The Unstoppable

Ursula Downs is usually perceived as one of the weaker investigators. After literally destroying The Forgotten Age (paired with Rita Young), including double murder of Yig and finishing with 83 XP (not even using silly stuff like Charon's Obol), I dare to disagree. She is a beast!

Her ability is close to having 4 actions every turn. Her stats are very solid both to survive the encounter deck and to do her job. The only weak spots being enemies (although with the best weapon in the game that also happens to be cheap and slotless, that is much less of an issue), and her excellently designed weakness, which makes Ursula very fragile and forces you to think and work really hard to keep her alive.

The idea was to go light on assets and run through the map as fast as possible. Well how did that work out... Like an asset-addict, Ursula ended each scenario with her play area crowded with cards, each of them being too good and helpful to be left behind. The result, which is rather far from asset-light, is highly functional.

Let's look at the assets and why you don't want not to have them:

Dream Diary is the topmost priority, of course the ugraded version. All 3 options are solid, but as Ursula's job is getting clues, I strongly prefer the 4+ shroud version as it is the most predictable one, meaning you can position yourself for an important test for . It is a free card every turn, very much enabling Higher Education while also making the upgraded Grisly Totem sure to activate every turn, giving you another free card.

Magnifying Glass (soon to be upgraded to Magnifying Glass) is a staple. Switching it for Hawk-Eye Folding Camera is also very viable especially for the extra sanity, yet I prefer Magnifying Glass for its lower cost and fast keyword.

Tooth of Eztli not only improves Ursulas odds against most of the treacheries, also gives a free card draw. And as you probably noticed, that is something this deck appreciates a lot.

Soon we want to get Grisly Totem - together with Dream Diary the value is inmense. Relic Hunter is not a must, but great to have 2 pieces of accessory - be it 2 totems, 2 teeth or 1 of each.

Fine Clothes is a cheap soak which is situationally useful in other way - but won't stay in the deck for long.

As much as I like the idea of using Dr. Elli or Dr. William, the overall cost of the deck plus the fact you want to take at least one investigate action every turn makes Dr. Milan by far the best choice. Yet do not underestimate your loyal companion, who, especially at the beginning of the scenario, equals a free card every turn. And beware of dumping him for icons as sooner or later, Ursula will need the soak desperately.

Fieldwork is something like Ursula's second staple - in the happy flow, it is +2 for the first investigate in a new location. But you can also forego the free investigate to highly increase your odds of passing any important test- be it evasion, getting rid of a painful treachery or the location tests "after you enter...". Even without Dr. Milan and Magnifying Glass, with Fieldwork you can reliably investigate a high-shroud location.

From time to time you really want to kill something, or just help your buddy kill something big and scary. And as much as I hate Strange Solution being literally the best weapon in the game, sometimes evasion is just not good enough. Essence of the Dream kind of guarantees it hits even strong and scary enemies.

Pathfinder is another natural upgrade - but progressing the campaign I felt another asset would be one too much. You should also give the game some chance...

In the know is another great asset, allowing to save some movement, ignore tough enemy and especially satisfy Ursulas personal weakness up to 3 times. It does not guarantee you won't fail to answer the call, but highly increases the chance while also being helpful in other ways. Yet is is another slow and costly asset - think carefully how many of these is too many.

The mulligan priorities:

Dream Diary, Dr. Milan, other assets + usually keep Crack the Case or Burning the Midnight Oil to be able to play all your assets quickly.

Upgrades:

Dream Diary for 6 XP - we really want the free Essence of the Dream every turn (upgrade)

Grisly Totem for another 6 XP to get the card engine running (probably replacing Fine Clothes)

Higher Education for another 6 XP because now the 5-cards condition is kind of guaranteed and you probably have some Milan money to spend (permanent)

Relic Hunter for 3 XP (currently at 21) to keep both Tooth of Eztli and Grisly Totem - or possibly 2 copies of one - that is already close to infinite card draw (permanent)

Strange Solution for 8 XP (currently at 29) so we are not fully dependent on team fighter (upgrade)

Perception combined with Grisly Totem is no less than +3 cards (upgrade)

upgraded Magnifying Glass is nice if you get a hand-held story asset (upgrade)

Forewarned because dropping clues does not hurt Ursula much and by now the encounter deck can be pretty nasty (probably replacing Working a Hunch)

Deduction especially in larger parties where 3+ clue locations are just everywhere (upgrade)

Cryptic Research highly increases your chance to find the stuff you need, in the opening hand it's a gift, but you never say no to free 3 cards

The pitfall - Call of the Unknown - it is possible that Ursula can go through an entire scenario without even noticing this card in her threat area. It is also possible that she will have to make really difficult choices, wasting actions and/or exposing herself to enemies. Especially by the end of the scenarios, when satisfying The Explorer's Call usually means wasting 1-2 actions for no real benefit (and sooner or later will ruin your plans anyway), the time comes when 2 horror simply becomes the best option - be ready for that and don't let Ursula's mental nemesis get reshuffled into a very thin deck just to draw it next round (and get another horror from reshuffling itself). As suggested above, In the know may be a solution.

Ursula Downs performs really well and I felt like the only thing making her life really hard was her personal weakness - which really shows great design work, turning her strength into a terrible pitfall. You can be laughing in scenario's face for 10 rounds, but then draw on a bad treachery, receiving 5 horror and turning the rest of the game - if you happen to survive to even have one - into a nightmare. Love when it happens!