said:

you dont need a 2nd set to enjoy this game solo just wanted to point that out, its perfectly do able to get by with one of everything

I guess...but I think it is more enjoyable to have better deck building options as deck building is kinda the point of this game. I own 3 copies myself and nvr regretted it... I mean when you can buy a full set for about the same price as a AP second hand.. why the hell not... and it dose really improve the game experience... 2 that is.. 3 is just a luxury.

I don’t see the point in your arbitrary restriction of player cards. Cards are designed for the cycle as a whole. They aren’t meant to be tied to a certain quests. There are cards in the early part of the cycle that have little utility without the cycle as a whole (The eagles are coming, for example). Play with all the cards from the cycle, if you want to restrict yourself, don’t include Kazad dun.

booored said:

yes i do have to agree that i would buy another if i wasnt pre ordering ad packs....it is useful that is true...i mean 2 x unexpected courage? why not.......

Bohemond said:

I just think it is more fun that way. One of the great problems with card games like this is coming in and having a HUGE card pool and not knowing where to start. Playing the quest in order wit ht eh "original" card pool . aligns you with the way the game was released.. you get to play with all the cards and experience them .. learn what you like ... and also you get the ohhhhhh feeling when you get a new =card that makes your deck better.. rather than it just always being good. I normal play them in order, then I play them in order wit ha single deck, slowly refining it.. then i try that camping mode tragic is working on.

@Captain Poe - Also speaking of Tragic if you are looking for help on the decks. he posts videos of him playing these scenarios using the RESTRICTED rules if you need eck helps.. he dose miss plays now and then .. but steel pretty fun videos

I could definately see the value of an extra starter set... a lot of really strong cards are limited to 1 or 2 copies in the basic box. However, its quite a pricey investment to order a whole second kit.

While its not required or necessary that i limit myself to the cards for that quest, i feel like it gives me the full flavor of what the game designers had in mind when they created it. I don't intend on pulling cards from HFG when I move onto the Carrock... but I don't want to go the other way. One of my largest interests in this game is the visual effect that I get when reading the card flavor texts and quest descriptions... I assume the design teams put a lot of thought into these things, and I kinda want to experience them as these creators envisioned them (at least for at the first time through).

That being said, right now I'm 3/4ths leadership and 1/4th lore in my build. Is there a better recommended build? Should I flip those percentages? In my experience with the premade decks spirit and leadership were the best for solo, and tactics and lore were the most difficult. Lore seems very much like a support deck, and I had the worst luck with it out of the 4 spheres.

Captain Poe said:

Nail=hit on head

Captain Poe said:

First of all, as a solo co-op game, you should play this game in whatever way you find most enjoyable.
However, I am confused why you think that you are experiencing the game as the creators envisioned. I was under the impression that play cards were designed for the cycle, not the pack, just as they are in every other LCG. There is nothing about this restriction that is closer to what the designers had mind. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. Since the cards are designed with the whole cycle in mind, such restrictions move you away from how the designers envision the game.

Bohemond said:

how i read captain poes comment is that seeing as he/she is fairly new to the game, they want to experience it as if they bought and played each pack, freshly released. now for people like myself, and many others on here, have pretty much bought from the start so we have naturally played this game 'fresh' however captain poe has effectivly a back log of packs and wants to experience each one as stated as the game was designed.....i apologise captain poe if this is wrong

richsabre said:

No, thats exactly it. Its why I listen to the lotr lcg pod casts starting from episode 1. I want to go through this to see how the game evolves, etc. I mean, sure, I can just jump into the game using cards from every set, but at the same time, the people who were going through the game as each item was released didn't have the luxury. In a sense, i feel like the game would be far easier if I did just that, as each new expansion increases my build options, and thus, the effectiveness of my deck. However, when the hunt for gollum came out, people weren't playing it with frodo or any of the other heroes. I also don't believe the quest designers had the cards in the next quest quite in mind when they released the previous one (though this is up for debate, and i'm sure they were probably thinking about the future). However, the point is, when hunt for gollum came out, people played it originally with what they could... the starter and a few extra cards... and the few extra cards that came with it I believe were probably selected for a specific reason, not just at random. Thats all, i'm just trying to get a feel for the game from start to finish. Its the same reason why i haven't picked up kazad dum yet... while dwarves are my favorite aspect of tolkiens world, and moria one of my biggest facinations, I just kinda wanna experience the game one step at a time.

Also, i tend to get overwhelmed. I have the money to drop on all the expansions... and intend to buy them eventually.. but if I just plop down a few hundred new cards, I will get blown away, and it will take out a lot of the enjoyment from the game. When I do it this way, I get a handful of new cards, and get to play them and see how they work. my experience with card games and collectibles, is usually a card is released, and then a few months a later a new card is released that does everything that original one did, plus more, for less. When i spend money on something, I like to get full use out of it. If I jump a head, I risk not using cards, just because there is no point in ever using them... then i miss out on little details like art, flavor text, and general theme. Now sure, I can just opt to use the crappier card... but its a lot easier to not tempt myself and just play the game with what I get when I get it.

with that said you must have some willpower....i couldnt resist the temptation............

imo, you are doing the correct way and will ge tthe full game experience, just as if you had been playing teh game from release. I totally understand were you are coming from... and more than that I agree with you.

As to your deck question... imo.. Spirit/Lore is the strongest deck during these early times, using a leadership splash (though songs) I didn't start playing with tactics until return to mirkwood and leadership jas great stuff, for splashing.. but I find them wanting in solo games... so yea.. my sugestion is to go for low threat spirit / lore decks with a leadership splash.... you cna beat every quest in mirkwood with that combo

I'm in a very similar place, got the Core Set last week, picked up The Hunt for Gollum recently, gonna pick up a couple more Adventure Packs soon.

How do people feel about Bilbo? So far I've been fairly underwhelmed by him. For one, he seems way underbudget for his starting threat. The Khazad-dum article that introduced the Dwarf heroes pointed out that a hero's threat is the sum of their stats. There are two exceptions to this, Bifur who is one threat lower, and Bilbo, who is three threat higher than his 1-1-2-2 stats should give him. Is his ability really worth three extra threat? I had some pretty success using him in a deck with Eowyn and Beravor, with Song of Kings for some Leadership, but on the whole he feels like a hard sell when I can use Beravor so much more efficiently.

alpha5099 said:

bilbo is one of my favourites- take him and protector of lorien.....even if you dont want that extra card he gives you, you can use that to trigger +1 willpower or defence...and still get a new card every turn....take into account he can be fast hitched (if you have that card..its basically unexpected courage for hobbits) and in the far future he can have ring mail (dwarrodelf cycle) giving him +1 hit point and defense....my point is he's weak, but that can be remedied with plenty of cards....protector of lorien as ive said and dunedain cards etc....so really his abilty is great, and its easy enough to buff him up so he's not a waste of space.

i guess my point is that his ability is amazing, not to mention it doesnt need an action...its already done each turn, for getting through your deck, which is key to getting good card draws

i like to put him with eowyn, gives you that +1 willpower action everyturn for free really....basically any card that says 'discard a card from your hand' bilbo is made for

Bilbo OWNS... just experiment and start using him... you'll see. He needs some tricks to keep him alive.. but works very well with Elenore to as she can guard him from dmg treachery cards that surprise you. He is extremely good in single player as the effect is on your the entire time... IMO he is defiantly one of the "must use" heroes in multiplayer as well as a very strong choice for solo.

I think Protector of Lorien is the only one of those attachments I have yet, and so far I've been using it much more on offense than defense. Right now it's my finisher: attach it to Eowyn, then dump however many cards I need in order to brute force enough willpower to finish up the quest stage. I'll give Bilbo some more time, particularly once I've picked up more packs and can beef him up more, but so far I've found Beravor, ironically, to be far more reliable draw.