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Kent Pritchett
Canada
Calgary
Alberta
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This expansion contains four hero miniatures, four corresponding character sheets, 1 re-roll token, and six global effect cards. The heroes included are the Druid, Elf Lord, Healer, and Monk. All the components are of really good quality.
Druid
At first glance the Druid seems like a weak character and I would not likely play him solo because his abilities are mainly used in green areas and he has no abilities to use against generals. I thought this character would disappoint me but I was wrong. The Druid shines thematically and works well as part of a team with other heroes.
His first ability of Heal Land is his only ability that is not restricted to green locations and is likely his least powerful. Basically it works like heal the land except you don’t discard or need hero cards. The Druid is great for removing the tainted crystals.
His second ability is very thematic and is likely my favourite of the druids. Woodland magic allows the Druid when on a green location to send animals to attack minions in other green locations. Yes, it is restricted to green locations and each die is at a –1 modifier but it is awesome. The majority of minions on green locations are orcs or imps so as part of a team of heroes let the druid worry about the green locations and have other heroes save action points for other areas.
One with the earth is another thematic ability that gives the Druid an ability to avoid minions at the end of his turn. Yes, again it is restricted to green locations but it has the added benefit of protecting from fear due to the Undead, and healing one wound even if minions are present.
The Druid may not seem like much but in the forest the druid’s rule.
Elf Lord
After playing the Elf Lord I felt like I was playing a powerful yet very crafty fighter. I found all the Elf Lords abilities to be very useful.
Elven Magic allows him to re-roll 1 failed die, once per turn. He can use the re-roll token on himself or another player. This is a very useful and powerful ability and should be used wisely. An added bonus of this ability is, if the Elf Lord is used in the game that player goes first. This sure beats taking it outside to settle who goes first.
Secret Pathways may not seem like much at first but not having to waste extra actions to move into green areas is really nice. I found the Elf Lord to be very powerful with this ability in the area of Whispering Woods, Heaven’s Glade, and Thorny Woods. In this area he is able to move quickly to attack the minions in surrounding areas and melt quietly back into the safety of the forest.
The Swift Attack ability allows the Elf Lord an extra die against minions on the first attack roll at a location. If there is a Dragonkin minion I usually choose the extra die to be blue to improve the odds of taking out these tough minions. The ability is also used against Generals.
I really have a hard time deciding what ability of the Elf Lord I like best. All three are great but it is likely a tie between Elven Magic, and Swift Attack as they both make the Elf Lord very effective against Generals.
Healer
The Healer is a great hero and even though I really like her I may be forced to place her on my restricted list with the wizard. My restricted list consists of heroes I do not use as much because they have abilities that tend to make the game easier to win. I usually allow their use in scenarios of greater difficulty.
The healer’s first two abilities are what one would expect from a Healer, the ability to heal other heroes or her self. Potent Remedies allows her to spend an action to heal up to 3 wounds or remove 1 poison token from any heroes on her location. The poison token may be coming in a future expansion. This ability is really good as the healer goes about her business even while minions are in the area. Healing Touch allows her to heal all heroes on her location 1 wound at the end of her turn.
The next ability is another way to remove tainted crystals without discarding a card. Transfer Energy allows the healer to spend an action in a tainted location to roll 1 die for each enemy minion present. A tainted crystal is removed from the area for each 5+ rolled. The plus side is that multiple tainted crystals can be removed at once. The downside is the more minions present the better. Since we want to destroy minions and keep the population low it is not always that effective. I would say let the healer assist when she can but leave the healing of lands to druids and clerics for the most part. It is still a nice ability.
Her final ability of Walk in the Light makes the Healer not subject to a General’s Combat Skills. This ability is as powerful as it sounds and the only general currently not affected by this is Sapphire, as Sapphire’s combat abilities do not target the hero. The generals from the Dragon expansion can be dealt with much easier if facing off against the healer and it is for this reason she will be restricted as to when I use her.
Monk
The Monk is a really good fighter type with some really nice abilities.
The first ability Spiritual Quest gives the monk 2 quest at all times, drawing a new one when one is completed. The ability usually allows the Monk to complete quests faster, aiding the realm and increasing her quest abilities as she turns herself into a powerful foe against the generals and their minions.
Flurry of Blows is an awesome ability as any 6’s rolled in combat, count as two hits even against generals. Besides generals the ability usually shows up quite often fighting 3 minions as you usually can get two hits with the die and often one of those hits is a 6 so the Monk ends up making a clean sweep. The ability does not work on Dragonkin minions and Sapphire but is still effective against the Dragon Masters.
Her final ability Defensive Moves is a nice ability as it allows her to roll on all wounds taken by minions or generals to block on a +5. Taking a few hits usually isn’t a big deal but not having to use an action to heal is a nice to have ability. Against some generals, the Defensive Moves ability could be a matter of life and death for the Monk if she is on the losing side of a battle.
From this set I really like all the heroes. They have some really nice abilities and all are very thematic in how they play and what they add to the game. I think my favourite hero from this set is the Elf Lord but thematically it has to be the Druid.
The global effects are nice to add to the base game to give the game a little variety and the rules clearly explains how to use them. If you have the Dragon Expansion you already know how to use them but these just add more. There may be one or two you already have but spares are OK.
When compared to the first hero expansion I would say they are comparable and I like both. Two of my favourites are still in the first set but all the heroes from the second set are great and thematically the heroes from the second set may be slightly better. Get either hero expansion or even better get both hero expansions. I will be reviewing Hero Expansion #3 hopefully within the month so I am hoping to say get all three.
One extra thing I found out this year is the hero expansions are great to fill stockings.
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Andy Andersen
United States
Newark
Delaware
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Thanks for the review. I have to get some playing time with the original game before I add this.
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