1 Core + Dunwich Series: Skids

This deck is part of a series provided for people who have only a single core set & the Dunwich expansions. The rationale is that most of the decks on this site assume 2 core sets. If you have just 1 core set, you don't have much freedom in your deck, so there is not much point in publishing specialty decks. But if you have 1 core + Dunwich, you have some freedom in deck construction but not a lot of guidance.

I've put this forward as a pair-play deck, but Skids is actually probably better playing solo since he can make good use of the skill cards. Playing solo, I'd drop Taunt, Teamwork, one copy of Double or Nothing, and both copies of Liquid Courage to pick up 2x Unexpected Courage, 2x Overpower, and another Perception.

The assumption is that you are playing with someone who can find clues and contribute to killing enemies. Agnes Baker, "Ashcan" Pete, Jim Culver, and possible Rex Murphy would be reasonable options.

Skids is the weakest investigator currently, and he is even worse if you only have 1 Core set because you only have one copy of Burglary. You may wish to consider proxying a second copy because Skids can really use the money.

Mulligan hard for Leo De Luca and Burglary.

Your basic plan is to have a weapon in one hand and a flashlight in the other.

Leo De Luca is your prize ally, so you never want to be in a situation where you have him in your hand but have not gotten the use out of your current ally. Luckily, Guard Dog and Beat Cop both have some value as disposable allies. Guard Dog does a damage to an enemy every time an enemy's damage is assigned to him, and Beat Cop can be discarded to do a targeted point of damage. This can be very useful as it is a free play (it does not take an action). So go ahead and play whatever ally you get first, but if you get Leo De Luca in the first few rounds of the scenario, don't be bashful about using up the first ally you put out.

Note that using a Flashlight is better than just getting 2 added to your intellect. If all Flashlight did was give you 2 extra intellect, it wouldn't really be worth it. In particular, Flashlights really shine [geddit?] in locations with Shroud = 1 or 2. _If the shroud of a location is 1 or 2 and you use a flashlight, the only way you can fail the skill test if you draw ._

Here's why: say the shroud of a location is 2. Using a flashlight brings it down to 0. Say you investigate with an intellect of 2 and get a -5 chaos token. Your adjusted skill for the test is not -3. It is 0. Your adjusted skill is 0, and the shroud is 0, so you win. Only on an do you lose.

This is linked to the expected use of Double or Nothing. If you have a shroud that has been reduced to 0, you can play Double or Nothing during an investigation to nearly guarantee 2 clues for a single play.