I keep pressing the up button, but the elevator won't budge!

No, but seriously, I've tried all sorts of decks. I started with a Dwalin-based Spirit deck, then changed to a dwarf deck (Dain, Gimli, Dwalin), then tried a different dwarf arrangement incorporating Bifur (instead of Gimli), then moved to an all-Lore deck (Denethor, Bilbo, Beravor splashed with Leadership), and tonight tried a Rohan deck. I just can't get past this level. I feel like there are too many enemies. Maybe I should give Boromir a shot. Okay, so it's obvious now that I haven't explored all my options. And no, I'm not going to post 4 different deck lists so most of you probably can't/won't help me. And my card pool is in my signature.

I guess all I'm trying to do is complain about being stuck, but I'm not really asking for help. Maybe I'm just seeking someone to commiserate with.

Budgernaut said:

I agree that The Seventh Level is harder than its DL would suggest.

I know you aren't asking for help but here are some ideas anyway:

- Thalin is very handy - he kills the Goblin Archer stone dead and half-kills most of the other enemies.

- even better, Thalin + Sneak Attack/Longbeard Orcslayer can eliminate swathes of enemies at a stroke

- enemies turn into more enemies fast thanks to the Shadow effects of Goblin Swordsman and Spearman - so if possible either avoid engaging enemies (Fresh Tracks, for example, which also works with the above, or kill them in the staging area with Gandalf), or try to kill them fast once they engage.

- Watchful Eyes is a killer, so be ready to cancel it or remove it with Miner of the Iron Hills.

I used a combination of Dain/Thalin/Bifur as my most successful deck here. For once, a quest in which Tactics is of good use. In my opinion, the most difficult quest in Khazad, as you run the risk of getting overwhelmed by enemies real quick off the bat. Fortunately most enemies are fairly weak and can be dispatched easily. And I like the above poster's suggestion to try and cut down on shadow effects as that tends to deposit more enemies in the staging area.

Titan said:

Yep, these three are a powehouse. Thalin + Gondorian Spearman => bye bye, Goblins!

Ah, Thalin! Now there's an idea. I'll try that one out next.

I like Thalin/Dain/Dwalin for this one. The trick is to make sure to get gondorian spearman and a dwarven or dwarrowdelf axe right at the start. Dwalin's kind of useless without one.

Yup, Thalin was practically made for this quest.

Thalin + Gondorian Spearman (this one being the most multi-purpose)

or

Thalin + Sneak Attacked Long Beard Orc Slayer

or

Thalin + Fresh Tracks

= killing almost everything without having to make a single attack

Elrohir and Elladan can really clean up too since they have the capability of defending/killing most of those guys and can make multiple defending/attacking actions.

Boromir and (Lore)Aragorn is another way to go as Boromir can do most of your heavy lifting and then Aragorn can off-set all of your threat accumulation.

gatharion said:

Agreed, Thalin and Gondorian Spearman always seem to work wonders for me in this quest

To go a different route, Hasty Stroke or A Burning Brand are pretty key too. Unfortunately, that won't help you out with the Goblin Archer.

Thanks for all the comments. I finally beat it today with Dain, Gimli, and Thalin. I failed once and one once. I got a really great draw on the second game. I started with Steward of Gondor and Celebrian's Stone in my hand, was able to get Gandalf out three times, and had some heavy hitters like Brok Ironfist, Longbeard Orc Slayer, and Veteran of Nanduhirion. Getting Celebrian's Stone on Thalin during round 2 was a big boon to our team, effectively letting him quest like Eowyn but deal damage to enemies as well. Gondorian Spearman only felled one or two enemies with the Thalin-Spearman combo before he was eliminated, but it was fun to get the combo to work at least once.

The hardest part about this deck was that the shadow cards would cause 2-hp enemies to be added to the staging area without Thalin's special ability applying. But as long as Unseen Eyes doesn't hit the table, this deck is alright at coping with the enemies in this scenario. We took down a Cave troll with relative ease.