Hi all, been playing this game barely three times. Each time, I face a tremendous problem - not enough clues~!

As with many other beginners on the forum, I am not sure if we are playing it right and need help from veteran investigators.

First off - Clues all appear at safe areas.

Other than that, clues USUALLY appear during Mythos Phase when it is time for a gate to open (if any) but then again, only 1 clue appears at a time max.

My question is: Are there enough clue tokens to be sealing off gates so easily? Other than those that are already on the board at the start, and those your investigator starts with, you can only gain clues from gates appearing, and on a rare occasion - gaining clues from location cards.

You need to seal off six gates to win the game in the 'elder sign' method. If there are many players, this means 8 clues x 6 = 48 clue tokens. Is this EVEN possible to collect at all? The usual doom track is around 12 to 14, right? Assuming every turn a gate opens, this means you have only 12 to 14 turns to collect 48 clues to end the game in victory using this method.

I am just curious because I have been reading this board on almost every topic ever created, and I realized that everyone seems to be playing like the clues are abundant and they just need to walk over and pick them up, not the same situation as my group where we are everywhere but there are NO clues to be picked up since each turn usually grants only ONE.

Wanderer999 said:

Not so sure about what you meant. During the game setup phase, you put a clue on every unstable location (those marked with a red diamond).

Wanderer999 said:

Well, sealing a gate costs always 5 clues, regardless of the number of players you have. And you have to seal 6 gates, again regardless of the number of players you have. So basically you need 6x5 = 30 clues for a sealing victory. The speed at which you can recover clues heavily depends on what expansions you're playing with (adding board with unstable locations brings more clues on the board as initial setup). You can collect clues with special encounters, through the special ability of some investigator (in case you play with some expansions), defeating some monsters (a Warlock gives you 2 clues, if you win the combat).

Besides, remember that after sealing a gate, a Mythos card opening a gate over a sealed location do not produce a new gate (unless it's a Gate burst, but I don't know whether you play just the base game or you have expansions mixed in), but the voice "a clue appears at" is always active, so basically if you're able to seal pretty quickly some high frequency locations (like Independence square , for example), you'd likely draw some Mythos card opening gates on sealed locations and making appear clues you can collect.

I think the key for using correctly clues is that you chose carefully how to spend them; sparing the most for sealing, and using them for adding dice to roll on a skill check only when it's *vital* you pass it

Wanderer999 said:

Wanderer999 said:

Actually, at the start of the game they appear on all the unstable (not safe) locations, and any appearing from mythos cards will also only appear on unstable locations, at least for the base game.

Wanderer999 said:

Actually, unless you're playing against Hastur, it only takes 5 clues to seal a gate, so 30, assuming you end up with no elder signs. Hastur can be nasty, but the compensation for requiring more clues is he's a relative pushover in final combat, at least with the base game.

Wanderer999 said:

Well, at the start of the game there will be 11 clues on the board, plus however many you start with, which changes for the investigator team you have. Generally speaking after 2 or 3 turns you should have enough clues to seal a couple gates. Don't all scramble for the clues, though. Plan it out. If one investigator starts with 2 clues, prioritize them getting more. Also, a number of locations have a chance to gain clues in encounters, including the science building, where you can trade in monster trophies for clues. Also, keep an eye out for warlocks: kill them and take their clues

Also, don't burn clues on skill checks unless it's really important that you pass the check, or for some reason you're overloaded with them. Save them for seals.

It's late and I'm tired, hopefully that all made sense.

Oops, I got scooped

Also, curse you quote function! But if I go back and edit it it will look even worse.

You need to choose one or two players to be your main gate sealers. They should run about town grabbing clues. It's better to have one Investigator with five clues than five investigators with one clue each. Other players should concentrate on buying weapons and then chopping up monsters so that the sealers can get to the gates with the minimum of fuss. If the board dries up, the newspaper is normally pretty good for money and clues

Wanderer999 said:

As they mentioned, you only need 30 clues. Also, depending on expansions you may be using, there are common and unique items (mostly tomes) that you can read and pass a lore check to get clues. There is the elder sign unique item which will seal a gate without using any clues. There is the research papers common item which acts as a clue. There is the Mythos Lore skill that you can exhaust to act as a clue. Different investigators start with different amounts of clues, and some of their powers are also helpful. One investigator gets a clue every time the terror level rises, one gets a clue every time a gate opens, one can use monster trophies as clue tokens. Also mentioned is the science building where you can turn in monster and gate trophies for clues. And look for the clue symbol on the board near location names to know where a good chance to get clues from encounters are.

Also, 12 to 14 turns would be an unfortunate mix of cards, especially if you had a gate open every turn. A monster surge, a gate burst, or a gate bouncing off an elder sign are all turns where a doom token is not placed on the track (in most cases). So with the extra turns, and all the instances for gathering clues, you should be able to get enough. I only mention should, because if you could get them everytime, it wouldn't be much of game now, would it? Even when you have all the clues you need, sometimes things just don't go your way...

DoomTurtle said:

With base game, all but impossible. Impossible if you never just close, only seal (since there are only 11 unstable locations). With my current mix of everything but KH (sans Lurker as well), I go into each game with the assumption that I'll have 14 turns in which to slap down 6 (or more, if gate burst(s) happen) in 14 turns or the GOO wakes up from doom track filling. With 20 unstable locations, a new gate each turn more the norm than the exception. And the pressure that puts on me is the kind I like.

Well I know you can't have 12-14 gates open with only 11 locations on the base board, so that would have to assume Dunwich or Innsmouth (or both). But I think even with just those two expansions, it would still be an unfortunate mix to have 12 gates within 12 turns, especially with all the extra Arkham gate mythos cards that those two expansions add. And then when you add in the 3 small box expansions, which only include Arkham gate mythos cards (excluding double doomers, Act cards, double terror, etc.), do you really see 12 different gates in 12 turns all that often? I'd have to say the odds of that are pretty low. Especially if you only seal, I can see you having more of a problem of two many gates open at once than the doom track actually getting full.

DoomTurtle said:

Well, doom track doesn't only go up with gates, like you say, double-doomers speed the process as well. Since adding IH, I haven't been even close to ever having the GOO wake from too many gates open. With gate limit 7 + 1(for DH + IH) and me usually throwing someone in no later than turn 2 (turn 1 if someone has ES or KiY, etc.), 8 gates open hasn't been a close call at all. Even with gates opening all over the place (I think my best is 13 different gates in 13 Mythos, a game I would've lost even against Azathoth ), 11 gates in 12-13 Mythos isn't uncommon at all. Guess I just shuffle too well .

Yup, I only have the base game... And yes to the initial clues too, it was a typo on my part. Thanks everyone for your advices. Now I know that newspapers etc also do give clues.