4-player deck for the Path to Carcosa campaign with the following teammates:

• William Yorick
• Marie Lambeau
• Daisy Walker

Deck Composition

This is a fairly standard Zoey build that puts the hurt on enemies while keeping your teammates safe. Her out-of-faction cards focus mostly on digging for clues in bursts at higher shroud locations, while Flashlight lets Zoey investigate lower shorud locations when there are no baddies around. But at the end of the day, Zoey is Zoey and we all know what she does best:

• 2x Machete The standard Guardian weapon. However, there are some jerks out there against whom this weapon will be less effective.

• 2x .45 Automatic Another staple Weapon asset that offers greater reliability at the price of limited uses and increased cost over the Machete.

• 2x Beat Cop The quintesssential Guardian ally brings improved () to the table, as well as a small damage and horror soak. His damage-dealing ability is ok, but a little expensive.

• 1x Prepared for the Worst Even though you'll rarely fail to draw a weapon in your opening hand, this Tactic event is a nice insurance policy.

• 2x Vicious Blow Beefy skill that helps you to pass your tests as well as dish out some additional pain to your enemies.

• 1x Zoey's Cross A contender for the strongest signature card in the game, the cross takes Zoey to the next level in monster battering. Its free point of damage will save you a ton of actions over the course of the campaign.

Since wasted actions are extremely costly, it is imperative that Zoey has some tools to discover clues when there are no enemies around:

• 2x Drawn to the Flame Cheap and efficient Insight event that allows you to discover two clues at a location regardless of shroud value, Locked Door, or other restrictions. Zoey's high () and () make her better-equipped to deal with the encounter card than any other investigator released so far.

• 2x Evidence! Another efficient Insight event that lets you discover a clue at your location upon defeating an enemy. Try to trigger this at a high shroud location if possible.

• 2x Flashlight Zoey should collect as much low-hanging fruit as possible. This asset will turn all 1 and 2 shroud locations into auto-successes. Let the others on the team handle the higher shroud locations.

• 2x "Look what I found!" With her low (), it is inevitable that Zoey will whiff a non-trivial percentage of her investigations, so use this Fortune event to turn the tables on the chaos bag by converting a failure into a success.

With her higher willpower and sanity, Zoey is the guardian angel of the team, and she has several tools in her arsenal to help her in this role:

• 2x "Let me handle this!" Oustanding Spirit event that can be used in a myriad of situations. Pull an enemy off a squishy teammate to gain a resource - or more often, face down a nasty horror-inducing treachery so that the weak-willed ones don't have to.

• 1x Dodge Since Zoey will be engaging enemies frequently, she is the most likely member of the team to face an enemy attack, should an enemy survive long enough. Use this Tactic to avoid such an attack, preferably against a big enemy.

• 2x Guts Great skill card for both you and your teammates. Should one of the low () investigators stumble upon some Rotting Remains, use this to help them keep their cool. Alternately use it on yourself to help beat up a certain enemy.

• 2x Overpower Useful skill card that will help you pass your () checks for tougher enemies.

The remaining cards round out the utility of the deck in various ways:

• 1x Smoking Pipe Though Zoey is more resistant to horror than her teammates, her sanity is still low overall. Use this to keep her horror at manageable levels.

• 2x Emergency Cache Essential event to pay for the expensive Guardian assets included in this deck.

• 2x Unexpected Courage What is there to say about this card, really? It sets the standard for power and flexibility, and is useful in just about every situation.

• 1x Double or Nothing Speculative Fortune skill that - when timed correctly - can be used to set off some real fireworks. You will want to combo this with other cards such as Flashlight, Deduction, or Vicious Blow for maximum effect.

Mulligan Guide

Getting a weapon into your hand is a top priority for turn 1.

• If no weapon is found is the opening hand, mulligan the entire hand.

Exception: If you draw Prepared for the Worst, you can hold it and play it on Turn 1 in the hopes of drawing a weapon for your deck.

• If multiple weapons are drawn, mulligan all of them except one.

• If you did find a weapon in your opening hand, you should hold onto the cards listed below:

  • Prepared for the Worst (only if no weapon on opening draw)
  • Zoey's Cross
  • Flashlight
  • Emergency Cache
  • "Look what I found!"
  • Drawn to the Flame (only if you have a weapon)
  • Beat Cop

Once you have upgraded your deck a bit, you can add the following cards to the above list:

• Stand Together Great card to expedite your turn 1 setup.

• Ever Vigilant You can keep this if you draw a weapon in your opening hand. Mulligan every other non-asset card, and hope to draw more assets to play.

Remember that after a few scenarios, your team will be running multiple copies of Stand Together which will smooth out your bad opening draws more and more as the campaign goes on.

Playstyle Guide

Zoey is the first line of defense against enemies - the moment an enemy spawns, it is her job to dispatch it as quickly as possible, with extreme prejudice:

• On turn 1, playing a Weapon is your highest priority.

• Economy cards are also good turn 1 plays, as they will help you get your other assets on the table. Emergency Cache and Stand Together should be played as soon as you get them. Ever Vigilant however, should be saved until you can play at least two assets in a single action.

• Follow your clue-seeker wherever they go and be prepared to cut down an enemy when it surfaces.

• Ideally, you'll have Evidence! in your hand, and can discover a clue upon delivering the finishing blow.

Sometimes there won't be any enemies around, and Zoey will need to help out with investigating:

• Equip your Flashlight when you can, but don't prioritize it over playing a weapon.

• Use the Flashlight at low-shroud locations to automatically discover a clue.

• To maximize its effectiveness, try to save Drawn to the Flame for a high-shroud location, ideally a 4+. Always play this card as the first action of your turn if possible. That way, if you draw an enemy, you can spend your remaining actions chopping it to bits.

• Don't bother investigating high shroud locations unless you have both a Flashlight equipped and "Look what I found!" in your hand. Zoey will simply fail too many investigation tests at high shroud locations without this combo.

Double or Nothing is an extremely nuanced card. Because it doubles the difficulty of the skill test it is committed to, you can't toss it at just any old test. Coordinate with your teammates to see if there's a good opportunity for it:

• The best target is probably Daisy Walker, during a () test. If Daisy uses a Flashlight in tandem with a card like Deduction, you can commit this card with low risk for a huge reward of SIX clues.

• You can also play it on yourself when fighting a monster if your teammates have adequate skill cards to help out. Paired with one or more Vicious Blows, this card can deal massive damage to an enemy.

Sooner or later, Zoey will draw her weakness cards and you'll need to deal with them:

• Zoey's signature weakness Smite the Wicked is almost a non-factor in this game, unless it is drawn very late in the scenario. If the team splits up, it's likely that the attached enemy will spawn near William Yorick who can proceed to bash its head in with his shovel.

• Psychosis is also relatively tame, as Zoey is more worried about horror than damage. Still it's probably good to spend the actions as soon as you can reasonably afford them.

Upgrade Guide

Priority S

• 2x Emergency Cache 2x Stand Together ••• : Outstanding Spirit event that - when played on turn one - will vastly accelerate your team's setup speed. Zoey should get both copies of this card as her first two purchases.

• +1x Keen Eye ••• : Vastly underrated Permanent asset that powers up both of the stats you need to win the game. Zoey should have enough resources stockpiled from engaging enemies to use its abilites quite often.

Priority A

• 1x Flashlight 1x Ever Vigilant • : As Marie and Daisy's investigation abilities continue to improve, it will be less and less necessary for Zoey to assist, so you can ditch a Flashlight. At the same time, her assets will grow more expensive with the addition of Lightning Gun and Police Badge.

• 1x Prepared for the Worst 1x Extra Ammunition • : With the added card draw from Stand Together you will have less need to search your deck for weapons.

• 1x .45 Automatic 1x Lightning Gun ••••• : Zap! This huge weapon essentially never misses and will save you many actions onco you get it into play.

• 2x Beat Cop 2x Beat Cop •• : A great upgrade - two additional points of guaranteed, action-less damage on top of all the things that make the original so great.

• 2x Vicious Blow 2x Vicious Blow •• : More () icons and the chance to do TWO extra damage.

Priority B

• 1x Smoking Pipe 1x Elder Sign Amulet ••• : This Relic asset increases your effective sanity by almost 70%, and without incurring damage.

• 2x Guts 2x Police Badge •• : Very flexible asset that boosts your will as long as it's in play, and can make for some epic turns. Comboes nicely with Keen Eye and Daisy's Encyclopedia. In additon, it has more flexible icons than the skill it replaces.

• +1x Relic Hunter ••• : You won't want to get rid of Zoey's Cross once it's in play, rendering your other Accessory assets unplayable. Relic Hunter solves this problem nicely - with four accessory assets in the deck, you'll be happy to have it.

Priority C

• 1x Dodge 1x "I've had worse…" •••• : Maybe I'm being results-oriented, but this extremely powerful Spirit event has bailed me out of so many jams that I always wish I had it in my hand. In addition, it provides extra fuel for your Keen Eye. It's expensive in terms of XP, so buy it at your discretion, but the peace of mind it brings is worth it.

• 1x .45 Automatic 1x .45 Automatic •• : If you somehow have XP to spare, you should give your remaining handgun this small boost.

Acknowledgments

• DadouXIII - for setting the gold standard in deckbuilding guides. Their guides have made me think about the game in ways I never would have otherwise - high praise all around!
• Fantasy Flight - obviously for making such a great game!