Roland Banks (Fighter)

The basic Roland philosophy is:

Enemy appears → Roland kills it → Roland gets a clue.

Overall Playstyle

This Roland build is a combat-focused investigator who converts enemy kills into investigation progress.

Your ideal game looks like this:

Early Game

Find a weapon, preferably backed up by Beat Cop. Stay near investigators who need protection.

Midgame

Control enemies while positioning yourself at locations with clues. Use Roland's ability and evidence to turn enemy kills into rapid clue discovery.

Late Game

Use your clue tools—Working a Hunch, Deduction, Magnifying Glass, Milan, and Flashlight—to finish difficult locations while maintaining enough combat resources to handle the final threats.

The most important habit to develop is

Always ask whether an enemy dying here helps Roland get clues.

Your Main Priorities

1. Find a reliable weapon

Roland has excellent weapon density. Your main choices are:

Roland's .38 Special .45 Automatic Machete

You want one of these in your opening hand whenever possible.

2. Build your Combat

Roland starts with 4 Combat, which is already strong. Adding a beat cop makes him even more reliable.

Your ideal early setup is often:

Weapon + Beat Cop

Once that is established, Roland becomes extremely dependable against ordinary enemies.

3. Don't ignore clues

Roland is a fighter, but this build has excellent secondary clue capability.

You can get clues through:

Roland's investigator ability Evidence! Working a Hunch Magnifying Glass Dr. Milan Christopher Flashlight Deduction

This means Roland can often clear clues while protecting the team instead of forcing someone else to backtrack later.

The Core Roland Engine

Roland's ability gives you a clue when you defeat an enemy.

The basic strategy is:

Stay near locations with clues. Engage dangerous enemies. Kill them. Get a clue as a bonus. Important positioning rule:

Try to kill enemies where clues are available whenever possible.

If you kill an enemy at a location with no clues, you still removed the threat—but you don't get the full value from Roland's ability.

Of course, never leave a dangerous enemy alive just to drag it somewhere else. Surviving comes first. But when you have a choice, position Roland where killing enemies also advances the investigation.

Your Mulligan Priorities

Generally look for:

Machete .45 Automatic Roland's .38 Special Beat Cop Magnifying Glass, if you expect Roland to investigate Evidence! Depending on the scenario Working a Hunch

You usually don't need to keep the following:

Multiple weapons Dynamite Blast early Dodge unless the scenario is known to have dangerous enemies Expensive Allies if you can't afford them yet

Your ideal opening hand has one weapon and one way to become more efficient.

Your Weapons Roland's .38 Special

This is Roland's signature weapon and one of your best options.

It becomes especially powerful when you have few clues at your location.

That means it is excellent when:

You have just entered a new location. Your team has already cleared the clues. You're fighting somewhere with no clues remaining.

Be mindful of the clue situation when choosing which weapon to use.

If the .38 is getting its bonus damage, it can dispatch enemies extremely efficiently.

.45 Automatic

The .45 is your dependable firearm.

Use it when:

You need extra combat. The enemy is difficult to hit. You need to deal extra damage. Roland's .38 isn't getting its bonus.

Ammo is limited, so don't waste shots on enemies you could easily defeat with a Machete.

Machete

This is your best repeatable weapon.

It doesn't use ammunition, making it perfect for ordinary enemies throughout a long scenario.

Whenever possible, use the Machete against isolated enemies and save your firearms for tougher situations.

If you're expecting several enemies in one location, remember that the machete becomes less effective when you're engaged with multiple enemies.

Your Combat Support Beat Cop

Beat Cop is one of your strongest early assets.

The +1 Combat makes your attacks more reliable, which matters throughout the entire scenario.

If you have a weapon and a beat cop in your opening hand, you are usually in excellent shape.

Don't forget that Beat Cop can also help deal damage when necessary. Sacrificing him can finish an enemy when one extra damage would make the difference.

Guard Dog

Guard Dog provides two important things:

Extra health Damage when enemies attack you

Use the dog to absorb attacks when necessary, especially if an enemy is going to hit you anyway.

You generally don't want Roland getting attacked repeatedly, but if damage is unavoidable, Guard Dog can make the enemy pay for it.

Physical Training

This lets Roland spend resources to improve combat or willpower.

Use it for important tests, such as:

Difficult enemies Dangerous Willpower treacheries Critical scenario tests

Don't spend resources boosting routine tests. Roland needs money for weapons, allies, and events.

Roland's Clue Package Evidence!

This card is almost made for Roland.

After defeating an enemy, you discover a clue.

Combined with Roland's ability, killing one enemy can potentially produce two clues.

The ideal sequence is:

An enemy appears at a location with clues → Roland defeats it → trigger Roland's ability for 1 clue → play Evidence! for another clue.

This can clear a location incredibly quickly.

Save evidence for locations where the extra clue matters.

Working a Hunch

This lets Roland discover a clue without making an investigation test.

Use it when:

The shroud is high. Roland's intellect isn't sufficient. You need a clue immediately. A failed investigation would be too risky.

It's especially valuable in locations with a single important clue.

Magnifying Glass

This improves Roland's intellect and makes his normal investigations much more reliable.

If you expect to investigate regularly, getting this down early is excellent.

Unlike your weapons, Magnifying Glass doesn't require much management once it's in play. It simply makes Roland better.

Dr. Milan Christopher

Dr. Milan turns Roland into a significantly better investigator.

He is expensive, so don't automatically play him before your weapon.

Your usual priority is

Weapon first → survival established → Milan if Roland needs to help investigate.

Once Milan is in play, Roland can contribute much more effectively to clue gathering.

Remember that Milan also rewards successful investigations with resources, helping fund Roland's other cards.

Flashlight

Use a flashlight on locations where Roland would struggle to investigate normally.

It's particularly useful before using the following:

Deduction Perception isn't in this deck, so ignore that route—deduction is your main investigation skill payoff.

Lower the shroud, then investigate with a better chance of succeeding.

Deduction

Deduction is your biggest investigation payoff card.

When you successfully investigate while committing deduction, you can discover an additional clue.

Use it when:

A location has multiple clues. You have a strong chance of succeeding. You can combine it with Magnifying Glass, Milan, or Flashlight.

The best deduction test is one you're already likely to pass.

Don't gamble it on a difficult investigation unless you have strong support.

Your Emergency Tools Dodge

Dodge prevents an enemy attack.

This can save Roland or another investigator when

An enemy attack would be devastating. Someone else is about to take lethal damage. You need one more turn to kill or evade an enemy.

Don't use Dodge to prevent minor damage if a much worse attack could be coming later.

Dynamite Blast

This is your panic button.

Use it when:

Multiple enemies are grouped together. The team is being overwhelmed. A large enemy needs to take a major amount of damage.

Be extremely careful about friendly fire.

Dynamite doesn't care who has been a good detective.

Make sure you understand exactly who will be damaged before playing it.

Your Economy Emergency Cache

Roland has several expensive cards:

.45 Automatic Beat Cop Guard Dog Dr. Milan Dynamite Blast

Emergency Cache helps fund them.

Don't automatically play it the moment you draw it. Use it when you know what the resources are going toward.

A good use is:

Draw emergency cache → play it → immediately establish an important weapon or ally.

Your Skill Cards Vicious Blow

This is one of your most important combat skills.

Use it against enemies where the additional damage can save an action.

For example, if the extra damage means you kill an enemy in one attack instead of two, that's a major gain.

Prioritize Vicious Blow when

The enemy is dangerous. You need to kill it quickly. Extra damage creates a major action advantage. Guts

Your primary Willpower defense.

Roland's willpower is respectable, but dangerous treacheries can still cause problems.

Use Guts on:

Important Willpower tests Tests where failure would cause multiple problems Situations where drawing a card on success is valuable Manual Dexterity

Roland isn't an evasion specialist, but sometimes evading is the correct move.

Use this when:

Killing an enemy isn't currently practical. You need to get away. The Evade test is important.

Don't forget you have this option just because Roland is carrying a gun.

Sometimes the best tactical move is still running away.

Unexpected Courage

Your universal skill boost.

Save it for critical tests where:

Failure would be costly. You don't have a matching skill card. You need extra protection from the chaos bag. Cover Up — Your Signature Weakness

Cover Up is one of the most important cards to manage correctly.

When it appears, it attaches to your location and represents Roland's unfinished business. You need to clear its clues before it overwhelms you with damage.

Your priority when Cover Up appears:

Deal with it promptly, but don't commit suicide doing it.

You have several tools that can help clear it:

Normal investigation Magnifying Glass Dr. Milan Flashlight Deduction Working a Hunch

If an enemy appears while you're dealing with Cover Up, don't blindly ignore it. Sometimes you need to kill the enemy first—especially because Roland's ability may help you gain clues while doing so.

The key is to avoid letting Cover Up sit around too long.

A Typical Roland Turn

Imagine Roland is at a location with:

2 clues An enemy engaged with him Machete in play Beat Cop in play Evidence in hand! Action 1: Fight

Attack with the Machete.

With Roland's Combat and Beat Cop, you have a strong chance of defeating the enemy.

The enemy is defeated

Trigger Roland's ability:

→ Discover 1 clue.

Then play Evidence!

→ Discover another clue.

Now the enemy is gone, and the location's 2 clues have potentially disappeared without Roland spending a single action investigating.

Actions 2–3

Move forward or investigate if necessary.

That is Roland at his best:

Protect the team → kill the enemy → collect evidence → keep moving.