Can-do Hank (24xp flex/solo) FULL BUILD

Level 0 (3xp c/o In The Thick Of It) version of this deck here, with the full build below:

(3xp) HS Telescanner (2), +1 Hatchet (1) c/o In The Thick Of It

4xp +1 Hatchet (1) -1 Schoffner's Catalogue

7xp +1 Charisma (3)

9xp +2 Jessica Hyde (1) -1 Trial By Fire, -1 Scrapper

13xp HS Aetheric Link (4)

16xp +1 Scrapper (3), +2 Tool Belt (0)

20xp +2 Peter Sylvestre (2)

24xp +2 Gravedigger's Shovel (2)

Luxury upgrades beyond this:

28xp +2 Lesson Learned (2) (need to lose 2 level 0 cards)

34xp +2 Trial By Fire (3)

38xp +2 Look What I Found (2)

44xp +2 Rabbit's Foot (3)

48xp +2 Unexpected Courage (2)

52xp + Ward of Protection (2)

Whilst I am not over-enamoured of Hyperphysical Shotcaster from a thematic point of view, its flexibility makes it worthy of consideration for inclusion in the decks of characters such as Hank who have both a low skill value, and a high skill value.

I have found this deck to perform reliably in both two-player and solo campaigns, and well able to deal with all three of the game's key requirements, namely clue acquisition, enemy management, and dealing with treacheries.

Utilising Hank's Warden Resolute version, with the Hyperphysical Shotcaster in one hand and a weapon in the other the deck offers multiple ways of responding to each task, as I will illustrate below.

Whilst this is a moderately difficult deck to pilot, its merit lies in the fact that regardless of the cards you have in your play area and in hand, you are likely to be able to achieve what you need to do with a little planning.

Mulligan targets

Hyperphysical Shotcaster

A weapon

An ally

Schoffner's Catalogue

Sparrow Mask

Rabbit's Foot

Clue acquisition

Operating from his 5, Hyperphysical Shotcaster offers Hank four, and later six, investigation attempts at a minimum skill value of 5, and later 6 in his Warden Resolute aspect, and 6/7 with Jessica in play. Attaching Jury-Rig will allow three of these skill tests to be undertaken with a further +2.

When Ally slot availability allows, Mysterious Raven can scoop a clue off a high-shroud location for a single action and resource, followed by an immediate free-trigger discard. This card is a target for Resourceful to bring back into hand for further use.

"Look what I found!"in combination with Unexpected Courage if required can be triggered when its conditions are met in order to grab two clues.

Belly of the Beast provides clue-acquiring action compression, and can be boosted by both Sparrow Mask and Scrapper to give a high likelihood of success.

When late game states require it, or when you have other weapons and resources to hand, discarding Gravedigger's Shovel (0) or (2) for one or two clues can be scenario-clinching.

Luxury upgrade Lesson Learned serves up two clues merely for taking damage, recycled through Jessica.

Enemy management

Hank's base 5 and then 6 in Warden Resolute mode sees all his tests being undertaken from a strong base, but this deck has many options to deal with enemies reliably.

Hatchet is an excellent choice for Hank, allowing him to test at a base 8/9, boosted to 9/10 by Jessica Hyde, and way beyond this if required with resource-based bumps from Scrapper. As Hank gains +2 resources in Warden Resolute mode from taking damage, and Jessica is able to recycle one damage per turn, he can count on boosting at least one attack using Scrapper if required. At the 16xp point when Tool Belt is added to the deck, Hank can switch between two copies of Hatchet if he has them to hand to deal with 4 health enemies without the inconvenience of Hatchet's kill-to-retrieve requirement.

Alternatively, running a Hatchet / Gravedigger's Shovel combo gives a useful +2 boost to deal with three health enemies, with the possibility of utilising One-Two Punch or a bonus action from an over-committed Quick Thinking success to eliminate tougher enemies.

Dealing with treacheries

Ward of Protection deflects irritating treacheries for a single resource and horror to be assigned to and recycled through Peter Syvestre

Peter Sylvestre's +1 (L2 version) and +1 (L0 and L2 versions) static boosts raise Hank's stats to 4/4 or 5/4, depending on which version of his character card is in play.

Sparrow Mask offers a brace of +2 or boosts, easily replenished by applying damage to Jessica.

Scrapper offers flexible resource-based boosts, with an economy drip from the +2 resource gain when damage is assigned, again ideally to Jessica.

But wait -- there's more!

Refill your hand and boost your economy by committing Take Heart to a failing investigation attempt using your base 1 to gain 2 cards and 2 resources, or 3 cards and 2 resources when Rabbit's Foot is in play.

Commit Quick Thinking to any boosted skill test to enjoy a useful fourth action.

Play Resourceful to any boosted test to retrieve Take Heart or Mysterious Raven from your discard pile for yet more cards, resources, and clues

Enjoy the twin benefits of action compression and being able to pace the advancement from Assistant Warden to Warden Resolute by attracting Attacks of Opportunity from enemies at your location in order to take damage and horror whilst you acquire clues or play cards.