As a novice player with only half a dozen games under my belt, I've noticed that in our (novice) group certain aspects of the game are more or less neglected. If you have any thoughts on any of the below, please share them. In general, our approach is simply to go around the board to collect clue tokens to go for a sealing victory. We play with just the base game.

Allies: People are reluctant to go for these deliberately, as the benefits of allies seem too specialised. Is there something we've missed?

Spells: It tends to be easier to prioritise fight than to deal with spells, and since they are dealt out randomly they often land on people for whom they are not worth the cost.

Shopping: Is it worth spending several turns sifting through the stock of shops? If so, which shops are worthwhile, and what items do people normally look for?

Blessing: This one is used, but I was wondering how early in the game people normally try to get themselves blessed. Do you try to do it at the beginning (where gate/monster trophies could instead be used for clue tokens) or later on (when the blessing will then have less of an impact on the game).

Location special abilities: We use the science building a lot, but things like the docks are almost never used. What are people's favourite location abilities?

Closing the gates victory: We invariably go for sealing six gates. Does anyone just close gates, and for what reason would you adopt this strategy?

In general, how many of the games' neglected aspects are addressed by expansions? I have only played with CotDP so far, but it looks as if at least DH and KiY would get the Terror Track actually to make a difference.

oldthrashbarg said:

Allies: Personally, I am a fan, although I know players who aren't. Whether it is coincidence or not, my most successful investigators are generally those who end up with two allies (or more, not that this happens often).

Spells: Spells I think can make or break a game. Not so much the combat spells, although on the right investigator they can be devastating, but I prefer the non-combat spells. Find Gate is probably my most sought after spell in any game. If you are getting good spells on people not fit to use them, trade them off. The value of a spell can increase quite significantly in the hands of the right investigator.

Shopping: I can pretty much say I and my group have only camped a shop in one situation, and it worked out great then, gaining a Gate Box and an Elder Sign in the process, but we generally shy away from doing this. We'll hit the shops if we have an excess of money or are in dire need of an item, that's about it. Otherwise we just use encounters for a chance of an item. I've always been a fan of heading to the Train Station, I often find decent stuff there.

Blessings: I and my group potentially under-use blessings, except in games where we have a strong start and can take out monsters quickly and easily, then we'll take the time to bless ourselves. Otherwise in most games we wait until we are on countdown to the GOO awakening, and will head to Church to say our prayers before we die.

Location Abilities: Honestly I and my group very rarely use the Science Building, Bank or the River Docks, but most others see frequent use. Can't really say I have a favourite though, maybe Ma's.

Closing Win: My group generally try to get three or four sealed, then go for closes on the rest. It's so much easier than trying to gather all the Clue's needed.

Expansions: I've heard a lot of people say that Dunwich is useful if you want to see some action from the Terror Track, but honestly I've never seen it happen. I've had base games more consistently get a higher Terror Track than with Dunwich. I think King in Yellow and Black Goat (especially with the herald) are much better at forcing the Terror track up. As for other neglected aspects, different players neglect different things. As I said, I like Allies, but I have a friend who will only chase allies if we're playing with CotDP, otherwise he just won't touch them.

We sometimes go for allies if we have time and trophies to spare. Some of them are really powerful, and the fact that you get to choose from the 11 at Ma's is a big help.

Spells can be really useful for the right investigators, especially Find Gate. I've also grown really fond of Summon Shantak. Then there are some spells that seem completely useless. Call Friend, for example, is so pointless that I've removed it from our games entirely. Combat spells can be nice against physically immune creatures, though a powerful Magical Weapon is usually preferred over this.

We generally shop at the General Store most at the beginning of the game if the starting equipment didn't yield any good weapons. Sometimes a visit to the Curiosity Shoppe turns up some useful stuff as well, especially Elder Signs.

We don't really get blessings that often due to their unreliable nature. I find that one gets a bit dependant on them only to have them vanish at an inopportune time.

I really like getting Deputized. Other than that we don't really use the special encounters that much outside of the shops and Ma's.

We usually go for sealing, although our last game ended with a close victory, largely due to Daisy with Find Gate. Win by seals depends largely on abundance of clues or Elder Signs, but is usually the most viable option.

The DH board makes winning by closing a bit tougher. Otherwise its threat mostly depends on which monsters that spawn there. If you get a lot of blue, yellow, and green monsters in Dunwich it won't do squat toward the Terror Track or the Dunwich Horror. Spawn a few red monsters there, though, and you get problems very quickly.

The KH board has a few interesting special encounters, my favorite being the Captain of the White Ship. Then there's Changed, but that usually isn't worth the time spent on it. We also have a house rule that spawns monsters in Kingsport that count toward the monster limit, but that's just us.

Allies are awesome especially if you get to choose what you want. They give bonuses and freebies that are way beyond any other card.

Combat spells get you big bonuses, but you pay for it in Sanity and the fact that they exhaust. Combat characters are much better off using weapons (Common and Unique). Make sure to trade items in the beginning if people have stuff they don't need, including spells.

We only spend "several turns" shopping if our starting equipment is sorely lacking (no good weapons, no way to fight physical immune monsters, etc). It also depends how much money we have. The main thing to buy is Elder Signs.

Blessings are awesome at any stage, and do not have less impact later on. In fact they can be even more important later to help make sure you don't botch your last gate seals, or when you're more likely to fight multiple monsters in one turn, etc. And if the AO is going to awaken you should Bless EVERYONE.

As for neglected parts of the game, I always felt the Terror track doesn't go up enough. (And when it does, it makes no difference to anything important.) KiY makes the Terror track awesome though. I also think final battles are way too easy as originally written.

My group definitely agrees that the docks are not worth it. I've yet to see even a single exceptional circumstance, where 5 toughness would not be better spent elsewhere. We also tend not to get Blessed unless someone's been Cursed (unless it's me, in which case I insist that we just wait for it to wear off... which means I stay cursed for about 5 rounds ).

I've been interested in trying to utilize Dunwich's abilities more, but in every game I've played there's been at most one gate opening in Dunwich, probably becuase of dilution At any rate, I can't speak to Dunwich, and Kingsport's encounters are generally less impressive because the game forces you to have them. On that note, though, I will say that I hate the location ability of the Congregational Hospital - "Hey guys, let's spend money to get what the Asylum and St. Mary's Hospital would give us for free!" But in the final estimation, much of the usefulness is situational, which is part of the reason I love Arkham.

I would be tempted to use the River Docks special ability if the Mad Bomber rumor was out. Otherwise, pretty much never, thanks.

Ooh.. If I NEED to get an Elder Sign for some reason, and nobody has money to shop. But in 200+ games I have not considered this move :3

Allies: Note that you get your choice of allies that are Ma's Boarding House! Your choice of 11 different allies and that you can look at theallies any time you want! That said, we hardly ever go there.

Spells: Spells land on spell users, at least at the beginning of the game. They count as items for losses in case that ever happens. Most spells drain brains, so we seldom use them. Carolyn is your best basic spell user and she begins with no spells! That said, spells tend to not be used in our games either. Partly because trading is so inconvenient.

Shopping: We shop til we drop. That is until we drop all of our money. One strategy is with Jennie is to always get a bank loan, so she has $21 dollars next door at the curiositie shop. The item I am looking for is an elder sign. One of those takes a lot of pressure off. Always happy with a magic weapon too. Great common items are the Press pass (expansion) and the motorcyle.

Blessing: Rarely do we take the extra turn or two it takes to secure a blessing. They are too fragile. The first thing we get is the deputy. If we do get blessed, it's usually as late in the game as possible where the blessing impacts the final battle every turn! Though we rarely go to final battle.

Location special abilities: Yes science building is used so much we've memorized the encounters. Same is true for the Newspaper (jobs and money) and to some extent the Train station using multiple boards. Many train station cards give you a free trip to anywhere you want to go. Other than those we seldom stop in anywhere unless there's a clue token to be had or a deputyship to be acquired.

Closing the gates victory: We try to close rather than seal. It seems our score is higher when we do this. It still takes 3 or 4 gates being sealed to work though. Since we play 3 or 4 players, it can be a little faster. Still most often we end up needing to seal to win. We start off collecting clues and sealing. We ALWAYS go into a gate when we've collected the 5 clue tokens. Sometimes we don't make it through of course to seal, but I'd bet 90% of the time we do. I won't merely close a major gate if I run out of clues but most of my team will. Of course, 90% of the time that gate reopens in the next few turns and I get to say "I told you so."

Neglected aspects are addressed by expansions? None that you mentioned. Usually its worse. There are more spells and more undesirable spells, though there are some gems added too. Chances of getting an elder sign are diminished, but there seems to be more and better common and unique weapons. Kingsport does try to address going to stable locations with the Guadian Hypnos and the orange Mythos cards in Kingsport, Dunwich, Black Goat generally send a clue to some unusual place, even the streets. The chances of running across an ally are diminished in Arkham since only 11 of the allies are in play at once.

Kingsport offers the overpowered Daisy who never neglects spells or tomes, so I guess that's a fix, of sorts. One of the expansions has several Crystals of the Elder things that gives you three free spell castings. I love the Seven Criptical Books? of Hasan if I am a spell caster. I can't remember if that's an expansion addition, though.

Dunwich adds more neglected stuff, especially the condition cards as well as the Dunwich Horror itself. I can't see why anyone would turn of Rare Books or worry about Velma's Gratitude. Coded messages and Darke's blessing are great but the chances of being there at the right time with the right stuff hardly ever happens.

The King in Yellow herald makes the terror level significant, but the blight cards are widely varying in their effects and some are just too mean and so I don't use them as much as I should. Also, there's only 13 of them, so they get repetitous. I've actually made blight monsters out of the blight cards and the 34 allies, but still don't use them every game.

Another interesting fix for locations is found on BBG. There's a guy who made Rift tokens for every STABLE location in the game. It demphasizes Kingsport though you still have to go there and three of his tokens are in the headlands, so you really want to be sure that rift doesn't pop because it will be very hard to get rid of. If you don't have Kingsport, then you might not know what I'm talking about.

Tibs said:

The one time we used it was when the Great Ritual came up, and between us we only had one spell (two Investigators, neither spellcasters) and not enough money to buy two more. Trading in trophies for money to go to the magic shop was the only way we could beat the rumour without taking out a loan.

Part of the problem is that $5 is really not that much: go to the newspaper and there's a decent chance of picking up that much money or a retainer in a couple of turns. On the other hand, any more than $10 and loans become even less useful than they currently are...

Allies can be great to shore up a weakness or bolster a strength. Carolyn/Harvey with Eric Colt is a much needed speed boost. Richard Upton Pickman and Professor Armitage can be very useful, especially in the fight against certain Ancient Ones. Tom Murphy or John LeGrasse will be a boon to any character who plans on combat.

Spells: You said you play with only the base game, so I agree with you here. Find Gate is fantastic (cast and exhaust to save yourself a turn), I like most of the base spells, but they aren't alltogether that great. However, with KiY and Dunwich, you add some really killer spells. Arcane Insight, Azure Flame, Storm of Spirits, Alchemical Process, Summon Shantak, and Lure Monster can all be absolutely amazing.

Not everyone is a shopper.... but I am. Shop shop shoppin on heavean's door.. Anyway, each shop is useful, but we spend most of our cash at the Curiositie Shop. General Store is not to be discounted, motorcycles are very useful for some characters, and it has a high proportion of available weapons if you need something to fight with. I used to love the magic shop, but in recent games I find myself trying to buy Tomes at the Curiositie Shop instead, it's a cheaper way to get spells, though it has it's drawbacks as well.

Blessings are the thing to get if you're sure you're going to fight the AO. Also it's nice to bless an investigator who you think might have some trouble getting through the other world ok. We use this sometimes.

Rarely use the Bank or the Docks. Science building is actually probably our most used location special ability. Sometimes you need those clues!

In addition to the Mad Bomber, I've resorted to the River Docks when I'm about to default on a Bank Load and there's no one nearby that I can hand my items off to.

oldthrashbarg said:

oldthrashbarg said:

• Allies: I (almost) never try to get one. I only get them from encounters. I prefer spending the trophies for Deputy.
• Spells: Except with Dexter I never buy spells. But I make the most of the ones I get at startup by giving them to good spellcasters.
• Shopping: I always try to arrange a meeting of all investigators in turn one or two at the Curiositie Shoppe. Every investigator gets an equal amount of money and tries to buy Elder Signs. Items are traded and sometimes one of the investigators stays there for most of the game.
• Blessing: If I try to get blessed it's later in the game and I only go there if there are several very tough monsters in the way or the AO is close to awakening.
• Location Special Encounters: Science Building sees the most use by a wide margin. I used the Docks exactly once in over 50 games, usually it's better to go to the Newspaper. If an investigator gets extremely wealthy, I sometimes get a skill from Administration. I also often save some money to make visits to the Sanatorium and the Hospital more enjoyable... There's one location in Dunwich which deserves mentioning: Regaining one Sanity and one Health for free is often worth it if you happen to be in Dunwich.
• Other:
• I amost never shop at the General Store.
• And I really dislike that there is so little incentive to visit the majority of stable locations.
• Dunwich would work a lot better if all monsters were treated as having a black border. There's just too many monsters that just sit there or fly back to Arkham rather than move towards the vortices.
• For some reason the Terror Track seems to rise quite often in my games. Maybe because I'm often reluctant to go monster hunting.

oldthrashbarg said:

Allies: Back when I had the base game I would usually only be willing to trade for the +2 fight or the +2 will ally. Very rarely would I trade for the one that removes physical or magical resistance (if I thought it would be useful in a fight against an Ancient One that would be unavoidable). Still, it was rare. Most of my ally trading is done for allies that effectively give +2 bonuses (or more) to combat or horror checks. In the later expansions, I'm also willing to trade for allies that give you many extra clues (Rice and Orne) and some of the ones that effectively heal your stamina or sanity.

Spells&Shopping: Yes. They often aren't worth investing in. There are a few amazing ones though. It's worth spending a few turns shopping for them later in the game (depending on what expansions you have), especially if the unique item shop is closed. It's also worth shopping for them if you have a spellcaster or start off with an item that effectively prevents you from going down in sanity by one a turn (i.e. healing stone or cryptical books), but you shouldn't invest *too* much in them, money is usually best spent in the unique item shop— unless you're desperate for weapons, or fighting Y'Golonac (and don't want to draw as many tomes) in which case the best place to go is the common item shop. Shopping is always important. I usually try to get all players to cluster in the unique item shop on the first turn (although there are sometimes exceptions to this rule, sometimes a player will go to the spell shop, or the common item shop— particularly if they don't have enough movement and don't need to trade). The first turn and sometimes even the second turn should be devoted to shopping. Items to look for: things that give you clues (or Elder Signs, even better), powerful permanent weapons (particularly one handed weapons) things that let you warp game dynamics.

Blessing: it's useful sometimes. If you're desperate early in the game, or expecting to fight an AO or something. Or The Terrible Experiment comes out. They're useful (and remember you can bless any player, not just yourself), but personally I prefer getting permanent benefits.

Location Special Abilities: I think I've gotten deputized once out of who knows how many games. I think the trophies are much better spent on an ally or clues (the two locations I typically trade at). I don't normally trade at the river docks (I prefer taking out bank loans and deliberately defaulting on them if I'm *really* desperate for cash, but this usually doesn't happen— if you know where to go to get retainers, having an adequate money supply shouldn't be a problem.

Closing The Gates: sometimes it's doable (easily) if you've sealed the high frequency gates and have gotten a few surges. I typically prefer to go for sealing victories or combat victories if I think I can't pull of a sealing victory— unusual.

Errr... I love DH, I enjoy all the expansions to varying degrees, but DH is the one I consider a *must* buy (followed by Kingsport— for epic battle cards and the new AOs and monsters).

@ Jhaelen

Reluctant to go monster hunting? I would've never guessed from your saying that you like being deputized and that you almost never use the common item shop ;')