Tibs said:

::Laughter:: I still think we could have won that game if we'd been thinking about the reduced terror track more clearly. AZATHOOOOOOTH!

Julia said:

Holy hell!  Wow!

I hope you used some really strong investigators.

Now I want to try that too ;'D

EcnoTheNeato said:

Yep, probably the damage is permanent ::laughing:: anyway, Dagon & Hydra can be handled with some strategy, Basatan is a very elegant Herald Veet created not so a long ago and the three together were still doable (with some efforts and patience). The problem was dealing even with the fourth one (check it out the Galaxy here), which was enough nightmarish even without other Heralds' help. Being drawned was such an exquisite pleasure that I have planned a re-match. It's... kinda fascinating :-)

Avi_dreader said:

The investigators were strong (Patrice, Hank, Silas, Rita, Carolyn), but Julia wasn't that skilled at the time, so, sadly, it didn't last very long. I'd love to try it now, and see. Maybe if I'm able to beat it, I'm gonna use even my R'lyeh Awakens (when the final version will finally be ready) as 5th Herald another time, just to have the complete Cthulhu's armies ready to invade Arkham...

Julia said:

Wha-!  Avi, what have you done with her?! What eldritch horrors did you whisper in her ear?

mi-go hunter said:

:') I think I want to try that too.  I think my ideal team would be Patrice, Silas, Hank, and Roland.  3 2nd tier investigators and one 1st tier.  Sounds like a fair fight :'D

And of course, Silas would be brutishly powerful in the aqua everywhere scenario.

Avi_dreader said:

Yeah, probably the best team possible with four investigators. I really like Roland. Teamed with Patrice, he should be impressive. Once I had Patrice with two Press Passes. Even this was quite nightmarish

Hank is second tier?  Maybe if he can't get a weapon.  Otherwise he hoovers up monsters in nothing flat.  

He certainly excels at it like no one else. Maybe a 1.5 tier? Because he's probably the best monster hunter of all time (of all time!). But Mandy and Patrice just seem to be in a whole other league...I'd be okay with calling him 1st tier, though, but I think tiers are mostly opinion based anyway. Some will occur in more spots then others (Mandy and Patrice always being in the top), but some investigators fit certain peoples' play styles. I'm okay with putting Hank up top, though, because of his non-need to make a horror check until AFTER the combat check. Ridiculous!

A small aside from the fascinating discussion between the AH-Board regulars:

The picture of Daoloth is a bit strange. It does not conform with the description given by Ramsey Campbell. No hemispheres, no shining metal, no long plastic rods.  Looks almost as if someone made his own interpretation of how it looks like (similar -> picture of Azathot from the main box).

This is a second draft; the original portrait was much more accurate, but the artist...had a problem.

avec said:

You don't win the game by killing monsters.  You win the game with Mandy, or Patrice, or Wendy, or Daisy, or Darrell (if exploited properly), or Joe (if you're ruthless enough to clue nuke the Ancient One).

Hank is a great character, but he's not a character who can almost carry a game on his shoulders solo.  But yes, I'll agree that the second tier characters have some gaps in power.  They're mostly there because they're clue generators or great fighters.

subochre said:

Sounds lovecraftesque. What was it, if you don't mind sharing the secret?

Sorry, Arag. He was making an "unspeakable horror" joke there.

Yeah, I'm sure the real explanation is more mundane (probably someone thought a less orthodox depiction would look cooler)...but I like my version better.