I'm new to LOTR LCG and enjoy playing the game with my son.

One noob question, if I exhaust a hero to commit to a quest e.g. Denethor, can I also use his ability to look at the top card of the encounter deck as he has been exhausted?

I'm sure there will be plenty of other questions, thanks for any expert help

Nope. Exhausting him is part of the cost to use his action. If you've already exhausted him for another reason, and he hasn't been "unexhausted" (readied) by a card or effect like Unexpected Courage, you can't use his scrying ability.

And welcome to the game!

in denethors case no, as he needs to exhaust to look at the top card etc. you could have unexpected courage on him, and after the quest phase then refresh hi with UC then use his action

some characters do not need to be ready however to use their actions- frodo comes to mind and bilbo also

rich

EDIT- **** beat me to it

Thank you folks for the clarification. Have ordered the first two Mirkwood adventure packs so look forward to trying some new combinations