So my pals and I just finished our first (four heroes) campaign with myself as the overlord.  The first few scenarios seemed to go horribly for me.  I couldn't seem to win no matter what.  I was very frustrated and scoured the forums to see if I was alone.  It sounded like lots of people were experiencing similar issues.  Anyway, we got past the interlude (which I managed to win) and after that I never lost again.  The other four players were very discouraged by the end and I might be hard-pressed to get them to play again.  I think that the game is probably weighted towards the heroes in the first half and towards the Overlord in the second half.  Any opinions?  Also, I still have some questions on exactly how some of the mechanics work (mostly about when heroes have to declare actions and how large monster movement works).

 I found the same actually. We just finished this weekend and I won the Campaign. Act 1 the heroes won 2/3 and in Act 2, I won 2/3, and easily.

I like the fact that it's harder for the heroes, they have to work together for a common goal, the OL has all of his groups and doesn't have to worry about them not agreeing on tactics beauase they're all his. Watching my friends bicker and argue was actually a little enjoyable.

I usually win the first scenario as overlord (unless it is Death on a Wing, I never seem to win at that one) and then lose the remainder of act I because the heroes start to gain $$ and buy equipment which nullifies any OL cards I may have.  But you are right, the Act II cards come out and then things get more interesting.

There is a sort of scaling effect the heroes have to go through.  In the beginning, they are void of equipment so they must overcome that and get stronger.  Then, in Act II, the OL gets upgrades for everything and the heroes have to overcome the gap a second time.

I won Death on the Wing using Ettin, traping heroes on entrance. The Ettin hit high damage, block the corridor and the throw skill help to keep the weakers in entrance while the red spider move around to burn heroes fatigue . When 8 rocks was put in board, they advanced and i trap  in the Cannyon.

I have a 3 hero campiagn underway. Syndrael (berserker) Avric (disciple) Jain (Wildlander) and found the opposite. the OL won 2/3 quests in act 1 and plus the interlude.

The heroes only bought the Mana Weave out of th Act 1 shops, but did manage to get a chest twice to pick up a Crossbow and Elm greatbow. The Heroes did manage to win the Cardinal's Plight and gain the Staff of light. Basically Syndrael and Jain form a blockade behind which Avric sits and heals them back up every turn using the staff and his prayer of healing. In a pinch he also has Radiant Light and his heroic to boost up the healing powers. This has made it real difficult for the OL in the interlude to take out any of the heroes.

The first Act 2 quest chosen was Monsters Hoard. Jain really REALLY wanted the relic. Shopping saw Syndrael buy the Steel Greatsword. So Avric has the shadow rune, Syndrael the steel greatsword and Jain the crossbow. Basically they owned the OL, searched every token and got away with the win in 6 turns, without the OL downing 1 hero.

One of the players thought it was a bit of a let down, how easy they managed the quest. We have yet to get any further but to us it seems the OL is favoured first, then the heroes in the latter stages of the campaign/.

I just got my conversion kit in today, so maybe things will go that way for us too.  It seems like there are some very powerful new heroes.

How you managed to "lock" the players on the corridor for 8 turns to put boulders only using the Ettin and a spider is beyond me.

Ettin pack a little more damage than an average melee Hero or the wizard. With the small detail that the Heros collectevely got 8 attacks (Sometimes more) and the Ettin got only 1. 2 with OL card.

The power of the red spider needs her alive to work. The spider with 6 life and 1 grey die of defense is nothing that two attacks can´t solve.

If the players wanted an even easier run they just needed to let one hero on the entrance to block the spawning point. No more Ettin. On the turn that the fighter cleared 2 boulders at the same turn, they only needed to make a run for it. With the average Hero you can make 12 squared spending stamina (25 squares if you use Jain and her feat) while the Ettin, even with dash can get 10 squares (funky movement rule).

Second encounter was even worse. They killed both elementals and the Lnt before I even had my first turn. I told them that they would lose the loot and they didn´t really cared. Specialy because of a card they got on their way to the quest that gave them 150gp and one item from the market.

I still haven´t reached second act, but on the way things are going, count that the OL can by cards but still have to draw them, I´m incredulas that there will be any swich of balance.

There is a balance issue when it get to less than 4 player game. The 4 classes work incredibaly well together. Having even one of them out, might tip the scales in favor of the OL. The 2 Herous game is even more difficult for the players

G.Prep said:

The consensus seems to be that you can't block spawn points in D2E, the monsters just appear in the closest open space.

Triu said:

Really? Oh boy, we totally use that as a tactic. 

 Yeah, the only way heroes can actually block big monsters (2x2,2x3) if is they occupy a space in front of a door, since the monster enlarges during its movements interruption and thus cannot open the door unless they are adjacent to one another.

plolock said:

Does this really work? I mean, doors can be opened from any adjacent space and being 2 spaces wide, that means four spaces from which you can open the door. In a corridor, yes, 4 width rooms also work, but requires 2 heroes (leaving only one space at each edge).

Well, I'd say it depends, since sometimes the door is located in a "line" that goes along the gameboard, but often, its a "fill" tile between the big tiles, and the door is often located in such a way that it only has 2 spaces in front and back of the door, and not 4.

X X X X X X X X X
MMM X X MMM
MMM-------MMM
MMM X X MMM
X X X X X X X X X

Like so (lol)