Investigate This *punch to face*

Preamble On the eve of the Dunwich Legacy reaching me, I felt I wanted to provide a published list of the last of the core set investigators, the Fed himself, R. Banks.

As with my Wendy write-up (https://arkhamdb.com/decklist/view/287/a-date-with-destiny-solo-deck-with-xp-1.0), I've plumped to do a list of this deck just before I start scenario 3 of the core set campaign, the Night of the Zealot. I'll go into a little bit of detail about the original deck, and then my experience-point choices. This deck was used solo, and fares pretty well. One of Roland's great strengths is that one thing he does well (fighting) leads to advancing the act deck, through clues - so doing some fighting becomes doing some investigating, so basically he's investigating, ideally, all. the. time.

!!spoiler warning if you've not played the core set campaign yet!!

Starting list and experience So, what was different in the starting list to this one? Much of my starting list looks much like @prower's: https://arkhamdb.com/decklist/view/221/roland-solo-hard-completed-1.0 The write-up there is very informative. What has changed is: the two cops were dogs, the two badges were jumping around, and there was, in place of big guns with ammunition an additional Machete, Perception and Flashlight. Going into s3, particularly with how the woods play out, I often find too many investigative tools unnecessary. If I were to play again, perhaps I'd keep the perception - chasing r1 can come down to ritual-site success - but otherwise I was happy with the choices.

The first change I recommend after s1 is cops and badges. Clearing out the Attic and Cellar is must-do, as is, ideally, killing at least one of Icy and Fleshy. With a dead priest and refusing to torch the house (like Roland wants 1 mental trauma anyway?), that's 8 or 9xp straight up. The cops and badges take Roland's baseline stats and start to make him look very potent indeed: 4 , 5 and a pretty reliable way to gain clues without taking a test is nice indeed. The badge in s2 can shine in particular when you're after a 4th/5th/6th cultist and just need that time. In my most recent play through, my final turn was move, move, move, parley, resign. Thanks badge!

Working a Hunch and Evidence! come into their own in scenario 2, too. The former is definitely the right choice over Deduction (and I was certainly on the fence about it for a while). Hunch is fast and allows Roland to clear out a location of clues before repositioning at a new location with a clue ready, in the hope that the encounter deck spawns a monster. Evidence, similarly, allows an attack that kills an enemy to do double duty - emptying locations such as Miskatonic University, Graveyard or Northside in one blow. Tasty.

There are definitely some high cost cards in this deck. Here's looking at Beat Cop, .45 Automatic, Dynamite Blast and Shotgun. Keeping Roland's hand and resource pool full becomes vital, for two reasons: 1) to afford to play such cards 2) to have the options available. Dynamite Blast's pip is not to be underestimated here. I probably use the blast as often to protect against Rotting Remains or Crypt Chill, particularly when set up in s1, as I do use it to empty a room. But it's also nice to have the three damage on tap should a cultist spawn nearby. Keeping resources up also feeds into another part of Roland's grand plan, namely - sometimes it's better to wait for an enemy that try to investigate. In s3 that becomes particularly useful when some locations are high shroud or require or what have you.

Dunwich options Boy cards aren't setting my eyes aflame or heart alight. Blackjack, Taunt and Teamwork all have little use solo, irrespective of those cards' intrinsic qualities. The batch have a little bit more sparkle, particularly Shortcut. Roland likes to get to locations with clues (see everywhere above) and Shortcut helps, particularly as it's fast. Perhaps dropping a Dodge and a... something else... might make space for it. Strange Solution doesn't merit an include, nor does Seeking Answers, but I can imagine a wacky Roland Banks deck, perhaps with Charisma, in which Laboratory Assistant finds a place for card draw and as an extra body. That deck isn't this one though.

Final thoughts Roland Banks is the investigator many new players will first pick, and seems to be seen as the 'obvious' investigator to start with. I never felt that way, and I've certainly found success only when focusing pretty specifically on his core ability and designing in that direction. His low sanity is always a worry (perhaps I should have said something about the amulet?) and needs to be remembered at all times. Other directions for building for Roland of course are available. Thanks for reading. Thoughts and criticism welcome!