https://arkhamdb.com/decklist/view/39435/hit-em-harvey-1.0

Hit ‘Em Harvey

Hit ‘Em Harvey is a deck that does the expected Harvey job of discovering clues and drawing cards, but it also is designed to do a surprising amount of damage. This makes the deck feel like more of a generalist deck than your traditional strict cluever deck. Altogether, your naturally high intellect, innate ability to help other investigators draw cards, and damage-dealing player cards make this deck a good addition to most any team.

I’ve piloted Harvey as a secondary damage dealer to victory in a couple campaigns now, and in my experience, he can really excel in two player when paired with a fighter. This deck’s ability to provide supplemental damage can help swing boss fights and clear out critical enemies, while also sometimes helping your fighter draw through their deck faster to locate their best cards.

Core Concept

First, our main job is to get clues. Thankfully, that’s pretty easy to do with Harvey, as you have 5 Intellect. The cards I’ve chosen to help in this department are all very basic. I like to run Fingerprint Kit and Magnifying Glass in my hand slots. Fingerprint Kit can be expensive, so it can be switched out if you don’t like the cost. However, I find that especially in 2 player it can accelerate your investigating just enough to not worry so much about slowing down to help fight enemies.

Dr. Milan Christopher or Jeremiah Kirby can provide +1 Intellect while also netting you either resources or cards. However, I find myself not relying on either ally, as Lab Assistant is actually the premium ally for the slot. Harvey needs the card draw and hand size Lab Assistant provides for this deck to work, far more than he needs a passive +1 Intellect. Plus, the lower cost to Lab Assistant makes her more attractive to play in most circumstances. However, if you have a good opportunity to play Dr. Milan or Jeremiah, by all means go ahead because they can still help you. Just be aware that if you are playing Taboo, Dr. Milan can feel a lot worse as he can take much longer to pay for himself using Taboo rules.

My last version of this deck had two copies of Working A Hunch, and that worked very well. However, I removed them from this version in favor of more damage tools. But if you want to ensure you get more clues, Working A Hunch is honestly just a solid card.

Finally, we also take Deductions, Eurekas, and Perceptions to help empower a few investigates further.

Second, we want to draw cards. This is also easy for Harvey. Preposterous Sketches can draw Harvey four cards, most of our skill cards give card draw, and Lab Assistant gives us cards. In addition, Harvey’s signature Vault of Knowledge can give us cards, too. Finally, you can always just draw a card for an action. I find that’s honestly a fine move when there isn’t a better option. Of course, you could build to get even more card draw, but this isn’t actually a Big Hand deck. Therefore, there isn’t as much of a need to go so hard on it.

Now, heavy card draw in Harvey often makes people worry about his signature weakness. This is the entire reason why I take Heavy Furs in Harvey. Heavy Furs will help you manage your weakness a lot. If you have 8 or less cards in hand at the time, all of the damage from Thrice Damned Curiosity can just go on the Heavy Furs, leaving Harvey himself perfectly healthy. For this reason, I usually prioritize playing Heavy Furs over anything else.

Now that you’ve got clues and cards online like a regular Seeker, now we can talk about the damage potential. The clues and cards had to come first because our main damage cards require you to have those two things figured out. “I’ve got a plan” can potentially do four damage swings, while Occult Invocation can potentially do three. This can allow you to one-shot many different enemies in the game, which can make you incredibly helpful in key moments. Another thing I include is Mind Over Matter. This can allow you to do some basic fight or evade actions. All in all, this suite of cards can help you knock out some enemies with shocking efficiency.

A last minute modification I’ve made is adding one copy of Disc of Itzamna. This can also help you knock out another small enemy, but if you feel the previous suite of cards is plenty, you can switch it out for something like Tooth of Eztli.

Suggested Upgrades

As someone who plays a lot of Harvey, I absolutely swear by getting two copies of Bulletproof Vest first. This will replace your Heavy Furs. Once you have Bulletproof Vest out, not only will you be safer with your signature weakness, but you will also be able to withstand more Agility treacheries that deal damage – something Harvey is not good at – and survive more damage hits if the enemies you’re around so much actually hit you. So, whenever I play Harvey, my first 6 XP always go towards Bulletproof Vest.

After that, I would recommend getting better versions of the cards that are already here, considering what direction you need to go further in to perform better with your team.

If you need more clues, you can upgrade your Fingerprint Kits, Magnifying Glasses, and Deductions.

If you need more card draw, you can upgrade your Perceptions, upgrade Preposterous Sketches, or buy Cryptic Research to replace Preposterous Sketches.

If you need more damage, you can upgrade your “I’ve got a plan!”, Mind Over Matter, or Disc of Itzamna.

Suggested Team Comps

I have played Harvey with a lot of different investigators, and his power is so generally good that most investigators are happy to see him around. He does best with fighters, as his damage output is intended to be bursty and supplemental as opposed to continuously taking out one enemy after another. That being said, I find he is particularly good with anyone who is especially event or skill dependent. This is why I often pair him with Nathaniel Cho. While Harvey’s ability doesn’t work with Boxing Gloves, he will still ensure Nathaniel always has a lot of cards in hand. He can also do well with Winifred Habbamock and Mark Harrigan because Harvey’s bonus card draw can trigger on both of their investigator abilities.

Considering the new Scarlet Keys investigators, I would say both Charlie and Carson would be happy to play alongside a more generalist Harvey. This is because both of them quite urgently want to draw their cards in order to get set up as quickly as possible due to their reduced statlines, whereas Harvey can start making things happen early on with no set up. This can allow your team comp to be more stable as Harvey helps the team push through a shakier early game.

Conclusion

Hit ‘Em Harvey is probably my favourite way to play Harvey, as it allows you to cover so many different bases throughout each scenario. It’s always a fun surprise when your fighter is struggling with taking down a boss enemy and you get to pipe up that, actually, Harvey can kill that. Overall, I’ve found this to be a solid archetype that can slot well into a lot of different teams and shines especially well in two player. If you want to find clues, draw cards, and sometimes be able to one-shot a Hunting Nightgaunt, I recommend giving Hit ‘Em Harvey a try!