I'm still wondering about "What exactly is new in this release...?" and by that I mean compared to the NA version it is directly based upon.
We have some information... in what some are calling "NA 2nd Ed" but I like to call "Hero Quest Remake" set for release in 2021. "Heroic Tier" is the basic set that includes the Game System. "Mythic Tier" adds remake versions of Kellar's Keep and Return of the Witch Lord expansions "plus all unlocks." Once the game is released next year, we don't know what all will be available to ordinary buyers really, except that they won't get the "limited time" pledge exclusives (Sir Ragnar, "Mentor" and Witch Lord). The "Pulse Exclusives" imply you only get them if you order from the Hasbro pulse website (the male Elf and the other three main female Hero variants).
Equipment Cards: There's a big stack of them in the demo pictures. We don't know what is included in them, however, except for what has been mentioned.
The (obviously scripted) Q&A video mentioned the Hand Axe (EU weapon), Potion of Speed (EU Treasure), Holy Water (EU Treasure) and... Bracers (EU Armor).
Q: What's in the Treasure deck?
A: Same 24 cards as in the US Treasure deck.
Q: How does the Equipment compare to the original NA release?
A: Some new things have been added. "We've made some additions to the Armory... there you will find the Hand Axe, Holy Water, Bracers and Potion of Speed. We're also adding a few new Artifacts from our Stretch Goal quest books to your Artifact Deck." [He didn't mention the Cloak or Spear]
Seems a bit weird, since Holy Water and Potion of Speed should be TREASURES, not Equipment. There's no Armory (that is, no menu style board, just a set of cards), but that implies you can BUY those things. I for one would rather re-print them (or at least the backs) as Treasure cards, but still. [ This is a nitpick of mine, you can't buy blessings! But maybe you are buying the fancy bottle the Holy Water comes in (or making a donation to the chapel that so generously offered it). ] Potion of Speed + Swift Wind means you can really fly, at least for one turn!
Even so, we know what the 24 NA Treasure Cards include, and the one picture of a Treasure card (images are not final, as they say) pictured on the site is of the "4 Body Points Restored" Healing Potion, which is from the EU! The NA Healing Potions all restore 1-6 (based on the roll of 1 red die). So that makes me wonder if they are including the EU variations, or both, or if that was just a mistake. I say more the merrier, rather than less. There were more options in the EU Treasure, but it looks like the general pattern is they are making this the NA game with some EU things sprinkled in for flavor. And I can tell you right now if that 4 BP potion example is not actually included, it WILL be printed out and used by someone...
Next the Equipment:
"NEW" WEAPONS:
Hand Axe:
Hand Axe means a 2 attack, 2 attack ranged (throw once and you lose it) weapon that the Wizard (and Warlock) can't use.
Rapier:
Rapier will be the Orc Bard's starting weapon (Mythic Tier unlock). 2 attack adjacent and diagonal. The fact that he can buy another one and that it says can't be used by Wizard pretty much spells out that other Heroes can use it too. So it becomes equal to the (absent) EU version of the short sword, or a non-Wizard version of the Wizard's staff. Since it is a sword, however (and not an Artifact weapon), it could be vulnerable to the Rust spell. Costs as much as a broadsword, but then again we're assuming they don't adjust the gold prices of the NA equipment around.
Wand:
Wand will be the Warlock's starting weapon (Mythic Tier unlock). 2 damage at range. Doesn't say it can't be used adjacently or diagonally adjacent. Apparently only the Warlock can buy it (same price as a shortsword). Doesn't say that the Warlock can't then give it to another Hero to use. Weird.
"NEW" ARMOR:
Bracers:
Bracers would be armor that the Wizard (and Warlock) could use, and depending upon if they keep that restriction or not, could be used by others as well (can it be combined with other types of armor (besides a Cloak) if that's the case?). So the Wizard would be able to defend with 4 instead of maxing out at 3 (before any spell or potion buffs) in the NA version. Still weaker than the EU Wizard which could wear Borin's Armor and wield the Spirit Blade/Orc's bane, in theory!
Cloak of Protection?
The many mentions of "non-metal armor" and "Wizard armor" makes me think of the Cloak. Will the "Cloak of Protection" be available for purchase, and if so, will it be usable by other Heroes besides the Wizard and Warlock? Because if not, that means the Wizard's Cloak will be fought over by those characters potentially. Or are they going to say that Shields (and probably not Helmets) are made of wood only? Will the Cloak still be cheaper than chainmail? Because if other Heroes can use it, you need to make a reason for them not to just pass up Chainmail and buy it instead.
The Orc Bard gets a bonus if he wears "non-metallic armor and carries no shield" so that strongly implies that he can either use the Wizard's Cloak OR that some form of the Cloak of Protection will be included by implication. Otherwise that rule makes no sense.
"A FEW NEW ARTIFACTS..."
For the "stretch goal quest books" meaning the Spirit Queen's Torment and the Prophecy of Telor that are part of the Mythic Tier. We don't know what these will be.
"NEW" Heroes (each miniature is accompanied by a standard size Hero turn card, replacing the larger "character" tiles we're used to):
Female version of the Elf (included with every copy of the game; male Elf is a Pulse exclusive, which I guess means you only get him if you order from the website?)
Female versions of the Dwarf, Barbarian and Wizard (Pulse bonuses, see above)
"Mentor" a third version of the Wizard Hero (Mythic Tier pledger exclusive)
Warlock (Mythic tier unlock) + 3 unique "spells"
Druid (Mythic tier unlock) + 3 unique "spells" (one of these is identical in effect to Water of Healing/Heal Body)
Orc Bard (Mythic tier unlock) + 3 unique "spells" (one of these is identical in effect to Sleep)
"NEW" Monsters:
Mythic Tier gets a few extra (non-essential) Monster variants beyond what are included in the two expansions. You get:
+2 Orcs (there are already 4 female Orcs in the basic game, and equal distributions of each design, so no single "boss Orc" like the original +4 more in KK Mythic)
+2 Goblins (there are already 2 female Goblins in the basic game, +2 more in KK Mythic)
2 female Chaos Warriors
2 female Zombies
2 female Mummies
+2 Skeletons (what sex they were in life, who can say, but I suspect it's female...)
2 female Abominations
Dread Sorcerer (female variant)
Witch Lord figure (Mythic Tier pledger exclusive)
Sir Ragnar (pledger exclusive)
We have no idea what are in the new quest books, but unless they call for extra things like this, the two Mythic expansions will already have "enough" figures to populate those quests. Nevertheless, these will add a little visual variety and if you want more stuff to potentially paint, this is it. We don't know what colors some of the new figures will be. Will the female Heroes be blue or red? I'm guessing "Mentor" will be red, but what about the Witch Lord, will he be gray? Will Sir Ragnar be gray? The freebie "Rogar's Hall" used the Mentor figure, but honestly it's not needed, as the original game called for the Chaos Warlock (now known as a "Dread Sorcerer") to represent both good NPC characters as well as bad guy bosses throughout the official quests. More elements to use in your homebrew guests, of course...
Edit: The Prophecy of Telor introduction narration video from Stephen Baker on the twitter page does imply you're returning to Melar's Maze at some point. Of course other times you've returned to the same quest in the past, doesn't mean that labyrinth is laid out exactly the same.
It's a tiny little nitpicky difference or "new" thing, since the furniture is all solid plastic, that means you'll have some extra closed doors (4 in total) thanks to the expansions in Mythic Tier. Probably won't even be an issue unless your Heroes are running around seeing doors but not opening them. These are used at the beginning and ending of quests. In the original versions you had to swap the new cardboard representing them with generic doors from existing plastic door bases.
NEW QUESTS:
We have no idea really how many Quests are contained in the two books. We only know that it will be more than one each (they speak in the plural). Should we assume a minimum of 5 (the smallest official pack was Wizards of Morcar)? Or hope they're generous and go for 10 (as we got four with that number, officially, the only exception was Against the Ogre Horde with 7). I suppose they might even be super multi-part quests like the Dark Company (Advanced Quest) though you'd think they would have bragged about that one if it were going to be so...
We also don't know if the "Rogar's Hall Training Quest" was meant to be one of those included in Baker's Prophecy of Telor book or is just a totally separate "freebie."
But everything else is supposedly based upon the NA version. So that means EU fans can expect new Artifacts (for the Game System as well as KK & ROTWL).
You'll find new Potions from the Alchemist's Shop (no mention was made that these would be converted into Equipment cards, or that there would be an "Alchemist" or "Potions" deck for these four that you can normally purchase).
You'll be getting Chaos Spells (renamed "Dread Spells").
Multi-body point Monsters.
Save yourself from dying, etc. !
We don't know if they'll be missing the "Spear" weapon (2 diagonal attack, throwable).
You may be missing some favorites from the Treasure pile.
You should be getting the Artifacts that were "new" in the NA version.
We know there will be a few minor rule clarifications and fixes to certain quests, but the only example given was monsters standing behind monsters in corridors being revealed all at once. I could imagine the rules about passing items between players and selling back equipment at half price between quests being easy enough clarifications to include. But we can't really assume anything from the Quest packs that aren't being remade, can we?
Of course since the game is so similar, it would be pathetically easy to substitute the EU rulebook (either version) for this game, though the wordings of certain spells will be different, as well as the prices and power levels of certain pieces of Equipment.
Edit: I just realized that the Dragon questbook was explicitly going to include 10 new quests, so if that's the case, I am going to go out on a limb and suggest we should be very disappointed if the two quest books that were unlocked don't include 10 quests each. SO...
20 NEW Quests... (for Mythic Tier, anyway, and who knows if Rogar's Hall is one of them or if it's purely a bonus)
