Zoey is the Guardian's Guardian. Roland Banks will try to get clues, using his killing as a means to an end. Zoey kills because things need to die. Her base stats show you what she does - 4 Combat (which is basically 5, as you'll always want a weapon) and 4 Willpower - she survives and she kills. Her investigator ability also tells you want she does. She hunts down monsters and engages them. And then kills them. And then moves on. For players who want a clear cut role on the team, Zoey is a great choice. If a monster spawns, you go to it, and you kill it. If a monster engages another 'gator, you engage it, and you kill it. If a monster thinks about spawning, you make sure it knows you'll engage it, and you'll kill it.

Zoey's weakness, Smite the Wicked, is extremely time sensitive. If it comes up early in the game it's effectively blank. It will spawn somewhere, and eventually, Zoey will find it, and she'll kill it. If it spawns near the end of the game, it's probably just going to become a trauma, because the AP required to go to the farthest location and kill it will likely be better used to complete the scenario.

Zoey's unique card, Zoey's Cross, is yet another indication of what Zoey does. Combined with her effect, it basically becomes "Do 1 damage when you engage a monster." The flexibility and efficiency this gives her can't be understated. Zoey can literally walk in to a location containing a 1hp monster and declare it dead once the cross is out. Monsters with that incredibly awkward 3 HP now become 1 action kills with Machete or .45 Automatic. About the only time you won't want to use the effect is fighting a 2 HP monster, because the 1 damage won't kill it, and won't change the AP it takes to kill.

As a Dunwich investigator, Zoey has a limited but interesting card pool. She can take all the investigator cards, giving her a lot of ability to make things dead, and a very small amount of ability to do much else beside spend AP inefficiently on healing. However, her 5 cards from any class really let you shape her.

Her inherently high willpower makes Zoey a reasonable place to put Mystic cards. In particular Rite of Seeking is a very nice way for her to grab a few clues. Her high WP and focus on killing means that she is extremely well suited to survive the encounter draw that Drawn to the Flame requires, letting her pick up clues for free. She can pick up Scrying to give her something to do with actions when there aren't any monsters around.

Outside of Mystic, cards that give free AP or free clues are usually ideal for her. Guardian weapons are generally all she needs for combat, so shoring up her other duties is usually the best route. She really likes cards like Shortcut and Quick Thinking that grant her free actions and moves to get closer to monsters and to kill monsters. Things like #"Look what I found!" and Lucky! let her attempt investigations and have a much higher level of success. Leo De Luca benefits everyone and Guardians have a relative dearth of allies (Beat Cop is always a nice friend with the cross to do 2 free damage, but he'll die eventually). Working a Hunch gives her access to "free" clues when there's nothing to kill.

Overall, Zoey is about as straightforward as she seems most of the time. She is best paired with someone like Daisy Walker, Rex Murphy, Agnes Baker or Jim Culver who can cover the clue finding and story events while she keeps bad things at bay. But while it may seem like being a one-trick pony isn't that much fun, Zoey is one of the most entertaining investigators around!

I want to add to the other review that in my experience, having "Look what I found!" in hand and wanting to make use of the action-compression is a sure-fire way to just pass all your investigate tests. Seriously. Recently, I even opted as "Ashcan" Pete NOT to investigate with Duke for the express purpose of failing so I could grab both clues, draw a card with Rabbit's Foot, and get out of there. Nope, still passed.

In my opinion, this card has one of the finest artworks of the core set and perfectly illustrates the survivor's feat: turning a bad situation into a good one!

You can play it after investigating in a location with at least 1 clue on it. There are plenty of chances during a scenario to trigger this event. It's greatest plus is that it is never wasted. You merely play it after the attempt, in comparison to committing cards to a skill test upfront!

Fast cards aren't subject to Attacks of Opportunity, so if you are engaged when playing Look what I found!, you only get hit once (for the investigation test).

Special note: if the location has a shroud of 2 or less (after applying all modifiers), you can even play Look what I found! after drawing the -symbol token and resolve the effect!

This card is so good in most decks that it is easier to summarize where it does not shine brightly:

Pros

• Great click-compression. Gain two actions for the cost of one!
• Comboes well with Rabbit's Foot.
• In hard/expert difficulty propabilities shift and you frequently fail investigations by more than 2 points, the card becomes more appealing to investigators with high Intellect then.

Cons

• One-time effect only. It should not be your only means for gathering clues.
• Rex Murphy can not include it due to his deckbuilding restriction.
• Investigators with high Intellect most often pass their investigation tests instead of failing on easy/standard difficulty.
• A spoiler prevents Look what I found! from being played, while Working a Hunch and Drawn to the Flame bypass it.
• spoiler is not discarded after Look what I found! is resolved, because the investigation is still considered unsuccessful.

Cunning Distraction is more often included thanks to it's awesome artwork and the icons than for the ability it provides. Cunning Distraction causes all enemies at your location to be evaded and therefore exhausted, even Elite foes, without drawing a token from the chaos bag. This has a number of benefits. Now that enemies are exhausted, they can't take attacks of opportunity, they can't retaliate, they can't move during the enemy phase (if a Hunter), and they can't attack during the enemy phase. They also won't follow you if you want to move. Everyone gets this benefit. If you and/or a partner is swarmed with enemies, Cunning Distraction is a great get out of jail free card. The enemies will of course ready during the Upkeep phase, this buys you some time. But there is a rub in it.

How likely are you and your fellow investigators assembled at one spot and overrun by enemies at the same time?

How likely is it that you are at a location with three or more enemies at once?

No question, you can play the event when fewer foes pressure you, but five resources seem a steep investment for the short respite you are rewarded with. If you plan to use it against the big baddies, be warned, though: some of them have forced abilities that readies them prior to the Enemy phase; causing them to wallop investigators none-the-less!

There exist other situational cards with similiar impact but lower play cost, like Stray Cat, Survival Instinct, Manual Dexterity or Blinding Light.

Pros

• Guaranteed evade. This can save you many conventional evasion attempts.
• All enemies at your location are evaded and exhausted, this includes Elite and Aloof and may free other investigators from engagement, too.
• You should combo Cunning Distraction with other cards to maximize it's value: Sneak Attack, Close Call, Pickpocketing.
• Agnes would rather use this card for skill test commitment.

Cons

• High play cost.
• One-time effect only.
• All current survivors have an Agility base value of 3, which is sufficient to evade most threats on easy/standard difficulty.

Recommendations

• (spoiler) If you plan to win The Devourer Below by finding clues and there are some people blocking the path, this event could become useful.
• (spoiler) In The House Always Wins there could be a situation where you want to save someone during a turmoil.

Physical Training, Hyperawareness, Hard Knocks, Arcane Studies, Dig Deep - they all have something in common: all these cards give you temporary boosts to individual skill tests at the cost of resources.

The inclusion of these cards is closely related to your investigator's economy. With the new card, Dark Horse, you may plan to stay poor as a church mouse and cards like this can help you with that. Or, on the contrary, if you are living the dream, and some investigators proverbial float in resources, you can afford to bundle Hard Knocks+Arcane Studies or Physical Training+Hyperawareness to boost all your skills! In short, keep your hands off if you don't have action-free income!

If you are interested in the discussion, i would recommend this thread to you. Jenny Barnes most likely uses Arcane Studies with ease, but splashes in Agnes Baker, Daisy Walker and Rex Murphy builds aren't unusual, too, thanks to the willpower raise.

Pros

• Reliant boosting flexibility. Depending on the difficulty level and the test's danger level, you can boost as much as barely is needed (roughly +2 over your baseline) or sink all your money in it.
• Theoretically unlimited uses.
• The asset stays in play. From the moment you play this, you are forearmed.
• It does not need to be slotted.
• Goes well along with Dark Horse. Also combines perfectly with cards that have an additional effect if you overfulfill: List

Cons

• You have to find it in your deck, it lacks the Permanent trait.
• Resource-hungry asset (install and activation).
• Only helps the investigator who plays it.

Recommendations

• There are several tough obstacles in The Devourer Below: spoiler, spoiler.