Daisy Walker - White Mage (Hard Mode)

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DISCLAIMER

This is an as yet untested deck I've been working up for a little while but not finding the time to actually play test. I basically just wanted to get it out there for people to try and maybe build on a bit since i wasnt getting it to the table. It at least uses the ‘shell’ of an old deck that I did test quite a bit (link here), so its not entirely based on whim, but everything below is a bit speculative so please take it with a little salt! anyhow enjoy!

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Abridgment (TL:DR/Overview)

What I hope is a fairly thematic, evasion and passive support focused daisy build. Your main job is still getting clues. Prioritise Old Book of Lore first for the incredible deck consistency, then get to 6 via Milan or Hubert's Key to be able to reliably investigate shroud 3 locations on hard (or 4 on standard). Milan and St. Hubert's Key combined to get you to 7 are used on higher shrouds, or Higher Education can be used until they are both in play.

Rather than the common Higher Education + Shrivelling route, the deck instead uses Milan money to fuel Protective Incantation and The Chthonian Stone offering passive team support via seals, for a thematic white mage feel. Just remember to point out to your team mates every time the token you have sealed would have made them fail, a good academic makes sure they take credit for both their work, and that of anyone else near by.

Enemy handling is mainly done through conversion based evasion (Mind over Matter & Evady Glyphs( or combat, though until the Glyphs are unlocked, Mists of R'lyeh provides this role boosted by Higher Education and St. Hubert's Key. Alternatively, Cluey Glyphs can be used by keeping the Mists of R'lyeh long term, dropping Mind over Matter instead.

The early upgrade path is a little fiddly so i recommend checking the upgrades section if its unclear. It was written with core, Dunwich and Carcossa campaigns in mind so it might not be ideal for the forgotten age as it has limited hp soak and . Subbing in things like Medical Texts may help here, but i haven't given it much thought just yet - Happy to hear yours!.

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Later Editions (Upgrades)

Ive put this at the top as i know not everyone wants to read the whole blurb.

Priorities

1. First 3 xp: 1x Higher Education, then
2. Next 4 xp: 1x Archaic Glyphs and 1x Mists of R'lyeh Archaic Glyphs and Protective Incantation (simultaneously), then
3. Next 4 xp: (Again) 1x Archaic Glyphs and 1x Mists of R'lyeh Archaic Glyphs and Protective Incantation, (and yes do this simultaneously as well).

If using Cluey Glyphs: Instead swap Mind over Matter for Protective Incantation instead of Mists of R'lyeh. Notice that if you dont care which glyphs you get Shrewd Analysis can save you 3 xp here letting steps 2 and 3 be:

• Next 5 xp 2x Archaic Glyphs 2x Mystery Glyphs, then just whatever combination of either Mists of R'lyeh or Mind over Matter for Protective Incantation fits depending on what combination you drew.

This should get you to the listed deck after that feel free to do what you like.

Some Later Recommendations:

• Charisma (3) - lets you play Milan before your Librarian if needed, see below).
• 2x Research Librarian No Stone Unturned (5) - This might mean you can get away without Charisma and has the advantage of changing the Research Librarian slot to a card that isnt a dead draw if you get it after Old Book of Lore.
• 2x Deduction Deduction (2) - More clues are more clues.
• 1x Book of Shadows - Tutorable via Research Librarian/No Stone Unturned (5). You have the spells. This lets you recharge them using your free tome action.
• 2x Ward of Protection Ward of Protection (2) - more party support.
• Delve Too Deep Cryptic Research (4) - One of the best draw cards in the game. Once you're done with delve (scenario 4 ish for me) this is just a solid deck thinner or party support card, and/or
• Delve Too Deep Deciphered Reality (5) - A commonly misunderstood card. You dont need to shoot the moon here and get 10 clues in 1 action. You get great returns with just 3 or 4 since you didnt have to travel to get the other 1 or 2 from far away. Note that you get 2 from your own location since you get 1 naturally for the investigate and it does not have an "instead of" text.

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Detailed Piloting

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Index: (Mulligan and set up)

Mulligan: Keep any of the following:

• Eureka! (any number) - this essentially has 3 chances to be any other card you wanted.
• Old Book of Lore (x1),
• Dr. Milan Christopher (x1),
• Research Librarian (x1) (if you dont have Old Book of Lore).

If you get both Dr. Milan Christopher and Old Book of Lore, keep Emergency Caches. They let you play both on turn one. Everything else can wait - Old Faithful will find them.

Set up: Priorities

1. Find Old Book of Lore if you didnt get it in the muligan. This may mean holding back Milan so you can play Research Librarian if you find/have him. Once you have Charisma or No Stone Unturned (5) (see above) this stops being an issue, but you badly want OBL asap. The filtered draw it gives makes Daisy one of the most consistent IDs in the game, fuels Higher Education and allows you to morph into your late game seal spec reliably by mid game (I hope). You should be using this as often as possible. then,
2. Get to 6 with Old Book of Lore in play. Ideally this means playing Milan for the income to pay for Old Book of Lore. But if you didnt find milan, St. Hubert's Key will get you the you need. between the total of 4 copies of Milan and Hubert's, you should see one of them early, especially when using OBL`s filtered draw. 6 is essential on hard as its 3 above the 3 shroud cap which will cover all but the worst locations. On hard this usually gives you about a 70-80% ish chance to pass (2 above can be about 50/50 though keep an eye on the token as these usually fluxuate and can be generous early scenario). If playing on standard you want to be 2 above, which makes her base of 5 very nice indeed!
3. After all that, play milan as soon as you see him if you havent already. Prioritise him and Emergency Cache (to pay for him if needed) in Old Book of Lore and Eureka! searches. Even if you are at 6, his steady stream of cash is fundimental to the seal aspect of the deck.

At this point the deck will be pretty much set up. After this, just adapt to game state using the following suits:

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Antagonists (Enemy handling)

This is a multiplayer deck. You are primarily the teams clue hunter, someone else should be doing any actual killing, Nevertheless you may get caught in a tight corner, so:

• Mind over Matter, Archaic Glyphs, & "I've got a plan!" - let you convert your boosted into action efficient methods of evasion or damage without the usual need to pay into Higher Education, or maintain 5 hand size the way Shrivelling setups do.
• Mists of R'lyeh - The stopgap during first scenarios. This needs Higher Education cash to fuel, though St. Hubert's Key will get you to 4, so it can be used in combination with a pip from a card. Eureka!, Shortcut, second copies of Old Book of Lore, or Ward of Protection can be used here. Its just one scenario, and the first one is usually easier.

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Binding (Seal suite)

• The Chthonian Stone - Targets for this will vary. Note that the Forced - text only refers to you drawing the token. Also notice that The Necronomicon makes that more likely, and may actually need clearing for once.
• Protective Incantation - A great card but hard to keep in play. Thankfully Moneybags Milan should provide a steady stream of cash to pay for this (and for replaying The Chthonian Stones (I hope!).

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Digression (The rest)

• Deduction - No surprises here. Primarily used on shroud 4 to both clear efficiently and reach that magic 3 points over test strength.
• Shortcut - Simply a great action saving card and my hair style description all in one. Never leave home without it.
• Ward of Protection - essential for dealing with problematic encounter cards like Beyond the Veil in dunwich, or the ever hated Ancient Evils. In forgotten age, you may need to keep this back for particularly nasty agility hits and HP shocks.

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Thanks for reading!

If anyone tries this out or builds on it, id love to know how it goes.