Daniela Reyes: Arkham Linebacker | Chapter 2 Deck Guide

Arkham Linebacker

These are replacement decks for Chapter 2 investigators. All have been playtested in Chapter 2, and also extensively in Chapter 1. If you want to support my work, give it a like ❤︎ and a favorite ★ on here!

It's Chapter 2 time! Here Daniela protects other investigators and frees up their actions - like Arkham's very own linebacker!* It uses the hated (hated!) Bodyguard to soak Attacks of Opportunity for other investigators on their turns, which triggers Daniela's ability and allows her to smush cultists with massive Sledgehammer blows. In other words, the Seekers find clues while Daniela kills dudes - everyone's happy...

_{* Here's the 2003 Superbowl clip this reference is referring to. I'm getting old...}

NOTE: There is an error where decks containing newer versions of cards cannot be posted currently (e.g. Overpower vs. Overpower). I won't be able to change the deck retrospectively to the new Ch2 cards, so please click this link for a version of the deck with the Chapter 2 cards.

At a Glance

Stats
Clue-finding:	★★☆☆☆
Consistency:	★★★★☆
Enemy Management:	★★★★★
Encounter Defense:	★★★★☆
Survivability:	★★★★★
Simplicity:	★★☆☆☆

_{I thought I'd implement a Valentin-style rating system to make these guides more accessible. "Consistency" covers card draw and resource economy. In essence it's an outcome measure of "does the resource economy cover the costs of my asset engine and desirable events, and can I find my engine and play it?"}

Overview

• When two becomes one: Without her elusive Wrench, the only way for Daniela to consistently achieve four fight actions in the investigation phase is Attacks of Opportunity (AoOs). This works by another investigator at her location taking their turn first and triggering an AoO. With Daniela's you can use the Sledgehammer's fight ability for free. Alternatively, you can use the on your own turn for a one action discount on the triggered by an AoO aimed at you (the "two becomes one" part)! You can also use her in the enemy phase as normal (but no big Sledgehammer attack, as abilities only discount a single action). Courtesy of Charisma, Logan Hastings boosts all of these attacks while providing cash for kills. EDIT: Originally this was designed around the two attack in another player's turn, however after extensive discussion on this it appears to not be allowed (I won't bore you with the details, but several rules work together to block all aspects of this). Unless FFG rules otherwise, I think we should take it as you're not allowed to use the big attack outside of your turn with the (even though the Daniela's investigator card makes it sound like this is allowed). I did give it ★★ simplicity for a reason!

• Guarding like a Guardian: Bodyguard and Bandages leave Daniela well-suited to soak the above AoOs, as well as the single damage from her missing attacks when not engaged. Bodyguard in particular is a time bomb - think of him less like soak, and more like a testless 2 damage event with added benefits. Alternatively Counterattack allows you to also cancel an attack and deal damage, either accumulating damage before you trigger your on a second (non-cancelled) attack, or killing enemies on one health outright.

• Wildly supportive: There's a respectable 13 icons in this deck if you manage to fully upgrade it. As you should be sticking close to other investigators, this means you will very often have something to commit to their tests, and you can of course use these to flex and clue find on your own turn, or to boost the Sledgehammer fight ability.

• Clues: "Look what I found!" allows you to turn failures into clue compression, working nicely with Timely Intervention to make sure you fail by two or less. Lesson Learned also allows you to pick up clues (easy to trigger off AoOs aimed at you, which you can use your to punish). Ultimately though you're here to smash - don't forget it!

• And the rest: There's a 96% chance of finding a weapon or Right Tool for the Job in a hard mulligan, and then if you are stuck with Right Tool (without a weapon) it has an 88% chance to find one in your first turn. As getting a weapon out is Daniela's main purpose, I gave her 4 stars for consistency despite her limited card draw (though you can occasionally draw a card to trigger an AoO and punish with a attack).

_{Thank you: 5argon and their thumbnail tool; Valentin1331 for his support over the years; the community creators of ArkhamDB (kamalisk), Arkham.Build (Felix) and Arkham Cards (zzorba) - linking their Patreons!}

Campaign starter and planned progression

0 XP deck is below (and link here):

A recommended order of purchases/upgrades is:

• 1 x Charisma

• Hand-Crank Flashlight → Sledgehammer •••

• Bodyguard → Bodyguard ••

• Machete → Counterattack

• Guts → On the Brink

Contrasting the starter deck and fully upgraded version, Charisma allows you to run Logan and a Bodyguard in parallel. Hand-Crank Flashlight helps you clue-find early on but is phased out with Sledgehammer as it takes both hands. Upgraded Bodyguard is the same but better. Machete isn't needed after adding Sledgehammer (Meat Cleaver and Wrench are superior back-up weapons), so it's eventually swapped out for Counterattack. On the Brink can be committed more generally than Guts.

Explain Yourself!

So originally before Charisma was confirmed, I had a detailed analysis on why Bodyguard was better than Logan for this specific approach of capitalizing on AoOs. But then Charisma was revealed, and none of that matters now!

For me attacking during AoOs is easily one of the best ways to run Daniela, as she has enough to pull off unboosted +1 damage attacks from the Sledgehammer (especially with Logan in play for an effect 6 score before boosting). I think Aleksey and Logan with Meat Cleaver is also a nice option, but that can't soak other investigator AoOs so I still like this more. The only noticeable card missing here is Scrape By - if you have enough XP replace Lesson Learned with this (but cards which enhance your support role are the priority).

New starter deck additions: On the Brink becomes Indomitable instead - which is an insane 4 boost for doing what this deck is designed to do! Upgraded Vicious Blow is taken for more damage. Bounty replaces Unexpected Courage for more resource economy. I'd be inclined to swap one Meat Cleaver and one "Look what I found!" for two On the Beat (the latter, while very nice, is more situational than On the Beat or Lesson Learned/Scrape By - and you're still keeping one copy in any case).

Detective Sherman, while interesting, doesn't help you kill enemies and your clue support can be found elsewhere (and I'd say Logan Hastings is better). Restrained also also tempting, it's likely a good candidate for the level 0 deck (upgrading into Counterattack). The suggested additions above basically play the same but with more resources and clue support (and one fewer pair of skill cards).

Post-survivor reveal UPDATE: Loner, Stalk Prey and Rabbit's Foot all seem good on this deck - though it is tight for space. Stalk Prey could likely swap straight for Lesson Learned, while Rabbit's Foot could swap for Overpower. Loner could replace Counterattack, with the latter being a nice to have whereas Loner is very persistently useful (and there's not too many assets to play here overall, so I don't think installing an additional one with Loner is too bad...).

Final thoughts

This concept here is simple: do an attack in another investigator's turn which also helps prime your Bodyguard bomb. You can then use your attack and another +1 damage attack when your turn comes around. Counterattack and Vicious Blow help deal more damage outside of your turn as well (innately for the former, or via the and committing it for the latter).

Even if you don't do these attack of opportunity shenanigans, Daniela with a Sledgehammer is a powerhouse. I killed the "big bad" of Brethren of Ash with her (using Trish to evade them some of the time, and then soaking a hit with Bodyguard at one point for the auto damage). It was good!

Anyway I hope you like my take on Daniela and put the deck to good use. I guess I'm a fraud as I've never watched NFL, but I do know linebackers are big dudes who tackle people! Terry Tate - eat your heart out!