So. Simple question really. Who are your ten most perferred investigators. Be it theme, skills or whatever reasoning you like.
36 to pick from ( http://eldritchhorrorgame.wikia.com/wiki/Investigators )

Mine (I think)

1. Jacqueline Fine
2. Trish Scarborough
3. Michael McGlen
4. Silas Marsh
5. Joe Diamond
6. Jenny Barnes
7. Jim Culver
8. Charlie Kane
9. Mark Harrigan

10. Lily Chen

My 4 man team usually consists of the top two on this list + 1-2 other from the ten listed.

Depending on the AOL but definitely Jacqueline which fits with the clues. I like Charlie at 2 spot because of the assets, after that the AOs really affect the pick. Do you need more physical or magical assets.

1. Agnes Baker

2. Daisy Walker

3. Zooey Samaras

4. Mandy Thompson

5. Minh Thi Phan

6. "Skids" O'Toole

7. Diana Stanley

8. Hank Sampson

9. Norman Withers

10.Akachi Onyele

Daisy is disgustingly powerful, so if we're going for "best team-up" I'd probably say Daisy, Mandy Thompson, Zooey Samaras, Minh Thi Phan. The best 4-man group would probably sub out Mandy or Minh for a strong influence investigator like Charlie or Jenny. Out of the two, I prefer Jenny, but neither one are faves. You could also sub Akachi for Mandy if you prefer using Daisy's Arcane Insight for clue-gain, as Akachi's gate closing abilities are simply unparalleled.

I used Akachi and Hank today for the first time. They might have a place in my top ten. I love Charlie myself, but I think Jenny does sortof the same thing, but a bit better. Those two are rally a toss up, Jenny basicly brings anyone two free sucsesses with the free Debt thing.

Akachi is a good character, but in my experience she can be handicapped by receiving a bad version of Mists of Releh during setup (the one that always makes you lose sanity on a successful cast is especially dangerous against Hastur, for example). Worse yet, she's usually crippled if she loses Mists.

Additionally, if her sanity and/or health get low, it can be really hard for her to keep up on gates, and the fact that she's designed to ignore monsters as she closes gates can cause logistical problems from time to time.

As for my top ten picks? Honestly I don't know. There are so many good characters with their own unique style of play, so it depends on our group composition, our adversary of choice, and my mood. It would be much easier to list the characters I don't particularly enjoy or find underwhelming (George Barnaby, Wilson Richards, and Finn Edwards spring to mind).

Akachi is a good character, but in my experience she can be handicapped by receiving a bad version of Mists of Releh during setup (the one that always makes you lose sanity on a successful cast is especially dangerous against Hastur, for example). Worse yet, she's usually crippled if she loses Mists.

Additionally, if her sanity and/or health get low, it can be really hard for her to keep up on gates, and the fact that she's designed to ignore monsters as she closes gates can cause logistical problems from time to time.

As for my top ten picks? Honestly I don't know. There are so many good characters with their own unique style of play, so it depends on our group composition, our adversary of choice, and my mood. It would be much easier to list the characters I don't particularly enjoy or find underwhelming (George Barnaby, Wilson Richards, and Finn Edwards spring to mind).

Honestly, I find most of the men sub-par. I have a friend that loves Finn Edwards for some reason though. I also don't really care for Tommy (or is it Tony?) or Michael McGlenn (his sanity problems are just the worst, and his ability isn't necessary with his starting 3 influence). I'd stick with Norman/Hank/Skids... And honestly as unpredictable as Rex is, he's probably more useful than half of the other male investigators. It is definitely not a Man's world. Harvey and Jim are both pretty solid too though.

Akachi is a good character, but in my experience she can be handicapped by receiving a bad version of Mists of Releh during setup (the one that always makes you lose sanity on a successful cast is especially dangerous against Hastur, for example). Worse yet, she's usually crippled if she loses Mists.

Additionally, if her sanity and/or health get low, it can be really hard for her to keep up on gates, and the fact that she's designed to ignore monsters as she closes gates can cause logistical problems from time to time.

As for my top ten picks? Honestly I don't know. There are so many good characters with their own unique style of play, so it depends on our group composition, our adversary of choice, and my mood. It would be much easier to list the characters I don't particularly enjoy or find underwhelming (George Barnaby, Wilson Richards, and Finn Edwards spring to mind).

Honestly, I find most of the men sub-par. I have a friend that loves Finn Edwards for some reason though. I also don't really care for Tommy (or is it Tony?) or Michael McGlenn (his sanity problems are just the worst, and his ability isn't necessary with his starting 3 influence). I'd stick with Norman/Hank/Skids... And honestly as unpredictable as Rex is, he's probably more useful than half of the other male investigators. It is definitely not a Man's world. Harvey and Jim are both pretty solid too though.

Regarding Tommy and Michael:

Tommy Muldoon is strictly inferior to Michael McGlenn in most respects, but I actually kind of like good ol' Mikey McGlenn as a character. Starting with 8 combat dice is really powerful, and he begins the game right next to an area where he can increase his willpower (or get an early blessing if you're lucky). If you begin the game with something like the Tome of Horrors, Elder Sign, King James Bible, or Holy Cross in the reserve, he's combat ready against the more powerful monsters in the first 1 or 2 turns.

It's true that Skids, Hank, and Zoey are probably the most powerful combat characters, but Michael isn't far behind. A good reason to choose Michael over either of those, though, is if another player is using Jacqueline Fine; you can steal items and services from the reserve without rolling and feed her clues at the same time, plus the free re-roll to shake off the Wanted condition mitigates most of the risk involved.

Even if his low sanity comes back to bite him and he ends up going insane, the resulting encounter from his defeated investigator token is quite rewarding (though I won't spoil it here for those who haven't seen it).

Regarding Finn Edwards:

Finn can be a good character, and I can understand why your friend likes him - I have a friend who likes him quite a bit as well. Thing is, he needs to get really lucky early game (typically by drawing a good Courier Run that is at least somewhat nearby). If he gets a bad setup, then he lags behind everyone else, and his ability to avoid discarding items is often never relevant (though it's very good when you actually do need it).

With that much chance and situational utility involved I generally find myself avoiding him since I like characters who can apply their talents to a wide variety of situations that may come up in game. It's ultimately the same reason I probably won't play Wendy as much, even though her abilities are potentially very powerful (probably better than Finn's by a fair margin).

Who's the guy the won't roll ones, my wife always play him and the number gets used a lot due to the chance to get rid of illness.

I always play with a random team of investigators, there's a definite difference in power levels for some investigators but none which are unusable.

Who's the guy the won't roll ones, my wife always play him and the number gets used a lot due to the chance to get rid of illness.

"Skids" O'Toole - he's an absolute monster with a blessing and a Lucky Cigarette Case. One per turn, the only way for him to fail a test with both of those things on hand is for all of his dice faces to come up as 2's.

One thing to note - the roll to discard conditions when you rest isn't a test, so Skids unfortunately doesn't get to reroll 1's on that. Same with other events that just say "roll X dice" - such as the single die roll for Agreement or Dark Pact conditions.

I always play with a random team of investigators, there's a definite difference in power levels for some investigators but none which are unusable.

if I play solo I usually pull out 2 to 4 random investigators and run with it, but when I pull out the game on board game night each of our players pulls 3 random investigators and selects one. I definitely agree that no one is unusable - just some characters whose specialization is very narrow or whose abilities are slightly underwhelming.

Draw 3 select 1 is a staple way of selecting characters when there is a large choice, e.g. arkham, eldritch, descent, zombicide.

It avoids issues with multiple players seeking the same investigator, allows more investigators to see play (as opposed to just playing favourites) and best of all adds a much better team building element to the game.

Draw 3 select 1 is a staple way of selecting characters when there is a large choice, e.g. arkham, eldritch, descent, zombicide.

It avoids issues with multiple players seeking the same investigator, allows more investigators to see play (as opposed to just playing favourites) and best of all adds a much better team building element to the game.

This is what I use as well. Although there have been hands of 3 that I just shake my head and think ... "ugh, really?"

When new expansion comes out we use the new investigators and our favorites. After that we usually choose one and one random or just two random.

I usually play support/ main mystery solver, other friend who enjoys spells (helps close gates and kill monsters indirectly), and GF likes fighting and usually collects conditions lolz.

My top Six:

Jacqueline (Parasite of misfortune)

Charles (Always lucky rolling with him, usually stuck in SF or Tokyo though)

Wendy (Our mythos decks are full of tentacles, wendy makes it hurt less)

Jenny (a Charles and George combination)

Trish (saves us during nasty rumours)

Michael (Great combat, usually does well for gates)

I have a friend who likes Skids, Norman, Daisy and recently Dexter.

GF likes Lily, Akachi and Diana.

Silas, Leo and Wilson are the characters our group dislike getting stuck with. I usually get silas on random draw, friend always gets Wilson and GF gets leo

Oddly enough, Silas should be a pretty decent investigator at everything other than closing gates. Those lore checks seem so gosh darn prevalent though...

I have a soft spot for silas, he has the best mini out of all the investigators.

It's interesting to see how different everyone's views are on their favourites. I haven't used the new investigators enough to get to know them properly yet, but they could all potentially make it into my faves. I'd be hard-pressed to identify a top ten, as Levanon says they each have their own strengths in different circumstances, and I agree with Soakman that female characters are far more successful for me than their male counterparts. My top three at this point are probably...

Mandy Thompson - The woman is proving, time and time again, that she's invaluable. Starts with a task that is often a game-changer (and which she can build up pretty fast) and harvesting all those clues makes her ideal for solving rumors and many mysteries.

Ursula Downs - Because nine times out of ten she has a great game and can do a bit of everything.

Agnes Baker - The re-born Hyperborean sorceress has become less dominant in games since the introduction of Glamours, which really take a toll (and I like that magic has become dangerous), but when Agnes gets going, she can be the lynch pin of a game. I expect Dexter could challenge her mantle for best spell-caster, but the fact that Agnes can get spells anywhere, anywhen is just too handy.

Then there's the likes of Diana, Lily, Jacqueline, Trish, Lola, Jim and Skids, who tend to consistently put in good shifts. I can also add Wilson Richards to that, who in spite of a few terrible first outings has really won me over with recent performances.

There are still several investigators who still need to win me over, like Tony and Silas, because they just don't seem to contribute enough.

And then on the flipside there's the investigators I hate. Primarily that's Leo Anderson, who should be solid but has the survival rate of a lemming. Until recently he's been the only character I've "black-listed" as someone I won't use until such time as I'm not angry with him, which will probably be a long while. But now he's been joined by Mark Harrigan. Mark tends to fight monsters, fail his Will tests, and go insane. And in my latest game I left him camped on Sydney with an eldritch token. He needed to pass a Will test at -1 (but plus a focus, so four dice) to help advance the mystery. Four rounds and sixteen dice later he still hadn't passed the test. Bad luck, I know, but still infuriating and cost me the game. **** you Harrigan!

@ Mike... I think the Aussies needs some more love, haha. I'm not particularly fond of Patrice either. Just as fellow Aussie Silas does, Patrice looks quite good on paper, but for some reason she always struggles while on the board for me. I think maybe it's because her main ability triggers on closing gates, but she doesn't really have any good way to get from one gate to another unless she gets lucky and they just open around her. If you could combine Patrice and Silas to make some kind of super marine-famed showgirl, they/she would be so much better, haha.

Here's mine, in some sort of order

1. Daisy Walker

2. Norman Withers

3. Hank Samson

4. Wendy Adams

5. Ursula Downs

6. Tony Morgan

7. Patrice Hathaway

8. Monterey Jack

9. Charlie Kane

10. Jacqueline Fine

I've had only good experiences with Patrice, personally. I'll typically fire off her effect first turn, especially if there's a nearby gate, in any even she can just Banish/Gain a Ticket in Whichever order.

To be the odd man out here.. my favorite investigator is Mihn, with Daisy a close 2nd, followed by Patrice. Minh is just amazing in my opinion. she's a jack of all trades, that can give huge bonuses to other players. Especially in 6 player games, she can bounce around the board here or there, providing a +1 to all tests, which early game is the difference between success and failure, and late game when you get hit with some nasty Mythos cards that get rid of items and bonuses, she's a great asset to have around for that +1 to all, let her go first with a partner they both get a ticket, and can follow one another around the board or go their separate ways. her and Finn make for some good friends too moving around the board like no one else. Mihn goes first gets a **** ticket, gives a ticket to Finn, moves 2 spaces, Finn follows with the ticket, then uses his action and they both move 3 spaces on a turn they could've only move 2 by themselves. Finn is a 3/4/4/3/4 and Mihn is a 4/4/4/3/3.

I love Minh, but I never thought of using her with Finn. Good thinking! She's in my top 5.

Probably psychic and politician. Saves sooooo many turns.

For worst, Lily (yin/yang is rarely useful, her whole strength is building up improvements so if you draw her as a mid game replacement you're boned),

...and then the bottom of the barrel, Tony Morgan the bounty hunter.

Gain 1 focus for defeating a monster, but you're not good at fighting monsters and can only defeat low health ones with the handcuffs, which cost 1 focus to use so what's the point?

Spend an action to spend up to 2 focus (2 more actions) if you pass an influence test and your influence is a measly 2. Compare that hassle to the other clue printing presses like the psychic and violinist.

Killing off Tony is always a top priority when we draw him so we can draw someone actually useful as soon as possible.

I dunno, I actually like Tony, but mostly because he starts with the handcuffs. I find them incredibly useful. Especially against shubs endlessly spawning hordes. Handcuffing all of the spawning monsters really really helps. Still not nearly as good as some of the others, but just my 2 cents.

It seems like everyone with even a +2 or +3 weapon is just as good at auto killing 1-2 health monsters as the handcuffs, plus you can hurt tougher monsters.

Like, psychic/violinist with a revolver/.45 I would take over Tony and his S&M gear any day.

Just looked at the results page. Tony is next to last at 46%!

I don't understand how Azathoth stands as the 3rd hardest ancient one

It seems like everyone with even a +2 or +3 weapon is just as good at auto killing 1-2 health monsters as the handcuffs, plus you can hurt tougher monsters.

Like, psychic/violinist with a revolver/.45 I would take over Tony and his S&M gear any day.

Just looked at the results page. Tony is next to last at 46%!

I don't understand how Azathoth stands as the 3rd hardest ancient one

Fair enough, but I get some really awful die rolls sometimes. Plus, there are some monsters with harder combat modifiers that only have 2 health. Let's you ignore that added hurdle or assuredly remove monsters with nasty reckonings. Totally understand where you're coming from though.

This may be an unpopular choice, but my favorite investigator is Lola Hayes. I find it valuable to have a "troubleshooter" character who is versatile enough to handle a variety of situations. The Ancient Ones have a way of disrupting the best-laid plans, and when they do I'm always glad to have Lola on my team.