Enchant Weapon

I'm loving this upgrade on Survival Knife (2), which allows you to fight and deal damage as a during the Enemy Phase BEFORE the enemy can damage you. That attack with this upgrade becomes ( + +2) and deals 3 damage (or more with Vicious Blow or Vicious Blow (2)).

Use your last action to move into a location with an enemy (or one location away from an enemy with Hunter) and deal at least 3 damage to that enemy when it attacks, which may kill it before it gets to damage you.

The survival knife Reaktion is not a Fight *action*, is it? So it should only work with the basic attack? — trazoM · 9
Due to the bolt printed word fight in the description of the knife, the attack is a fight action (you just pay no action). So enchant weapon will work with the knife during the enemy-phase — Tharzax · 1
Enchant Weapon has done a lot to make low level weapon builds, which I already liked, incredibly viable. I usually just load up on Survival Knife 2 and maybe another level 2 gun or something, and do just fine. That said, Enchant weapon on holy spear can completely destroy final scenarios. — SSW · 217
Fun with sig weapons too. — MrGoldbee · 1497
Enchant Weapon does not work with the reaction ability, it's not a fight action. Compare with something like Marksmanship, that triggers off of any fight ability. — toastsushi · 74
So apparently a Fight-action designator does not indicate that something is a Fight action, but only a Fight-ability. Otherwise Frozen in Fear would make you pay an action if you used Shortcut(2) during your turn. — trazoM · 9
I've just looked in the rules and the fight action is clearly described as the usual fight. So using enchant weapon on the reaction is for me totally OK. (and you loose an action if you use shortcut as the first action with frozen in fear) — Tharzax · 1
You don't do that with Shortcut either. Frozen in Fear only affects move, fight, or evade actions, and Shortcut does not spend an action to use. — toastsushi · 74
But the action is in my opinion just a part of the costs, so if you don't need to pay it and you go through the steps you still perform the action — Tharzax · 1
You aren’t performing an action though, you are resolving an ability. You are ‘fighting/attacking’ (for things that care about it) but you aren’t taking a ‘fight action’. — Death by Chocolate · 1490
There’s definitely uncertainty around action designators and their effect on non-action abilities, and I hope an FAQ will weigh in on that soon because it’s a common issue, and I could see a strong argument for either side. — Death by Chocolate · 1490
I recognize this is old but on some level I actually want to see the argument that Shortcut(2) is not a move action. Would you honestly look someone in the eye and tell them they couldn't activate Haste to pop someone a third time with a .25 automatic(4) for triggering the evade, then spending the action? Literally all of them are triggered abilities, and gain additional descriptors that also turn them into actions of other types as well. Taking an action doesn't mean spending an action - if it didn't, Fast events would be inchoate, among many, many other points of failure. — Lailah · 1
The FAQ for shortcut now mentions that it DOES cost a movement with Frozen in Fear, which incidentally sheds light on how actions are percieved by game rules. I feel then that Enhcanted Blade should work on survival knife. — TehFrederick · 1
Shrewd Dealings

The Good, the Meh, and the Ugly:

The Good: A dollar off all items? Fantastic. It's doesn't even exhaust. Between this and Bob's free play-item action, you've got a mini Ever Vigilant forever.

The Meh: The second bit seems neat; in practice it hits the same barriers as Teamwork as you mess with other deck's plans for their limited Slots. Slotless items sidestep this, so here's hoping this cycle includes more things like Pills, Smokes, Booze... More Booze... uh...

...wow. Bob may be more of a bootlegger than an actual bootlegger.

The Ugly: SO SWINGY. Bob REALLY wants this in his opening hand. Get it anywhere from mid-game on, and you're probably just committing it for an investigate. And to my knowledge, there's literally no tutor that'll help. It feels wasteful to ignore, but risky to count on, sort of like Wendy's Amulet which you can at least find in a Backpack.

(EDIT: Building a Bob deck and realized that L3 Lucky Cigarette Case is an excellent tutoring option available to him, both for this and more or less anything else.)

+++

So, tl;dr... make friends with your local seeker!

HanoverFist · 758
Question is, can this be used with Bob's ability to play from another investigator and place the item under Bob's control? If so, that might be a good way to utilize duplicate items from other investigators. — Valkun · 41
Fair question- for my take, I can see no reason it wouldn't work. Shrewd Dealings triggers off Bob playing an item, and Bob's ability is for him to "play an item" out of another's hand. Where the item was played from is of no concern to Shrewd Dealings... Bob played an item, so he gets to use SD. This would mean (and it seems very much the intended design) that all of Bob's & SD's abilites can be used together to play an item, on his turn, with a free action, out of somebody else's hand, into that same person's control, at a 1R discount. Bob just got that person the toaster they always wanted at wholesale price! — HanoverFist · 758
Friends in Low Places now tutors this. — MrGoldbee · 1497
If this combos with Bob's normal ability as suggested, that suggests he can take an Item from any player's hand and play it under ANY player's control. In that case, Bob isn't limited to pushing his own Survivor and Rogue merch--he can deal stuff from any class he's playing with. — SleepyLibrarian · 44
Vicious Blow

Just here to say that I find the duplicate cards in the investigator packs rather nice, for multiplayer deckbuilding with a single physical collection. Most of these cards are considered essential for their class and you almost never want to go without two copies. Vicious Blow especially is one that you always want if you plan on doing combat, but if your friend is building a main fighter then you're stuck with either sharing and thereby making her deck weaker, going without, or buying a couple more core sets (at which point you'd be better off proxying, which I personally try to avoid). In the past my group has always just tried to pick investigators whose card pools don't overlap so nobody has to share or make suboptimal compromises. I still think that can be a fun limitation, but it's nice to have a bit more freedom through these extras.

That's very true for VB and Deduction". Less so for "Switchblade". — Susumu · 383
It's to replace the switchblade copies you threw away — MiskatonicFrosh · 344
this is why a lot of people are proxying the cards from the core set, can't blame them — danila99 · 1
Sign Magick

Sign Magick is a combo card, and one with rather strict limitations. You need to have two different Spell or Ritual assets in play, both with an => activation cost. And you need to have useful targets for those assets.

Would you like to combine Shrivelling and Rite of Seeking? Then you need an enemy and two clues on your location. Want to combine Sixth Sense and Rite of Seeking? Fine, but there better be at least 3 clues on your location for that to be worth a RoS charge, and it better be your last action this round (Since a special token + Rite of Seeking will end your turn early). What about earning cash from Alchemic Transmution while searching for clues with Sixth Sense? Yep, that can be effective but you need to include Alchemic Transmution in your deck - a card that's almost never worth it unless you can activate it for free.

In reality it's hard to line up three, often expensive assets in Arkam Horror, and then find enough useful situations to make Sign Magic worth your time. Especially since Sign Magic is quite useless on its own and since the combo falters as soon as one of your spell/ritual assets run out of charges.

I can see some use for this card, however. For example an Akachi deck with lots of spell assets. She has her own charge economy, so it's easier for her to find room for the necessary pieces and get them in play.

olahren · 3601
I think this works best with support spells like alchemical transmutation or scrying 0. Or assets with unlimited uses like wither and sixth sense — Django · 5171
I suppose the upgraded version of sixth sense is also a potent option only fot the chance to find a clue at another location — Tharzax · 1
You definitely need a lot of play actions to take use of this card. You likely want to take use of the third arcane slot anyway. I think Dexter and Mystics with access to "Ever Vigilant" have an advantage here. On the other hand might Agnes want this card to try to make "Clarity of Mind" work. (Or in case of parallel Agnes "Healing Word".) I don't think, this card will become a Mystic staple, but I see decks, that might want it. — Susumu · 383
The community has long since criticized this game for how boring mystics came be. This card, as Django points out, enables you to play spells that you ordinarily would never touch like Alchemy (which is cheap) or Wither for a combat focused multiplayer mystic. Yes, it’s not likely to help with your generic fight and clue spells, but it does shake up the class and help unplayed cards see the table now. — LaRoix · 1647
Let's hope for a 4 Xp, Exceptional version of Sign Magic that's a *permanent*. Now that would open up some interesting playstyles. :) — olahren · 3601
Oh man, a permanent version of this card would be so good! — snacc · 1023
Does this card allow to play the 2nd spell without using it's charge? — Gracchus · 1
@Gracchus You should pay all cost except action, so that you should pay the charge of second spell if necessary. — elkeinkrad · 504
"Different spell" does not mean "spell with a different name", right? Means I could use two copies of a spell/ritual with it? — Magitator · 1
As per the "Different" entry in the Rules section, it does need to be a different card title so two copies of the same spell/ritual would NOT count as "different." — MindControlMouse · 45
True Understanding

Will add some pieces of data I was looking for when entered this comment section and didn't find it fully. I will repeat something of what was already mentioned, trying to make my own review pretty comprehensive. Everything turned out to be in the rules, though, but who reads them before they need it? DISCLAIMER: I will be using some encounter cards from different cycles as examples, so if you care about that sort of spoilers, don't follow my links).

  • What is "skill test from an ability"? I was sure that ability is only what is triggered, but I was wrong. Yes, there are triggered abilities (if a scenario card has any type of arrow, triggering which you initiate a skill test, you can commit this card, e.g. Bedeviled), but also: constant abilities (an effect that simply exists and doesn't have any specific point of initiation according to the rules. As I understand this card fits), forced abilities (something after word "Forced" that initiates a skilltest. In theory, bc I didn't find examples) and revelation abilities (skill test after word "Revelation", so, yes, basically half or even more cards of the encounter deck, like our favorite Rotting Remains or Crypt Chill). That's when I got true understanding what is this card about.
  • What is "scenario card?" From rules: "Scenario cards include act cards, agenda cards, location cards, treachery cards, enemy cards, and scenario reference cards." and "Weaknesses with an encounter cardtype (such as enemies or treacheries) are considered to be player cards while they are in their bearer’s deck, and are considered to be encounter cards while they are being resolved, and once they have entered play". So you can find some clues while committing True Understanding to Searching for Izzie. And don't forget that abilities on weaknesses in threat area or attached to the location can be triggered by other investigators in the same location (yes, pure Jenny can spare her out-of-class card room for something more appealing while her seeker can watch her back). Above mentioned Bedeviled now can also be taken away from Finn with some additional use by your seeker. And, basically, any parley action with skill test can be assisted with True Understanding. This chatty Cathy Poltergeist! Always spills the beans.
  • TL;DR the card is not that situational as one can find and, given you can commit it not only to your own skill tests, you are unlikely to find yourself in a situation when it's been uselessly sitting in your hand for half of a game without any chance to be triggered. It's much more easier to use it than, for instance, Evidence! while it is an actionless and 0-resource cost way to get a clue. The test, you need to pass, can also be easier than the location's shroud value.
chrome · 68
Yeah, I love this card. I find myself trying to squeeze it in wherever I can, just for the action compression. — SGPrometheus · 855
I don't think you gain a clue from "Searching for Izzie" with this card, because it would still be a "discovered clue", and Izzie says "instead of discovering clues". — Susumu · 383
@susumu I'm 99% sure it works with "Searching for Izzie". That's how I would reason it: You use two actions on a scenario card (since it is the one) to initiate the investigate action and therefore a skill test. Then you follow the sequence of skill test timing in accordance with the rules. You determine success or failure of the test during the stage ST6 and at this point you get the clue due to effect of the card if your test is successful. Only THEN, at stage ST7, you apply skill test results, i.e. consequences of the test. It is specifically stated in the rules that sometimes these consequences may be modified by the card text and you get something different from what you normally should obtain. Text on the card "Seaching for Izzie" absolutely definitely (at least for me) refers to modification of Investigate action results. Otherwise the text should be worded as "You cannot gain clues during this action." — chrome · 68
It's true, that success or failure is determined at ST6, but reaping the clue from TU is like any other effect of the action in ST7. And Izzie even says "instead of discovering clues" (plural!). If you commit a "Deduction" to the test, you also won't get a clue from it in my understanding. — Susumu · 383
The text on Izzie, or indeed any other encounter card, is irrelevant: TU grants you a clue as a totally separate effect. You don't gain clues when you succeed at Frozen in Fear, but TU will still give you one. Don't be confused by the limitations imposed by Izzie; they only apply to the investigation made from the card's action. Deduction doesn't work because it specifically modifies that investigation; TU is totally separate from it. — SGPrometheus · 855
True Understanding will discover a clue while performing "Searching for Izzie". This follows the ruling for Rex Murphy's ability to discover a clue — SanguineYume · 1