Hey guys, I just bought 2 core sets. I was hoping for some advice on the best faction combinations for beginners. I've got friends coming over today to try it out. I've read a lot about mixing human and monster decks together, but I needed to know which combos are the best. Thanks

Hi worldeater33

When my girlfriend and I started with the core set, we used the following combinations:

Syndicate + Yog-Sothoth - for dodginess and mystical action

Hastur + Miskatonic - for those all-important investigation icons and some nasty insanity effects

Cthulhu + Shub (or Agency) - for lots of terror and destruction

and then we shuffled in the neutrals or hand-picked the particular ones that we liked.

Hope that helps. And watch out for that Ravager from the Deep (in the Cthulhu deck) - he's a nuisance.

Best wishes

Pac_Man3D

I recommend just trying various mixtures to get some sense of the characters. Just dont' be concerned if one pairing seems to be more powerful than another - at this point you are just trying out different things and learning how to play the game.

I remember that when I played my first game I thought Insanity was way too powerful... took a few games until I got a better sense of the balance and how it all worked.

After getting my first Core set I did some extensive testing of all faction combinations. Maybe you will find it useful. Here's the link.

Excellent link. Exactly what I needed. Thanks.

For those new to the game, there's also a handy summary of each of 'The Factions' on the Call of Cthulhu 'Description' product page at http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_minisite_sec.asp?eidm=11&esem=1