Zoey Samaras: The Chef

There is a variety of motives, causing the investigators to stand against the seemingly unbeatable powers of the otherworldly forces. Revenge, curiosity, or simply will to survive when faced with monstrous being trying to hunt you down. Zoey, however, is different. She is on a God-given mission. While technically a Chef, most of her life is spent following God’s orders. He speaks to her and she fulfills His instructions, killing the wicked abominations and guarding our world.

Legacy: I have a revelation to make in the very beginning of this article. Zoey has been pretty much my favorite character so far, when taking into account both Arkham Horror and Eldritch Horror. She was always a very proficient fighter with added layer of other capabilities and neat skills. In AH, she had high Lore/Luck value on top of her fighting competence and due to her Killer Instinct only needed one weapon to wreak havoc on all monsters. In Eldritch Horror she got even better! While still bearing her Cross to aid her during fights, she was also able to get additional missions straight from the Creator. And due to her well-spread stats she was also a proficient gate closer! A “killer” combination! (if you pardon this unintended punchline)

So when I learned, Zoey will be included as one of Dunwich Legacy investigators, I was beyond excited. And my excitement grew even further upon reading all Zoey-related cards. I was a bit conscious about her skill seemingly being inferior to Jenny’s, still was very much looking forward to playing her.

SPOILER ALERT!

I was disappointed

Zoey I love. This is how I will remember her!

Skill values: Zoey’s skill values shape her as a very evident killer with one job – slaying the wicked foes. Combat of 4 allows her to rip through them with a great efficiency, whereas Will of 4 protects her from all kinds of negative effects (while also inviting to take advantage of some of the Mystic options). However, one can wonder, since she’s to be a fighter and only a fighter, why wouldn’t she have lower Agility? One point less wouldn’t make a noticeable difference, but could help her to either do a decent job at investigating or boost her Combat to crazy levels (there are characters with a skill value of 5 in the end). 

I don’t really find any thematic explanation for this choice, either. In the end she just seems like a worse version of Roland (another spoiler alert – you’re going to read this phrase again).

Strength 

Theme 

Special Ability: Getting a resource for engaging an enemy is a decent skill. It comes even more handy for a Guardian – their cards are expensive and they do not have any cards to gather extra resources (so far). However, if you compare Zoey’s ability with Jenny’s you have a nasty impression, it’s a slightly weaker variant, really. On an average you do not engage one enemy per turn. The difference is not that big and the ability provides a cool synergy with Zoey’s Cross, nevertheless one can easily see it’s on the weaker side of thing. 

 I am not too sure how to thematically interpret her ability, unless on a quite abstract level. Is it the killer instinct that enables her to be very ehm… resourceful when faced with monsters?

I have mixed feelings about Zoey’s Elder Sign effect. On one hand it’s very thematic. On top of that, many of Zoey’s tests are, in fact, Combat skill checks, so there are decent chances it will get triggered during a fight. On the other hand – it annoyingly often gets drawn during other kinds of skill checks. Moreover, quite often an extra damage doesn’t matter at all – it just leads to an unnecessary overkill – mostly because you can’t really plan to draw an Elder Sing or make reasonable strategy based on an assumption you will get one of 16 (or more!) tokens.

Strength

 Theme

Signature cards: Here we go! Zoey starts to shine for a difference. Her Cross is my favorite signature card so far. It provides alternative means of doing extra damage, while not being a weapon. Beat Cop style, if you allow me such a comparison. It does not require any actions and the resource cost is pretty much negligible, since Zoey gets one when engaging an enemy.

All points one can raise about an upgraded Beat Cop apply to her Crucifix too – you can snipe out single health enemies with a great efficiency (this is definitely my favorite use). If your partner did some damage to the enemy you might finish it off, just by engaging it – no risk, no nasty chaos tokens). When facing a major guy (Ghoul Priest level or so), one additional damage for the start of the fight might also save you one attack in the end.

Giving Zoey a Cross was an obvious design choice – it’s her starting gear in Arkham Files since its beginning and naturally fits a believer (a God’s warrior, one could say). I am just slightly skeptical about a connection between the holy jewelry and suddenly striking the monsters.¹

This would be such a cool graphic if not for the dinosaur-like creature
making a come back from Unexpected Courage

Zoey’s weakness might vary in impact, depending on few factors. The obvious one is the strength of the drawn enemy. The second one is its type – is it a hunter enemy or not? If it is, Zoey most probably won’t have to >>hunt<< (haha!) it down, though it might stalk some of her teammates. The timing (and size of the map) is also crucial. If there’s nothing very urgent to do, Zoey (or one of her friends) might as well go and smite the wicked. In this sense it’s just one extra monster added to the adventure, possibly even less impactful for a bigger team. If it’s drawn towards the end of a tense scenario… oh well, then it’s Cover Up all over again (these seem to affect Guardians so badly!). And unlike all the task weaknesses it still matters in the last scenario. All in all, it’s slightly more damaging than a typical weakness, while not being Roland’s level.

The weakness is an obvious thematic choice for Zoey. Even though the design is bit simplistic (and surprisingly similar to Jenny’s weakness) one cannot deny its thematic quality. She’s on a God given quest and once he points to another target, she feels compelled to fulfill his commands to the point at which failing does permanent damage to her mental stability. 

Strength

Theme

Class/Deckbuilding options: Zoey is a Dunwich Style Guardian. The class choice is obvious both mechanically and thematically. She can have some options on what to take from the different classes depending on your needs and approach. Regardless of exact direction, you can always use Double or Nothing for devastating blows (combined with a weapon and a Vicious Blow it does 6 damage in one go!), all round strong Lucky! (nicely supporting Double or Nothing, as well). If you’re looking for an extra fighting edge (and more chances to draw a weapon), Baseball Bats come in very handy. If you decide to help a bit with Zoey’s investigating capabilities, Rite of Seeking and Drawn to the Flame both seem to be a very good option. Finally, if you’re looking at some support alternatives (also helping with Zoey’s low Sanity), Liquid Courage does the job.

A Chef by day, a monster slayer by night.
Let's hope she does not use any of the gained monster bits in her day job...

 I have already mentioned how the Dunwich characters’ deckbuilding requirements are on the weaker side of things for me. Zoey is less affected, as there are tons of strong level 0 Guardian cards. However, I could picture her with a Mystic subclass so well! High Will would allow her to use multiple spells, Fearless to heal Sanity… That would not only make Zoey stronger, it would also fit her legacy image. In Arkham Files games her Lore stat (which is the spellcasting attribute in the previous 2 games) is on the higher end. Such a wasted opportunity! Not to mention, I feel slightly uneasy with some of the cards Zoey can theoretically access when it comes to the theme side of things (all Dunwich guys are affected, I guess).

Strength

Theme

All in all Zoey seems to be a bit bland. She does lots of fighting and that’s pretty much it. Even spiced up a tiny bit with a selection of 5 cards from different classes, she’s still extremely one-dimensional. In fact, in the post about Roland I criticized him for being rather dull. I am taking my words back – he’s so actually quite fun and even more so, compared to the killer chef.

While I do appreciate a specialized approach, it makes playing her bit on the boring side. To make matters worse, she is only slightly more of an efficient killer, than Roland is, while the latter can do so much more! We even tried her in a 4-player game, hoping her highly specialized profile would fit a bigger party more. Still she was a minor disappointment. Unfortunately the final verdict is not favorable to Zoey.

Strength

Theme

¹I am a Christian myself, however I can see no place for God in the universe of Lovercraft and definitely not the Judeo-Christian one. The cold, uncaring universe in which humanity is part of thin layer of a biosphere in a Necro-cosmos faced with unhuman powers beyond their understanding, Idiot-God Azathoth, destroying worlds at will and just all the lack of purpose do not fit with the concept of the all-loving God. It begs a question – who speaks to Zoey? 

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

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