Each character can be broken down into 2 parts: their overall strategy and their plot specific strategy.

Overall
Seeing the twisted strands of the conspiracy is Ray's lot in life. A brilliant, yet haunted, mind gives Ray the ability to make amazing leaps of logic and deduction that make the conspiracy puzzle dance to his tune. While many of the light cards can be use to follow up leads and garner a pile of evidence, Ray really shines when those are used to uncover pieces of the conspiracy. If played right, Ray has the potential to uncover 4 pieces of the puzzle in one go, and still have time left over to nab even more evidence.

Raymond functions a little differently than most detectives. He has only 2 plot decks, and while they are worth more each, he needs to be very cautious as they are his only shots at happy endings. Also be careful as there are 5 big areas that can really hurt if you forget them.

1 - Having too big a hand. Both dark cards and memory cards can trigger off of having a full hand.

2 - Getting in fights on the moon. Fighting can get you trauma, fighting on the moon can get you trauma, dark shifted, time lost, favors discarded... the list goes on

3 - Entering nightlife locations. Ray has been known to knock back a few drinks. In fact, Ray has been known to knock back a few bottles. Drinking has a way of making him lose time, get in fights, and garner a pile of trauma.

4 - Hanging out at the Beanstalk. Ray has lots of competition in his mind. Old flames, lost friends, conspiracy links, drinking, evidence, the murder... he tends to get a bit maudlin at the Challenger Memorial Ferry. He also tends to lose time, cards, and his will to keep going.

5 - Hanging on to Kate favors. These favors are a double-edged sword. While they are favors and can be used to pay for many of the things in the game, they are responsible for some of the nastiest of Ray's dark cards. From discarding his normal favor to ending his turn, Kate is bad news all the way around.

Plots
Haunted By The Past
Drinking heavily has kept Ray from remembering, but occasionally bits of memory have surfaced. During the War, Ray abandoned his friends to chase Kate. This got Keene, a close friend, killed, and Parsons, his Sergeant, lost behind enemy lines. Now Ray is on a mission to find Parsons, and put Keene's memory to rest. With the ability to fly through evidence, getting the positive side of the first cross roads should be fairly easy. The second crossroads is a bit harder to do, without exposing yourself to dark cards aplenty. As you gain good baggage for each light card drawn beyond the second, take care not to fill up your hand.

Old Flame
Walking out of Ray's life at the end of the War, Kate took his heart, his knowledge, and his friends. Now she is waltzing back into his life, and Ray doesn't know whether to be happy she's back, or scared of what it portends. Kate will eat up your time, money and victory points. She will hamper your ability to follow up leads and uncover pieces of the conspiracy. Do what you can to limit the destruction she visits upon you.

In addition to the above, each detective comes with a sheet detailing some of the key strengths and weaknesses. Ray's sheet is listed below.

Click on the above image to enlarge

Now while these provide some useful tips, they are by no means the only way to play Ray. Play through Ray a few times and find which of his many strategies work for you.

Next we look at the bioroid, Floyd.