Hey Dr. Elli Horowitz, could you hold this for me? My hands are kinda full. Let me just put it on top of my deck first

Aside from the funny Norman Withers combo made easy with Research Librarian; Jim Culver, Gloria Goldberg, Luke Robinson, Marie Lambeau, Zoey Samaras, and Roland Banks are the only investigators who can use both this and Elli without picking up a rather dubious permanent. Some of these investigators are far more likely to be interested in this weapon and ally than others.

Even if they're not struggling for hand slots, considering people run things like Prepared for the Worst, Cyclopean Hammer having access to a similar tutor that cheats the thing directly into play is a pretty serious advantage over other alternatives. It's almost certain there are other relics you might have in your deck you would not mind finding instead.

If you're worried about encounter cards blowing up your hammer, I think you're just a coward. Just don't get hit.

An interesting interaction I just happened upon and didn't see mentioned elsewhere: if I'm not mistaken, you should still be able to attach Weakness events to the Crystallizer after playing them! This could be cool tech for builds that go through their deck at least twice per scenario to prevent having to play the Weakness a second time.

Matching weaknesses here: arkhamdb.com arkhamdb.com

Q: Does the Mouse Mask recharge after Luke Robinson triggers the Gate Box which puts into play Dream-Gate: Wondrous Journey? How about when the signature weakness Detached from Reality puts the other Dream-Gate: Pointless Reality into play?
A: Yes to both; in both cases, Dream-Gate is “put into play,” replenishing an offering on Mouse Mask.
Note: Not sure how to add this to the FAQs section above, but this is the official answer I got from FFG.

Can I use astral mirror's action to play an item into one of my hand slots with salvage?

No. The ability on Astral Mirror allows you to specifically play an asset into one of your hand slots, and does not allow you to play an event, even if resolving that event would put an asset into one of your hand slots.

Sincerely,

Alex Werner, FFG Game Rules Specialist

One of the most basic and safest ways a card can be upgraded is a 1 cost reduction for 1 XP. With this, we can see this card is only on-par with its XP pricing. That said, taking a card down to 0 Cost is massive in ways that aren't always obvious. I've had many turns where I held onto the level 0 version simply so I could use the resources for a critical asset. Being able to play a card fast for no Cost means the card is almost never a dead card in hand.

In addition, certain investigators can also get some absurd benefits from it since it's fast. Wendy Adams with her amulet for example can use the card's Double Willpower icons for a skill test, then almost immediately use it for the effect, or simply use it as discard fodder for her Investigator ability.

That said, there are many cards that end up being higher priority purchases for a lot of decks, but don't overlook this one in a blessed deck.