Though a more recent card brought into the card pool at the time of writing this, I am going to see this as a future staple for any Mystic investigator or any investigator being able to use cards from the Mystic class (Sefina Rousseau being the primary candidate for now).

This will be best for any Ritual or Spell card that is costed 3 resources or slightly higher, which means that putting out your Rite of Seeking or Shriveling will be less of a burden on your resource pool. The other great thing going for Uncage the Soul is that it does not cost a resource to play it. However, you want to get this card in the early game in order to gain its benefit towards putting out your spell cards. This is slightly balanced by the ability to pitch it for two Willpower points towards a test or anything needed at the moment that may occur.

Sefina Rousseau, a humble painter with a penchant for the illicit.

If you are familiar with Android:Netrunner, her ability is very similar to a few IDs from that game. She is a very interesting investigator, who might just be held back right now by a few limiting factors.

Lets start with her strengths.

1.) You draw 13 cards for an opening hand - You draw effectively 1/3rd of your deck. If you run two copies of a card in your deck that you really want to see, you have around a 56% chance of finding one of those cards. This gives you a great degree of consistency.

2.) Tuck away up to 5 events - You get to hide up to five of your best cards away under your investigator for later. This keeps them safe from amnesia or treacheries, or random discards, but not your characters unique treachery. When you absolutely need just one card to pull off a combo, Sefina just needs a single action to fetch one of those cards.

3.) The Painted World (and tucking events away) - The painted world is part bonkers skill card (its basically a manual dex/guts) OR a copy of an event you want, when you need it. This leads to the potential for some very powerful, potential combinations, which you can assemble early and possibly execute several times a scenario thanks to this card.

4.) Defensive Stat Line - With a 4 Will and 4 Evasion, she is very adept at staying away from some of the more difficult, tests a scenario will throw at you.

5.) Access to Rogue and Mystic Cards - Rogues have some mighty events, such as sleight of hand and backstab. Mystics have a few great events, like drawn to the flame and ward of protection. Sefina can potentially play any of these of these cards 5 times, before shuffling her deck.

Now for her weaknesses.

1.) Low Fight/Intellect - While both of these issues can be resolved with the cards available in her pool, it drives home the fact that she will likely need to either have some way of improving one of these stats, or side stepping requirements entirely.

2.) Lack of available, quality events or synergies in her card pool - Due to the cross class with mystic, she is more or less forced to decide to be a spell caster, who will not have access to some of the premier rogue cards, or a sub par rogue with a small splash of mystic cards.

3.) You don't want emergency cash/uncage the soul to be under your investigator - Spending two actions to get the card and its effect harms these cards play ability. If you can avoid it, don't put these under your character.

4.) Evasion is ho-hum - To make matters worse, the evasion element of the game is really, half baked right now and more or less requires access to the survivor card pool in order to fully leverage it. This issue will eventually become a non issue as the rogue and mystic classes gain more cards. But for now it is a sizable problem for Sefina.

A few notable combos:

Blinding Light + Sneak Attack - Three/Four damage for four resources. Just be sure that you don't try to uncage the soul because you are going to get hit first.

Sleight of Hand + Derringer/Flashlight/Liquid Courage/Typewriter(XP) - Pop that bad boy out, use it three times and then tuck it back away, where you can pop it out again later or use those icons for a future test (unfortunately there aren't many good targets right now...).

Double or Nothing + Alchemical Transmutation + (Daring Maneuver) - Probably just a "cute" interaction for now, but you do gain 6 resources for two actions (playing the card and using it). This basically makes it a risky two card hot streak, with the potential for "insurance".

We will have to wait and see what lies in store for our friendly painter. But I expect great things.

One of my favorite Investigators, if a bit of a sleeper compared to other Mystic investigators.

While Jim Culver has the basics of a good Mystic Investigator, he does not have the longevity of his spells like Akachi or the Sheer Willpower and low health enemy removal as Agnes. Nor does he have the potential of controlling Doom and using it to his benefit like Marie Lambeau. However, how he plays is something more subtle, with the ability to use the Skull token at a constant "0" value in most scenarios. This ability it still pretty powerful for balancing the Chaos Bag in your favor. (Note though you will still have to deal with the effects of what the skull token brings for scenario and even on player cards).

Being a Dunwich investigator as well, he has access up to five out-of-class level 0 cards. This means you have a bit of flexibility of building out Jim how you see fit. This makes him very good in terms of playing him as a strong solo investigator but also an investigator that can slot in well in multiplayer as a support character. And one other benefit is that he has one more health compared to Agnes and Akachi, which does make him more survivable.

A downside to the jazz player is his low agility and having one less willpower compared to Agnes and Akachi. However this is made up with Mystics having ways to buff their already amazing willpower and spells that cover their stats. And while his Intellect and Fight is at three, he is still going to struggle with hardier enemies and high shroud locations without the spells.

If you are looking for an investigator who is provides an interesting challenge to deckbuilding but has a large degree of both reliability and versatility, Jim Culver is your main man.

Who wants to take this card?:

• solo and , especially fast play ones who make use of shortcut or similar cards
• any character filling a support roll
• no

This card shines most in the upkeep phase, where it can be played to protect a crucial location or at a location from being tangled up by monsters spawning there. If a squishy needs more time to investigate a location this card will insure that they get that time without the need of a or investigator with high babysitting them. This frees up both actions and turn order for other investigators. Even if the investigator does not get a chance to move he will get an entire turn without being attacked. As a little bit of a bonus it can serve the same function as dodge against a hunter, but will not prevent said hunter from engaging at the end of the enemy phase.

As a card in a support deck, it can be placed at any location, even ones that have not yet been revealed. Not only does this allow the support range to take care of other investigators across the map, it means that locations that spawn creatures when they are revealed do not result in that creature immediately engaging the investigator that revealed it. Squishy investigators can spearhead into new locations fearlessly(sort of)!

The most fascinating use for this card is how it would pair nicely with cards that grant movement. In decks that make use of shortcut or pathfinder, Rex could conceivably clear a location out from under the noses of a group of non hunters without them even taking notice, bonus points if he can retreat behind a barricade.

tl;dr

• Protects from the mythos deck dropping creatures on you
• Works best with solo and multiplayer
• Can get fancy with movement cards
• and are made less efficient with this card
• requires planning ahead to use effectively

With experience comes insight. Gladly, you followed the path of meekness instead of suffering from an inflated ego, my sweet friend! Your new powers make you an invaluable ally for any survivor character which i can recommend without reproach, especially for solo play.

The additional cost of 2xp have to be put into relation to the additional effect that the upgraded version has. So let us have a look: play cost is cheaper by 1, there is an additional icon for skill test commitment and the reaction has lost it's targeting limitation.

The strongest argument for Aquinnah(3) is her upgraded reaction ability. In comparison to her basic version, at least one enemy must be present at your location to trigger the reaction. It is possible to reflect the attacker's damage upon itself, eventually killing it. Because damage and horror are applied simultaneously, the attacker's horror still lands. Another bonus of the enhanced effect is that it is not limited to the Enemy phase (Step 3.3) anymore. With her, you can now enter a location with a foe being ready and perform any action - it's Attack of Opportunity will trigger Aquinnah's reaction and kill it.

The Forgotten Daughter shows off in boss fights - reflecting an Ancient One's massive damage onto itself is nothing to sneer at! Together with a powerful combo, e.g. Will to Survive, in the subsequent turn, Aquinnah reliably turns the tide of the most ferocious battle into your favor!

Her only drawback is the one-time use restriction per round, which can solely be circumvented by Ashcan Pete.

Pros

• On it's own, Aquinnah comes with some good sanity and can always be used as an expensive sanity shield.
• With multiple enemies at your location, Aquinnah can kill one enemy before it attacks.
• The redirected attack can target any enemy at that location, even if it is engaged with another investigator.
• Activated by a reaction. She can reflect Attacks of Opportunity with it.
• Does work on any type of attacking enemy, including Elite and Massive.
• Can be combined with "If it bleeds..." and Evidence!.

Cons

• Occupies the Ally slot. There is a huge competition for allies.
• Aquinnah has very low health.
• Triggering the reaction exhausts her, so it can be used only once per turn.
• Ability does not work on spoiler.