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Last Night On Earth: Growing Hunger » Forums » Reviews
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Owen Sieber
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Last Night On Earth: Growing Hunger » Forums » Reviews
Which Hero reins supreme!!! Tourney style... review of all 12 heroes.
This is a review of the characters and who I feel is the top character in LNOE and GH!!!

Round one had the hero's randomly drawn against each other. We will match strength and weaknesses to determine the winner... Round two will match the winners in their survival skills... Final round will match up the zombie killing factor... who kills the most!

LET THE GAME BEGIN!!!

ROUND ONE! -- strength vs strength

Jake Cartwright vs Becky

What a match up... two of the best support characters in the set square off in round one. Becky ability to heal any character makes for a big helping power... however she can not perform her magic on herself so that could cause issues. Jake on the other side is a card farming fool. Being able to draw two cards a search not only can outfit him with weapons, but could get key scenario items... BAD thing is that hero deck can get used up rather fast and could put the Hero's in danger...

WINNER: JAKE CARTWRIGHT; His card farming pushes over the top

Jenny vs Father Joseph
Opposite attract in this match up. Jenny is the jack of all trades. she can keep items fresh for action. She also can really take advantage on her home turf on the farm... but her lack of wounds can doom here is she is fighting more than one zombie. Father Joseph can be a great asset with his ability to cancel zombie cards. Bless this man and he can be tough to stop. Not being able to use a gun can slow him down knowing he has to get right on top of them.

WINNER: FATHER JOSEPH; Jenny just can not hold up in a fight like the father.

Sam vs Sally
Brawn vs brain. Sam is big and strong. He can take the most damage in a fight and has a big advantage over zombies when they draw cards. no real weakness here. Sally has a big advantage in making the Zombies re roll their dice... but that does not guarantee success. two wounds is tough to over come, even with her ability to heal...

WINNER: Sam; those extra wounds he can take really makes him an early favorite.

Billy vs Amanda
These high school mates really shine... Billy can get away from most fights with his extra movement. even on a roll of 1 he can still get distance between him and his foes. Amanda shows a little leg and them guys just want to fight even harder for her. That could be key... match that with her ability to get away from danger is another big point.

WINNER: Amanda; when it all comes down, she can tag team with a male and they can make an awesome dual.

Johnny vs Kenny
With the right weapon, Johnny can be a zombie killing machine. Not only can he take the fight to the zombies... he can keep on moving to bash some more. He also can pave the way for his friends. Kenny can match Johnny in killing zombies, if he is willing to pay the price. Taking a wound could kill him in the long run if he can not find a place to sit back and heal.

WINNER: Johnny; He just keeps killing with that bat and not take wounds to do it.

Rachelle vs Sheriff Anderson
Time for the strong arm of the law. Rachelle has the same gun as the sheriff. she also has a flash light and can get a leg up on getting items with it. She also can block a kill on a 6+ roll. That could just save her life. Sheriff Anderson can never really run out of bullets. Just sit in a building and kill the zombies from afar. No need to run when they can not even get to you. This is a tough one...

WINNER: Sheriff Anderson; not having to worry about losing his gun is big.

ROUND TWO -- Survival skills

Johnny vs Sheriff Anderson
Johnny blitz move means he can break though the zombie line and run for shelter. He can also fully heal if he just sits and waits. Sheriff Anderson has an extra wound and will not get into many hand to hand fights.

WINNER: Sheriff Anderson; when it comes down to it... Anderson can stay away from most fights... and if you can not get bitten, you will not die.

Sam vs Amanda
4 wounds means Sam can hang in a fight for a very long time. 3+ zombies can be handled if needed. Not only can Amanda heal if needed... she has a 50/50 chance of not even fighting. 3+ zombies can be handle by not even fighting... and if she does... she can heal if needed.

WINNER: Amanda; Hide and seek is the key to success...

Jake Cartwright vs Father Joseph
Jake relies on his card farming to get items to keep him alive. That could make the difference from living or dying. Father Joseph when needed can take a chance to cancel a card at the expense of losing a wound. but if he gets blessed, he can survive for a very long time. Both require cards to survive long in the game.

WINNER: Father Joseph. Being blessed for the game is to big to overlook.

ROUND THREE FINAL ROUND -- zombie killing factor
All three of our finalist will face up to see who is the zombie killing machine.
Father Joseph, if blessed and armed with a weapon can really sleigh the zombies. In most games he has racked up the body count. Amanda on her own is not a killing machine... but with them looks she does not need to be. She lets all the guys around her become the killing machine. I say that counts since they are killing them in her name. Sheriff Anderson with that revolver is tough to compete against. He can camp and kill... camp and kill... with some good luck he can take the zombie killing title...

WINNER: SHERRIFF ANDERSON...

That's right, in my personal opinion, Sheriff Anderson is still the strongest character in the game. I know... Sam it big and tough... Father Joseph with blessing can hurt... Rachelle has a gun too... but what they all lack is the ability to get that gun NO MATTER where he is. any building can reload that gun. because of that Mr. Anderson to me is the best character in LNOE.
Seiya V
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interesting post! While I can't say anything about the new heroes yet (argh! Japan!) I will say that imo the heroes that (at least for me) are consistently good are Sally and the Sheriff. Having the ability to start with and pick up a revolver is just wonderful, and Sally is always really good at winning fights.

I would agree with two of your top 3, Joseph can be a real pain for the zombie players if you can somehow get some healing items/events for him. (Plus that one time when we got Joe with Faith + Chainsaw + Heroic Resolve... he took at least 30 fights and never lost a single one; it was the mansion scenario.)

I'll be surprised if I like Sam more than Sally, but we shall see. I'm excited to play as the new heroes, they all sound really good.

EDIT: as far as the worst goes, I think Billy has been by far the worst hero. His +1 movement, while good, rarely REALLY helps and he has no combat abilities to help during fights like the other students...
Last edited on 2008-04-03 05:54:01 CST (Total Number of Edits: 1)
Owen Sieber
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seiyaaa wrote:

EDIT: as far as the worst goes, I think Billy has been by far the worst hero. His +1 movement, while good, rarely REALLY helps and he has no combat abilities to help during fights like the other students...


Ya, to me... Billy pretty much sucks... that +1 movement has saved his tail... his lack of combat skills makes him a pure card farmer.
Brad Cooper
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In my regular group, absolutely everyone fights over who gets to be Becky.
Owen Sieber
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WhiteKong wrote:
In my regular group, absolutely everyone fights over who gets to be Becky.


Becky is a great supporter. Her heal ability is invaluable. Shae is like a must for any group...
David Knepper
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070809
There is only one true hero. The zombie Hero!
Pete McCartney
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0708
Heh, in one of my groups, they absolutely hate the Sheriff, they try to avoid getting him :P
I personally like Sally, the I've seen her Re-Rolls save her from a 6-1 Zombie pile-up without taking a single wound.
and the Father/Becky Combo, Blessing, the ability to cancel a card with a wound... and then healing of the wounds so it can be done all over again. Plus they are immune to "It could be our last night on Earth"
model359 wrote:
seiyaaa wrote:

EDIT: as far as the worst goes, I think Billy has been by far the worst hero. His +1 movement, while good, rarely REALLY helps and he has no combat abilities to help during fights like the other students...


Ya, to me... Billy pretty much sucks... that +1 movement has saved his tail... his lack of combat skills makes him a pure card farmer.

Yes, Billy is totally outshined by his girlfriend, and all other characters.

In our games, we use a variant rule for him. He rolls TWO dice and the highest is picked, +1.

Makes him actually playable.
Last edited on 2008-04-04 09:19:56 CST (Total Number of Edits: 1)
Seiya V
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OrangeCat X wrote:
model359 wrote:
seiyaaa wrote:

EDIT: as far as the worst goes, I think Billy has been by far the worst hero. His +1 movement, while good, rarely REALLY helps and he has no combat abilities to help during fights like the other students...


Ya, to me... Billy pretty much sucks... that +1 movement has saved his tail... his lack of combat skills makes him a pure card farmer.

Yes, Billy is totally outshined by his girlfriend, and all other characters.

In our games, we use a variant rule for him. He rolls TWO dice and the highest is picked, +1.

Makes him actually playable.


Yeah I've tried this variant rule as well. I'm not sure if it makes Billy more power than he should be, but I have to say that it definitely makes him much stronger than he is right now. (If I am using this rule, I don't groan when I pick him randomly...)

I'm curious to hear if other players pick their heroes randomly. Otherwise characters like Billy would never get any play with my group!
Elstree
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OrangeCat X wrote:
In our games, we use a variant rule for him. He rolls TWO dice and the highest is picked, +1.

Makes him actually playable.


Yeah, we do something similar, except without adding the +1. We've played him that way a half dozen times now and it really seems to bring him in line with the other characters. It's a permanent house rule for us.

Edit: I see you've already found that thread. Great minds think alike!
Last edited on 2008-04-05 01:05:54 CST (Total Number of Edits: 1)
Seiya V
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oh wait I totally didn't read that you pick the highest THEN add 1. Yeah I have to agree with the previous poster who said they dont add the +1. I think doing both is a little unbalanced, but rolling 2 die and picking the highest is great.

The zombie player doesn't complain too much because when Heavy Rain is in play Billy gets -1 just like everyone else.
Brian M
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Yeah, we do something similar, except without adding the +1. We've played him that way a half dozen times now and it really seems to bring him in line with the other characters.


I hate to break this to you, but rolling 1 die gives you an average of 3.5; +1 makes it 4.5.

Rolling 2 dice and taking the highest gives you an average of 4.5 (actually 4.47, but that's being picky) as well - and a lower maximum and minimum!

As to the original poster - interesting analysis...but, the Sheriff as the best??? Bah. Search in the gun store or police station and get the shotgun back instead!

Of the old characters, I think Becky is the most useful - that healing rocks! Jake's my pick for second. The Father probably has our highest mortality rate of any hero; make of that what you will.
Last edited on 2008-04-05 08:50:49 CST (Total Number of Edits: 1)
Elstree
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StormKnight wrote:
I hate to break this to you, but rolling 1 die gives you an average of 3.5; +1 makes it 4.5.

Rolling 2 dice and taking the highest gives you an average of 4.5 (actually 4.47, but that's being picky) as well - and a lower maximum and minimum!


True, if you're only comparing means then the two methods give basically the same expected value. However, the best-of-two (Bo2) method produces a skewed distribution that makes a higher result more likely and a lower result less likely:


Roll Bo2 d6+1
1 2.8 0.0
2 8.3 16.7
3 13.9 16.7
4 19.4 16.7
5 25.0 16.7
6 30.6 16.7
7 0.0 16.7

To compare: Bo2 d6+1
The probability of rolling 1: 2.8% 0.0%
The probability of rolling 2 or less: 11.1% 16.7%
The probability of rolling 3 or less: 25.0% 33.3%
The probability of rolling 4 or more: 75.0% 66.7%
The probability of rolling 5 or more: 55.6% 50.0%
The probability of rolling 6 or more: 30.6% 33.3%
The probability of rolling 7: 0.0% 16.7%

In most of the games I've played 4 seems to be the critical number. A move of 4 is often what you need to make a dash from building to building; anything less and you're usually better off standing your ground and searching. True, the d6+1 method does give you no chance of rolling a 1 and the additional possibility of rolling a 7, but honestly, how often do you need to move 7 spaces? Most of the time a 4 or 5 is what I need to get where I want to go.

So, compared to the d6+1 method I find the Bo2 method reduces the chances of getting a roll I can't use from 1-in-3 to 1-in-4 and increases the chances of getting a roll I can use from 2-in-3 to 3-in-4.
Brian M
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I did mess up somewhere when I was looking at this; I initially came up with 1d+1 being better for everything but distances of 3 and 4 which is wrong. However, I still think getting a move of 6 or 7 is very important; a move 4 will usually only get you to the closest building, often in the same board section. When you really need to vacate or want to get to a specific building in another board section, you need a 6 or 7 to get there.

While I can see best of 2 has its advantages, the chance of getting the better roll on the middle range numbers is only in the 5%-8% better range, which makes me think that the people saying 2d is drastically better are probably convincing themselves it helps more than it really does.
Owen Sieber
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StormKnight wrote:

As to the original poster - interesting analysis...but, the Sheriff as the best??? Bah. Search in the gun store or police station and get the shotgun back instead!


I took more into account... what happens if the boards dealt do not have the gunshop nor the police station. with the added boards it makes that even more possible. With that, then the only way to get a gun back is to have him retrieve it.

also, he can be anywhere to re-arm. He does not have to run all the way across town to get it back. +++ those buildings that give you a gun search are usually the ones that get taken over first or lights out. Even making them tougher.

Take all those into account, he to me is the best character and the one I gun to kill in all games.
Last edited on 2008-04-06 10:20:46 CST (Total Number of Edits: 1)
tim Tim TIm TIM TIMMY!!
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The Sheriff is the one I would pick first, every time, you start with a gun and get to shoot right away. Killing the lead zombie heading to a building with a hero in it can make such a big difference to the heros. WHo get the extra turn to search and still get out safe.

Becky & the pastor are one of my favorite combo's


What about having Billy get +2 to move , but a Max of 6 movement still? Then he has a Min. move of 3 which is really great, but he still max's out at 6 like everyone else?

Just a thought?
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