Chapter two of Arkham Horror: The Card Game (AH: LCG) is currently in its early stages. With a new core set released and the next campaigns on the horizon, Fantasy Flight Games is ahead of the curve with a new batch of starter investigators. These five pre-built, ready-to-play decks are ideal for those seeking to jump right into the action of the Lovecraftian mythos. Let’s explore each of the new class additions and hopefully determine which may be right for your group. I’ll be listing these from my own personal preference based on what they bring to the table and not their power level in a vacuum.
A quick note before we begin. Each investigator has their own strengths and weaknesses, and each is limited to their class color and neutral cards. They can also be heavily dependent upon player count and scenario restrictions. I typically play the game most at two-player and true solo while using the standard ruleset.
5. Tommy Muldoon – Guardian – “The Officer”
Tommy was originally released as “The Rookie Cop” in chapter one’s The Dream-Eaters campaign. He was known for watching all his allies die while he gained resources and shuffled the wounded back into his deck. He could be built with Survivor cards, and at one point, I had a sweet Blood Eclipse build for him that was all about hurting his allies to damage enemies.
Times have changed. Tommy has survived long enough to be a true officer now. While he carries the same stat line as before, he has a little more health and is out to prove to his unit that he can handle the evils of this world. And to do that, Tommy is all about firearms.
The new Guardian cards are heavily focused on making firearm weapons plentiful and powerful. Tommy’s ability allows him to swap weapons and gain more ammo. And with more ammo, Tommy can run to the action and start blasting. I’ve found it very hard not to find a weapon early on and have plenty of options for dealing with enemies.
His signature weapon, Becky, is back as well. This time, Becky is not as central to his design and is best used to ignore aloof and retaliate keywords on enemies. His weakness, Loose Cannon, is also something to keep in mind, as it can lose you all your attached weapons if you cannot spend the required five resources. Fitting for a man out to prove his worth no matter what.
We’ll see how Tommy evolves as the card pool develops. He’s currently there to excel at fighting. He does have decent willpower and intellect to supplement fighting the mythos and gathering clues, but you’re not bringing him along for those reasons. His focus isn’t as useful in lower player counts where clue gathering and flexibility are key. But he’ll be handy for sure when you’re swarmed with enemies.
4. Carolyn Fern – Seeker – “The Psychologist”
A familiar face to legacy players, Carolyn Fern was originally released as part of the first chapter of AH: LCG during The Circle Undone campaign. There, she was a Guardian who specialized in healing horror to provide allies with resources.
Carolyn is still our team’s psychologist, but now she’s developed a knack for researching the dreams of her patients and has become quite knowledgeable about the things that linger in the shadows of our unreality. As such, she can now heal horror to gain clues, which is even better as it advances the game’s agenda. Her stats feature a whopping five intellect, which can overcome the worst of the shroud values out there.
She does have a rough weakness that may slow her down a bit—the Unbroken Web. This soaks up clue-gathering actions and can’t also minimize the amount of experience gained at the end of a scenario. This can be brutal if drawn too late, but veteran Arkham players can find a way to deal with it by using cards that gain multiple clues per turn.
Carolyn is great with a larger party where she can utilize her skillset the best. She can also work in smaller groups just based on her intellect stat alone, but her horror healing functionality is curbed a bit there. Regardless, if you bring Carolyn along for the ride, the horrors of the universe can be kept at bay if you stick close to this investigator. For my own personal playstyle, I tend to embrace and mitigate damage along the way, making Carolyn less of an exciting inclusion.
3. Andre Patel – Rogue – “The Film Star”
Andre originally appeared as an ally asset in the standalone scenario Film Fatale. He boosted investigators’ evade stat and provided additional actions to those who succeeded skill tests by two or more. And here he is in chapter two, a brand-new investigator who brings along his ability to take an additional action when succeeding by two or more. And since this is a specialty of the Rogue class, it can be very easy to boost actions each round.
He’s fun and quite powerful. Thankfully, his stat line provides some limitations. He has five in evade, making him very elusive, but only two in willpower and combat. The signature cards included are skills featuring black-and-white art (he’s a silver screen star) that apply during specific skill checks. His weakness, Weight of the World, also damages his psyche and shuffles back into his deck, thus providing much-needed pressure.
This is the first starter deck that I’d fully recommend at all player counts. He is shifty, and with each additional set he’ll find new cards to improve his ability to take another action and advance the game. If nothing else, he can get in the way of approaching enemies and perform as if on stage with the spotlight firmly upon him.
2. Miguel de la Cruz – Survivor – “The Rancher”
The new Survivor is an interesting addition, and the first new face to the AH: LCG franchise. He doesn’t quite feel like he fits within the mythos of the Arkham world, but his backstory about hunting the predator that’s been killing his livestock will have to do. He’s also the first investigator to focus on cards that feature the Trap keyword.
What makes Miguel such an intriguing option? Well, I don’t think he’s widely considered one of the better choices for this set, especially at a lower player count, but as a legacy player, he’s providing a new wrinkle on how to interact with cards and enemies, and I’m here for it.
Thankfully, Miguel received an additional action each turn to play events. And guess what? Traps are events! So, Miguel can wander around, dodging enemies with his four evade, fighting anything that gets through with his three combat, and attaching traps to locations to keep enemies under his thumb.
Miguel can completely break certain scenarios. And he can be underwhelming in many others—especially those with lower enemy counts. He excels in three- or four-player sessions but can be helpful in two-player sessions as well. His signature card “Miguel’s Knapsack” allows players to attach traps to connecting locations. And his weakness is that mutated predator that’s been after his livestock and is immune to his traps.
1. Marie Lambeau – Mystic – “The Entertainer”
Marie is back! Originally released in The Circle Undone campaign, and with a very specific doom-related ability, this new release completely replaces the old for me. Marie has mythos protection, excellent intellect, and serviceable evade. And while her combat is at rock bottom, Mystics can more than make up for this with their spell cards.
But her skill loadout is the same as the previous iteration. So why so happy with my Marie plays? Simple, dear reader. She has more health, and her ability allows her to draw two cards and discard one when damaged. Anyone who wants to hurt our Mystic headliner will only make us stronger. Marie can fly through her deck quite easily. And seeing all your cards in each scenario is excellent.
What about her weakness? Well, it stops us from healing damage unless we discard three cards, which we may already have in hand due to our ability. Or maybe we don’t even need to heal damage to survive the scenario. And her signature asset, Grand-Mere’s Charm, allows Marie to take direct damage to replenish charges on her spells.
Marie has it all. She completely replaces her old iteration and is a force to be reckoned with. If you can only add one new investigator to your collection, this is the one to seek.
Final Thoughts:
If you’re new to Arkham via the Chapter Two release, adding these five new investigators to your collection will not only increase your character options but also your card pool. And if you want to test the waters, I recommend Marie as your go-to with Andre as a close second.
For all the legacy players out there, you probably already know what each of these investigators provides. I do think the intrigue of Miguel is right up the alley of anyone seeking to add a new wrinkle to their gameplay, whereas those who play with a full group may gravitate toward Tommy or Carolyn.
In conclusion, I’ve found all the newly released investigators in both the second chapter core as well as these investigator packs to be quite potent. Add those that provide the flavor you want or add them all to keep your card pool lively.
Hits:
• Great additions for chapter two
• New trap focused investigator
• Expanding the card pool
Misses:
• Repeat cards for legacy players
• Only one brand-new character
