Jenny Barnes - Desperately seeking Izzie

This is a heavy cash driven evasion and clue hunter jenny build, with burst damage and late game general combat options.

RATIONALE:

Ive seen a lot of Jill of all trades builds with Jenny using the skill boosting talent cards to augment her 3,3,3,3 stat base to make her a generalist. However when ive played this style i still found my self wanting for cash. If your frequently expecting to spend 1 (sometimes 2) resources per test and your making 2 or 3 tests a turn (including your encounter), that 1 extra credit may need supplementing from other sources to keep up.

This build tries to do so by leaning into investigating as a secondary source of income. This is also satisfyingly thematic with her back story. I like the idea of her routing around cities using contacts she makes to follow Izzie's trail while slowly unearthing something far larger. Consulting with a local researcher who she can also sell the information she finds to help fund her obsession.

CLUES AND CASH:

In this build you will aiming spending most of your time taking investigate actions. Dr. Milan Christopher is excellent here to both save you an occasional resource when you do so and generates another when you are successful. As with many jenny builds, the addition of Burglary (note the combo with the doc), Emergency Cache and, once you can get it, Hot Streak should help keep the cash train rolling.

Note that while clue focused Jenny should still be fairly flexible overall other than perhaps will power tests. The following is basically what you get over a dedicated clue hunter seeker build who could arguably do the clue hunting far better.

EVASION:

Options should come available early to an evasion boost down 2x (Hard Knocks and Hyperawareness gives you something like an 80% chance of a card in your starting hand if your willing to mulligan for it) and this can be converted to tanking (move in, engage, evade), mobility (evade then move out of a tight spot, or indeed Elusive away), or burst damage (Backstab/Sneak Attack).

COMBAT:

In addition to the burst damage, once youve seen a few more cards you would expect open up a few longer term fighting options.

Her Twin .45s attack with a base of 5, boostable with Hard Knocks where needed. I would typically try to put 6-8 ammo on it if found early, or 4-6 if found late in the game if you can spare the cash. Machete is a solid card in a lot of builds, but high evasion also allows you to ditch an unlucky second engaged mob if you need get the damage boost out of it. Im open to suggestions for a replacement for the Derringer. Ive never actually fired it in any game so far so it may be superfluous, but i wanted a 3rd weapon for the sake of consistency. Unfortunately current rogue/neutral weapons are a somewhat poor relative to other factions just now.

DOUBLE TIME:

Double or Nothing has a few possible uses. At its simplest it can be an in faction Deduction on low shroud locations. The obvious combo is with Flashlight where double zero shroud is still zero, or you could lean on Hyperawareness if needed. Combining with Backstab has potential to get some real damage on a beefy mob if you can afford to boost your agi high enough. If youve unlocked Sure Gamble with xp it can work in many many places.

WHAT ABOUT WILLPOWER?

While this is an area the deck is arguably lacking in, it may not really matter too much. It is tempting to swap Hyperawareness for Arcane Studies, and if im honest im 50/50 on either. Hyperawareness seemed more thematic with the search, and upping the odds on getting an evasion boost down early for Backstab and Sneak Attack seemed like a good idea. The Liquid Courage is related to this since will power tests are commonly associated with sanity hits. To be honest since you rarely take sanity hits from mobs, you might be fine just soaking any sanity hits you do take from encounters, but lets be honest, Liquid Courage just has a certain narrative charm. A reasonable swap would be a second Double or Nothing if your after a more optimised set up.

GETTING STARTED:

Mulligan away anything (including the Twins) that isnt Dr. Milan Christopher, a Hyperawareness or Hard Knocks (only need 1 hyper or knocks, and hyper is better). Get the money train rolling then the skill boosters down. From then on you are playing cards to adapt to the board state rather than working towards some greater mass whole.

UPGRADING:

The Pickpocketing can be ditched early for new toys. Its basically there to self replace. It could easily be another skill card of your choice. It also gives you something to sacrifice if you are ever forced to discard an asset. Ive already mentioned flexibility on Derringer and Liquid Courage above. Similarly if you find youself sufficiently cash rich you might also want to drop a Burglary. Good imports: Hot Streak and Sure Gamble described above. (CARE MINOR PLAYER CARD SPOILERS FROM HERE ON) Or as new packs come out I have my eye on the permanent skill boosting cards. With guardian and mystic getting Keen Eye and Blood Pact rogue may get its own version. I have no idea if it will fit in this build but odds are high it will at least have agi on it which might remove the need for Hard Knocks. Another direction once its out would be Charisma, and either Leo De Luca or a second stat boosting ally, maybe Cat Burglar. But this is all yet to be seen. I have a feeling Hired Muscle might be too expensive in this set up but feel free to prove me wrong.