Knowledge Overwhelming(Solo Deck)

AegriSomnia · 7913

This is the deck I use when I play solo with Daisy through the core set scenarios. I would like to note that this is using two core sets, as it's the only way to play with a fully optimized deck. It should probably go without saying that Daisy is the strongest investigator at, well, investigating! Her special ability to use a tome as a free action is easily one of the strongest in the game in my opinion. Old Book of Lore is already nuts, but the fact it doesn't cost an actual actions makes it that much more bonkers, and later on Encyclopedia also leverages this absurdity. You tend to progress fairly quickly through the scenarios thanks to the highest intelligence stat in the game on top of all the synergies with accumulating extra clues. I think Dr. Milan Christopher and Old Book of Lore are two core cards you want out as early as possible every time and I often hard mulligan for either(Old Book of Lore is priority #1 in my book, I'll take Research Librarian if I can to get it early as well). After you set up Old Book of Lore, you can start filtering your deck for cards that you need. I tend to try and pick up a Scrying early if I can, so you aren't surprised by the encounter deck. In solo, Scrying is definitely at it's strongest as it lets you see three rounds in advance for one action and adjust them accordingly. Next priority is Shrivelling, especially in the first scenario as you'll definitely need to see at least one if you want to beat it. I think Ward of Protection is an INCREDIBLE anti-BS card. See a Grasping Hands that you don't have Manual Dexterity for? Just cancel it. See that Umôrdhoth's Wrath coming up? Cancelled, br0. Medical Texts is a pretty important 1-of in my opinion, as it's the only way you can heal damage and if you haven't noticed, you don't have a ton of health when playing Daisy. Deduction and Working a Hunch are SO strong for gaining clues quickly, and Fearless is mostly nice to commit when casting spells. Manual Dexterity is a must in my opinion. You'll never be fighting enemies using your actual fight, so having an out if you need to evade an enemy or for some of the tougher encounter treacheries is REALLY important. Mind over Matter serves a similar purpose. I normally use this to evade enemies, although sometimes beating down enemies with one health is an okay use of this card.

I don't run Flashlight and I know that may seem weird to some people, but I guess I just feel like I don't need it. Already having a 5 intelligence is pretty strong and lets you investigate at better than equal on every location. The +1 from Milan and +1 from Magnifying Glass puts you at 7 which for most locations means that only the -4 or the auto fail will give you any trouble to investigate pretty much ever(assuming you're playing on standard). Barricade is a somewhat useful card that I find myself not really interested in playing most of the time, especially after the first scenario as you have some much better tools to fight with after you get a little experience. Holy Rosary is the other card that people might find a strange inclusion, but really Daisy has nothing to take up the necklace slot until you draft Disc of Itzamna and I enjoy the +1 willpower that it provides to help me cast spells. I know you're never gonna go insane with this investigator basically, and this is one of the first cards to cut when upgrading. Also, I don't like running Hyperawareness or Arcane Studies. I just find them to be a little bit too slow and most of the time I'm not particularly abundant on resources, even with Milan.

When going to upgrade, Blinding Light is my first priority. I'll typically have around 6 or so experience after the first scenario and it only costs two. Next I want to get at least one Encyclopedia, then focus on getting two Disc of Itzamna in my deck when I can. Lastly, any extra experience I'll spend to upgrade one Magnifying Glass and cut the other. After the second scenario depending on how well I did I'll normally draft two Cryptic Research and maybe one Mind Wipe if I feel like it. I'll typically cut one Magnifying Glass and Holy Rosary first, followed by one Old Book of Lore once I'm drafting Cryptic Research and one Mind over Matter.

Daisy very much reminds me of a control deck. She tutors/draws lots of cards, cancels/controls cards in the encounter deck, investigates like a bo$$, and fights enemies in a very non-conventional way. It's not a very straightforward deck to play in concept and it feels like there's plenty of room to make meaningful decisions when playing her. If you enjoy any of that or simply enjoy the concept of some clean cut, innocent looking young librarian laying waste to her foes with her immense mental prowess, than I think Daisy Walker is for you!

Hope you enjoy my take on Solo Daisy! Cheers!

Edit: Here are some updates I made to the list. -2 Fearless, -2 Manual Dexterity, -1 Medical Texts, -2 Working a Hunch, +1 Painkillers, +2 Guts, +2 Unexpected Courage, +2 "I've got a plan!". When upgrading I start by upgrading Blinding Light still, then acquiring Higher Education, and I look to grab at least 1x Song of the Dead, maybe two depending on the campaign, although I do enjoy grabbing at least 1 Encyclopedia as well. Deduction is my next upgrade typically(although sometimes I will do this before Song of the Dead depending on which campaign I'm playing), with Emergency Cache always being nice to swap to as well. I'll upgrade to one Magnifying Glass and cut the other once I'm ready to start drafting Disc of Itzamna and Cryptic Research. I also typically get rid of at least one if not both Mind over Matter before the final scenario. I think you'll find this helps streamline the deck a little more and offers some better options to what was being run previously.

53 comments

Nov 20, 2016 Heyenzzz · 6422

Maybe find 1 card o scrap for a second Research Librarian, so you increase your changes to get your card draw engine up and running as fast as possible.

And maybe 2x Unexpected Courage instead of 2x Manual Dexterity. Unexpected Courage can give you the same +2 agility on a skill test, but can also pitch in a +2 on other skill tests. It doesn't have the card draw ability Manual Dexterity has, but with Daisy using Old Book of Lore you already have loads of card draw.

Nov 20, 2016 theatlas · 217

Thanks for the decklist and the write-up. I'm probably starting a Daisy solo campaign soo, so this is helpful.

Nov 20, 2016 AegriSomnia · 7913

@HeyenzzzI've played with two Research Librarian and I really don't care for it too much. I would rather have Milan on the table as soon as I can. Both of your suggestions seem like choices to be made based on your preference, but I don't think they would necessarily make the deck any better.

@theatlasI'm glad you enjoy it!

Nov 21, 2016 Heyenzzz · 6422

@AegriSomnia I guess a second Research Librarian could be called a personal preference of mine, but I honestly believe Unexpected Courage instead of Manual Dexterity makes your deck better. A +2 that can be used on all skill tests beats a +2 on an agility skill test and a single conditional card draw. Especially since Old Book of Lore already gives you great card draw.

But hey, those are just my two cents.

Nov 21, 2016 AegriSomnia · 7913

@HeyenzzzI won't deny the flexibility of Unexpected Courage, but I feel like I would use that card mostly for speed tests anyway. I'm not gonna use it to investigate, and there's almost no time when I want to fight creatures without using a spell, unless it has 1 health, In which case Mind over Matter is perfectly fine to use for that if I really want to. The only other thing I could see using it for otherwise would be to cast spells, which could be relevant, but I already have Holy Rosary for that and once I have Encyclopedia it also fills that same role. Regardless of the exceptional card draw of the deck, I think I would still prefer the cantrip over the extra flexibility. Overall I think I'll retain that it's a subjective choice. I think Unexpected Courage is better served for investigators who need to make decent use of all 4 skills, in comparison to Daisy who really only needs to focus on 2/4 to function as intellect is taken care of and fight is pretty non-essential to her. If there were any cards in the encounter deck that test fight, I would give it more of a consideration.

Nov 21, 2016 atomless · 1

Great write-up!

Nov 22, 2016 agktmte · 2

Why not Guts over Fearless? You said yourself that she won't lose her sanity and mostly use it for spell casting. Guts seems better for this in every way. Am I missing some other key interaction?

And also, great write up, thanks for this.

Nov 22, 2016 zozo · 2912

What a fantastic write-up, well done! Really like how all the edge case / query points were covered in your discussion. Really no further comments - wholeheartedly agree on Magnifying Glass over Flashlight, by the way - apart from NICE ONE.

Nov 22, 2016 AegriSomnia · 7913

@agktmte My thought was that I wanted at least some effect to heal horror since I always cut Holy Rosary Immediately. Rarely am I even close to taking a mental trauma though, so I think Guts might actually be a better card overall. Healing a horror does seem pretty negligible when you have the highest base sanity in the game.

Nov 22, 2016 Aorakis · 1

Just tried this investigator for the first time, using this deck (i just switch dexterity for courage), and i tried it on the 1st quest.

I got a pretty nice starting hand, specially with Dr Milan and an old book that help's me on having some other good stuff faster.

I ends up with holy rosary, Tote Bag + 2 books and Shivering.

I killed the boss quite fast with Shivering and then mind over matter.

The game was really fun.

I like the difference between investigators (so far only tested Roland and Daisy, but it felt really nice with both)

I was a bit afraid about "killing" stuff, but it was ok. I did not draw a lot of ennemies so it helped, the others cards were ok. I've been lucky i reckon.

I guess second quest is going to be much harder, and the third... well.. i'm not even sure we can beat that ancient one !

(I was close with Roland, i put 3 damage on him, then i had only one option to win : Attacking 3 times without missing any of those... Then... I missed the first one coz a stupid FUC***G Random Bag Test... (i took -9... nothing i can do to counter that)

That's the big "dark" and "cons" of this game... The random bag... wich could be, really, too much frustrating...

Good job anyways !

cheers from belgium !

Ao.

Nov 26, 2016 Bodasafa · 1

God bless you for being able to solo with this deck. I tried the 2nd scenario 4 times with this deck and most of the time get my ass handed to me. Once I actually got "one" cultist. Early enemies simply reck me.

Nov 26, 2016 AegriSomnia · 7913

@Bodasafa Scrying is incredibly important to see as early as possible on that scenario. It's definitely not easy to play, and rarely do I collect more than 3 cultists. Most of the time I float the one that pops off the agenda and just try to parley the others. If you can get a Disc of Itzamna out that also does quite a bit of work on scenario 2 and 3 for the enemies that spawn on you. Roland Banks and Agnes Baker are both great alternatives to solo with if you want more damage-centric investigators to try out.

Nov 26, 2016 Bodasafa · 1

Thanks. I didn't have Disc of Itzamna but could give it a try. I never found one cultist with parley which hurt as well. I realize from playing LOTR LCG for years solo decks will get stronger as the card pool increases. I may give solo Roland a go next.

Dec 05, 2016 OzValdo · 677

Great deck - this is the only viable draw engine I see in any of the other characters...

Dec 07, 2016 Azgadil · 34

@OzValdoits a great deck that can be played with a partner for optimal utilization. Old Biok of Lore can be used to aid another INV.

Dec 08, 2016 ForAiur · 3

Hm. How should she ever win the 3rd scenario with this little punch?

Dec 08, 2016 AegriSomnia · 7913

@ForAiurHopefully you can complete it before Umôrdhoth spawns! If he does come out, I guess pitching Lita isn't the worst thing.

Dec 08, 2016 ForAiur · 3

There is a way to investigate so fast that he doesn't come out? Haven't even realized that. Thnx for the info :D

Dec 09, 2016 AkaanQ · 1543

I understand Daisy can be a very effective supporter but I struggle to finish scenarios with her solo.

I tried this deck several times on first and second scenario and I find it very difficult to overcome enemies. There are too few cards to deal damage (Shrivelling, Blinding Light) and it seems overkill to use them or even Mind over Matter do deal with an Acolyte. She's not even good at evading...

Just went through second scenario. Got killed by the The Masked Hunter : I managed to deal him 4 damages with two Blinding Light, then I played Mind over Matter, took +2 on intellect with Encyclopedia (which meant 7 to beat 4) and I got -4 and then ...

Dec 10, 2016 AegriSomnia · 7913

@AkaanQFor sure! It's not easy to solo the three scenarios with any investigator. The easiest is probably Roland due to his investigator ability/general ability to fight well, coupled with being able to play Guardian and Seeker cards which both have some good clue gaining effects. There's a really good write-up for him here: arkhamdb.com Secondarily I'd go with Anges as easiest after that. She's actually super good at pinging off the cultists on the second scenario. I did a write-up for her as well if you want to give that a look: arkhamdb.com Daisy isn't the most efficient investigator to solo with, but I think she's a lot of fun to play and I enjoy the deck a lot! In a 2+ player game, there is no doubt in my mind, Daisy is the best clue gaining machine out there right now.

Dec 18, 2016 Django · 4854

How do you compensate for her low will, if you use shriveling or blinding light? Do "build up" at the starting location until you can play encyclopedia?

At standard difficulty, i dont see you succeeding any will test with a base of 3. Most Enemies in Mission 2 have fight 3 or higher and you need to kill these acolytes and the wizard of the order, to prevent the agenda from advancing early. I don't think you can cancel them all with ward of protection?

Also, how do you deal with the masked hunter? Disc of Itzamna seems very effective.

Dec 24, 2016 PickleTheHutt · 1

I think many people are playing Daisy's ability wrong. It does cost an action (just an extra action, like having a Leo DeLuca that only works for tomes). That means using it to activate a tome (say Encyclopedia to increase a stat) will cause attacks of opportunity from all engaged enemies.

Aug 18, 2017 tom1017 · 20

Hello. Nice write up, thanks for sharing your ideas. Have you considered updating your deck now that a lot of new cards are available, or do you think this remains the best deck for a solo Daisy in standard mode? Cheers. t.

Aug 19, 2017 AegriSomnia · 7913

Thanks @tom1017, I did a little update at the end to include how I've been playing it with the new cards!

Aug 19, 2017 tom1017 · 20

Thanks a lot @AegriSomnia :) I've been considering some new cards possibilities and have found "Inquiring Mind" to be a good option, but you seem to prefer unexpected courage and guts. If you could enlightne me/us on this subject, this would be appreciated. Also I find "I've got a plan!" to be quite expensive in an already resources demanding deck. The thing is I've tried to build a deck for Daisy but found myself unable to pay for the cards at some point as the average cost reached more than 2 resources. So to sum up I'm desperately looking for a Daisy deck to play the Dunwich legacy campaign, lol (side note: I'm a LCG noob/rookie). Cheers. t.

Aug 19, 2017 Django · 4854

Higher Education is "permanent", it does not count toward your deck size, so you don't need to replace holy rosary.

Aug 20, 2017 AegriSomnia · 7913

@tom1017 Inquiring Mind is a great card to use instead of Unexpected Courage, I just found myself wishing I had Unexpected Courage the few times the downside of Inquiring Mind bit me, so ultimately I switched over. If you don't like the expensive nature of "I've got a plan!", I've had some decent success using Shortcut instead(for the effect or its icons are nice to pitch). I personally just enjoy having the extra bust when I need it. Dealing 3-4 damage with that card definitely helps Daisy kill bosses much easier.

Aug 20, 2017 tom1017 · 20

@AegriSomnia: Indeed, Unexpected Courage is much more flexible and I also like to have a pair of those in my decks. "I've got a plan!" is also great although the couple of times I needed to play it I was either short on clues either short on resources (but it's not like Daisy has much fighting options, anyway). I guess I have to learn more about the game mechanics and its economy before I'm ready to play Daisy solo ;) Thanks for the advice. Cheers. t.

Aug 24, 2017 camipco · 29

As far as I can tell, beating Night of the Zealot with this deck is basically impossible.

Aug 28, 2017 Crucib1e · 1

Would you change anything from this list for multiplayer?

Sep 03, 2017 Tollas · 1

I'm running a version of this in a multiplayer, partnered with Zoey. I made the following changes:
-2 Working a Hunch, +2 Clarity of Mind
-2 Manual Dexterity, +2 Unexpected Courage
-2 Fearless, +2 Guts
-2 Scrying, +2 "I've Got a Plan"

Daisy runs around and gathers up all the clues like a mad woman while Zoey murders monsters. Daisy patches up her friend using Medical Texts and Clarity of Mind, but can unleash a big attack when needed.

Sep 07, 2017 TGrizzleD · 1

I know I'm a little late to the party but doesn't Milan being exceptional mean you can only have one of him in your deck?

Sep 07, 2017 Tollas · 1

Milan is not exceptional.

arkhamdb.com

Sep 07, 2017 TGrizzleD · 1

Oh, then what does the star next to the card name mean?

Sep 07, 2017 tom1017 · 20

It means it's unique so only one copy of the card can be in play at a single time, all decks confounded.

Sep 16, 2017 acotgreave · 782

Played this solo. Daisy got you the to of Sentinel Hill but Seth Bishop killed her and Yog-Sothoth took over the world. This deck was fun. She mostly ran away from monsters but couldn't escape Seth.

I didn't once use {scrying}. I dunno but in solo thus just feels like a wasted actionwhen u should be searching/moving/ fighting instead?

Dec 17, 2017 RegisF · 63

@AegriSomniaHi ! Thx for the decklist. I tried it on the core set, standard difficulty in solo and I lost in the devorour below after 5 or 6 attempts. how do you passed this step ?

Jan 10, 2018 hogwashed · 3

Recently I've decided to start on a Norman Withers deck for beginners, but I don't know if the cards I chose are ideal. Since Daisy Walker is also seeker/mystic, I thought you people might be able to help me with this. The deck is called Withering Heights.

Jan 17, 2018 hogwashed · 3

never mind, I deleted it

Mar 18, 2018 Trialus · 1

I've always kinda glossed over Seeker as a class, but really like the concept for the upcoming Forgotten Age investigator Ursla Downs so used the update recommendations for this deck as my intro to the class.

I had a great time with it and felt like it did well through the first two scenarios (got 3 cultists, think I could have gotten another 1or 2 with some some better movement cards in the deck (Pathfinder or shortcut)). However, I straight up got my lunch money stolen in Devourers. Still really fun and opened me.up to how cool some of the Seeker cards are.

May 14, 2018 gpd924 · 1

Ok, I think there's a flaw with Blinding Light. Since you have to use an action to play the card, doesn't it provoke an attack of opportunity? It certainly seems like this is the case. Therefore, I'd strongly suggest dropping it entirely from this deck.

May 14, 2018 zozo · 2912

hey @gpd924 because it has the bold evade text it's an evade action which means it doesn't provoke attacks of opportunity.

May 14, 2018 gpd924 · 1

Never mind. I found this: "Action Designators Some abilities have bold action designators (such as Fight, Evade, Investigate, or Move). Activating such an ability performs the designated action as described in the rules, but modified in the manner described by the ability."

Aug 01, 2018 usrnm · 1

This deck didn't even live till the appearance of the Big Boss in the end of The Gathering (was overwhelmed by ghouls). Given that both Shrivelling cards were in the bottom of the deck, and that is insta-GG. I had more success with the standard deck of Daisy by FFG rulebook (killed the Boss, captured half of the baddies in the second scenario, defeated in the third).

Conclusion: this deck definitely isn't for solo, it requires a second investigator, who will kill everything.

Aug 09, 2018 Argantes · 1

Not good, don't use for solo, not even good for multi as long as encounter enemy. She only got 3 intel and 2 dex, so no good for fight and evade. Plus Shrivelling doesn't work with Mind over matter, so she can only do 1 damage per attack.

Aug 09, 2018 gpd924 · 1

You really have to play her two-handed. A Skids O'Toole deck along with her is phenomenal. What a pair!

Sep 01, 2018 ArkhamChronicle · 4

Hi There. Thank you so much for sharing this deck. Do you mind if we use it as an example on the Arkham Chronicle YouTube Channel?

Dec 31, 2018 Fuzer · 1

@ArkhamChronicleplease do it!

Jun 11, 2020 Novista · 1

So, higher education got nerfed (not without warrant), so I upgraded shrivelling, you need those extra willpower in a punch up. Completed midnight masks, however the problem I now envisage, is once I get to the path in Arkham woods, I’ll be needing to evade 3 times or dragging them to the ritual site and then blagging it, doesn’t sound doable...

Jun 11, 2020 Novista · 1

Just realised I can’t use the shrivelling upgrade as it’s lvl 3!

Jun 13, 2020 Django · 4854

You're right. But you could use Acidic Strange Solution and Emergency Cache 3 instead.

Or Storm of Spirits (targeting the lowest ), Spectral Razor and Knowledge is Power (to fight as and keep the spell used). Addtionally Holy Rosary, Hawk-Eye Folding Camera and St. Hubert's Key boosts your if you stay on the mystic route.

Oct 21, 2020 Lazy-T · 2

*Abigail Foreman is absolutely essential for Daisy Walker. To just double use a Tome action as a single action. That paired with Daisy Walkers innate ability for a free Tome Action.

To pair Abigail Foreman + Encyclopedia is now a +4 to a skill for the phase // Abigail Foreman + Old Book of Lore for crazy card draw // Abigail Foreman + Medical Text is basically 2 free health

All of which is a FREE TOME ACTION -- any one of those buffs // boons are 1 FREE ACTION for Daisy Walker.

*Abigail Foreman just makes Daisy Walker BROKEN...and I love it!!

Easily my favorite Investigator in the entire game!! Very happy b/c Daisy Walker is also my favorite investigator for Eldritch Horror as well

Oct 21, 2020 Lazy-T · 2

Abigail Foreman is absolutely essential for Daisy Walker. To just double use a Tome action as a single action. That paired with Daisy Walkers innate ability for a free Tome Action.

Some Combo's: Abigail Foreman + Encyclopedia is now a +4 to a skill for the phase Abigail Foreman + Old Book of Lore for crazy card draw Abigail Foreman + Medical Texts is basically 2 free health The list goes on.

All of which is a FREE TOME ACTION -- any one of those buffs // boons are 1 FREE ACTION for Daisy Walker.

Abigail Foreman just makes Daisy Walker BROKEN...and I love it!!

Easily my favorite Investigator in the entire game!! Very happy b/c Daisy Walker is also my favorite investigator for Eldritch Horror as well