Diana expert solo deck

Hi guys, I wanted to share with you my Diana deck for expert mode. This is my first published deck, so feel free to point out what could have been done better. Enjoy :)

INTRO

Before we dive into the build I'd like to point out how expert mode is very different from other difficulties. You have a lot of chaos tokens that are most likely autofail (see red, -8, -6) so you want to build the deck with a totally different mentality. You wanna avoid in any way possible skill tests and take them only when you are most likely to succeed. Don't take tests if not necessary because you are wasting an action, plus special tokens are very bad if drawn (it's like drawing an encounter card for free). Usually you want to be 3/4 above the requisite for the test so you can have like a 60/75% success rate.

Lets' talk about DIANA STANLEY

Diana is a well rounded character in early game but a monster in late game scenarios. When you get your will engine working, that's when she really shines. Unfortunatly 3 as a base stat in expert is not enough. That means she is really bad early game, thus this is the part of the game when we just wanna setup our will. We want to try to cancel as many things as possible, even if they are not that big of a deal. We get the card back anyway and we boost our will. Then, when we have our main stat set up, we start switching every single skill test in a will test and we literally destroy the end game scenario.

CARDS

INVESTIGATION

Flashlight Pretty decent card in general, a staple in expert. You wanna use this card when the shroud value of a room is 2 or less to bring it to 0 with its ability. This means an autosucess on every token exept for the autofail one.

Sixth Sense This will be your main souce of clue gathering. It doesn't have charges and you can even use it in empty rooms with low shroud value waiting for a special token to pop out and steal clues from other rooms.

Drawn to the Flame Another good card for expert as it doesn't require a skill test. It's better to use it on a high shorud value room or in a room where you don't wanna hang around too much.

Read the Signs Nice event to grab some clues. Not as good as drawn to the flame, but the +3 from the intellect skill is a nice have. More of a mid/late game card.

FIGHTING

Twilight Blade Good card, not amazing for fighting, better used for his ability. Use mainly against low Hp enemies or if you have no other choice. Its ability is very powerful though letting you reuse a cancel when most needed. Be careful though, cause you will decrease your will. (mind that you can reuse infinite times Delay the Inevitable because its effect does not triggers on cast).

Azure Flame Your main source of damage.

Ineffable Truth Nice card that can evade and deal dmg at the same time. You can either use it to kill low hp enemies or just evade, take some clues and then leave the monster crying alone in its room. Sometimes evading is easier than fighting and you don't really need to kill the enemy, so just save some actions and get the heck out!

Spectral Razor More of a burst card. It has only one use but can deal a ton of damage, especially at non-elite enemies. You can use it even in early game fights because you have the +3 from the strenght bonus. Better to use against tougher enemies though.

Storm of Spirits A nice multi-target dmg spell. Better used against a group of enemies.

CANCELS

Dark Insight Very important card for this deck. First of all it starts in your hand so you always start with 6 cards in hand, one being a cancel. Second and most importantly this card can nullify your weakeness, Terrible Secret. This weekness is really tough for this deck, and usually means a straight up loss. So try to keep dark insight for this occasion or use it when you can proc the ability of Twilight Blade

Delay the Inevitable Broken card, as paired with Twilight Blade can be used every turn. Only downside it's that you have to use it at the end of your turn and you can't just wait the right moment in the enemy or mithos phase to see what will happen. So mainly use it when you know you need to dodge the next enemy attack.

Deny Existence Nice card that cancels at 0. It becomes broken when upgraded and you can heal horrors/damage, get resources etc. All for free!

Dodge Just dodge!

Hand of Fate More expensive dodge that allow you to alter the chaos bag, making it more reliable.

Hypnotic Gaze Here just to cancels. If you are lucky can also deal dmg (don't count too much on it though)

Ward of Protection Very good card. You can pretty much always cancel something. Very good to set up the early game, increasing your will and protecting you while weak. Try to counter horror treachery as you are bad against them early with just 1 will and you have low sanity thanks to Arcane Research. Later on is better to cancel only a very bad treachery.

SUPPORT

Holy Rosary increase will and can tank a horror. Nice!

Arcane Initiate Broken card. Having a doom counter is a big deal, meaning that palying it just lost you a whole turn. At this price you make your deck a thousand times more efficient. You basically can draw a spell that you need every turn. Don't use the ability if you don't need it though as removing spells from the deck increase your chance to draw your weekness... and that's really bad if you don't have the counter ready. He can also tank a horror. Nice!

Uncage the Soul Very flexible cards. Without "I've had worse…" and upgraded Deny Existence, you want a lot of resources so you can just play your arcane slot spells for free. If not just use this card as a Guts to get to the threshold of +3/4.

PERMANENT

Arcane Research Very good card that allow you to upgrade faster your spells during the campaign. Be careful that 2 mental trauma seems nothing over 7 sanity, but can matter a lot.

SKILL

Say Your Prayers Incredible card for this deck. You can enable it pretty easy thanks to Arcane Research. You just need to take 2 horrors. Use it early to compensate your low will or late game on a skill test that you really don't wanna fail.

Take the Initiative Decent card, especially in solo. Most used on encounter cards as it gives you the full 3 ?-?-?. (Better to avoid horror treachery early)

TREACHERY

Terrible Secret Veryyy bad card. Manageable ealry game, it is usually game breaking if drawn later on. It means becoming useless or dying beacuse of the horrors. Try to keep a cancel to prevent it late game, like Dark Insight or the more difficult Delay the Inevitable.

SIDEBOARD

In the side board you can find interesting cards that i decided to cut from the deck. feel free to swap them in if you like them more.

UPGRADES

Work in progress