In the Resident Evil: Deck Building Game world, there are plenty of characters to choose from, and hundreds of ways for you to play them in Partner mode.

Recently, while preparing for a game, I was dealt two random characters…and I stumbled across a combination that is surprisingly awesome (and hilarious) to play. It involves characters you wouldn’t think would be all that great, and they aren’t–by themselves. But together, they have the potential to rock any boss in the Mansion.

The Brawn: Jack Krauser

One of the more basic characters to play comes from the first game box:

This is Jack Krauser, and he’s pretty much just a Knife guy. You get Knives for free once you get 1 Decoration, and at 7 Decorations, you add 5 damage to each Knife you play before you Explore the Mansion. There aren’t too many frills here. You get a few Knives, you explore the Mansion, you kill a Zombie, you get more Knives, you Explore some more, rinse & repeat till game is over. It can be hard to ramp up damage with Krauser, because he deals with Knives that are only dealing 5-10 damage each (excepting the Survival Knife, which does more and has the special effect of giving all Knives +5 damage). Thus, why he’s not often used except as a Partner (and only then when you have to).

The Brains: David King

For a while, Krauser was the only character who really specialized in Knives, and Knives remained an unpopular weapon type. Then, from the Outbreak set came David King.

David’s Level 1 ability, gained after 2 Decorations, is interesting–fun to use with a Pump-Action Shotgun to gain 2 Explores without having to actually put down the 40 Ammo needed to use the gun, for instance. (It’s also fun with many of the special weapons, like the Burst-Fire Handgun, the Survival Knife, the Signature Special, etc.) But it’s his Level 2, gained at 6 Decorations, which is the fun one for this scenario. When you play a Knife, you can get a Knife from your Discard Pile. So, if you play 4 Knives this turn, you can get up to 4 Knives from your Discard Pile…and you can use them again to Explore the Mansion, arming you with up to 8 Knives instead of just 4.

(Images from BandaiCG.com)

The Two Together

Separately, Jack Krauser and David King are passable characters to play, nothing world-rending, but okay. Together? …Mwahaha. 🙂

Jack Krauser’s Knife-gaining ability and damage boost with Knives is great, but both abilities fluctuate too much per turn–one turn you get a handful of Knives, and the next turn…well, you may not. David King’s Level 2 ability lets you get back the Knives you used last turn, effectively Dumpster-diving for extra damage.

David King’s natural affinity for Knives and for putting new text on Weapons is great, but it doesn’t really work well on its own–there’s no damage boost. With Jack Krauser as his partner, King is suddenly a powerhouse, getting back multiple Knives a turn (which have the potential to do 10 damage apiece!).

Maximizing the Knife-Recycling Strategy

• Incorporate lots of card draw, like Umbrella Corporation, Fierce Battle, and Mansion Foyer.
• Trash out all Weapons that aren’t Knives and don’t have special effect text.
• Remember to try to get Special Weapons if you want to be able to use David King’s first ability to its fullest.
• Once you’re finished buying stuff for your deck, Trash out the Ammo/Gold, preferably using Shattered Memories so that your unnecessary Actions get Trashed out, too.
• Don’t forget, once Krauser hits Level 1, to Gain a Knife every turn. David King can use that Gained Knife once he hits level 2–he can pull it back from Discard Pile to play!
• Use Deadly Aim or Desperate Escape for boosting damage to all Knives; Deadly Aim costs less, but Desperate Escape doesn’t take up your Action for the turn.
• Make sure to get the Survival Knife (the Special Knife weapon). You can Discard the Survival Knife with David King’s level 1 ability, giving another Knife its special ability, and then pull it back into play with his level 2 ability when you play another Knife. You’ll be getting 2 Survival Knives for the price of 1!

Summary

Try this strategy out in the Resident Evil DBG the next chance you get. I guarantee you’ll be laughing out loud with how much damage those “little” Knives can do when in the hands of King and Krauser!