Gildor Inglorion is portrayed in a very interesting way. He also has two 3's (three with hp, haha) but his ability is special. I think that's all some of us are asking for, Glorfindel's ability is the least special imaginable with Warden of Healing, Daughter of the Nimrodel, Healing Herbs, Self Preservation, Lore of Imladris, Beorn's Hospitality… is he playable, very much so, has he got better with Asfaloth, most definitely. But I cannot but agree with most what Captain Poe has to say.

lleimmoen said:

I'm not arguing that he's not playable. He is very playable. But Is he as good as the other 12 threat heroes?

Aragorn:

2 Will, 3 Atk, 2 Def, 5 HP - 1 Resource to ready after questing

Loragorn:

2 Will, 3 Atk, 2 Def, 5 HP - Reset threat once per game

Glorfindel

3 Will, 3 Atk, 1 Def, 5HP - 1 Resource to heal 1 damage.

The point value is equal, Aragorn's get a +1 defense but have a -1 Will. But look at their abilities. For the same price, Aragorn can ready. I argue that aragorn is the better quester, because while he quests for 1 less, for that 1 resource he can then block or attack. Glorfindel is restricted to one role or the other.For a 12 threat, you get JUST a quester, or JUST an attacker. He can heal damage for a 1 for 1 cost, which is really not great at all considering all the better healing options within his sphere.

Loragorn might be more restricted in his use per round, but his 1 defense means he likely takes 1 damage less then glorfindel in the same situation, and he doesn't have to pay to undo that soaked damage. His ability is extremely useful in secrecy decks, or decks that focus on using threat as a tool (bormir/frodo).

I think glorifindel is much better thanks to his new horse friend, but Its not a perfect fix. There is always a chance you never will draw that card. There are a lot of cards that will remove the horse from him as well. Its a great upgrade, and I will be trying him out for the first time since I first played the game and played the premade lore deck… but I still don't think he's worth his cost. Playable? Yes. But so is every card in this game, the good and the bad.

I do not understand the forum posters here sometimes. FFG gives us a Hero with multiple 3's, which no other Hero has and of which is tied for 1st or 2nd highest in both Willpower and Attack but make up for it and keep it balanced by having high threat and an ability that is not an every-turn usable one as much. You can even easily build decks with multiple Unexpected Courages to utilize both of his 3's (not my fault if some people choose to be cheap and not buy extra core sets or at least proxy cards) or a co-op friend with Brand hero or etc etc. Also like you pointed out, Captain Poe, there's always a chance you won't draw a certain card. A card like the healing you put in deck. Having access to healing every turn no matter what you draw I would argue can be pretty amazing in an emergency. Overall he's a good hero.

What will make you people happy? A Glorfindel that wins Willpower and Attack and has access to Asfaloth AND has a powerful ability AND has cheaper threat? And most people it sounds like want him to be Spirit, which is already clearly the best sphere.

It's just a game and at the end of the day you need to keep some sort of balance on the cards.

And to do what lleimmoen says, that he's okay and you just want a different ability: why should they do that? Why should they waste all of our time just remaking cards they already made just to change 1 line of text? Every card game I've ever played has some imperfect cards. Plus, we only get a limited supply of cards per month, I do not wish to see them wasted on remakes when there is still so much in Middle Earth to explore. And if they WERE going to do remakes, there's quite a few cards to change far before Glorfindel. Like the almost completely unusable Meneldor's Flight. Or errata'ed Zigil Miners.

If they do make another Glorfindel, I'll shrug my shoulders, check him out and probably use him. But I'll constantly wonder about what other Middle Earth characters we could have had by now instead.

Mattr0polis said:

You do have some valid points. I just feel that the 1 for 1 healing is just not that great. Can it be a life saver? Yes… but so can every heroe's ability in the right circumstances. I think he is getting better, especially with cards that only target noldor, or unique noldor at that. Like I said, with the introduction of asfaloth, I am really excited to use glorfindel… but its taken me, what, 10 expansions or so to get to the point where I would even consider using him over any other lore hero. His two 3's just isn't enough of a selling point for me.

For me, i just felt like he needed the slightest tweek (remove 1 damage from 2 characters? Remove 2 damage from one character? I dunno… its a difficult balance to make him on par without crossing the line of overpowered).

Look at it this way Mattr0polis, some people like the card version of Glorfindel, some don't. Actually, it wouldn't be far from the truth that before Asfaloth showed up, every other player called him among the worst in the game. So the consensus is there, I do not claim those people be right or wrong but it is not us few lunatics that think the card is underwhelming. And then you have this, why should one of the most powerful characters in Middle-earth (fact) be represented by an underwhelming card, a few may ask. You've got your reasoning and it is understandable from your point of view but instead of saying "I don't understand" maybe it would be more useful to try and understand.

Of course the game cannot be pefrectly accurate in any way. Still people won't stop wishing it's as accurate as it can be.

What would make me happy? I actually wouldn't mind if Glorfindel had threat cost of 14 or even higher. I actually think he should have.

lleimmoen said:

Exactly. I'm not asking that Glorfindel be as powerful in the game as he is in the books. Its not like i'm saying he should be able to exhaust to destroy the nameless fear (which he should!). I play solo, thats it. In a solo deck, each hero needs to play a key role. Eyown can do the questing of 2-3 characters worth. Boromir is an amazing attacker/blocker. Bifur is a decent quester, a cheap hero, and great for resource management. What can Glorifindel do? If I need a quester, there are cheaper questers. If I need an attacker, there are better attackers. If I need a healer, I throw some allies or healing events/attachments which are all more efficient at what they do.

I think it'll be a different hero -- not Glorfindel. Not yet, anyway. I think that even though they've released Asfaloth, they're going to wait till the final pack to bring out Glorfindel since that pack has the balrog in it. Since Glorfindel slew a balrog, it would be neat to have him come in the same pack as a balrog. Also, as others have mentioned, we are due a spirit hero and I think it more likely to get a Tactics Glorfindel because he was such an amazing fighter (again, he killed a balrog). So, random Spirit hero this pack, Tactics sphere Glorfindel next pack.

Disclaimer: I'm not sure I really believe what I just wrote, but wanted to throw it out there as another possibility.

how funny would it be if it was really random hero choice…….someone like famer maggot?

…..wait…..i actually would love to see that…..im sticking with maggot

Spoiled

OVERPOWERED!! POWERCREEEPPPPP!!!!

and oh i do love his 'quote' haha

Glorifindel is amazing hero! I already post before my deck Glor/Bilbo/Frodo. Is the best solo deck in my opinion cose can win against any current quest with very good win ratio. Now with Asfaloth this deck go 1000 times better! Glorifindel is a key hero for this deck. 1 Uc and you have quester/attacker Glor every round. + Slowly he can heal all the party in the couple of rounds. In my opinion he is Balanced perfect.

If it has to be Glorfindel, having the experience of Strider… the stats will be the same, and just the sphere and special hability will change, i think.

The Fatty card is awesome.

But now outside of the fun of it, what if he'd be an ally of some low cost and the same response plus a positive response to that response - thematically corresponding to the role Fredegar Bolger was playing by staying behind and impersonating and then sounding the alarm when danger came; maybe it's a bit too ambitious to make that work but I'd love such a card. Anyone up for it?

lleimmoen said:

agreed- ive been keen for more hobbits - especially the less central ones, since the start…..i like your thinking……on the theme point, perhaps he could cancel threat increase or treachery cards….we all want that other test of will dont we?

on a side note that crickhollow scene is perhaps one of my very favourite scenes of all time…..amazing atmosphere when the nazgul surround the house- i imaged something very horrifying when i read it! the way they stood there for ages without moving still creeps me out

richsabre said:

And beautifully written. I think of that any time when some snob calls Tolkien writing not "good" enough in style, like that Nobel Prize committee.

Glaurung said:

Exactly. He fits great in solid Lore or Lore/Spirit decks because a lot of other heroes in those two spheres are lower threat and so balance out with Glorfindels. And then you put Courage on him to quest and attack while also getting to always keep up on damages which is also great in Lore/Spirit because many of those other heroes are weaker. And now Asfaloth is just icing on the cake.

I think it comes down to the different ways you can deck builds too. Alot of anti-Glorfindel people seem to want all 3 main game phases covered by a Hero: aka 1 quester, 1 defender, 1 attacker and I agree some decks need that kind of setup.

But a hero like Glorfindel, you can double him up as a quester/attacker with Courage, which leaves open a slot for a hero who's only job is some sort of tricks. Like Beravor mega drawing or Eleanor cancelling horrible treacheries, etc. Or to be able to send 2 heroes questing and still have an attacker and blocker. You can put Courage on any Hero but Glorfindel is the best in these type of decks because of his multiple 3's.

Both deck builds have merit sometimes, which is why Glorfindel has merit sometimes. Both deck builds also have some down sides, like the 3 different phase hero builds can get screwed when one of the heroes die. And the trick heroes type of builds can sometimes start off slow if you can't find a Courage.

People just need to take into account the multiple ways you can build a hero team when evaluating Glorfindel, that's all I ask.

And those are all good points. And I was really never doubting any of that although I was at times having a bit of trouble to find place for Glorfindel in my decks although I see now it is perfectly do-able and the whole thing has gotten much better with Asfaloth. My only concern was in terms of the theme because I felt it doesn't do the great hero from the First Age justice. It is just one way of looking at it, and we can just agree to disagree so we don't keep beating the dead wood too long. Still wondering whether he shows up next though.

lleimmoen said:

Yeah, I mean, I honestly don't care too much either way, if it is him or just someone new. I just want the new pack!

I NEED it!

Mattr0polis said:

hell im still waiting for the long dark! soon though…………

How come it takes so long to get to England? My retailer has actually said he's ordering from England and I got the pack last week.

lleimmoen said:

nah the richsabre treasury is low …….hoping to get it next week though, its going to be good- its the first pack i havent seen the full spoilers of so itl be a nice surprise

A point I have noticed looking back at the preview for Durin's Axe from FOS.

The card is numbered 1 of 24. Assuming that there are 28 player cards as there have been in every other set, this means (I think) that either:

1. the card is misnumbered (not unprecedented)

2. there are 8 quest cards, so either a very lengthy quest, or a Flight from Moria style "quest deck" or similar

3. there are two separate encounter sets in FOS, one large one and one small one (maybe a small one that will be added in at a certain quest stage)

Hmm. Or more player cards also? Path of Need for instance may be an additional one? Although since they keep saying each player card is included thrice, Path of Need may be as well… Interesting catch anyways.

Do we think the article was delayed? I think we usually get it fairly early in the day on mondays.

The "launch" article plus final preview for TLD was published on Wed 16 May, so don't hold your breath…