Can I play with Agnes?

Give me the sense to wonder

To wonder if she’s free

Give me a sense of wonder

If they’ve picked her before me

Give me the strength to hold my hand out

And pick that youthful face

Don't need xp to unlock this deck

Gonna play through it all

Break me into that bad place

[Chorus]

Can I play with Agnes?

She’d look so cool with a crystal ball

Can I play with Agnes?

Her evasion’s rather small

Can I play with Agnes?

The players looked at me and laughed at me (ha ha) they said:

Can I play with Agnes?

Use blinding light, its fine, you`ll seeee

Woah, they said use blinding light you`ll see

I stared hard at the encounters

I said I'll Scry, I'll see whats below

We can prepare for this mischief

For two cards and the next

Oh then I fixed them with a freezing glance

You could see the fear in their eyes

I said you wanna know the truth son?

Well I’ll show you the truth

Its an agility test needing five or higher

[Chorus]

Listen to me, said the players

[Chorus]

Can I play with Agnes?

Agnes Baker is one of the most powerful investigators out there and here's why:

• First of all, with her 5 , she can withstand most of the treacheries requiring skill tests the encounter deck throws at her.
• Her other stats are quite low, but the class has so many ways to hande that, that it is not really relevant in the end.

With the solved, she just needs way to mitigate her 3 other low stats. And ways there are in the class card pool, most of them Spells that can be triggered using her strongest stat .

• Her 3 is already quite acceptable, considering you won't be using it much, except to sometimes, in an emergency, evade an enemy if you can't currently kill it or blind it.
• Her 2 may be the most difficult stat to balance, if you're playing solo. If you're playing multiplayer, you probably want to focus Agnes on killing the damn enemies. Back to solo then. Again, cards have so many ways to mitigate that: Drawn to the Flame, Rite of Seeking, maybe use that "Look what I found!", and the neutral cards Flashlight and Perception.
• Her 2 may be the easiest stat to balance, right off the bat with Shrivelling and later on with Shrivelling (3), Shrivelling (5) and Song of the Dead (2). What's more, all those Spells have a strong synergy with Agnes' ability, dealing even more damage to the enemies you're attacking.

Finally:

• The ability of Agnes is very reliable, as lot of things can deal damage to Agnes: treacheries, enemy attacks, even her own Spells. She also has access to ways of mitigating the sanity hits: Fearless and Peter Sylvestre.
• Her modifier is quite good too, for the same exact reason.

With the mulligan rule in this game, grabbing a Spell in your starting hand is not that difficult, and you still have the Arcane Initiate to help you out.

Here is a (solo) sample deck: arkhamdb.com

Review of parallel Agnes. I played her for 3 scenarios as cluer (our campaign isn't finished) and found her new ability better than i had expected.

Parallel Agnes can be found here. I created alternate weaknesses for all parallel investigator, based on the boss of each adventure which can be found here. Except the weakness for daisy, i haven't playtested them yet so changes are possible.

Stats

Base stats remain the same, but her HP and Sanity have been swapped. High means she excels when using spells and resisting many treacheries but her low other stats mean she can't do anything without spells.

Higher HP allows for more uses of her new ability. When the game was new, needed sanity to endure side effects of Shrivelling. With the addition of new asset spells like Azure Flame or Eye of Chaos that's not necessary anymore.

Ability

Her new abilites read:

• As an additional cost to play a Spell event, you may take 1 damage. If you do, reduce the cost to play that event by 2, and you may shuffle that event back into your deck instead of discarding it.
• effect: +1. You may heal 1 damage.

Like her old ability, it is both a blessing and curse because liberal use can kill you (enemy attacks, trecheries, location effects, Azure Flame,...). Her new ability is more flexible and gets better with new spell events. cards tend to be expansive and with limited charges so the first part of her ability really helps going all out on events. Shuffling them back into your deck is also a huge boon, as you might draw it again (i think i used read the signs 4-6 times in one scenario). Though it makes drawing other cards less likely.

As of writing this review, i'm not sure you can use her ability on spells that cost 0 ressources to shuffle them back into your deck. I'm assuming yes.

New is a straight heal, keeping her alive and allowing for more uses of her first ability. If you make liberal use of her first ability like i did, you will need this. Also note that it heals you if the test fails (so combos nice with fail to win stuff).

Deck Building

Similar to parallel Skids. When upgrading spells (not limited to events), you may keep the lower level version in your deck, which does not count against your deck size. For 2 XP each, you can have 20 Ward of Protection so you never need to worry about treacheries anymore (but the horror...).

Spells events of note LV 0:

• Blinding Light: Evade with and 1 damage. Potentially lose 1 action, which is why i dislike this.
• Deny Existence: Avoid some nasty effects and damage/ horror. Very scenario dependant.
• Ethereal Form: Evade with + , very high chance of success and can't be engaged. Recommended.
• Hypnotic Gaze: Very costly Dodge, may damage enemy. Enemy attacks can be avoided with tactics and effect is not reliable. Not recommended.
• Moonlight Ritual: Useful in doom based decks. Take 1 damage to shuffle into your deck.
• Open Gate: Qualifies for your ability, 1 ressources may not be worth 1 damage. Scenario dependant.
• Read the Signs: Investigate with + , very high chance of success, gain 2 clues and ignore some effects. Recommended.
• Spectral Razor: Fight with + , very high chance of success, included engage action and 3 damage on non elite. Recommended.
• Storm of Spirits: Damages all enemies at your location. Recommended for 3-4 players.
• Tides of Fate: Lots of / tokens. Use only if you need them for other cards.
• Voice of Ra: Qualifies for your ability, so can be shuffled into your deck. Not recommended unless you need ressources.
• Ward of Protection: Cancel a treachery that would ruin your day. Qualifies for your ability, so shuffle it into your deck. Recommended.

Agnes looses access to survivor lv 0-2 but gains Spells lv 0-3 and occult 0-3. Note that these spells are not limited to events.

This includes the following cards, at the time of writing of this review:

• Hallowed Mirror: Your relic slot is heavily contested (Holy Rosary for more ), but bonded Soothing Melodys heal is very helpful. They're also spells for Arcane Initiate and your ability. Pay 1 damage, heal 2 damage and shuffle it back into your deck?
• Hand of Fate: Very costly Dodge, may add . Not recommended, unless you need for other effects.
• Blood Eclipse 1, 3: Take damage to deal more. 1 xp version is relatively efficient but i'd not recommend 3 xp version. I'd only take this if you're the groups fighter.
• Radiant Smite: Combo with Tempt Fate for max damage. Rather unreliable unless Sister Mary is in your group, not recommended.
• Obfuscation: Spell asset that ignores 3 OAs. Not recommended.
• Suggestion: Spell asset that evades with + . Use events or some of the with extra effects instead, not recommended.
• Archaic Glyphs: These require tests, but with her 2 base i wouldn't consider these.
• Cryptic Grimoire: This card's upgrades have not been released as of writing this review. Tempt Fate and Tides of Fate may help to translate the grimoire.
• Both versions of Feed the Mind require tests, so you're bound to fail.
• Occult Lexicon: Hand slot that adds draw/ discard/ damage events.
• Occult Invocation: Fight and discard cards for more damage. Arcane Initiate should keep your hand full, so recommended.
• Segment of Onyx: Another contestant for relic slot, so very XP intense (Relic Hunter). Does nothing until you have all 3 parts and needs search effects to work (Backpack). 3 desk slots you lose for spell events. Not recommended.
• Gaze of Ouraxsh: Testless damage, depending on blurse tokens revealed. Use only if your deck is built around that mechanic.
• Alter Fate 1/ 3: Discard nastry treacheries. Scenario dependant.

In short, her new deckbuilding offers access to more combat spells and blurse tech. However lv 0-2 gives her access to cheap soaks and fail to win combo, which means card draw. Some of note:

• Lucky!: Turn a fail into a success
• Leather Coat: Soak damage from your ability
• Flare to search for Arcane Initiate
• Jessica Hyde: Soak damage from your ability
• Peter Sylvestre: Soak for Ward of Protection
• Take Heart, Drawing Thin, Rabbit's Foot (+Relic Hunter): Fail to gain cards and ressources

Combos

• New ability: Arcane Initiate and Word of Command allow you to search for spells for your ability (and the latter can also trigger it).
• 0-2: Scavenging 2, Sixth Sense (or other investigate spells): Recycle items like Leather Coat, Cherished Keepsake, Abyssal Tome or Heirloom of Hyperborea. Items that soak damage combo nice with your ability.
• 0-2: Flare, A Chance Encounter, Summoned Hound: Extra actions without the risk of Vengeful Hound ruining your day

Since the reviews of this character were close to the game's release, they don’t mention the absolute perfect partner for Agnes: Carolyn Fern. In a duo that’s closer to a psych study than an adventuring party, the waitress can take horror four times a turn and the therapist can keep up and grow rich. (Every phase? Yes, because of the quick trigger of forbidden knowledge, and the fact you can have two. As well as pain pills. Of course, you won’t have to do this every turn unless you have a truly wretched encounter deck, bonded enemies, and weaknesses that spawn foes.)

If you’re going this route, ancient stones and solemn vows, as well as the big man on campus, allow a tremendous amount of healing. The new book of psalms means you can even fill the bag with beneficial tokens while getting paid.

It’s a breath of fresh air if you’ve ever played Agnes before, being torn between the horror you get from the encounter deck, shriveling, and enemies, and your natural urge to use your power. Send your foes packing as you spin into your delusions of being an ancient witch from an era undreamed of.

(For a really nifty combo, you can use dark horse and the resources Carolyn gives you to play costly cards on your turn, and get plus one versus anything in the encounter deck. It also gives you an outside chance of passing agility checks, which most campaigns have a few of.)

The duo can easily become a trio or quartet, but fill your ranks with saner investigators. You’re going to need a lot of personalized attention, and remember a therapist’s hour only lasts 50 minutes.

Just finished the Path to Carcosa campaign. Got a cheeky idea for next run ... play Agnes Baker and "accidentally" speak His name aloud once a phase. Get horror each time → deal damage to an enemy at your location. :D Need to pack some horror heal/soak though :))

It's been a long while since anyone updated or wrote a review on Agnes, and there sure are a lot of new cards to consider. If you're playing with a limited pool of cards (Base Set and Dunwich) then those old reviews will be very relevant to you.

But if you have some of the later sets, such as Stella Clark or Edge of the Earth, then this review might be of use. Let's unpack which cards remain useful and which have fallen by the wayside.

Agnes' Role

As for mystics that can act as a primary fighter, Agnes is no longer the only game in town. Players can consider using Akachi, Lily, and Dexter without contorting their deckbuilding. But Agnes remains the most combat-oriented of the bunch and that's because her innate investigator ability is to dish out testless damage. Her ability to finish off a boss with only 1 health remaining can mean the difference between which resolution is reached in scenarios. It can also pick off all kinds of pesky aloof enemies, from Whippoorwills to Rookie Cultists.

Triggering her Innate Investigator Ability

The cards that help trigger her power have not changed. The classic remains Forbidden Knowledge which benefits your economy. The supplemental choice is still Painkillers. Shrivelling sometimes triggers it as well. If you're using cards that manage the chaos bag (Premonition or Dark Prophecy come to mind) then you have more control over whether or not the extra damage is triggered.

The only new addition here is for decks that want to dabble in bless/curse tokens, in which case Spirit of Humanity (2) is a way to both load the bag with tokens, while also providing a way for Agnes to deal testless damage while also providing an emergency option to heal. If you run a suite of spells like Armageddon all the better!

Managing Horror and Health

Agnes' testless damage comes with the cost of self-inflicted horror. Peter Sylvestre remains the King of Horror Soak after all these years. and his experienced version that improves Agnes' ensures that he'll likely have a long reign.

The issue with including Peter is that he competes with the Arcane Initiate for the ally slot, and his ability to offer a free search per turn is pretty amazing. Charisma is one solution. Or partnering with a seeker investigator who can offer something like Old Book of Lore. Rare is the deck that has neither of these gems.

For extra horror soak, the classic Holy Rosary remains popular, moreso for the boost to than for anything else.

The only new-ish healing cards worthy of mention are Earthly Serenity (which unfortunately competes for scarce Arcane slots) and Bandages (slotless, but requires playing in advance).

It's also important to mention that Deny Existence is an amazing card for staying alive, sort of like a versatile Dodge that mystics can access. But it's not going to help with the self-inflicted horror that's inevitable when playing Agnes.

Other options exist, but hardly. Activating Grimm's Fairy Tales is conditional. Mister Pawterson uses the already-oversubscribed accessory slot. Clarity of Mind requires the already-oversubscribed arcane slot and 4 actions to heal 3 damage. Fearless doesn't move the needle much either on passing tests or recovering much horror for the deck space.

Managing Enemies

The release of Brand of Cthugha has helped Agnes quite a lot with her combat suite because it's cheap and has lots of charges. Plus it never wastes charges, as you only spend then after a successful Fight test. By the same token it won't damage allies if you don't engage the enemy.

Another card that has changed the landscape is the now-ubiquitous Sword Cane. It can be used for evasion as well as a fight test that utilizes , making weapons like Fire Axe and Baseball Bat less appealing. Even the once-popular Meat Cleaver seems outmoded, though the ability to regain sanity might merit some consideration.

The fight events Spectral Razor, Storm of Spirits, and Drain Essence are all great options. They help conserve charges on arcane assets and they trigger free card draw from her signature Heirloom.

If you're not using hand slots for something like Ritual Candles and are looking for modern solution for those 3-damage enemies you can invest your experience in Cyclopean Hammer. Solves all of your worries about charges, pesky enemies parking on clues, and probably lots of other things.

I don't expect to see Armageddon outside of specialized decks. But Azure Flame might remain because Agnes is able to get some mileage out of the combination with Unrelenting.

Long Shot should prove quite popular for Agnes. Though it doesn't contribute any icons to the skill test, anything that adds damage is a welcome addition for non-guardians who manage enemies.

When it comes to evasion I don't think modern decks are likely running old standbys like Mists of R'lyeh, Blinding Light, etc when cards like Sword Cane and Manual Dexterity offer much more versatility.

Finding Clues

How much of your deck is devoted to clues varies wildly with Agnes. A dedicated protector version might have no clue-finding cards at all. A true solo deck might pack just a couple of the best cards, while a generalist build can conceivably devote quite a few cards.

The standout here is Sixth Sense, which permits Agnes to investigate using her high stat and never runs out of charges. Sometimes it can benefit from the connecting location having a lower shroud, or finding the clue there. Truly a staple for Agnes.

As for other good options Flashlight is amazing against shroud 2 or 1 since only the token fails (negative tokens can't reduce the final value below 0). For high-shroud locations it's hard to beat Read the Signs. And given her resilience, Drawn to the Flame is a perfect card to find a couple of clues and skip the chaos bag entirely. If you're willing to invest some of your hard-won experience, then Divination will prove to be effective.

Most of the other options have seen their stock go down: Rite of Seeking is pricey and charge-limited, as is Clairvoyance. Dowsing Rod is moreso for Amina or Dexter who can manage doom better.

Managing the Encounter Deck

Ward of Protection remains a staple. Given Agnes' great , A Test of Will operates like more wards that involve a skill test instead of inflicting horror.

If dealing with the encounter deck is something you want Agnes to invest in, consider Scrying (3), Parallel Fates or Stargazing. At low player counts the new Antediluvian Hymn looks to be well worth the curse tokens.

[edit: added mention of Spirit of Humanity, thanks @liwl0115 ]

What Would You Highlight For Agnes in the Present Card Pool?