Nathaniel Cho Skarlet Keys Multiplayer

Multiplayer Nathaniel played in scarlet keys 2player campaign.

Pros

• Excellent enemy management, with minimal setup, effective from round one (especially useful in SK)
• Good Teamwork support

Cons

• Poor Mythos protection
• Runs out of steam during the later part of the scenario and needs careful piloting.

Play instructions

Mulligan hard for gloves, keep Ace of Swords and possibly one upgraded Stand together

Monitor your hand size, try to avoid using card draw events if there is no need, sometimes you may even skip the glove ability if that forces you to discard at the end of upkeep. Keep track of combat events used, eventually you’ll run out when there are fewer than 10 cards left in your deck. Then you’ll make use of the card draw Events/Skills to force a reshuffle and relay on Brand of Cthugha for additional dmg.

Keep in mind that you’ll go through all your deck during scenarios where there is at least some amount of combat.

Tommy is a round lost and not much can be done about it (handcuffs, bolas , etc ,split the actions needed in former rounds IF you draw them earlier and dilute your deck). Don’t waste cards and punch him. If you have upgraded to SResolve taking a hit shouldn’t be a problem.

Mythos treacheries are your biggest weakness, not much you can do about the agility ones, keep Steadfast ready to deal with the willpower ones (crypt chill, and frozen in fear, are among the worst in the game). In games with 3+players I’d make room for First Watch . I like On the Hunt ••• for use with SttP but couldn’t fit it and spare the XP.

I’d advise against In the Thick of It, for 0XP add TtT/Counterpunch/Safeguard/Take the Initiative

Priority upgrades (9XP) Those form a solid base

2x Sweeping Kick • Best combat event in the deck, +2 Fight for 3 dmg +evade for tougher enemies, rarely any need to commit additional cards.

Ace of Swords • +1 Fight in non-contested slot, with gloves in play you start tests at +7, always keep in starting hand. During playtest I’ve always played it if drawn early, later draws sometimes stayed in my hand mostly due to time pressure rather than economy.

Brand of Cthugha • replace Toe to Toe You’ll need that when you run out of events late in the game to keep dmg output and for enemies with 5+ health. No rush to draw/play soon, play when its convenient and to free hand space.

3x Spiritual Resolve ••••• replace Hallowed Mirror and 2x Flesh Ward You’ll need some form of soak, for one action and three resources you get a 7/7 one, since you go through your deck once, you’ll use it to full effect, with 3 copies you’ll probably get one out early, at the cost of less than 2xp/card. The economy of actions and resources compared to using allies or armor is not to be underestimated, since it occupies an uncontested slot, you may add either if you feel the need. Never get a second copy down and don’t discard until you play all three.

Important Upgrades

Prepared for the Worst •• You need the gloves ASAP and I found the economy of action and resource worth the upgrade.

Stand Together ••• Clues win games not fights, supporting the ones gathering them is your main role. If your clue gatherer is in great need of card draw, this upgrade becomes priority. Spirit income/draw card, very good even without upgrading.

Boxing Gloves ••• I delayed this upgrade until tests in the campaign scaled up mostly for the +1 fight. The added benefit is that it can be played in R1 along with Spiritual Resolve. Six cards drawn with the 0xp ones gets you an event, nine cards let you choose what you need at the moment and maybe forego a draw if your hand is clogged.

"Get over here!" •• Besides the action economy the main reason to upgrade is to activate Nat’s +1 dmg in another phase. Since I rarely stayed more than one location away from my teammate, the extended range was useful only for picking up enemies that spawned further away (ex. acolytes).

Stick to the Plan ••• ••• The deck thinning is always nice and keeps Prepared for the Worst out of your draw while increasing consistency. You’ll go through your deck faster so that you’ll be able to draw combat events again sooner. There are many tactics cards in the deck to fill the slots, choose according to scenario needs. What makes it an important upgrade or not has to do with EV.

Ever Vigilant • replace 1x Wolf Mask Only for use with SttP and you won’t take full advantage of the 1XP version, usually you’ll have at 1-2 assets in your starting hand. With two assets gives a slight tempo and economy boost (playing gloves0 along with SResolve is the optimal case use) barely justifying the slot in SttP, with one asset is a waste.

Ever Vigilant •••• As stated with Stand Together ••• your team needs to start picking up clues ASAP. If your teammates have setups heavy on assets this upgrade is golden. In my playthrough of SKs I upgraded to STTP+EV4 before gloves and GoH2 to help my Seeker teammate get things rolling faster (ST3+EV4 is an excellent opening). If your campaign has more generous setup time you may delay this or ignore along with SttP if all decks are low on assets (kind of rare).

Luxury Upgrades

Brand of Cthugha •••• Both versions give three uses for max charges, the upgrade gives the dmg boost needed for dealing with the enemies that spawn later in the campaign. Nice to have worth the XP.

2x Overpower •• The extra card draw is nice to have and almost guaranteed.

One-Two Punch ••••• One action for 5 dmg against a single opponent or can be divided between two, not an option with the basic version. Very expensive for the value but can make a difference in some situations, I upgraded only one as my final upgrade to be placed under SttP.

Notes on other cards

There are six skills in total used. Daring and Overpower are there for the extra card draw and the boost in fight to guarantee a hit/check. Take the Initiative and Steadfast are both nice for mythos protection, although the former doesn’t do well with end of round treachery checks.

Clean Them Out Spirit, Fight, accounts for half your additional income. Workhorse card.

Glory Fast, spirit, deck thinner, will keep your hand size up and no other alternatives I can think of.

One-Two Punch Spirit, Fight, worse than Kick and Slayer, nice for Tommy and boss battles, I’d keep at least one. Counterpunch•• and both Mano a Mano are subs to think about, but their usage is conditional and tend clog your hand.

Hallowed Mirror is a nice card, gets the job done, but doesn’t synergize well with the deck, adding cards delays the reshuffling.

Safeguard is always nice but its value depends on your team composition and campaign maps. GoH covers a part of its functionality, it didn’t make the cut, but you can replace AoS+/Mask for it.

Flesh Ward you need both heath+horror soak until the upgrade to SResolve. You can add allies instead, the ones at 0XP will provide other utility but wont be as effective for the task in question. The cop is expensive ,Tetsuo has almost no targets, dog has no horror, student is inferior but workable. Only armor with horror value Hunter's Armor (inferior without xp), Something Worth Fighting For and True Grit not versatile enough. So Ward it is.

Toe to Toe With Kick,Hunter,1-2P there are 6 cards to deal with 3hp enemies and with fight value usualy 7+ the auto hit looses much of its appeal. BoC fits much better.

On the Hunt ••• Consider this only if you got SttP. Gives a nice economy boost, trades a random potentially unmanageable treachery for one you can deal with (one less round of worrying), lowers the chance of a non combat ready teammate drawing an encounter, at a time of your choosing. There is always a chance to miss and do nothing of the above. Due to other upgrades taking priority, you’ll get it rather late for the XP fishing potential to have a meaningful impact.

Keen Eye ••• interesting luxury upgrade but the economy can’t support more than 1-2 uses. Being a permanent doesn’t take up deck space and for this deck a +1 for the round is usually better than a single +2.

Empty Vessel •••• seemed interesting, would be a nice addition but was too expensive for a couple of uses per game and the deck was already very demanding on XP.