Duet Decks

Hello again dear readers! After discussing all currently available investigators I figured out it might make sense to share some of my thoughts about successfully pairing them¹ in (well) functioning duets. Not only it’s an interesting topic, but also I have seen the question popping up on different forums.

Usually the dilemma concerns only the choice of investigators. Sometimes, however, on top of a perfect choice of investigators you must also accordingly fine tune their decks. Obviously, some investigators are more flexible, while others have more limited scope. 

Generally speaking, playing in a team encourages specialization. Instead of taking less efficient neutral cards (or filing out-of-the-class slots) to somehow mitigate the weak sides, it’s better to focus on your strengths and allow the fellow investigator to cover your weak spots. This is obviously only a general statement and full specialization might not always be the best idea (more about it in the appropriate sections).

So back to the original question – what duets work best at uncovering the terrible truths, preventing mankind’s demise and dealing will physical, mental and emotional threats? The answer is not straightforward (if it was, what a shame it would be, we love the game for the complexity, don’t we?²), we should consider multiple factors when matching the characters.

       1. Area of focus

In other words – what would the investigator do in the game? There are two main specializations – dealing with monsters and discovering the clues. You can divide these tasks in different ways. You can pair a specialized fighter (like Zoey, or Jenny with a “fighter build”) with an investigator focused on clue collecting (like Rex or appropriately customized Pete). You can also divide the tasks more evenly (60:40 or so) and match for example an investigating-heavy deck of Jim (with just a couple of cards for fighting) with a combat-oriented Roland (still throwing in Evidence, Deduction and such). You might consider a fair split as well, for instance – Agnes paired with Jenny (in this situation consider using all the non-Green slots for investigation-related cards).

A specialized approach makes it easier to use character’s full strength and enables you to take as few suboptimal cards as possible. On the other hand, it also strongly discourages splitting the team, which might lead to suboptimal in-game choices. The more balanced team might on the other hand suffer, when a particularly tough task is to be performed. A high-shroud location or a boss enemy might prove to be a difficult task and for sure will require full focus of both team members.

Even if you decide to go with a heavily specialized approach, please leave some space in the deck for the other area. There’s barely anything more annoying than walking around with nothing to do, just because no enemy showed up. Well, actually there is – being eliminated because too many enemies showed up and your team mate didn’t manage them all.

As of now it's the only asset rogues can take to investigate better.
That's why they don't make strong clue collectors and probably never will.

One or both of the investigators can (and even should) stock on some support cards – healing, card drawing etc. I recommend to bear in mind the specific needs of the team partner when deciding what support cards to take. Is their deck slow? Old Book of Lore will come in handy! Is he/she in need of Sanity healing? Liquid Courage might prove to be very useful! Sometimes taking a card that only our partner benefit of is a very reasonable choice.

        2. Luck/draw dependency

Some of the investigators just need the correct card to properly do their job. When left without them, they are powerless. The card engine is essential for them and the player can be easily doomed by not getting the right set of cards. Prime example might be Rex, heavily relying on abusing Scavenging or Agnes, who needs spells to get any job done.

Meanwhile, there are some who can handle work properly just getting any help – whenever Zoey gets a Beat Cop, a weapon or just even a Cross, she’s ready to inflict God’s wrath on the enemies.

Similar situation applies to the Chaos Bag. Some investigators (particularly specialized ones) will regularly attempt skill checks being much over the difficulty level, while others try to gamble and play the odds. As an example of the latter category, Jim comes to the mind, as well as pretty much every Survivor character. Jenny, with her rather balanced skill values is also slightly tilted towards odds-playing.

The ultimate push-your-luck card. And what an awesome graphic!

You should try to have at least one risk-averse investigator in the duet. Otherwise you are just asking gods of (un)fortune to punish you for your recklessness. On the other hand the conservative approach, while potentially safer, might not provide good enough of an edge against the toughest scenarios, so a bit of daring is always welcome (and if it fails you can always blame the bad luck!).

 

3      3. Tempo

Another important (and easily overlooked) aspect is tempo. Some characters/decks are naturally slow – they need to play assets, generate some sort of economy, gather resources etc. before they ARE ready to face the supernatural threats. Prime examples of such investigators are Agnes and Jenny. The first one needs to get the spells (or at least the alternative assets, like Fire Axe), the second one needs to get the costly assets and hopefully talents, as well as resources to spend on the talents.

On the other end of the spectrum there is Pete, who is basically ready to go turn 0, as well as Jim, who can just equip Grotesque Statue or Ritual Candles and can already test his luck. As Jim’s example shows, being a “rush” investigator does not mean not being luck dependent.

In the middle of the spectrum we can find Daisy or Zoey, who need to get an asset or two, but not an entire library/arsenal.

This is arguably the iconic "slow" card.
Starts paying off in 3rd action.

I strongly advise to balance this aspect as well. Using two slow decks might lead to being overrun in the beginning. You might have more chances with 2 “aggro” decks, but if they do not clear the scenario quickly enough, you might find your characters unable to cope with the challenges and knocked down/driven insane.  

The Amulet gives Wendy some options
to transition into a decent end-game character.

 .      4. Class

It might strike some controversy, but I don’t believe it is a necessary thing to avoid “overlapping” classes. Obviously forming a team of two investigators of the same class might lead to breaking one of the above mentioned rules (particularly the first one, but two Survivors might easily be too “aggro”, while two Mystics too luck dependent etc.). However, you shouldn’t be afraid of having some cards of the same class (unless you simply hit the physical limitation) nor strive to include as many classes as possible for the sake of variety. The only thing you should be conscious about is the unique assets. I strongly recommend not using the same unique card in two decks.

5      5. Development

This is not really a separate criterion, but more of a thing to keep in mind when pairing the investigators. During the course of a campaign you will get high level cards, which will further shape your deck. It may shift the focus of the investigator, change deck’s tempo etc. Please bear it in mind during both character selection and the initial deck creation.

You might start bit unbalanced in some of the aforementioned factors, planning to make adjustments on the way. Obviously you must still be able to cope with first scenario(s). 

Adding extra copies of Fight spells can turn your Mystic
into the main fighter.

Same principle applies to choice of support card. As an example consider Zoey paired with Daisy. Zoey should plan to take Brother Xavier (or at least heavily consider it) to cover for Daisy’s fragile physique. Therefore knowing her Will is about to be boosted, she should consider taking Rite of Seeking for the clue-gathering (instead of taking Flashlights, for instance). In other words – team needs that will be addressed by upgraded cards should already be taken into account during creation of the starting deck. 

All images are courtesy of cardgamedb.com and fantasyflightgames.com 

¹Same approach should also work with future investigators, unless they will be too different. However the points I’m raising are abstract and high-level enough to (hopefully) cover the topic for good. Obviously, I am only using currently published investigators to illustrate my points.

 

²AH:TCG is a fairly complex game. While it might lack the depth of so called “euro” games, it provides the player with lots of options. The number of options will significantly grow with future releases – both due to the growing card pool and possibly new mechanics. I believe we can expect new ideas to be introduced, based on FFG past approach.

Obviously more complex does not mean better. There is a sweet spot and it’s different for every player. By complexity, I mean what BGG describes as “weight” https://boardgamegeek.com/wiki/page/Weight).

An (Un)likely Duet

Ladies and Gentleman,  humans and otherworldly creatures, welcome to first installment of the Duet Deck series!

As I mentioned in the introduction I play all my games in a two player setup with my lovely wife. Therefore we strive to create 2 matching decks. You can achieve this result in few different ways. The most straightforward one is to divide two main tasks of the game – investigating and fighting.

The specialization doesn’t necessarily have to be full. First of all, you have to split sometimes, so you need to be able to cover the other side of an investigator’s job, as well. Also, if your main assignment is suddenly not important (no skulls to crush around or maybe sudden appearance of a horrific being made picking up clues definitely a less urgent task) you need to be still useful, at least to a degree. Therefore price for full specialization might be hefty.

First duet to be presented to you might strike you as bit surprising. After all, Roland and Daisy share part of their deckbuilding options. However, for the base set they are pretty much the toughest fighter and the most curious mind. Additionally, as mentioned in my previous post neither of us cares deeply about Skids. 

Both decks are created with a certain balance in mind – with his ability and handful of investigation related cards Roland can pick up some clues (Ability and Evidence enable to gather some even in high shroud locations, read Roland’s part for some tricks). Daisy can dispatch minor enemies or offer some minor support with bosses as well, provided she draws some of the fight-related cards (more about drawing in the Daisy’s part).

Unfortunately, the decks cannot be created without 4(!) copies of Base Set (and also additional Shortcut from Dunwich Legacy) or some proxies, which is one of their major drawbacks.

Assets (13)	Events (8)	Skills (10)	Weaknesses (2)
1x Roland's .38 Special 2x .45 Automatic 2x Knife 2x Machete 2x Magnifying Glass 2x Beat Cop 2x Physical Training	2x Dodge 2x Emergency Cache 2x Evidence! 2x Shortcut	2x Deduction 2x Guts 2x Overpower 2x Unexpected Courage 2x Vicious Blow	1x Cover Up 1x Random Basic Weakness

Overview: Roland works as the main hitter, obviously. That’s why he gets 7 weapons (though 2 Knives are there just to ensure he gets a weapon of any kind and possibly work as a way of dealing damage without using ammo). He still manages clues very well.

Notable weaknesses: This deck is quite expansive, so you might find yourself struggling for resources. This explains some choices made with cards (read further to learn about some decisions I made). Obviously bad luck of draw can screw anyone, Roland suffers mostly if he fails to get a weapon, however this should be mitigatable with Daisy’s help.

Opening Hand: I'd heavily consider mulligan if I draw no weapon, as this makes the team way to vulnerable. 2 out of Beat Cop/Physical Training/Knife should be good enough, though - even more so as muliganing such a hand would hamper chances of drawing them at all. You shouldn’t be too concerned about not drawing any cards for investigating – Daisy should cover it well enough. 

Choices: You might be bit surprised with some selections I’ve made, particularly with the exclusions. Let’s consider them one by one. 

I gave up on Dr. Milan for 2 reasons – Beat Cop is crucial for the deck and while you might consider using both in solo decks or when tasked with picking up clues, here Roland’s main job is fighting. Also, as he is unique, it’d stop Daisy from using it. 

Flashlight was ditched to free a hand, in hopes that Magnifying Glass will prove to be good enough (and it mostly is – though 3^rd scenario complicates matters a bit).

I decided not to include Hyperawareness also for two reasons. First of all, Agility is not very useful for Roland. Secondly, Roland usually lacks resources, thus wouldn’t be able to spare some for boosting his Intellect. 

Dynamite Blast also missed the list due to its cost. I have also found it to be highly situational. You can’t use it to help Daisy with enemies engaged with her, as it’d cripple her health, too. You don’t want to use it on your location, neither. And it’s almost never worth to use it on single enemy, anyway.

Using it is not really a blast

Last, but not least, I chose Knife for the backup weapon instead of Kukri or a Blackjack. I did it mostly due to its second use. You can discard it before replacing with a better weapon/Magnifying Glass for a strong use. Also, if you’re unlucky enough to have to use it as your main weapon, you can always as a last resort throw it at your enemy and hope to get a new weapon soon. Blackjack’s only advantage of not damaging the teammate does not excite me too heavily, I wonder what your opinions are.

Tricks: My favorite trick is luring enemies on locations with clues. It can accomplish a variety of goals. Obviously, it allows you to use Roland’s ability. Moreover, it also enables play of Evidence (1 shot to kill the enemy AND get 2 clues!). Finally, you can use it to take full advantage of Roland's .38 Special. I do it on a regular basis in The Gathering – leaving just one clue to get an extra edge against Ghoul Priest. The clue is not even wasted – you pick it up upon killing him, securing location’s victory point! If you “just” aim for clues, you should obviously target high shroud location (or in other ways tougher to investigate as explained in post about Roland)

To spot this card's true potential I had to force myself
to put into into my deck for trying out

  While luring hunter enemies is easier (though comes at a price – they attack you upon meeting) you can very well use Shortcut to move when engaged at cost of 0 resources and 0 actions! It also doesn’t cause any Attacks of Opportunity. If needed, you can also move Daisy with the enemy engaged with her. Otherwise Shortcut provides a way to “store” an action and use it whenever necessary and turned out to be very effective, much more than I anticipated upon seeing the card.

Beat Cop can be used not only to finish off bigger fishes, but also to snipe out weak enemies without spending an action (especially the upgraded one).

Upgrades: First picks for me are 2 XP versions of Beat Cop, as it triples (!) the amount of damage you can deal with this card. For me, Police Badge comes in next; with a Will of 4 all regular encounter deck threats should be dealt with quite consistently.

Monsters devouring civilians? Not on my watch!

Upgraded Magnifying Glasses come very handy, too. Reduced cost is a plus, as with such an expensive deck every resource comes. Additionally, freeing hands whenever needed might provide you with a free slot for a weapon. Even if the hand won’t get free, you can commit the Magnifying Glass and gain some extra clues. Out of the low-cost cards Extra Ammunition is very useful for Roland, as he has 3 guns in his deck - I'd put it, removing Knife, or two.

You should definitely consider an Elder Sign Amulet, even before 2nd copy of Extra Ammo (if your experience allows it). It competes with the badge for a slot, but it's not a huge issue. Even if you happen to draw both, you’re not stuck with a dead card. You can either commit one of them (quite strong set of a Wild icon and a Will icon) or use Badge’s ability first. Roland’s sanity is on the lower end, the amulet comes handy especially if he suffers a mental trauma (due to a defeat or failing his terrible weakness). To make room for both badge and amulet, you can get rid of Guts.

Shotgun is hard to pull off, as it occupies both hands.

Assets (16)	Events (9)	Skills (6)	Weaknesses
1x Daisy's Tote Bag 2x Magnifying Glass 2x Medical Texts 2x Old Book of Lore 2x Shrivelling 2x Holy Rosary 2x Dr. Milan Christopher 1x Research Librarian 2x Arcane Studies	2x Blinding Light 2x Emergency Cache 2x Mind over Matter 1x Shortcut 2x Ward of Protection	2x Deduction 2x Guts 2x Unexpected Courage	1x Random Basic Weakness 1x The Necronomicon

Overview: Daisy’s deck is heavily focused on clue gathering and support. It’s filled with tomes, out of which Old Book of Lore is the key one, allowing picking up missing cards.

Notable weaknesses: Deck relies quite heavily on pulling Old Book of Lore early on. Once you have it, you can mitigate lack of luck for both you and Roland, but you need to get it first. Therefore…

Opening Hand: I almost always mulligan if I don’t get OBoL (Or Research Librarian) . If you draw an otherwise asset full hand and Roland was also lucky enough to secure a strong weapon, you might keep it. I’d still spend an action for drawing a card every now and then until one of above is secured.

Almost a custom made card for Daisy

 

Choices: I went with bit of a spellcasting thrown into the mix, hence Arcane Studies (truly for Will mostly, as Daisy consistently manages even shroud of 4, thanks to her other assets), Guts and Holy Rosary are added to ensure successful casting. Daisy’s Agility is very low, so I decided to give up on any Evade attempts (unless with Blinding Light) so no boosts for Agility are included (No Hyperawareness, Manual Dexterity etc.) You should be able to either draw some means of dealing with minor opponents or wait for Roland to come and help.

Guts in both decks can be used on either of Investigators, sometimes helping the other in need. I chose Guts over Fearless, as the extra icon comes in handy much more often (Daisy’s Sanity is high anyway). Being able to for sure pass the test for Shriveling is of higher importance.

I gave up on Drawn to the Flame, as it typically only saves one action (Daisy should be able to pick up clues using regular means anyway), only generating issues. Flashlight wasn’t included as with Daisy’s high Intellect it would have been an unnecessary overkill.

Tricks: Use Old Book of Lore at all times. Use it to secure Dr. Milan as early as possible, with his boost and the resources he provides you’ll be set-up for a whole scenario. Whenever possible, help Roland dig for weapons, Vicious Blows etc. 

Also ensure to have some means for dealing with enemies, also using OBoL.

Later on you can use Encyclopedia, even taking a hit for it, to boost your Combat and kill an enemy. If enemy-free, you might boost Roland’s Combat (if he’s face against a boss, or found himself without a weapon and surrounded by enemies or even Intellect (so you both will vacuum-clean all the clues lying around.

Quick look into the book and Daisy gets super strong for few minutes.

 

Research Librarian serves multiple purposes, increases chances of drawing OBoL, works as a Wild Card book to be summoned from the deck according to your needs and provides extra Stamina. Once he’s out, sacrifice him at the first opportunity, to make room for Dr. Milan.

You can play Shortcut to move into Roland’s location with impunity, even if engaged with an enemy.

Upgrades: First picks are 2 Encyclopedias. Upgraded Blinding Light is also a strong choice due to increased damage output. I wouldn’t consider taking 1 XP version of Magnifying Glass, it basically only reduces the cost, you’re going to run with it in your hand anyway.

Later on you have to choose between Cryptic Research and Bulletproof Vest. I’d pick at least one copy of each.

It’s not easy to give up on anything to make space for new cards. I ditched one copy of Medical Texts and Guts for Encyclopedias. To decide, what to get rid of next, you must check yourself, which cards didn’t prove useful enough (In my case it was Shortcut and later on the librarian, as Cryptic Research provides enough deck searching capabilities and he’s quite useless, if drawn after playing Dr. Milan, anyway).

Extra Notes:  On one hand Roland can benefit dearly of Daisy’s toms and Cryptic research. On the other, they are both versatile enough to manage even if split. Therefore you have 2 options of playing them and should adapt your approach based on what the current game status is. 

Teamwork and planning are the key!

 It is, surprisingly, the most efficient team we’ve used so far. Stay tuned for next ones, though! Should you decide to try them out, let me know the outcome! 

 All images are courtesy of cardgamedb.com and fantasyflightgames.com