Only just finished our first campaign, but it was balanced on a knife edge.

Many times it came down to the heroes having to make a successful dice role, or the next turn the overlord would win… and it was about 50/50.

I think some may appear to favour the OL, but it all depends on the tactics used by the players/overlord and the outcomes of the dice rolls… which is exactly the way it should be.

From this experience alone, I would say that their telemetry was spot on - and neither side has a real advantage.

It's worth remembering that most outcomes in this game are decided by dice rolls - which are random…. and humans are good at finding patterns in randomness. (eg; that cloud looks like a goldfish);  Also, random numbers are not spread evenly and often appear in clumps.

So people may look at their game log history and conclude that the game is weighted one way or the other - but it may just be a run of bad luck for one side or the other.

 Unfortunately half my play group and a little bit of myself included is becoming pessimistic that the game is overpowered in the Overlord's favor. Though I am hoping a friend will want to play Overlord so I can challenge that theory, I have yet to see anything past Act I, and I want to do that before I put my full review in. I can already acknowledge though with the game continually buffing the winner with experience and relics that the campaign seems to always weigh in favor of the victor. Likewise, a campaign that does this gradual slide over several sessions seems pointless to my gaming group. Additionally the conversion kit offers players starting variety but the Overlord always gains his open group options throughout the game, modifying to his needs while the heroes are on a linear track with their initial choices (mind you, I have only won with 2nd ed monsters and haven't even had a chance to try conversion characters).

I could not tell you at the moment what would rebalance the game, if anything needs to in fact be rebalanced. However, it seems heroes are lacking an extra umph to be victorious, whether it be better starting equipment or extra gold or what I have no idea. Clearly though my most committed players and I are tired of seeing me crush the heroes without breaking a sweat while abiding by all rules to the best of my knowledge. I believe the competition between players over a large span of time seems way too taxing and my players have plead for restart several times, from group to group. Despite excellent reviews and an otherwise great product in its quick set-up and play time (in theory), 2nd ed has so many flaws that my own review I foresee is unfortunately not looking too bright as much as I hate to admit.

Eugee said:

How are your heroes able to regain 5 fatigue in a turn? Im not that experienced in all the strategies involved in the game yet but I can not fathom how to regain 5 fatigue for my heroes each turn.

I can see using the Knight with Stalwart(3xp) heroes adjacent at start (or end) of turn gain 2 fatigue. 1 fatigue from surge. Spiritwalker has 3xp skill that also adds on another 1 surge for 1 fatigue. But thats still only 4 fatigue and you need be at least up to the last Act 1 quest.

The only hero class I can see to regain a heap of fatigue a turn is the Disciple. Using skill Time of Need, but it sacrifices an action for 2 fatigue and 2 MP. If the Knight has Stalwart then it can be a quick easy 4 fatigue gain.

Am I missing something here???

Would using a rest action solve the problem of regaining one's full stamina?

Robin said:

He was referring to the fact that previous poster had mentioned they were fatigue moving 5 spaces (5 stam), and then performing double attacks, which leaves you no actions left for resting. He was questioning how ti was possible for the heroes to recover 5 fatigue every turn without the use of rest.

foo82 said:

Yes thats what I was asking. Was writing that response at work and ended up having to rush the last part of it.

Maybe my reading of the previous post was not right but I got the impression that the heroes were fatigue moving, attacking twice and regaining all fatigue back, each turn. How is that possible?

Obi Wann82 said:

misinterpretation of the rules, most likely. Perhaps they did it every other turn, with rests in-between.

Hello all,

My friends and I picked up this game recently and are loving this game.  We've argued it both ways but we haven't finished a campaign yet so I can only comment on things that are currently happening.

First, We felt these types of games could easily become a 1v1 situation even with multiple players.  Meaning one person may think theyir strategic thinking is better and would therefore overpower others decisions.  So to combat this we made a rule that the heroes can't discuss strategy between turns.  It's also allows the OL to play against 1 mind at a time, rather than 2 or 4.

Secondly we made random hero selections.  Otherwise people tend to pick favorites and changes the way people are used to playing.

With this set up so far, I have only lost the introduction.

In my other game (1v1) 2 heroes.  I'm playing against a preselected hero comp or the girl who stuns and the knight with movement.

I lost fat goblin, where I probably should have won.  I played an elemental (illegal) that opened the door and died.  So I should've lost but Splig was 2 squares from reaching the exit.  He lost Theodir on Masquerade Ball and it wasn't even close.  Shadow dragon and 2 Barghest's as meatshields.

I was also very close to winning Death on a wing.  I couldn't manage to keep him trapped and his warrior just kept breaking stones, but at one point I only had 3 stones to go.  Eventually I had my entire deck which I think is the best case scenario.  I was 3 health from killing the last two guards and instead of making belthir run I just went for it and lost.  My mistake.

So far here's my assumption:  The game is quite balanced.  But the OL's job requires much more attention.  I really don't care much for knocking down heroes, my goal is the quest, so I use minions as meatshields and inhibitors for movement mostly, unless they are overwhelmed.  The key is patience.  I've noticed my turn as OL takes twice as long as the heroes because I have to carefully plan out every aspect, even decided which group to move first is crucial.  I lost Death on a Wing because of 1 mistake.  Everything takes a long time, and patience is your worst enemy here.  I played the first episode of Death on a Wing for 2 hours with a pair that had a potential of 19 movement spaces.

I would love to hear some advice from heroes.

Well,

I've just played the Dawnblade Act2 quest as both Overlord and Hero ;

And I have to say - this quest seems extremely unbalanced in the overlords favour.

It was so unbalanced that even as the overlord - I was trying to help the heros make the most efficient use of their actions as possible - and still, they didn't stand a chance.

Is this quest deliberately skewed in favour of the Overlord because the heroes need to win the Act1 quest to play it?

It certainly seems that way.

Even if the heroes start encounter 2 with the dawnblade - there's 2 ways for the overlord to win.

It wasn't a fun quest at all, because it was so one-sided.