Team - Tactics Heroes with the Best Stat Values

Let us have another look at a Hero Team made up by the best Stat Values. In the Tactics sphere, the best Hero for Willpower is Merry, with a Stat Value of 133% because of it. For a Stat Value of 167% from his Attack value, Beorn is the second Hero in the team. For a Stat Value of 160% from his Defence, Beregond is the final member.

Just as with the Leadership Team constructed in the same way, there is no single trait shared by any two of these Heroes, so there is no obvious theme.

It is no surprise to me that Beorn and Beregond are on this team. They have amazing Stat Values, and enemies should not survive long when they are against this pair. The only possible downside I can see, however, is their conflict with attachments. Beregond's power encourages you to have weapon and armour attachments in your deck because you can put them on him cheaply. However, once you have already loaded him up with two restricted attachments, you have nothing useful left to do with the others. This is because Merry is meant to be committing his time to questing instead of fighting, and Beorn (who will be doing plenty of fighting) refuses to have attachments put on him. So you might think that you should only include a very small amount of weapon and armour attachments in your deck, which is probably more sensible, but you will have a hard time finding them because the Tactics sphere provides very little help with drawing cards. That Gondorian Shield may be really useful, but you also may never see it for the entire game!

Last of all, Merry brings his hobbit feet on the road to help with questing. I have already discussed in an earlier post about him that although his power encourages you to use him in a team with lots of other hobbits, his low threat and high Willpower (for a Tactics Hero) could make him a useful third member in any Tactics-only team. And here he is, fitting in nicely. He also keeps our starting threat just below thirty (it is twenty-eight), which is impressive considering he is standing next to two Heroes with double-figure Threat Costs.

This team won't have any trouble with enemies, but the player deck should be built with questing support in mind where possible. If that can be achieved, or if the quest being taken is combat heavy anyway, then I think this is quite a good team.

Team - The Bottom 3 Heroes for Threat Value

As a challenge, or maybe just for the twisted fun of it, I wondered about seeing what the worst three Heroes for Threat value would be like as a Hero Team. And, to my surprise, it doesn't look bad!

As we have seen, the three Heroes with the worst Threat Values are Hirluin The Fair (88%), Tactics Merry (83%) and Bilbo Baggins (67%). Going by the way designers normally price Heroes, we should have a starting threat level of eighteen, but we actually have a starting threat level of twenty-three! But although we aren't getting good value for money from the printed stats, this is where the team starts looking surprisingly OK. Because none of these Heroes are what you might call a team "Captain" (Threat Cost above ten) we still have an extremely low starting threat, so enemies won't be too quick to engage us.

This works to our advantage for two of the Heroes. First, Hirluin is worthwhile only if you include as many Outlands ally cards as possible in your deck, so we can assume that we will do this. As mentioned in our previous post for him, if given enough time to build up an Outlands army, this can be very powerful.

The second advantage that we have from the time gained by the low threat is Bilbo's ability to give us an extra card every turn (if we are playing solo). He is the worst Hero for Threat Value, but it can be argued that he has the most powerful and versatile power out of all Heroes in the game. So he can make it more certain that we will find the Outlands cards that Hirluin can pay for.

If it seems like Merry is left as the weak link in this team, that isn't the case. Since two of the Heroes in this team are Hobbits, his Attack strength is raised to two. This means that he can be a fair quester or attacker on any turn, or, thanks to the hobbit-exclusive Lore card Fast Hitch which Bilbo gives us access to, both.

So this team that was made up of what one formula considered the "worst" Heroes in the game turns out to prove that it really isn't just all about the numbers.

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.

Team - Leadership Heroes with the Best Stat Values

I decided to have a look at mono-sphere Hero teams made up of the best Heroes for Stat Value. I picked the best Hero for Willpower Stat Value, the best for Attack Stat Value and the best for Defence Stat Value. So we end up with a team of three Heroes from the same sphere who should be able to perform one basic role each. But will the teams actually appear cohesive?

First we will look at the Leadership sphere. The first Hero is Sam Gamgee, who has a Stat Value of 150% because of his Willpower. Then we have Prince Imrahil, who has a Stat Value of 109% because of his attack. Finally we have Erkenbrand, who has a Stat Value of 120% because of his Defence.

We can quickly see that no single trait is shared by any two of these three Heroes, so there isn't a theme we can play on.

Erkenbrand doesn't gain or lose anything in this team because his power is self-contained. However the other two Heroes may be a different story.

Prince Imrahil can give you action advantage (acting twice in a single round) if a character leaves play. That could be due to an Ally dying while defending, but that isn't something that you want to happen every round, so he usually works best when there are either eagle or rohan allies on the table because they have many effects that discard them. Unfortunately both of those groups of allies are outside of the Leadership sphere. The only allies that could be used in this deck which automatically leave play are Gandalf and Galadriel. There is also the popular Event card, Sneak Attack, for making any Ally jump in and out of play quickly. So there are options, but Imrahil isn't boosted very well in a Leadership-only deck.

It is worth noting therefore that Imrahil could be replaced by the Leadership version of Boromir. Both of them share exactly the same stats and Stat Value for Attack. If Boromir was the second Hero in this team instead of Imrahil, all Gondor allies should have access to an Attack boost from him. This should be quite easy to achieve in a Leadership deck, since this sphere has lots of Gondor allies and a variety of ways to ensure Boromir would always have a resource token on him. That synergy would be a lot easier to make use of, I suspect.

Last of all, but definitely not least, is Sam Gamgee. The faithful hobbit has the best Stat Value out of the whole team because of his amazing questing power. He also offers the chance for action advantage as well, however that part of his card text isn't as useful in this team as it would be in an all-hobbit team. A team starting threat of twenty-nine is very average, so in most quests Sam will rarely have a chance to use his readying ability more than once or twice.

Overall, I think that the team is a bit below average. The individuals are good because we have deliberately picked good Stat Values, but there is no easy or obvious synergy here.

Team - Core Set Spirit Heroes

Next we will have a look at the three Heroes from the Core Set provided for the Spirit sphere. Do they make a good team?

As we are seeing with all Heroes in the Core Set, their Threat Values are all 100%, so you get exactly the stats that you pay for. But do they make a good team in individual roles? What about their Stat Values? Well, their Stat Values turn out to be extraordinary.

A defence of two for the Threat Cost of seven gives Eleanor a Stat Value of 114%. Saving her for defence on some rounds is definitely an option, since her Response power is one that you can chose to use or leave during the questing phase. When questing, you will probably keep her ready just in case a nasty When Revealed effect turns up, but if one doesn't then you have a defender for your team in the combat phase.

Eowyn has an amazing Stat Value of 178%. Her four Willpower makes her the best candidate for questing not only in this team but in all of the Heroes released for the game so far. As has been discussed in previous posts, her power only adds to this strength.

Dunhere only has a Stat Value of 100% thanks to his attack of two, but although this seems less exciting than the other two he is still a valuable member of the team. We already have a quester and a defender and Dunhere makes a good attacker. Admittedly an attack value of two won't do much against many enemies, but his power works well with the team as a whole. The Spirit sphere has, on average, the Heroes with the lowest Threat Costs, so it is more likely that you can avoid engaging enemies. This is where Dunhere's ability to attack remotely makes all the difference, and it will boost his attack by one when you do so.

Overall, the Spirit sphere Heroes included in the Core Set make a very good team. The only thing to watch out for, as with all Spirit sphere cards, is that you avoid too much combat.

Team - The Top 3 Heroes for Stat Value

Now that we have finished looking at the Heroes with the top Stat Values, we can try making a team out of this list. The highest ranked Hero that earned their spot for their Attack value is Glorfindel (Spirit). The highest ranked Hero that earned their spot for their Willpower value (other than Glorfindel) is Eowyn. The highest ranked Hero that earned their spot for their Defence value is Beregond.

This team definitely appears to be stronger than the team that was put together based on high Threat Values. Each round we can spend four Willpower, four defence and three attack, and our starting threat is only twenty-four! Also, our team only shares two spheres (Spirit and Tactics) instead of three, which will make deck building easier.

If this wasn't strong enough, the powers on two of the Heroes help to make their strengths even stronger. Eowyn will allow you to boost her Willpower every round that you have a card you can afford to discard. You would think it would be harder to afford cards worth attaching to Beregond since you will only be getting one tactics resource each turn, but thanks to his power you can attack that armour or weapon to him even quicker!

If we wanted to pack more of a punch and not worry about our starting threat we could swap Glorfindel or Beregond out for Beorn. The mighty bear has been highly ranked on both the Threat Value and Stat Value lists, and can function as a good defender or attacker.

Team - Core Set Tactics Heroes

We will now look at another team of three Heroes from a single sphere in the Core Set. This time it will be the Tactics Heroes Thalin, Legolas and Gimli. Do their values indicate that they work well together?

First of all, as with all Heroes in the Core Set their Threat Values are all exactly 100%. You get exactly the stats you pay for.

Next we can look at the Stat Values, and this is a much more interesting story. Unlike the three Leadership Heroes, not a single one of these three has a Stat Value of 100%. Legolas has a Stat Value of 133% thanks to his three Attack for the Threat Cost of nine. Thalin has a Stat Value of 89% due to his Attack and Defence values of two not being very high, even for a Hero that only has a Threat Cost of nine. Finally, Gimli has a Stat Value of 73%, as all three of his stats being only strength two is disappointing for a Hero with a Threat Cost of eleven.

So two Heroes below average Stat Value and one above. They nearly average out to 100%. But let us have a look at the roles we would actually use each Hero for and see if this moves our opinion higher or lower.

Legolas is a Hero with an obvious use. His highest stat by far is his Attack, and his Power is triggered when he uses it to destroy enemies. Clearly he should be an attacker.

Gimli is less simple. With good all-round stats, he could be assigned to any role we need. His power indicates that if we let him do a bit of defence work he will get angry enough to become a powerful attacker. Before dying he could get up to four bonus points added to his attack strength. However, we already have Legolas in the team, so we weren't in desperate need of a good attacker anyway. Add to that the fact that Gimli has the highest Willpower of these three Heroes and you may consider using him for questing instead, even though it makes no use of his Power.

Last of all, Thalin is another character that I consider suffers from Annoying Power Syndrome. His attack and defence values of two are average at best, but then his Power encourages you to use him for his weakest stat, Willpower, which has a pathetic value of one! So you must choose whether to send him questing almost solely for the damage dealt to enemies by his power or save him for defence or attack duty. The former is more useful in games with many players because other players can worry about providing real Willpower strength, but the latter could be relevant in a solo game. But that brings me to a point which must be mentioned about this particular team.

The three tactics Heroes provided in the Core Set as reguarded as the worst of the four sphere teams available to play a solo game with. This is largely due to their weak questing ability. It seems to me that in a solo game you would use Gimli for questing, Thalin for defence and Legolas for attack. That might be enough to get you through the first turn or two, but you are likely to see your threat rise to fifty rather quickly in most quests.

Is this a good support team in a multiplayer game, then? Maybe. Thalin can damage every enemy that comes out (increasingly relevant as more cards are drawn during staging) and Legolas can make some ranged attacks. But even considering that, the team is neither strong at one job or balanced at all of them.

Team - The Top 3 Heroes for Threat Value

We have now covered the three Heroes released so far that have Threat Values higher than 100%. Since there are exactly three of them, it makes sense to quickly consider whether their superior Threat Value makes them a good team for the game.

If we put Bifur, Beorn and Glorfindel on a team we will start with a total threat of twenty-four despite the predicted threat of the three Heroes is thirty-six. This is a great setup; we are getting thirty-six points worth of stats between our Heroes for only two-thirds the actual cost! But we need to look at the spread of those stats and the Hero powers to see whether this team will work together and last the duration of a quest.

First of all we could look at whether we could assign roles to the three Heroes; one quester, one defender and one attacker. We quickly notice that all three Heroes give us two options- not a single one of them fits one role only. Bifur has stats of two on both Willpower and Defence, so he could be either our quester or defender. Similarly, Glorfindel has equal strength on two stats, Willpower and Attack. Beorn would be the only simple because of his five Attack strength however his ability to defend without exhausting and a massive ten Health means he makes a great defender for a limited time too.

The worst possible use of this team would be for Bifur to defend (he wouldn't last long without help), Glorfindel to quest (his Forced effect pushes the threat up and makes the team less efficient) and Beorn to attack.

The better option is for Bifur to always quest. Glorfindel can join him when there is a lot of threat in the staging area, but the rest of the time he can stay ready for attacking. Beorn can serve as both defender and attacker for several rounds because of not needing to exhaust for the former. This team could last quite well on a quest if the player deck included some questing boost, and it would also need some cheap disposable allies or solid defender allies because Beorn won't be able to defend everything forever.

Bifur isn't really key to this team, so we could probably swap him out for another Hero with average Threat Value and a more useful ability. But overall it looks like Threat Value has been a useful way to form a strong team of Heroes.

Team - Core Set Leadership Heroes

For the first Team post, let's look at Gloin, Theodred and Aragorn, the three Leadership sphere Heroes included in the Core Set. Do their values indicate they make a good team?

The first thing we can say is that we are getting average value for money. The Threat Value of all three Heroes is exactly 100%, just like all Heroes in the Core Set.

We are almost getting average Stat Value, too. Both Aragorn an Theodred have Stat Values of 100% (due to their attack values) however Gloin only has a Stat Value of 89%. His Willpower and Attack value of two isn't great for a Hero that costs nine starting threat.

Both Gloin and Theodred suffer from what I call Annoying Power Syndrome. By this I mean that their unique power in their text box forces you to use them in a way that their printed stats do not support.

In the case of Gloin, his response triggers when he receives damage, however his defence is his weakest stat so this is only likely to ever be triggered by the occasional treachery or shadow card.

Theodred can provide resources when he commits to a quest, however questing is not his best role. He only has one Willpower, but it is his two Attack that earns him his 100% Stat Value.

Theodred's Annoying Power Syndrome of course is balanced out by his brilliant synergy with Aragorn. Instead of saving Theodred to use his two Attack, you can send his questing with Aragorn and then later make use of Aragorn's three Attack instead. There is no denying this fun combo.

Sadly Gloin does nothing to redeem himself. After the combo of his two fellow Leadership Heroes provides the player with three questing and three attack, we need a defender, and the old dwarf is not one that will last long. He may get rich before he dies, but die he will if you don't get some allies out to help. You could also put some attachments on Gloin to boost his defence, but if you want to make use of his power you would be better off giving him the power to heal himself after he takes that damage.