Sledgehammer

Fun to bring with Carson, whose measley 2 prevents him from using most weapons effectively. He already wants Safeguard to glue himself to another investigator, so chances are high that enemies will spawn at his location and he won't need to move. With Well Prepared he can even use the one- ability on weaker monsters. He also has access to Shortcut when he needs to step before swinging.

Also, nice combo that hasn't been mentioned: Task Force. Move, discover a free clue, swing the hammer, and still have an action left over. Whoops, nevermind, only works with the level zero version, which makes it effectively a clue for $2, making it redundant with Working a Hunch when used on yourself. Still a decent option for Carson, who generally wants to give away his actions anyway.

CombStranger · 269
You only ignore 1 action of cost from the Sledgehammer with Task Force. — Holy Outlaw · 269
Self-Centered

I believe this is one of the best card in the game and a must grab for multiplayer games because of one other specific card: Delve Too Deep. As mentioned in the the FAQ, you cannot affect other players' interaction with encounter cards, so.... you cannot make then draw encounter cards! Essentially, at the cost of 1 action, 1 resource and 1 encounter card, the team gained Victory 1.

Now, how to "add" the card to your deck? Well, first of all, if your house rule is to pick any weakness at the beginning of a campaign instead of drawing random weakness, you are already set. On the other hand, if you obey the default rules, well, there is no penalty if you stop playing a campaign before it starts, wink wink. So hard reset the campaign until you get Self-Centered and Delve Too Deep in the same deck. (Any gacha game player can refer to the concept of the initial X number of free draws, and uninstalling and reinstalling until you like you initial free draws.)

Now this is my philosophy, a weird loophole( I like to find and exploit those ^^), and for "hardcore" gamers who want to maximize experiences on reruns. If you want a nice story, some decent challenges, please ignore all this and just enjoy your Arkham Horror.

shirusagi · 1
You make a funny point and it’s a well-written review. Unfortunately, the interaction doesn’t work the way you describe. The final clause on Delve Too Deep begins with “Then,” so if you don’t fully fulfill the pre-then effect of everyone drawing an encounter card, you cannot perform the post-then effect of putting Delve Too Deep in the victory display. The net effect of playing Delve Too Deep with Self-Centered is that you pay one resource, draw one encounter card, then throw away Delve Too Deep. Not exactly a game-breaker. — Holy Outlaw · 269
Wilson Richards

After playing some scenarios with Wilson I just want to strongly advise you to look for Tool Belt and/or Tinker in the opening hand. As an investigator that uses plenty of assets (mostly of them occupying hand slots), you may find yourself slot limited and not being to exploit the versatility that Wilson provides (which I believe is his biggest strength). Also I advice to include Ever Vigilant as the number of actions you spend playing assets can be detrimental.

Fluxway · 151
I want to think that Toolbelt seems like an auto-include but the action cost is very high to flex around in. Maybe an upgrade will come that make use of all the XP tools out there. — Staticalchemist · 1
Crafty

I find it very unsettling that Wilson Richards can't use this card. I guess it would not fit the designers idea for the investigator restrictions; yet I think this would be an awesome card for the Handyman, both flavor and gamewise. It could not only benefit the use of tools but also some synergy cards as Gang Up and Call for Backup.

Fluxway · 151
He can't run it in a solo game. But in multiplayer you have options like Teamwork and Black Market. Our rogue is running Crafty for the purpose of passing it to Wilson. — antagonist · 1
Mysteries Remain

UPDATE: Upon further play, these replacement/alternate signatures are not really all that much better than the original ones.

The problem, especially at low player counts, is that most scenarios rarely have you walking around with spare clues. Typically you're spending down to 0 clues to advance the Act Deck, so the accompanying weakness is a dead draw AND gets shuffled back into your deck. Again, and again. And suffer a horror each time.

There are upsides though! This generates a clue out of thin air, which can sometimes let you ignore a challenging location.

And it’s fast, so it doesn’t trigger an Attack of Opportunity. Which allows you to hold onto this card until you get attacked at a location without clues, then play it to earn a clue (with Roland’s innate investigator power) when you defeat the enemy.