Ancient Beasts - Can it be done ????

[David]

Hi Folks - I've played ancient beasts 6 times now and neither myself nor the A1 characters have got the slightest bit close to the centre of the board - IE crown of command etc - I just can't see how it can be done - It's impossible to build up any strength/craft points - the beasts are invincible in terms of their strength/craft and of course their is the beast that takes away either your hard won objects or lives - whichever comes first - not to mention the beast that ends the game when it gets to the apex - has anyone actually managed to get to the centre of the board !!!!! - Be truthful now !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[potterman28wxcv]

It's "AI characters", an A for Artificial and an I for Intelligence. It's not A1 ;)

The (now) default settings of 5 rounds for the beast spawner is absolutely ridiculous.

I really encourage you to set the Beast Timer to 20 instead, in the house rules. Or perhaps 10-15 if you want more of a challenge. But 5 is suicidal in my opinion - unless you are lucky and harmless beasts spawn

[cheshirecatgirl]

Yes it is possible, but like potterman said: set the Beast Timer to a higher number.
And most important: keep track of the Beasts!
If one spawns that has an Apex prevent it from reaching said Apex at all cost!
So that beast is now your main target!

[potterman28wxcv]

To be honest the apex should be better displayed in game. At least with the omen you can check at any time in which omen you are. With the apex - no indicator, you have to manually check on clicking on the beast when it's your turn..

[tragedytrousers]

Dunno if I'm in the minority, but I almost always play with Ancient Beasts off now. They can be beaten if you set the timer to high enough, but even then I find it a chore. You have to exactly land on them so many times to kill them, so unless you happen to be lucky with movement items and abilities, you're gonna be spending endless turns springing back and forth around them trying to whittle away their lives. It takes over the adventuring and replaces it with overshooting. I mean, I like the idea behind AB expansion, but it is a resounding miss for me.

On the bright side, Clockwork seems a lot more complimentary to play so far (apart from all the bugs and crashes they'll hopefully be fixing soon).

[David]

Actually - I've just finished a game and this time an AI opponent (pirate) got to "Race to the Crown" and won and I was still alive at the end - the trick was to only select 4 beasts and to keep one step ahead of the beast that takes away a life/object if it lands on you . All part of the learning curve

[Marik]

You're supposed to play with only just a few and with high beast timers

[Da' Vane]

Originally posted by Marik B.:

You're supposed to play with only just a few and with high beast timers

Perhaps the suggested defaults need to be changed to match this feedback?

Just want to say that No Respawn is an OPTIONAL HOUSE RULE, so the only way that Ancient Beasts can cause you to lose is if they reach an Apex.

It might be recommended that if you are playing No Respawn, then maybe avoid some of the deadlier expansions, unless you are happy for the game to end before getting near the centre.

[Lauleyhn]

Problem is some beasts reach apex really easy. It's not enough that it gets stronger, it just has to have a timelimit?

[danntbill]

I beat it yesterday quite easily with all settings on default. I was the trophy hunter. I got to strength 14 super quickly and was casting command spell while AI was getting demolished by the beasts. It was my first time playing this expansion so maybe beginner luck. There were at least 6 beasts roaming the board when I won.

[pApA^LeGBa]

What you can do is using expansions. City and Highland for example. They don´t go in there.

[JHarlequin]

My first game with ancient beasts I learned a lot as I had not looked into it or known the rules before hand. Unfortunately I do start save scumming the turns kind of quickly as I have no patience for the AI's attempts at undermining me and working together to be mediocre.

Because I kept redoing turns until they were right, it was almost way to easy to get the win, though it did require a quick dash as soon as I decided it had to be done. An apex beast that the AI couldn't touch and that while I could touch it, I couldn't keep up with it's movement and defeat it enough times to finish it off while it just kept getting stronger.

That beast came up sixth for me and after I had tried to finish it and the AI stopped me, I decided I had to either win or watch the beasts win. So I started going for the win and saw a couple more beasts, another one of which would have reached apex eventually because I couldn't have kept up with it.

At a five turn timer, it is an amazing race and requires almost all players involved trying to deal with it. Since the AI just basically do not care and won't attack them unless they are basically auto-losing, or have somehow managed to get too much strength to even be necessary.

The AI just don't rate the beasts as important. They rate them as something to stop the player from doing, but they don't bother with beasts themselves.

[[FOAD]Iron]

I always put the Beast Timer to its maximum (50 rounds?) value and that way I should be tough enough when one gets here.

[pApA^LeGBa]

Originally posted by pApA^LeGBa:

What you can do is using expansions. City and Highland for example. They don´t go in there.

I stand corrected here. Thrano does go into expansion areas. The only one so far tough.