Ultimus Rex

The goal of this deck is to maximize Rex Murphy's clue gathering ability, while buffing his evasion so he can operate safely without a constant bodyguard. Use wild skill commits strategically to overcome Will tests. It shines in a two-player campaign, but is still valuable in a three-player game.

Alternate Card Choices

You could totally sub Fine Clothes for a Trench Coat, especially if you know precisely which scenario would benefit. I would wait until the evasion build kicks in, though.

You could drop a Magnifying Glass in favor of a Flashlight.

I wish I could figure out a way to include Hemispheric Map.

I really, really like Opportunist. Previous iterations of this deck always used two copies, but the deck needs to land Burglary and Scavenging a bit more. You could substitute Quick Thinking if you are going to keep the card in the deck while upgrading.

Upgrade Guide

Upgrade Archaic Glyphs as soon as possible using Shrewd Analysis, dropping a Trench Coat(1), Fieldwork(2), or even Strange Solution if you are happy with the draw. You're hoping for Archaic Glyphs (Guiding Stones) ×2, or (my personal preference) Guiding Stones ×1 and Archaic Glyphs (Prophecy Foretold) ×1. Which combination you get determines which Strange Solution upgrade you keep.

Next, upgrade Strange Solution. If you received two Guiding Stones, choose Strange Solution (Frozen Variant) and drop one Trench Coat (be sure to keep one copy in your deck). If you are feeling daring, you could draw two using Shrewd Analysis and drop one, or even keep both if you like the synergy (the only worthless variant is Acidic Ichor).

Note: If you draw Prophecy Foretold ×2, simply drop one. You could repurchase Archaic Glyphs and upgrade directly to Guiding Stones, but honestly this version of Archaic Glyphs is not an absolute must except in a couple of scenarios.

4/27/2019 edit: As an item, Strange Solution has a place in the deck even if you don't upgrade it. However, if you pulled Guiding Stones and Prophecy Untold you might consider subbing out Strange Solution for a second copy of Grisly Token. This is the least disruptive sub for that.

The only other must have cards are Higher Education and Pathfinder, dropping Opportunist (only because Rex can't upgrade it and it's still only two wild icons after Grisly Totem making it no more effective than other commits), a No Stone Unturned, or Unearth the Ancients). After that, it's simply upgrading existing Level 0 cards: Magnifying Glass, No Stone Unturned, and Deduction. Depending on story assets, Charisma or Relic Hunter might be good investments.

4/27/2019 edit: I've become a fan of Otherworldly Compass. The are two options here: you could sub out a Fingerprint Kit or Magnifying Glass, and rely on No Stone Unturned to get everything into play and (ultimately) into the discard. However, Otherworldly Compass is cheaper than Fingerprint Kit so there is something to be said for upgrading Fingerprint Kit twice in some combination.

Tactics

• Investigate with Burglary and Dr. Milan Christopher to gain 4 resources and a clue using Rex's .
• Use Fingerprint Kit to gain 3 clues.
• Use Pathfinder and Fieldwork in tandem with other combinations.
• Use Unearth the Ancients to pull out needed assets and gain a clue using Rex's .
• Freely use any item for skill tests, adding to the effect with Grisly Totem, then use Scavenging in tandem with any combination to get it back. Remember, the level-0 Archaic Glyphs and Strange Solution are items.
• Two copies of Magnifying Glass are included as much to manipulate hand slots with as bonus to investigations.
• Max out Archaic Glyphs (Guiding Stones): Magnifying Glass ×2, Dr. Milan Christopher, exhaust Pathfinder, exhaust Fieldwork ×2, Deduction ×2, exhaust Grisly Token, Inquiring Mind ×2, for a base of 23 before any other commits and Higher Education (translating to 11 clues plus 1 for Rex's reaction trigger prior to revealing a chaos token). My personal best was 27 clues, but only that location only had 21 attached. Hint: get your partner to place Skeleton Key.
• Use Archaic Glyphs (Prophecy Foretold) to evade an enemy and gain a clue using Rex's reaction trigger.
• Deduction will work in tandem to gain an additional clue with almost any other combination (or two clues for the upgraded Deduction).
• Try to save Eureka! for Will tests, using Grisly Totem to add an additional Will icon. Recycling Fingerprint Kit takes the sting out of missing the occasional , so you can be fairly conservative about playing wild icons until those Will tests.