This has got to be one of the strongest investigators in the game. I'll tell you why.

TL:DR. Joe gets things done, his 2 main stats contribute directly to solving the 2 major challenges that ArkhamLcg tends to put in your way: Clues and enemies. The low is a challenge to navigate sometimes, but the speed at which he deals with a scenario tends to make up for that.

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Joe's abilities are fairly straightforward despite the dramatic change in deckbuilding they represent.

You benefit from a secondary deck that you "draw" from every round in addition to your main deck, cards in the secondary deck, or hunch deck, get a hefty discount but have the disadvantage of unpredictability, since the card might disappear and not reappear in a timely fashion. The hunch deck is a fantastic place to put a variety of support mechanics that extend your survivability or give you healthy amounts card draw, free clues or even free movement. As this deck gets thinner, the more likely you are to find each mechanic, which is why in my opinion -Fast- cards are even better then usual when put in the hunch deck, because they are more easily playable at any given moment. Keep in mind that while this mechanic can be unpredictable, it is still an additional card option to play every single round, you effectively get to draw all your support cards for free without dudding the draws that might net you a key weapon or friend.

Because the hunch deck is not set in stone, it isn't a terrible idea to have 12 insights in your deck so that you may swap them around a bit.

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So, ability broken down. Lets look at the stats, these are the secret behind Joe's great strength.

• 2 serves to do not much at all. Even with cards in your potential cardpool like Physical Training, Take the Initiative and obviously, Guts, you're bound to take horror at a higher rate and to suffer the effects of many treacheries, this is why Logical Reasoning is a great card to bring. Thankfully you wont generally be relying on willpower to do stuff so this stat is not going to slow you down TOO much, just worry about not dying! Lucky for Joe, he's also got access to a lineup of cheap and horror-tanky allies and Dr. Milan Christopher which makes cards like Charisma and Calling in Favors extra juicy for him. In solo where you need to do all the things by yourself Higher Education makes it a bit easier to tacke scenario specific tests, this is still not a particularly high-priority upgrade.

• 4 makes Joe able to grab clues from just about anywhere with a little support from his faction. Intellect is one of the key stats in advancing the scenario and having a good score here means that this character can advance a scenario relatively fast.

• 4 is the other stat that has perennially contributed to scenario completion. If a scenario isn't completed by gathering clues, chances are that it's beaten by killing something, not to mention the importance of being able to deal with threats, which is apt to do. The weapon selection is not quite the best, but note that there is access to Strange Solution and .45 Automatic, put these two together along with Vicious Blow and your ability to deal with enemies goes through the roof!

• 2. The real dump stat, once in a blue moon an agility test will be required by something that deals health damage (we don't really care) or an enemy must be evaded. Outside of Forgotten age the odds that we test this stat intentionally is pretty much 0.

This here is why Joe Diamond is so strong. While the and arent great, he simultaneously enjoys an of 4, probably the most important stat for progressing a scenario, and 4, the other most important stat for progressing scenarios. While you'll steadily take damage and horror and bad effects in the mythos phase, you're unstoppable in the investigator phase. And dont forget that the hunch deck is still there giving you free moves, healing and clues.

In short, like the previously released Finn Edwards, you have a disadvantage in your statline, but you have all the tools you need to cover the weakness along with a statline that allows you to brutalize scenarios. Except this time you also pull from the best cardpool for on one hand, the cards, and the best cardpool for on the other, .

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Joe's and signature cards aren't worth too much attention.

The recurses your hunch cards, I recommend generally using it on cards like Working a Hunch or Shortcut so that they might be played immediately when you find them again.

Unsolved Case is an incredibly soft weakness. Often its just a couple lost actions and a couple lost resources. At the very worst you'll find yourself with Unsolved Case exposed while you don't have any actions to spend on it or in a circumstance where the dropped clue is going to cost several actions. The upside to these is always "Oh well, it's just 2 xp."

Detective's Colt 1911s Do their job sufficiently. Note the errata for Leo Anderson's unique asset affects this card as well, allowing for playing the tools first, then the guns. An extra gun is never bad and by the time your hunch deck is full of fast card-draw, Joe can slim down his weapon selection to just a couple, especially if you also found the time to gain Strange Solution. Joe's weapon selection can very naturally go from 2x.45 Automatic and 2xMachete to 2x.45 Automatic and 2xExtra Ammunition. You may note that I haven't talked much about Detective's Colt 1911s, that's because they just aren't that interesting, quite often you'll be playing them as the second weapon in a scenario or never at all because the other weapon is Machete or a well stocked .45 Automatic, Magnifying Glass synergies with them because you can get them in and out of play as best suits your slot capacity.

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Some 0-xp stars to put in the hunch deck in no particular order:

• Logical Reasoning, reduced to 0 cost, this event is outright fantastic in any given scenario. If the scenario has Frozen in Fear in it try to swap this into your main deck instead so that you might consistently remove the Terror when it shows up. In any other scenario 2 points of horror heal at a happenstance moment is perfectly acceptable, especially if you judiciously supply the deck with fast events that you play immediately, to increase consistency.

• Emergency Aid. Pretty much the same as above with Logical Reasoning. Health heal is ever so slightly less useful to you then horror but as with "Skids" O'Toole health can pose a threat surprisingly often, not to mention the relief you can give to friends.

• Shortcut. Although you're not utilizing the discount with this one, the free move that doesn't dud a card draw and thinning your hunch deck are all useful elements to taking this in the hunch deck rather then main deck.

• Working a Hunch. Easy to hit free clue, making full use of both discount and free action, a must have in the hunch deck even if you just burn it on an easy location.

• Preposterous Sketches. 0-cost draw 3 cards, very good. The presence of powerful card draw in the hunch deck can make weapons and key cards a lot easier to find.

• No Stone Unturned. Mini tutor at 0-cost. Good in a similar way to Sketches above.

Note how healthy, fast and consistent Joe can be via the hunch deck right from the start? And then some XP-hunches really knock it up a notch:

• Cryptic Research, like Preposterous Sketches but fast, absolutely worth a slot in the hunch deck despite not using the discount. Consider cutting unupgraded No Stone Unturned for it.

• No Stone Unturned, same as above except i'dd reccomend just a 1-off replacing one copy of Preposterous Sketches.

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All in all, Joe has a terrific cardpool and a strong ability. he can very reliably do the job of monster killer or cluehound as needed by the team, or outright do both at the same time, as he gains XP he can add cards like Physical Training, Well Prepared, Strange Solution is absolutely fantastic for him and works with Beat Cop, Well Prepared, Venturer, Emergency Cache (both of who can also replenish Fingerprint Kit) and Vicious Blow.

The really fun thing is that Joe Diamond has rather flexible deckbuilding, a specioalist who can beat away the things that try to prey on him, a who kills things efficiently then turns around to grab some clues. A switch-hitter who wields the .45 Automatic in one hand and Fingerprint Kit in the other, doing both tasks at once.

Absolutely. Bonkers. Insane. Card.

The only downside is the cost so perhaps not the ideal fit into a resource starved or , the icons are fine so taking this in your Roland Banks or the like isn't the worst idea, most of the time youll play the icons and ever so often you will actually play it and reap an incredible mobility reward (although that Khopesh is much better than it looks).

Summoned Nightgaunt does 2 things in one action.

• Auto-evade multiple enemies at once.

• Long range move.

So far as I know, you can trigger the card if only just to move, do correct me if I'm wrong. So even if only for the infinite ranged move this is a great card. In single player the movement options might be rather limited when using this card, not too many locations are revealed all the time, but the auto-evade bomb is a life-saving power. Perhaps this cards greatest downside is that the move does not seem optional, I might be wrong about that though so that's even better! Obviously the card will just get better and better with added player count.

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, , of every type will love this (dont forget the other option though). who don't take too much self-inflicted horror or resist it will like it too. I guess the only faction that's not particularly interested is . I'dd still like to say that in Forgotten age this asset would be well-liked by everyone and anyone.

This does not look like a good weapon. Don't judge a sword by its.... Scabbard?

characters don't like it because it is only so-much better then a Machete or .45 Automatic and takes away a slot or you intend to get a big gun later anyway. But then. Whats the harm in an additional big weapon that doesn't count against deck slots? Consistency and efficiency is the name of the game and this big-ass sword is a great way to add a little weapon-finding consistency to your deck mid-campaign.

Non- might have dramatically different opinions. The massive +3 to hit can turn a mediocre fighter into a warmachine. "Skids" O'Toole, Finn Edwards, Diana Stanley, fighting at +6. Rita Young or Silas Marsh with their inability to gain superior in-faction weapons that will last them an entire scenario will be looking at Timeworn Brand as a main weapon, if you happen to find one of these on the way that'd be outright awesome, if only for consistency's sake!

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So, with the "who wants it" covered, lets look at what it does.

Its an infinite use +3 +1 damage weapon, at this moment that's the largest + infinite weapon in the game. So damn yes that's got the attention of the fighty characters.

And then there's the ability to literally teleport around the map, to wherever more opponents might hide. This ability wont always be useful. In solo you can expect a couple maps per campaign where you're chasing a Doom carrier or some scenario specific agent, the saved actions as you shift around the map, batman-style, are terrific, but definitely not always useful. This ability ramps up very quickly in usefulness when you're fighting the threats that come into play in a 3 or 4-player game though, also note that the Khopesh lets you bypass the Aloof keyword.

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So yes, I don't think this is ever a bad weapon to put into a deck that's interested in killing enemies and not hugely dependent on hand slots. Even if it's not as good as a Lightning Gun, just keep in mind the importance of consistency.

The obvious: This thing is ideal for characters who like to use Lucky!, "Look what I found!" ETC.

The inobvious: It's an Ankh, a sign for immortality, so why this effect? Why because many many many encounter cards deal damage incremental to your failure! Rotting Remains, Grasping Hands, that kind of stuff, most scenarios have 1 or 2 effects like these, so even if you're not trying to change failure into success, the Ancient Ankh might very well be very useful, regardless of class, not to mention the flexible skill icons.

A tremendous card, way better than it looks.

First off John & Jessie Burke feature a beefy tank and they are very much expendable, this is one of those allies that you use twice or so and then are happy to tank damage and horror with before refilling the slot with a different ally. This of course gets expensive so the active ability better be good, which it is.

The ability deals automatic damage, auto-damage is always terrific, weakening enemies so that smaller weapons or just your fists might kill the enemy in one hit, not to mention the luxury of combining damage and movement. Furthermore, this ability allows you to bypass the Aloof keyword, that's a terrific bonus for certain scenarios (and campaigns, right dude?). Every campaign has Acolytes at some point and other 1-hp allies, John & Jessie Burke make a mess of these enemies.

If you want John & Jessie Burke in your deck and tend to do "full-campaigns" with the side scenarios added (as I do), consider doing their scenario before you do Rougarou, their ability to deal ping damage makes a variety of challenges in that scenario outright hilariously easy, not to mention to engage and kill the mutt easily.

In short, John & Jessie Burke boost survivability and your ability to react to enemies around the map.

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Obviously, like Monstrous Transformation, this card is best suited to specific deck types and my recommendation is to try and get this card into an ally based character who juggles Beat Cop, Venturer, Dr. Milan Christopher and other 4-cost characters with Calling in Favors. In this case John & Jessie Burke just become part of the rat-pack that you lug around.

In the absence of Calling in Favors John & Jessie Burke are still great in a deck that has just 1 ally in it, for example 2 copies of Beat Cop or 2 copies of Peter Sylvestre. John & Jessie Burkes's tendency to die away eventually means that they will greatly expand your survivability while you wait for your planned ally.

Finally, if you're a you'll probably consider Well Prepared at some point and John & Jessie Burke synergize wery well with it.