While I've always liked his thematic ability, I overlooked this card for a while. Playing a dwarf deck one handed against The Watcher in the Water convinced me of its value.

I've typically built a dwarf deck around Dáin Ironfoot and used him as the primary defender with his naturally high / and gained actions through Unexpected Courage, Erebor Record Keeper, Cram, etc (no big innovation there). Often as Dáin takes on all comers, his can start to take a dive with repeated attacks. At this point in my card pool acquisition, Warden of Healing is my preferred source of restoration. And naturally the warden is great at healing two characters 1. So there is a fine combo with Dori, spreading out the damage a little so your tank and healer don't get overwhelmed. (This has been a problem for me in the mentioned quest since Mountain Wargs and various tentacles can be difficult to dispatch and frequently you have to figure out a way to just defend several attacks successfully for a couple rounds.)

Also, in a pinch Dori can be sacrificed if a shadow effect catches you unprepared and would result in the loss of a hero. Additionally, you can elect for an undefended attack knowing Dori will take the fall. It might give you some much needed flexibility.

Obviously Dori needs to exhaust to use his ability so you're (generally) saving him for the combat phase and if his damage smoothing ability isn't needed, he has a respectable 2.

This trap is easily my favorite. It's best in a solo game as there is usually only one enemy added a round except on some of the more combat heavy scenarios. And obviously should only be played with Damrod the king of traps for the cost reduction and card draw bonus. But if you go that route this card is incredible.

For 1 resource you essentially have Lore's version of Hands Upon the Bow but you can use as many characters as you want. Being able to to crush an enemy before they launch their attack is awesome as you don't have to use a defender or play the shadow effect game.

If you add in ally Anborn you can do this every single round and be able to launch your first strike attack forever.

This card is balanced by the fact that you pretty much want to play it only in the above combo. And that there are plenty of big bad enemies that are immune to player card effects and attachments. So you will want to pack some other options for those quests.

But for the majority of quests this is a great option.

Absolutley love this ally! I play him in a quasi-secrecy tactics Legolas, Spirit Glorfindel and Eleanor fellowship along with Shadowfax and his staff and he becomes an absolute machine. For the cost of 5 neutral resources you essentially get another hero for as long as you can handle the threat. With the aforementioned attachments he can use his staff to shore up weaknesses in your deck and with his Mount you can use him to quest, attack AND defend in the same round (or any combination of the latter) and he gains ranged and sentinel. And his stats are 4 across the board which match what the strongest of heroes only have one of in their base form (Eowyn, Beregond, Quickbeam).

Pack plenty of threat reduction and it helps if you start low, but the payoff to put in essentially a super-charged hero is well worth it.

Obvious limitations other than the threat limiting card options and starting threat you also have to acknowledge that the longer you keep him in play the less likely other players will be able to play their core ally Gandalf which is a staple in many decks, so some coordination is required.

But in solo or with careful planning this ally is one of the strongest. And pair him up with ally Treebeard to essentially almost double your power.

For a sample deck check out:

ringsdb.com

Besides being Grimbeorn the Old best friend this card is often very useful and has a few nice target. It can help our old friends Beregond/Beregond to be even more of a stone wall, or power-up it's rightful owner Boromir so that it can take advantage of both the boosts (for other heroes except Grimbeorn some form of external readying is required). Satisfying the condition is usually trivial so the boost will be used almost always.

Such an awesome action advantage card, sort of a limited but not unique Wingfoot. Better in multiplayer of course, where seeing a location each turn is basically assured, but also quite usable in solo with some encounter deck scrying/manipulation. It has some very nice targets, from many Ranger and Lore heroes and characters (Treebeard in high heels anyone?), to more particular Lore characters (like Warden of Healing and Ents for example). One of my favorite cards right now.