Today the PlayingBoardGames Discord server has been talking about how tough each signature weakness is for each of their investigators. I'm going to join in the fun with my own rankings list!
I especially loath Baron Samedi for two reasons: First, I feel obliged to take charisma asap, just to not have him completely shut down my ally plan, and I already feel like doom decks require quite a lot of xp to really get going (e.g. sin eater, Elle x2) + spending xp (and possibly taking in the thick of it) just to partially mitigate your signature weakness feels really bad. Second, you get him in a scenario where there is only one 3 doom agenda that constantly flips back and forth, and it’s just an absolute misery, because it becomes nigh impossible to get rid of him, and again other signature weaknesses usually can be disposed of in one turn at most. Maybe it’s a skill issue, but I feel like a signature weakness should not warp your game plan that much
Yeah, I feel like it is a bit too punishing, or at the very least too upsetting, compared to other weaknesses. It makes you slowly lose your whole shtick, which is already limited to start with and in general weaknesses that shuffle back into your deck are always distressing for my group. Idk, I'm very much biased because Sefina was my first gator, but I feel like it's a little too much.
Rookie Mistake is a weird one to judge. Sometimes you can play it in a way where it does something really minimal, like discard a Keepsake like you said. But yeah, it’s one of the signature weaknesses that by nature of it being in your deck changes not just how you play the game, but how your deck construction has to be. Cards like Agency Backup, Greta Wagner, Beat Cop. They should and are great in Tommy, but proactively putting damage on assets like this are so risky when you haven’t seen Mistake yet. It always comes at the worst time too. So many times I’ve had the thought, “okay, if I can just dodge Rookie Mistake for one draw, I’ll cash this asset out first action next turn”, only to draw it. Most devastating recently was losing a Hunting Jacket, along with 2 cards on it, because the return of cards to your hand triggers off it being defeated. Now THAT was a blowout. I feel like it belongs between Gameplay Ruining and Fairly Upsetting, right on the line. It’s kind of “gameplay altering”
Amazingly I had the exact same 3 in "Nastiest in the game" top tier. Wendy and Minh are probably 2 of my absolute favourite investigators and I hate that Wendy's weakness is a deck-killer. At least Minh has had a boost from Persistence, which feels like an auto-include in her anyway.
Nice video! I love play with Rita, specially after see that many players didn't like her but does actually works. The problem with her is her signature card, which do nothing for her. xd Her weakness, however, there are ways to deal with it... Just use the Ornate Bow and its over in one (or 2) action. Sweeping kick would be usefull too, but the forced effect would still trigger. She have some ways to deal with them but always hopping to have those cards... wish she can use Backstab too.
Yeah, I really like Rita. I think a two-handed weapon like Ornate Bow is a great solution for her, but I was juggling some one-handed ones in this particular run.
I recently played Rita as part of a three player Circle Undone run and had a blast. Hatchet is so good with her, and so is Dirty Fighting. So many enemies were knocked out by swinging a Hatchet with Stunning Blow. You’ll still get popped by Hoods that way, but since she’s pretty good at avoiding other problems it’s not the end of the world.
@@stephenball2108 Nice, yeah evading the Hoods once is not terrible. I don't have cards from the Vale expansion. But it is nice to find a way to use Stunning Blow, as I always try to focus on fight with foot that's not a considered card in my Rita's decks. However, Dirty fighting is excellent, is the one needed to recover the action loss charging the Ornate Bow.
About the king in yellow: Wild icons do count, as does her ability. Because seeker cards tend to have lots of double of the same icons on them, so this weakness mostly says pass a test in with 3+ random cards committed to it. It still is a big commitment and has those other restrictions to it too.
On paper, that seems very easy to do, but in practice I have seen this be much more difficult to line up correctly. If you're a Minh veteran you'll have much easier time anticipating the deck's need to lean into Grisly Totem, Dream Diary, etc. and not diversify your skill icons too much (which is tempting, especially at lower player counts), and hold back enough cards for when you do draw KiY. Newer players and those with a more limited cardpool can struggle, and failing the test is pretty devastating.
Fun discussion and good points 🙂 - Funnily enough I usually get hosed by some of the more average ones. Like drawing Akachi's late in the game several times and can't clear it fast enough. Or drawing Charlie's at crucial points in the mid-game and already used Bonnie and have to take a turn off (since she's limit once per round). But the top three - 100% agree with picks.
@@Quick_Learner Yes, or save Bonnie more often if everthing else is comfy (do I need a giant number this turn?) so you can use her ability on a good ally if you draw the weakness in the upkeep phase
7:46 I'm surprised to see King In Yellow rated so high. I agree it totally shuts Minh down if you aren't planning for it, but with a full card pool it's just not very hard for Minh to commit 6 icons to a test anymore. It’s basically asking you to have a couple of strong skill cards in your hand, and if you do then KIY doesn’t even cost you any actions to deal with. You mention Dream Diary, but there’s also Glimmer Of Hope and Persistence that can add a couple of extra icons when you need them. I remember this one being pretty scary when Minh first came out, but over time the card pool has given Minh plenty of options for managing it.
Basically two reasons: (1) I think it wrecks newer players more often than not, since it's one of the few that demands something specific of your deckbuilding that you might not otherwise do, and (2) if you can't solve it, your ability is a bit hamstrung until you do, if you were intending on using Analytical Mind, helping others with a commit, etc. With a Minh veteran you'll understand that all going in, but if not, the weakness disrupts your gameplay loop entirely.
@@Quick_Learner I think most weaknesses feel harsher at first then they turn out to be with a bit of experience. I take your point though. As always, great video. Keep up the good content!
Great video. One thing I was thinking of , is we've seen them do while campaign cycles with all investigators sharing a strength, or deck building style rather, Dunwich + EotE. What would a campaign look like with 5-6 investigators sharing a weakness but they each have unique and challenging ways to deal with it, likely requiring others to help? Could be very thematic.
A lot of characters who require enemies for their ability have an enemy as their signature weakness. I think it's less about making the game harder and more about making sure they get to do their thing even in enemy-light scenarios.
Where's Pa isn't trauma at end of game, it's a direct horror each round, which makes it a lot more urgent. Elussive means that with a high health enemy or single failed attack, you can be spending multiple turns chasing it down while bleeding out in the process. I'd say it's not just Average but Fairly Upsetting.
I recently played Amanda and for whatever reason assumed you couldn't just commit that weakness to any skill test and had to let it go under her to go away. Is that even a real weakness in seeker? Edit: Wait why don't seekers have weaknesses? Trish just plays disguise and a manual dex or just use her lockpicks to remove hers. She wants to evade enemies/avoid AoO most of the time anyways....
Rex's Curse is the most annoying in the game because you have to remember it and it's just obnoxious. I agree not actually that bad, but it's the most irritating to play with.
