RE: LNOE Supplements
Ok yeah from what I read some players special abilities are better than others and only 1 or 2 zombie abilities are worth using. Here is a post from BGG I by no means take credit.
Quote:After a bunch of games, here are my thoughts on this supplement. We played using Defend the Manor House, Supply Run, and a modified Revenge of the Dead scenario, where the Zombies get Zombie Horde (21) and the Heroes start with Hero Card Pool (6). We played with both the Experience System and having the abilities to start. These scenarios were chosen to mainly to facilitate lots of battles and kills, as well as to run through the effectiveness of the Zombies' Outbreak.
We quickly found out that with the Experience System (ES), it is very hard to level up for the average Hero. The level up process only counts Zombies slain on the Hero's turn, but with the way the game works, it's very risky to go after Zombies because you would be effectively fighting each Zombie twice unless you kill on your turn. Most of the Zombie killing is done on their turn, aided by Zombie Hunger positioning. Even with godly Hand Weapon gear, victory is not assured. However, Guns stood a very good chance of leveling up a Hero, even though it is still a slow process because you only gain one level at most each round of turns, which incidentally weakens the effectiveness of Explosives at leveling up. Sheriff Anderson is obviously amazing here, and is definitely the Hero that stands the most to gain because of his busted Advanced Ability.
For the Zombies, the ES works out just fine, as usually a range of 1-4 Heroes die each game, depending on how things work out. Their Advanced Abilities are somewhat muted compared to some of the Heroes', with one exception (Outbreak). Overall, the ES is quite balanced, as the chances of any one ability fundamentally shifting a game is not great, mainly due to the difficulty in leveling up for the Heroes and the randomness for the Zombies.
However, the game shifts dramatically once the Heroes all start with their abilities, and the Zombies gain two at random. Some of the Hero abilities are extremely powerful with very little downside, even with a deck size of only 96 cards (what we play). In fact, the milling abilities only increase the power of some buildings' Pick-Up and Just What I Needed. It was using this game that most of the Heroes' ability rundown was compiled, so if you plan to use the ES, the abilities' impact are obviously somewhat muted based on difficulty in activating and then enough time to take advantage. On the other hand, the Zombies only have one outstanding Advanced Ability, with the other three being very limited.
The rundown is also in order of what I think a normal Hero would rank across all scenarios, with my opinion on how they would shift after factoring in their ability:
1. Father Joseph
His ability is the strongest across all the abilities that add extra dice for combat. There are no restrictions, and the milling aspect is actually a boon because it fills up the Discard Pile quicker. However, he's very difficult to level in the ES because he cannot use Guns, and will likely take some form of Faith + high quality Hand Weapons to achieve the ability. Very fair once that is taken into account. Shift: stays the same.
2. Sheriff Anderson
His ability is arguably the most synergistic: pick up and shoot the Revolver until he levels up, and then keep mowing Zombies down. We actually had Laying Down the Law on him as well at one point. He never had to hand combat the rest of the game. Probably the best Advanced Ability, given the Hero attached to it. Shift: definitely moves up, maybe overtakes the Father.
3. Sam
His ability is costly, as it takes up a Move Action as well as a wound. Even with the Townsfolk and Play Immediately restrictions, there's still powerful Events, such as Heroic, Now I'm Mad!, and Hero's Sacrifice. The fact that it is a Move Action and not a Search means that this is an option for Sam when he rolls low outside. This is one of the abilities that plays well with the other ones that mill. Sam himself is average at leveling up, but is more likely to survive to get there. Overall, one of the less powerful abilities. Shift: probably moves down.
4. Victor
His ability is pure card advantage, but you certainly can't expect to draw indefinitely, since you'll either run out of deck or run out of space (hard to exchange). If you start the game with it, the ability will inevitably result in a powerful Zombie slayer, and it's rare that card advantage will be totally useless at any point in the game. If any Hero is likely to level up with Hand Weapons, Victor is that Hero, so the ability isn't that far off in the ES. Very decent ability. Shift: likely moves up.
5. Amanda
Her ability can range from decent to downright worthless, depending on the scenario. Bad for searching missions (probable exception is The Ritual, because you have 6 Heroes), decent for hunker down ones or Zombie Horde missions. Nevertheless, the payoff is still only one extra dice, so it'll never be a game-changer. Bad ability. Shift: likely down, although she's already very good as a base character,
6. Sally
Her ability can definitely live up to the title of "Hunter." Like the Sheriff, Sally's ability is very synergistic, although much harder to pull off. Whereas the Sheriff will almost always have the Revolver and can level up a few spaces away from trouble, Sally must usually get close (can only use the Revolver) and have one or more of her specific tools (Heroic Resolve, Let's Rock, good Hand Weapons). The ability comboes well with Heroic Resolve and Let's Rock, as it allows her a chance to keep getting cards to feed the Zombie slaying, and her Youth means she will need to be mobbed to even have a chance at killing her. Given the difficulty of assembling the Sally slayer in the first place, even if you start with the ability, it's still probably not game-breaking, although very powerful in the right situation. Shift: stays the same.
7. Rachelle
Her ability is pure garbage. I don't think there's a situation where I would ever trade one Hero Search for a peek of two Zombie cards + a discard of one. This is also a Search, not a Move Action like Sam's! You can't even use this outside! Worst ability, by a mile. Shift: should plummet in value, but luckily, the guys just below aren't too close at beating her base character (very solid base, never disappointed by Rachelle).
8. Jake Cartwright
His ability is actually very solid. While Sally's ability is higher upside, it's not every round she'll kill a Zombie. But Jake's is active every round as long as he's wounded, so it'll trigger much more often even though it's the same odds. Good ability. Shift: likely moves up.
9. Johnny
His ability is quite weak, again because Heroes only go after Zombies once they are adequately equipped and/or in a do-or-die circumstance. The payoff is also only one extra dice. This is close to a blank ability, with the exception where he either must dash past some Zombies and doesn't want to take a wound, or he really has the nuts and mows them all down with Chainsaw. Shift: likely moves down, although no one close below moves up very far.
10. Becky
Her ability's activation probably means that her game isn't going very well. I foresee a lot of Dynamites, Lighters, and Flashlights ending up in the Discard Pile, mostly to help quickly heal up an adult in one round instead of two. A weak ability overall, but has narrow applications. Shift: likely moves down, but since her base is very close to the others, her ranking plummets.
11. Billy
His ability is pretty much a solid extra fight dice, as the cost is quite small, especially if milling abilities are being activated in conjunction. His base character is useful, but weak. This ability gives him a sorely needed boost at surviving, so in that context, it's a good ability. Shift: probably moves ahead of Becky.
12. Jade
Her ability is the opposite of Amanda's (with the extra Strange clause to boot!), so it's as good as Amanda's was bad. However, it's a bit easier to make work too, as you can keep some Heroes fighting in the center tile with Jade working the outer tile, or vice versa, with other Heroes being somewhat close in case she gets into trouble. This is much easier than grouping all Heroes on one board section, because then it's much harder to fight out of with all Zombies converging. She also shrugs off losing fights with doubles, so the extra dice has added value to her. Another good context ability. Shift: moves up ahead of Becky, but probably still not better than Billy.
13. Mr. Goddard
His ability is really powerful when there are other milling abilities going off. Keys, Rosary, Fire Extinguisher, First-Aid Kit, Gasoline. All of these items can impact games, especially Gasoline with Goddard. While the odds are comparable to Johnny's, the payoff is just so much better, and you are likely to want to use the ability, so this will go off a lot over the course of play. A real winner of an ability, made more so because it plays well with Fire. Shift: moves up, probably ahead of Jade and Becky.
14. Stacy
Her ability is only solid. The card selection is much better than Jake's, but the Zombie player can minimize the damage by placing Lights Out elsewhere, and it depends on luck for Taken Overs. Even then, she's likely placing herself in harm's way or going out of her way to make use of the ability, so I can't imagine it paying off consistently. Shift: likely moves down, but being an adult probably still beats out Jenny and Kenny.
15. Jenny
Her ability is 50/50, with one side being complete waste, the other picking up godly Hand Weapons. I will probably never gamble on this unless it's either for Garden Shears, Chainsaw, or Hedge Trimmer (Trimmer depends on the mission). Again, yet another ability that plays well with other milling abilities, but this one needs to jump through yet another hoop: probability. Shift: definitely down, considering Kenny's ability.
16. Kenny
His ability will only give the Zombie player bad choices, and because these abilities will rarely activate without them being in place at the start of the game, you will likely have at least one milling ability to stock up for Kenny. You won't get exactly what you want, but what you get will be powerful, so it's hard to complain. He's also not restricted to Items, so go nuts with whatever you want! Great ability, although the usefulness is highly dependent on others and can quickly become less useful. Shift: definitely ahead of Jenny.
Here's the Zombie abilities line-up:
1. Outbreak
The best Zombie Advanced Ability. It's always going to be useful, but can be especially crippling to the Heroes in Defend the Manor House and Supply Run. Not much else to say.
2. Infectious
A 1/6 chance to automatically kill Students? The threat is always there, and that's probably enough to earn second place. However, 1/6 odds aren't too hot at all.
3. Swarm
Stacy shenanigans aside, taking over buildings is a great way to shut down board sections or deny shelters for escape routes. The cost is high though (time, Zombies, and the large buildings aren't likely profitable enough), and you really need Zombie Auto-Spawn to make it work.
4. Ravenous
Even with Revenge of the Dead's 6 card hand, this didn't come up at all. If we played RotD with Grave Weapons, then yeah, this would be bumped up to narrowly useful. Definitely the weakest ability.
And now a quick rundown of the Hero and Zombie cards:
Survivor
Very powerful, and if you got this with another Hero left in the turn, hey, potential profit! It seems more and more that the Heroes' advantage lies in speed and maneuverability, and this card keeps that advantage.
Rise to the Challenge
This isn't going to be useful enough, affecting only 2 of the 16 Heroes. Re-rolling dice is already an iffy ability, but now you are also telegraphing it, and only one shot to boot. If you're like me and want to trim down the decks a bit after all the promos, this is a great card to keep on the sidelines.
The Hungry One
Mini-Shamble each and every turn is pure awesome, and gives the Zombies some much needed speed. Works wonders with Grave Weapons, especially Machete, Rusty Axe, and Sickle, since their downside has always been difficulty in getting to battle in the first place.
Anxious to Feed
It basically adds one movement to every Zombie spawned while it's in play. Obviously deadly with New Spawning Pits, and I'm pretty sure it owns the Rescue Mission scenario, even if we haven't officially tried it yet.
In conclusion, this is a great supplement. The ES is very balanced, and I don't think it will dramatically alter any scenarios by adding it straight up, unlike Grave Weapons to Zombie Auto-Spawn scenarios. However, Heroes starting with all their abilities is definitely tilting the balance, as the Zombie Advanced Abilities just aren't powerful enough to keep up, with Outbreak being the exception.
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