So Much to Play in the Pathfinder Adventure Card Society!

Wow! Thanks for putting together that graph to show all the character options Tyler! Also I'm very excited to play with Arueshalae! :D

Hi everyone!
The graph resolution came out not so great up above, so here is a link where you can download the graph from Google Drive and open it natively in your favorite browser for full resolution fun!
Graph Download
Tyler

How do you play online ?

How do you play online ?

Check out the Flaxseed Adventure Card Guild Lodge thread, where you can read up and sign up to play-by-post adventures! There's dozens of card game tables currently being run, and I hear there will be another big player recruitment drive soonish, thanks to an upcoming convention.

If you want to see how PACG Play-by-Post works, feel free to glance at some of the threads being run as we speak!

We STAR SUGAR HEARTLOVE new players in the Flaxseed Adventure Card Guild!!! Come along and get amongst!

And our good buddy wkover penned an excellent intro to ACG PbP post. It's an excellent overview (especially the "If you've never done OP Pathfinder" link under 'Resources'.)

I need to finish my run through Wrath with my Arushalae boon. (Not mad, everyone should have a chance to play her!)

Since you mention available content to replay, I wonder if it is worth flagging that "replayable" means "replayable with the same character"? Since all PACG content is replayable with new characters? (Unless I'm horribly mistaken?)

That's very true. In this case, one scenario of Dragon's Demand (which is procedurally generated) can be played at any tier any number of times by a single character, so you could THEORETICALLY play an entire 6 tiers worth of just randomized scenarios using it (by adding in the cards from another Adventure Path each time). Doesn't appeal to me, but it might appeal to others!

The first scenario of Fangwood Thieves is also replayable. For folks setting up sessions for new players at a store or convention, that means you can setup the entire scenario in advance and whoever shows up (some new players, some regulars), it's still playable. And with 6 options, it's still got some surprises even if you've played it a couple times.

The Curse sanctioning document doesn't appear to be up yet...

I need to finish my run through Wrath with my Arushalae boon. (Not mad, everyone should have a chance to play her!)

Your boon still has value too as it uses a different class deck than the one available to everyone else.

Maybe it's just me, but I'd love it if that chart had a lot more dots on it. ;)

Trust me, as much work as it has been to make, I would LOVE the problem of having to add a bunch more nodes. :)

Ray pointed out that I was missing Zadim's Inquisitor unlock, so that's been updated now.

It seems some decks have more unlocks than others. Let's fix this. I propose each non-Ultimate deck to have at least one unlock. Here are my suggestions for unlocks:
• Hell's Vengeance 1: WOTR Seelah (Or all Seelahs from any set or CD. Also bonus points if she's given the Antipaladin trait instead of Paladin). Please please please
• Witch: Siwar from Bard CD.
• Druid: Poog from Goblins Fight! CD
• Summoner: Meliski from Bard CD
• Barbarian: Athnul from Monk CD
• Goblin Fight: Agna from Ranger CD
• Goblin Burn: Grazzle from Oracle CD
• Occult Adventures 2: Zibini from Goblins Burn! CD
• Ranger: Nok-Nok, Goblin Promo from Free RPG Day 2018.
• War Priest: Erasmus from Occult Adventures 2 CD
• Sorcerer deck: Erasmus from Occult Adventures 2 CD
• Fighter: Ak from Goblin's Fight
• Cleric: Bekah from Bard CD

It seems some decks have more unlocks than others. Let's fix this. I propose each non-Ultimate deck to have at least one unlock. Here are my suggestions for unlocks:

• Hell's Vengeance 1: WOTR Seelah (Or all Seelahs from any set or CD. Also bonus points if she's given the Antipaladin trait instead of Paladin). Please please please
• Witch: Siwar from Bard CD.
• Druid: Poog from Goblins Fight! CD
• Summoner: Meliski from Bard CD
• Barbarian: Athnul from Monk CD
• Goblin Fight: Agna from Ranger CD
• Goblin Burn: Grazzle from Oracle CD
• Occult Adventures 2: Zibini from Goblins Burn! CD
• Ranger: Nok-Nok, Goblin Promo from Free RPG Day 2018.
• War Priest: Erasmus from Occult Adventures 2 CD
• Sorcerer deck: Erasmus from Occult Adventures 2 CD
• Fighter: Ak from Goblin's Fight
• Cleric: Bekah from Bard CD

** spoiler omitted **...

Mechanics wise I'm okay with HV1 Seelah, but lore-wise I hate it. I think of Seelah as being one of the most incorruptible characters in all of Pathfinder period and I really don't like the thought of her falling.

Bekah really wants Finesse weapons, so Cleric is a poor fit.

I'm highly receptive and actually looking for unlock suggestions, so I'll cheerfully take a look at these.

That said, it would drastically improve the odds of me getting them into a reward sooner if someone verified the ones that meet the following 2 requirements:
1) There are enough Basic cards to fill every card type for the character.
2) If _all_ card feats are spent on that character, there are enough cards of each type (of any level)

I'll cross out the ones that don't meet 1 and 2.

• Hell's Vengeance 1: WOTR Seelah (Or all Seelahs from any set or CD. Also bonus points if she's given the Antipaladin trait instead of Paladin). All Seelahs work, except ROTR would get two non-basic AD-B blessings. Fair point @ Zeroth. I'd be happy with another paladin but Raz doesn't work due to lack of mounts so that leaves Koren. He could work. Warpriest could also work but they'd need to take their owner card from the warpriest deck too
• Witch: Siwar from Bard CD. Doesn't have weapons if a weapon card feat is taken
• Druid: Poog from Goblins Fight! CD
• Summoner: Meliski from Bard CD
• Barbarian: Athnul from Monk CDShe can't pick spell card feat. And she'd get two non-basic AD-B's in her starting deck
• Goblin Fight: Agna from Ranger CD
• Goblin Burn: Grazzle from Oracle CD
• Occult Adventures 2: Zibini from Goblins Burn! CD Gets one non-basic AD-B blessing, otherwise a great fit imo.
• Ranger: Nok-Nok, Goblin Promo from Free RPG Day 2018.
• War Priest: Erasmus from Occult Adventures 2 CDTechnically works but most spells are divine so if he did take every spell card feat, some would get banished when used. Magus would be a better bet in this aspect, though there are already unlocks for Magus.
• Sorcerer deck: Erasmus from Occult Adventures 2 CD gets one non-basic AD-B blessing at start
• Fighter: Ak from Goblin's Fight gets 2 non-basic AD-B blessings at start
• Cleric: Bekah from Bard CDGets a non-basic blessing at start, and no starting finesse weapons. There's one less finesse weapon than her max weapons as well

So a few in there still meet 1 and 2. A few need non-basic AD-B blessings depending on how strict that one is.

Hi everyone!

The graph resolution came out not so great up above, so here is a link where you can download the graph from Google Drive and open it natively in your favorite browser for full resolution fun!
Graph Download
Tyler

We fixed the linked JPG in the blog above so it's legible. (Tyler's original SVG format looks better and has searchable text, though.)

updated suggestions for classes that didn't meet 1/2
• Hell's Vengeance 1: WOTR Seelah (Or see above)
• Witch: Celeste or WOTR Enora are the only two characters that meet #2 since every other has at least one potential card feat in weapon or armor.
• Druid: Poog from Goblins Fight! CD
• Summoner: Meliski from Bard CD
• Barbarian: Ekkie (Wotr Promo) - Wasn't a ton of choices with no spell feats to meet #2. Ak from Goblins Fight almost works but would get one non-basic AD-B blessing at the start.
• Goblin Fight: Agna from Ranger CD
• Goblin Burn: Grazzle from Oracle CD
• Occult Adventures 2: I couldn't find a good fit that had only 3 starting blessings and didnt run out of other basic cards. Still think Zibini is the best fit here, and considering 2/3 OA2 characters get non-basic AD-B blessings i don't think that's a dealbreaker here.
• Ranger: Nok-Nok, Goblin Promo
• War Priest: Bekah from Bard CD. Bit better of a choice than cleric. Finesse will be scarce starting out without an ultimate deck, but gets better as you tier up.
Sorcerer: Sticking with Erasmus because he gets two non-basic AD-B blessing in OA2 and only gets one non-basic AD-B blessing here.
• Fighter: Need to think on this one. Still like the idea of Ak here though.
• Cleric: Still not sure on this one.

It seems some decks have more unlocks than others. Let's fix this. I propose each non-Ultimate deck to have at least one unlock. Here are my suggestions for unlocks: [...]

I have some recommendations too, but not from the angle of enabling more unlocks for certain decks, but rather to enable certain characters to be played in ways that they otherwise cannot be in OP.

Note I haven't checked whether they have adequate basics.

Okay so let's start the conversation about which secondary decks are the best for different characters, shall we?

I'll start with all the new Core and Curse characters, I think.

Amiri (Core) - Barbarian + Ultimate Combat - Pretty self-explanatory, I'd say. Lots of nice weapons, including some exclusive and very strong ones like the Katana +1 and Pillaging Mace. Several displayable armors, which are great, and items like the Weaponrack Backpack to help combat her tiny hand size (I just HATE hand size 4 to start!)
Ezren (Core) - Wizard + Ultimate Magic OR Pathfinder Tales + Ultimate Magic - I think that Pathfinder Tales is clearly the superior deck for a Wizard on its face, with spells like Steal Book (one of my FAVORITES) and Safety Bubble, there are just some very solid choices there, and you can add Ultimate Magic to round it out. However, IF you have access to the Core/Curse cards, I would actually argue that the Wizard deck becomes a LOT better, because it has a huge number of cards that can be traded out for their superior new versions (24 of them, in fact!) Ultimate Magic is still probably his best addition deck though, because the Flame Staff is in there, and its Core replacement is SO much better than the normal card that it makes the add-on a no-brainer.
Fumbus (Core) - Alchemist + Ultimate Equipment - Fumbus only has one option for now, and Equipment obviously gives him a lot more Alchemical cards to play with than any of the other add-ons, though a case could be made for Wilderness of course. But I mean, Fireworks, right?
Harsk (Core) - Hunter + Ultimate Combat - The Ranger deck doesn't have too many cards that can be replaced with Core boons (mostly Basic weapons anyway) so I think the weapon choices in the Hunter deck are clearly superior for our bow-loving friend. Even though Ultimate Wilderness would get him a couple of Axes, I think UC is a better choice for him because of the Ammunition items, which just get crazy good.
Kyra (Core) - Cleric + Ultimate Magic - Straightforward. Cleric class deck sadly only has 15 cards that can be Core-swapped, but Ultimate Magic makes up for a lot of what the Cleric deck lacks.
Lem (Core) - Occult Adventures Deck 1 + Ultimate Magic - One of the more interesting deck unlocks out there, Lem can replace his brother Meligaster and get access to several really fun, exclusive cards this way. Ultimate Magic is the obvious choice to round out the lack of non-Mental combat spells that he needs to survive, and of course there are several good healing spells in UM as well. I just wish there were more Instruments out there to be had!
Lini (Core) - Druid + Ultimate Wilderness - This is a no-brainer... Lini likes animals and things that let her use Survival, and these two decks are the best ways to do so. If you'd like her to be a bit more healing-focused, grab UM instead of UW.
Merisiel (Core) - Pathfinder Tales + Ultimate Equipment - Tales has a bit of a lack of Knives, but it does have several Acrobatics-based weapons which are good for her. Ultimate Equipment will give her Knives in spades, and just look at that Cloak of Daggers you can give her! :)
Sajan (Core) - Monk + Ultimate Equipment - A total no-brainer, thanks to Acrobatics-based and just generally well-themed weapons for a Monk.
Seelah (Core) - Paladin + Ultimate Combat - Though an argument could be made for UM instead, I think the displayable armors in UC give it a significant edge, as she starts with THREE of those in her deck.
Seoni (Core) - Sorcerer + Ultimate Magic - The Sorcerer deck actually has the second-most Core-replaceable cards in it at 28 (the Witch deck has 29) so Seoni has a LOT of great spell options if you have access to those cards. If you don't, sub in Pathfinder Tales for Sorcerer.
Valeros (Core) - Fighter + Ultimate Combat - Displayable armors and great weapons make this an obvious choice.

Hakon (CotCT) - Warpriest + Ultimate Magic - Even though he doesn't start off with the Arcane or Divine skills, Hakon has proficiency, so he's not banishing spells left and right. There are so many good spells in UM that I'd be hard-pressed to choose a different one, though Intrigue could be argued for.
Kess (CotCT) - Barbarian + Ultimate Equipment - Since she doesn't need weapons or armor, Ultimate Combat is all wrong for Kess. Equipment, though, gives her access to a Staff of Minor Healing, Gem of Physical Prowess, Dryad Sandals... the list just goes on.
Quinn (CotCT) - Ultimate Equipment + Alchemist - Straightforward option to get more alchemical items and even a few allies. There are so many options here though, I'm sure there will be a heated debate. :)
Varian (CotCT) - Pathfinder Tales + Ultimate Magic - UM is an extremely solid choice for Varian, thanks to its plethora of excellent spells. Intrigue could also be fun, though!

Dumb question, but where can I get Arueshalae's cards?

Dumb question, but where can I get Arueshalae's cards?

They are in adventure 3 of the Wrath of the Righteous adventure path:

Kess (CotCT) - Barbarian + Ultimate Equipment - Since she doesn't need weapons or armor, Ultimate Combat is all wrong for Kess. Equipment, though, gives her access to a Staff of Minor Healing, Gem of Physical Prowess, Dryad Sandals... the list just goes on.

For Kess, I'd be much more likely to take Ultimate Wilderness for 2 key cards: Amulet of Mighty Fists (B), and Amulet of Furious Fists (5). There's also lots of allies in there to make use of, although the armor selection is lacking.

Tyler Beck wrote:

Kess (CotCT) - Barbarian + Ultimate Equipment - Since she doesn't need weapons or armor, Ultimate Combat is all wrong for Kess. Equipment, though, gives her access to a Staff of Minor Healing, Gem of Physical Prowess, Dryad Sandals... the list just goes on.

For Kess, I'd be much more likely to take Ultimate Wilderness for 2 key cards: Amulet of Mighty Fists (B), and Amulet of Furious Fists (5). There's also lots of allies in there to make use of, although the armor selection is lacking.

Wilderness is my call as well

Okay so let's start the conversation about which secondary decks are the best for different characters, shall we?

I'll start with all the new Core and Curse characters, I think.

Quinn - Alchemist + Ultimate Equipment - ..

I thought Alchemist at first as well. Then I realised that almost all of the Alchemical items didn’t have recharge rolls, so I think they would still be banished :-(

WKover suggested Rogue deck would be a good call.

Alchemy items should be going into the recovery phase so Quinn can save them (if low enough level). If that isn't happening (after conversion guide), please let me know.

I'm playing Quinn with UE + Rogue right now in Curse of the Crimson Throne

For Kess, I'd be much more likely to take Ultimate Wilderness for 2 key cards: Amulet of Mighty Fists (B), and Amulet of Furious Fists (5). There's also lots of allies in there to make use of, although the armor selection is lacking.

I'm playing Kess + UW right now. Crocodile Skin Madu (B) and Mammoth Hide Armor (3) both recharge to add dice to Melee checks, which is solid. They can even be used together (Madu played freely). Otherwise Kess has more armors than she knows what to do with - particularly since her damage-absorption power means she isn't discarding many cards to damage anyway.

Alchemy items should be going into the recovery phase so Quinn can save them (if low enough level). If that isn't happening (after conversion guide), please let me know.

Quinn's power says:

You are proficient with Alchemical. On your check to recharge an Alchemical item whose level is lower than #, you automatically succeed.

The problem is that the recharge abilities in the Alchemist deck are for discarded cards, not the items themselves.

For instance, Alchemist's Fire says:

For your combat check, banish this card to use your Dexterity or Ranged skill + 2d6. You may additionally discard another card to add your Craft skill; after playing that card, succeed at a Craft 9 check to recharge that card instead of discarding it.

So the recharge check isn't to recharge the item itself. It's to recharge the discarded card. So Quinn's power doesn't work, unless I'm misreading it. Almost all the items in the Alchemist's deck work this way. (Also Quinn doesn't have Craft and his dexterity is low, so these items aren't necessarily great for him anyway.)

What wkover said.

Quinn's auto-succeed power would work really well with any alchemical items we might acquire during a scenario, but doesn't seem to be helpful for any of the alchemical items in my class or add-on deck (although I've only really looked at potential upgrades for a tier 1 character, and haven't yet checked to see which ones have new Core versions).

It's certainly not a power feat I intend to take at tier 1. When I get to tier 2 I'll take another look.

Okay so let's start the conversation about which secondary decks are the best for different characters, shall we?

I'll start with all the new Core and Curse characters, I think.

[...]

My counter-opinions are as follows....

Amiri (Core) - Barbarian + Ultimate Intrigue - I've said it before and I'll say it again; I don't think Fighters and Barbarians don't really need to spend their one-and-only Add-On Deck choice on Ultimate Combat to make their already strong combat options higher. Ultimate Combat does relatively little besides giving you items, allies, blessings and weapons to better your combat math, and leaves you just as weak in every other area (except for the amazing Brawler's Mask, and some strong armor - though even then they're not much better than Core/Cure Armor Replacements).
Ultimate Intrigue gives Amiri weapons that let her leverage her Melee skill to give her amazing Diplomacy skills and - in AD6 - flawless anti-barrier skills thanks to the Backsword cycle. It also provides very strong armor, ally and blessing options - way better than anything Ultimate Combat provides overall.

Ezren (Core) - Hell's Vengeance 2 + Ultimate Magic - I've played all of Season 4 with MM Ezren with this mix, and I'm confident that Hell's Vengeance 2 is overall better than Pathfinder Tales or Wizard if you're also using Ultimate Magic. Most of your spells will be from Ultimate Magic either way, but Hell's Vengeance 2 provides a very small amount of absolutely invaluable cards, including Hungering Staff (way better than the aforementioned Flame Staff), Ukobach, Glamour, Advocate's Armor and Steal Soul. Altogether some of the best cards that any Ezren will ever get a hold of are only really available in this very Character Deck. However, the overall HV2 spell variety won't suffice without Ultimate Magic.

Fumbus (Core) - Agreed, but this is basically non-negotiable because UE gives you Ring of Elemental Command. Forget the alchemical items - that Ring gives you 1d6+ (or more, depending on your role) with every check that Fumbus makes, combat or noncombat, due to his implausibly powerful power feat (which should always be your first hero point) of "+1d6 to checks invoking fire/acid/poison".

Harsk (Core) - Hunter + Ultimate Wilderness - Once again, I just don't like Ultimate Combat. Harsk with the Hunter Class Deck shouldn't be failing combat checks - his combat math is one of the highest in Core with bows or axes - and he can't fully leverage the best 'melee-matters' effects that Combat offers. Wilderness gives him a far better selection of allies, as well as letting him delve into the powerful world of Plants, from Angelstep to Snapping Flytrap.

Kyra (Core) - No comment; straight agreement.

Lem (Core) - I don't necessarily disagree, but there's a lot of ways to build Lem. Occult Adventures has some nice weapons (Javelin of Lightning), decent mid/late game items and creative spells (especially in the lategame), but it also has really bad blessings (sorry, I consider the Signs objectively awful, especially compared to basics in the Ultimate Add-On decks), really bad early-game items (if you don't have the Perception skill), questionably bad early-game spells (if you don't have the Perception skill or Intelligence-based Arcane), few good armors and a lot of allies which are, again, REALLY themed towards having the Perception skill.
However, the quality of cards in the Bard Class Deck is also lacking, so eh.
Ultimate Magic is a safe bet, but Ultimate Intrigue provides way more noncombat options. Use Diplomacy for any noncombat check, use Diplomacy in combat (can also be done with Occult Adventures), Confusion, better allies, better blessings... Plus, I think Cockroach Coat is one of the finest early game items in any Ultimate Add-On deck, and it works great with an acrobatics Rapier from Core-switching.
If anyone's interested in seeing such a take on Core Lem, I just started a Legendary Dragons' Demand PACS adventure with him.

Lini (Core) - No comment; straight agreement.

Merisiel (Core) - I haven't done all of the analysis, but I'd be tempted to look at Ultimate Intrigue again. Cockroach Coat is an amazing card, as a fire-and-forget card that can often add +1d4 to all of your combat checks now. Plus, Ultimate Intrigue lets Merisiel use Stealth for any noncombat check, and also has some very desirable blessings and allies (though admittedly, so does Ultimate Equipment).

Sajan (Core) - Mostly in agreement. If you're going with a Strength-based build, though, this is one of the very few situations you will see me actually advise Ultimate Combat. It lets him leverage Melee for noncombat checks, it has a couple of Monk-specific weapons (including the 'autokill undead' monk sword) and - unlike Harsk or Amiri - Sajan does usually need boosts in combat to consistently pass (hence his blessing mechanics), so a lot of the boons providing bonuses to your combat checks when you explore with them or reveal them or reload them actually pay off for him.

Seelah (Core) - Paladin + Ultimate Intrigue - Once again, Ultimate Intrigue features the Backswords to let Seelah leverage her strong Melee for other types of checks, but it's strong focus (particularly in late game allies) for rewarding Charisma checks is excellent for any Charisma-based caster, like Seelah. Plus, Seelah has a vested interest in taking cards that push her charisma checks a bit higher, because she can leverage them for any before-acting check.
The argument of using Ultimate Combat primarily for its Armors is not a strong one in my opinion - because the Paladin Class Deck already offers armors that can be Core/Curse exchanged for displayable armors which are often better than Ultimate Combat's. Take, for example, Paladin Class Deck's Full Plate armor - which with Core can often be recharged from display to reduce all damage taken to 0.
That said, Ultimate Combat is also absolutely fine here. It grants Stone Skin (one of the best early game spells), Dwarven Earthbreaker and Brawler's Mask. I'd sooner use Ultimate Combat on Seelah or Sajan than I would on Harsk or Amiri, for certain.

Seoni (Core) - Sorcerer/Pathfinder Tales + Ultimate Intrigue - Seoni doesn't need combat spells, so Ultimate Magic doesn't provide her with too much that she can't find elsewhere. Ultimate Magic has some strong items (which have been explicitly weakened with the new ruleset, like Binder's Tome); it has some very strong spells (like Fire Snake), but Ultimate Intrigue offers much better allies and blessings. Instead of Fire Snake, it has the almost identical (if not better!) Quick-Change Mask, and the other charisma-matters ally and item effects are leveraged phenomenally by the pure-Charisma-emphasis of Seoni!

Valeros (Core) - Fighter + Ultimate Intrigue - Pretty much the same argument I always make. You don't need more combat support - and Core replacements already give you displayable armors here. Ultimate Intrigue instead provides more noncombat support and better cards across every card type outside of Weapon and Armor, which is usually where you're going to be struggling.
...However, the Ultimate Combat Weapons are clearly a lot stronger, and Valeros has a vested interest in taking extra Weapon Card Feats.

I won't comment on the Curse characters for now - I've done less cohesive analysis of their character and role powers. But I will agree with others that I'd try to use Kess with Ultimate Wilderness before Ultimate Equipment, to better leverage unarmed-combat matters. Besides, Staff of Minor Healing won't ever interest me as much as Angelstep, even on a character without Survival or Craft. Unless you intend to use the Staff of Minor Healing 3.5+ times per scenario (in which case that Staff has used up 3 of your draws, effectively shrinking your effective hand size on average) then it's not going to be as impactful as a single, one-off use of Angelstep.

Ah, yes. I was thinking of a different version of the rules for Quinn/Alchemy conversion than we went with. It's not ideal, but not 100% bad. Thanks for the cite!

Thanks for the feedback Yewstance! I was trying not to assume that people would have access to Core/Curse replacement options, since that is a much larger investment than just a pair of class/add-on decks. I still like Ultimate Combat for some of these characters though... Especially Harsk, as I think the Ammunition boons are really helpful for him.

Let's see about a next step...

Ultimate characters!

Hayato (Ultimate Combat) - UC + Pathfinder Tales - Hayato likes mounts for one power on his Ronin role, so you might think Paladin first, but Warpriest has some interesting weapons, allies and blessings, and in a post-Core world, you're going to want to use Hayato's Yojimbo role so that you can help out your allies, instead.

Reiko (Ultimate Equipment) - UE + Rogue - Pretty clear that you're going to want Rogue for the Poisons. (Alchemist only has 3 Poison items in it!)

Aric (Ultimate Intrigue) - UI + Pathfinder Tales - No question, the allies and weapons in Pathfinder Tales complement Aric/RR best.

Enora (Ultimate Magic) - UM + Occult Adventures 1 OR Pathfinder Tales - The uniqueness of the boons in OA complements Enora very well. However, if you are going Bookworm for her role, Tales is the clear winner.

Zova (Ultimate Wilderness) - UW + Hunter - Clear because of Animal allies and Aspect spells.

Ah, yes. I was thinking of a different version of the rules for Quinn/Alchemy conversion than we went with. It's not ideal, but not 100% bad. Thanks for the cite!

After double checking the conversion guide, my interpretation of most old the old alchemical items is that they would get banished by Quinn as they have no recharge roll, is this correct or am I missing something?

There is a minor snag for Valeros Core with Fighter/UC - and that is that his FCT is Sword Weapon, not just weapon. Most of the better weapons in the deck are non-sword weapons, and as such he is not guaranteed to get it in his opening hand, and he probably draws them a lower percentage of the time than if he had FCT weapon.

There is a minor snag for Valeros Core with Fighter/UC - and that is that his FCT is Sword Weapon, not just weapon. Most of the better weapons in the deck are non-sword weapons, and as such he is not guaranteed to get it in his opening hand, and he probably draws them a lower percentage of the time than if he had FCT weapon.

I'd completely forgotten that... but I will notch it in another tally in favor of Ultimate Intrigue, where all of the good (non-ranged) weapons are swords. Come to think of it, some of the ranged weapons in Intrigue might be playable with Valeros, even - there's some neat effects, and he does have the Ranged skill.

But yes, the most compelling weapons in Ultimate Equipment are (in my opinion) the spears, lances and hammers, by and large - not the swords.

Reiko (Ultimate Equipment) - UE + Rogue - Pretty clear that you're going to want Rogue for the Poisons. (Alchemist only has 3 Poison items in it!)

I don't think Poison is even the best way to play Reiko.

Pre-role, she doesn't get anything special from Poison except the ability to reveal instead of having to recharge a card. This is useful, but you have to essentially hold a card anyways to get the benefit unless you have Blue Star (or another Poison), so that slot is "consumed" either way. You either have to use a reveal Poison that doesn't give +1 hand size or an Alchemical Poison that does, but doesn't reveal.

Reiko can't use pre-Core Finesse Melee weapons without a specific role and feat combo and Bows are a problem for her (lack of Strength). Rogue class deck has a lot of those.

She also doesn't have Disable, Survival or Craft, so she is very poor at using Poisons period (again, unless you invest in Ninjutsu Master + a feat, and even then she's not great).

If you're going for Ninjutsu Master Reiko, I'd say Sorcerer class deck. She doesn't get any good weapons and has to rely on the UE weapons most of the time, but in exchange she gets the ability to use the Boots of Elvenkind to get d10 to all combats on a reveal. I'd take that trade. There's also some utility spells that are useful like Scrying, Unearthly Aim, Swipe, Dominate, and Wand of Treasure Finding. In addition, Ninjutsu Master Reiko shifts her reveal to Arcane so she doesn't worry about immunity and there's quite a few Arcane items and spells.

The Monk class deck is a possibility if you want to go Saboteur, but I think Gunslinger is actually a better fit. Great supporting allies (Old Salt and Black Arrow Ranger) and fantastic items (Masterwork Tools, Sniper Goggles and Poisoned Bullets if you really want to keep the Poison use). In addition, she can reposition if she manages to find the villain and evade, then move, and continue to explore without wasting a turn (she is a tad low on explores with this strategy though), but still have weapons to support combat checks. Good weapons with low investment, though the possibility of misfires can be annoying.

Great analysis, zeroth. This is exactly the kind of thing I hoped to see in this thread! You've converted me on Gunslinger for them. I like the image of Reiko using guns, and Lirianne asking her who taught them, and Reiko giving her a completely blank stare. Lol

Fun sidenote, I was told that originally Reiko was supposed to be a genderless character, but the "her" pronouns were used in the blog write-up about them, so then Female got added to their character card when converting to ACG. I like to think of Reiko as genderless, not because of any gender issues or fluidity, but simply because they have never indicated a gender and never been without a mask in any situation, ever. :)

Agreed on Reiko. There's a lot of neat things you can do with her, but filling her item slots with 3+ weapon poisons is going to be a painful build no matter what those poisons are.

I honestly find most Poisons-Matter character to be pretty clumsy and weak with poisons for a variety of reasons (which I've written up in other places), with a special dishonorable mention to Emil who's stuck in a character deck with a ton of weapons that can add poison whilst he doesn't actually have a single iota of synergy with any of them.

The only weapon with the Poison trait in his character (where he does, arguably, have synergy) is a melee weapon... and he's a ranged fighter. Yay.

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Also, a small fix to an earlier thing I said.

But yes, the most compelling weapons in Ultimate Equipment Combat are (in my opinion) the spears, lances and hammers, by and large - not the swords.

Something I'm not seeing a mention of here, that seems Very Relevant Indeed: Using the We Be Heroes? goblins for organized play seems like it's going to run into a major issue the moment you earn role cards, as they do not appear to actually *have* role cards. Is that going to be addressed somehow?

Something I'm not seeing a mention of here, that seems Very Relevant Indeed: Using the We Be Heroes? goblins for organized play seems like it's going to run into a major issue the moment you earn role cards, as they do not appear to actually *have* role cards. Is that going to be addressed somehow?

Yep! See the end of this blog post here.

I'm highly receptive and actually looking for unlock suggestions, so I'll cheerfully take a look at these.

That said, it would drastically improve the odds of me getting them into a reward sooner if someone verified the ones that meet the following 2 requirements:
1) There are enough Basic cards to fill every card type for the character.
2) If _all_ card feats are spent on that character, there are enough cards of each type (of any level)

I'm late to the party, but Jirelle seems like a good candidate for the Pathfinder Tales CD, given the finesse weapons and pirate allies.

I'm late to the party, but Jirelle seems like a good candidate for the Pathfinder Tales CD, given the finesse weapons and pirate allies.

Certainly not a bad choice, even though 21 of the cards are spells, which Jirelle can't use (and another 3 are devil forms). There are more than enough Basic cards to build a starter character, and plenty of upgrade options available at all levels.

While Jirelle's power to reduce structural damage to a ship is only useful if you're actually playing in an adventure involving ships, and much of her Pirate Queen role is limited in similar ways, the Duelist role offers a variety of powerful options if Jirelle is wielding a weapon with the Swashbuckling trait, and the Pathfinder Tales deck has several of those.

I've played Jirelle all the way though Season of the Shackles, and in the early part of Tapestry's Tides, but I'd certainly be tempted to try her out again with the Pathfinder Tales deck!