Dynamic Duo - Roland Banks and Trish

Roland Banks and Trish Scarborough

Dynamic duo!

This deck is part of a dynamic duo series, and is meant to be played together with Dynamic Duo - Trish Scarborough.

It works just fine when paired with other investigators too, of course, but some cards might be sligthly less effective.

Synergy

Roland will take care of the enemies, (finding them by on the Hunt if necessary), Trish then does her spying. Roland kills off the enemy afterwards with heavy weapons (or handcuffs it and start dragging it around). A handcuffed enemy will allow Trish to trigger her double cluefinding each and every round, and Roland can even kill the poor sod later if he needs to find a hard-to-reach clue.

Both investigators are really mobile with Safeguard and Shortcuts (eventually Pathfinder and Hiking Boots too) and Trish can auto-evade even elite enemies. So you don't have to kill everything - just the stuff that Rolands wants dead for clues.

All this makes them a quick and deadly duo that can run through scenarios. The combo gets even more fun when Trish gets Gené Beauregard in play, as she can move enemies and clues around tactically.

Weaknesses? Well, they have 2 and 3 willpower, 6 and 5 Sanity respectively. It hurts, especially in Innsmouth. We try to plan for that with extra soak and skill cards.

Upgrade path

Important upgrades, in my order of priority

• First, you need some better weapons. Two Flamethrowers should do nicely. You might think that's a bit overkill, but the fact is that Roland is going to be the only one killing stuff. Plus, the Flamethrowers are great in combination with Trish' Stealth and because they buff your decent-but-not-perfect of 4.
• Then a sticky plan to trigger a Astounding Revelation, and an Ever Vigilant and some Extra Ammunition to help keep your flamethrowers topped up.
• After that I suggest Pathfinder. You could also go for the upgraded Safeguard, but I prefer Pathfinder myself.

Other upgrades (in any order you’d like)

• Physical Training is a really decent, defensive card for Roland. The ability to buff +2 for free (or more if you can pay for it) will make a difference.

• Beat Cops are great as always. Especially nice in campaigns with lots of 1 Hp wonders such as Whippoorwills and Acolytes. Free clues! You could also go for Grete Wagner but my playtesting shoved that I would rather have soak allies and that a well timed Evidence! was better than having to babysit Grete Wagner health.

• Empty Vessel is a great card for our heavy-handed Roland Banks, dotter of i's, vanquisher of evil. It's expensive, but it's a great solution to our low Sanity.

• Upgraded Vicious Blow, Overpower and then Leadership, especially since they are are have the Practiced trait for Practice Makes Perfect.

• The .45 Thompson is great backup weapon if you got extra 6 Xp to spare. Our Roland isn't that broke, but still - a gun paying for itself makes it easier to afford the flamethrower you want to play next.

• Evidence! (1) can be hard to trigger, but Trish and Roland together can make it happen with Gené Beauregard moving the enemy/clues.

• I really like Brand of Cthugha as a backup weapon of sorts, so I recommend that if you have enough Xp to spare. Defensive Stance is a decent defensive card for Roland (+4 ) but Trish will take care of most of the agility tests for you.

Tips and advice

Try to get the Handcuffs in your opening hand if possible. A dead Tetsuo Mori can help you find them in a pinc. Most campaigns have humanoids enemies; (be they snake people, cultists or fish people) and having a handcuffed enemy present will turn Trish into a better Rex Murphy.

Remember that you can always decide which investigators goes first each round.

Also, when Trish gets Gené Beauregard in play, she can move enemies to Roland - or to locations Roland can pick up clues from.

Now, where's all the Edge of the Earth cards? i simply didn't find many that really fit. Try the "By the Book" Roland Banks if you want a more fancy version.

Disclaimer

Disclaimer - most of these "dynamic duo" decks are heavily inspired by other decks found here on Arkham. Thanks to everyone who shares the fruits of their labor - this is an amazing community . :)