qualis · 206
Main Strategy
This deck is aiming for the main clue finder in multiplayer games.
Kate is a pretty flexible gal, with decent and . Her ability of dropping clues combined with the on the backside of Flux Stabilizer, means she will mostly have enough boost to pass the critical skill checks.
The goal then, becomes to ensure that you have:
- enough science and tool assets in play
- and enough clues to put on them
- and a means of getting clues away from your assets
She's like a mini puzzle you play along with the rest of the game..
Assets
All of her assets have these keywords, so it its mostly a matter of getting them out one after the other. First clue goes on Flux Stabilizer, then the rest goes on assets for +2 on skill checks.
The most important ones will be Chemistry Set, later paired with Steady-Handed and Fine Tuning.
And of course Magnifying Glass, a clueveler rarely leaves home without it.
Dr. Charles West III because he has the science trait, and because he offers an additional tool slot so we can get more bonus. And finally, there will be the odd case where you over-succeed by 1 or 3 and can deal out some damage.
Strange Solution (4), once upgraded is still a science asset while also giving you a means of fighting off the odd enemy. If the party brute is doing a good job, this card might end up being unused, but it is better to be prepared to tackle enemies.
Grabbing clues
With 4 she finds low-shroud clues ok, and then there are buffs.
- Magnifying Glass - +1
- Hawk-Eye Folding Camera - takes a bit of setup, but gives +1 once you gather 2 evidence on it.
In addition, clues on Kate Winthrop can be used to boost her investigate to pass higher shrouds.
Ideal setup is Dr. Charles West III, 2x Hawk-Eye Folding Camera and one Magnifying Glass, giving you +3 and +2 once you've gathered enough evidence.
She'll want to investigate primarily using Chemistry Set, as it has those nice side effects when succeeding by 0, 2 and 4. With 4 XP, it combines with Fine Tuning and Steady-Handed to allow for multiple activations, and adjusting success up and down to trigger the effect you want the most.
Use clues on Kate Winthrop to boost yourself so hitting the 4 condition is likely when possible, to grab 2 clues for 1 action.
Note that you can also put Fine Tuning on Steady-Handed to change a success up or down by 2. This makes it quite a bit easier to hit the +4 success on the Chemistry Set.
A pitfall with Chemistry Set is locations with shroud 2, as pulling any token providing -2 or more negative bonus will trigger the fail by exactly 2 condition, discarding it. For this situation, you can shine a light instead to grab those clues.
Lastly, you will have high shroud locations which are difficult to investigate if not set up, or when lacking clues to boost skill checks. For these cases, there is auto-success cards, namely Drawn to the Flame and Scene of the Crime.
Cycling clues
The obvious way is to spend clues to advance the Act or scenario state. If possible, spend clues on Kate's assets and then her teammate's clues rather than clues on Kate's investigator card.
The other way to cycle clues is to us the Aetheric Current and Aetheric Current, both of which clear your board for another round of clue dropping. However, these cards aren't always that easy to get into your hand. They go into your deck when you find them, so the only way to get to them is to draw a lot of cards...
Drawing cards
As she is fairly asset dependent to get going, we'll want to draw plenty of cards:
- Thorough Inquiry - Quite costly card as it costs 2 actions, but it effectively refills your hand. Will be replaced with Cryptic Research once there's XP for that.
- Chemistry Set - Draws you a card when you succeed by 2, which will be every now and then.
- Empirical Hypothesis - Combined with aiming for the "succeed by exactly 4", the condition of "succeed a test by 3 or more" means you will often be able to draw an extra card each round once she's fully set up. Not that Empirical Hypothesis can have Fine Tuning attached, so it can potentially then be used twice each round.
Resources
Playing a lot of assets costs a lot of money. In the early games we rely on:
- Burning the Midnight Oil - an easy +2 resources for investigating
- Chemistry Set - which grants you 2 resouces when you succeed by exactly 0.
Encounter mitigation
She does well against based treacheries, but her low is a bit of a problem. To mitigate this it is often a good idea to hold back Well-Funded, which often adds 3x , or a clue or two to ensure crucial tests can be passed.
Mulligan strategy
Chemistry Set and a hand-slot boost is what Kate wants out on the first turn.
Upgrades
2xp 2x First Aid → 2x Steady-Handed(1)
2xp 2x Flashlight → 2x Fine Tuning(1)
Both of these are main drivers in the deck and will be Kate's first upgrades. We drop DttF because of her low , which makes the card a bit of liability.
8xp 2x Thorough Inquiry → 2x Cryptic Research
At this point Kate is pretty solid, and one can take other upgrades to maker her more efficient. Order here is a bit according to preference and play style:
6xp 2x Studious - A good starting hand, meaning Chemistry Set + some hand helt boost, is really nice, so expanding one's opening hand a bit is always welcome.
8xp 2x Strange Solution → 2x Strange Solution (4) (Acidic Ichor). Take this when there's XP and it has been researched. She doesn't need to see a lot of combat if the brute is doing his / her job, so not an immediate priority.
10xp 2x Scout Ahead -> 2x No Stone Unturned - These ones can be used to find your Aetheric Current and thus help cycle your clues. Late campaign bonus upgrade.
4xp 2x Deduction(0) → 2x Deduction(2)
2xp 2x Magnifying Glass(0) → Magnifying Glass(1)
6xp 2x Burning the Midnight Oil → 2x Crafty - which helps pay for your insight events and tool assets.
3xp 1x Higher Education - A bonus upgrade for late game when all assets are out and the clue cycling engine is running, at which point there will be resources left over to spend to pass skill tests.