Basic Question from New Player - Exhaustion

[redspook 0]

Finally got my hands on the game and read through the rules once (no plays yet)...I have a probably elementary question.  The rules state you have to exhaust a hero to send them on a Quest and then that you have to exhause a hero to defend an Encounter Attack...does this mean that if your heroes set off on the Quest to add progress to it that they cannot be used in Combat exhaust Enemies that leave the staging area to attack?

[Budgernaut 6,255]

redspook said:

Finally got my hands on the game and read through the rules once (no plays yet)...I have a probably elementary question.  The rules state you have to exhaust a hero to send them on a Quest and then that you have to exhause a hero to defend an Encounter Attack...does this mean that if your heroes set off on the Quest to add progress to it that they cannot be used in Combat exhaust Enemies that leave the staging area to attack?

Correct. But there are card effects that will ready exhausted heroes and those are important to keep in mind. The Spirit sphere card Unexpected Courage for example, can be very powerful because it readies an exhausted hero as an action.