little confused....is this keyword going to be on the majority of new cards? all? will it continue after dwarrowdelf?

I'm not a big fan of secrecy so far because I feel like it sort of forces a certain way to play, but as long as playing with higher threat is still a viable option, I don't see any reason for secrecy to end with Dwarrodelf. My concern would be if using secrecy-reduced pricing became the only way to win in the future. If the Dwarrodelf APs require this strategy to win, I hope it does end with this cycle. However, I'm optimistic that it is just an additional way to play and not a necessary one.

Budgernaut said:

yeah thats what i thought.....i guess its just an add on to more expensive cards opening up play options

I not expect to see a huge ton of secrecy cards during Dwarrodelf. My guess would be like one, rarely two per AP. And then 0 - 1 per AP after the cycle.

plueschi said:

Seems about right. We already know there are at least two in The Redhorn Gate. Might be a few more than that in order to introduce the mechanic in the first AP of the cycle (one per sphere, maybe?).

As to its utility, I think the secrecy cards we've seen are pretty good even if you don't get the discount. Timely Aid gives you a limited deck search and allows you to play ANY ally you find. It's well worth 4 Leadership resources, and it's an absolute steal if you can play it for 1. Needful to Know is a bit more iffy, but it's still threat reduction in a non-Spirit sphere. I'll be interested to see how one- and two-hero decks work out, and I think secrecy could really be a nice addition to the game.

I agree. The cards we've seen so far seem like they're useful even at their regular cost. But I think the main purpose is to create the viability for 1-2 Hero decks. These will be great for those, and help to offset the difficulty of that.

We'll see how it turns out. One interesting aspect of the article is that they imply there was a lot (some?) of playtesting involved with Secrecy cards. This sounds like a good sign to me. I hope they tested the strategy solo as well as multiplayer (I assume they focused mostly on 2 players games).

As for the viability of 1-2 heroes decks, it'll still depend on the number of "free" secrecy cards we see and how much card advantage those generates.

The first 2-3 turns are always the most crucials in any game (especialy solo). Losing a hero from the start makes a huge difference (we all felt it in Escape from Dol Guldur) because you're not only losing 3 resources over these first 3 turns, but you're also losing a quester / attacker / defender each turn. The secrecy cards will need to be very powerful to offset that cost. We'll probably want to look at 2-for-1 card advantage at least, or more permanent long-term gain.

The new card previewed yesterday doesn't fit that category as far as I'm concerned. It's a threat reduction card in non-spirit, which is nice. In and by itself, it's a card to consider. Lore keeps on stepping on Spirit's toes (I won't complain, I'm a Lore fan): it can play around the treacheries with Denethor, deal with locations directly with Ancestral Memories, prevent Shadow effects with A Burning Brand. And the dwarven basis in Lore is just as strong as the Rohan one in Spirit.

But is that card enough to justify losing a hero at the start of the game? I don't think so...

I would answer the question posed in the title of this thread, but I've been sworn to........ secrecy.

Pericles said:

haahaa very witty

I agree with SiCK_Boy, playing with 1 less hero is a significant disadvantage - especially solo when it takes away 1/3 of your actions (versus only 1/6 in a 2 player game). I wonder if there will start to be some player cards with actions that raise your threat when you activate them - this would make for some interesting deck building and play decisions (e.g. do I execute this action and raise my threat over 20, or not?). Only way I see 2 heroes working solo is if there was an event card that let you send a hero away and deduct his threat (thematically, this would be like sending a hero off to lure the enemies away from the main group). Then you could start with 3 heroes to get through the first few critical rounds when you're building up some allies, and then go down to 2 heroes later on to reduce your threat and take advantage of secrecy cards.