[Multiplayer] [Guide] Preston Perfected

Card draw simulator

Odds: 0% – 0% – 0% more
Derived from
None. Self-made deck here.
Inspiration for
Sir. Preston Fairmont - Lord of Waterdeep 0 0 0 1.0
Mr Krabs MONEEEY (Preston Fairmont) 0 0 0 1.0

Calprinicus · 5761

ABOUT THIS GUIDE

Last Updated:

Conclusion of the Dream-Eaters Cycle.

How To Use

My "Perfected" guides for each investigator are updated at the end of each campaign cycle. These have all been tested against standard difficulty campaigns and standalone scenarios.

The deck listed shows the final build after spending about 25xp (campaign average). There is a section on how to build the starting deck and recommended upgrade order. Additionally, it lists a trimmed down 9xp standalone variant.

Enjoy.

SUMMARY

Preston Fairmont is one of my favorite decks!

This deck takes full advantage of Double, Double. You use it to build your wealth by doubling Easy Mark, Emergency Cache, and Hot Streak, then spend it all for big plays by doubling Intel Report, Small Favor, Scrounge for Supplies, and Sneak Attack.

PROS

  • Resources, resources, resources.
  • Lots of automatic successes.
  • Lots of extra actions.
  • BIG plays.

CONS

  • All your stats are low.
  • Not doing much outside of big plays.
  • Requires team. Don't solo.

HOW TO PLAY

BIG MONEY

Money is Preston specialty! Easy Mark, Emergency Cache, and Hot Streak give Preston a lot of resources to work with and are also events that can be Double, Doubled. He also has access to Family Inheritance which give him 4 resources each turn!

Since it takes an action to collect resources from Family Inheritance, you'll want to maximize when you collect money from it. Ideally, you'll want to hold onto Easy Mark, Emergency Cache, and Hot Streak until you can play two of more of them, then collect all the money from it in one turn.

STAT BOOSTS

Preston definately has drawbacks. You'll need to boost his stats if you want to pull from the chaos bag. Trial by Fire and Miss Doyle for Hope, Zeal, and Augur bump a stat to 5 temporarily, giving Preston a good shot at succeeding.

Once you have accumulated resources, Dig Deep and Well Connected also help.

Instead of boosting preston's stat, it's actually better to lower the difficulty with Fine Clothes and Flashlight. If the difficulty is 0, you can only fail by pulling the token.

BIG PLAYS

An Intel Report is the equivalent to 4 actions. Two to move & two to collect clues, not to mention you don't need to pull tokens from the chaos game (something Preston likes to avoid) nor the actions it takes to return to your current location. It's powerful action economy in exchange for resources. This is what Preston is perfect for.

A Double, Doubled Intel Report can be the equivalent to a whole party round, especially if it's on a high shroud location or one with unengaged enemies. You can pull 4 clues without a test with Intel Report, Deal 4 damage to a foe with Small Favor or Sneak Attack, Collecting 15+ resources is easy with Hot Streak are all things Preston does on the daily.

EXTRA ACTIONS

Leo De Luca is Preston's BFF. Preston needs the extra action to pull resources from Family Inheritance. With 4 actions it allows him to dedicate his turns to abilities which are found in numberous scenarios as well as removing a number of weaknesses from his allies.

The additional action also gives more punch to Trial by Fire.

AGAIN!

I try to use Scrounge for Supplies to recollect an Intel Report or Small Favor, while I use Resourceful to recollect Trial by Fire. Resourceful can be tricky since you need to pull from the chaos bag & succeed, something preston isn't the best at doing.

MULLIGAN & SETUP

Keep:

Exceptions:

STARTING DECK

ASSETS

EVENTS

SKILLS

UPGRADE PRIORITY

STANDALONE 9XP

ASSETS

EVENTS

SKILLS

6 comments

Apr 28, 2020 gothicmink · 1

Thanks for sharing this deck! I played a slightly modified version through a few stand alone scenarios coupled with a pretty standard Roland and it worked out very well!!

Preston was really fun to play, with big turns and lots of options. But it also needed some more consistent support from Roland, and I can see how this Preston would be hazardous to play solo. Those "money" rounds, when you play Easy Mark or Hot Streak and then need to get the money off of Family Inheritance, are hard/impossible to pull off in solo, even with Leo Deluca's help.

Also, I thought this would be a great opportunity to try out Double, Double, but unfortunately, I'm really bad at drawing good cards. I still got to play it and actually use it, but it often felt like it was too late and not impactful enough... I wish Preston had a way to fetch it!

And thanks for the write up!

Aug 11, 2020 ojey · 1

Yor wrote:"Instead of boosting preston's stat, it's actually better to lower the difficulty with Fine Clothes and Flashlight. If the difficulty is 0, you can only fail by pulling the token." Could you explain this statement to me please? If you have a stat of 1 and pull a -2 the test fails even if the difficulty is 0 ... right?

Aug 11, 2020 Calprinicus · 5761

@ojey If your skill is 1 & the difficulty is 0. When you pull a -2, it reduces your skill to 0 (not -1, your skill cannot be lower than 0). The result is your skill & the difficulty are both 0. The investigators win ties on tests.

Aug 11, 2020 ojey · 1

@CalprinicusThx for your quick answer. I cant find the rule that says your skill cannot go below 0 (even temporarily) Could you give me a hint where this is stated in the rules? I read how a check is done and it states that every modifier is applied, but nothing about the below zero thing.

I played my first round with this deck today and it was a blast. Thx for this deck !!! Now that i may spent some xp i have another question. In your upgrade priority list you stated: -xp - Take Heart -> Easy Mark .... does this mean it costs no XP to upgrade "Take Heart" to "Easy Mark"? An if that should be the case could you explain why? Thx again ...

Aug 11, 2020 ojey · 1

@CalprinicusIgnore the second part of my statement. I found why they cost no xp. Its because of the Myriad trait ...

Aug 12, 2020 Calprinicus · 5761

@ojey this rule can be found under "Modifiers":

A quantity on a card (such as a stat, an icon, a number of instances of a trait or keyword) cannot be reduced so that it functions with a value below zero. Negative modifiers in excess of a value's current quantity can be applied, but, after all active modifiers have been applied, any resultant value below zero is treated as zero. (For example: Danny tests agility and reveals a –8 chaos token. When applied to his agility of 4, this would reduce his skill value to –4. However, his agility cannot be reduced so that it functions with a value below zero. While the –8 modifier still exists, his agility is treated as zero. If Danny were to play "Lucky!" to receive a +2 bonus to the test, this bonus would not be applied to the functioning skill value of zero; but rather, it is applied in conjunction with all active modifiers. Danny's agility would then be calculated as follows: base skill 4, –8 from chaos token, +2 from "Lucky!" for a total of –2, which is still treated as zero.)