Carolyn Fern: S (for Synergy)-tier.

So as it turns out, there exists an investigator who can take 4 of the 6 available synergy cards, who also can access level 0 permanents from three different classes. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, the best character to play with Synergy cards: Carolyn Fern.

Which is good, because Carolyn hasn't really been considered anything more than a mediocre investigator. She enables Agnes Baker, and she a quintessential support, but with guardian access minus level 1+ weapons and 2 , plus 4 but only up to level 1 seeker card access, she is not a simple character to build a deck for, and the temptation to resign yourself from the lime-light and play second fiddle to other party-members is great.

Well no more! I'm here to prove that Carolyn make for an insanely good hybrid character, who doesn't need to compromise on her horror healing at all; in fact, since horror healing is a form of economy for her, she is tied for the title of richest guardian (alongside Tommy Muldoon), and so we can leverage her horror healing to further boost her ability to fight and investigate, as I will get into below.

15xp From Side Hustles

Arcane Research and Shrewd Analysis are both solid cards for Carolyn by themselves, but now they take on new significance and they set her up to have 3 different class cards in play, from turn 1, from scenario 1 till the end of the campaign. This eliminates half the headache of setting up powerful synergy turns, and ensures that you never have to make a weak synergy play.

Just to showcase how good your synergy cards will be from the moment you purchase them:

• Gang Up: Fight with +3 and dealing 4 damage.
• Join the Caravan: Fast teleport to any revealed location for 2 resources.
• Close the Circle: 3 additional basic actions.
• Call for Backup: Discover 1 clue, deal 1 damage and heal 1 horror (which means gain 1 resource as well).

This is on top of Shrewd Analysis getting you 3xp when you upgrade Ancient Stone (in case you don't know why, remember that Shrewd Analysis reads "chosen at random from among the eligible options". Carolyn only has 1 eligible option: the horror healing one. Therefore, you randomly choose from only 1 option, which is not random at all. All the benefits of Shrewd Analysis with none of the downside).

And Arcane Research starts you off with horror to be profited off of, plus an exp discount for spells. Admittedly there aren't many good options for her to take advantage off that discount, however, since EotE released she now has a 3rd, meaning six cards that get a discount: Clarity of Mind, Deny Existence, and Earthly Serenity.

Now, I've been told that Carolyn herself counts as a guardian card, meaning investigator cards count towards the synergy requirement. Even if that is not the case, Keen Eye will become Keen Eye (3) soon enough, which settles the issue either way. Both versions are where your excess resources will go, and you will have a lot of them, given how much you will horror yourself up and then heal it off.

Still a Guardian Dammit!

Don't be dis-heartened by her meagre ; with the right tools, Carolyn can swing with the best of them. Case in point, the newly released Toe to Toe cares not what your is; only that you are willing to take the damage and horror as a price, and since horror is money-by-proxy, this is almost a win-win situation.

Obviously Gang Up and Call for Backup will add to your damage once you level up, but Meat Cleaver will see you through from start of campaign to end. Again, horror incursion is good for you, and getting to 6 horror to trigger the extra boost is surprisingly easy, as is not dying despite being at 3 remaining sanity (Foolishness goes a long way to ensuring you survival). And where 4 is not enough, Keen Eye which have your back to get you to 5, 6 or even 7 as needed.

As for where you'll get damage until the synergy cards start showing up, Alice Luxley and "I've got a plan!" will provide you with a few extra hits here and there until you really come online. Alice will leave your deck early to make space, but she helps with both cluevering and damage-dealing until that happens, especially when targeted by Inspiring Presence. "I've got a plan!" is your poor man's Gang Up, which is also co-incidentally assisted by Keen Eye.

Job Security

To ensure a steady supply of psychologist fees, as well as the capability to reach 3 remaining sanity on demand, we include a host of self- horrifying cards. On top of the one ones already mentioned (Arcane Research and Meat Cleaver), we have: Forbidden Knowledge, Painkillers, and Ward of Protection),

All useful in their own right, and enablers of Book of Psalms, Clarity of Mind and "If it bleeds..." (and Cleaver again). Due to how Carolyn's ability works, we want healing that can be spread around; 4 healing on 1 investigator means 1 extra resource. 1 healing on 4 different investigators means 4 extra resources. Not many options at level 0, but many such options later.

To Fight the Black Wind

You might've noticed I've excluded Hypnotic Therapy and Rational Thought from this deck, instead opting for her replacement signatures. Because this is a hybrid deck, both and is of interest to us, and Foolishness works towards higher values in both.

Simultaneously, we are very dependant on those resources gained through our horror healing, so Rational Thought is extra crippling. It might still not be as bad as To Fight the Black Wind, but we have a counter to the immediate direct horror taken (which then immediately translates to doom) in Deny Existence. After that, you need to play smart and make interesting decisions. And that is the operative word for me personally; interesting. Hypnotic Therapy and Rational Thought are not interesting cards. Foolishness and To Fight the Black Wind are.

Inner Strength

The final two cards not yet mentioned are Overpower and Steadfast. Overpower isn't necessary but does provide some much needed card-draw and further boosts, while Steadfast is easy to keep at its maximum effect, while also providing a lot of icons (which will be significant later).

Upgrades

Upgrading this deck is a bit of a hassle. You have the following spells that need to have one and only one upgraded per scenario to get full use of Arcane Research:

• Clarity of Mind Clarity of Mind (3)
• Deny Existence Deny Existence (5)
• Earthly Serenity (1) Earthly Serenity (4)

So while you are following the upgrade path below, you will need to embed the above upgrades into that process. And on top of that, you need to decide when to get the synergy cards in too. As this deck has been tailored specifically to make them viable as early as scenario 1, you have some leeway as to when to purchase them.

Below is a rough order of what I recommend for upgrades, but it is not a strict rule; justifications are given in the descriptions:

Keen Eye Keen Eye (3)

The first step to improving your wellbeing is to recognize the harmful elements in your life. There no trick for this. You just need to know the tell-tale signs and keep a keen eye out for them.

This should be one of your first upgrades. Saves you the hassle of finding it, playing it, and losing 2 resources to its cost before you can make use of it. Once that's done, the second copy of Keen Eye is now an easy choice for what upgrade cards replace.

Painkillers Earthly Serenity (1)

We are not brains is a jar; your mental well-being feeds into your physical health, and good fitness does wonders for the mind. I prescribe you a few outings in the countryside.

This upgrade should also be done early to provide a target for Arcane Research, but before you replace Book of Psalms. Given that painkillers is the only card that heals damage in this deck, replacing it with another card that heals damage is important.

With this asset, you'll now have 4 survivor assets in your deck; the 4th class to make it into the deck to further boost your synergy cards. Eventually we'll get to the full rainbow, but not just yet. Also, The may prove difficult at this juncture, due to Carolyn's middling value and few cards with icons. Steadfast is the card du jour for Earthly Serenity tests, but soon after this upgrade, you'll want to get another...

"If it bleeds..." Occult Theory

I assure you, hypnotic therapy is a science-based field with proven results. I certainly have not been inspired by the occult society of Miskatonic University. Perish the thought.

Occult Theory looks like such an incidental cards. It is not. Earthly Serenity's advantage over Clarity of Mind is the ability to get its full use in 2 actions; one to play it, and one to make the test and succeed by 4 (or 6 with the upgraded version).

That, and there is a test in your future that you will also stand to benefit greatly if you succeed by a large amount...

Book of Psalms Ancient Stone (1) Ancient Stone (4)

There no shame in a crutch. Whether it is religion or mysticism, if it is a positive force in your life, embrace it.

You horror healing with take a slight hit while Ancient Stone (1) is in your deck and not Book of Psalms or Ancient Stone (4). Prepare accordingly.

That said, Ancient Stone (4) in your deck is huge; it is a far better ward against To Fight the Black Wind than Deny Existence, freeing that card up for more severe threats, like damage incursion.

Ward of Protection Call for Backup

Never think you are alone in your struggles. They are all sorts out there who could understand your difficulties, and each are dealing with their hardships in their own way.

Since we can't upgrade Ward of Protection, it which eventually find itself out of the deck, replaced by the much more useful neutral synergy card. We want Call for Backup before Alice Luxley leaves the deck, due to the free extra trigger of her ability from the test less clue discover.

By now we are touching upon upgrades with few requirements about doing them early, or late, or whenever. Just try to get Alice Luxley and Inspiring Presence out together.

Alice Luxley Close the Circle

Burnout is one of the leading causes of stress and anxiety. Follow these techniques to free up some of your time and ensure you make the most of every hour. And never pull all-nighters.

Alice is competing with Foolishness for the ally slot, so you may feel like getting this synergy card early. The fact that this deck sorely needs card-draw will be another reason for that early push to Close the Circle. I used its extra action to draw a card %75 of the time; the other 25% went to moving. Given you are going to fight enemies, discover clues, heal horror, and do this all with an asset heavy deck means a 4th action every turn is a godsend.

Inspiring Presence Join the Caravan

You get final say on where your life goes. A positive attitude will go far in alleviating feelings of having no control over where you are going.

The above benefits of Close the Circle are repeated here; a fast move is a great timesaver, the cost is unlikely to bite, and you can impress your friends to boot (or laugh at them as you leave them in the dust).

• "I've got a plan!" Gang Up

Just talking to a friend about how you feel can be of significant help preventing dark thoughts. You'll be tempted to withdraw from the world when your feeling down; it is this moment that is the most important time to participate in group activities.

I have nothing insightful to say about this upgrade path, so I leave you with the funny image of mob-boss Carolyn.

Total exp cost: 32xp (for a total of 45xp in your deck after exp cost reductions),

• Overpower Overpower (2)

I hope our sessions have been beneficial to you, and so long as you keep using the techniques you've learned, you be able to overcome your doubts and insecurities.

Extra card draw, icons, and a few resources saved that would otherwise be needed for Keen Eye. That's all

Total exp cost: 36xp (for a total of 49xp in your deck after exp cost reductions),

Capstone Upgrade

Precious Memento and Precious Memento

Don't burn bridges that cannot be rebuilt.

This, ladies and gentlemen, is how you get a rogue asset into your deck. With either Precious Memento, the rainbow is complete, Gang Up does 6 damage, Join the Caravan is free, and Close the Circle becomes all the draw engine you need. It also functions as a second source of damage healing, and it doesn't complete with anything for the accessory slot

Closing Thoughts

I'm still going to have to find the right investigator(s) who can make use of Cheat the System and Strength in Numbers. For now though, this is my quintessential synergy deck, and I could not be happier for it. Finding viable decks for lacklustre investigators some number of expansions in the future is a certain type of euphoria, and one I strive for a lot. Same with Father Mateo and when bless tokens were introduced, and with "Skids" O'Toole when Ornate Bow and Venturer were released.

Don't forget the older investigators! They might just surprise you.