Fantastic video. It is common for players to blame bad deck building and RNG on not doing well in a scenario. While those are definitely valid reasons, especially the deck building, the more I play, the more I realize that the ridiculous phrase "get good" is actually not so ridiculous. Player gameplay choices matter A LOT. Blaming RNG is a trap most of the time.
Haha, that certainly works. The good thing about arkham is that you don’t need hyper optimised decks to win and/or have fun. Many lessons still apply (and can also be learned from great MtG players) such as constantly asking the questions: “was this the right play? what other options did I have? would any of them have been better plays” and evaluate the answer not only on how things played out, but rather on how things would typically play out starting with the information you are given.
this sounds like a very interesting video 6:06 I agree that by watching people play you get a lot of nuances that are difficult to explain in a general strategy video anyway, I really liked your video about resources, and the other videos about strategy, they also, of course, pack a lot of ideas
Yeah, I really want to do a more involved video talking about in-game decisions beyond the decisions about whether or not to commit to tests, etc. that are already in my other videos, but I really have no idea how to do it besides coming up with contrived situations.
@@Quick_Learner one idea (maybe you've done it) could be "openings" (like in chess), the first few steps in the game, from Mulligan (I know you have a video on that), to the first 2/3 rounds, where maybe you setup assets, or maybe start moving to see what's around (I guess this is more useful when you don't know the scenario)
"What did we do wrong? We did nothing wrong!?" - was going through my head during this video haha... Many lessons can be learned in life by a bit of self evaluation or evaluation of the overall teamwork. Great pointers. I'm still relatively new to Arkham but a seasoned card game and board game player for decades, so I'm digging the game so far, (bout a year or so in) currently the furthest I've gotten in Carcosa, blind playthrough. I failed my first solo run with Chen Li, powerful deck, destroying monsters easily, but after the first 3 scenarios , I was not ready for the asylum (SPOILER INCOMING) ..... ... and poor Chen Li was incarcerated against her will. This really got me thinking critically about what I'd done wrong, time management, clue gathering, set up time etc. and this spurred on my next run through, which I decided should be a 2 handed asylum break team. I come from a RPG background and so try add a little flavour and carryover to my overall Arkham storylines, campaigns leading to other campaigns etc, heroes used, passed away, lost in the Abyss, and I wanted to rescue Chen Li before I would allow myself to play her again, but I digress. The dream team of a Winifred and Jenny team be was formed, heavily built for Teamwork, a guardian card often laughed at, which I've been absolutely loving, especially for what it breaks open with 2 handed deck building synergies. They're currently flying well, about to take on the challenge of the penultimate Black Star rises. Learning to play this game is fairly straight forward and yet can become very, very deep with nested actions and decisions trees that we you will pointed out teams to snowball, sometimes out of control. The ways you can truly co-operate and build devils together is so fascinating to me, and truly makes this game feel like one of the best, if not the number 1, current best card game I've ever played. Really appreciate all your work and tips and videos such as these. Can't recommend you enough on Arkham Facebook groups and to new players especially as your vids have truly helped heaps. Thank you.
Thanks for the video and addressing my question! I do plan on watching some gameplay videos once they won't be spoiling my blind playthroughs. I have maybe two dozen games under my belt, so I'm very much still in the "don't know what I don't know" phase. But it's good to know that getting two auto-fails in a row while up three against a final boss with retaliate does probably fall under getting hosed by RNG?
Im halfway through Midnight Masks. Even on easy mode the chaos bag only gives a 5/16 chance of avoiding a negative. Thats a 31% chance of things going to plan. So I removed a -1 and a -2 and a skull. Now I have 38% chance to avoid a negative draw. I am playing it right but the bag just makes eveything fail haha. I want to enjoy the story and enjoy the mechanics. I still get fails but its not ALL THE TIME and I dont want to lose interest.
You may only be playing with the Core Set so skill tests can be difficult, but in general you should aim to be taking a test only if you are +2 above the difficulty value of the test. -1, -2, and Skull should be among the tokens you're happiest to see.
I'm only just starting my true solo journey now -- I hope you can watch the videos with Skids on the channel that have been coming out in the past few weeks. But I don't feel confident in talking about it too much more until I have a few campaigns under my belt.
Midnight Masks and Excelsior Hotel are very niche stand alone scenarios (they want you to do very specific things) so in my opinion they are not good for learning actual game mechanics or good deck building. Tony Morgan and Nathanial Cho will always have a bad time in the hotel. Definitely don't feel bad if those ones got you. Generally people (Justin from PBG and most people I know IRL) will actually play a scenario from a campaign instead of a stand alone to test a deck. As far as stand alone decks go, I don't really think they teach new players very much and learning based on them may actually teach you bad habits.
Fantastic video. It is common for players to blame bad deck building and RNG on not doing well in a scenario. While those are definitely valid reasons, especially the deck building, the more I play, the more I realize that the ridiculous phrase "get good" is actually not so ridiculous. Player gameplay choices matter A LOT. Blaming RNG is a trap most of the time.
Yeah. I should have included your original comment here too, but I want to go into the subject a little deeper in the future. Cheers!
im a new player, and all of the points that you expose, really made me think about the game itself a lot, ty for the guidance
I really appreciate it!
very good guideline, thank you !
Another great video! Thanks for putting this together!!
Great video, thank you
Cheers. Well developed tips for crafting your deck before & during a campaign.
A neat trick is to recruit your mtg playing friends to play arkham. Solves all your issues of not optimizing your deck engines almost immediately.
Haha, that certainly works.
The good thing about arkham is that you don’t need hyper optimised decks to win and/or have fun.
Many lessons still apply (and can also be learned from great MtG players) such as constantly asking the questions: “was this the right play? what other options did I have? would any of them have been better plays” and evaluate the answer not only on how things played out, but rather on how things would typically play out starting with the information you are given.
@@thirteenthirtyseven4730 i like themed decks so I need them to bring the optimization so I dont have 30 fun cards and no eco.
this sounds like a very interesting video
6:06 I agree that by watching people play you get a lot of nuances that are difficult to explain in a general strategy video
anyway, I really liked your video about resources, and the other videos about strategy, they also, of course, pack a lot of ideas
Yeah, I really want to do a more involved video talking about in-game decisions beyond the decisions about whether or not to commit to tests, etc. that are already in my other videos, but I really have no idea how to do it besides coming up with contrived situations.
@@Quick_Learner if it's already done in your videos, watch them again, note down the real-game situations and compile them?
Compilation of gameplay moments with retrospective analysis is an interesting idea for sure.
@@Quick_Learner one idea (maybe you've done it) could be "openings" (like in chess), the first few steps in the game, from Mulligan (I know you have a video on that), to the first 2/3 rounds, where maybe you setup assets, or maybe start moving to see what's around (I guess this is more useful when you don't know the scenario)
"What did we do wrong? We did nothing wrong!?" - was going through my head during this video haha... Many lessons can be learned in life by a bit of self evaluation or evaluation of the overall teamwork. Great pointers. I'm still relatively new to Arkham but a seasoned card game and board game player for decades, so I'm digging the game so far, (bout a year or so in) currently the furthest I've gotten in Carcosa, blind playthrough. I failed my first solo run with Chen Li, powerful deck, destroying monsters easily, but after the first 3 scenarios , I was not ready for the asylum (SPOILER INCOMING) .....
... and poor Chen Li was incarcerated against her will. This really got me thinking critically about what I'd done wrong, time management, clue gathering, set up time etc. and this spurred on my next run through, which I decided should be a 2 handed asylum break team.
I come from a RPG background and so try add a little flavour and carryover to my overall Arkham storylines, campaigns leading to other campaigns etc, heroes used, passed away, lost in the Abyss, and I wanted to rescue Chen Li before I would allow myself to play her again, but I digress.
The dream team of a Winifred and Jenny team be was formed, heavily built for Teamwork, a guardian card often laughed at, which I've been absolutely loving, especially for what it breaks open with 2 handed deck building synergies. They're currently flying well, about to take on the challenge of the penultimate Black Star rises.
Learning to play this game is fairly straight forward and yet can become very, very deep with nested actions and decisions trees that we you will pointed out teams to snowball, sometimes out of control. The ways you can truly co-operate and build devils together is so fascinating to me, and truly makes this game feel like one of the best, if not the number 1, current best card game I've ever played.
Really appreciate all your work and tips and videos such as these. Can't recommend you enough on Arkham Facebook groups and to new players especially as your vids have truly helped heaps. Thank you.
Great video, can you make the investigator guide ?
Sometimes it confusing to understand investigator special skill/rule🙏🏼
Excellent point that you can't consider deckbuilding in isolation. It is teams that play and teams that win, not decks.
Thanks for the video and addressing my question! I do plan on watching some gameplay videos once they won't be spoiling my blind playthroughs. I have maybe two dozen games under my belt, so I'm very much still in the "don't know what I don't know" phase. But it's good to know that getting two auto-fails in a row while up three against a final boss with retaliate does probably fall under getting hosed by RNG?
Im halfway through Midnight Masks. Even on easy mode the chaos bag only gives a 5/16 chance of avoiding a negative. Thats a 31% chance of things going to plan. So I removed a -1 and a -2 and a skull. Now I have 38% chance to avoid a negative draw. I am playing it right but the bag just makes eveything fail haha. I want to enjoy the story and enjoy the mechanics. I still get fails but its not ALL THE TIME and I dont want to lose interest.
You may only be playing with the Core Set so skill tests can be difficult, but in general you should aim to be taking a test only if you are +2 above the difficulty value of the test. -1, -2, and Skull should be among the tokens you're happiest to see.
Hi, I wish a lot if you can do more videos about true solo, and about investigators for this topic (especially what is not obvious)
I'm only just starting my true solo journey now -- I hope you can watch the videos with Skids on the channel that have been coming out in the past few weeks. But I don't feel confident in talking about it too much more until I have a few campaigns under my belt.
@@Quick_Learner I saw some, that you took Skids I found really cool, because nobody can answer me how to build Skids for true solo:)
To be totally upfront, a large cardpool makes true solo much much more manageable.
Midnight Masks and Excelsior Hotel are very niche stand alone scenarios (they want you to do very specific things) so in my opinion they are not good for learning actual game mechanics or good deck building. Tony Morgan and Nathanial Cho will always have a bad time in the hotel. Definitely don't feel bad if those ones got you. Generally people (Justin from PBG and most people I know IRL) will actually play a scenario from a campaign instead of a stand alone to test a deck. As far as stand alone decks go, I don't really think they teach new players very much and learning based on them may actually teach you bad habits.
Hi Daniel