How to Pick a Lock (Hard Mode) ~Featuring Finn Edwards

Deck has been UPDATED: https://arkhamdb.com/decklist/view/11923/how-to-pick-a-lock-featuring-finn-edwards-hard-mode-3.0

This is a hard-mode tested deck that has functioned as the primary seeker for a 4 man group running The Forgotten Age on hard mode assisting in earning the group a total of 30 base XP (not counting bonuses) through the first 4 scenarios.

The deck was not made to function exclusively within The Forgotten Age, and can therefore be used in any multiplayer campaign.

Deck Breakdown

Clue Getting:

• Dr. Milan Christopher : Core element to the deck that provides +1 to book and providing a continuous stream of incoming resources as we perform our role.
• Fingerprint Kit : Strong tool to stack with our other static book buffs allowing us to have strong bursts of clue getting when used to maximum potential.
• Sleight of Hand : Technically, this card could be classified as a utility card in that it can play several cards in this deck. However, this card is strongest when used with Fingerprint Kit. In theory, you will already have Dr. Milan Christopher in play as well from your opening mulligan which means we will be making base 6 book checks for 2 clues. Obviously this combo will get stronger with more XP in the deck to support it.
• Flashlight : Just a good starter deck card to use for this deck's purpose.
• Scavenging : I went with this as my one off from Seeker/Survivor as it will allow us to continue to rotate our items that are crucial to success as primary seeker even in the face of game events that force us to discard those items from our player board or from our hand before we get to use them. At base value it allows us to get multiple uses from our 2 copies of Fingerprint Kit. However, this is not required for the deck to thrive so it is fine in my opinion as a 1 off.
• Perception : High value card that buffs our ability to gather clues and cycles itself with another card from our deck.
• Cunning : This card can technically be used for it's agility icons, and by all means should be should the situation arise. However, given that in my play through I was the primary seeker - this was used for it's 2/3 book icons due to it's high synergy with Dr. Milan Christopher.
  

How to Not Die:

• "You handle this one!" : The core survival card for Finn. With 1 willpower, you basically require this card to not get rekt by the encounter deck. (I also highly recommend playing with as many mystics as possible that have Ward of Protection :P)
• Say Your Prayers : I only play this game in hard mode which means some unavoidable horror and damage is just a given. Given that, I highly recommend this as your other 1 off card to be the trick up your sleeve to save your skin in the face of a willpower check that can't be dealt with or just ignored via "You handle this one!" or Ward of Protection.
• Money Talks : This is your last resort card for any checks that present themselves that you are unequipped to deal with. Ideally, you want to maintain a healthy resource pool should you see this card being necessary. So, constantly be aware of what tools are at your disposal and what kind of threats are possible from the encounter deck.

Utility:

• Lone Wolf : With Finn's skill values you have more freedom to be independent from the rest of your team than more traditional seekers. So, even in a 4 man group I was able to make mass amounts of resources from this card. Obviously, stacking on a location will be unavoidable at times. So, just try to work with your team, and see if you can have them abandon the location before your turn.
• Lucky Cigarette Case : One of my favorite cards in the game. You might not get a lot of value from this in the first scenario (depending on shroud values on the locations), but after your first round of upgrades this should draw you a card basically every turn making it easier to get to our core tools should our mulligan be unlucky.
• Think on Your Feet : Remember what I said about being independent? This card just allows you to move instead of dealing with a potential enemy. In a multiplayer setting you should have someone capable of dealing with it anyway.
• Elusive : This was a card I was on the fence about when I first built the deck, but boy was I wrong. There have been several moments where the ability to teleport across the map was useful.
• Slip Away : Sometimes you need to finish off the last few clues on a location for a nice 1/2 VP or just to finish the objective of a scenario. Should you find yourself in such a situation with an enemy you don't want to screw around with short term, this card can make that a reality.
• Unexpected Courage : Solid skill card to throw at anything you or one of your teammates is checking when needed.
  

Upgrades

(This is my favorite part of the game, second only to building the initial deck. These juicy, juicy upgrades.)

Here I will list the upgrades in order I went with, but keep in mind after a certain point you have the freedom to mix and match whatever you think the deck needs based on your campaign. The only upgrades I consider "mandatory" are Charon's Obol, Lockpicks, Streetwise, Lola Santiago, Charisma.

• Charon's Obol
• Lockpicksx2 (for Flashlightx2)
• Streetwise
• Lola Santiagox2 (for Cunningx2) paired with Charisma
  
• Think on Your Feetx2 (direct upgrade)
• Ace in the Hole (for Slip Away)
• Borrowed Time (for Say Your Prayers)
• Pay Dayx2 (Lone Wolfx2)
• Sure Gamblex2 (for Money Talksx2)
  

This is as far as I have gotten so far, and I believe provides enough of a foundation to see what I was going for. As I said, I have no illusions that my path was the end all be all. I also debated in my head over cards such as Adaptable, The Skeleton Key, Lucky Dice, High Roller, etc. However, I just didn't end up going with them.......yet.

Strategy

As far as strategy goes, once you have some base amounts of XP in your deck with Lockpicks and Streetwise you become very powerful.

Mulligan for Dr. Milan Christopher, Lockpicks, and Lucky Cigarette Case in that order. The Lucky Cigarette Case is just nice to have to draw into your other tools. However, never keep Lucky Cigarette Case if you lack either of the other 2 cards in your opening hand. Finally, if you are very concerned about cascading failures early on, you can also mulligan for "You handle this one!".

Open your turn with a Lockpicks investigate action to hopefully get a clue and proc a usage of Lucky Cigarette Case. Then supplement any other investigate actions when necessary with Streetwise. With Dr. Milan Christopher in play (assuming a successful check), Streetwise is functionally pay 1 for plus 3 book.

Once you have Charisma and Lola Santiago in play with Dr. Milan Christopher, your Lockpicks becomes a base 11 investigate action, and your standard investigates are base 6 (base 7 with Fingerprint Kit). Borrowed Time, Ace in the Hole, and Pay Day can combo for ridiculous turns and resource income. So, make sure you don't upgrade into Pay Day until you have the other 2 cards.