Zoey Samaras (Fighter)

Your game plan is:

Find the enemy → get paid → engage it → grab clues → kill it.

Overall Playstyle

This Zoey build is a front-line guardian who turns enemy encounters into both combat and investigation opportunities.

You are still the team's primary enemy controller. Your first responsibility is to make sure dangerous enemies are engaged, contained, and defeated before they can hurt the rest of the group.

But unlike a traditional fighter, you now want to think about where and when enemies appear.

An enemy at your location can trigger a chain of value:

Engage enemy → gain a resource → use Scene of the Crime for clues → defeat enemy → use Evidence! for another clue.

That means Zoey is no longer just removing obstacles so someone else can investigate. Sometimes, the enemy itself becomes the reason Zoey can solve the location.

Early Game

Find a weapon.

Your best opening is generally the following:

Weapon + Beat Cop or Weapon + Prepared for the Worst as backup

Get ready to handle enemies before the scenario starts generating serious pressure.

Your Main Priorities

1. Find a weapon

Your first priority is getting a reliable weapon into play.

Your main weapons are:

2× Enchanted Blade 2× Survival Knife 1× .45 Automatic

You also have:

2× Prepared for the Worst to help find a weapon 2× Spectral Razor as powerful event-based attacks

You have plenty of combat options, so getting Zoey armed early should be very reliable.

2. Stay where your team needs protection

Zoey wants to be near investigators who are:

Gathering clues Vulnerable to enemies Working on important locations

When an enemy appears, Zoey can engage it, gain a resource from her investigator ability, and take control of the situation.

You are the team's first responder.

3. Look for opportunities to get clues before killing enemies

This is the biggest change in your updated build.

Whenever an enemy appears at your location, don't immediately attack it.

First ask:

"Can this enemy help me get clues before I kill it?"

Check for:

Scene of the Crime Evidence!

This sequencing is extremely important.

The Core Zoey Engine

Zoey gains 1 resource whenever she engages an enemy.

That means enemies help fund the cards you use to fight them.

Your basic enemy sequence often looks like this:

The enemy appears at a location with clues Engage the enemy. Gain 1 resource from Zoey's ability. Check whether you can play Scene of the Crime. Discover clues if possible. Fight and defeat the enemy. Check whether Evidence! can get another clue.

This means one enemy can potentially provide the following:

A resource Multiple clues Combat value from your weapon or skills Protection for another investigator

That's excellent efficiency.

Your Mulligan Priorities

Your opening hand should generally look for the following.

Highest Priority Enchanted Blade Survival Knife .45 Automatic Prepared for the Worst

You want to begin the scenario ready to fight.

Strong Keeps Beat Cop Scene of the Crime, depending on the scenario Evidence, especially if you expect enemies early Stand together if playing multiplayer and resources will matter Usually Lower Priority Tetsuo Mori Guard Dog Logical Reasoning "Let me handle this!" Spectral Razor, unless you expect an immediate difficult enemy

If you already have a good weapon, don't keep multiple additional weapons unless the scenario is particularly combat-heavy.

Your Weapons Enchanted Blade

This is one of your best general-purpose weapons.

It gives Zoey a strong combat boost and allows additional damage while it has charges available.

Use it when you need to kill enemies efficiently.

The important advantage is that even after its charges are gone, it can continue functioning as a weapon.

This makes it an excellent early-game play.

Survival Knife

A survival knife is your more defensive weapon.

It becomes especially useful when an enemy attacks you, allowing Zoey to fight back.

Your preferred strategy is still:

Kill the enemy before it attacks.

But Arkham Horror has a charming habit of ignoring your preferred strategy.

When an enemy survives or an attack is unavoidable, Survival Knife gives Zoey additional ways to punish it.

.45 Automatic

Your dependable firearm.

Use the .45 when:

You need the extra combat bonus. The enemy is difficult to hit. You need extra damage. A survival knife or other option isn't enough.

Because it uses ammunition, don't waste shots on easy enemies when another weapon can do the job.

Spectral Razor

This is one of your strongest emergency attacks.

It lets Zoey attack using a different approach than her normal combat-based attacks and can deliver significant damage.

Use it against:

Dangerous enemies Enemies with high Fight values Targets that need to die immediately Situations where extra damage saves you an entire action

Since it's an event, it also doesn't occupy a weapon slot.

Think of Spectral Razor as the following:

"This enemy needs to stop existing right now."

Finding Your Weapons Prepared for the Worst

You have two copies because your deck depends on having a weapon available.

Use it aggressively if you start without one.

Your deck contains enough weapons that this should provide good consistency.

Don't hold it forever waiting for the perfect situation. Zoey without a weapon is still capable of fighting, but that is definitely not where this deck wants to be.

Your Clue Package

This is what separates the updated version from a pure Zoey combat deck.

You now have:

2× Evidence! 2× Scene of the Crime

These four cards give Zoey reliable clue capability without requiring her to invest heavily in Intellect.

Evidence!

Evidence! is almost perfect for this deck.

After you defeat an enemy, you can discover a clue at your location.

Since killing enemies is already Zoey's primary job, this turns your normal combat into investigation progress.

Best use:

Enemy at a location with clues → Zoey kills it → play Evidence! → get a clue.

Always check whether a clue is actually available before using it.

If there are no clues at your location, save Evidence! for later.

Important interaction with Zoey's strategy

You don't have to spend an action investigating.

You're already spending actions fighting.

So Evidence! allows your combat actions to do double duty.

Scene of the Crime

This is arguably your most important clue card.

As long as there's an enemy at your location, you can discover 2 clues without investigating.

That is extremely powerful for Zoey.

Your normal sequencing should often be the following:

Enemy present → Scene of the crime → kill the enemy.

Do not automatically kill the enemy first.

If you kill it before checking your hand, you may lose the opportunity to use Scene of the Crime.

Best situations

Use it when:

Your location has 2 or more clues. An enemy is already there. You don't want to spend multiple actions investigating. The location has high cloud cover.

Scene of the Crime completely bypasses Zoey's weak intellect.

The Perfect Clue-and-Combat Sequence

Imagine Zoey is at a location with:

2 clues An enemy Enchanted Blade in play Scene of the Crime in hand Evidence in hand! Step 1: Engage the enemy

Zoey gains 1 resource from her investigator ability.

Step 2: Play Scene of the Crime

The enemy is at your location.

Discover 2 clues.

The location is now clear.

Step 3: Fight

Use Enchanted Blade to kill the enemy.

After the enemy is defeated

Check for clues before playing Evidence!.

If another clue is available, evidence! can grab it.

If not, save evidence!.

The important lesson is:

An enemy isn't just something to kill anymore. Sometimes it's the key that lets Zoey investigate efficiently.

Your Combat Skills Vicious Blow

One of your most important combat cards.

Use it when the additional damage saves an action.

For example:

If Vicious Blow allows Zoey to kill an enemy in one attack instead of two, you've effectively gained an action.

Use it especially against:

Dangerous enemies High-health enemies Enemies that need to die before the enemy phase Overpower

Overpower helps make important combat tests more reliable and rewards success with card draws.

The card draw is valuable because it gives Zoey more options and helps you find the following:

Weapons Clue cards Combat events Other important tools

Use it when you're reasonably confident of succeeding.

Take the Initiative

This is one of your best cards for important tests.

It provides a large skill boost when the conditions are right.

Use it when:

A critical attack absolutely needs to hit. You need to pass an important encounter test. Failure would create a major problem.

Don't waste it on routine tests.

Practice Makes Perfect

Practice Makes Perfect gives your deck additional consistency by helping you find and use your practiced skills.

Important targets include your relevant practiced skill cards, particularly:

Vicious Blow Overpower

Use Practice Makes Perfect on a test that matters.

The goal isn't just to get a skill bonus. You're also improving the consistency of your deck by finding useful cards.

Your Ally Package Beat Cop

Beat Cop is one of your best early assets.

The permanent Combat bonus improves nearly every fight for the rest of the scenario.

An ideal early setup is often the following:

Weapon + Beat Cop

Once you have both in play, Zoey becomes extremely reliable against ordinary enemies.

Guard Dog

Guard Dog provides extra protection and can damage enemies when they attack.

You generally don't want enemies attacking Zoey.

But when damage is unavoidable, Guard Dog makes that damage more productive.

Use him when you expect a scenario with the following:

Lots of enemies Unavoidable attacks Heavy physical damage Tetsuo Mori

Tetsuo is your defensive and consistency-focused ally.

He can absorb damage, and when he leaves play, he can potentially help you find an important item or ally.

This can help you locate:

A weapon Beat Cop Another useful Ally

Tetsuo is particularly valuable when you're missing an important piece of your setup.

Your Team Support Stand Together

This helps solve one of Guardian's traditional problems: resources.

Use it when both you and another investigator need money.

This can help finance:

Weapons Allies Events The rest of your team's setup

In multiplayer, this is an excellent support card.

Don't necessarily rush to play it if you don't have an immediate use for the resources.

"Let me handle this!"

This lets Zoey take encounter cards that she is better equipped to deal with than another investigator.

Use it to protect teammates from problems that

Zoey has the skills to handle Zoey has enough health or sanity to survive Would seriously disrupt another investigator

Don't take an encounter card just because you're the fighter.

Ask:

"Am I actually better equipped to deal with this?"

If yes, step in.

Logical Reasoning

This is your emergency sanity and treachery support.

Use it when an investigator is dealing with serious mental pressure or needs help recovering from a dangerous effect.

It is situational, so don't automatically play it at the first opportunity.

Save it for when it prevents a serious problem.

Your Economy

Zoey's investigator ability helps her economy by giving her a resource whenever she engages an enemy.

This is especially useful because you have several cards competing for resources.

You may need money for:

Enchanted Blade .45 Automatic Allies Spectral Razor Evidence! Scene of the Crime

Don't spend all your resources just because Zoey can earn more from enemies.

Try to keep enough available for an important surprise play.

One of the strongest aspects of this deck is that your normal job—engaging enemies—helps pay for the tools you need to do that job.

Smite the Wicked

This is Zoey's signature weakness and needs to be handled seriously.

When it appears, you generally need to find and deal with the designated enemy.

Don't ignore it for too long.

The good news is that your deck is extremely well equipped to hunt down and kill enemies.

When Smite the Wicked appears:

Make a plan to locate the enemy. Don't waste too much time wandering. Bring an appropriate weapon. Kill the target efficiently.

Remember that this can disrupt your normal clue plan, so deal with it before it becomes a larger problem.

A Typical Zoey Turn

Imagine you're at a location with:

2 clues A dangerous enemy Enchanted Blade in play Scene of the Crime in hand Vicious Blow available Action 1: Engage

Take the enemy.

Zoey gains 1 resource.

Action 2: Scene of the Crime

Discover the 2 clues.

You've now cleared the location without making a single investigation test.

Action 3: Fight

Attack with Enchanted Blade.

Commit Vicious Blow if the additional damage will help finish the enemy immediately.

If the enemy dies, you've

Protected the team. Gained a resource. Collected clues. Removed the threat.

That's exactly what this build wants to do.