17 replies to this topic

[VonWibble]

The spoiler article for the next box is up, what are people thinking of Lola?

Being able to have up to level 3 in all disciplines is great long term. The question is whether to have her "specialise" in a couple of areas (if only 1 then just use an investigator better suited to it surely!) or to be a true jack of all trades. I think that there is a problem with going for too many different spheres though, better imo to go for 3 at most.

Realistically you need at least 5 in a skill (after positive modifiers) to be considered reliably good at it - maybe an Encyclopedia would be a good first pick for experience? Cat Burglar, Sure Gamble, Pathfinder - all yellow and green cards - combine with red to get a decent investigator who can get out of trouble well with access to some decent weapons?

[phillosmaster]

Reminds me of the Necrons in Conquest.  For Necrons it was usually a good idea to limit the number of factions you include to minimize the possiblility of you having a bunch of dead cards in your hand.  I'd think 2 factions would be perfectly doable.  Also in AH TCG often I can take a whole turn without playing a card so it's possible she'll be less restrictive than this mechanic was for the Necrons.

 

Do we know her deck building restrictions?  I wonder what level caps she has for different cards.

[VonWibble]

Level 3 for all types. Looks like she might get 2 copies of her unique asset too?

I thought of Necrons as well, and I agree on the cards thing - or would if it weren't for that fact cards used for skill checks are included. That said, unlike Necrons you can change sphere once per turn at any time - so you can start as 1 and play some cards, then change to another and play more. Not as restrictive there for sure.

For that reason, I'd think 2 spheres rather than 3 isn't that great as other investigators can do that almost as well, and arguably better (well, up to level 2 and 5 in general, so if there is a great synergy between level 3 cards then she gains from that).

[klaymen]

Yes, she can take up to level 3 from any sphere, but she has to take 7 cards from three different spheres at minimum, min. 35 cards in a deck. Also, she has two copies of her weakness and of her unique asset.

[phillosmaster]

I was thinking she could do a two faction combo that isn't available to any to the core set investigators like Mystic + Guardian or Survivor + Seeker and go all the way up to level 3.  That would still be a unique deck space, but as Klaymen points out she needs to at minimum include 7 cards from three spheres, which forces her to be less focused.  That seems to push her into a generalist role, which is probably appropriate for her theme.

[VonWibble]

I think over time other combos of 2 decks like you describe will appear anyway, the other 5 investigators in this coming box for starters.

[Khudzlin]

There are 20 possible main class/secondary class combos (10 pairs going each way). The Core Set covers 5, Path to Carcosa covers another 3 (all 8 are different pairs of classes, btw). That leaves 12 combos (and 2 pairs) to cover in future expansions.

[MightyToenail]

I absolutely hate the design of Lola, there's literally nothing special about her other than being every class. At least Gandalf had a bunch of cool toys in Lotr.

[Ratadin]

Remember that she considers neutral to be a faction, so you could do survivor+seeker+neutral.

[Khudzlin]

Nope. As the Rules Reference says (under Class):

 

 

Some cards are not affiliated with any class; these cards are neutral.

 

Lola can have Neutral as a role, but since she's allowed to used neutral cards in any role, she's better off with any of the 5 classes. Her weakness can force her to switch to neutral, and that's it.

[BDFlory]

I absolutely hate the design of Lola, there's literally nothing special about her other than being every class. At least Gandalf had a bunch of cool toys in Lotr.

I expect she'll be the only gator in a long, long time to be able to take level 3 cards from multiple classes. That by itself is pretty sweet, along with the most flexibility (by far) in level 0-2 options.

She's really interesting, but she's going to be a high skill cap card. To get the most out of her, you'll need to play really well. Not coincidentalpy, I expect she'll be a prime culprit in misplays, thanks to her restrictions. It'll be easy to forget you can't trigger this or that ability, that would be almost automatic for any other gator, because you're in the wrong role.

[LoricatusLupus]

Seconded that she's interesting, but I think 3 is an awkward level - being one above what the core set investigators can take in their "secondary discipline" means that she's eligible to take cards that the designers seem to have thought should be class exclusive. A good example of this in my eyes is the permanent versions of all the "pay to buff" cards. She is the only one who can now potentially be starting a game with the ability to buff every stat, and that is not a small thing when she can also take every resource-generating card as well...

[Khudzlin]

Ah, but she'll have to switch to the correct role in order to use the "pay to buff" abilities.

[LoricatusLupus]

Ah, but she'll have to switch to the correct role in order to use the "pay to buff" abilities.

Well that's a free action for her, and she can simply start the turn in the "role" she thinks she'll need. It's the fact that she has ACCESS to all of them rather than she can use multiple per turn that's the important part in my opinion. I'm also interested in the way that she could potentially (with a LOT of experience) take a load of permanent upgrades, thus making her deck smaller. If there's one thing I've learned from other card games it's that deck thinning cannot be underestimated: it makes you more likely to draw the card you want even if there are fewer copies of it in the deck (thus allowing you to take a greater variety of cards instead of multiples of important ones). Of course in Arkham Horror that includes Weaknesses but the point stands.

[slothgodfather]

Assuming you aren't running with an actual Seeker (which is likely a mistake but we've been trying it), here is what I've build for Lola.  The focus is clue gathering with both Seeker and Mystic cards and the Rogue cards are to get you or others out of a jam or to do burst dmg on an enemy.

 

https://arkhamdb.com/deck/view/51041

 

Mulligan HARD for Scrying, as being able to dodge (or embrace) your signature weakness is VERY valuable and worth the occasional action. 

 

Typically you'll stay in the SEEKER Role, assuming you have Milan out and are protected from your weakness by Scrying.  Otherwise just stay in whatever role you have events for in your hand as the weakness will not discard though.

 

 

I'm working on a more combat oriented build, but the rogue cards will likely stay the same.

 

https://arkhamdb.com/deck/view/62958

 

There is a combat oriented build that will be part of a 4 player group using Mark, Mihn and Rex.

[Khudzlin]

take a load of permanent upgrades, thus making her deck smaller

 

It doesn't work like that. You don't remove a card from your deck when buying a permanent card with XP, because they don't count toward deck size.

 

 

An investigator’s deckbuilding guidelines (found on the back of the investigator card) must be observed while that investigator is purchasing new cards. Only cards the investigator has access to may be purchased. The deck-size
requirement must also be maintained, so that for each (nonpermanent) card purchased and added to a deck, a different card is removed from the deck. Weakness cards and cards that must be included in an investigator’s deck may not be removed while that investigator is purchasing new cards.

 

 

A card with the permanent keyword does not count towards your deck size.

 

Your deck can only get bigger, due to adding weaknesses and story assets (which also do not count toward deck size, but are shuffled into your deck).

[LoricatusLupus]

Thanks for the clarification, I obviously only skimmed that part in my haste to buy upgrades! My mistake: disregard that earlier point then. Actually makes the permanent even better than I thought too.

[slothgodfather]

It kind of depends on what roles you are picking, but with the Mystic and Rogue kits that I have in the Clue Gathering version, I'll never need to spend XP there due to those cards not having upgrades (ignoring 5xp Ward of Protection).

 

So that leaves me with a fair amount of XP that can go towards all of the permanent assets.  Yes, you have to be in the right role to use them, but getting several of them gives you the opportunity to always boost your stat, no matter what role you are in. 

 

They are also still good in the Combat version since it uses Dark Horse, they give you a reliable way to dump your resource when needed.