Blood Eclipse

I think this is a much better card than Blood Eclipse (3). At level 1 it can fit into many more decks and doesn't require such a large investment to add in. And really, what are the drawbacks? It locks you in at 2 damage for +2 damage? That's probably what most people will be using level 3 for anyway.

I'd consider this an auto-include in any Tommy Muldoon deck. The ability to trigger the destruction of virtually any of your damage soak assets can be very useful if you're strapped for cash or trying to empty an asset slot or trigger a death rattle.

Really excited to see this card.

I'd definitely use level 3 as a 4 damage attack sometimes, but I agree that with the level 1 card existing, I don't think I'd spend 2 extra XP very often to regain the option. — Yenreb · 15
I would perhaps upgrade to level 3 with Carolyn and double Arcane Research since her upgrade targets are limited. — Defel · 4
I wouldn't personally waste Carolyn's off-class slots on Arcane Research. I do like level 3 Blood Eclipse on Carolyn though and I think that the ability to defeat a 4 health enemy in one shot is worth mentioning though, especially for investigators like Carolyn who might otherwise have trouble doing that last bit of damage and could also save you an action against 4-health enemies. — iceysnowman · 164
How do you recommend to heal up after using this? For Carolyn painkillers so she can heal her horror and profit. Other guardians just tank it cause they have 8+ HP? — Django · 5108
@Django yeah, pretty much. Tommy can kill one of his assets with it for quick cash/bullets, Mark and Leo can put some in their allies. My problem with using this is that it uses will instead of fight, which only Leo is really good at. For others, it's going to be hard waiting for a 4-health enemy with low fight. Except Tommy, who just wants the damage from it and is willing to use this on rats. — SGPrometheus · 821
Zoey's Willpower is also 4. It fits better for Leo than Zoey maybe because he plays soak so easily, but he's not the only one with the Will for it. — Yenreb · 15
The one time that I used the Level 3 version, I combo'd it with Brother Xavier for a 6 damage burst. It actually worked quite well, because BroX had mostly been soaking horror. I suppose most of the time this is better though. Also, either is pretty worth considering in Calvin, I would think. — Zinjanthropus · 229
A couple other use cases: Calvin can use this, assuming he's already scared enough to have sufficient will, and wrecking himself up a bit for more fight/agi. Yorick can use it as a handy 3-dmg nuke at a respectable 3+2 will, with soak rivalling or exceeding Tommy & Leo. Lastly, Marie Lambeau may like a 3 dmg nuke if her arcane slots are occupied. Thematically, tho, I love the idea of Leo using this to "fire" his Hired Muscle when he doesn't wanna pay them. — HanoverFist · 739
The combo of playing this in Carolyn Fern with 2 copies of Arcane Research is neat. Free upgrade to the level 3 version. If you play cards like St Hubert Key, Brother Xavier or Hawkeye Camera, you can get more Will boosts to increase the chances of landing the hit. BUT, Carolyn can equally take Spectral Razor. It does the same thing as this level 1 version of Blood Eclipse, without costing an XP per copy. So if your Carolyn deck isn't using the full 15 slots for Seeker/Mystic cards, then Spectral Razor is just "better", since it doesn't cost an XP, right? — VanyelAshke · 180
Dr. Elli Horowitz

Tried the card in our recently finished Dunwich Legacy campaign in a relic-heavy Jim Culver deck with Chthonian Stone, Key of Ys and a few other relics. Sure helped a few times, albeit being rather expensive from three resource. As a side note, have you noticed the woman in the picture looks like Lara Flynn Boyle from 1990s TV show Twin Peaks? :-)

TomLady · 10
On Your Own

This upgrade definitely thematically and mechanically sets in stone what style of deck you're going to play, but I don't think I quite realized just how powerful this card is over it's predecessor until recently. The lvl 3 version forces you to discard if you end up with an ally under your control, while this version technically allows you to have allies under your control if they are cheated in with tech like A Chance Encounter and Flare. Allies are often some of the best cards in the game so it's worth considering. The only problem of course is this'll only work in multiplayer.

As an aside, any word on whether or not story allies can be taken? I think it's clear they can be put under your control during a scenario, but the modified deck-building restrictions seem to indicate that you cannot include story allies from scenario to scenario because they are usually described as "does not count towards that investigator's deck size" as is the case with Lita in Night of the Zealot. The key phrasing is "deck size" as opposed to "deck parameters" or something similar.

LaRoix · 1645
They're assets that take up an ally slot; you can't have them. Not counting toward your deck size is different from not counting as in your deck. My question about this is, can I take the first one for 3xp, then upgrade to this for an additional 3xp? The level is the same, but the cost is different, so I'm not sure. — SGPrometheus · 821
Both cost 3 XP so I'd say it's not an upgrade. For upgrades, the new card must cost at least 1 XP more, see Rules under "Experience" — Django · 5108
No, this one is exceptional so it costs 6. — StyxTBeuford · 13028
I didn't read the rules about exceptional and thought uprades cared about base costs but you're right. So can upgrade 3xp "on your own" to 6 xp "on your own". But you can't if you have 2x 3xp "on your own" in your deck because the exceptionel keyword prohibits this (by title). — Django · 5108
I think the permenant really should have said 'if you don't control an asset that takes up an ally slot' as part of the reaction trigger. Flare, Chance Encounter, Teamwork, and "You Owe Me One" are already in the pool, and this seems weirdly strong. I would absolutely run a Charisma On Your Own deck to Chance encounter a couple Summoned Hounds that I already wanted to cheat out of a friend's deck that way. — Death by Chocolate · 1485
@Death by Chocolate I think it's neat to play it that way; it's a reward for getting around the rules. The really funny thing is that it helps you play chance encounter and flare, calling for help by being alone. Also, those situations require other players, which wouldn't be around in a true (extremely) solo run. — SGPrometheus · 821
Upgrades care about card levels, not about XP costs - and since exceptional doesn't modify levels you can't upgrade the basic OYO to the exceptional one. — TheNameWasTaken · 3
Wrong. The rules reference explicitly states you take the difference in experience costs, not level. — StyxTBeuford · 13028
Quoting from the rules: "When purchasing a higher level version of a card with the same title, the investigator may choose to "upgrade" that card by paying only the difference in experience...". Yes, when you upgrade you pay the difference in XP cost, not level. But you have to have a higher level card for it to count as upgrading at all - and if you don't, you can't use the upgrade rules. — TheNameWasTaken · 3
Well, for what it’s worth, the original OYO is terrible and you’d probably want two copies anyway, so instead of spending 6 XP there, spend it here. — StyxTBeuford · 13028
my copy of RTFA only had one copy of this card. Was that as intended? — lockque · 1
@lockque seems like FFG decided to go with one copy for an exceptional card. Not cool from them imo. — alexalansmith14 · 695
Since Before the Black throne if you can have only one copy of the card in your deck, you only get one copy of the card in the pack. That's why I have bought a 2nd copy of Before the Black throne: I sometimes play 3-handed solo and put 1 copy of Occult lexicon / Sacred miror in each deck that can have it. — AlexP · 252
How does this work with allies from the campaign that get added to your deck via the story like Lita Chantler, Professor Warren Rice, Henry Armatage, Francis Morgan, etc — Calprinicus · 6102
@Calprinicus From what I remember, in practically every chance that story assets are added to your deck, there is always a keyword of *may* attached to it. Since they do not count towards deck size but you can assume follow every other rule involved with deckbuilding (which is why all story assets are neutral so that they can be added to all decks), I'd imagine that you simply cannot add them to your deck if running On Your Own. If you pick up On Your Own later into a campaign run that has you running allies, then you need to replace them all. Since these are story assets, the game progresses as if they are no longer present in any investigator's deck similar to how it would if you chose not to take them in the first place. — Valokiloren · 22
I'm not sure to really understand the restriction. "No asset that take up ally slot", so what about, those place by the scenario in the player area, like Mr Peabody or Daniel Chesterfield ? — RegisF · 63
They go under your control but not IN the deck, it dosent interfere in the deckbuilding restrictions — AngryJambon · 1
It is not clear that On Your Own permanent can allow me add ICHATACA or Sergeant Mornroe. It sounds ICHATACA or Sergeant Mornroe are Ally story asset so can add into deck. But others review thinks it can only control but not add it into deck. I am confusing that Sergeant Mornroe who is in a POD is a ally story asset or not if I play a Pod in a whole circle. — plfires · 1
Colt Vest Pocket

What a truly fantastic upgrade to the original Colt Vest Pocket! The level zero Colt Vest Pocket was always held back first and foremost by its need to be put into play on the same turn you intended to use it, which relegated its use to being put into play by cards like Joey "The Rat" Vigil, Sleight of Hand, or Fence. If you spent an action to play it, you would typically only have two left to fight with it, not to mention the fact that doing so could trigger an attack of opportunity. For the level two version, you can play the Colt Vest Pocket the same way you do most weapons: on any turn where you have an action to spare to prepare you for future enemy cards. The +2 combat is welcome too for a faction filled with 3 combat investigators who likely want to spend at least some time fighting enemies. However, I remain unconvinced that this gun - even in its upgraded form here - has a place at most Arkham Horror tables.

There is still some difficulty in taking full advantage of the Colt Vest Pocket. You still only have one round in which to use its 5 ammo. Rogues are obviously the class for extending a turn with additional actions (Leo De Luca, Quick Thinking, Haste...) so it is plausible you could play this and spend four or even five actions fighting with it on a future turn, but then there just aren't that many enemies with that much health! One thing you can do if you are playing Leo Anderson, "Skids" O'Toole, Tony Morgan, or Jenny Barnes is play "Eat Lead!" to shore up one of your attacks, and of course the ammunition from the Colt Vest Pocket is much more expendable than that from other guns. "Skids" and Tony get extra actions to shoot the new Colt, and Jenny's Twin .45s can also end up with plenty of ammo, so I think for these three investigators who can also take "Eat Lead!", this is a convincing enough combo to be worth considering. As for other cards that grant additional actions, I think Haste is going to be the most effective card at extending the gun's reach because the Colt highly incentivises taking multiple actions of the same type in a single turn, so they're a natural pair.

So: the level two Colt Vest Pocket is most at home in an investigator with actions to spare who can spend its ammo either taking on something with a large health pool, or for fighting lots of enemies at once in a round where another gun might run dry. The former is going to be campaign or scenario dependent, but you can make the latter more likely by playing with more players. The problem is that this role is traditionally filled by higher level weapons that do more damage per shot than the Colt Vest Pocket, such as the Chicago Typewriter or the new Beretta M1918. This is typically considered better than spending more actions fighting for less damage because you take fewer skill tests, each of which comes with a chance for things to go wrong with a failure. The Colt is half the experience cost of each of those big guns, but then if you are supporting it with other cards with levels highter than zero, such as Haste, you could have just purchased a bigger gun and had fewer pieces to assemble! Now, this isn't necessarily an either/or, as many particularly fighty investigators, such as Tony Morgan, are going to want plenty of weapons, but it bears thinking about how you might spend your experience most efficiently.

I think for now this is going to be a pretty niche pick, but this is certainly a much more broadly playable card than its level 0 variant. Perhaps in future there will be a scenario where a large enough party of investigators are guaranteed to draw multiple two health enemies in a single round, and the Colt Vest Pocket (and the .45 Thompson) will be likely to outperform the higher level Rogue guns. Until then, this is a reasonable if a bit wonky sidearm you might take if you want a particularly high density of weapons.

Trinity_ · 203
I'd take switchblade 2 and never care about ammo or discarding your weapon. — Django · 5108
I think safeguard is maybe another good card for extending the colt's reach. In a scenario with Dark Cult or the Forgotten Age doom-cultists or w/e, someone could escort Skids/Leo round the map and they could gather up little enemies as they went. Then they could kill them all with the colt on their actual turn. It's another way of accumulating lots of health worth of enemies in place, and of course, Safeguard is generally a great card so you're not necessarily buying it just to support the colt... — bee123 · 31
This upgrade wont get played for several reasons. If you’re running the OG colt and upgrading to this, the initial play action hardly mattered- you likely just Sleight of Handed most of your Colt plays anyway, so a deck that runs this likely also has Sleight of Hand. For 2XP you get a very measly combat boost and the ability to play it ahead of time, which is much less nice than just spending a bit more XP on a good Rogue weapon like Lupara, Baretta, or Switch 2 (without taboo it’s the same cost). If I’m taking OG Colt- and I still do sometimes- Id much sooner upgrade it into Lupara for Sleight shenanigans. — StyxTBeuford · 13028
Another good card to combo with this is Borrowed Time. You could play the Colt, then stockpile your other two actions and unleash hell the following turn (or whenever you need to). You have 5 shots, but you'll probably only need to generate 2 extra actions to spend them all, which isn't hard. I think it's probably best to think of this gun as a cheap way to take down pretty much any enemy. 10 damage (maybe a little less if you miss a shot) is nothing to sneeze at. It's the maximum you'd get out of a shotgun for instance (and getting all 10 is dicey). Yes, you can't restock the ammo as easily, but there really shouldn't be much else to fight after this onslaught. Don't forget it's one hand slot so you can bring a backup. — LaRoix · 1645
The problem is all of that is true of the original CVP. The only two things you get here are a slight boost in hit chance and the ability to play it ahead of time. It’s still a weapon specifically designed for a long turn onslaught, and the ability to save the play action (and a possible AoO) by playing this earlier is not really a meaningful difference for the decks that would play the original. For a backup Rogue weapon, just take Switchblade. For a burst weapon, Lupara hits harder in less shots and is easier to play around. — StyxTBeuford · 13028
I generally agree with Styx here: it's neat, but it's in a spot that makes it hard to justify. I'm hoping that if guardians get an XP-cheat card (a la Arcane Research/Shrewd Analysis/Deja Vu), it allows them to upgrade guns more cheaply, making some of the sillier guns more legitimate picks (although this would only matter for Leo). — SGPrometheus · 821
If its low level (a la Arcane Research/Shrewd Analysis) it would also be useful for Skids and Lola (and Jenny if you're willing to use a flex slot on it). — Death by Chocolate · 1485
It combos pretty well with Warning Shot, though you probably shouldn't take it just for that. I also think the idea of a Scavenging/Joey the Rat Vigil/CVP combo deck would be interesting (if probably bad). Free internet points to the first person to build that. Might as well throw Warning Shot and Eat Lead in for extra jank. — Zinjanthropus · 229
I agree that this card is niche, but aren't most of the Return set cards? The +2 boost compared to +1 is huge for 3 combat investigators like Finn and Jenny. If you're Finn and planning to always evade first, it's a really nice solution to the occasional hunter. Comparably, Switchblade 2 is unlikely to give consistent 2 damage for anyone but Tony without a lot of support and Switchblade 0 isn't good for much more than an early campaign placeholder for 3 combat gators. The ability to play it beforehand is just a little insurance in case you don't draw your Fence or already used your Sleights of Hand. It's niche for sure and little good for Tony but I'm glad it exists and would take it over Switchblade 2 for a Fencing Finn or Jenny. — housh · 171
A fencing Finn or Jenny should just take Lupara or Beretta instead to address those concerns. — StyxTBeuford · 13028
Followed

Followed is a weird card because it's good for builds since they can carefully dictate their damage, yet it's also decent for offensive builds like Tony, Mark, and Leo because it doesn't provoke attacks of opportunity. I don't think there's yet an investigator who adores this card since they can probably get by with off-class tech, but the card itself has great theatrics, and does it's job pretty well all things considered.

Compare with a few other cards of similar effect at lvl 0, each granting 2 clues:

, , , :

  • "Look what I found!": 2 cost, Fast but skill value and token have to be in close proximity, 2 icons.
  • Scene of the Crime: 2 cost, 1 action (protected from AOO), test-less but Bold traited.
  • Read the Signs: 2 cost, 1 action (unprotected), + your 's , ignores location hazards (or DttF).
  • Deduction: 0/skill, 1 action (unprotected), +1 . (or WaH but it's no help for the 2nd clue)

:

  • Intel Report: 4 cost (or 2 for 1 clue), 1 action (unprotected), test-less and flexible but expensive.
  • Eavesdrop: 1 cost, 1 action (disengagement needed), uses enemy value which makes for inconsistent difficulty.
  • Followed: 2 cost, 1 action (protected from AOO), +X where X is how much pulp beating you're doing.

I took it in my Sefina deck on a whim because I wanted something to pick up a few spare clues (and naturally I wanted an event), but we already had our cards stretched pretty thin between Akachi and Luke in our Dream Campaign. Eavesdrop wasn't going to fly because of Sefina's piss poor and obviously Preston wanted Intel Report, so you could say I was stuck with Followed. How did it fair?

Pretty well honestly. Fighting in an evasion deck usually means dishing out incremental damage. Hatchet Man, Sneak Attack, Delilah O'Rourke, Coup de Grâce, and even Backstab deal a specific amount of damage that is test-less (you typically need to evade but that's easily handled with Suggestion or Stealth - Blinding Light in my case) and easy to control (as opposed to erratic damage like .41 Derringer, or overkill, ala Shotguns). This is useful because for one, I'm already planning on evading the enemies anyway, and for two, I can get their damage right up until that last HP before I play Followed. Typically I get +3 for the check for two resources. This is preferable over something like Streetwise because with Followed, you get an extra clue. Eavesdrop gives you no bonus and as others have pointed out, an unknowable difficulty test (though evade values seem generally lower on the whole but I could be wrong).

It's not like you aren't planning on fighting enemies or getting clues, and any worth their salt should have an ample cash flow to pay a measly 2 resources. Eavesdrop might be cheap but it's only good for characters with high , while Followed is good for any or build. Jenny, Preston, and Sefina can easily afford it, and Finn is the king at evading. Tony Morgan likes it because he does get a free engage/attack, and let's not forget that Followed does NOT provoke attacks of opportunity so he doesn't need to bother with an evasion. Skids is the only one I can see not wanting this because the man's always broke. If he's going to pay for something, it better be test-less like Scene of the Crime. As for off-class s who might like it, I could see Wendy, Leo, Mark, and maybe a jank Rex who could use it to grab 3 clues and then play "I've got a plan!" to deal the full 3 damage. It's not like he needs the bonus so it's really the extra clue and the protection from attacks of opportunity he's looking for.

But I digress. The question remains, why not just get the clues with your off class faction? You're correct, just do that. But Jenny, Preston, and Finn all either have a limited number of off class support, or they have more than enough cash to play this. Why bother with taking up Jenny's precious 5 off class cards or Streetwise when you're going to have to make the skill test anyways? Intel Report is great, but if you really want to maximize it, you're going to need an obscene amount of resources. That's fine, but it will hurt the bank eventually. Lockpicks are good, but this way you can carry a two handed weapon around and nab clues while you're mowing down enemies. Like I said, it's doing lots of good work for Sefina. If you're goal is to be a passivist, then this card isn't going to help you. To me, it's about equal with most of the other 2 cluing cards, most of which cost you 2 resources and/or require a skill test. Plus, I gotta say, it is pretty satisfying to beat these eldritch monsters into turning tail.

LaRoix · 1645
Hopefully trish, with an evasion-investigation focused statline and a rumored enemy-on-the-board-sideeffect ability will make this card shine — niklas1meyer · 1
Any time you're looking at the family of 2-clue events, I think you also need to consider Working a Hunch. It only grabs one, but its fast, so you can just spend the action on investigating if need be. Compared to Followed, it is only worth it if you A) need to grab 2 clues without provoking AoOs or B) need the int boost it provides. But the simple Working a Hunch also has basically no conditional elements unlike many of the other options. Rogue doesn't really lack for skill boost, so the 'not provoking AoOs' might be the most stand-out part of Followed. — Death by Chocolate · 1485
Nice evaluation and consideration of what this card can bring vs. off-class alternatives for Rogues... I find it easy to forget that evaluation sometimes of "how is this better than what I already have available". It seems like it would pull some good weight on an offensive Finn & Jenny who have other plans for their shoestring-budget of off-class cards, or an Ornate Bow Wendy.. — HanoverFist · 739
I suspect Trish to like it, but the one thing about the card that makes it lean into a combat build rather than evasion is that protection from AoO. Good point on Working a Hunch, I added it back in because you're right, I forget it saves you the action so you could just take a basic investigate for your second. And thanks, glad you liked the write up! — LaRoix · 1645