The Dexter Drake Doom Denier

Intro

This build is based on hard difficulty. I tried to focus this build on doom assets, as Dexter's ability can conveniently discard assets with dooms to prevent the agenda from advancing, and these doom asset are really powerful. Dexter is like a old-fashioned mystic, using his to do kinds of things. I will analyze different aspects below.

Boost and Tests

With a base value of 5, Dexter is already better off than many other mystic characters. I included Crystal Pendulum because I want to try the new cards, replace it with Holy Rosary if you want stability. The other provider is David Renfield, who offers +1 whenever he has a doom (and believe me he will have more than one for the most time). These two combined can boost your to 7, capable of dealing with most clueing and fighting (I assumed the basic test difficulty for hard mode is 3, with a -4 modifier).

For encounter cards, Ward of Protection deals with ultra bad ones (this card is so abused by anyone who can include them lol), with Prophesy to pass the tests. Due to the doom assets in play, Prophesy gets + guaranteed, and +2 for 50% of time roughly. Remember you have Scrying Mirror to see the symbol before you commit, which is really powerful in my mind.

Clues

The methods to discover clues for Dexter is to use old-fashioned mystic spells. In this build I included 3 clue assets (both Clairvoyance and a Sixth Sense) and two clue spells (2Read the Signs) because I am playing with a fighter friend. If you aren't running a cluer, 3 total clue-discovering player cards (like 1Rite of Seeking/Clairvoyance, 1Sixth Sense, and 1Read the Signs) should be enough. I choose to include 2*Clairvoyance because its side effect (1 horror) is less punishing and less likely to trigger than Rite of Seeking (ends your turn, this really hurts). Using Clairvoyance and Read the Signs to for aggressive clueing, and then once all charges were gone, equip Sixth Sense for late-game clueing.

Enemies

I included 2*Shrivelling to deal with enemies because I am not the fighter. I really only need one equipped at the time to get myself out from an engaged enemy. I also included Switchblade in case Shrivelling is not present, and Switchblade can also be discarded to equip another asset, saving you an action. These weapons assures my survival as a cluer, but if you want to enhance fighting ability, there are two ways: one is to include more fighting spells like Azure Flame and Storm of Spirits to use your high ; the other one is to include gears like Enchanted Blade and Colt Vest Pocket to use the base 3. But both case Spectral Razor is very handy if you want to go the fighter route.

I included one Fine Clothes for parley purposes, feel free to replace it if the scenario you play doesn't involve parley.

Resources

This build included many high-cost cards, for a good reason--David Renfield. This normally unvisited card really shines under Dexter's ability to freely discard him (sad lol). David Renfield offers you resources each turn equal to his doom number, and my estimate is to gain 6 resources total (1+2+3) on average before he is discarded to clear the dooms (of course you can equip another one later). Along with 2Uncage the Soul and 2Lone Wolf, the resources should be enough for you to equip all those assets, use up all the charges, and then equip other ones. But the key is really to get David Renfield in game, so Calling in Favors is added. You can also search him using Molly Maxwell, since he is the only patron in your deck (more like an ATM to me lol). The key to save resource is to use mostly your ability to equip assets to get that -1 price.

Gameplay

Gameplay is simple, equip one clueing spell like Clairvoyance and one spell to get you free from enemies (like Shrivelling) and go ahead discover or fight. Try to get David Renfield/Arcane Initiate early to start vending resources/cards. Equip Scrying Mirror and Scroll of Prophecies to pass tests/draw cards for yourself and your teammates. Use Ward of Protection to counter bad stuff and put that one horror on the ally you gonna discard soon.

Doom Control

This is part of gameplay but it is so important that I decided to separate a section for it. Playing David Renfield and Arcane Initiate will add doom in your play area, which you can discard at the right timing using your character ability. But remember, your ability to discard cards can only trigger during your turn, and you need to have enough resources and assets in hand to replace it. Therefore, you need to prepare for this switch, counting the dooms in play whenever you can.

It is also the best for you to know if cards like Ancient Evils that can advance agenda is included in the current scenario and prepare your Ward of Protection for it if you want one more round of resources from David. If there are 2 or 3 players in game, I suggest you discard David Renfield at one-doom-left round (like 6/7); if there are 4 players, discard at two-doom-left round (5/7). Calculating dooms is really the key of this build, otherwise you could just skipped 3 rounds for your team. \

Molly

Yes! It is your private assistant Molly Maxwell that makes every miracle happen! I really like the design of her，a filtered draw is so powerful in many cases. Here are some examples:

1. Name the trait "Patron" and get David Renfield if you need resources.
2. name "clothing" to get Fine Clothes for parley.
3. (I assumed that she can search any cards in the previous writing, and now I fixed that problem. Open for suggestions).

Upgrades

First thing first, get a Charisma so Molly Maxwell can co-exist with your card/resource ATM. Then there are many routes to go:

1. Get Suggestion and Pickpocketing, then evade like rogue and get 2 cards and 2 resources on top of what you have.
2. Upgrade Shrivelling and include other damage cards to be a fighter.
3. include De Vermis Mysteriis and other good spell/insight events like Time Warp, Ward of Protection, Sacrifice, etc. discard De Vermis Mysteriis when doom is about to reach (you have to coordinate this with discarding David Renfield, since you can only trigger your ability once per round).
4. open to suggestions

Conclusion

I think Dexter Drake is a better doom handler than Marie Lambeau, and this is my version 1 attempt of trying the unvisited doom build. Please comment anything you think could be changed and cards that works well with this build that I failed to mention. Thanks and have fun!