Elementary Carolyn

Card draw simulator

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Derived from
None. Self-made deck here.
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veneretio · 339

This is my findings based on playing Carolyn at 2 and 3 player a fair bit. I, like most, naturally tried the level 0 healing horror cards like First Aid, Liquid Courage and Clarity of Mind. I don't like any of them.

The other big surprise is I'm not playing Forbidden Knowledge. It just doesn't do enough on its own. We play Peter Sylvestre so that we can soak other people's horror tests via "Let me handle this!" or heal our damage with Painkillers. The random horror drip damage that happens throughout a scenario makes Peter useful enough.

Upgrades:

Optional Upgrades:

There's plenty of room to explore different paths for the upgrades. I won't pretend like I have all that figured out. There's also something to be said for not playing Shrivelling which dramatically changes the deck. I've also found that Peter Sylvestre himself isn't necessarily essential either and opens up a number of other interesting/cheaper cost routes. Finally, if you're doing this on the core campaign, I'd avoid the Shrewd Analysis/Ancient Stone path in favor of Clarity of Mind (3). You just don't have time to do the stone path.

Overall, just want to share what I think many will see as an unconventional starting Carolyn deck that I've found extremely solid.

11 comments

Feb 22, 2019 jmmeye3 · 613

I really like this list, it looks nicely balanced. Can you comment on the Dynamite Blast? Seems like it would be hard to use.

Feb 22, 2019 veneretio · 339

@jmmeye3Dynamite Blast certainly can be difficult to use. What it has to offer though is one of the most uniquely, powerful effects in the game. AOE, testless, ranged damage. Those characteristics solves problems that no other card can. I don't know if there's a most common situation Dynamite Blast is used, but here are some ways I have used it.

  • Used it to kill 2 enemies from a connecting location when the primary fighter was out of position. (our 3rd investigator had just used Elusive and left)
  • Used it to do the final 3 damage to an elite.
  • Used it to kill 2 enemies engaged with our primary fighter. (They were about to take a bunch of attacks anyway.)

It's just one of those effects that you never want to have to use because it means things have gone really, really wrong. But, it can give you hope when things go super wrong. I also won't hesitate to use it if I have a surplus of money and it can just save us some actions.

It gets better once it's upgraded to Dynamite Blast since then you don't take the attacks of opportunity. It's also one of the best things we can put under Stick to the Plan so it's not clogging up our deck and we always have it if the unique situation presents itself.

All that said, I wouldn't call a list wrong to not include it. It is expensive and situational and the icons aren't that good. And you may already have a Mystic rocking Storm of Spirits so it doesn't feel quite as unique.

Mar 12, 2019 Django · 4854

What do you think of Fingerprint Kit? I tried it in a Preston deck but it was too expensive.

Mar 12, 2019 veneretio · 339

@DjangoIt has performed very well. It's how Carolyn keeps up with Seekers that can run things like Glyphs. The fact that Emergency Cache reloads it as well as Painkillers is so flexible. (and Stick to the Plan ensures you get all these things)

Certainly, opening hands with St. Hubert's Key and kit can be slow to start, but the speed kit picks up clues makes up for that.

The action compression on investigating also lets us afford the time to Hypnotic Therapy ourselves and others or First Aid.

May 04, 2019 Bradley8822 · 1

@veneretiohow can you upgrade Ancient stone if she can only have Seeker and Mystic cards lvl 0-1?

May 04, 2019 Django · 4854

It heals horror, so does not count for her seeker limit.

May 04, 2019 Bradley8822 · 1

@DjangoAh ok, so you upgrade with "Shrewd Analysis" the base Ancient stone and hope (because you have to choose randomly) to get 2 copies of the one that heal horrors

May 04, 2019 Schielman · 37

@Bradley8822 because Carolyn can only legally take the upgrade to Ancient Stone that heals horror, both copies will get upgraded to that particular version 'at random'.

May 11, 2019 herod1204 · 2

What is the thinking behind your suggested upgrade of custom ammo given she doesn't have any weapons?

May 11, 2019 Bradley8822 · 1

@herod1204to support others, plus she can have weapons but have to be lvl 0

Sep 10, 2019 Krysmopompas · 350

I love this build, Forbidden Knowledge as an "Autoinclude" for Carolyn is not always true...as evidenced here.