Knuckleduster

Gotta say, this card is getting very appealing as a key first weapon in a Leo Anderson deck.

Leo starts with a good Fight value of 4 and will likely have at least one Beat Cop in his deck and hopefully out early, so that's Fight 5. Add a Guard Dog to that for a missed swing and you're doing damage anyway...and have a Survival Knife in the other hand and you're really starting to rock.

With a lot of enemies having a Fight of 2 or 3, even Leo and one Cop will give him a 5 vs. 3 test, and that's easily upped by getting Lone Wolf going with Keen Eye or Physical Training.

And when you get into big bosses, many have Retaliate anyway.

This is an underrated card....cheap as heck and a guaranteed 2 Damage with no ammo drawbacks.

Krysmopompas · 366
I see very little reason to run this card over Machete even in Leo Anderson. Machete just seems to be a lot better in many ways. Yes, some bosses already have retaliate, but others don't and there are many strong enemies with high fight value who also don't have retaliate. If this card gave you a +combat bonus to the attack it might 've been worth consideration, but as it is, it is very unappealing. — matt88 · 3210
For me, the ability to engage with more than one enemy at a time and still do 2 damage on a hit is great especially early in a cycle. In games with 2 or 3 players where one is just going after clues, it’s even more appealing. Machete penalises you for taking on more than one at once; knuckleduster doesn’t. IMO if you manage your Fight this is a great card. — Krysmopompas · 366
If you'd said Mark instead of Leo (and if Mark could even run this), I could maybe agree with you, but a native fight of 4 doesn't feel like enough. Also, remember that you only get to use the survival knife's reaction during the enemy phase, so you get no benefit from it when you miss your knuckleduster swings. — TheNameWasTaken · 3
Weak card...weak review — Alogon · 1144
Weak card...weak review — Alogon · 1144
On a lower difficulty where +2 could be enough, and in a multiplayer game where you may have to face multiple enemies on a regular basis (the only reason to consider this over Machete), it may be worth giving this card a second look. I'm not sure how unwieldy the enemies may be in four player, but with three players, we very rarely have a situation where Machete isn't good enough. That said, I don't agree that this is a weak review. — cb42 · 38
I think if this didn't take up a hand slot (y'know... you can hold a gun while wearing these, maybe), I think they'd be as good as people keep trying to make them. With enchanted blade out now, i don't think Guardians even need to consider this. Non-Guardians might like it if they can't get machete, but they'll really miss the extra accuracy. — SGPrometheus · 841
I think it will see more play the day a Rogue with 4 or 5 combat comes out! I look at you, Michael McGlenn, come here! — mogwen · 254
I've been playing it more and it's grown on me too. Not nearly as solid as machete but works really well in niche builds like "bought in blood" Leo (i.e. leo with hired muscles, treasure hunters, etc.) — Gyara2020 · 1
The only place I've found so far for Knuckleduster is with Wendy and The Red-Gloved Man. At 6 combat she doesn't miss the lack of a combat boost so much, and TRGM can soak any retaliation (or she can evade first). — Herumen · 1741
having to A) Engage with an enemy and B) make sure it's the only enemy you engage with are big reasons why I don't like Machete as much as others. If your guardian has to run across the map to save a Seeker (for example) from an enemy, you have to move, engage, and fight, hoping you're not dragging another monster you're already engaged with you. I stand by Knuckleduster's 2 Damage being better than Machete, at least on Easy/Standard, the only mode I play on! — Krysmopompas · 366
there's something kinda thematic in an illicit leo deck to use boxing gloves and hidden pocket knuckle dusters to be a 5 or 6 fight with them. — tophmittydragon · 1
Use it with Daring to minimize the drawback. — AlderSign · 391
Alice Luxley

Of course for the majority of investigators this will be compared to Dr. Milan Christopher. She doesn't mix well Mark Harrigan and Zoey Samaras, but she works with the others just fine. Roland Banks, Joe Diamond and Leo Anderson have the options of taking either naturally, as does Carolyn Fern, but all the Dunwich investigators might consider this as well if their focus is a mixed bag or a desire for additional boost in their investigations.

With respect to the effect itself, Dr. Milan Christopher will be doing more work per turn given that he is not limited by the number of times that he can trigger in a single phase (although he probably should have been an exhaust just like Alice).

Alice is a secondary consideration in a larger group of investigators however where one of you can take Dr. Milan Christopher and the other can take Alice Luxley. She also has the capability of occasionally doing points of damage and combos well with Scene of the Crime that doesn't trigger attacks of opportunity. A nice, get a clue and swat that Will O' Wisp into a smear.

There are also secondary reasons to take Alice Luxley in addition to her effect of being able to increase offensive power. That one extra health might not seem like much, but the last two campaigns have been introducing treacheries that target allies with damage assigned to them. Alice Luxley can survive one of these being drawn, while Dr. Milan Christopher will be taken out. It's not as minor a thing as it might sound. Often, you will put down those one health allies to lose them halfway through a scenario, while Alice will remain for the entirety if you are lucky.

Bronze · 187
Leo Anderson can’t take Dr. Milan Christopher. — Death by Chocolate · 1489
Angered Spirits

Just a note as this is mentioned on the page for Roland's Cover Up weakness, but is not noted here. The same principle applies:

If Akachi is eliminated (by being defeated or taking a resign action) while Angered Spirits is in play, Angered Spirits's Forced effect triggers, as per the FAQ [V1.0, section 'Rulebook errata', topic "Elimination"]: For the purpose of resolving weakness cards, the game has ended for the eliminated investigator. Trigger any “when the game ends” abilities on each weakness the eliminated investigator owns that is in play. Then, remove those weaknesses from the game.”

This is just as tricky to manage for Akachi as it is for Roland, as she already has a lower health value. In campaigns that result in many physical trauma to investigators (The Forgotten Age, for instance), this can put Akachi at a disadvantage to other mystics if not managed carefully.

soakman · 37
Warning Shot

Besides having an effect that is actually pretty good on its own, this card makes Dynamite Blast much better. It can be used to perfectly position the enemies and keep the investigators out of the blast radius. In some situations it is better than Elusive as a dynamite-enabler, since it can avoid putting your teammates at risk, and because it can move enemies into a location that has other enemies, to group them together. And unlike Elusive, warning shot is in-faction so all who can use the dynamite can use it. The firearm ammo requirement is definitely a limiting factor, since many decks include few or no firearms. But now with .45 Thompson, there are a few options to choose from. It’s also worth noting that it cannot move elite enemies.

jmmeye3 · 630
I could see Mark liking it because he can run .32 colt better than anybody else. Is it too situational tho? — bigstupidgrin · 84
I think that it is likely one of those cards that I would like to consider as a 1 of situational moment in a deck with several ammunition to choose from amongst weapons. — Bronze · 187
Fingerprint Kit

I'm not convinced by this card. While there's something nice about turning any main/off-class seeker into Rex for three actions, this card doesn't represent the best value IMO. Including the action to the play the card, this card generates the equivalent of two actions. It costs a whopping four resources to play and will leave the player 3 resources shorter than if they had Dr. Milan in play and investigated them the old fashioned way.

A magnifying glass costs 1 (or 0) resources, is fast and gives the same Int bonus while investigating. Further, Fingerprint Kit loses value and/or utility on 1-clue locations. The net result of playing this card vs not playing it is 4 resources for 2 clues. 3 resources if one played Magnifying Glass instead, 7 resources if you count the resources not gained from Dr. Milan. It doesn't help on 1 clue locations. I think if it cost less, had more charges, or could get more charges it might represent better value.

In fairness, the net two actions could be used to clear out a location in a single turn, otherwise not possible so there's something to be said for it, but it's so costly and not always guaranteed to be useful, unlike a magnifying glass and Dr. Milan. I think adding more charges to it (Venturer, Emergency Cache (3)) will be a massive boon to this card (tho Venturer does itself cost 4 resources and an action to play and can only be used by main/off-class blues).

KingsGambit · 15
The cost does seem a little high. I think it does require ways of adding supplies to be worthwhile (either E-Cache 3, Venturer or Contraband/Contraband 2). It can also do pretty decent work if you have it in a deck with act of desperation to recoup the cost. But outside of those instances it struggles against a Flashlight. It will kill a lot of tempo to play and while most Seekers have gotten an economy book in Crack the Case, it still has some issues. — Myriad · 1226
Don’t forget about any resources or cards you might pitch on a high shroud location that you save making one check instead of two. This card reads: Pay four resources and a card to draw three copies of Deduction. It’s pricy but effective - more so with E-Cache3. — Death by Chocolate · 1489
In a Minh deck with Milan, Drawing Thin and Scavenging, the finger pring kit is a killer! — mogwen · 254
I like it a lot for Norman, who is highly skilled at getting clues, but slow. — jd9000 · 76
The cost is proportionate to the amount of clues that it lets you grab. A Flashlight costs 2 resources and let's you grab 3 clues. This card costs 4 resources and let's you grab 6 clues. Of course Flashlight gives you a higher chance of getting clues than this card does, but you'd need to play 2 Flashlights and therefore spend 4 additional actions to get the same clue gain. As a result this card is clearly meant for investigators with a very high Intellect value that benefit more from compresing their already excellent investigations than further improve them. In other words Daisy and Norman and those who want this. BTW I don't think the comparison with Rex is appropriate. Rex needs to surpass the skill test by 2 points, you just need to pass the skill test with this card. The major downside is that you can only use it once per round under normal conditions. — Killbray · 12369
i found the 4 resources to be a pretty big deal in Ursula, but fairly negligible for Finn. Finn could also Contraband it (and find Contraband with Smuggled Goods). — Zinjanthropus · 230