“I am the friend of bears and the guest of eagles. I am Ringwinner and Luckwearer; and I am Barrel-rider.”

–Bilbo Baggins, The Hobbit

Middle-earth needs heroes. A darkness is coming, threatening to consume everything in its path, and only those brave enough to stand against it can save the Free Peoples from impending doom. In The Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle-earth, you and your friends are invited to become these heroes, writing yourself into the history of Middle-earth as you set out on an ever-evolving campaign.

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Along the way, your heroes will grow with every new adventure as they master skills in six distinct roles. Over the course of the campaign, you can diversify your hero’s deck with skills drawn from the roles you choose, building a hero that reflects your unique adventures. But a hero is more than just a sum of their skills. As your adventures continue, you’re sure to grow in renown, bringing both your strengths and weaknesses into sharper focus.

The last time we looked at the heroes in Journeys in Middle-earth, you got a glimpse at the composition of a hero’s skill deck, as well as a closer look at three individual heroes. Join us today as we shift our focus to the remaining three heroes and the special skill cards that can become part of their decks!

Legends Never Die

Middle-earth is full of songs and tales celebrating the exploits of great heroes. Whether by fate or pure ambition, these champions earned their place in these stories by facing down evil when others would not. Similarly, as your adventures through Middle-earth continue, tales of your exploits are sure to spread among the Free Peoples.

While every choice you make during an adventure can have significant consequences, particularly memorable moments can lead to a completely new type of skill card being added to your deck. Not only do these Title cards give you powerful new abilities that can be used only once per adventure, they also mark your accomplishments in the campaign.

Come to the aid of your Dwarf allies enough, for example, and you could be named Dwarf-Friend by the Journeys in Middle-earth companion app, gaining the Dwarf trait yourself. What’s more, you can remove this newfound skill at just the right moment to make yourself and another Dwarf Emboldened and ready to take on any enemy. With twenty-one Title cards included in the Core Set, there’s plenty of opportunities for you to become renowned, from Eriador to the farthest reaches of Rhovanion.

But even the most well-known heroes aren’t perfect. Although they can master many skills, they aren’t immune to making mistakes. Rounding out every hero’s skill deck, then, is a weakness skill card that can hinder their efforts when it's drawn. Whether you simply lead your party Off Course, or some worse fate befalls you, these cards contain no useful icons or abilities—they simply clutter a hero’s skill deck. Worse still, heroes can gain additional weakness cards throughout an adventure, making their quest even more difficult to complete. Of course, you can always prepare these skills to remove them from your deck!

Ranger of the North

Beravor knows the hidden roads of Middle-earth. Through barren hills, tangled wood, and unquieted ruins, these secret paths are her frequent course, gifting both safety and speed through otherwise perilous lands. Once she is set on her path, nothing can cause this Ranger to stray but the call for aid from the imperiled, whether they be ally or stranger. No matter the cause, no matter the danger, she is ready for the fight.

Her uncanny knowledge of the many roads through Middle-earth make Beravor the perfect candidate to become your party’s Pathfinder. Beginning with the Trailblazer skill prepared not only means that she can quickly sprint ahead of the rest of the group, but she’ll also be prepared to face whatever she finds there. And, should they ever find themselves in trouble, she can quickly lead her companions Into Hiding before the enemy reaches them.

But that isn’t Beravor's only option. Just because she moves swiftly down Paths Unseen doesn’t mean she can’t bring other heroes along to face the challenges ahead. Once she encounters an enemy or a test, Beravor has plenty of ways to help her cause. Adhering to the Ways of Old gives her both a valuable success during a test and the chance to immediately replace Ways of Old with another prepared skill.

If she truly needs to pass a test, though, Fateless can prove far more useful than cards with success icons, especially if she also reveals Gift of Men. We’ll take a closer look at how Beravor—and the other heroes—can progress through the Pathfinder role in a future preview!

Wanderer, Warrior, Burglar, Adventurer

Not many years ago, Bilbo travelled east from the Shire and it changed him forever. He has sprung into action and fled for his life. He has sheathed a bloodied blade, flown with Eagles, and stood atop the wealth of kingdoms. And now—though he dare not tell his neighbours—it may be time for him to embark on another adventure.

Despite his previous travels, Bilbo is not entirely altered. Like any Hobbit, he still enjoys the Simple Desires of warm food, polite company, uninterrupted rest, and comfortable holes in the ground. But now, The Tookish Part of him yearns for travel and adventure, which he can find as your party’s Burglar. Despite his small stature, taking on this role makes him quite Self-Sufficient, able to avoid enemies and work on his own. More than other heroes, his Hobbit feet make more than capable of being Quiet to accumulate even more inspiration tokens to help with his tests.

In fact, the pull between the comforts of home and life on the road defines Bilbo perhaps more than even he knows. His penchant for being Well-Nourished does his body and mind good, helping him dispel the fatigue that might set in on the road. At the same time, however, he knows that The Road Goes Ever On, and he is eager to keep moving along with his travel companions.

Burning for Battle

Longing for adventure beyond his exile home in Ered Luin, Gimli is ready to release his ferocity and expertise on his foes. Like any Dwarf, a passion churns within him to deliver retribution on the vile Orcs that dwell in the darkness beneath the earth. One need not travel below to find them now, however, so Gimli hungers for the first call to action, ready to bring war against the rising darkness.

This same desire for battle and his prodigious Dwarven strength mean Gimli can easily protect others as a Guardian. It is more than likely that Gimli will be wading into the thick of battle, so he must always have a Ready Defense if he is to avoid being overwhelmed by the dark forces around him. At the same time, his Restless Axe is ready to cut down as many enemies as it can. If that is still not enough, he can always unleash his Fury to make his attacks even more powerful.

While he may appear gruff on the outside, Gimli does indeed care deeply about his travelling companions and will always be on the lookout for them. Indeed, his Kinship is so great that he will come to their aid, allowing them to reveal two additional cards during a test and—if they are in true peril—he will fling himself at enemies to ensure they cannot pass and harm his friends. In the end, his Poet’s Heart helps Gimli recover from battle and smooths his interactions with the people of Middle-earth.

Become a Hero

The road through Middle-earth is long and full of dangers. Do you have what it takes to face the darkness and earn the title of hero?