Hi All,
My girlfriend and I are new to the game (starting with Skull and Shackles -- with the character Add-on expansion), and are a little disheartened by our 0-3 record on the first scenario. Two losses were due to the blessings deck running out and in the third one of us died due to an attached barrier card ("Man Overboard") slowly killing her because there was no mathematical way to beat the challenge required every turn that forced her to bury a card until she could no longer draw up to her hand size.
We're playing Seltyiel and Merisiel.
I'm sure inexperience and bad luck both contribute some to our losses, but I also wonder if we just didn't select characters suited for a party size of 2.
Can anyone offer a better Duo for tackling this game?
Any suggestions are appreciated. Thanks.
I had really good luck with Lini and Jirelle; a divine caster so you can cast Cure to heal up (really helpful on later scenarios), and someone who is very competent at fighting by herself is nice for when splitting up is needed. There were some tough spots with that pairing (namely lackluster Charisma-based checks), so you may not want to replicate it exactly, but I feel Lini is a very solid pick for duo play. If you have the Cleric class deck, picking up Class Deck Kyra would also be a great fit for "person with divine who is more than capable of smashing faces by herself" as well.
I had really good luck with Lini and Jirelle; a divine caster so you can cast Cure to heal up (really helpful on later scenarios), and someone who is very competent at fighting by herself is nice for when splitting up is needed. There were some tough spots with that pairing (namely lackluster Charisma-based checks), so you may not want to replicate it exactly, but I feel Lini is a very solid pick for duo play. If you have the Cleric class deck, picking up Class Deck Kyra would also be a great fit for "person with divine who is more than capable of smashing faces by herself" as well.
Adding to this point, both Lini and Jirelle have Survival, which is a premier subskill in S&S; even if you don't use both of them, taking even one will make enemy ships much easier to handle.
Lirianne is also a nice option; while she doesn't have Survival, she's strong at ranged combat and has a strong Wisdom die with Perception attached to it. Plus, when off on her own, she can support the other character in combat (which helps her cycle her deck, as that's sometimes a problem for her.)
I would suggest taking Lini and Damiel.
They're both really versatile characters, both with great potential damage output and a way to boost all of their low skills (Damiel with potions and Lini with transforming).
Mind you: You could also take two characters with the same skills, but this will make the game harder when dealing with ships or trying to close a location.
So, I'd say Damiel and Lini.
My fiancee and I are running Damiel and Jirelle, and that seems to be working pretty well.
In Rise of the Runelords, we played Valeros and Lem, and that probably continues to be a good option.
The general tips on picking a duo are:
You want decent coverage over the various skills, especially ones important to the AP.
Hopefully one character's d4 will be another character's stronger spot.
I'd say the skills particularly important to S&S are Survival and Craft, to fight and fix ships.
I would prefer to have a character that can cast Cure spells.
It's also nice when your characters don't compete over boons you acquire.