Card Reviews · ArkhamDB

Arcane Studies

4XP is a lot, but I like this suite of card designs. Recurring credits were a definite thing in Netrunner, and they are just as good here. Getting a +2 for an Investigation, or boosting almost any spell by +2 once a turn is pretty nice, and this will help with most of the Parlay tests that come up in scenarios. And, of course, if there is some ridiculously high test, you can always spend resources on it. It's gravy that it refills at the beginning of the Round, so it's available for Treachery defense.

9/14/20

LivefromBenefitSt · 1083

It looks to me that the best use of this card is in an Agnes Baker "dark horse" deck: you can at the same time benefit from the Dark horse bonus by having no ressoures AND have 2 ressources to boost your willpower/knowledge. Or even 4 if you also use Forbidden knowledge and Madame Labranche (and a 5th if you took your ressource during upkeep). Turning a 5 2 2 3 investigator to 11 2 2 3 or 5 6 2 3 for a single test or to 8 2 2 3 or 5 5 2 3 for 2 tests. — AlexP · 277 10/19/20

Guts

I am not sold on this suite of 2XP upgrades to the Level-0 Neutrals, but, apparently, a lot of people love them. I can admit that Mystics are not exactly swimming in card draw, and a chance to get two cards for a fairly easy test on any of the "first upgrade utility spells" (Shrivelling (3), Azure Flame (3), Rite of Seeking (2), Wither (4), etc) would be helpful to most Mystics. Once you are testing 10, getting 2 up isn't that hard.

Edit: On review, Silas can take this and might very well like to to shore up his kind of shaky .

9/14/20

LivefromBenefitSt · 1083

I am with you on not understanding the attraction to this set of cards. The card draw is nice but in most of the classes my investigators are testing high enough that I don't include the L0 version. Yes, it gives you card draw but I would rather have the other better cards in my deck in the first place. — The Lynx · 993 9/15/20

So typically, if I am testing one or two stats very frequently, I usually include the level 0 versions of these skills. All my fighters take Overpower, all my cluevers take Perception, etc. They have always been good cards and I think people have shifted to underplaying them. They just increase your consistency and help you cycle into your best cards faster. These upgrades are just more gas in that tank. — StyxTBeuford · 13049 9/15/20

I also typically focus on boosting 2 skills for each investigator but one I focus on boosting only with static boosts. The other I focus on boosting with wild/skill icons. And I could get L2 skill card but usually I would prefer to add the L2+ card that boosts itself like Rite Of Seeking (2). I could see myself using the Overpower version because I usually always have extra combat icons in my deck since failing a combat test can turn things ugly very quickly. Most of my Mystics decks are testing at an 8WP by mid campaign and I barely include any skill cards in their deck anyway. — The Lynx · 993 9/15/20

I’m not particularly excited about most of the cycle, although I find them interesting. I particularly value Perception (2) and Overpower (2) because they add more powerful gas to Practice Makes Perfect. — Death by Chocolate · 1489 9/15/20

I use Guts in my deck as a support card for other characters. My WP is fine but I often pitch this in to help a teammate when location effects are increasing the difficulty and I need to have another in my location. — Staticalchemist · 1 2/7/23

0 actions -> 2 draw + bonus against harsh tokens — Drostt · 146 10/4/24

Cryptic research 2xp more, 1 draw more, you don't have to test anything (plus any player can take it), I think they are on pair, especially that this can be taken by mystics — Drostt · 146 10/4/24

Hypnotic Gaze

It's -1 cost compared to the level 0 version, and it has an extra icon. If you can pull off the token pull (hello, Jacqueline, Olive, and various kindred cards) you can use it on all those annoying Geist enemies from TCU, plus any horror-not-damage enemies you care to fight. The reduced cost makes it more playable in Mystic decks that often suffer from resource shortages, and it;'s nice that both versions work on Elites.

9/14/20

LivefromBenefitSt · 1083

It’s still a very expensive dodge. I do not get this card. — StyxTBeuford · 13049 9/15/20

I'd say this card is very strong. I rarely played the lvl 0 version because 3 resources is a lot, but this version is more reasonably priced and you can use either damage or horror values which means you can easily pull off 2 or even 3 damage which is significant. It does require a test in that you need a specific token, but there's no consequence if you fail and there are lots of ways to force one of those tokens to resolve if you really want. — LaRoix · 1646 9/15/20

Grotesque Statue

This is very a simple and direct downgrade of its older sibling. 2 XP less, 1 resource more, 1 fewer charge. I can see either buying this on the way to Grotesque Statue (4) or stopping at this version. Obviously, only some decks will want this, but those that do will find it a nice stepping stone.

9/14/20

LivefromBenefitSt · 1083

One nice thing is that it gives off-class Mystics a chance to do more bag control stuff — Zinjanthropus · 230 9/15/20

Finally Marie Lambeau can use Grotesque Statue! Only this version though, not the original. But with all the spells you're running with her, a little token manipulation for special effects sure does come in handy. — Pinchers · 132 5/26/21

Eldritch Inspiration

They fixed the wording from Eldritch Inspiration, adding the "when," "if," or "after," and it now triggers regardless of the token, making it work with the "good stuff token" cards in Jacqueline's deck. That seems worth the 1 XP.

In the spirit of the 0-cost review:

New cards it mitigates:
Azure Flame, Azure Flame (3), and Azure Flame (5) --prevent 1-2 damage
Clairvoyance, Clairvoyance (3), and Clairvoyance (5) -- prevent 1-2 horror
Ineffable Truth, Ineffable Truth (3), and Ineffable Truth (5) -- prevent 1-2 resource loss
The Chthonian Stone (2) -- prevent the loss of a charge

New cards it enhances:
Eldritch Inspiration (1) -- it would triple one of the other cards
Eye of Chaos -- get 2 extra clues or 2 charges
Hypnotic Gaze (2) -- double the enemy's damage or horror as damage to itself
Recharge (4) -- get 2 charges rather than 1
Sixth Sense -- you investigate at 2 locations connected to you
Sixth Sense (4) -- You investigate at your location twice and at 2 locations within 2 locations of you
Wither -- Enemy gets -2 Fight and -2 Evade for the remainder of the turn Wither (4) -- Enemy gets -2 Fight, -2 Health, and -2 Evade for the remainder of the turn

I am not entirely convinced that canceling the bad effect on Parallel Fates , Recharge (2), or Recharge (4) wouldn't get you the "otherwise" effect, since you don't do the canceled part of the text, and "otherwise" follows, but I am sure I will be schooled on this. Also, Sixth Sense (4) seems wild with this.

Sadly, it won't work on Voice of Ra.

9/14/20

LivefromBenefitSt · 1083

Also works with the new Armageddon: 2 extra damage or 2 charges. — SGPrometheus · 841 9/15/20

Do note that the "when/if/after" wording applies to the level 0 version per errata. — Yenreb · 15 9/15/20

I'm not sure I follow. I get the new spell suite that scales off of "good" tokens, but other than that, it looks like the base version effected virtually every other card. Like how does this enhance Hypnotic Gaze beyond EI lvl 0? Or Recharge? Or Sixth Sense? Those are all the same, the upgrade does nothing. What am I missing? — LaRoix · 1646 9/15/20

That’s about it, honestly. 1 XP to hit any token draw effects. The list above are cards released since the last card review. — LivefromBenefitSt · 1083 9/16/20

To add to this, this will trigger off of the some new mystic cards that trigger when you reveal a bless or cursed token. e.g. Eye of Chaos — toastsushi · 74 9/20/20

Some things in this review don't seem wholly correct. Eldritch Inspiration (0) works on The Cthnonian Stone (2), Hypnotic Gaze (2), and Wither and Wither (4) just fine. If you just wanted to cancel/double the effects on those cards, then you do not need to upgrade Eldritch Inspiration (0) at all. Also, regardless of which version of Eldritch Inspiration you choose, Eldritch Inspiration doesn't let you investigate at 2 locations connected to you with Sixth Sense (0) because the choice of another location on Sixth Sense (0) is a replacement effect. — iceysnowman · 164 9/23/20

I just included the cards that were not covered by the previous review. Are you sure about sixth sense? If you are triggering it twice, it seems like you could choose two different locations. — LivefromBenefitSt · 1083 9/23/20

I don't see it listed here, but I think Guts (level 2) would also be enhanced. Allowing you to draw 4 cards if your test was successful. — Tanz444 · 31 4/14/21

No, it doesn't work with Guts. — elkeinkrad · 500 12/6/21