A Beginner's Guide to Expert Leo gameplay (Full combat build

Intro

The goal of this deck is to consistently get a Big Gun into play with 15+ ammo, that deals 4 or 5 damage per shot, and attacks with 11+ . This Deck is made for Hard and Expert difficulty but for sure you can use it on standard. I consider Leo Anderson to be the most consistent, resilient and flexible Guardian to this day. His main advantages are:

• His access to Rogue cards. Guardian cards are very good but usually also very expensive. Rogue riches help you circumvent this problem, give you acces to Contraband for infinite ammo and on top of that gives you flexibility. The accelerated set up means great tempo, which usually translates into victory.
• His ability is very strong. Allies are among the best assets in the game, been able to play them cheaper and without expending an action is amazing for your tempo. His heavy use of allies makes him also very tanky, which mitigates variance/bad luck.
• His low agility is countered by his acces to rogue cards that evade without testing and by his tankyness. In multiplayer you should nevertheless have atleast one fellow investigator who can evade.
• His personal weakness is relatively mild.

This deck seeks to exploit all this advantages . This is certainly not a flashy janky deck but a simple to use consistency engine.

Upgrade path

Basic enablers-permanents (3XP)

As Leo you shouldn't be dying. Between you and the mythosdeck stand your trusted allies that should be taking most of the heat. Charon's Obol should help us get the core components of the deck ASAP. Adaptable allows as to...well adapt the deck as the campaign progresses.

• 2 XP Charon's Obol.
• 1XP Adaptable

Early game consistency and survival (7 XP)

The early scenarios are the most dangerous because we don't have our OP combos yet. This early updates will allow us to fight with 7-8 consistently which is decent on the early game and will still be very usefull on the later scenarios. Charisma should also be bought early to be able to have more soakers in play and to enable Leo De Luca. You can exchange "Let me handle this!" for other cards that help you survive more.

• Trusted > 2XP Reliable
• Steadfast > 2XP Ace of Swords
• 3XP Charisma
  • After Charisma Guard Dog > Leo De Luca

Money rules the world (6 XP)

Been rich is good, been poor is bad, what else do I have to say? Hot Streak is amazing in your opening hand, never mulligan it away. I don't recommend to run "Watch this!" early on the campaign before you reach consistently 10+ because of...consistency reasons ofcourse.

• Lone Wolf > 4 XP Hot Streak
• Emergency Cache > 2 XP Pay Day (after Leo De Luca is in deck)
• "Let me handle this!"/"You handle this one!"/ Vicious Blow > Free "Watch this!" (after Flamethrower is in deck)

Big Gun Core Build (21 XP)

After we secured our early game and have a decent cash flow we should immediately start saving XP for the core components of this build. Start by getting the Big Gun and then follow the upgrade path showed bellow. If a fellow investigator has access to rogue cards make them also take 2 copies of Contraband for maximum consistency. You should try to get atleast 6 ammo from a contraband. In a 3 player game I recommend getting 15+ ammo, in a 4 player game 20+ in your Gun. To protect your big gun from discard make sure to always have atleast 1 more asset in play (an ally). With this set up you should be able to oneshot most enemies in the game with 11+ (Ace of Swords, Reliable and Beat Cop will boost you up to 13+).

• .45 Automatic > 10 XP Flamethrower or 10 XP Lightning Gun
• Dodge > 2 XP Custom Ammunition (after you get Stick to the Plan attach 1 copy)
• "Let me handle this!"/"You handle this one!"/ Vicious Blow > Free Contraband (2 copies)
• 6 XP Stick to the Plan
  • Enchanted Blade > Free Prepared for the Worst (attached to S to the P)
• Enchanted Blade > 3 XP Custom Ammunition (attached to S to the P)

Icing on the cake (get if you have excess XP)

Here are some good optional upgrades if you have some XP left. I like Keen Eye because with Leo I usually end up stockpiling ressources at the mid-late stage of an scenario. I use Keen Eye as a back up in case the scenario forces me to pick up clues or do any sort of intellect test in order to advance. It is also good for fighting bosses with allot of HP because if you have to do 4+ attacks in a row you may want to boost your to 12+ and tell that -8 chaos token to go and f itself :D. Dynamite Blast is great AoE damage and is sweet to blow up a swarm of aloof creeps like Whippoorwill or Humble Supplicant.

• 3 XP Keen Eye (to be able to pick clues in case of emergency)
• Survival Knife > 4 XP Dynamite Blast
• 4 XP Upgraded Beat Cop
• 2 XP Brother Xavier or even 10XP Agency Backup
• 4 XP Vicious Blow or 3 XP Stand Together

Thanks for reading my guide. If you have any questions or suggestions feel free to comment!