I don't see much reason to [exp] buy role cards that are not #11 and #12 in respective roles. The reason being #11 and #12 have successes while the others are mere fate cards which only decrease your chances of success for a test. I understand scouting will thin out a deck if you prepare cards, but I have yet to be in a group that gets enough scouting opportunity to have more than 2 prepared cards. Cards get used or the scout showed 2 successes so you don't prepare anything.
So, basically the only way to have a strong deck is to have as many success cards as possible because being unsuccessful in tests, especially combat tests is devastating. You and sometimes your team takes damage/fear, you discard prepared cards, lose inspiration, and basically wasted your turn. The work around would be using inspiration, however I can never seem to have enough inspiration or any inspiration at all for most scenarios which only keeps me in a rut with failed tests and no inspiration gains. Often times successful tests gives inspiration, but if you constantly use inspiration you net nothing and come across tests that you can't pass because you just keep drawing 1 success and the rest fates. The struggle of 0 inspiration, 1 success, 3 fates on a test.
I had a group where someone went musician specifically to give out inspiration, but the group was so spread out trying to get all the search tokens and completing objectives that the only person who got the inspiration was the musician.
As I write this, I am speculating that scouting is the most important ability in the game to being a powerful character, but it is not often the card you scout has Scout on it to prepare and using a prepared card with Scout nets nothing in reducing the fate cards in the deck...
Does anyone have a video of people playing the game with #4-10 role cards and still being successful?
The group I currently have is 5/5 win but it has been a super rough battle full of failed tests [so not much lore gains which super sucks]. Other groups have been 8/8 or 7/8 wins but they always seem to just barely make it and not warrant making a real role deck with the fate cards included. (I've only gotten as far as chapter 8 even now)