1. Every spell caster packs a weapon except for Estra (who has Honarie) and Alahazra (who should know what is coming). The others need to keep their weapon(s) ready for the henchman. Ezren is definitely the worst of here, with his pitiful Strength and Dexterity. It isn't a bad idea for him to have some ways to evade things or scout things for these kinds of situations.
It also isn't a bad idea to team up with someone that has powers that can help you with your combat checks, like Damiel.
2. While you lose your free exploration, you also have one less location than typical. If you have a hand that does nothing on a turn, use the scenario power to recharge an exploring card from your discard pile (it isn't random) then recharge enough of your hand to make sure you are very likely to draw an exploring card for your next turn.
What party exactly are you playing?
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The free deck-cycling for all players in this scenario is what lets you get this one done, Hawk is right. And it was nowhere near as frustrating as those from Wrath. It's a puzzle to solve, and - unlike The Elven Entanglement when it was released (before they fixed the cohort) - it can be beaten with the right strategy.
The lead designer of the game, Mike Selinker, is a lover and creator of puzzles. (For example, see here). Some scenarios really have to be approached with that in mind.
The free deck-cycling for all players in this scenario is what lets you get this one done, Hawk is right. And it was nowhere near as frustrating as those from Wrath. It's a puzzle to solve, and - unlike The Elven Entanglement when it was released (before they fixed the cohort) - it can be beaten with the right strategy.We are playing a 4 person party with Estra and Alkhazara, so yes, this isn't a puzzle to solve, it's a brute force luckfest with half the party unable to affect the henchmen.
There's 5 locations for 4 characters; 3 of them have golem henchmen.
What other characters are in your party?
This scenario was playtested with caster heavy parties, including quite specifically a 4-player party that included Alahazra and Estra. It's very likely to take most of the blessing deck, but it is solvable.
Hey there
Just completed this last night with CD Amiri and CD Harsk.
Definitely the hardest scenario so far. We just scraped through, with 4 turns left.
Midway through Harsk almost died, but Scarab buckler saved the day and by the end Amiri was down to 1 card. Evil eye curse of poisoning on Amiri was fun times as well (Damn you evil eye trigger). We had to take multiple turns just sitting there healing ourselves.
We certainly enjoyed it and while it was hard it didn't feel as frustrating as Demonic Hordes/Slaughterhouse/WotR etc etc.
RPG Superstar 2011 Top 32
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This one took my wife and I three tries to do - we are playing Yoon and Drelm. The big issue we had was Yoon wanting to save blessings for combat, and closing. The fact that one of the locations was Diplomacy 4(no Charisma!) to close meant we felt we had to reserve a blessing to at least get 2d4 on it. You really can't afford to flub a closing check and empty a location on this one.
The other key we found was purging your non-explore cards as much as possible so you can rapidly cycle the explores back - use the scenario's free healing on explores, and dump your extra weapons, armor, and so forth into the discard and leave them there.
I had an interesting setup that made this a cakewalk. Channa Ti was in the party, with the Corrosive Dagger +1. Since she recycles animal allies to explore, she was able to explore repeatedly each turn. And since the Alchemical Golem is immune to poison but not acid, she could recycle the Dagger for the acid trait, then use her power to discard a card to get another d8 against it. The other two characters (Drelm and Ahmotep) basically spent the mission feeding her blessings for close checks while she ripped through every location deck one-by-one.
I thought it was a unique challenge but the "party morale" was quite low for that one, especially because we had recently failed the previous scenario. But, we also completely forgot about the second half of the "During this scenario" text so we played without the free healing.
Party: Yoon, Alahazra, Mavaro.
Yoon and Mavaro are being played by PACG veterans but Alahazra is being played by a newbie. We're 4 scenarios in and all of the Trigger cards are causing serious buyers remorse with Alahazra, she straight up just refuses to use her powers to peak at cards anymore after some particularly nasty Gnolls and Barriers with the Trigger trait.
I've played thru this one successfully twice. Once with Ahmotep (me), Drelm, and Zadim; once with Simoun (me), Ezren, Drelm (different player), and Channi.
The free recharge was key. Each time, I had one or two hands that provided no explorations. So I recharged a blessing from the discard, then put my entire hand on the bottom of the deck. Next draw had plenty of actions plus one card for fighting.
It's key to be patient and not explore faster than your backup (i.e. blessings and other ally benefits). One less location seemed to keep things reasonable for us, so I liked the extra challenge.
End of turn happens before reset.
For reference:
End Your Turn: First, apply any effects that happen at the end of the turn. While you do this, unless a power directed you to end your turn, you may play cards and use powers. Then, reset your hand (see Resetting Your Hand on page 14). When you’re done, the turn passes to the player on your left.