so my pack is on its way- ive seen alot about no.1, but how hard is 2 and 3? what are we comparing it to here? (as i know theyve done away with the levels)

thanks

rich

richsabre said:

Urgh, mine's at the sorting office as I type, can't pick it up until tomorrow. I am in agonies!!! 

Just thought I'd share this with everyone :)

 2 is quite difficult as well.  its basically split into two parts; the first part pits you against strong mountain giants and devastating treacherys while the second part just throws a ton of enemies at you.  To compare it to a previous quest i suppose its similar to Journey down the Anduin but it doesnt feel redundant at all.  I havent attempted the third yet

spalanzani said:

mine wont get here till monday now….damn you 2nd class post!!!

Our group (playing 3 player) has gone through quest two really easily.  However, the third quest is very fun as you are answering riddles and bilbo in a way quests seperatly from the main party for a while, and then you meat up at the end.  It is actually my favorite quest that ffg has put out, other than FoS.

Shockeffect said:

I know this is probably just a typo, but your homophonic slip of "meat up" gave me a particularly satisfying image, especially given that it is a Friday.

And yes it was a typo

Rich, since I know you pretty much solo exclusively, I can say that having just got mine, the first two are fun, but relatively easy. 

The first one does have the 4 trolls you have to contend with, but you're really trying to accomplish two things there… Win the encounter, BUT do so in a way that lets you "meat" (sorry, Shockeffect) the objectives for "discovering" the treasures as well.  The hardest part is using the encounter deck wisely if you are trying to win the treasure (yup. I said encounter deck).  There are a couple key locations you actually want to keep around.  The Troll Camp is a double-edged sword… it gives all the trolls extra threat in the staging area… BUT also lets Bilbo use resources to discard the "sacked" cards the trolls drop on your heros/allies just for engaging.  The other key location is (forget the name) one that recycles the encounter discard pile back into the encounter deck.  Usually not a good thing, but since you have to have the Troll Key objective card on Bilbo in order to travel to the Troll Cave (and have to have the Troll Cave in your victory display to discover the treasures as a win effect), it can be important to get the Troll Key and Troll Purse back into the deck if they somehow end up discarded.

The second encounter was actually pretty easy as a solo palyer (althouugh I'm sure I had fortunate draws).  It is split into 2 encounter decks.  There are three sites, but the first quest site is purely set up and moves you directly to the second quest site (the Stone Giants) and its deck.  The third site, you discard all previous encounter cards (the stone giant sets) and replace with the second encounter deck (centered around The Great Goblin).  He basically just churns out a Goblin horde to try and overrun you….

I ran with a Elrond, Frodo, and Imrahil deck (I know, I know… horrible for theme - it's what I had built, wanted to just see what it played like).  I am immediately starting work on a Dwarven deck (to redeem my theme-offense) that can run through these!  I enjoyed the uniqueness of the first two encounters.  Look forward to the third!

cheers for that - i look forward to tackling it myself!

rich

For Solo play I'd say

Quest 1: DR 6

Quest 2: DR 4

Quest 3: DR 7

 Don't know about the first one, but I'd say No. 2 is very hard unless you have a deck that's good in combat or has low threat. The first part is easy enough, but the second part… So many goblins…

For those who have given an opinion on the difficulty, are you playing with decks that use the full card pool released to date?  How challenging would this be as an expansion for somebody who only owned the core set, for example, or maybe the core plus deluxe expansions but not the chapter packs?

if you only own the core set it would be incredibly difficult

rich

richsabre said:

Without a doubt.

Edit:  I know they do include those "Core only + Hobbit expansion" decks on the back of the rulebook.  I didn't even bother with them.  A friend of mine played with those, and confirmed my suspicion that they weren't the greatest decks to play… but good for theme.  However, since the third quest (the riddle part anyways) will probably be easiest with minimal=sphere decks, perhaps those suggested decks would serve as a decent base for completing the third quest.

richsabre said:

That confirms what I suspected.

It's too bad, really, because this is a game I could happily play on occasion, and I would enjoy some variety, but it didn't make my list of must-buy-everything-that-comes-out games.

Arma virumque said:

yes- it is unfortunate (though perhaps inevitable) for you that you will find it increasingly difficult to play future quests without at least a complete cycle or two

rich