A Date with Destiny (solo deck with xp)

Introduction: This deck is based on @ian_mb's Float like a Butterfly https://arkhamdb.com/decklist/view/236/float-like-a-butterfly-1.0 Rather than do a 'I tried that deck and it's really good' post, I thought I'd do a deep dive into playing the deck solo on The Night of the Zealot campaign, before the Dunwich Legacy reaches us all, and track some of the changes I made, particularly with regard to experience. So, what you see here is the deck's final iteration going into scenario 3, The Devourer Below.

Scenario spoilers below

Notes: Scenario 1, The Gathering: It's pretty vital to get off to a strong start, for two reasons:

• you have an deerface to deal with at the end of the scenario
• there's plenty of xp up for grabs.

With such cards as "Look what I found!", Perception and Flashlight, there's no reason not to clear out both the attic and cellar. In each of my playthroughs, I wanted to make sure I also had a Knife out and at least some of Backstab, Sneak Attack, Overpower (a 1-of in the 0xp version of the deck) and Manual Dexterity in hand. The rest of it is pretty plain sailing.

Scenario 2, The Midnight Masks: here's where things diverge pretty hard for Wendy. The challenges are manifold. Ideally you've bought 2 x Lucky! and 2 x Cat Burglar from your accumulated experience in the previous scenario, but you need to get out of the gate fast and get the burglar down, while also preparing your damage package for certain nasties ahead. Again, Wendy's clue-grubbing tricks can be vital, as can a well-timed knife+overpower to deal with an acolyte - but ideally that's not happening.

The other thing that's really worth noting with Wendy is the options for every single test. Ideally you have a full hand, or near enough: to commit or not to commit? To throw in a lucky! or let a test fail and trigger Rabbit's Foot? Or to chuck a card and redraw the token? Every test can be tricky in that way, and delicious. There were times (I'm looking at you, Miskatonic University) when I was hoping to fail an investigation attempt to play Look what I Found!, only to pass... oh for an anti-lucky...

The final thing to note about scenario 2 is, when things go south, sometimes it's better to clear the xp from locations rather than chasing cultists. Sure, you may have used your backstabs and sneak attacks, then find the amulet and be all set to reuse them out of your discard pile, but when time's ticking, sometimes grubbing a couple of clues and bouncing is better. Why? Well.... Cat Burglar in scenario 3.

Scenario 3, The Devourer Below: on my best playthroughs, I'd have got ~6xp in s2, so would have 6-7 to play with, depending on what I'd already bought. Upgraded Leo De Luca and Aquinnah aren't worth it when Cat Burglar is definitely taking up the ally slot. I went for Close Call and a single Will to Survive. I love the look of the latter, but it's expensive at 4 and often hard to have that 'I'm doing three tests this turn I need to ace' situation. (That said, sometimes the closing moments of s3 can be exactly that.

As for Close Call, it plays into the iteration of the deck you see here: namely, is king. A knife and the Overpower are gone, as is a "Look what I found!" (there are so few 2 clue locations, with one notable exception). Instead, if you can manage enemies by removing them, that's the way forward.

Anyone with experience of s3 will know it can punish a player hard. In my most successful, resolution 1 attempt, I started with 2 doom on agenda 1a, moved into my first mythos phase, going up to 3 doom... and drew an Ancient Evils. There goes stage 1. It can be punishingly fast. And we're Wendy, it's resolution 1 or bust. An unlucky pick of Agents of Shub can be similarly wrecking - Wendy does not want four extra monsters in the encounter deck. But, with the mobility afforded by the burglar and a host of skill boosters, Wendy is able to move around effectively and hoover up the necessary clues.

Worth noting: once you reveal the ritual site, the play wants to be: move to the main path, trigger on the burglar to enter the ritual site, evade whatever enemy leaps on you (or stab it if it's weenie). That sets you up for a follow-up turn of, hopefully, evade, investigate (with Look What I Found) and starting to put the vital 2 clues onto the act card. GODSPEED, FRIENDS.

I hope this has been useful - I welcome any and all questions and queries.