Arkham Horror: The Card Game – Harvey Walters Investigator Starter Pack

I’ve Got A Plan

Are you looking for more clue for your buck? Want to investigate like the best of them? Dying for a hand size as large as the lovecraft universe? Then the Harvey Walters Investigator Pack may well be the deck for you.

Serving as one of five premade investigator decks, Harvey Walters represents the seeker that everyone wants to be. This deck genuinely has it all, and makes a great addition to your collection, whether you’re starting out in Arkham or well versed in the horrors that await.

Personally, I fell in love with the seeker role very early on in my Arkham Horror LCG journey, and this deck served as a great bolster to the cards I already had. Not to mention that Laboratory Assistant and Burning the midnight oil are both must haves for a seeker deck.

Cryptic Writings

The Harvey Walters Investigator Pack comes equipped with a cornucopia of cards for you to take on your next adventure with; 60 to be exact.

34 of these cards make up your starter deck, and can be used in your campaign for the tantalizing cost of 0 xp. That means you can jump straight into the action and familiarize yourself with your inventory as you explore.

Once you’ve become well acquainted with what Harvey has to offer, and you’re ready for more, the Harvey Walters Investigator pack has you covered. Also included in the pack are 26 additional cards that you can use at will, if you have the experience, to upgrade your deck and bling out your magnifying glass.

Extensive Research

One of the many charming aspects of this deck is the way it introduces new players to the role. The cards contain a variety of mechanics, and once it gets going there is a fair bit to remember. However, the interaction flows perfectly between cards and refrains from overwhelming the investigator.

Card draw potential with this deck is off the charts. Harvey’s passive alone allows you to take an extra card each time you draw during the investigation phase. Pair this with cards such as Preposterous Sketches and Glimpse the Unthinkable, and you have a hand brimming with potential in no time.

With this deck, having a hand size of 7 just isn’t going to work for what we have planned. Thankfully, we have Laboratory Assistant and Vault of Knowledge to boost our hand size by two a piece. Plus, as Laboratory Assistant isn’t unique, we can have both copies of them on the field once Miskatonic Archeology Funding is in our deck.

My favourite card in this deck has to be Higher Education. With your increased hand size and draw rate, this card will almost always have its passive active. Once it does, you have plus one to either your intellect or Willpower when you spend a resource; this makes passing skill tests super easy and turns Harvey into a powerhouse. It also goes without saying that you should upgrade this at the first chance when you have enough XP. As doing so gives you plus two to the same skill tests rather than one.

Unfortunately, this deck is missing a couple of things to make it really pop. First of all, you’ll need a lot of actions to be able to get the right cards into play, but these particular cards are hiding in other expansions. Secondly, the increase in hand size just isn’t enough to get the most value out of Celaeno Fragments, as you’ll only ever be able to reach a hand size of 14 with the base deck.

Don’t be disheartened though, this means that there’s lots of potential for you to unlock when you have the confidence to start deck building.

Glimpse The Unthinkable

“I have experience dealing with these sorts of horrors” – H.P Lovecraft.

I picked up this deck going to the murder at the excelsior scenario pack, and was lucky enough to discover a hidden combo at just the right moment. Had I not gathered two clues with my final action that turn, the doom counter would have triggered and shown us no mercy.

Once we had survived that endeavor, I took to the work bench and created a Harvey Walters deck with a few interesting tweaks. I created a Harveysteins monster with extra actions and a large hand size that could investigate in adjoining locations and move other investigators at my will. With a few more combo’s thrown in and clever uses of keywords, the Harvey Walters Investigator Pack was souped up and ready to roll on a much harder difficulty.

It’s also worth noting that there are heaps of fan made decks online that use the Harvey Walters Investigator Pack as a base. Most have a useful commentary that explains why certain cards were used in place of others, as well as what cards you want in your opening hand, and what combos to look out for.

Nonetheless, I really can’t recommend this Harvey Walters Investigator starter deck enough. It’s made with new players in mind, but has the flexibility to become something even more brilliant if you have the cards. Pick the pack up today, and take your investigation to the next level.