I know most of you probably have considered how good this guy is (especially in a Dwarf deck), but consider just how good he is by comparing him to 2 other cards.

He cost 1 Lore resource and gives you a point of Willpower every Quest Phase, and the ability to un-exhaust a Dwarf character (by paying 1 of course), Consider that the Lady''s Favor and Dunedain Mark cost 2 each of their respective resources, to grant a single point of Willpower to attached character. So, for the price of 1 resource less than the other Willpower pumpers, with the bonus of an un-exhaust ability, plus (granted only in some scenarios; Road to Rivendell for example), the added benefit of having another ally in play to eat up certain nasty, ally damaging shadow effects.

I do understand the benefit of having an attachment that confers a constant +1 Willpower instead of a vulnerable Ally who contributes the same amount, but if you had to choose the better card at face value, Erebor Record Keeper wins for me.

Anyway, the reason I even thought of this is that in my Lord/Spirit deck I am running mostly now didn''t have him until a few games ago. I decided to put him in the deck when I looked at him more like an "ability generator" rather than a chump-block ally. After all, he can''t attack or defend, so in essence, he is a Questing/un-exhausting machine!

DurinIII said:

That''s not true in the "X and Y" sense. You can quest with him OR keep him ready to ready a Dwarf, can''t do both (since the latter requires you to exhaust him, 1 Lore res isn''t an issue thanks to Bifur''s ability).

Yes, he is one of the best allies out there, especially as he isn''t unique. He is a questing monster, but he''s especially helpful in combat heavy scenarios like Into the Pit. Have to face three Goblins► Use your two Record Keepers to let Dáin defend all their attacks.

Dam, in theory you can send ERK questing, then you ready him with another ERK so he can also ready a Dwarf character in the same round!

leptokurt said:

Dam, in theory you can send ERK questing, then you ready him with another ERK so he can also ready a Dwarf character in the same round!

D''oh!

EDIT: Yes, I know "doh" should only have one pip up there, but even when I put just one there, the forum adds another !

Yep, and the software is now changing question marks to ? symbols. At any rate, Erebor Record Keeper is extremely good. Even if you only use him to quest, you are paying one resource for one willpower (two with Dain). That is a perfectly acceptable ratio. The ability to ready Dwarf characters is just gravy.

Really, Dwarf builds are just rock solid. They do everything well--questing, defending, attacking, resource generation (Zigil Miner), and now card draw with the new Legacy of Durin. They can even remove troublesome attachments with Miner of the Iron Hills. Throw in readying effects from the Record Keeper and Lure of Moria, and you have an incredibly well-rounded deck.

Good point there though Dam.

Hmmm, I removed him from my dwarf deck after a couple of plays and haven''t really missed him. But all the while, I''ve been considering putting him back. After seeing how Useful Lure of Moria can be, I''m more tempted to do so. I''ll ponder on this……………………

leptokurt said:

I do appreciate the ERK in my three sphere dwarven deck, he's a very understated ally. However, trying to wrap my mind around why you would burn a resource and exhaust one ERK just to ready another ERK to do the same thing? In effect isn't that just losing a resource to have the same number of ERK's ready? I'll check my gametexts to make sure there isn't something I'm missing here…

I've been wondering, in purely mathematical terms, which ally gives the most bang-per-resource? The Erebor Recordkeeper is certainly good value, and I remember reading someone somewhere pointing out that the Veteran Axehand is very good value, but who else is especially economical? Obviously this doesn't account for special abilities (Arwen comes to mind as an ally with an awesome special ability that could count quite some way toward value), but still, as a rough guide. It just makes me wonder if I'm not undervaluing someone unfairly.

monkeyrama said:

If you go by the formula WP + Attack + Defense + HP divided by cost both Henamarth (3/1) and Erebor Hammersmith (6/2) share the best value. The Hammersmith gets even better when you combine him with Dáin's ability which gives him a 8/2 ratio.

Hammersmith is so freaking awesome!

Just want to add that Record Keeper is very helpful in Flight from Moria. Give the tools to a Dwarven hero and use ERK to let the hero use the tools multiple times.

The Dunedain Wanderer paid for with secrecy reduction is actually a **** good ally. Mathematically comes in at 7/2, which is very decent (although sans-secrecy a less good 7/5). I tried out the secrecy deck for the first time and while it's not quite there yet in terms of really versatile, I do enjoy the new dynamic it brings in.