I think three things make this less attractive:
The most useful scenario is when you actually benefit from discarding the asset (e.g. David Renfield before the doom harms you), but there are other perfectly good ways to do this (painkillers, forbidden knowledge) that don’t cost XP.
TLDR: Grab this early in Dunwich, grab this early in a group of 3+ players, otherwise stick with Shortcut until perhaps for the final scenario.
.
Shortcut is a good card. Shortcut is also a good card. However, these two cards, have different functions.
Shortcut is this magic little boost that "burst" moves you around the map, It does not trigger opportunity attacks and not being an action can have nice interactions with specific cards and circumstances (for example to move an enemy around to play Scene of the Crime, get away from a massive enemy, get away after spending 3 actions to evade, ETC.). There is also a lot to be said about the added burst movement, having all 3 actions to attack/evade an enemy can be important.
Shortcut has all the same mechanics, but an added cost of 1 resource and 2 XP makes it a lot trickier to work into a deck, the cost is very prohibitive. First off, the biggest difference is that Shortcut is a persistent effect, so long as you keep entering the affected location you reap a benefit. In solo you need to play this card with finesse and find the location where you expect to pass by 2+ times, if you cannot then at least save it for that all-important moment where bonus movement is crucial. Its easier in multiplayer since the bonus moves will be used by your friends at least once, even in monodirectional maps like Essex County Express.
In fact Shortcut grows wings in any scenario that has locations you tend to move through routinely and every campaign has a couple such maps, but, I especially recommend Shortcut in Dunwich, 6 of its scenarios have at least one spot that will probably have you passing through 3+ times, sometimes passing through every single round for half the scenario. Also, final scenarios seem to have a way of making you run around a particular location a lot so give extra consideration to Shortcut before a final scenario.
Don't forget to consider your investigator's particular abilities, Roland Banks should never leave home without Shortcut and can give consideration to the upgrade (minimum one copy if you go for Stick to the Plan, which can host Shortcut), so should Ursula Downs, both of these characters really benefit from extra actions. Supporty Daisy Walker and Minh Thi Phan decks should also consider it.
.
Although Shortcut has a LOT of power, compared to the un-upgraded version, the new -careful- way of playing it actually removes a lot of its charm, the spontaneous power is gone. The ability to capitalize opportunistically is still there, but now you must weight the opportunity up against ideal positioning and the added cost becomes a "Why did I bother to spend 2 XP on this?!" moment.
This looks like high value upgrade for Agnes. It heals 8 for 2 resources, a card and 5 actions (1 click/horror) which is more efficient and more powerful than all of the other available options (except possibly the upgraded Peter Sylvester but this does not allow her to activate her power). It will probably be my first upgrade for Agnes the next time I play with her.
I think my next chance at playing a Guardian in a campaign will be Roland Banks running the full Well Prepared package. Contrary to the other opinion, I don't think the XP cost of the package is too prohibitive.
If you run the entire suite of cards that allow you to skip on investigating at high shroud locations (Scene of the Crime, Evidence!, Art Student, Working a Hunch) you can fairly safely rely on Magnifying Glass and Flashlight to cover low shroud locations. These cards notably don't really have an upgrade path; they're just 0 XP heroes.
With your clue package dealt with, you're limited on hand slots to take the big two-handed damage monsters without Bandolier when you can fit it. So you're largely limited to one-handed options, like .45 Automatic, Roland's .38 Special, and reigning champion Machete.
You don't need a lot of XP to grab Reliable, which you may not even need if you can keep your Well Prepared bonuses on . .45 Automatic becomes a much more realistic option when more than 2 XP is hard to find and you don't necessarily have Beat Cop to depend on. Besides, there's a lot of Retaliate in The Forgotten Age.
So why this review here, and not on Roland Banks or Well Prepared? Well access to this card is unique to Roland in this strategy. There are only four investigators who at this time can run this package with two different 2 XP core talents, and Roland is the only one who has all 4 stat coverage ( is the missing link for the other 3).
Or just spend 10 XP on 2x Key of Ys 4Head.
Hello. Hi. My name is Norman Withers and I will now expose to you why Seal of the Seventh Sign is good.
Circumstance: 2-4 players. Somebody else has promised me that I don't need Shrivelling, so I just focus on the clues! This means that I have 2 unused arcane slots.
Slot 1: Protective Incantation, sealing a , or .
Slot 2: Seal of the Seventh Sign.
I generate resources with Dr. Milan Christopher and my cards are cheap thanks to my ability, so money is not a problem for me, and even when the Seal of the Seventh Sign runs its course, ill have cash enough and the draw speed to play the other one right away, or just fill the slot with the other Protective Incantation.
P.S. Even if I'm not around I still think Seal of the Seventh Sign is quite good, it's great on easier difficulties where the largest penalties are lower and easier to cover, the freedom to just brute through every check with no chance is tremendous, the main question to ask before you add it is: how much do you need your arcane slots? For most characters the answer is "Dedicated to Shrivelling and Rite of Seeking exclusively".
P.S.P.S. Silly of me, I am becoming forgetful with age. I especially like to bring my Seal of the Seventh Sign in Dunwich, where we the investigators may affect the token pool!