How to beat the first scenario on easy?

[Jaba01]

I'm just confused. I've tried it like 10 times so far and I always end up being exhausted before I can kill off the last enemies.

I've asked for tips before and tried to follow them, for example: Trying to avoid damage as good as possible, no rests until all cards are exhausted, not burning cards early. I've tried several different group combinations and I can't beat it.

Yes, I could totally watch a tutorial on Youtube and play after that step by step ... but I don't want to. Is there a strategy which pretty much guarantees success? I loved Gloomhaven the few times I've played it as a board game ... but the difficulty in this game is just insane compared to that.

[GAME OVER]

I could run a few scenarios with you if it would help.

[pitiflauticus]

What characters are you playing with?

[Sir Eyeball]

I have found that opening the first door before killing any of the enemies in room 1 will cause room 2 to have less adversaries. Getting into room 3 fast is also a priority for me and I use my spellweaver to that effect using my cloak of invisibility when I open the last door. Trample with boots of striding mixed with the card Balanced Measure is also a strong start just make sure your brute isnt immobilized and end the trample next to at least one opponent still alive. I usually go with 4 mercs and will not bore you with every turn but the first 2 should get you a good start

[Slow Dog]

Originally posted by Sir Eyeball:

I have found that opening the first door before killing any of the enemies in room 1 will cause room 2 to have less adversaries

This isn't true if you have two characters.

[Sir Eyeball]

Originally posted by Slow Dog:

Originally posted by Sir Eyeball:

I have found that opening the first door before killing any of the enemies in room 1 will cause room 2 to have less adversaries

This isn't true if you have two characters.

OK I did not know that as I stated I only play with 4. So its harder with fewer Mercs?

[Poopy-Doops]

I've put over twenty hours into this game and it seems that you have to grind , grind, grind to have any sort of a chance.
Leveling up and looting is painstakingly slow too.

This is a game for people who can't afford many so have to make one last them for years.

[Mechalibur]

Originally posted by Sir Eyeball:

Originally posted by Slow Dog:

This isn't true if you have two characters.

OK I did not know that as I stated I only play with 4. So its harder with fewer Mercs?

Not necessarily, you're just running into a really specific situation: only a set number of enemies of the same type can be on the field at the same time, so it's possible for fewer enemies to spawn if you open doors really fast. I don't recommend that strategy honestly, since even if you're dealing with fewer enemies total, you're dealing with more at the same time. Definitely not a good strategy is every single scenario.

[Sir Eyeball]

Originally posted by Mechalibur:

Originally posted by Sir Eyeball:

OK I did not know that as I stated I only play with 4. So its harder with fewer Mercs?

Not necessarily, you're just running into a really specific situation: only a set number of enemies of the same type can be on the field at the same time, so it's possible for fewer enemies to spawn if you open doors really fast. I don't recommend that strategy honestly, since even if you're dealing with fewer enemies total, you're dealing with more at the same time. Definitely not a good strategy is every single scenario.

No not in every scenario but in the first scenario it works really well. It draws the archers close and makes them easier to deal with and even the last room can charge towards you guys in room 1/2 while the invisible Spellweaver hangs back with a very low initiative and loots the chest. I have usually killed the archers in the last room with the 3 target firecard and any straglers she can easily deal with. The other 3 should be able to finish of the rest quite easily especially if the Brute trampled and killed at least one of the elites.

[pitiflauticus]

Originally posted by Carnival73:

I've put over twenty hours into this game and it seems that you have to grind , grind, grind to have any sort of a chance.

I have played both the tabletop version and the digital version and I have never had any feeling of grinding. In normal difficulty settings you can complete the full campaign in around 50h without any need for dedicated grind (repeating scenarios on purpose just to farm gold for example)

Originally posted by Carnival73:

Leveling up and looting is painstakingly slow too.

Looting is actually balanced to be a difficult choice, as moving to collect gold is generally a subpar move. Good news is, characters don't need a lot of items to be effective. The "normal" gold you get as you progress is usually more than enough to buy all the necessary items - so much so indeed, that there are too mechanism to "dump" excessive gold - the Temple of the Oak and the card enhacements.

Leveling up is generally desirable but you don't want to level up too quickly because monsters will level up with your average party level and if you level up too fast, you may face monsters that are too strong for your knowledge of the classes you are playing. Some characters like the musical note or the concentric circles can level up extremely fast - a level up in just couple of scenarios in some cases.

[Zeel Ara]

Originally posted by Carnival73:

I've put over twenty hours into this game and it seems that you have to grind , grind, grind to have any sort of a chance.
Leveling up and looting is painstakingly slow too.

This is a game for people who can't afford many so have to make one last them for years.

No point in grinding, since the game scales with your party. If you try to rely on "getting stronger" in order to win then you will keep losing, because that is not how the game works. Every single scenario in the campaign can be beaten on first try, on any difficulty. A few, and I'm talking ~5 will require a bit of luck if you tackle them before you have all your synergies online, but it is still perfect doable.

Telling yourself that anything other than your own understanding of the game is holding you back, just prevents you from learning. But yes, it's a complex game, and they could have done a better job on the store page of explaining that. A lot of people come in and expect XCOM levels of simplicity.

[Astral Projection]

Originally posted by Fluffeh:

Originally posted by Carnival73:

I've put over twenty hours into this game and it seems that you have to grind , grind, grind to have any sort of a chance.
Leveling up and looting is painstakingly slow too.

This is a game for people who can't afford many so have to make one last them for years.

No point in grinding, since the game scales with your party. If you try to rely on "getting stronger" in order to win then you will keep losing, because that is not how the game works. Every single scenario in the campaign can be beaten on first try, on any difficulty. A few, and I'm talking ~5 will require a bit of luck if you tackle them before you have all your synergies online, but it is still perfect doable.

Telling yourself that anything other than your own understanding of the game is holding you back, just prevents you from learning. But yes, it's a complex game, and they could have done a better job on the store page of explaining that. A lot of people come in and expect XCOM levels of simplicity.

Isn't it only party level that affects difficulty and not gear / card upgrades?

Not sure about campaign mode, but when I deck out a couple level 1s in GM mode with high level gear they destroy early missions easy.

[Aimeryan]

Only party level scales the difficulty - items, enhancements, and perks do not.

Prosperity scales character power via enhancement slots and item unlocks but does nothing for enemies (although, you can level via prosperity if you wish, so that will).

Reputation has minor effects on character power (via *slightly* cheaper items), while blessings from the temple will help for one scenario and can be quite powerful with slim modifier decks.

Levels increase character power via stronger cards, however, some classes benefit far more than others and, as mentioned, enemies will also get stronger - so levelling *can* make the game easier with some characters, but might not do much (or worse) for others.

Gold and perks are the main power increases. Some classes scale strongly with items while some scale strongly with enhancements - so picking what to spend the gold on matters a lot. Perks are stronger for some classes than others, but pretty much all classes make good use out of at least the first 5 - again, knowing which ones to go for helps a lot (removing the -2 and -1s in the attack modifier deck for more reliable rounds are almost always very good choices).

[Susurrus]

Originally posted by Carnival73:

I've put over twenty hours into this game and it seems that you have to grind , grind, grind to have any sort of a chance.
Leveling up and looting is painstakingly slow too.

This is a game for people who can't afford many so have to make one last them for years.

It sounds like you are doing something very wrong in your approach.
You absolutely do not have to "grind, grind, grind", you have cards that can earn you bonus XP at a solid pace, and Loot is there as something you have to weigh against your actual objectives.

What are you struggling with that you've spent 20 hours and think "grind" is how you get better at anything?