Heroes in comparism

By Krawallburste, in Descent: Journeys in the Dark

Posted at

Hello Community!
Since I am starting a new campaign soon and was under some pressure to decide which hero is the best, i did some calculations on their attributes and characteristics. What I present you know, are the means (!) of the heroes per class and the overall means! The means have been calculated using the heroes from a) Descent, 2nd Edition, b) Lair of the Wyrm, c) Conversion Kit, with a total of n=58 heroes. For defense dies i have set a gray dd as 1, a black dd as 2 and a brown dd as 0.
Warrior (n=19)
Speed 3,6
Health 12,4
Stamina 3,2
Defense 1,1
Might 4,1
Knowledge 1,8
Willpower 2,8
Awareness 2,3
Healer (n=11)
Speed 3,7
Health 10
Stamina 4,2
Defense 1
Might 2,2
Knowledge 2,5
Willpower 3,5
Awareness 2,6
Mage (n=13)
Speed 4
Health 9,2
Stamina 4,2
Defense 0,9
Might 1,5
Knowledge 4,2
Willpower 2,5
Awareness 2,5
Scout (n=15)
Speed 4,3
Health 9,9
Stamina 4,2
Defense 1
Might 2,5
Knowledge 2,3
Willpower 2,3
Awareness 4,1
Total (n=58)
Speed 3,9
Health 10,6
Stamina 3,9
Defense 1
Might 2,7
Knowledge 2,6
Willpower 2,8
Awareness 2,8

Posted at

For anyone who is interested in what attributes equals what go check out this link:

http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/837489/probabilities-of-succeeding-an-attribute-test

There u will find some calculations on how easy it is to win an attribute roll with which attribute. Also, rerolling attributs and OL cards like wicked laughter have gone into some measures!

Skill level: Probability of success
0: 2.8%
1: 11.1%
2: 22.2%
3: 52.8%
4: 72.2%
5: 91.7%
6: 97.2%
7: 100.0%
These calculations were not made by me, but by the users of boardgamegeek "Nanokae", "slacks", and "Dexter345"

Posted at

For those who want to edit my calculations with the unannounced 4 heroes contained in the upcoming expansion labyrinth of ruin i will drop u the hard numbers, before i devided them into the means:

Warrior (n=19)
Speed 69
Health 236
Stamina 62
Defense 20
Might 77
Knowledge 34
Willpower 54
Awareness 44
Healer (n=11)
Speed 41
Health 110
Stamina 46
Defense 11
Might 24
Knowledge 27
Willpower 38
Awareness 28
Mage (n=13)
Speed 52
Health 120
Stamina 55
Defense 12
Might 20
Knowledge 54
Willpower 37
Awareness 32
Scout (n=15)
Speed 65
Health 148
Stamina 63
Defense 15
Might 38
Knowledge 34
Willpower 35
Awareness 61
Total (n=58)
Speed 222
Health 614
Stamina 226
Defense 58
Might 159
Knowledge 149
Willpower 164
Awareness 165
Posted at

Nice stats.

Thank you.

What hero did you finally choose ?

Posted at

From a practical standpoint, I'd say Nanok is the single best champion in Descent.

Clocking in at good movement and stamina for a warrior, as well as mid-tier health. He also has four strength and three perception, enabling him to fulfill the strength check requirement for the group while also being fairly resistant to traps. Not only that, the "disadvantage" of his hero ability does not even slightly manifest until act 2, due to him having a baseline black defense die (and even then it's hardly a big deal due to his outrageous offensive potential and the ressurrection chain).

A bonus surge on every attack is one of the strongest, if not simply the strongest hero ability in the game. Easily enabling him to take a weapon like the grinding axe and get the +5 damage at least once in a double attack turn with as little as the mana weave or weapon mastery as the berserker (But honestly, one surge is gonna come up pretty often in general). Don't have a crazy-go-nuts weapon? Well Nanok gets to enjoy free stamina on any attack that isn't a miss, instead.

Finally, we roll on down to his heroic feat - A feat that is similar in purpose to Corbin's max defense feat. However, Nanok's "take no damage if you feel like it" is not only the stronger in its ability to mitigate infinite damage, but also more forgiving due to it being a choice you make AFTER dice are rolled. This feat serves to further negate any need to ever equip armor, as it heavily disincentivizes striking Nanok with a generally already-limited number of heavy hitters.

Hell, due to his free surge, the Magma Blast or the Dwarven Fire Bomb lets you play the bastard as a "Mage" (Champion works best due to it having the least melee weapon-dependant skills) and get fairly favorable results. "Whoops, just Magma Blasted some Kobolds and dispensed six valor to every other hero in my group. No big deal, guys."

If you want to inflict bitter despair on an Overlord in a variety of horrifying ways, Nanok is an excellent choice.