[GUIDE] Pings! The Perfect ∥ Zoey

Zoey's Core

As someone who doesn't particularly enjoy fighters, ∥ Zoey Samaras is one of my favourite investigators. She is really fun to play, and her unique deckbuilding paired with a powerful and synergistic ability is really fun to build for. However, after spending a lot of time with the investigator I've came to view Zoey as one of the most 'solved' investigators, in the sense where her card pool and ability do a few very powerful things that synergise greatly with each other, pushing her inevitably towards a certain path when optimised.

So this guide is a presentation on that optimised Zoey deck. It gets its name from heavily utilising actionless 1 damage pings which is both fun and powerful. I would like to go over some of the most centralising and/or synergistic parts of Zoey toolkit. Hopefully it'll clearly show the reader how this archetype is perhaps 'inevitable' in that light.

• Blessed Blade (4) - is Zoey's weapon of choice. She is a deck and really wants to hold one-handed weapon, because of the other two hand-slot assets she play.
• The Key of Solomon - is one of the most broken AH cards to see print. Being able to buy it and use it well is a key strength of Zoey. As an economy engine it pays for itself the turn it comes down and then generates an unreasonable amount of money. Then it transitions into the most powerful healing card in the game. While Zoey is not playing any generators, early game should be very abundant to come by just with Deep Knowledge and Faustian Bargain being the cards they are. There is an additional layer of synergy with Zoey as Key can heal Beat Cop (2) and Zoey really likes Beat Cop (2).
• Beat Cop (2) - the first line on Zoey says: "After you deal 1 or more damage to an enemy: Add 1 token to the chaos bag. (Limit once per phase.)". This heavily incentivises us to play Beat Cop (2) as our ally, as we can utilise the pings to farm a lot of by damaging enemies in different phases. Generally, if we need to use both Beat Cop (2) triggers in a turn, we can do it once in the Mythos Phase and then again in the Enemy Phase for a total of 3 per turn cycle (including hitting them in the Investigator Phase).
• ∥ Zoey's Cross - is a an incredible signature asset in the action compression it provides. It also has the same trick as Beat Cop (2) where if we need to use it in a turn we can consider doing it in the Mythos Phase to get an extra . ∥ Cross is comparable in power to a 4-5XP maindeck card, making any other accessory feel pointless (even the all powerful Lucky Cigarette Case pales in comparison). The ∥ is always worth playing as it easily generates 3+ actions over a scenario, even more if aloof is in the picture. ∥ Smite the Wicked might sound scary but the downside can mostly be split into two cases, both of which are manageable (not to mention you are more likely than not to draw a trivial enemy or even no enemy):
  • A non-hunter enemy is difficult/dangerous to kill with extra stats and Zoey suffers one mental trauma, which literally never matters for an investigator with high , Sparrow Mask and The Key of Solomon.
  • The enemy has hunter and the extra stats somehow make it scary. There are very few enemies that make ∥ Smite the Wicked a real lose condition. All the extra actions you profited off ∥ Zoey's Cross should also spare you the extra tempo to deal with the threat.
• Backpack (2) - we have all the aforementioned item assets we need to find. Also Backpack (2) is extra disgusting in a deck with Scroll of Secrets with the ability to tutor out our draw.
• Down the Rabbit Hole (1/5 ) - we are all familiar with how broken this card is. With Blessed Blade (4), Backpack (2), Beat Cop (2) as core upgrades and Stand Together (3), Inspiring Presence (2), Emergency Cache (2) (we don't ever drop ECache as it's backpackable) etc. for luxury upgrades DtRH is just incontestable. But DtRH is also limiting in that we are heavily incentivised to play cards with good Lvl 0 variations.
• Scroll of Secrets (3/5 ) - this card is too efficient and should go in every ∥ Zoey Samaras deck. Accept that her deckbuilding says 2 SoS and 3 other cards.
• Eyes of the Dreamer (5/5 ) - is quietly one of the most broken cards printed. Some quick stats:

  charges	up by	≈ to
  1	+1	+2
  2	+1	+3
  1	+2	+4

  So in short Eyes of the Dreamer is roughly worth a +2 skill boost against the average standard bag spending only 1 charge at a time. With the extra benefit where you are protected from negative effects of symbols since you can just cancel the more dangerous one. Eyes give Zoey premier flex capabilities for very little investment and is in my opinion the strongest card to play for the last 2 splash. Alternatively Promise of Power would be the other best option.

So by just putting in 'too good to not play' cards we have more or less accounted for all the asset slots, allowance, as well as how XP is to be allocated. Rest of the deck can now be easily filled out with economy and 'good stuff'.

As an aside, I really like economy that can be shared in Zoey. Of course partly because she is a fighter and Stand Together (3) is a broken card. But also because she has the highroll of drawing The Key of Solomon early. Generally in Key decks if you see it early you'll be rich for the whole scenario and she'll then be able to donate all the resources to her team. Maybe the spiciest card in the whole list is Rite of Sanctification. It's an overpowered econ option for anyone who can make cheaply. 10 shareable resources is quite the payoff.

Other Packages and Capping Out

There are some interesting alternative builds and higher XP options. Here is a potential high XP list incorporating the elements suggested below.

Gang Up

Gang Up is kind of a package that can be played. This deck can upgrade into a Gang Up deck, or as a different base entirely. Generally, the cards you'll want to play to fulfill the class requirements are Sparrow Mask/Ancient Covenant/Bruiser for , Scroll of Secrets/Dream Diary (any version) (3) for and Lucky Cigarette Case/Bruiser for .

That would cost a lot of XP, especially since you really need Occult Reliquary and Relic Hunter to fit everything. Gang Up is a very strong card and generally worth the hoops. Personally, I think playing Gang Up without leaning into Ancient Covenant + Favor of the Sun is on the dubious side since drawing on Gang Up is incredibly devastating (speaking from experience). I personally don't enjoy playing with Ancient Covenant since it's (IMO) a truly unfair/unfun card so I've shied away from it recently.

Bandolier

Bandolier (2) is another fun option tangentially synergistic with Gang Up as it helps fit Dream Diary (any version) (3). We can also hold a Survival Knife (2) as well as make use of the for investigating with Eyes of the Dreamer.

Nephthys

Nephthys is kinda Zoey's unofficial signature. It is by far the most played ally across Zoey decks. I find just a bit too expensive especially in light of Down the Rabbit Hole, while only being maybe 20% better than the second Beat Cop (2) (it's probably worse than the first Beat Cop (2) just because you really need a boost). The boost is really nice for her though. Hitting 5 does wonders for Eyes of the Dreamer.

We are happy to pick it up later on alongside a second Charisma but I don't consider it core as it isn't XP efficient relative to the rest of the deck.

Upgrade Path

• In the Thick of It for Charisma. Incredibly greedy but Down the Rabbit Hole forces our hand.
• Aim for 1x Blessed Blade (4), The Key of Solomon, 1x Beat Cop (2) after scenario 1 (9XP).
• Get 2x Backpack (2), the second Beat Cop (2) and the deck is practically done with 19XP total (13 scenario XP when we discount In the Thick of It and Down the Rabbit Hole).
• Next upgrades to go for are probably the Stand Together (3) (card is broken) and Emergency Cache (2) (highest impact as we see this card more frequently due to Backpack (2)).
• Not getting a second Blessed Blade (4) early is on the greedier side but between Tetsuo Mori, Backpack (2), Prepared for the Worst we should find it in time. Zoey is also in the unique spot where she can fight adequately for a while with all her ping effects and no weapon.

Closing Thoughts

Zoey is an investigator that I find very enjoyable to engage with. She's has great theming, plays a lean deck with satisfying synergies and all the options make her gameplay fun and thoughtful.

She is at a perfect power level where she does her job of main-fighting competently, doesn't demand much XP or setup time and can support her team with resources with cards like Scroll of Secrets and Stand Together (0/3). And she circumvents the fighter problem of having boring downtime by flexing unreasonably well with nothing but Eyes of the Dreamer.

While she might suffer a little from every Zoey playing the same 20 cards, the core gameplay patterns are just fun enough where I always enjoy bringing her. Her stability and and wealth of support options perfectly complements any more off-the-wall decks she might be paired with.