TIPS
Official Gameplay Guide
Tricks to Mastering Sherlock
Keys to The 1st Day
Locating and gathering food is very important. But having your team of pawns spread out will leave the target vulnerable to attack.
Start by searching big rooms in groups to avoid danger.
Gather Food First, Weapons Second
Sherlock's side should concentrate on gathering food as quickly as possible.
Having multiple pawns in a critical state late in the match raises the risk the target will be left defenceless.
Moriarty knows where all the weapons are located at all times, so getting your hands on those weapons before his villain is also a sound approach.
Sharpening Your Detective Senses
If any pawns' positions are exactly the same as when they started on the first day, Sherlock will be unable to deduce any new information on the 2nd day.
Placing pawns in new positions relative to the other pawns, while making sure no one is left open to attack, will narrow down the villain's identity.
Small Rooms Are Your Worst Enemy
Small rooms have no more than a 1-area size, making it hard to have a witness present.
Only search small rooms when you are sure a risky pawn is out of range.
Share Intel on Food Locations When Playing in Big Teams
Pinging one way does not mean you have to act accordingly. In other words, lying can be a tactic.
When there are many investigators working for Sherlock, it makes sense for those players to ping the location of food if they see some.
Moriarty and Irene players, on the other hand, should try to ping in such a way as to make Sherlock players believe they are one of them.
Tricks to Mastering Moriarty
Acquire Weapons
You will need your villain―or the pawn you wish Sherlock to believe is the villain―to acquire a weapon.
Similarly, there is no need to prioritise avatars who are not the villain, or who you don't want Sherlock to believe is the villain, trying to acquire one.
You should also take into account tactics such as finding and then wasting food, or using devices to hinder your opponents. So you should also consider searching points of interest other than weapon locations.
Cast Doubt on the Villain's Identity
Whenever the villain and target's identities are both revealed, you have no other option other than to pursue the target outright.
In this scenario, the number of pawns Moriarty can command is much fewer than the number Sherlock can command, so time will begin to work against you as each round passes.
However, if there are a number of potential villains still in play, Sherlock will need to deploy pawns from across the manor to rally on the target to protect them, forcing him to use up more commands in doing so.
So even if you command the villain and thereby reveal early on that the commanded pawn is not the target, having multiple possible villains can still be advantageous.
Remember: it will take a good number of rounds until the villain can reach the target.
That's why you must look to push the attack and hunt the target from the very beginning.
Use Food Locations to Your Advantage
If you see that food is concentrated in one area, it can be a good tactic to pick one pawn to command and have them run around collecting and disposing of those food items from the start of the match.
When food starts to run out, Sherlock may send pawns to areas with still unsearched points of interest or to other pawns already in possession of food in an act of desperation.
If, at this point, Sherlock chooses to split his pawns up to reach these points or pawns, the villain may have a much easier path to reaching the target without any witnesses!
