Now that scroll of secrets let you grab the bottom of peoples decks, this is very handy to get someone’s card from the discard pile back into their hand.

Update: This is pretty expensive, but it could be amazing clue tech for a seeker (or Roland). Adding deduction, Take Initiative or perception back into their deck means they can find it with practice makes perfect. That means you’re giving potentially --three-- uses of it. If everything goes right on Deduction(2), that’s a six clue shift for one skill card. If you team with Mandy, pick two cards!

But if you’re teaming with a mystic and/or a survivor, you might want to pass on this one.

The Fight version of Eye of Chaos, it has the same set of considerations as that card. If you are in a Curse-heavy environment, this might work out well. On the other hand, it's essentially a Shrivelling, where you pay an extra resource for one fewer charge and a slightly janky reloading mechanic. You also get to skip the horror ping for an unfortunate token draw.

It's worth noting that you don't cancel the Curse token, so your best case scenario is attacking at -2 hoping for 3 damage, which will get tricky with even 4 fight enemies unless you have some serious boosting or are throwing icons at the test (which is another cost). Maybe there will be a Level-3 version with a +2 bonus?

On reflection, Dexter could go heavy in this card suite with False Covenant and erase the negatives on the Curses. That's not a bad synergy.

I've been messing around with a Dexter deck that was using Faustian Bargain for economy. It works pretty well, but the Curse tokens were occasionally annoying. This card would make it work better (and maybe encourage Dexter to mess around with more curses), but is it 2 XP worth of good? That probably depends on whether anyone else is dumping Curses in the bag.

Well, it's a way to unlock that Cryptic Grimoire....

Otherwise, it seems kind of expensive in terms of XP and Curse token to get a couple of clues, which is not something the card pool has ever had any trouble doing. It could help with those very few annoying high shroud locations that even Seekers struggle with, but it seems like you would regret the decision more often than not, unless you had some way to bleed out the currse tokens.

Is never upgrading the Cryptic Grimoire and using it as a way to ameliorate the number of Curse tokens you are throwing in the bag a viable strategy? It seems kind of card-intensive and inefficient.

Calvin is my favorite gator in the game. That is not to say that he is easy to use. He is not. In fact, his restrictions make games tense, and difficult, and oftentimes disheartening. But this is Arkham. We live for that.

However, when Calvin works, when you put forth the effort, when you grit your teeth, take it on the chin, and get just a little bit Lucky!, you can succeed beyond your wildest dreams.

Plus, Calvin's restrictions force you to build a good deck. Since you need to be toeing the line at all times, you need, need, need to put cards in that help you survive. Peter Sylvestre, Cherished Keepsake, and Leather Coat are all important to staying alive long enough to get you to a point where your stats outweigh your damage.

With the recent release of Nathaniel Cho's preconstructed Investigator deck, Calvin got a ton of new, fun toys. "Get over here!", Glory, One-Two Punch, all slot into a Calvin deck nicely. Plus, you can Versatile in those Boxing Gloves if you're feeling feisty (I do not think this is good, but I do think it's fun.)

Calvin can do almost anything, so long as that anything is his best imitation of a tanky Guardian. You're not likely to be the primary clue-getter, but you are likely to protect your other players with Ward of Protection, "Let me handle this!", Heroic Rescue, and A Test of Will. Run headlong into danger, get beaten up a little bit, and enact your revenge.

Calvin also is the single best investigator at using Rise to the Occasion, as his base stats are zeroes, no matter how much damage you have on your person. This only changes if you become a Werewolf, but by then you're probably going to win as is, so nothing to worry about.

Get a good weapon, get your boyfriend Peter Sylvestre, your girlfriend Jessica Hyde, and your neat playing card Five of Pentacles, and you will be a force of nature. Happy hunting!