When Norman Withers was first released, my initial reaction was disappointment. He's a Seeker character with the Miskatonic keyword, but he can't use Higher Education! It's such a good card for Seeker investigators that I almost immediately dismissed him once I learned he didn't have access to it.

After using him once through The Path To Carcosa campaign, I've changed my mind and I think that he's a very capable investigator - possibly one of the best.

Card Pool

Norman technically has one of the smaller card pools. In addition to the Neutral card options, he can take level 0 Seeker and level 1-5 Mystic cards, with up to 5 level 0 Mystic cards that can be splashed into the deck. This essentially means that he has access to a little more than one class's worth of cards, which is less than the pool of cards available to most investigators. For reference: as of this writing, this is only a little better than the card pool of Father Mateo (all Mystic cards plus 5 starting experience) and on par with characters like Mark Harrigan (all Guardian cards with some low-level Tactics cards). At face value, Norman's card pool is not quite as good as most core set investigators since they get one full class's worth of cards plus 2 levels' worth of cards in a secondary class, and it's also not quite as good as the Dunwich investigators who get a full class's worth of cards as well as any 5 level 0 cards.

However, in my opinion, level 0 Seeker cards are some of the best level 0 cards in the game. You get cards that amplify Norman's strengths like Magnifying Glass and Dr. Milan Christopher. You also get cards that shore up his weaknesses like "I've got a plan!" and Mind over Matter. All in all, there's some solid options.

Similarly, Mystic cards are generally some of the best experience options in the game as well (barring Blood Pact, which doesn't quite stack up to its counterparts in other classes). Shrivelling (3) and Shrivelling (5) are powerhouse combat options. Grotesque Statue is great for improving critical tests and working around the token. Ward of Protection (2) and Ward of Protection (5) are great counters to some terrible encounter cards. Again, there's a lot of solid options.

For the level 0 Mystic cards, Norman has access to the regular Shrivelling as well as Holy Rosary. Players who are feeling bold can even use these slots on Delve Too Deep. However, I personally think the best use of these slots is for 2 copies of Arcane Research since it lets him power-level Shrivelling and makes getting Ward of Protection (5) much more viable.

Overall, I think he's got some good choices.

Stat Line

I think that Norman Withers might have one of the best stat lines of all investigators. He has:

• 4 - this stat matches that of many Mystic investigators. It means he can cast spells with the best of them and avoid most nasty Treachery cards that deal horror.
• 5 - the same as Daisy Walker. This stat is very strong and means Norman will be able to gather clues very effectively.
• 2 - this stat is not very good. However, it's a shortcoming that Norman can work around with his card pool. Most tests are against monster enemies, and Norman can normally handle those with Shrivelling, Mind over Matter, or "I've got a plan!" All of these cards key off of his stronger and stats.
• 1 - This is probably Norman's most glaring weakness. Conventional wisdom says that low can be managed around if you have good combat options, because fighting is often better than running away. However, there are some Treachery cards that deal damage for a failed test, and Norman only has 6 health. It's best to pack some Painkillers or bring a Ward of Protection for those kinds of situations.

Barring some unusual scenarios, most of the tests Norman makes will be either tests or tests, and those stats are very good for him. His and are low, but he has cards in his pool that can work around those shortcomings so he can ignore those flaws rather than try to improve them to a passable level. This lets Norman focus on his strengths: investigating and casting spells. He is the first investigator to have a base stat of 4 and a base stat of 5! His focus on having 2 strong skills makes him very specialized and very powerful in his areas of expertise.

Special Abilities

Overall, I would say Norman's power is just OK. Being able to see the top card of the deck is normally useful, and having the option to play it effectively means Norman has one extra card in his hand at any given time. Being able to play that card at a one-resource discount is nice, but it's not as strong a benefit as Jenny Barnes, who is granted one extra resource a turn by her ability. I say this because Norman will not normally be able to benefit from his discount every turn, so the savings are not enough to rival what Jenny Barnes would make over the course of the game.

I normally measure the usefulness of an investigator's ability based on how it saves actions over the course of the game. Finn Edwards has an extra action, but it has to be used to evade. Jenny Barnes gains an extra resource, and gaining a resource is normally an action. Roland Banks discovers a clue when he defeats an enemy, which effectively saves him one action. Using this metric, it's hard to see if Norman's ability saves many actions by comparison. Like I mentioned before, it's essentially a constant +1 card with the occasional resource saved on that card's discount. I would say it's a situationally useful ability, but not one that's worth building the whole deck trying to leverage it.

There is sort of the unfortunate side effect that Norman can be hit by his Weakness cards immediately after he draws his opening hand. It doesn't happen often, but when it does it can be quite difficult. Being subjected to Paranoia or Amnesia before getting to play any cards is really, really brutal, and any enemy cards you draw will hamper your first few actions. If you choose to play as Norman, you need to be aware that it can happen - I would say this makes him slightly more vulnerable to Weakness cards than the average investigator.

In multiplayer, Norman's ability does improve communication a little bit. While players can't share what is in their hands, everyone is able to see Norman's revealed card. This means everyone can plan around it and discuss the best way to use it. It's not a big benefit but it's kind of neat.

Norman's ability is relatively unremarkable. It will normally just provide a bonus to succeeding. Being able to switch the card will let Norman take advantage of his top-card discount slightly more frequently, but it doesn't usually make that big of a difference.

Overall

I think Norman Withers compares fairly well against other investigators up through The Forgotten Age. His 5 means he can investigate with the best of the Seeker investigators and his 4 means he can cast spells on the same level as Mystic investigators. His card pool is a little smaller than normal, but it's focused enough to support him to do what he's meant to do. Once he earns enough experience, Norman Withers is a force to be reckoned with.

In context of solo play Roland is very solid pick because his statline and cardpool allows him to get clues as well as deal with enemies. Roland´ ability is basicially a once per round use of evidence which can be used to clear clues of high shroud locations which he is unable to investigate with cards such as Flashlight and Magnifying Glass. This becomes especially important in solo play there the presence of enemies usually means that you need to waste actions on dealing with them. However, in context of Roland´s ability the presence of enemies is beneficial as they can be used in order to make progress towards the act deck. This theme is further developed by cards such as On the Hunt which spawns enemies at your locations and Scene of the crime which profits from the presence of enemies at your location.

Roland´s glaring weaknesses are his low willpower and sanity. Roland´s willpower of three makes him vulnerable to nasty willpower treacheries and the existence of encounter cards which can deal up to three (or even more) horror means that Roland is prone to go mad during the course of a scenario. What makes this situation worse ist that Roland´s unique weakness Cover Up forces you to either waste time in order to get rid of the clues on it or to take a mental trauma which makes it even more likely that Roland will go insanse.

While these weaknesses were huge problems at the beginning of the game when there were not a lot of good ways to deal with them, the growing card pool has mitigated them more and more: the dunwich cycle introduced cheap expendable allies such as Art Student and Dr. William T. Maleson who could soak sanity damage and provided additonal benefits for Roland. During the Path to Carcosa cycle Roland got access to cards such as Forewarned and Logical Reasoning which provided him with even more ways to deal with nasty treacheries or heal horror. At the same time Roland also got access to more and more cards which allow him to place clues on locations such as Quick Study from the current Forgotten Age Cycle. These cards allowed Roland to place clues on locations in order to mitigate a situation in which Cover Up came up and there were no collectable clues in play. All of this in mind I think Roland is a very beginner friendly investigator who allows you to play a guardian who contributes not only in regard of slaying the beasts of Arkham but also in regard of clue gathering.

I think this card is gaining new life after the introduction of the M1918 BAR. Sure, it's ain't cheap. But in curent cardpool only 2 investigators can use this combo. Leo Anderson, who has access to a Lonely Wolf and Hot Streak(2), and Zoey Samaras, who gain resource when engage the enemy (and She can use Lonely Wolf as well). I finds M1918 as an excellent card for both trash mobs and bosses, but it requires a different approach than Shotgun or Lightning Gun. Both Venturer, and Extra are Ammunition pretty bad for M1918 BAR, and without Contraband, this card will not show its true potential.

Most people think guns when they think about this card, but imagine Rex Murphy pulling Strange Solution (Acidic Ichor) out of his sleeves, dealing 9 damage, and be ready to play that card normally the next round! Also great with a Flashlight.

This card seems incredible at first glance. And it really is.

+2 damage is a dominant effect in this game, and cards that offer repeatable +2 damage are almost always outstanding. (Springfield M1903 is why I had to say "almost".) Compared to the other +2 damage weapons in the game, Acidic Ichor is way cheaper and more convenient. Think of Lightning Gun; Acidic Ichor is cheaper by 1 XP, 5 resources, and 2 hand slots. That's amazing. It's kind of bizarre that the faction that's the best at finding clues would get a combat card as sweet as this, but that's how it is.

Yes, you need to identify the solution. But that basically boils down to spending a couple actions and passing an Intellect (4) test. Even on high levels, that's not much hassle.

As icing on the cake, Emergency Cache III is a quite efficient (albeit XP-intensive) way to reload this card.

So what's the catch?

Well, on lower levels, I would say there really isn't one. On Easy, Acidic Ichor will basically perform like a much cheaper Lightning Gun. That's every bit as good as it sounds.

On higher levels, though, and particularly on Expert, Acidic Ichor is no Lightning Gun. This is because attacking at base 6 is nowhere near enough. If you try to hit a 4-fight enemy without boosting (and most good targets for this card will have high fight), your odds of hitting are going to be substantially under 50%. You need to be able to boost your shots by a good +3 or +4 to make this card rewarding. Since Seeker decks tend not to be naturally loaded with Combat icons, that's not always easy.

Of course, you do have some options for getting that Combat up. You could run Overpower, Inquiring Mind, Unexpected Courage, maybe even Scientific Theory. Minh (easily the best Seeker at running Acidic Ichor) can take Lucky!, which helps an awful lot. Daisy might be able to get Encyclopedia to work out in certain situations. Maybe your allies have the spare cards to boost you. You have options. But it's difficult enough to hit with Acidic Ichor that the card is no longer a slam dunk.

I think Acidic Ichor becomes more of a build-around card on Expert. It's not something you can just throw into any Seeker deck and get good results. If you're in a multiplayer group and your allies are doing a good job handling monsters, devoting a lot of deck space and XP to Acidic Ichor may not be worth it. It can absolutely do great work on Expert if you put the effort in, but you do have to put the effort in.