⌂ 2 Packs Deck Guide : Higher Willpower

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5argon · 7516

Wondered how can a box of Dunwich Legacy Investigator Expansion improve your bitter experience in Night of the Zealot? It's willpower. Being exemplary Miskatonic student she now achieved Higher Education. Which to not waste 6 XP, we will find plenty of ways to play with its +2 to go with Daisy's Lv. 2 blend.

► About "2 Packs Deck Guide"
 A series of decks made with the new distribution model in mind, requiring a Revised Core Set box + just 1 more Investigator Expansion box. ⌂ character on the deck's name means the additional box it uses is The Dunwich Legacy Investigator Expansion.
 It maximizes the chance of newcomers being able to build and learn to play the game, enjoying the story on Standard difficulty ASAP. They can then get into deck-building later if they wished to do so. See other decks in the "2 Packs Deck Guide" series here.

Upgrade guide

 Cost  Total
    →  Higher Education ••• ••• 6 XP 6 XP
   Mind over Matter  →  Song of the Dead •• 2 XP 8 XP
   "I've got a plan!"  →  Song of the Dead •• 2 XP 10 XP
   Delve Too Deep  →  Bind Monster •• 2 XP 12 XP
   Delve Too Deep  →  Bind Monster •• 2 XP 14 XP
   Magnifying Glass    Magnifying Glass 1 XP 15 XP
   Magnifying Glass    Magnifying Glass 1 XP 16 XP
   Preposterous Sketches  →  Fearless •• 2 XP 18 XP
   Preposterous Sketches  →  Fearless •• 2 XP 20 XP
 
Extra 20 XP
   Old Book of Lore    Old Book of Lore ••• 3 XP 23 XP
   Old Book of Lore    Old Book of Lore ••• 3 XP 26 XP

(View at arkham-starter.com)

Notice how a lot of Lv.2 cards are on the right side. We will improve concentration of Arcane Initiate hits via XP we earned throughout the campaign.

This guide is with Taboo ON, which turns Higher Education from a no-brainer to a puzzle how can we cram other cards inside 20 XP to make the best use of 6 XP. Feel free to turn off Taboo if you want, but I want this deck to be compatible to both styles.

This plan is with Dunwich Campaign Standard in mind, which gives you low XP. Don't feel bad if you can't reach any Old Book of Lore (3) on your blind run!

2x Delve Too Deep are very strategic inclusion of this plan. The problem is Higher Education is the first upgrade, yet it is a chunk of 6 XP with Taboo on. The worst is that you gain 4-5 XP in the 1st scenario, and therefore cannot improve anything in the deck for the 2nd scenario. (Very possible if you venture into a certain gambling house.) Delve Too Deep adds that extra push to let you reach 6 XP. If you still can't, it still ensure that by the 3rd scenario you get Higher Education. They stay for the first half of the campaign.

(If playing with Taboo OFF, feel free to remove all Delve Too Deep and add 1x more "I've got a plan!" + Mind over Matter for better enemy handling. By the way, Taboo OFF Dr. Milan Christopher + Higher Education is already an OP combo.)

2 Packs Team Compositions

2 Packs Deck Guide : The Dunwich Legacy series is now complete with the following decks :

To help assembling a party made entirely from just 2 packs, I have a tool that let you browse team compositions for 2 players, 3 players, and 4 players, that has manageable amount of card overlaps or even none at all. The result is sorted from low to high overlaps. Click here to see all team comps.

Mystic cards

Main theme of this deck is adding / support over the upgrades, since Dunwich box didn't give her any new Tome to play with. I think this is the way to make her as Dunwich-flavored as possible.

Most of them is related to dealing with enemies instead of getting more clues. Therefore this Daisy keep her investigation power roughly the same as from the start.

We add 4 Spell cards that uses without touching 2x Shrivelling that was there : 2x Bind Monster + 2x Song of the Dead. Resulting in 6 Spell cards that Arcane Initiate can hit.

Hard compatibility

Normally I made this series of 2 packs deck to be compatible with Standard only, which requires 4-6 stats to have fun, and 2-3 to have some chance. Hard-compatible deck will need some fun toys removed and add more no-nonsense stat boosters.

In this deck, due to stacked boosts from Dr. Milan Christopher + Magnifying Glass + Higher Education, this deck "accidentally" reach the point that pass tests on Hard difficulty on her main role even if I am not intended to. (Still, limited card pool with Hard will be HARD.)

If playing on Standard, you rarely need the +2 from Higher Education and instead using only +2 one. On Hard, Higher Education's +2 became your daily routine to work on 3-4 shroud, and even need +4 to perform her secondary enemy management role. Good luck!

Card tips

Preposterous Sketches

A draw booster to get back to 5 cards that you can continue using Higher Education.


Song of the Dead ••

Show off your experience from the Miskatonic Chorus Club. Mainly this just improve concentration of fight options for Arcane Initiate search, though for expensive 2 XP cost each. But we don't have any alternatives to Shrivelling in this card pool.

It giving +1 is very welcomed in an off-class like this.


Arcane Initiate

Full power comes when 4 more Spell cards are added in the upgrades, which also charges up your hand faster for Higher Education's 5 cards requirement.

You can play Dr. Milan Christopher on top to clean up the doom, or use Painkillers to kill her. (lol)


Old Book of Lore

Try to get Holy Rosary which Arcane Initiate's tutor effect does not cover. Also since she can use free Tome for this, you can keep up with Higher Education's 5 cards requirement easily.


Fearless ••

Play with Painkillers for more health heals / to support fixing The Necronomicon. Use Higher Education to get to +2 over-success. If you just want to heal horror ASAP, you can get test from Bind Monster .

Notice that these replaces Preposterous Sketches, not touching any prior Skill cards. The reason is that :

  • 2x Preposterous Sketches were for drawing to 5 cards for Higher Education, but after 4x Spell cards are added, I think Arcane Initiate can also fill this role if the search hit those spells.
  • Doing so improve Skill cards concentration to 10 / 30, should be good for deck with high draw power thanks to free Tome to Old Book of Lore. The more you draw, the more ready to use tools you have to pass tests.

Spending XP for this instead of powerful Deduction (2) is also quite bold, but I think we should go all the way the route in this deck. You may disagree and use Deduction (2) instead.


Magnifying Glass

You can take it up to hand to temporarily satisfy the 5 cards Higher Education requirement, then Fast put them back down once you paid the boost. This way they essentially reduce the cards requirement you must have on hand.

take up to hand is sometimes useful when you are dual-wielding Magnifying Glass and you fear that The Necronomicon may suddenly comes to bump it away.


Shrivelling

With Daisy you must remember that this card has no boost. Higher Education turns this janky Lv. 0 spell into a reliable sidearm, like .45 Automatic in a hand of investigator.

Before then (first 6 XP), you must also find Holy Rosary as a minimum requirement. Use Old Book of Lore to do so.


Bind Monster ••

There is "the play" with Higher Education and Dr. Milan Christopher. After you managed to Evade the first time (must vs. monster's ), you can walk away and continue working to get funds from Dr. Milan Christopher.

Then you can pay that fund to pump +2 to Higher Education on the (3) test. (This test is a static 3 difficulty, unrelated to monster's value.) You can picture Milan dissecting the monster while you bind it still, for flavor.

Play cost of this card is very expensive. But it let you get away from low monster spawn which tends to be a brute that hits for 2 health.

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