Thanks! Although I think that it resets any time it empties during the quest phase, not just at the very beginning, according to the Rules Reference: Unless there is something I am missing. (So, if the encounter deck empties before the end of the quest phase, you still have to reset it and deal any shadow cards later.)

I'm playing through the Khazad-dum quests, and the following issue came up: I entered the combat phase engaged with 5 enemies, but only one card left in the encounter deck. So I dealt the shadow card to the enemy with the highest engagement cost, and the other 4 enemies did not get one (yay!) as per the rules. One of my heros had Watchful Eyes attached, which forces you to reveal a card from the encounter deck if the hero isn't ready at the end of the combat phase. But I needed to use him to help kill off the enemies, and had used up all my readying on defenders. Am I right in thinking that I am free to use this hero this phase, effectively without triggering Watchful Eyes, as the encounter deck is now empty, so I cannot reveal a card from it? (I played it this way.)

That second link explains it clearly enough. Thanks!

I know this is not quite the same thing, but when you commit characters to a quest, they are committed simultaneously. So if one of those characters has a response (eg Firyal) it triggers after all characters are committed. Which is why you can't quest first with Firyal, trigger her ability, then decide who else to commit. I'm not certain about this, but I'm fairly sure A Very Good Tale, discards simultaneously, since it doesn't specify you should discard cards one at a time. (Compare this with spirit Dain Ironfoot, who allows you to discard up to three cards, but each one is a separate activation of his ability.) And while not directly related, I found this in the Rules Reference: Which seems to say that cards can be discarded simultaneously. All of which has me now thinking I can trigger a Dwarf Pipe to return any of the discarded cards to my deck after all of them have been discarded, and repeat for each other Dwarf Pipe.

I'm testing out a dwarf mining deck at the moment, and making use of Dwarf Pipe to recycle discarded cards. I understand how it works of you discard just one card. But how does it work if I discard multiple cards at a time (A Very Good Tale)? And what about if I have more than one pipe? Say I have two Dwarf Pipes and play A Very Good Tale: can I return two of the discarded cards to the bottom of my deck? Any two of them? The last two? Do I have to decide whether to return a card before I discard the next card? Exactly when can I trigger the Pipe's response, when I am instructed to discard 5 cards in one go? Thanks!

Has anyone reviewed the two new Moria themed custom scenarios yet? I have the two Mirkwood themed ones, and while I really like the idea of them (essentially deck building for the encounter deck), in practice I found them underwhelming. (Though I'm playing solo, so probably not getting the most out of them.) Did they make any improvements to the new ones?

It can only really be used 4 times at most during the game (without adding extra ways to get discarded copies of Bartering back into my hand), and its unlikely I'd see all three copies of Bartering during the game. I don't think I'm likely to get through the entire deck, as I will be sprinting through the quest as quickly as possible (Return to Mirkwood, and I'll be playing two-handed with my Silvan deck, to spread the threat increases around). Also, Asfaloth (attached to Spirit Glofindel) should help wipe out the extra location quickly (and the majority of the locations have 3 or fewer progress in the scenario), and willpower isn't too much of a problem with my deck. (With an ideal starting hand I can be questing for 7 on my first turn with only two heroes and no allies, and no one exhausted!*) I have plenty more ways to deal with location lock if need be, but I don't think I'll need them. (I'm not playing progression, and I have most of the cardpool.) (*ETA: that's with just the secrecy deck. The Silvan deck I've just added to assist me, as Return to Mirkwood is difficult solo and forces me out of secrecy by turn 2!)

Thanks. I am using lots of deck manipulation and scrying, so now that I know it technically works, I shall give it a try and see if it works in practice.

I'm running a secrecy deck at the moment, with a lot of encounter deck manipulation, and I was wondering if the following combo is legitimate (and worth the effort): Play Mithril Shirt, which is guarded (location), to filter enemies in particular out of the encounter deck, as my deck isn't strong on combat. Then after I have Mithril Shirt attached to my hero, play Bartering, to return Mithril Shirt to my hand, and then immediately play it again for free, sending more enemies (and treacheries) to the discard pile. So, does this work!? Obviously there is some luck involved (though I can scry the encounter deck, to an extent, to make it less of a gamble). Also, I can probably use Asfaloth to deal with the extra location, so that shouldn't be a problem. Potentially, I can clear whole swathes of enemies from the encounter deck, if this combo is legit!