OVERVIEW

Hello fellow investigators, this is Trickster, and today i bring you the most vanilla deck for the most vanilla investigator in Arkham Horror: Roland Banks , the Fed. I love vanilla, everybody does, but sometime it can get boring, that's why we add cookie dough, or bourbon, or in this case we put more vanilla into the vanilla and sprinkle some more on top and God, what have i created?

This deck is all about pinpointing what is good about Roland and only focusing on that: action compression and testless clues. Started as a meme for me, turns out the deck was real good, breezing through Dream-Eaters in standard paired with a seeker, which ended up getting less clues than I.

PILOTING

Don't move, don't investigate, just trail and kill things. No action shall be wasted on JUST ONE thing. Let teammates get you where your services are needed via Safeguard , try to always finish your turn in a place where clues remain, that way you can try to get a lucky monster in your place for efficient clueing with your and Grete Wagner . If you can afford the deck space take On the Hunt since it'll make it guaranteed, much better in solo. If you have a shortcut in hand don't worry about this, but Inquiring Mind will only protect you from treacheries if there are clues on your spot and you're kind of a clueing machine. Otherwise, it's standard stuff: Glory on kills for 2 clues, 2 cards, and whatever you can get out of Crack the Case , don't forget to scream "Hypertempo" every time you manage to play two cards in a row so that you can earn the scorn of your teammates.

For Solo

Piloting in solo play is different from multi. You no longer have the cushion of your teammates carrying you around, and you need to fit even more efficiency into each of your actions! Individual adjustments are covered below, but you should account for:

1. The loss of mobility due to no safeguard.
2. Extra resource generation fit into your investigate/fight actions.
3. Ways to spawn enemies when you need them.
4. Encounter protection in some shape or form.

Since the goal of this deck was going fast and getting testless clues, it should be good solo since you want to go very fast and not test a lot as well, but keep in mind that this deck depends on having Grete Wagner and a weapon to function, so if mulligan doesn't go well, it can get sort of stuck in limbo a few rounds.

• Stand Together should be subbed by Emergency Cache or even Burning the Midnight Oil / Clean Them Out for added tempo, might want to Practice Makes Perfect if you attack with Clean them Out though.
• Safeguard can be Pathfinder in cycles where movement is important.
• Scene of the Crime and Evidence! are not needed in solo, maybe that's the space Forewarned can fill in, losing one clue may not be as bad as hitting up Crypt Chill during your set up rounds.
• Related to the last point, you can sneak in Working a Hunch if you gotta go fast.
• Use Grete Wagner while you leave behind the 1 clue locations to pick those clues once you get a monster to save time, since 2 clue locations are more rare in true solo.
• If you use Grete for remote clueing, it shouldn't hurt to use On the Hunt to ensure that you get the monster when you need it. Also it acts as encounter protection keeping you from drawing worst treacheries since Roland's stats are not very good for facing the encounter deck.
• It's likely that you won't need Deduction but you'll still have a use for Perception , Overpower and Vicious Blow so i'd still keep Practice Makes Perfect around since it nets you double draw from the neutral skills and damage acceleration would be lacking otherwise.

The tempo cards

• Grete Wagner: This lady gives you the stats you need, doubles down on your clueing potential and makes you better at what you already did fine. The level 3 one is much better, but specially for solo play since you can purposefully leave locations with one clue to save actions.

• Safeguard : I think it's obvious but just in case: never take this solo. You can use your mates as an Über, asking them to take you where the monsters are, saving your precious actions for important stuff such as looking around, smashing baddies and annoying your friends. It's best to let them start playing in the investigators phase so they can take you where your services are needed.

• Practice Makes Perfect : Since i forgot to add it in my first rodeo, i'll say that you don't need it. But you should really take it since it nets you two uses of your Deduction and Vicious Blow and it'll fish out the only Astounding Revelation before you can afford Stick to the Plan .

• Evidence! / Scene of the Crime : Scene of the crime is better for 3 players, but since i tested this deck in two players, it ended pretty much being overkill. The combination of this card plus a monster can net you 4 testless clues for 2 actions. If going solo, maybe don't take either, for two players, Evidence! is more than enough and will usually be saved for The Dirge of Reason .

• Hallowed Mirror : You don't have a strong accessory, you are fragile, Grete needs healing, at least get a card for it. Let's you stay frosty without losing much tempo.

Weapons

• Enchanted Blade : Doesn't do as much damage, in fact, this build wasn't designed for big guns, but honestly you do you; they can work. This however excels on tempo gain via draw, gives you a good boost and heals your frail sanity, that's why i went for it.
• Machete : For some cycles it's everything you'll need. The taboo XP hurts because if you can't start with it i'm not sure it's worth it.
• .45 Automatic : It's fine, really don't have much to say. It's an alright weapon but it lacks the oomph of magic swords.

Luxury Upgrades

• Ace of Swords efficient combat boost for late campaign.

• Stick to the Plan Really, not much of a "luxury" since it's amazing. You can keep an Emergency Cache in the deck just in case, but i didn't use that. It lets you take full advantage of Ever Vigilant since setup in this deck is slow and pricey. Grete Wagner is very expensive and you should mulligan for her, so are the .45 Automatic if you go for them. It gives you an impromptu Another Day, Another Dollar thanks to Astounding Revelation which makes setup that much easier. Other than that, having a Shortcut on demand translates to free clues. Last card can be Practice Makes Perfect since it's your 3 health enemy solution.

• Deduction / Vicious Blow for late campaign can be nice, better for 3+ players. Also Perception / Overpower but you don't struggle with card draw.

• Well Prepared will be a very welcome boost for combat and investigations thanks to Grete Wagner .

• Versatile with plenty of draw and consistency, it's a good deck for versatile. That way you don't have to say goodbye to your Inquiring Mind or Evidence! .

• Forewarned : Can keep you safe while you have an easy time recovering lost clues.

Level 0 Deck

• Machete for .45 Automatic if you play with taboos. Enchanted Blade can substitute the higher level one.

• Grete Wagner is actually quite good, but the higher level one has always been my first upgrade.

• Safeguard is already good, that extra movement can be clutch if you play it soon. Try to take advantage of that extra movement every round otherwise is a resource waste.

• Inquiring Mind for Well Prepared and Ever Vigilant since it's good for encounter protection.

• Inspiring Presence maybe? Grete loves it, can't see why it wouldn't work but the deck is already crowded.

Why the book assets?

Oh my, because Cover Up is atrocious and Roland's .38 Special doesn't even come close to making up for it. The Dirge of Reason is a nasty bump and tempo loss, but all it takes is one enemy to recover from it (if you had the clues) and Cover Up can be the end of you if drawn late. I don't have fun playing with that weakness so yeah, that's on me i guess. Mysteries Remain can be quite clutch for Inquiring Mind , your procs and can break certain scenarios. Is it great? No, but neither is the Roland's .38 Special so all in all my advice is book signatures.