Rex the camper

I think you're wrong regarding rex's ability. It clearly says "at your location", where cards like deducation says "at that location".

I agree with dotPeddy. Since Deduction uses the language "at that location" and Rex's ability says "at your location" I'm pretty sure it doesn't work that way.

Taken from arkhamdb.com Matthew Newman: (start of quote) In the Know works a little differently from some other investigation cards (like Seeking Answers for example). Instead of just saying that you discover clues at a different location, it reads "Investigate any revealed location in play as if you were at that location” (emphasis mine). That means any clues you would discover “at your location” as part of this investigation are discovered at the location you are investigating with In the Know. So Rex’s bonus clue or any other additional clues from Deduction, etc, would all be taken from the location you chose when you used In the Know. (end of quote)

Oh, that's very interesting then!!

I remembered that quote, but i couldn't find it. Thanks @michaelkoch!

Very interesting deck, though you would have a problem with this card.

He'd have problems with any kind of elite, not just the one you mentioned. Foreknowledge of the encounter decks helps in this case, as well as a well timed "Let me handle this!"

SERIOUSLY cool idea! I love taking a lot of cards which are generally considered bad (Barricade, Truth from Fiction) and turning them into a completely new archetype. I may have to give this a go.

Would it make more sense to use St. Hubert's Key in place of Alyssa Graham? It seems like you're mostly using her for the intellect boost, and the Key doesn't require Charisma to function fully (and pumps willpower to boot.)

I might also consider Ward of Protection or "You handle this one!" over Dynamite Blast if you can trust the rest of your group to clean up enemies. This would help alleviate any encounter cards which could screw up the game plan (On Wings of Darkness comes to mind, for example).

Both have their advantages. I prefer Alyssa Graham because you can search her with the phone and she serves as a soak which doesn't trigger some encounter cards, when below some horror threshold. Also her ability allows you to spy on mythos deck. If you're the lead investigator you'll see your own card and can politely ask your guardian to come back should you discover an elite.

You may replace cards as you like. I just like the idea of dumping all enemies on one location and blowing them all up when you're about to leave. 1 Dynamite Blast may be enough for that, so you could replace one of them and Alyssa Graham with 2x whatever.

But i realize "You handle this one!" is a strong option to dump elites on your killer.

Even Dr. William T. Maleson has a big synergy with this deck because you can reshuffle elite enemies, while his clues pile up at your Barricaded location. If you'd like to play him, replace Laboratory Assistant x2.

Maybe I'm being excessively rules lawyery here, but it strikes me that Barricade 3 has 2 components:

1. Non-elites can't spawn here or move here, no matter what.
2. Any time ANY monster would spawn here, it spawns next door instead if able.

So part 1 would fail to prevent the Beast of Aldebaran, but then part 2 would step in and make him spawn at a connecting location instead. Then because he's not a hunter, you're still safe. Rather than being weak against all elites, you're only weak against elite hunters.

That, surprisingly, should be true!! Interesting consideration!! Well done!! That makes Barricade so much better!!

Thanks for pointing it out, i also missed that. Another reason to pack some Dynamite and blast them!

Or if the elite hunter would move and another player is at an adjacent location, the elite could move there instead.

Really awesome idea. Too bad it doesn't work in those scenarios where the person holding the clues needs to move into a location to use the clues.

You can’t barricade yourself at such maps but you can move with the guardian and continue sniping. You don’t have to stay at locations with clues.

I just played my own version of this deck a bunch, and it's definitely a just for fun sort of thing. You're basically paying +1 resources per investigate in order to save actions on moving (and also making yourself immune to some of the nastier location effects), but Seeker is the class that has some really sweet ways to bypass movement costs anyway (Pathfinder, Shortcut, Rex can even take Elusive).

I feel like you might be able to justify In the Know in a normal Rex deck, which until playing this, I did not think was the case. Often times a teammate will reveal a location and scoop half the clues and then have to leave, or you only need X more clues to get to the last Act but you're on the wrong side of the map. Not EVERY clue is worth sniping, but I think I'd say there's one or two times per scenario I'd want that ability. It surprised me.

Also, Barricade was errataed to not keep out Elite enemies.

I also found that enemies didn't really pile up, so dynamite blast was a dead card.

I guess I should add a section about variables, as this Decks Performance highly depends on your team and group size.

You shouldn’t use this deck if you don’t know the scenario and where to snipe.

In Solo this is obviously pointless with no one discovering locations and no combat options.

In 2 Player its also questionable. Only 1 person fighting and discovering locations can be too slow for sniping. Also Rex ability is wasted when target has only 1 clue.

In 3-4 Player this deck shines if you know where to barricade.

You could also replace dynamite with elusive to teleport from your barricade to resign location.

That'd be a sensible revision, imo.

2 player is actually sort of nice, since 1i locations are doable in one action/one secret (assuming you're fully geared up and/or rocking Higher Ed), and 2i are doable in 2 if you don't mess it up. In 3p, A 1i location takes a Deduction to clear in one, and a 2i location eats your entire In the Know.

So if your ideal setup is 3P, is barricading yourself more productive than shacking up with your main fighter, while your 3rd person (who'd be either fighty or evadey) reveals the locations?