I could use some help.

I have tried going back to the core and doing Journey on the Anduin with 2 decks.  I thought it would be pretty straightforward but I am getting mauled so many times doing it (where did they figure it was going to be difficulty 4?).  Here are some difficulties I encountered

The Hill Troll at the beginning is brutal.  Even if you manage to kill it.  The cost in health and additional threat is pretty great.

Some treacheries can kill your whole team if you have any engaged characters, or if your threat is over 35.

Turning over 3 cards in the second half is sure to push forth the threat level.

Some treacheries subtract 4 tokens just by turning them over.

Really, I have really tried to nail this but am getting beaten severely.  Any ideas would be welcome. 

Try to set up a band of heroes that have a low threat total, so that the troll doesnt engage you turn 1. Build up your team of allies, or maybe even kill the Troll before it engages.

Spirit and Tactics works well.

Should Elenor be part of my Spirit team?  Her ability to cancel effects when revealed would be helpful in avoiding some of the nastier treachery effects.

Would it work to use 2 mono decks, Spirit and Tactics perhaps?

I beat it using two mono decks, Spirit and Tactics. Also, I have only used mono decks so far, and I have made it through the core set, the entire first cycle, and the first expansion. 

divinityofnumber said:

OMG it worked!  I was a bit sceptical at first because the common consensus is that mixed decks are more efficient than mono decks, but in this case it works nicely. 

Stage 1: Tactics beat up the troll and the spirit player gets things moving

Stage 2: Spirit player starts to really ramp up and surge ahead (needs lots of northern trackers and silvian scouts to accumulate lots of progress tokens).

Stage 3:  Tactics fight the monsters on the board.

Really good scenario, though threat reduction is essential and I had to tell Gandalf to "get up and fight!" a couple of times.  I noticed that when you finish stage 2 and begin stage 3 there is a surge of threat, but that it quickly diminishes because the staging area just ends.

I would leave the spirit deck just as is, all three characters were essential (Elenor had to eliminate many treachery cards which would otherwise drive me crazy).  As for the tactics, I think I could replace one with either a leadership or a Lore character.  Maybe Legolas (Gimli is too valuable because of his ability to fell a troll with one blow once he is hurt).

I also need to look at using cards from other expansions.  Let the power creep begin!

Quick chime in here.  Stand and Fight has to pick an ally from a sphere, Gandalf has no sphere being neutral.  But besides that, great job on beating it!

Big enemies aren't too scary, as long as you can produce one random ally each turn to throw in front of them, all is usually well. You throw some little guy in front of them, and then attack back with all of your might. 

For some of those more difficult quests, Spirit is almost a must, if playing two player. Otherwise, some of those high threat lands start hitting the board and bog you down. 

divinityofnumber said:

Agreed, but the problem is that the Hill Troll converts excess damage over and above hit points to Threat.   Gimli is almost designed to soak the first hit and wack him the next turn.  You almost need him wearing armour or have a card like Feint which allows you to dodge the second hill troll blow. 

peterstepon said:

Mono decks are more efficient than mixed decks but it is very helpful to have the abilities from several spheres to do well. By using 2 monosphere decks you kind of get the best of both worlds, especially as tactics excells at fightning, which this quest needs, & Spirit is generally the strongest sphere in core & quests well in stage 2.