Quest 003(r): Escape From Dol Guldur

Opening Thoughts

By my fifth attempt of this quest, I was feeling pretty frustrated. I had just recently made a post proclaiming that the campaign boon additions helped even out some of the rough edges of this quest and yet I was still struggling with it. Not much else to say, but I'll return back to this topic after the break...

The Decks

My goal for the final two attempts was to do two-handed with two-sphere decks that used the opposite combinations from the ones in the player guide. But Lore did not have as many cards that I wanted to splash as it had high-cost cards with good effects. The final decision was to use the Lore deck from the core and then build a tri-sphere deck.

Heroes

Aragorn

Eowyn

Legolas

Allies

Faramir x1

Snowbourn Scout x3

Silverlode Archer x3

Guard of the Citadel x3

Wandering Took x3

Gondorian Spearman x3

Veteran Axehand x3

Gandalf x3

Attachments

Celebrian's Stone x3

Steward of Gondor x3

Unexpected Courage x3

Horn of Gondor x2

Blade of Gondolin x2

Events

Valiant Sacrifice x3

Sneak Attack x3

Dwarven Tomb x3

A Test of Will x3

Feint x3

The Quest

Setup

Valor on Glorfindel and Legolas. Beravor is captured! Appointed by Fate on Aragorn. Bad starting hands that mulligan into worse hands. Hopefully the setup is easy.

Gandalf's Map is guarded by: Necromancer's Grasp

Dungeon Torch is guarded by: Driven by Shadow, which surges into Caught In a Web (attaches to Aragorn)

Shadow Key is guarded by: Enchanted Stream

Okay, that's a pretty good start. Only one thing in the staging area and it's a location (and not the worst one out there). 

Round 1

Miner of the Iron Hills goes down, getting Caught in a Web off of Aragorn. Eowyn claims Gandalf's Map, putting Mendor back into play. 

Start off questing for 10. Aragorn spends a resource to ready. Reveal: Necromancer's Pass, King Spider. Each team pitches a card to Eowyn and gets five progress on the quest. Lore then discards two cards traveling to Necromancer's Pass.

The King Spider engages Lore and Denethor defends. No damage. Legolas, with Valor on, takes out the King Spider and completes Necromancer's Pass.

Round 2

Gandalf comes down for the Leadership/Tactics/Spirit team (LTS) and draws them three cards. I quest with Eowyn and Gandalf for eight, revealing the Reach and Under the Shadow. 8 will vs 4 threat, putting 4 on the quest and advancing to stage 2. Each team gets a card from Mendor, then the group travels to the Enchanted Stream.

Round 3

Celbrian's Stone goes on Aragorn and Henamarth Riversong comes down. Henamarth shows a King Spider coming up as the next card. I quest with Aragorn and Eowyn for a total of 8, then spend a resource to ready Aragorn. Reveal: King Spider, Cavern Guardian. The Enchanted Stream is completed and four progress goes on the quest. Beravor is rescued and the Nazgul enters the staging area.

Lore takes on the King Spider, LTS optionally takes on the Nazgul, and Lore gets the Cavern Guardian. Feint is played on the Nazgul. Denethor defends against the King Spider, taking no damage. Beravor defends against the Cavern Guardian, taking no damage. Glorfindel, with Valor, defeats the King Spider. Aragorn and Legolas get three damage on the Nazgul.

Round 4

LTS plays another Gandalf, getting four more damage on the Nazgul. Lore plays Lorien's Wealth to draw three cards, then puts a Protector of Lorien on Beravor. Henamarth shows a Necromancer's Pass coming up. Gandalf, Eowyn, Aragorn, and Beravor quest for 14. Aragorn spends a resource to ready. Reveal: Necromancer's Pass and Endless Caverns, which surges into Caught in a Web (attaches to Aragorn). One card is pitched to Eowyn. Lore raises their threat by four to attach the Dungeon Torch and Shadow key to Glorfindel. Quest advances to stage 3. LTS discards two cards to travel to Necromancer's Pass. 

The Nazgul attacks and Aragorn defends. No shadow effect. The Cavern Guardian attacks and the Miner of the Iron Hills defends, taking one damage. Glorfiendel defeats the Guardian. Legolas and Mendor defeat the Nazgul, clearing Necromancer's Pass. 

Round 5

Lore gets Gelowine down. Aragorn is still exhausted, but a Steward of Gondor goes on him and exhausts for resources. Questing all in for 14. Reveal: Dol Guldor Orcs (damage goes on Denethor) and Lingering Venom, which is negated by A Test of Will. Lingering Venom surges into Dungeon Jailer.14 v 4 puts more than enough progress on the stage and the scenario is won!

Resolution

Mendor joins the campaign pool. Each team has Valor and Mendor's Support. Lingering Venom is the only burden I accumulated. 

Score: 117 (both teams had 36 threat, a total of 5 hero damage, four rounds, and nothing in the victory display).

Parting Thoughts

So I do feel the campaign addition does take away the rough edges of this quest. Lord of the Rings is the type of game where a 25% win rate is acceptable for a harder quest. Escape from Dol Guldur can still beat you right off the bat with a bad set-up, but 'picking' (depending on how the last quest went) your captured hero + having extra resources and extra damage goes a long way towards evening out the playing field. Still, the final quest of the Core box retains its original purpose: teaching you that this game can just be flat out brutal.