They See Me Roland, They HATING

A lot of people have asked for me to write up a little bit about my favorite Guardian, Roland. The general consensus is that he is middling at best, but for me I've found him to be exceptional in 2 player Standard campaigns, and still quite strong in a 4 player StandHard campaign we did as a test run to test if Roland could scale.

This version of Roland is intended to be a primary Monster handler that is both helpful at getting clues through his reaction but also is able to investigate in downtimes or help his cluever with skills. This works best with a partner that uses their Intellect as their primary stat.

Personalization: In my opinion, the deck has 6 slots that are flexible, Working a Hunch, Daring, and Steadfast can be adjusted based on your preference. I've played with Eureka over the Working a Hunch when paired with Mystics quite a bit, as it helps them and can still be committed to some of our tests. Other cards I like a lot for Roland include Shortcut, Scene of the Crime, and Logical Reasoning(this can help drop a clue for Cover Up). I haven't tested Ready for Anything enough yet but it has some promise.

Weaknesses: The biggest weakness of this build is Agility tests. I would not bring it to TFA or anywhere that has major Agility subthemes. It also can lack Horror protection, so for things like Carcosa where that can be a major subtheme you should consider more soak, Logical Reasoning/Ready for Anything, and/or Hallowed Chalice. With the current package of clue getting, Cover Up is barely a blip on the radar since we're easily getting 1-2 clues ourselves a round. The deck can be resource light if you need to play multiple weapons early because of a treachery like Crypt Chill or a monster effect. You can flex in more money with Emergency Cache or On the Hunt(3) for one of the flex cards.

Mulligans: We're trying to find our steady weapon early. Hammer(Axe) is the primary target and we are willing to throw all 5 cards in until we hit it, though we can settle for the Thompson and find our way to the stable weapon during the game relatively easily considering all the draw we get packed in from our Skills and the Prepared for the Worst. We can keep 1-2 Prepared for the Worst (even after Stick to the Plan ate the other one during setup) because this ends up hitting Astounding Revelation to get money for us often AND can get an extra weapon to give redundancy or additional pips for skill tests. Obviously send away any Astounding Revelations, but otherwise the deck is very good at being redundant and capable.

Upgrade path: 5 XP -> Cyclopean Hammer in and Runic Axe out 10 XP -> Cyclopean Hammer in and Runic Axe out 16 XP -> Stick to the Plan in (Get Over Here, Prepared for the Worst, Practice Makes Perfect) 18 XP -> Get Over Here(2) 20+22 XP -> Vicious Blow(2) 24-26 XP -> Overpower(2) 28 XP -> Beat Cop(2) in and Grete Wagner out 30-32 XP -> Prepared for the Worst(2) 34-36 XP -> Deduction(2) 38-40 XP -> Perception(2) 42 XP -> Steadfast(2) 45 XP -> Charisma 50+55 XP -> .45 Thompson(5) 57-59 XP -> Working a Hunch (2)