Almost started a new thread for this but I can re-position it as a combat question of sorts.
Sat down today for a session of the Monolith quest, and after my “Exploding enemies” experience above I went into the game expecting that I would do a better job planning ambushes, but I guess I “pressed my luck” too far. I was eyeing up one denizen in pursuit with 2 time in its pool (and ignoring another with ~5 time in its pool), and thought I had time to explore the next location and resolve its encounter. But the location encounter plus (level 1) threat card plus bolster spawned 3 quite powerful enemies at once.
These “exploding enemies” experiences feel very daunting and disheartening. I could flee, but that would cost time, and (after the 1 time already spent exploring) would put me right into another round of combat with the denizen I had been planning to ambush. While I’m still learning the game, I feel like I am failing to identify the correct point of application for strategic planning – in this case, I had mis-identified “2 time left on the denizen card” as a game-state permitting exploration without big threats, but I was wrong since, with (surprisingly frequent) bad luck, that game-state could (and did) go sideways. So, the next time I play, I’ll try setting that parameter to 3.
To put things as a question: do you anticipate that players who “get it” should be thinking about the balance between (a) exploration and (b) the threat of combat as a kind of push-your-luck mechanic?
I don’t know. Am genuinely interested in how people interact with the game.
For myself, I try and “complete the quest” and hope for interesting narrative excursions along the way. Puzzling out “the game” i look for tactical advantages based on the “state of the board”.
I very rarely ambush denizens on the peril track, unless they look weak or I can peek at something concealed and think I may be able to recruit them. Typically, I’ll keep ahead of them, looking for secret doors and items that might let me out run them.
Exploration very often results in non-combative encounters, but its dangerous to push your luck hoping for a peaceful location. The quests are paced to allow you to rest but not too often.
I like that you have to choose between facing your pursuit or running the risk of bouncing off one combat straight into another. The other option would be to look for something to add more time tokens to the pursuit; for example, moving through a secret door or using an appropriate item.
Sometimes if you have a high Grit, companions, certain items and so on – you might run the risk of a couple of rounds of combat in order to strike a very large damage blow and lay claim to all that loot and experience.
However, it may be that the Convergence encounter with the Anarchomage is too difficult; for example, its possible there should be no Bolster(1). That’s probably the worse denizen entourage you can face in the base game!
For a new player (or, for me, at least) this is surprising to learn. Do you suppose that as players learn the game they will align to this strategy, or do you suppose there are other successful playstyles that rely on ambush more frequently?
Here are a few elements of the game’s design that stood out to me in early playthroughs and that had led me to suppose that ambush would be an important component of effective threat management:
the rules overhead and footprint on the table for denizens and the fact that if you don’t defeat denizens they generally remain unresolved and in pursuit, creating a lingering demand on the player for upkeep.
the existence of the ambush action.
the positioning of Vixen as a good “starter” hero, whose special ability “lay in wait” buffs the Ambush action (intimating to new players that this is perhaps an important strategy to learn).
the frequent experience of trying to keep ahead of denizens in pursuit but then ending up in an encounter that causes time to pass such that I am forced to confront denizens in pursuit at an inopportune time and/or alongside fresh denizens.
All this had led me to the view that if I wanted to experience an emerging narrative, I first needed to find a way to deal with denizens to avoid beat-downs; I am not searching for strategies because I like identifying strategies.
I’ll keep at it, over time, but I guess one way to put it for now – you’ve suggested elsewhere that you’re looking for a 60% win rate, but as someone learning the game and mis-identifying what could work as successful strategies, right now it feels much, much lower. This makes for a challenging learning curve.
Ambush should be a great strategy at the right time. I just use it less often. I think this says more about my internal narrative than any specific game winning tactic. I imagine outrunning pursuit rather than turning to face the hunters. Perhaps I’m just a scaredy-cat
The Monolith (and tutorial) start with an enemy in pursuit; a nice head tilt to the narrative of being hunted in the jungle. But most quests start with an empty peril track, and you need to attract the attention of something before you see somebody hunting you.
