Human Scoundrel - Comprehensive guide to stabbing and looting.

So you've chosen the Human Scoundrel? This Scoundrel guide will cover her skill choices and techniques. Maybe you like playing humans, maybe you like stabbing enemies for big numbers or maybe you like the color green. Regardless the Scoundrel is fun class to play. 

Sneaky sneaky stab stab

Let's go over what makes the scoundrel a killing machine and what limitations she has.

Strengths  

• Extremely deadly, single target damage dealer. 
• High movement values on her cards. Useful for closing with archer's or looting treasure.
• Access to very fast initiative values allowing her to manipulate initiative easily.
• Able to manipulate positioning with Move actions on top row, through pull effects and Sinister Opportunity (bottom). 

Weaknesses

• Most susceptible to exhaustion of all starting characters due to small hand size. Spellweaver will most of the time generally outlast Scoundrel as she can recover her lost cards.
• Not many strong options for damaging multiple targets.
• Strong dependency on positioning of allies and/or enemies to maximize her damage. 
• Cannot afford to play loss cards early or risk facing exhaustion.

Cards  

For the Scoundrel, her effectiveness is strongly governed by what cards are picked.  Picking a hand full of too many loss cards can result in earlier exhaustion. This philosophy of card selection is covered earlier here.

First picks:

We try to pick all the useful reusable cards first. 

• Flanking Strike (Initiative 04, Attack 3, +2 if ally is adjacent / Move 5 bottom.  Hell yes we want this card)
• Swift Bow (Attack 3 at Range 4?, yes please)
• Single Out (Top is same as Flanking strike, bottom is a loss but gives you a recurring 2 Attack boost when attacking enemies on their own. Useful for bosses or scenarios with low enemy counts. Single out - bottom, is more powerful with low party numbers as the lower monster count makes it easier to Single out enemies).
• Venom Shiv (Attack 3 + poison / Move 5, great card for setting up poison on big targets or covering ground)
• Special Mixture (Heal 3 / Move 3 + Poison. Poison on bottom action is great because when we use the top action to attack, it hurts much harder)
• Thief's Knack (Jokingly called Thief snack. Disarming traps is useful and gives free XP but the real prize is the Attack 3 on the Bottom which can be combo'd nicely with Quick Hands)
• Quick Hands (Move 2 Attack 2 / Loot 1. Weak top attack but has move, combine with Theifs Knack on bottom to attack twice in a turn while still moving. Loot on bottom).

Then finish your hand with 2 of these to form your 9 card hand depending on the situation / scenario.

• Sinister Opportunity (Top is a weaker version of flanking strike that adds 1 Attack  (2 if you have dark element) for each nearby friendly to your target. Bottom can force enemies into traps. Note this card is significantly better in a 4 person party than it is in a 2 person party).
• Throwing Knives (Top is a weak ranged attack with 2 targets, useful for fighting in Scenario's with narrow corridors where it's not easy or too dangerous to get into melee, Bottom is loss Loot 2 which you would rarely use).
• Backstab (Top is a loss and is similar to flanking strike with the added bonus of the Single Out  effect if you can meet all the positional requirements. You're generally better off activating the bottom half of Single Out over taking backstab. Bottom Move 6 is good but we already have pretty good movement cards. Take backstab for larger scenarios where you need the extra movement).
• Smoke Bomb (Bottom is a Pull effect that can be difficult to use, but can help drag enemies through traps. Top is a loss effect and gives invisibility and doubles the value of your next attack. Useful if you want to kill a boss quickly. Note that the smoke bomb stacks with bless or the natural 2x modifier. That means if you Flanking Strike for 5, double it with Smoke bomb and also coincidentally flip a 2x modifier, you will hit for 20 damage).

Avoid:

• Trickster’s Reversal (Top is good for breaking shields but it's a loss card and too situational)

Flanking Strike: This is what power looks like at level 1

Starting items  

Straight up you need a Stamina potion. Stamina potion buys you one extra turn before exhaustion and extra turns are what we need.

In a larger party with 4 characters, I'd take the Poison Dagger, but in a 2-3 player party I'd buy Cloak of invisibility. If I wanted to play cautiously in a 4 person party, I'd take the Cloak anyway. The reasoning is simple, in a smaller party you are more likely to be in a position where you may need to take a hit or two. The ability to go invisible on demand will help keep you alive and allow you to position yourself aggressively without risk (similar to the Spellweaver). In a larger party you will face more Elites and the Poison dagger is useful to soften those tougher Elites.

  

Perks  

The scoundrel has access to good perks. The scoundrel benefits from a consistent modifier deck because it helps her confirm kills (and consequently dead enemies can't attack her back!)

The order for which perks she benefits from, becomes quite straightforward. You firstly want anything that makes your damage more consistent and predictable before you move onto the rolling modifiers. 

1. Ignore negative scenario effects - Negative scenario effects are on about 1/3rd of the scenarios you play on, and they are generally pretty nasty. Take this early and save yourself a lot of pain.
2. Replace one -2 card with one +0 card.  The -2 attack card is the closest thing to a Null attack card. It will stop you confirming kills more often than not. When you're trying to kill a monster with 4 health left with an Attack 5, there's only 2 modifier cards that will stop you: the Null attack and -2. Once you take this out, you will miss your kills far less often.
3. Remove two -1 cards. These make your damage overall more reliable.
4. Replace one card -1 with one +1 card. Similar to above, taking out the -1's helps make your attacks more reliable.
5. Replace one +0 card with one +2 card. Solid perk. 
6. Remove four +0 cards. This perk doesn't make your deck more powerful until after you get a few other perks first. By removing the +0's after you've removed most of the -1's, you will flip green cards more consistently. 

The rest of these cards have varying use and effects depending on your party makeup and what your play style is.

1. Add two rolling +1 cards. These overall add extra damage while helping cycle through your deck. Note that rolling modifiers can make your modifier deck flip nulls if you have advantage. On the flip side, rolling modifiers also make disadvantage less bad, as it makes it possible to flip a 2x even when at disadvantage (rolling modifier gets ignored in disadvantage). 
2. Add one rolling  INVISIBLE card. This one is actually pretty good. You're never really sad to flip an invisible card out of nowhere. If you do flip one of these in Melee, you can take some risks with your positioning. 
3. Add two rolling POISON cards. Inconsistently poisoning enemies isn't that great. The effect is wasted if you kill your target. It is better than the rolling pierce though.
4. Add two rolling MUDDLE cards. Similar to poison. Inconsistent muddle is hard to utilize and it's only useful if your target survives (which you generally don't want them to). 
5. Add two rolling PIERCE 3 cards. This perk does nothing for enemies without shields. When you do attack shielded enemies, it is difficult to get this effect when you need it. Generally there are better perks to pick.

Stop exhausting, the bad guys are still around...

Party 

The Scoundrel is unique in that a number of her attacks depend on her allies being positioned near her targets. As a result, party composition will dictate how you play Scoundrel and how your allies play. 

Brute / Mindthief: Great teammates for the Scoundrel. Both primarily melee attackers and naturally position themselves for your Flanking Strikes. Their play style naturally complements yours.

Cragheart: Also a great teammate, but be wary as Cragheart has friendly fire on some of his moves. Some caution is required when standing too close to the Cragheart or his targets. Coordinate with your rocky friend to make sure you're not going to be in the way. The Scoundrel has a moderate health pool and can take some hits, but you don't have spare cards to lose.

Spellweaver / Tinkerer: Neither of these classes typically engage in Melee with enemies which can make landing Flanking Strikes more difficult. Some adjustment to your party strategy may be needed. The Tinkerer's decoy summon can help trigger your Flanking Strikes, and the Spellweaver can load up Frost Armor to block hits and play more aggressively. I would also suggest the Spellweaver buy a cloak of invisibility as described in the Spellweaver introduction as an invisible Spellweaver can still meet Flanking Strike / Single Out conditions.

Friendly fire isn't really that friendly

Playstyle 

The Human Scoundrel benefits from manipulating initiative to get in close and kill her enemies. This technique is covered in a previous post here. Since many of your attacks rely on your teammates being positioned near enemies, you benefit most from learning how they intend to act during their turn. 

You're also flexible so that if your enemies are further away or it's too dangerous to get into Melee combat, you also have ranged attacks available. 

The Scoundrel has a modest amount of health and can take some hits if needed, but you don't have spare cards to lose. 

Swift Bow / Single Out

Single Out's bottom action is powerful persistent loss effect, but requires you to forgo a round of movement. One way to activate this without losing your momentum is to combine it with Swift bow. That way you're still killing enemies, even if you aren't pushing forward through the scenario.

Lets take a moment to appreciate just how much reach Swift Bow has. Range 4 is incredible. As we spend a turn to activate Single Out, we can take a shot at any of the enemy Inox within the red lines in the diagram below. 

Many reach, such range. Wow.

In case you've missed it, Single Out's bottom persistent effect does NOT specify Melee attacks. It works with Swift Bow and Throwing Knives, which means you can be shooting enemies for Attack 5!

Smoke Bomb

If we're fighting a boss we can also combine Single Out with Smoke Bomb to prepare for a huge attack next round. Normally burning so many loss cards together for a character with a small card pool is a bad idea, but if you're boss hunting, it can be valuable to go for a fast kill.

Smoke Bomb fun fact: The invisibility will last until the end of your next turn.  However, Smoke bomb's double damage effect technically lasts until you use it or the end of the Scenario (Note the infinity symbol). Say you activate Smoke Bomb, but the boss moves or teleport's somewhere else so you lose your opportunity to attack it. 😢... The only requirement to activate the damage double effect is that you are invisible, so if you have a Cloak of Invisibility you can make yourself invisible later and trigger the double damage.

Smoke Bomb fun fact 2: The Smoke bomb double damage effect stacks with the 2x attack modifier. Pg 20 from the Rulebook

When attacking, the base attack value written on the card can be modified by three types of values in the following order. Repeat these steps for each individual enemy targeted by the attack:

An attacker’s attack modifiers are applied first. These modifiers include bonuses and penalties from active ability cards, items, and other sources (e.g., +1 Attack from POISON).

Next, an attack modifier card is drawn from the attacker’s attack modifier deck and applied.

Lastly, the defender’s defensive bonuses are applied. This reduces the incoming attack value for each individual enemy targeted based on each defender’s own shield modifier or other defensive bonuses.

If there are multiple modifiers in any single step of this process, the player chooses the order in which they are applied. Also note that because the bonuses are applied per target, it is possible for the same attack action to ultimately deal different damage to each enemy it targets.

That means if you Flanking Strike (3 Attack) on a monster (while an ally is adjacent +2 Attack) with Singled Out (while the enemy is alone +2 Attack) while they are poisoned (+1 Attack) with Smoke Bomb active (2x) and if you happen to flip a 2x attack modifier, it is theoretically possible to do 32 damage. You can theoretically go up to 40 with Backstab. It sounds glorious but that's alot of loss cards. Make sure the target is worth the cards you're throwing at it!

Sinister Opportunity

This card is decent but it's easily misunderstood or used poorly. The bottom half of this card allows for some amazing positioning plays. It's not simply just moving enemies into traps, you can do alot more. Here's an example where we play Sinister Opportunity with our favorite attack card, Flanking Strike.

The Elite archer below has immobilized your friend, the Mindthief. Not good! The Mindthief wont be able to make a melee attack this turn... unless you can do something about it.

Not only can we reposition the enemy to get our Flanking Strike bonus, we can use Sinister Opportunity to bring them into the Mindthief's attack range and use the Initiative value from Flanking Strike to act early.

That archer is in trouble

Leveling up

Minor spoilers regarding Scoundrel's cards from this point. Stop reading now if you don't wish to spoil your level up cards.

Scoundrel Level 2-9 SPOILERS AHEAD

Last chance...

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Too late... Lets go

Level 2

Flintlock vs Open wound.

Flintlock: A very powerful range attack (and on the bottom). We've established earlier: Range 4 is good! and at a respectable Attack 5! It is however a loss effect and we do not want more loss cards with the Scoundrel.

Open Wound: Initiative 11 and Move 5 on Bottom is reliable. Reusable Attack 4 top is good on its own, adding wound if you have a friend is even better. Wound is useful for killing certain high shield / low hp enemies...

Flame Demons

 

Choice: Open Wound. 

Level 3

Duelist's Advance vs Hidden Daggers

Duelist's Advance: The top is a better version of quick hands. The bottom adds the Single Out effect to your next attack. As with Single Out, it does not specify melee attacks, so you can combine it with your ranged attacks for good effect.

Hidden Daggers: This is not a great card. The top is a more powerful Throwing Knive's effect, but it's a loss card. The bottom gives us access to a reusable invisibility, which can be handy. Invisibility on the bottom is not as good if it was a top, simply because it's harder to move and reposition yourself at the same time. 

Choice: Duelist's Advance, replacing Quick hands.

Level 4

Flurry of Blades vs Gruesome Advantage

Flurry of Blades: Note that this card is initiative 03! Not many things in this game will beat you out. The top is weak ranged attack that hits 3 targets, but the bottom is why you pick this. Advantage on all attacks this round? Combined with a solid Move 4? Incredible.  

Gruesome Advantage: Top is a more powerful version of Backstab, and the bottom is a respectable move 7. The initiative value leaves something to be desired, it's slow, but not slow enough to guarantee we act last so it's hard to leverage. Overall it's OK but we'd rather not add another loss card to our hand. 

Choice: Flurry of Blades, replacing Throwing Knives or Thief's Knack.

Level 5

Cull the Weak vs Visage of the Inevitable

Cull the Weak: The top effect is basically a stronger version of Flanking Strike - and Flanking strike is amazing. The bottom effect is a harder to use version of Single Out. Stunned and Disarmed enemies typically aren't threats in a round, and you typically want to be killing off threats. 

Visage of the Inevitable:  Holy Macaroni, the top lets you assassinate any enemy if you can get them by themselves and flanked by a teammate. The bottom effect is similar to special mixture, one less movement but applies multiple poison effects. 

Choice: This one is more difficult as both cards are quite good under different circumstances. Cull the Weak is always good, it will be your strongest reusable attack card so far. Visage's top effect is incredible but it's positioning is hard to use. The choice here depends on your party. In a 2 person party, the monster count is lower and Visage becomes easier to pull off. In a 4 person party with higher monster counts, Visage becomes really difficult to pull off. 

My choice would be to take Visage of the Inevitable for 2 person parties and Cull the Weak for 3-4 person parties. Replaces Backstab or Venom Shiv.

Level 6

Burning Oil vs Crippling Poison

Burning Oil: A strong ranged attack, yes! Wound essentially adds 1 extra damage to your Attack, so this in a sense reads as a ranged Attack 5. Wowsers! 

Crippling Poison: Bottom is a weaker version of Thief's Knack with poison. Top is a loss card that adds additional attack to poisoned enemies. The card is powerful under the right conditions but is difficult to use. 

Choice: Take Burning Oil, don't look back. Replace Throwing Knives, Venom Shiv or Thief's Knack.

At this stage we have access to a good choice of ranged attacks. The Scoundrel now plays quite flexibly and can engage in Melee and disengage to shoot as needed giving her solid options for most encounters.

Level 7

Note when leveling up, if you don't like your current options, you can always take a card from the lower level instead. This is described in the rule book on page 44:

When a character reaches a new level, add one new card to their active card pool. The card selected must be from the character’s class and have a card level equal to or less than the character’s new level.

Spring the Trap vs Stick to the Shadows

Spring the Trap: Top is an upgraded version of Theif's Knack's reusable disarm. However instead of simply disarming the trap, it throws it at an enemy and they suffer the trap effects. Powerful on scenarios with traps. Trap damage goes through shield so this can be your way of killing high shield enemies. Bottom is similar to the Smoke Bomb 2x effect but not as good since it doesn't grant you invisibility and the condition is harder to meet. 

Stick to the Shadows: Top is a variant of Sinister Opportunity. A solid 4 Attack and has the kicker that lets you hit twice as hard if you have a friend and a Dark element. However, Dark element is not naturally created by Scoundrel and without Dark this card is simply a worse version of Cull the Weak. Bottom is invisibility on demand, tied to a Move 2. A useful trick to alllow for risky plays.

Choice: If your party can generate Dark consistently, then I would take Stick to the Shadows. Spring the trap is good if your party isn't effortlessly pushing or pulling enemies into traps. If there isn't dark Element and your party is already clearing traps consistently, then take one of the level 5 cards: Visage of the Inevitable or Cull the Weak instead. Replace Sinister Opportunity, Venom Shiv or Thief's Knack.

Level 8

Spring the Trap vs Stick to the Shadows

Pain's end: The top of this card is not great. It's a big heal but it's another loss card we don't want to be using. The power of this card is the bottom half. The bottom is great for clearing high shield, low health monsters.

Stiletto Storm: The top of this is Flurry of Blades with 1 extra target and the bottom is a simple Move 4 with retaliate. The top is fairly lackluster. Taking a weak ranged attack and going from 3 to 4 targets doesn't make this card much better. The bottom half is not ideal either as Retaliate isn't a very useful effect for the Scoundrel as you'd rather not be taking hits at all. 

Choice: If your team is lacking in tools to fight high shield low health enemies, then take Pain's end. If you're team has no trouble breaking shields, then take one of the Level 7 cards, Stick to the Shadows or Spring the Trap or one from level 5 Cull the Weak / Visage of the Inevitable. Replace Special Mixture or Venom Shiv.

Level 9

Long con vs Watch it Burn

Long Con: One of the first multi target melee attacks available to the Scoundrel but it's an incredible one. It also comes with initiative 02, you will be beating nearly everything in the initiative order (if initiative is tied with monster, then player acts first). To top it off, you will also disarm everyone around you. This card by itself will allow you to clear rooms on your own and allows your party to increase the difficulty you play at. The bottom effect is not worth using. The top effect is so good, you'll be consuming your stamina potion just so you can play Long Con again.

Watch it Burn: The top is a loss effect which we don't like. It's powerful when combined with your multi target ranged attacks. The bottom is also decent, moving and applying negative status effects to enemies is nice. 

Choice: Long Con. Watch it Burn is decent but Long Con is just so much more powerful. Take Long Con and increase your Scenario difficulty. Replace Single Out, Special Mixture or Venom Shiv.

Item Advancement

Stop now if you don't want item spoilers. Items up to Prosperity 1-4 will be discussed. I won't go into any random item designs though.

PROSPERITY 4 ITEM SPOILERS AHEAD

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Not a spoiler yet 

Winged shoes (Item #2) can help you navigate stages with high obstacle counts. The Scoundrel already has impressive Move values, so being able to add Jump is extra sweet. 

Shoes with wings, a fashion statement for every Scoundrel

Another early item that you can work toward is Eagle-Eye Goggles (Item #6) from prosperity 1. This helps you gain advantage when you need it. For example during Boss Fights where you want to make sure you land your double damage Smoke Bomb combo. 

 

Minor Power Potion Item (#14) can help power up those weak multi target range attacks. Get this only if you find yourself using attacks like Throwing Knives often. 

Remember there is a limit to the number of small items you can carry, and that is equal to half your level rounded up. Easy way to remember is every odd level you can carry an extra small item. Level 3 = 2 small items, Level 5 = 3 small items, Level 7 = 4 small items, Level 9 = 5 small items.

Taste like chicken

Prosperity 2 opens up this interesting gem. #Item 17, Empowering Talisman. It's headgear so it does take the same slot as Eagle Eye Goggles. Get this if you didn't manage to pick up the Goggles as it essentially lets you reuse your Stamina potion again. You can pull off 3 Flanking Strikes in a row by combining this with a Stamina potion. 

It's really another Stamina potion in disguise

Eventually you will want to work towards the #Item 26, Long spear from prosperity 3. If you have a poisoned dagger, this will replace it.  

More stabbing

The spear helps make your deadly single target attacks more deadly by hitting more enemies!

Prosperity 4 gives us the long awaited #Item 34. The Major Stamina potion. We want this so bad because it lets us play our best cards again without resting! You are allowed to hold items with different item names, so if you already have a Minor Stamina potion, it is perfectly fine to also hold a Major Stamina potion for double the card recovery!

The secret is really popeye's spinach

I'd suggest keeping the Cloak of Invisibility as invisibility is always useful for keeping you safe in dangerous positions. There's an argument to take Cloak of Pockets (#Item 16) to carry more potions if you feel the invisibility is not as useful.

Does this guide help you avoid exhaustion? Feedback is always appreciated. May your road events be peaceful.