Beorn is both one of my favourite heroes, and one I feel is sorely under-rated. I picked him out for both those qualities in the wrap-up post for the Against the Shadow cycle in The Line Unbroken.

So let's talk a bit about Beorn. Now, to be sure, there are other ways you can get 5 on a hero these days, and those heroes can then be boosted further with other attachments that Beorn can never have. And then there are other effective Sentinel defenders, with more and who can actually be healed when they take damage. But how many heroes can have 5 right at the start of the game? Gimli, Lore Faramir and Éomer can do it, but those are all conditional, and I can't think of any others. Beorn is always 5 with no conditions to fulfil. Even if you ignore his ability to defend without exhausting, you could simply use him for that 5 and 10 as an archery sink. but then if you do use his ability to defend without exhausting? Sure, there's a time limit on how long he can do it, but the early-game is the hardest part of this game. Let your initially weaker heroes and allies hide behind the bear as he tanks absolutely everything for the first couple of rounds and kills things with his giant claws, then let other characters take over defensive duties and Beorn can continue to tear through enemies. Start solid and you're likely to continue that way.

All of the above considers Beorn purely in a vacuum, but this need not be the case. If you build around him you can mitigate some of the problems. Landroval can be used as a reset button, as obviously can Fortune or Fate. Expensive to be sure, but they bring back the bear with all or almost all of his again to continue tanking literally everything on the board. Add in the ability to redirect damage to Dori (who unlike Beorn, can be healed), simply cancel the damage with Close Call or Honour Guard, or reduce enemy attack with effects like Horn's Cry and you can keep your friendly neighbourhood skin-changer alive and well and covering all your defensive needs potentially all game long. And don't forget that things like Sheltered Valley or Make Camp can heal Beorn since they're encounter card effects, not player card effects! Not to mention the occasional cry in my games of "Oh, everyone's text boxes are blanked. QUICK! HEAL THE BEAR!"

Overall, merely as a massive early-game boost Beorn is a beast, and when you actually include cards which support him he can get truly monstrous, not to mention the fun factor. I also consider Beorn the #1 hero in the game for pure unadulterated fun factor. A couple of decks using this hero:

ringsdb.com

ringsdb.com

Beorn is certainly a unique hero, and one of my favorites. One interesting thing about him is that he has stats that total WAY more than his starting threat (he should be at 16!!!) so all you Glorfindel fans should appreciate this. I think he is an amazingly powerful hero, and one that can be so SO clutch in the early game, especially for quests that hit you hard early on. I think Beorn's value also goes up in multiplayer, where he can handle multiple attacks early on, and then kill an enemy without needing any weapons or attack boosts. His favorite enemies to kill are obviously goblins, because he can handle their swarms and swat then down. I love the thought of Beorn, a giant bear, charging into battle, taking on swarms of enemies and surviving, clawing them to death!!! I think the artwork and the text on this hero is just perfect. Yes, he has drawbacks, and is a different sort of defender that Beregond, but one that is, in my opinion, more fun to play. Sadly, with many enemies having bigger and bigger attacks stats (4's and 5's) Beorn sed less and less use, which breaks my heart, because he is one of my favorite tactics heroes to play. But for some quests (The Battle of 5 armies comes to mind--very thematically appropriate!!) Beorn just shines.

WardenofArnor and BlackArrow have written great reviews here already, so I just want to add a fun little interaction I discovered today. In Helm's Deep, the Deeping Wall (https://hallofbeorn.com/Images/Cards/The-Treason-of-Saruman/Deeping-Wall.jpg) grants each hero +1 while it is the active location. After just purchasing, receiving, sleeving, and sorting a new shipment of MB Print cards (the 400 alt arts and The Brandywine Pursuit), I threw Beorn into a deck for the very first time with physical cards. After tanking a handful of enemies in The Uruk-hai and ultimately defeating it (there are some killer treacheries in that one), I began to set up Helm's Deep. And then I noticed: Beorn gets boosted by the Deeping Wall. He is immune to player card effects, but not encounter card effects. I look forward to seeing how that quest resolves!

With a stat-line and ability quite unlike any other, Beorn is probably one of the most unique heroes in the game. His stats surpass his threat cost comfortably, especially due to his unparalleled pool of 10 hit points. There is also no other hero with a starting attack power of 5, as well as no other hero who is completely unable to get attachments (save Sméagol), as well no other hero who is completely immune to player card effects, as well as no other hero not exhausting to fulfill a particular role from the get-go.

What this results in in my experience is making Beorn a hero who is either brought for his early game combat potential or where you boost him indirectly by other means. Let's look at those two scenarios:

Firstly, as an aggro-style hero who handles combat almost single-handedly to start off, his utility is certainly greatest in quests swarming you with many little enemies. In those, he often saves you from terrible shadows and can really benefit from his solitary point of defense while afterwards being able to single-handedly kill a smaller enemy. He will be somewhat suboptimal when facing fewer but beefier opposition, where his defense will prevent fewer total damage and where he will struggle to kill enemies by himself. That makes him somewhat quest-dependent, being sometimes not a great fit but other times an absolute monster when it comes to early-game combat help.

Secondly, he can still be built around (as mentioned) in the right decks. The most obvious way to do that is using cards to return him once he has died (since he will not be immune to player card effects once outside play), which includes options like Landroval, The Houses of Healing or Fortune or Fate. But there are many, many other ways. Cards I like to use him with in particular are Horn's Cry and Keep Watch, who pseudo-increase his stats by altering the relation of his numbers to those of the enemies. And lastly, another important nuance, while he is immune to player card effects, the damage assigned to him is not, meaning cards like Vigilant Guard or Honour Guard are pretty fantastic if paired with him.

So overall, while Beorn is somewhat quest-dependent, he will be able to completely dominate combat in some scenarios especially early-game in a way that very few other heroes can compete with. Also, despite his restrictions, there are very decent combo-pieces he profits from greatly, leading to him not only being extremely fun and unique, but also a very powerful hero.

Rating: 7/10

Decks of mine using Beorn

All my card ratings