Team - Core Set Lore Heroes

Finally we come to the last Heroes provided in the Core Set, those belonging to the Lore sphere. Do they make a good team?

As we already know, all Heroes from the Core Set have a Threat Value of 100%, and these three are no exception. The stats on each Hero add up perfectly to their Threat Cost. However, the Stat Values are a mixed bag.

Glorfindel has a Stat Value of 100%. According to the formula he is an average Hero, though this is surprising considering his stats. The formula does not take into account that both his Willpower and Attack are value three, it simply notes that the highest value he has printed is three. As with many characters in the Lore sphere, we are left with choices, since Glorfindel excels in more than one category. Indeed, we shall find that the Stat Value formula will often fall short of telling the whole story for characters in this sphere.

Beravor only has a Stat Value of 80%, because paying a Threat Cost of ten appears high for a Hero with a value of two as her highest. But here we see a design common in Lore characters- this highest stat is shared between several stats, or in this case, all three of them. It is completely your choice whether she contributes to questing, defending or attacking, because she can make a fair offer for all of them. The only issue is that she is another Hero that suffers from Annoying Power Syndrome. Her stats indicate that you will want to exhaust her to use her for something during each round, but her Power requires that you exhaust her too. One character offering four equally valid choices is kind of annoying. On the good side, at least she will always be useful, and is a prime candidate for pairing with a sphere that has readying abilities.

Last, but definitely not least, we have Denethor. He has an impressive Stat Value of 150% due to his impressive defence value of three. We have already mentioned him in earlier posts.

Is this a team that works well together? I would say yes. As an example, assume you are using this team in a solo game where there are no enemies in play at the beginning. You can exhaust Glorfindel as your main quester, giving you a fair value of three. It is worth noting that him being exhausted does not prevent you from using his healing Power. Then you can see what type of card comes out of the encounter deck. If it is an enemy then you can defend handily with Denethor and attack with Beravor. However, if the card revealed is either a location or treachery then before the round ends you will be able to exhaust your two remaining Heroes to both draw two cards and have a look at what will appear from the encounter deck next round. Not bad at all.