I am interested if any of you fellow players have got this new card, Path of Need, going in your games? I know we've been talking about possible combos, best of which perhaps, Thor's Map, is coming with the Hobbit saga, but I would like to ask now whether some of you have been having success with it already. And if, have you called for it with Word of Command, bypassed it with Strider's Path, recycled it with the Hammersmith?

I had in my deck and used it once in the ten games I played with it. I don't think this card will get into one of my future decks, as its use for solo play is limited and it is simply too expensive (and a waste of cards if you try to build around it with the options you mentioned).

leptokurt said:

Interesting. Perhaps you are right. I would not call cards like the Hammersmith a waste since I've played him in many a deck without ever regretting… Have you seen the glimpse of Thror's Map in the Hobbit preview? It probably lets a player switch an active location with a location in the staging area; that could make a difference maybe? I totally see the 1 per deck as an obstacle to the strategy though.

lleimmoen said:

No, I didn't see Thror's Map. And yes, Erebor Hammersmith is of course one of the best cards there is. However, Path of Need can only unfold its whole power when the attached location is active during both quest and combat phase, so switching locations only helps you during quest or combat phase.

One deck where I think this card might help a lot is a dwarf deck. Dáin boosting the whole fellowship during the whole turn might be worth the money. But then I ask myelf, how often I was in a situation in which I would have needed PoN. Not very often. So perhaps this card could be a joker in case the **** hits the fan, but I would still prefer to play Gandalf or Faramir instead. And, similar to Fortune or Fate, I would try prevent a situation in which I would want to play PoN.

Like I said, what I am saying is about solo play. Multiplayer is a different issue, as there are more heroes who will benefit from PoN.

In my opinion this card seriously not deserve attention for now and i really doubt it will change with time. Yes as a fun sure why not but for serious deck building no way. Special with New Gllorifindel why you need to care about some combo or anything? Just add this Hero to any deck and win the game!

I used Path of Need the other day, to great effect, in Conflict at the Carrock. I stuck it on the Carrock at the end and let 'er rip!

Narsil0420 said:

So you attached it to a location which is immune to player card effects? Wouldn't said immunity prevent you from attaching it in the first place?

Dam said:

Oh dang, good catch!

Dam said:

I thought it was ruled that you could play cards like Ancient Mathom on locations like that since the card wasn't directly effecting the location. Does anyone know where that was? Can't remember if it's in the FAQ because that hasn't been updated in like a year…

I just used it in The Hills of Emyn Muil on Rauros Falls (forces all your characters to commit to the quest).

scottindeed said:

Finally, a card that will allow us to beat Emyn Muil!

(sorry, I couldn't resist)

Bohemond said:

LOL

The best use I see for this is to put it on a location in the staging area, and not on the active location.

Then, after you travel, you get the effect on the combat phase (example, block, attack and card draw with beravor, block and attach with gimli, …) and you get the effect on the next quest phase, where you can send everyone to quest and make more progress.

If you can combine it with a sneaky West Road Traveler, you can even do it twice.

So in a deck with Glorfindel Spirit, Beravor and Theodred, I can see quite some use for the card. If only it would not be limited to one per deck …

Hmmh, it might be of use in Redhorn Gate when travelling Caradhras and one of the other two mountains. East Bight also comes to mind. Then there's of course Perilious Swamp, Impassable Bog and Goblin Tunnels.

quit said:

Yes, that may be better in general. Sneaky WRT doesn't work I believe, the response only triggers when played from hand.

I have a hunch that the location that we'll all want to use it on will be in the next adventure pack.

lleimmoen said:

You are right. My bad.

My friend and I were debating whether this card worked where you could have the same hero defend every attack from separate monsters, and then attack each monster with the same hero (especially if with sentinel and/or range to interact with all engaged players).

For example, the first player is engaged with 3 spiders. He uses Aragorn with a Burning Brand and +1 defense from an exhausted Arwen, and blocks attacks from 2 Forest Spiders and a King Spider, each attack one at a time (therefore keeping his 3 defense with each attack). Then, Aragorn strikes an attack on each of the three spiders one at a time.

Is this a legitimate use of Path of Need?

Mattr0polis said:

This was discussed but I think teh community was divided. There is the 1/2 that said the immunity stops you casting the Mathom, while there were strong arguments to say that the Mathom in fact targets itself and not the location, so there is nvr any card effect on the location itself. It is technically targeting itself and the location going out of play is triggering the mathoms action, and that action is solely inside the mathom itself, just as a sac effect dose not trigger when you destroy a creature instead of sacing it.

While I think the 1nd option is more correct as per the wording and rules.. I am sure it is not the intended direction of the designers. The immune effects is supposed to render the location unable to be targeted AND unable to used in trigger effects. This is a good example of the LoTR game just having really loose wording.

Tromdial said:

Yes, it is. I cannot see any illegitimate point here. What is your doubt?

booored said:

Sadly, this is not the only example.

I think it can work well in the WitW scenario.

Angus Lee said:

Just wished for some clarity. Glad to hear it works.

really sorry to revive a dead thread, but was an official answer ever given for immune to card effect locations?

thanks

rich

Rashley got a reply about the Ancient Mathom on Amon Lhaw here:

'Mathom' cannot be placed on 'Amon Lhaw' while it is the active location as the Attachments text would be blank and thus preventing it from being attached. It can be placed while in the Staging Area, and if 'Amon Lhaw' gets explored, even if subsequently it becomes the active location, the 'Mathom' will become 'alive' and cards can be drawn.

I don't think that helps with Path of Need.

EDIT: Yeah, on second thought, my reply was completely superfluous to the conversation.