True Solo Skids (Easy or Standard)

This Skids deck has taken me through many an adventure and he will serve you well also. Options abound for fighting and investigating from the start, although he really gets going once you put some XP into him. Tested for easy and standard, probably won't work on higher difficulties.

Upgrades

Not in any particular order of priority, it will vary depending on which campaign you are running.

• .45 Automatic -> .45 Automatic x2 (4xp)
• Flashlight -> Lockpicks x2 (2xp)
• Alice Luxley -> Lola Santiago x2 (6xp)
• Enchanted Blade -> Lupara x2 (6xp)
• Tennessee Sour Mash -> Tennessee Sour Mash x2 (6xp)
• Manual Dexterity -> The Moon • XVIII (1xp)
• Vicious Blow -> Vicious Blow x2 (4xp)
• Backstab -> Hot Streak x2 (8xp)

Fighting with Skids

• The most important thing to remember is that you don't always have to fight. If an enemy isn't a hunter and doesn't have doom on it, and if you don't need to stay at that location, it is ok to just evade it and keep on moving.

• Skids really wants to be fighting at 5, while still keeping one hand free for Flashlight or Lockpicks. The upgraded .45 Automatic gets him to fighting at 5, and at 4 bullets is usually enough. It also is great for combining with Sleight of Hand.

• Vicious Blow is should be saved for fighting boss monsters or other scary elites. Great for conserving ammo and actions.

• Lupara is an absolute monster, especially when combined with Sleight of Hand and Vicious Blow.

• Tennessee Sour Mash is always useful. Not only is it fast, saving you an action when playing it, and also providing protection against two will tests, but it also can be used to fight and deal 2 damage to an enemy. Combined with Vicious Blow, it will deal 4 damage all but the scariest of monsters running back to hell.

Investigating with Skids

• Early on, you will be grabbing clues with the help of Alice Luxley and Flashlight, while saving the Intel Report for the high shroud locations. Don't be shy about using other boosters like Unexpected Courage and Take the Initiative to help you investigate, especially early on.

• Once you get Lockpicks, you become much more efficient at investigating. However, because they have a cool down, it also means that you start to get in situations where it actually makes more sense to just sit in place and grab a resource or draw a card rather than rush ahead.

• Lola Santiago not only makes Lockpicks way better, but also gives you a testless clue every turn as long as you can afford it. Once again, it is limited to once per turn like Lockpicks so feel free to slow down and just grab a resource or draw a card to wait for it to cool down rather than jump into a skill test at only four intellect.

Get that Money!

• As you have probably noticed, this deck runs expensive. That said, I have never had an issue with keeping up with the cost. "Watch this!", Emergency Cache, and Lone Wolf help keep this deck topped off early on. It is also important though that you be smart about what you play and when you play it. If there are no enemies in your face and you have a .45 Automatic in your hand, don't play it unless you know you already have everything else set up. You can always evade the next enemy the pops up.

• Later on, when you get Lola Santiago and Lockpicks, you will be start to find you are limited in how many clues you are picking up per turn, and thus it sometimes makes more sense to pick up a resource as a third action rather than press on.

• Buy an action when you need it. Skids lets you buy an extra action for two resources. Use it as needed .

• Hot Streak shouldn't be a priority, but once you get it you will have a lot more freedom in being reckless with how you manage your cash.