Playing with fire

"Have you ever wanted a mystic with with 4 actions a turn?"

Marie Lambeau is special, but can offer exactly that - for a price. The price being not only increased risk of uncontrollable doom tokens on the table, also her statline is rather difficult to choose the best playstyle.

of 4 really needs improving. Marie wants to use spells so we're hoping to use for most of the tests.

of 4 is the biggest challenge. Decent to investigate low-shroud locations, but what about the rest? Should I invest in buffing the to become a reliable clue-gatherer? As Marie is highly motivated to play and use spells, I prefer to blatantly ignore a very decent skill and just be happy anytime I have to test .

of 1 is clear - don't even try. You're a mystic, fight with your spells and hope to never need to test your .

of 3 is certainly not enough to reliably evade an enemy or deal with a treachery, however if you try to put -buffing cards in your deck, you quickly find yourself with little deckspace to actually do anything. So I prefer to just live with 3 and do my best not to need to evade enemies. For critical treacheries, commit anything availabe or use Lucky!.

This being said, it looks like 3 of the skills are of secondary or lower importance and my version of Marie Lambeau completely relies on her , which by itself is not as strong as we'd like. Is it wise? No. Is it safe? Definitely not. But you don't choose a difficult investigator if you want to have a simple life, right?

The aim is to have 4 meaningful actions every turn. Crazy as it may sound, it happens like... almost all the time. Fair to say the doom play requires special attention as a simple miscalculation can lead to losing several rounds (and likely the game). But that is the challenge and the fun of being The Entertainer.

The 3 building blocks of the deck:

Block 1: stable source of doom = extra action every turn.

This is primarily done by allies. While Arcane Initiate helps you mitigate what I see as the greatest weakness of every (low card draw leading to low deck consistency), David Renfield helps you not only incrase your , but depending on the scenario agendas, he can literally make you swim in resources. How do I use those resources? As a matter of fact, I pretty much don't. As much as I'd like to have Arcane Studies in this deck, I just find it too dangerous to rely on the resources David Renfield may give me. Because he also may not. So many times I find myself not drawing a single copy, in which case I struggle with weak economy. If you draw David, be sure to take advantage of him to pay for the cards you will probably need. But before you start thinking big, ask "what happens if good old Dave doesn't show up"?

As a top priority, I invest in Blood Pact - it still makes me want to play my doomed allies, but in case I don't draw them, I have a way to take advantage of being Marie Lambeau. Aside of that, extra 3 is great to secure really important tests. I also find extra 3 actually being useful few times per campaign. Last but not least, Blood Pact almost guarantees succesfull tests in the turns when the agenda advances.

Block 2: Reliable way to clear your doom

Yet you don't want to turn the agenda prematurely. That's why you always pack 2 copies of Moonlight Ritual - the only way to remove doom from Blood Pact. That's why I value Dayana Esperence strongly, because with Moonlight Ritual attached to her, you just don't have to worry about the most worrisome aspect of being Marie Lambeau. That's just 2 cards though.

Sometimes you can just kill your doomed allies by more or less voluntarily taking damage. Calling in Favors can be a solution, one which I soon replace by more flexible Sacrifice. Not only because with Sacrifice you get to draw cards or resources, you can also Sacrifice an empty Shrivelling, Scroll of Secrets or in desperate times, anything.

Cards that let you deal damage or horror are also a good way to remove a doomed ally - however I find it difficult to let rather inefficient cards like Painkillers, Smoking Pipe or Forbidden Knowledge in.

Block 3: Enough spells to take full advantage of your extra action

First of all, don't ever think about not taking 2 copies of Arcane Research! 2 mental trauma is unpleasant, but can be worked around, and the benefit of 14 free expirence per campaign is just too big.

I find Sixth Sense and especially its upgrade, Sixth Sense, extremely strong. Unlimited investigation with stat you are boosting anyway? Great. Doing it once per turn for free? That is what makes the difference, a chance to make your free action impactful almost every turn. And do not underestimate the effect of symbol tokens, especially with the upgrade, you can leave a clue behind with much less worry.

With 1 arcane slot dedicated to investigating, we have 1 left for enemy management. 2 copies of Shrivelling are a must, but definitely not enough. I use Wither as a backup fighting spell, that is just because I don't have Azure Flame in my collection yet. 2 Shrivellings and 2 Azure Flames feels just like the right arsenal for the main fighter, also splitting the impact of the backfires between damage and horror.

Then comes the use for Marie's ocultness - Occult Lexicon gives you 3 multifunctional (always useful) spells - having issues with card draw? Blood-Rite gives you 2 cards for free. Issues with resources? You can probably find an expendable card in your hand. The ability to deal damage is not to be underestimated. The other occult item, Hallowed Mirror, gives you another 3 spells that can be played for free. Soothing Melody not only heals whatever (and whomever) needs the most, also gives you a free draw. And being a spell, it is a universal adept for your free action.

With these in, you are not only certain that Arcane Initiate will have enough spells to find (=free card draw), you also make your free actions matter.

Resource economy:

There are two very different scenarios. Either you draw David Renfield early, abuse him heavily and resources are just not an issue. I love this scenario.

When Mr. Renfield stays deep in the deck, the story is completely different, you literally have to count every penny. Hating that scenario, I try to prepare for it adding a copy of Uncage the Soul and a copy of Emergency Cache. As good as Uncage the Soul is, as Marie Lambeau you want to play your spells as free actions, and Uncaging the Soul being a ritual removes the advantage. Blood-Rite can also be used as decent resource generator, the same being said for more situational Sacrifice.

Economy is another reason why I prefer Holy Rosary over St. Hubert's Key and also a reason why I very much question buying Dayana Esperence - without Renfield's money, she becomes more of a burden.

Card economy:

This is a weak spot for all mystics and Marie is not an exception. You really want to see Arcane Initiate in your opening hand. When you don't, you usually appreciate any free card draw. That is why I value Hallowed Mirror and bonded Soothing Melody, that's why I'm inclined to include 2 copies of Guts and 2 copies of Perception, (which for capacity reasons I don't), that's why Sacrifice is so attractive. Most of the cases, I play Blood-Rite primarily to draw 2 cards and the extra effect is just a nice bonus.

With the taboo upgrade, I find Scroll of Secrets could be a solution. It is cheap, hand slots are not so competitive. And if nothing else, it gives you 3 free draws. Still the Scroll's efficiency is not so convincing: a card, a resource and an action for 3 cards. So why waste a card slot? I value the card's flexibility. You have a chance to discard your weakness, who wouldn't like that? Or if card draw is not an issue, Scroll of Secrets lets you manipulate the encounter deck.

Up to 5 level 0 or cards = the dilemma

Hawk-Eye Folding Camera - in the first scenarios where your spells have no bonus, your really want to get at least to 6. Next to Holy Rosary and David Renfield, this card is decently cheap and reliable. Possible +1 and +1 sanity is a nice bonus you may and may not need.

Lucky! is the kind of card always difficult not to pick.

Deduction is the same case, testing at 5 kind of secures you 2 clues in 1 action.

There are so many cards that are just good, Shortcut, Live and Learn, "Look what I found!", Scrounge for Supplies. But there are other contestants to consider, cards that may appear suboptimal, but which can mitigate your greatest weakness - and after some time playing with this deck, I think free card draw could be the way to go. That is why Eureka! and especially Take Heart seem worth considering.

Signature weakness: Baron Samedi

He can be really unpleasant and you probably want Charisma as a top priority upgrade. Depending on the agenda, Baron Samedi can stay with you for a while and you still want to use your allies. If you have a means to prevent taking damage (that mostly being Shrivelling and if needed, Deny Existence), Baron's effect can be tolerable (just beware that he also harms other investigators at your location).

On the other hand often you find yourself lucky, drawing Baron Samedi at a time when you can just afford the doom to get rid of him within 3 rounds (sometimes the token deals with him even faster). On the plus side, it is just another way to get doom in play, triggering Marie's free action. As signature weaknesses go I would say he is one of the mildest.

Signature card: Mystifying Song

On a paper, the card is great - whole extra turn in exchange for 3 resources - imagine you can abuse Renfield and Blood Pact for another turn. An emergency brake in case you don't manage to clear your doom on time, buying you another turn to solve the problem. As a spell, it is another valid target for Arcane Initiate. And if you just don't have the resources or desperately need to pass a test, Mystifying Song is Marie's Unexpected Courage - which is how I, surprisingly often, use my Song.

Encounter protection

As strong as Marie can be when facing the encounter deck, there are cards you just don't want to see - that's why she shouldn't go without 2 copies of Ward of Protection - and in multiplayer, Ward of Protection. Is that enough? Usually. But I like to also have 2 copies of Deny Existence. Especially the idea of placing a copy on Dayana Esperence makes you really not worry about dying.

As upgrades go, Alter Fate is an attractive addition, especially in some campaigns - again, imagine combining it with Dayana and you suddenly don't worry about decent portion of the encounter deck.

Ideal opening hand & mulligan strategy

There are many cards you don't want in your opening hand: Hallowed Mirror, basically all your events. There are also cards your really really want: Arcane Initiate, David Renfield or both, Hawk-Eye Folding Camera, Occult Lexicon. Last but definitely not least, Shrivelling. And if you go the tarot way, Four of Cups becomes a top priority.

No matter your plans and wishes, only the opening hand tells you what game you'll be playing - and those can vary a lot. Marie can turn into a god in turn 3, but she can also find herself useless for most of the scenario. Probably the most frustrating part is that there is not enough you can do about that.

Upgrades

Naturally, use the Arcane Research to upgrade your Shrivelling to Shrivelling and when the time comes, Shrivelling (and beware of the strong backfire effects). Upgrade Ward of Protection and Sixth Sense.

You want Blood Pact as soon as possible - with Moonlight Ritual in your deck, it would just be silly not to give it another target.

You also want Charisma not to see Baron Samedi destroying your ally slot. And two allies are always better than one.

Four of Cups is an interesting way to go. The buff is attractive, the chance to put it in play for free is the reason you care about tarots after all. But if it does not happen, 3 resources and an action to play the tarot halfway through scenario for only +1 feels... not enough. Another difficult decision to make.

Dayana Esperence - as attractive as she appears, I am still somewhat doubtful about the value of the XP and 4 resources. The idea of having 3 uses of Alter Fate, Deny Existence, Blood-Rite, Soothing Melody or Moonlight Ritual is great and definitely raises your survivability. But maybe that is not what you need and if you invest in more active cards and upgrades, surviving never becomes an issue.

Alter Fate may be too expensive and situational, after playing The Circle Undone, I dare say even in The Circle Undone.

Sacrifice - yes it is situational, but it is cheap and in general, more attractive, more flexible way of dealing with doomed allies than Calling in Favors. Or getting something from an empty Shrivelling.

Fearless - the time comes (at least with level 5 Shrivelling) when a quick horror healing is just what you need the most. And thanks to the trauma from Arcane Research, 1 copy is never wasted.

Counterspell and Time Warp are certainly strong cards, yet once again I see them as too defensive. You are never sure that you have them when you need them - and that you need them when you have them. As much as protection from bad stuff is good, staying alive won't win you the game. Investing too much into staying alive means investing too little in the cards that actually help you win.

As ridiculous as it may look, I see Relic Hunter as potentially useful upgrade. I often spend hours considering which card to dump to make space for a new one, this being permanent alleviates you from that choice. And the idea of having two Holy Rosaries (+2 +4 sanity) or a Rosary together with Hallowed Mirror is really attractive.

All in all, Marie Lambeau is not the strongest investigator in town. She may be one of the most difficult - but also most fun. Hope this analysis helps you enjoy her more.