Diana Stanley

Pros:

  1. Strong signature cards (especially Dark Insight)
  2. Decent intellect and strength
  3. +1 resource/ +1 card activated effect is strong incentive to play ignore/cancel effects, since it often makes them free cantrips. This also makes her deck cycle faster.
  4. Access to cards, which increases her potential for combat
  5. Potential for 6 base willpower in late game
  6. She starts with 6 cards (with Dark Insight as one of them), and if you mulligan you can get up to 6 new cards!
  7. I think her signature weakness is not as devastating as many others. You can choose which cards to ditch and which to keep for 1 horror. This actually helps clear space for new additions. But it also favors not relying too heavily on her willpower (see below).

Cons:

  1. Very low starting willpower. This creates a conundrum because cards like Shrivelling will be very difficult to use for part of the game, and hard to justify with access to cards like Machete. Upgraded spells that boost willpower should be easier to use. If you do rely heavily on willpower, it incentivizes playing your cancel/ignore effects earlier, and even potentially wasting them instead of saving them for harsher threats.
  2. Why choose Diana Stanley to wield Machete when you can use other guardians with 4 or 5 strength? I think you have to make good use of her cards and 3 intellect to justify this.
jmmeye3 · 630
where is it actually written that she starts with dark insight in her hand ? I know it was said in the article of her release, but it's not indicated anywhere on her investigator card if i'm not mistaken — aurchen · 155
It’s on the deck building side of her card — Gebbeth · 2
Nevermind, I missed that part of her card. Thank you — aurchen · 155
From reading the rules for Draw Starting Hands and Mulligan, I don’t think you can mulligan Dark Insight. Drawing the opening hand refers to the entire process, but when you look at Muligan, you see that the initial five cards are called the starting hand, and that’s what you mulligan from. For comparison, look at Sefina: her ability, which replaces drawing the opening hand, replaces the entire step - not just the pre-muligan starting hand. Therefor it was follow that starting with Dark Insight in her Opening Hand occurs independent (effectively after) the mulligan. For an alternative argument consider this part of the Mulligan rule wording: “to declare a mulligan on any number of the drawn cards“. Dark Insight was not drawn and is therefor ineligible for the mulligan. — Death by Chocolate · 1489
Thanks Death by Chocolate, I think you are right. If so, she has not have an advantage on mulligans. Starting with the Dark Insight as an extra card is definitely good though! — jmmeye3 · 630
Cancelling an attack is triggering her ability? I'd assume yes, but who knows. — Gatherey · 1
@Gatherey It certainly does. Attacks are a type of effect called a ‘framework effect’ which arises from following the game structure framework. Simply put an effect is a ‘thing that happens’, and Diana triggers off of all effects - regardless of whether they are the result of rules text on cards or in the general rules of the game itself. — Death by Chocolate · 1489
About Machete and Diana vs Guardians with 4/5 Str: she has access to most of main stat booster of Guardians: Beat Cops, Ace of Swords, Machete itself and Blood Pact can make up for the lack of Keen Eye. It's at least useful against trash mobs like Rats or Ghouls where you don't want to be spending a Shrivelling charge. — Éole · 14
Here, for your deckbuilding pleasure, is a list of the Mystic, Guardian, and Neutral cards with the words Cancel or Ignore on them: [arkhamdb.com](https://arkhamdb.com/find?q=k%3ATactic%7Csupply+t%3Aevent&sort=name&view=list&decks=player&spoilers=hide) — Dedalus · 6273
I think was there a copy paste error there Dedalus, here is the fixed link: https://arkhamdb.com/find?q=x%3Aignore%7Ccancel&sort=name&view=list&decks=player&spoilers=hide — bits-in-a-ghoul-tummy · 32
In the expert mode, 3 str almost means nothing. So Guardian combat system doesn't work. But use Mystic system, a 35 size deck and 1 start willpower sucks. What's more I don't think her weakness is a weak one. So I believe this girl is design for those easy mode. — Amarthiul · 8
It's actually been ruled that Deny Existence can be used to negate all horror from her weakness, so the weakness is pretty harmless assuming you keep Deny Existence on hand. It's often possible to have 4 willpower by round 2, so I don't think the low starting willpower is as bad as you think. — Chitinid · 14
She's a monster in solo. With 8-10 cancel cards (plus her signature one), she can very quickly (3-4 turns) get 4 cancel cards done, which gives 4 extra draws, 4 etra resources. Add in Renfield, Rosary, and/or the Tarot card, and she has will power 8/9/10. Wither and Sixth Sense make her a fighting/cluing monster. Early on, Ddelve too Deep and Drawn to the Flame enable get to do useful things while also getting those critical encounter cards. Upgraded Wither more or less never misses. And while she gets setup, her 3 in evade, fight, intellect enable her to do a bit. — Ludoquist · 1
I am very curious about if, in standard difficulty, she is better as a consistant physical fighter (machete, beat cop, heavy blow, etc.) or a mystical "hard carry" spelly fighter (she will start useless in combat but with potential to reach a ridiculous willpower). The Machete is amazing since you don't have a limited amount of charges or ammo, but with willpower boosted, the spells will never miss). I think it will may vary a lot accordingly with the other investigators in the group, but can't be sure about her in the ideal circunstances. Any ideas? — Venti · 1
After using Diana several times, it's clear that she is better as a late game spell caster. I use the latest taboo list so my comments about Machete are no longer valid. She does need some support to deal with early threats. — jmmeye3 · 630
A good support to deal with early threats would be St. Hubert's Key + 2x Arcane Research + Desperate skills. But as a matter of fact, she also can just up her willpower preety fast, so it is not strictly needed. But it was fun, playing her that way. — Susumu · 381
Deny Existence

This card is best with Diana, for whom (as long as you have an open spot beneath her) it replaces itself and gives +1 resource (same net bonus as Emergency Cache). It might be usable in some other decks, especially if you are trying to increase your spell count (for Arcane Initiate, etc). Awesome artwork, too!

jmmeye3 · 630
When using it with Diana, does this card stop Rites of Seeking from ending your turn? My gut feeling is no. It counters the "lose actions" part but the end turn line is an additional effect. Came up in a game last night but I think it'd still cause her to end her turn, she'd just do it with all her actions. — skanedog · 70
@skanedog Rite of Seeking is neither an encounter card nor an enemy attack, so Deny Existence doesn't even trigger. — TheNameWasTaken · 3
But ending your turn is also a different effect so it couldn't stop it even if it were an encounter card effect. — vidinufi · 69
Eldritch Inspiration

For reference, as of The Circle Undone, here is a list of negative effects that Eldritch Inspiration can be used to mitigate:

Alchemical Transmutation - Take 1 damage.
Astral Travel - Discard an item or ally asset from play, take 1 damage if you cannot.
Blinding Light - Lose 1 action.
Blinding Light (2) - Lose 1 action and take 1 horror.
Mists of R'lyeh & Mists of R'lyeh (2) - Choose and discard a card.
Recharge (2) - Discard the chosen asset. (Note: You still don't get the 3 charges in this case.)
Rite of Seeking & Rite of Seeking (2) & Rite of Seeking (4) - Lose all remaining actions and end your turn.
Seal of the Seventh Sign (5) - Remove 1 charge from Seal of the Seventh Sign.
Shrivelling & Shrivelling (3) - Take 1 horror.
Shrivelling (5) - Take 2 horror.
Storm of Spirits - Deal 1 damage to each investigator at your location.
The Chthonian Stone - Return The Cthonian Stone to your hand.

Here is a list of positive effects that can be doubled using Eldritch Inspiration:

Eldritch Inspiration - Can actually be used on a second copy of itself, but it won't quadruple the effect it will just triple it.
Hypnotic Gaze - Deal an attacking enemy's damage to itself.
Jewel of Aureolus (2) - Draw a card or gain 2 resources.
Recall the Future (2) - +2 skill value for this test (named , , , or token only).
Ritual Candles - +1 skill value for this test.
Song of the Dead (2) - +2 damage ( only).

Note that and on cards will count as triggers for this card, as per the Rules Reference. Father Mateo doesn't actually get an additional benefit from repeating his conversion of to , and Jim Culver's to 0 conversion is static and not a trigger.

The_Wall · 287
I like that this can save charges from Seal of the Seventh Sign. — Django · 5154
The interaction of the card with Rite of Seeking is interesting. If you have the card in your hand, You can safely use Rite of Seeking as your first action. Chances are you will not draw a BS token, since usually only ~1/3 of the chaos tokens are BS ones. You then ignores the drawback of Rite of Seeking without costing anything. It is like Lucky! in this sense. — ak45 · 469
I dont think it would work with Recall the Future or Jewel of Aureolus, since you have to exhaust those cards to trigger their abilities. — iceysnowman · 164
very usefull analis thanksh — el_cyd · 1
@iceysnowman I believe it does since it does only resolves the effect another time. It's not "you can trigger the effect another time", so you skip the cost. — Docteur_Hareng · 7
Father Mateo can get additional benefit via his elder sign effect through The Codex of the Ages, though, AFAICT. — BlankedyBlank · 23
I cannot see how come Father Mateo cannot use this card to double the effects of his special, once-per-game ability. It seems clear to me that the wording applies to the trigger on FM investigator card. The only thing not clear are the 'effects'. Are they: A) DRAWING THE ELDER SIGN and then you get to choose either free card&buck or additional action. This way you could first get a card and a buck and then an additional action, or the reverse order. B) you choose one of the aforementioned FM's elder sign options and THEN YOU GET ANOTHER OF THIS KIND i.e. you can only get 2xcard&buck or 2xfree action. The literal reading of FM special ability suggests the effects of cancelling the autofail is changing it into the elder sign (the A option above). I have a feeling the designers were thinking of the 'final final effects' (the B option above). — Mateusz_Nawrocki · 1
Act of Desperation

Don't sleep on this card!

The real power here is in gaining back a bunch of resources from a spent item while also gaining tempo by dealing 2 damage for 0 resources. Cards that grant click compression tend to be among the best cards in the game. The "if you succeed" clause is also generally fine coming from the faction with both Lucky! and Live and Learn.

So what deck can use an Act of Desperation? Honestly, anything with Backpack, it has almost perfect synergy with that card and deckbuilding style. Mark Harrigan puts this under his Stick to the Plan to recoup the investment on his Lightning Gun or M1918 BAR. Survivors tend to be swimming in cheap items and card draw so it can act as a backup to Fire Axe (at least until they all upgrade to Ornate Bow or Timeworn Brand).

Then on top of all of this, the card has symbols like so much gravy.

The_Wall · 287
The most obvious abuse of this card is Yorick discarding a empty or jammed Old hunting rifle killing the monster and playing the rifle back at no cost — Susu · 36
In a Mark Harrigan deck you can even put a Well-mainted on your "big gun" to get it in your hand and replay it short after. — AlexP · 281
Amazing on Yorick for a different reason than noted; if you have an enemy infront of you early but didn't have time to put a weapon into play yet, you can throw a weapon from your hand to kill a weak enemy, then equip it from your discard as a free character trigger ability. — Antiundead · 31
IDEA FOR UPGRADED VERSION: 2xp version for +1 damage and let you discard any item in play (not just hand slots, but also body and accessory slots too). It would be amazing tech for Yorick, to throw an installed Backpack (2) with 3 items in it. Imagine throwing your backpack, killing a monster with it, and then using Yorick's free action to equip one of those free items... MATT PLEASE! — Antiundead · 31
Ace of Swords

I like most of the new tarot cards (Ace of Rods being the only exception). Advantages:

  • Provides +1 , which is necessary to deal with enemies that prevent clue gatherers from winning the game
  • Free to play if in opening hand (mulligan increases your chance of drawing it)
  • Does not conflict with existing assets with the new tarot slot
  • Is not an item, so it's immune to many treacheries that target these

Disadvantages

  • Second copy is a dead card, as players have only one tarot slot and it has no icons to commit
  • Conflicts with other tarot cards, if the investigator has access to more than one faction at level 1+
  • Ability to play this for free may motivate a player to mulligan important cards, like weapon assets
  • Guardian assets are quite expensive, so 3 ressources can be too much
Django · 5154
The only use of the second copy on your hand could be on Corrosion or Ants!, which would be nice, but that's pretty unlikely. — SGPrometheus · 841
The math probably isn't that different, but I'm thinking I'd be more likely to bring these in a deck that wants to start with a particular economy or boost card where I'm probably going to mulligan 5 anyway as opposed to a squishier synergy deck where I'm hoping to come out with 2 or 3 key assets and my mulligan rules are more flexible. — housh · 171
Maybe this has a home in a Yorrick deck that's running Cornered. — FractalMind · 44