5th Worst for Threat Value - Galadriel

The Hero that takes place of being the fifth worst for Threat Value is the lovely lady of the forest, Galadriel. She is a Spirit Hero found in the Celebrimbor's Secret adventure pack from the Ring Maker expansion cycle. Her Threat Value is 89%.

This is another case where a Hero who appeared in one of the top positions in the Stat Value list has appeared in the bottom of the Threat Value list. For these cases, it seems to be that a Hero must be so exceptionally good in one area that their Threat Cost is set artificially higher to compensate for this.

Galadriel made it into a top position for Stat Value because of her four Willpower, however she has absolutely no Attack or Defence values. But you could say that all of this doesn't matter anyway, because Galadriel is currently the only Hero in the game that you are not allowed to use for questing, defending or attacking. So does her Threat Value mean much anyway? I don't know. On an average quest, to decide whether her Threat Cost of nine is worthwhile you need to weigh whether her action power is valuable enough for you.

#3 Ally for Stat Value - Silvan Refugee

Going by Stat Value, the third best Ally currently in the game for their Resource Cost is Silvan Refugee. This Spirit Ally is found in the Druadan Forest adventure pack from the Numenor expansions cycle. The Stat Value of this card is 400%.

The value of two on the Willpower of this Ally for the low cost of only one resource makes it easy to include in any deck with Spirit, perhaps especially in multi-sphere decks. that extra questing power that can come into play from the very first round could make a strong start to your progress.

The downside of course is that this particular elf leaves play as soon as things get violent. Or specifically, whenever a character leaves play. That means that the elf will only stick around for as long as you can keep all your other characters alive. Oh, and don't use any Allies that automatically remove themselves from play like Gandalf. Lastly, you need to be able to cancel any damage dealing treacheries that appear from the encounter deck because this elf only has one Health.

So this Ally is certainly what you might call fragile. But for a cost of only a single resource, an extra two Willpower for a round or two seems worth the cost.

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.

#1 Hero for Stat Value - Glorfindel (Spirit)

For the second time, the Spirit version of Glorfindel takes the top spot in a list. The greedy elf is not content to be number one for Threat Value; he is number one for Stat Value too! Glorfindel is a Spirit Hero found in the Foundations of Stone adventure pack from the Dwarrowdelf cycle expansions. His Stat Value is 240%.

It has been mentioned before that his ridiculously low Threat Cost has been given by the game designers who considered that the Forced effect in his text box would balance this out. However, as has previously been written on here, a player has solutions which they can use to ignore the Forced penalty and get away with an amazingly low starting threat with none of the consequences.

I will repeat the main answer to the Forced effect that I mentioned before; if Glorfindel is in your team, don't send him questing. His Attack strength of three is just as useful as his Willpower, so assign him the role of attacker in your game. Since he is a Spirit Hero, you won't have any trouble finding him some teammates with good Willpower that can do the questing instead.

All things considered, if you want a team with either elves or the Spirit sphere, this version of Glorfindel should be one of the first Heroes you consider.

#2 Hero for Stat Value - Eowyn

For the second time a Hero from the Core Set makes it into one of our top positions for Stat Value. In second place on the list is Eowyn. She is a Spirit Hero included in the Core Set. Her Stat Value is 178%.

The daughter of Rohan earns her place with a strong Willpower of four, which would be impressive even on a Hero with a Threat Cost of twelve, but she asks for a Threat Cost of only nine.

Her other stats are low and her power encourages you to use her Willpower and boost it even further. She is clearly a team member with one job to play; questing.

She is the only Hero currently in the game with a Willpower of four that you can commit to quests. Such a strong stat combined with a Threat Cost below ten has made her an often used character in many teams. Her strength isn't dependent on other Heroes in your team in any way, so she can be added and equally effective in a multi-sphere team or one that is purely Spirit. She deserves her high rank, and only one other Hero has overtaken her for Stat Value.

#3 Hero for Stat Value - Galadriel

The third position in our list of Heroes with the best Stat Value is possible a controversial one. It is taken by Galadriel. She is a Spirit Hero found in the Celebrimbor's Secret adventure pack in the Ring Maker cycle expansions. Her Stat Value is 178%.

This is an usual entry on the list, and a good example of the fact that my formula for determining Stat Value only takes printed values into account and ignores keywords and text powers or limits. The noble elf has an impressive four Willpower, a quality only found in one other character in the game, yet her text box states that she cannot use it for questing. What good are powerful stats if you can't use them? Well, there are two possible answers.

The first is that her action power might be able to earn her a place in a team all by itself. Getting one free round of questing out of each ally is interesting, but much more powerful is the exhaust action. Reducing threat every round, and getting a card while you do it? In a solo game that is the same as never having to raise your threat in the refresh phase and drawing two cards instead of one, for every turn!

The second answer is that Galadriel could make use of her four Willpower during a quest that requires you to use stats for tasks other than questing, defence and attack. As an example, she could be a great help with the Hide tests used in the Black Riders Saga expansion. But this has limited application.

In most quests, a solo player may want to include Galadriel in their team because of her powerful exhaust action. The only thing they have to balance, however, is the fact that they somehow need to assign three roles (quester, defender and attacker) to the two Heroes that make up the rest of their team.

#1 for Threat Value - Glorfindel (Spirit)

The top spot for our list of Heroes with an above-average Threat Value is taken by the Spirit version of Glorfindel. He is a Spirit Hero from the Foundations of Stone adventure pack in the Dwarrowdelf cycle expansions. His Threat Value is 240%.

Both his Willpower and Attack values of three are remarkable for the Threat Cost of only five. But of course the designers of LOTR LCG have carefully tried to balance these figures with his Forced effect that raises your threat when Glorfindel exhausts to commit to quests. Shall we step beyond my calculations that only take printed numbers into account and look at whether this elf really is such good value for your money?

From his stats, his Predicted Threat Cost is twelve. His Threat Cost is only five, but each time he exhausts to quest he raises your threat by one, so lets pretend that each time he commits to a quest it is like his Threat Cost is increased by one. If his Forced effect is triggered seven times in a game then his Threat Cost is effectively raised to twelve.

So you see that whether Glorfindel really is good value depends on how often you send him questing. If you sent him six times or less within a game then he was good value. If you sent him exactly seven then he was average value. If you sent him eight or more times then he was bad value and maybe you should have considered using a different Hero.

There are two thoughts that make all of this irrelevant, however.

The first is the Spirit card that allows this elf to quest without exhuasting. Attach that to Glorfindel before he has committed to seven quests and you are sorted. This only depends on being able to draw that card.

The second thought is both more obvious and a more certain; don't send him questing! He is a Spirit Hero with three attack and Spirit Heroes are usually weak at attacking! Put him in a team of all-Spirit Heroes as your designated attacker and you have yourself one efficient elf.

After this brief list of three Heroes with the best Threat Values, we will next turn to Heroes with some of the worst Threat Values.

#3 for Threat Value - Bifur

There are currently only three released Heroes in LOTR LCG which have a Threat Value higher than 100%. Most of the Hero cards (currently 42) have a Threat Value of exactly 100%, so it is very rare for a Hero to shine in this area.

The Hero card in third place in this category is Bifur. He is a Lore Hero found in the Khazad-dum deluxe expansion. His Threat Value is 114%.

He rises into the top three not because any of his stats are high but because they are quite consistent for a Hero with a low Threat Cost of only seven.

The choice he gives you to use him as an equally good quester or defender are what nudge him into this rank. The stats of two other Heroes with a Threat Cost of seven, Eleanor and Fatty, only give you a single real option for what job their stats will serve. It is worth noting that Frodo (Spirit) also gives you two willpower and two defence for a Threat Cost of only seven, but he has one less Health than Bifur than puts his Threat Value at the perfect average of 100%.