Izzy is a great start for the new core set, both in terms of flavor and in terms of the characters. She is simultaneously something new and somewhat old, since we've all been searching for her every time we played Jenny Barnes. Her stat line is perhaps a tad underwhelming, but that's not really surprising given that she is a survivor and historically, they have/will get lots of ways to buff their skills, especially the defensive ones like Will and Agility.

I think Izzy's strongest point is that she has access to Mystic 2. While it isn't the best access, it provides at least enough to give her ways to use her Will so that you can focus on buffing that over trying to get her Fight and Agility up. It makes her signature asset all but useless, and I have to imagine that most of the time, it is going to end up either committed to a test, or used to deal with swarms of weak enemies that pop up.

The most interesting part of her design by far though is her ability. The ability to recur a clutch skill from the discard pile cannot be overstated, and makes it almost possible to try to run some cards that could get her gun into a usable position. Overpower becomes +2 and draw to on a successful attack, as do Guts and Manual Dexterity. That says nothing of the other cards that you might want to have repeated access to. If you're not limiting to the new card pool, Take Heart becomes stupid powerful, as do any of your leveled commits like Nothing Left to Lose (2) or Enraptured (2) (to put charges back on the spells that you may want to investigate with). The only disappointing thing about this ability is that it is limited to once per round. It's powerful enough that I understand this choice, but with the current card options for healing horror, I do think you could let the player take a bigger risk. That said, I still think 1 per round is plenty. Just means you need to choose carefully.

Alice Luxley is a member of the big family of "0xp allies that cost 4 resources, boost one stat and have an extra ability".

Her biggest liability is that she boost a weak stat for her class : most have only 2 , some 3, so it limits greatly the pool of investigators who can consider running her :

• In guardian : Wilson (who has bonus with Tools), Roland ( access for extra bonus), Carolyn (only with 4 )
• But she is also accessible to other investigators with 3+ , notably :
  Skids and Jenny in , Ashcan in , and in Joe, Rex and Daisy with // back (note that outside Joe, all these investigators have // front you may also use).
• For neutral investigators, i would consider her less important (Charlie can't use her ability if he exhausts her, and Lola will usually not be in the class when she finds clues). [TODO : test with // front Lola]

What can Alice bring to those investigators ?

1. Give a flat bonus in 0xp deck. Rogues may have Dario, but he usually won't be online from the start. Wilson has no other alternative at 0xp. But every of the other investigators i listed (excepted Skids) have acces, and could prefer one the 0xp seeker ally that boost intellect (Milan, Jeremiah, Whitton).

2. A unique ability. Lets compare Alice with her rivals :
   – Dr. Milan Christopher gives resources
   – Jeremiah Kirby gives cards
   – Whitton Greene gives searches
   – Alice Luxley gives damages
   And... a damage, it's strong. It kills a Whippoorwill in when a figter would have used 2 actions. It brings the odd damage to help killing a big ennemy. On a little ennemy that doesn't hit hard (like an Acolyte), you can take an opportunity attack to get rid of him (without taking in option the solutions existing to find clues without attacks of opportunity, because unlike Milan, Alice works not only on tests, but on every clue discovery. That's stronger).

In a two-player game, one can easily concieve Alice dealing 4 to 6 damage : thats the firepower of a basic weapon, without loosing tempo or risking a Retaliate on a missed attack. Alice power is almost invisible (she either damages a big ennemy, or kills an unimportant one) but really powerfull all things considered.

Do you complain of the weakness of a 3 like Skids or Jenny to deal damage ? Their missing damage will be given by Alice. A card like Daring Maneuver can cancel AOO, or you could evade with Hatchet Man and kill it with Alice.

But if you really want to make a monsterkilling Alice, take a look at the : Gray's Anatomy allows her to deal damage 4 by 4, putting her in the same category that the best weapons of the game. Example (Joe is perfect for this) :
With The Raven Quill, your Gray's Anatomy won't take slots, won't give AOO and give an extra +2
Then you find a clue (with Working a Hunch, Field Agent, Empirical Hypothesis (easy to proc, you just made a 1-difficulty test with a base skill of at least 7)...
Alice deals 4 damage, ignoring every keyword like Retaliate, Aloof...
Another test with gray Anatomy, with Raven Quill upgrade, you ready Alice... And another 4 damage

Be careful, this combo can go live as soon a scenario 2, and your figter may feel totally useless for the rest of the campaign, as you will be better than him without loosing much on you main activity : finding clues.

Joe can even put Trusted on his Field Agent for more uses, and then use Gray's Anatomy for a big Soothing Melody heal.

(Man, this campaign was wild. Joe blasted the secret scenario of Scarlet keys without an issue.)

Side note : use of Alice in Synergy decks in

I find the Synergy archetype extremly strong, and a good reward for an atypic deckbuilding.

For example, Cheat the System becames the best event to win money : , 1xp, 5 resources.

Lola has an easy access to synergies thank to her permanents, but can use it at most, because Double, Double + Call for Backup becames the solution to every problem of the game : clues, movement, damage, heal, and everything testless.
This combo cost 2 resources... But good news, there is exactly a card giving not only those resources, but also 2 extra classes for your rogues : Antiquary.
→ a that want to play on the Synergies has mostly to look for and cards. And Alice becomes an excellent pick, notably by transforming your 2 damage into 3, and therefore trivialising the majority of the ennemies in the game.

Yay, finally ! Skids and Jenny, you dirty childs of the family, now is your time to shine !

Before anything, take a minute to ponder how Eyes of Valusia/Blade of Yoth are one the best illustrations of the game.

Now we can start the review.

First thing to note is that this card is more suited to multiplayer. It requires set up, but in 3+ player you can easily play flex and use the Parley action to support your team, before swapping to the boss-killing weapon in late game.

Yes, it's a boss-killing weapon, among the best possible in the game. 4 damage with +6 to hit (and having a choice in which skill you use) makes it usually unmissable unless , without needing to commit card. And it leaves you one empty hand, so many build possibilities.

Beside the obvious , there are a few other investigators who can use it :

• Marie Lambeau (it's a Spell)
• Alessandra Zorzi (it's a Parley card)
• Monterey Jack (with // back) and Ursula Downs (it's a Relic)
• Lola Hayes (with // back) and Subject 5U-21

Important things to keep in mind :

1. It's really sad, but The Raven Quill (attachable to the Eyes) does not combo. I asked FFG for confirmation, and every attachement (Enchant Weapon, Reliable, etc.) is discarded when you swap Eyes with Blade.

2. Charging the Eyes is costly in actions. Therefore, three possibilities : playing multiplaer (more spare actions), gaining more actions (hello , and also Marie who has an extra action), or directly adding charges, like : – Knowledge is Power (available to Marie, Monterey, Ursula, Roland, Zoey, Carson). Sadly a bit too costly in xp with taboo – Enraptured (especially the xp version). Excellent with Marie, who can also double down with Practice Makes Perfect. – The Red Clock + Eldritch Sophist (Montery and Ursula). Every round, you gain one charge on the blade, and ideally you keep the clock with 2 charges on it at the start of the round : Need to move ? eldricht sophist before the start of your turn, else activate him after for one bonus action.

3. It's impossible to have the weapon in you starting deck (well, you could draw Offer You Cannot Refuse with In the Thick of It, but don't count on it), so the first scenario can be difficult if you don't have other combat solutions (Monterey has his Trusty Bullwhip, but Ursula may have issues). If you are playing multi it's more easy to circumvent, asking other players for more combat solutions in first scenario, but it can be problematic in solo (outside Monterey and Alessandra, you don't have Adaptable to easily change your deck).

So, who do i pick for my Eyes of Valusia/Blade of Yoth deck ?

In my opinion, either Marie or Ursula.

• They have both 1 (so 11 stat vuales elsewhere who will be usefull), and 4 to help hitting.

• Both have access to Dr. Elli Horowitz, wo can fetch the card and ignore it's slots. You can swap card attached to Elli without issue.

• Ursula can easily find this card with draw and fetch, Marie can do the same with Arcane Initiate. It tears me up that Marie cannot have Eldritch Brand (FFG, please... it targets Spells, why can't the dedicated Spell investigator take it ?) and start the game with the eyes in play.

I would prefer Marie because i thing Enraptured+Practice Makes Perfect is the best way to maximise the charging of the blade. Here is a 19xp deck example.

Alessandra is another interesting investigator (many actions, good ), but i think she has better options in and among Parley cards (British Bull Dog, Vamp (3), Stir the Pot...).

([Review to be completed once i have played Lola // with the blade, maybe she can shine with it too)

Before anything, take a minute to ponder how Eyes of Valusia/Blade of Yoth are one the best illustrations of the game.

Now we can start the review.

First thing to note is that this card is more suited to multiplayer. It requires set up, but in 3+ player you can easily play flex and use the Parley action to support your team, before swapping to the boss-killing weapon in late game.

Yes, it's a boss-killing weapon, among the best possible in the game. 4 damage with +6 to hit (and having a choice in which skill you use) makes it usually unmissable unless , without needing to commit card. And it leaves you one empty hand, so many build possibilities.

Beside the obvious , there are a few other investigators who can use it :

• Marie Lambeau (it's a Spell)
• Alessandra Zorzi (it's a Parley card)
• Monterey Jack (with // back) and Ursula Downs (it's a Relic)
• Lola Hayes (with // back) and Subject 5U-21

Important things to keep in mind :

1. It's really sad, but The Raven Quill (attachable to the Eyes) does not combo. I asked FFG for confirmation, and every attachement (Enchant Weapon, Reliable, etc.) is discarded when you swap Eyes with Blade.

2. Charging the Eyes is costly in actions. Therefore, three possibilities : playing multiplaer (more spare actions), gaining more actions (hello , and also Marie who has an extra action), or directly adding charges, like :
   – Knowledge is Power (available to Marie, Monterey, Ursula, Roland, Zoey, Carson). Sadly a bit too costly in xp with taboo
   – Enraptured (especially the xp version). Excellent with Marie, who can also double down with Practice Makes Perfect.
   – The Red Clock + Eldritch Sophist (Montery and Ursula). Every round, you gain one charge on the blade, and ideally you keep the clock with 2 charges on it at the start of the round : Need to move ? eldricht sophist before the start of your turn, else activate him after for one bonus action.

3. It's impossible to have the weapon in you starting deck (well, you could draw Offer You Cannot Refuse with In the Thick of It, but don't count on it), so the first scenario can be difficult if you don't have other combat solutions (Monterey has his Trusty Bullwhip, but Ursula may have issues). If you are playing multi it's more easy to circumvent, asking other players for more combat solutions in first scenario, but it can be problematic in solo (outside Monterey and Alessandra, you don't have Adaptable to easily change your deck).

So, who do i pick for my Eyes of Valusia/Blade of Yoth deck ?

In my opinion, either Marie or Ursula.

• They have both 1 (so 11 stat vuales elsewhere who will be usefull), and 4 to help hitting.

• Both have access to Dr. Elli Horowitz, wo can fetch the card and ignore it's slots. You can swap card attached to Elli without issue.

• Ursula can easily find this card with draw and fetch, Marie can do the same with Arcane Initiate. It tears me up that Marie cannot have Eldritch Brand (FFG, please... it targets Spells, why can't the dedicated Spell investigator take it ?) and start the game with the eyes in play.

I would prefer Marie because i thing Enraptured+Practice Makes Perfect is the best way to maximise the charging of the blade. Here is a 19xp deck example.

Alessandra is another interesting investigator (many actions, good ), but i think she has better options in and among Parley cards (British Bull Dog, Vamp (3), Stir the Pot...).

([Review to be completed once i have played Lola // with the blade, maybe she can shine with it too)

Chapter 2 review

Favor of Baalshandor is an interesting one. Firstly, it can only be used to discount Spell or Ritual assets and not events. This is quite limiting, as it stands there are only 7 eligible assets for Favor in the Chapter 2 core and Marie starter decks (Dread Curse of Azathoth, and then Second Sight, Cosmic Flame, Shadowmeld or their upgrades). It does also bypass attacks of opportunity but, as most spells can be used without consuming charges in Chapter 2, there's less of a need to play a spell and refuel mid-fight compared to Chapter 1.

It also comes with the cost of damage, which can at least be handled fairly well with Cosmic Guidance and Bloodstone. Lastly, Favor is bereft of icons - so if you don't have an appropriate asset to play it with then it's a dead card in your hand (compare to say Uncage the Soul in Chapter 1, which both icons on it and could be used on events, plus lacked the damage cost).

Favor of Baalshandor is not the only damage-for-resources card introduced in Marie's starter deck. With Offering Bowl you can net 5 resources, and don't need a target asset in hand for it to work, and it has a icon to commit as well. The damage cost for those resources is steeper (3 damage as opposed to 1), but in some ways Marie prefers this to provide easy means to trigger her ability (and if running upgraded Jim Culver, more damage is often better). Regarding Dexter, cards like Out the Door and "Watch this!" mean he doesn't need to run resource economy cards like Favor. So, who's this for?

For me, Favor of Baalshandor is ironically best suited to Mystic-leaning Izzie Barnes. While she has the lowest health of all new Chapter 2 investigators who access the Mystic card pool, she can recur Cosmic Guidance healing with ease (and you will be running other damage soak anyway to better offset Breaking Point). Further, the Survivor card pool has very poor resource generation on the whole (situational cards like Same Old Thing, Hidden Shelter, Pocketknife, and then using Hunter's Instinct to recover Emergency Cache), so any extra source of resources is welcome. While Offering Bowl could be used on Izzie, 3 damage to access its full payout tends to be a bit too much.

Conclusions: Considering the Chapter 2 card pool, Favor of Baalshandor is often outclassed by other less situational resource generators for Marie (Offering Bowl) and Dexter (Out the Door and "Watch this!"), and so may be best suited to Mystic-focused Izzie decks which lack other straightforward resource economy options. The card still remains niche as there are only 7 eligible assets it can target in the Chapter 2 core + starters card pool, with more targets likely to be released as Chapter 2 progresses. Including it in a deck usually is a question of how badly you need any extra source of pseudo-resource economy (for Izzie, the answer is often pretty badly!).