Card Reviews · ArkhamDB

Mauser Tankgewehr M1918

This card is yet to see play, but so far I like it.. and also find it really weird.

So this is basically a deadlier and costlier Ornate Bow, which uses Strength, almost guarantees hit and one-shots most of the enemies in the game. And, for 5 XP, it should serve as your main big weapon.

Yet it has this weird "Hunter, Veteran, Warden only" restriction. Most of this guys are guardians or guardian-ish, and... they honestly don't need this gun.

Full guardians have decent Strength so big boost don't really matter to them. And they have strong in-class competitors, which lack "endless" ammunition, but at least they can reload it with guardians cards, as with Bow.

Guardian-ish greens who cat take it (Tony Morgan and upcoming Michael McGlen) also have 5 Strength. I guess they can fit in more actions to reload this thing with their tech, and use 10 to-hit on Expert Bag? But they lack tutoring for weapons Guardians have.

So investigators that want this card the most are ones with no comparable in-class weapons, low-to-mediocre Strength so they'll appreciate boost and readiness to dedicate hands to holding an anti-tank rifle. Which, among all investigators with Hunter, Veteran or Warden traits leave us with exactly one option! Sole hero, for whom this card is intended to be given. Some might even say it was godsend.

Enter Father Mateo, The Priest, Believer, Warden. Who needs holy books that take away your Elder Sign when you have Tankgewehr? Mateo even got XP to spare at start of the campaign!

Yeah, it's a weird card.

2/5/25

Ragos · 2

It also works for dexter, who may actually enjoy pulling this out of a hat and turning it into something else instead of reloading it. — Spamamdorf · 5 2/5/25

Who's gonna use 5xp and both handslots for a gun you're not reloading? — MrGoldbee · 1468 2/5/25

It feels like they want to fix their past mistake of making the uses of Ornate Bow "ammo". But that's exactly why I don't like this card. It's worse than the bow in almost every regard. — AlderSign · 300 2/6/25

All true from an efficiency perspective. But from a "have fun with an absolutely ridiculous gun" perspective, I'm going to love playing this card! — acotgreave · 869 2/6/25

Especially flavorful in Horror in High Gear ;) — AlderSign · 300 2/6/25

I’m going to put in my deck and just use it on a swarm of rats >:) — Therealestize · 73 2/7/25

Please play Relentless before you do that. — AlderSign · 300 2/12/25

I'm of the opinion, that if they want to make this weapon so insanely restricted, then the Ornate Bow must receive an Errata, not taboo, Errata to say, (1 Arrow) and change any words of "ammo" to "arrow". Then hopefully print some sort cards specifically for "shells", "arrows", or the stranger, rarer weapons you don't want to work with the Ammo packages. That's fine. Having the Ornate Bow exist as is, and the Tankgevehr M1918 beauty, in the same existence is painful. It don't work. I'm likely gonna just hostile it until it hopefully gets Errata or change. — Quantallar · 8 2/13/25

I agree. It's also a shame the Mauser Tankgewehr M1918 doesn't work with Michael McGlen's ability for the same reason, although he could take it :( — AlderSign · 300 2/20/25

Flux Stabilizer

If a game card has no text describing a test and is just an ability, does that mean the Flux Stabilizer has no effect in the game? If that's how it works, it makes me a little sad about this investigator.

2/4/25

Sasuken · 31

I'm not sure if I read the question right, but you can still trigger the ability as long as you are able to pay the cost, since that changes the game state. — AlderSign · 300 2/6/25

Not sure i understand the problem. As a card it interacts with Kate's character ability so it does have an effect? and the card is a way of keeping track on whether its active or inactive by which side it is flipped onto. If you are sad because that means Kate doesn't have a proper signature card, then don't be sad - effectively its Aetheric Current... a card that can shuffle enemies into the encounter deck, or exhaust them and move them to any location. — Phoenixbadger · 197 2/10/25

Dial of Ancients

This card is ok if you are not prepared to make it broken. Lucius Galloway, Ursula Downs, and Monterey Jack can break this card wide open and make the game a cakewalk. How you might ask? They ask their Local Eldritch know it all to take time and put it to delaying the signs of Cataclysm and the moment someone pulls an auto fail at their location they seal it. So now, for every round, they get one or two actions, and don't worry about the auto fail, because it can't hurt them if it isn't real. This is a much better way than the another way to eat the auto fail because it doesn't require rng or a massive setup. With paying the ferry man and having someone else get xp you can get this at scenario 2 as long as you get 6 xp from the scenario (or 4 if you manage a big kills). Sledgehammer your friends all you want, you know you won't fail because they ate the auto fail.

2/4/25

cocoa2512 · 2

But you have to draw the autofail to seal it. And withouh it, it's a many, many part combo. Three actions, $9, and 4xp+10xp an +ally slot to get it started. — MrGoldbee · 1468 2/6/25

AND you have to research the Dial. — MrGoldbee · 1468 2/6/25

Well Lucius and Monterey jack don't have to worry about translating it because they can/will both be evading. As for the many part combo, it's a combo for 1/2 more actions a round (Ursula's only way to get consistent more actions) + all the charges you ever could want if you were doing something like glyphs. As for drawing the autofail, You going a whole scenario without drawing the autofail? — cocoa2512 · 2 2/7/25

Blood of Thoth

Maybe it's a little too early to say, but I don't feel good about this one.

It has to exhaust each time an offering is placed on it, and it needs to exhaust again to give an investigator an extra action. That's a minimum of 4 turns before it's given you back the action you spent playing it. And another 4 before it's provided actual benefit. You need to be consistently placing doom on cards for the first 3 of those 4 turns for it to be even that quick.

~~There is something to be said about holding onto the offerings for later, as a sort of budget borrowed time. But considering how contested the accessory slot is for mystics, it's a hard bargain.~~ Scratch that, activating the fast action removes all offerings, meaning you can't really save them up.

Maybe this will be the cycle that adds support for uses (offerings). Considering the term, it would be interesting to see something that requires a sacrifice of some sort to get you some extra offerings on your cards.

2/4/25

Olimarrex · 2

I'm not sure extra support will save this card even. Recharge works alright as a card because each charge is useful on whatever card you put it on. But even if we got a hypothetical card that gave 4 offerings onto a card as an event, that's an action for an action. Heck even if you had some other asset that gave you four offerings every turn on whatever other asset you like that's a two card combo to staple a leo de luca to your neck. It would at least be playable in such a scenario but it would still be rough. — Spamamdorf · 5 2/4/25

To be honest, there is NO WAY they release this card as is UNLESS we are missing something… like maybe another card or an upgrade they didn’t show off … right? I hope so — Therealestize · 73 2/7/25

Holding onto the offerings for the right time is also iffy, considering this uses all offerings when giving the extra action. I'm not sure it'd be worth waiting when it already takes so much time for one use. — jetjet96 · 1 2/10/25

This card is bad. Arguably the worst card in the game. You have to use the charges, or you lose any extra you put on, so you lose the flexibility of the action, and it maybe gives you like 4 actions in a game if you draw it early and get enough doom support? — StyxTBeuford · 13026 2/10/25

Ah, I missed that. For some reason I thought it only removed the 3 offerings. Wow this card is indeed bad. — Olimarrex · 2 2/10/25

Can wicked athame add offerings to it? The text of athame uses "replenish" one charge or offering. — Azulathoth · 1 2/12/25

So could you use wicked athame as the method of adding offerings to it instead or exhausting by adding doom, and then triggering the free action by exhausting? — Azulathoth · 1 2/12/25

problem is that blood of thoth doesn't have uses (offerings) :( — Efei · 1 2/12/25

That's what I am not sure about. It certainly does have uses: offerings. 3 or more (it can absorb an unlimited amount of offerings) can trigger its ability. All are removed and it is exhausted again. I'm still newish to the game but I'm thinking if the card used secrets instead of using offerings then it would be clear that cards like eldritch sophist could move charges onto or off of it. Perhaps the real value of this card will be generating offerings for use. Since it has no limit to quantity of uses that can be placed on it, I don't understand why "replenish" would limit the athame's ability to place offerings on BOT. Clearly, replenish limits the uses that can be placed on masks, but it seems that this cards hunger for offerings may be limitless. So it seems to be that it DOES have uses, it simply begins with zero and aquires them in a slow, exhaustive manner that might be accerated with a bit of wickedness. — Azulathoth · 1 2/13/25

But then I looked for a similar card and found "empty vessel". Which specifically states "uses." So if a card does not state "uses" — Azulathoth · 1 2/13/25

Then it can't receive uses. Got it. — Azulathoth · 1 2/13/25

While that's true, likely the final card has uses (0) offerings like Empty Vessel, otherwise it couldn't even recieve its own offerings (and they are offerings, it uses the normal rules text for that.) Uses (0) means it can't recieve them from Replenish effects, but can from other support cards that don't say 'replenish'. — Lailah · 1 2/18/25

per the faq on Truth From Fiction, you can place offerings on a card without uses (offerings). Whether or not you can also replenish them is a different question, and I'm betting no. — Olimarrex · 2 2/19/25

Library Pass

Can you attach a book to Library Pass and then move it to Abigail Foreman using Abigail's quick action? Read as written it seems possible but doesn't seem intended... You'd basically be able to completely ignore the Forced on Library Pass

2/4/25

Maulface · 3