amaZING PAnda (insane passive card draw)

First of all, Amanda is fun. Of course she is good. In fact, she is better than an investigator should be, even for a . But fun anyway!

1. Amanda's card draw is unprecedential, just by being yourself, you get 2 cards per turn.

2. Two cards per turn is just the beginning, you can easily get 5+. Be prepared to reshuffle you deck several times per scenario. There's no reason to save your cards for optimal usage, use them now knowing you'll draw them again soon. How many times per scenario can you use a Deduction?

3. A single copy of each asset is just enough because trust me, you will draw them soon enough. Make more space for skill cards, which are Amanda's true power, and for cards that support her crazy draw-engine.

4. The low statline doesn't really matter as long as you have enough cards to commit. Rather than stacking +1 assets, focus on relevant skill icons and strong card draw.

5. Amanda's personal weakness, Whispers from the Deep, hurts much less than it should (if you have no cards to overpower the -1, you have bigger problems than having drawn a weakness), while her signature Obscure Studies is just a perfect fit. Once again, don't wait for the perfect moment, use it when it helps you and let your deck do its job: cycle.

6. You are fragile, remember that. You could pack some healing, but such cards just slow you down. I prefer trying to manage with soak, rotating the 2 allies. Don't feel silly to throw a Promise of Power or Obscure Studies to a treachery that could hurt you a lot.

What's the trick practice then?

Just don't run out of cards. Use cards that draw you more cards while passing tests - mostly tests. That's about it.

Dream Diary, which you want to upgrade as a top priority, is a free card every turn. Now you draw 3 cards a turn, one of the cards being Unexpected Courage or (or better). 1 card and such an impact!

Research Librarian is there for 3 reasons: first, find your Dream Diary; second, trigger your Astounding Revelation; thrid, soak.

Whitton Greene works arguably better than Dr. M. +1 (the only skill you care about most of the time) is on pretty much all the time and instead of money, you get card draw, helping you find your Dream Diary and assemble the Pendant of the Queen. Well she'll probably trigger Astounding Revelation from time to time, giving you the money anyway.

Scroll of Secrets is more card draw. With Enraptured and Astounding Revelation, you can keep it charched pretty much all the time, enjoying your 4th card per turn - or giving 1 to your friend. I like upgrading to Scroll of Secrets, which increases the odds of finding what you need as well as of discarding your weakness. Often used to help a friend because honestly, you not always need more cards in hand.

While with a reliable goon by your side, weapons are not strictly necessary, Strange Solution is just good to have. Until that happens, Occult Lexicon and Occult Invocations, are there to kill should you ever need to. Or you know, for the icons.

Money is pretty much solved by Astounding Revelations - with Practice Makes Perfect, Whitton Greene and Research Librarian, you will shock the rabbi more often than you would really need. Crack the Case is another free money, possibly for your partner. Once again, notice the icons.

Be careful with Promise of Power - running 3 tests at 6 is attractive but you can quickly find yourself with the bag full of tokens. Be humble and use Promise of Power for a single important test.

Shortcut and Working a Hunch are here for big action compression (you'll draw them multiple times).

Enraptured is an investment for the time you're equipped with the Pendant of the Queen. You cannot assemble it multiple times, but nothing prevents you from recharging it.

Upgrade path:

3 XP Dream Diary is the top priority, I personally prefer the Explorer version as it helps you do what you're here for: get clues from hard locations. Always mulligan hard to find it!

1 XP (total 4) Segment of Onyx because with Amanda's draw power, you will assemble it really quickly, Enraptured will keep the Pendant charged pretty much forever. With just 4 XP total, you're already terribly strong!

2 XP (total 6) Much has been said and written about Unrelenting, so just place it beneath Amanda and enjoy your 6 free cards (sealing good tokens is probably not a problem because some of the cards you draw will help you pass the test anyway). If you're in a bad shape, don't hesitate to intentionally fail 3 basic investigate actions to refill your hand. But with this deck, you won't always need more cards and securing an important test (and obviously, drawing the ) is often the best play.

3 XP (total 9/12) The basic Grisly Totem is good, but it is the upgraded Grisly Totem's card draw that really makes it worth your deck slot. While Relic Hunter is not a strict necessity, having both Grisly Totem and Pendant of the Queen in play is probably worth the 3 extra XP.

3 XP (total 12/15) Pathfinder is yet another which is just too good. If you have a strong card beneath Amanda, you don't want to waste your scarce actions moving. Well you don't even if you... well, don't.

4 XP (total 16/19/22) By now you probably want a Strange Solution to be able to wander around on your own. Rather than buying a second copy, feel free to get the 3-XP Emergency Cache to refill your pocket bombs (or get some money if you have enough acid for now). With the Essence of the Dream and Grisly Totem, you suddenly fight at 9, difficult to miss.

Other notable upgrades:

Momentum is a cheap way to enable a power turn, commit a lot to the first test and have 2 more pretty much guaranteed successes: fun to try.

A copy of Forewarned is rarely wasted, especially if you draw it several times per scenario. Doesn't need to be Ancient Evils, feel free to use it to cancel pretty much any annoying treachery that would hurt you more than picking up a single clue.

In the Know can save you a lot of movement. With Enraptured and Astounding Revelation, you never run out of secrets. In a way, you won't have to move anymore.

Upgrade the Perception for more card draw (I like commiting this together with Unrelenting.

Upgrade the Deduction because you can and enjoy Practice Makes Perfect even more!

Finally complete Amanda's Higher Education and finally find some use for your impressive money supply. Never fail a test again.

But how about...

Ancestral Knowledge? The skills are there, larger deck is not an issue with Amanda. Getting 5 new level 0 cards halfway the campaign can be quite helpful if your deck calls for them. But is 5 cards distributed in 5 rounds worth the 6 XP? Hell no. Plus it doesn't work well with Practice Makes Perfect.

Dream-Enhancing Serum? You want to use your cards, not to stack them in your hand. There are better and more efficient tools for card draw. Hell no.

Eldritch Sophist? Transforming your redundant Astounding Revelation secrets into Pendant charges is a good idea. Maybe with Miskatonic Archaeology Funding, worth a shot.

Ancient Stone and one of its upgrades? Easy to identify, easy to refill, easy to trigger. Looks like a good idea.

Archaic Glyphs or Archaic Glyphs? Easy to translate, easy to refill, also a good idea.

Pnakotic Manuscripts? Easy to refill, definitely not a bad idea, but considering the cost, Amanda has cheaper ways of passing tests.

upgrading Whitton Greene? Do you really need the +1? Better search is cool but probably not worth the XP.

Surprising Find? Cool idea, thin your deck and get card draw in return, plus the icon is never wasted. This deck can definitely make it work, but strongly consider horror healing because you will be reshuffling all the time.