Ereignis

Taktik.

Cost: 1.

Wächter

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Dane Cozens
Grundspiel #23.
Ausweichen
  • Dodge (Nathaniel Cho #13)
  • Dodge (Revised Core Set #23)
  • Dodge (2) (Edge of the Earth Investigator Expansion #26)

FAQs

(from the official FAQ or responses to the official rules question form)
  • Dodge can cancel any type of enemy attack: a normal attack during the Enemy phase, an attack of opportunity, or a Retaliate attack.

  • If the attacking enemy has a Forced ability that says "When attacks" or "After attacks", that ability does not trigger if an attack is Dodged.

  • When a Massive enemy attacks each investigator in its location, Dodge will cancel only one of these attacks, not all of them.

  • If an attack was cancelled during the Enemy phase, the attacking enemy still exhausts.
Last updated

Reviews

Update after the release of Path To Carcosa:

Dodge is such a great card, why did nobody bother to write a review about it yet? I fancy that stressing it's obvious power must sound moronic, and no one wants to read what he/she already knows.

So i will just put other cards with the same effect from the other factions into advisement, none of them reaching Dodge's potential:

  1. Mystics have Hypnotic Gaze in faction - but the play cost is higher.
  2. Rogues have Suggestion - which has a steep aquisition cost of 4xp and does not work against Elite threats, neither can you protect other investigators with it.
  3. Survivors can buy Infighting - the aquisition cost of 3xp is crazy for an event, which does not at least protect against Elite threats, neither can you protect other investigators with it.
  4. Seekers have the Disc of Itzamna - it does not cancel the attack, but the effect is similiar, Seekers can stay at the same location while circumventing the attack. Higher play cost of 3 and 2xp, too.

Pros

  • Dodge is a fast action to cancel any single attack (damage and horror) without a skill check.
  • It can be used to save other investigators at your location.
  • Works against all sizes of attackers (Elite, Massive).
  • The investigator stays at the same location, usually saving a lot of actions he would spend if he evaded and returned later.
  • Special mention of Yorick, when drawing the elder sign from the bag, he can retrieve Dodge from the discard pile.

Cons

  • One-time effect. Make it worthwile!
  • Does not combine with I've had worse.
Synisill · 783
Shortcut's not really an apt comparison, as it won't cancel an attack or disengage the investigator from an enemy engaged with him/her. An engaged enemy, will follow the investigator through the shortcut. It just won't get an attack of opportunity, since Shortcut is Fast. — Herumen · 1698
Thank you, Herumen, i edited my review accordingly! — Synisill · 783
yeah, Dodge is a really good card, especially considering that guardians usually can't evade enemies (also it's actionless, unlike an evade). i have never been disappointed that i took this. — Zinjanthropus · 223

I thought I'd write up a review of this old card, since I've seen widely varying opinions as to how useful Dodge actually is. My own evaluation of it has changed quite a bit over the years.

Dodge was well-received when it first came out. It's really nice that this card is cheap and reliable, that it works even against Elite enemies, and that it can help other investigators at your location. It compared well to the clunky and awful healing options that existed back then. It still compares well to the more expensive versions of this effect we've seen printed since.

Even so, my opinion of this card has really come down over the years. Nowadays, I almost never include this card unless I'm playing Diana Stanley.

The problem with Dodge is that it's situational, relatively low-impact, and grants an effect which can be covered by less-situational cards.

For starters, this is not good enemy management. You might see a newer player include this in, say, solo Rex to "handle enemies," but this is not a good idea. If you have an enemy on you that you can't deal with, Dodge is not the card you want to have in your hand--it will only Delay the Inevitable and offers no permanent solution. After you Dodge, you will be in the same bad situation as before, now down a card and resource.

Of course, if there's a strong enemy you can only kill over multiple turns, Dodge can help you (or an ally) avoid some damage in the meantime. But I've found this to be surprisingly uncommon. Unless you're running a build in which you're trying to get attacked with stuff like Guard Dog (and such a build certainly does not need Dodge), you're just not going to take a ton of attacks from enemies in this game. Most of the time, a properly-built Guardian should be able to clear enemies from the board or comfortably tank their attacks. Either way, you don't really need Dodge. It does serve as a failsafe in case things go wrong, like drawing the autofail against a Retaliate enemy--but that's not something you have to dedicate a card slot to. You can usually just tank the occasional hit from such things every once in a while. Most enemy attacks deal 2 or fewer combined damage and horror, anyway.

Furthermore, Dodge faces a lot of competition nowadays from healing cards that are actually good, like Hallowed Mirror. Healing effects address a lot of the same concerns as Dodge, but are quite a bit more flexible because they can help not only with damage and horror from enemy attacks, but with damage and horror from treacheries and locations (a much more significant threat in most scenarios.)

Yes, Dodge will on occasion have some very good moments (often involving Ancient One enemies). But is it worth lugging this card in your deck just for that? I don't think so.

So, all these considerations mean I've moved away from running Dodge in my Guardians, and I haven't missed it. The minor synergies that have been printed over the years, like Counterpunch, don't really move the needle for me.

But a final note on Diana Stanley, with whom I do tend to run this card. If you're trying to quickly increase her Willpower to cast spells (which is my preferred way to play Diana), then you need a high density of cancels in your deck. Dodge is more situational than I'd like, but at least it's cheap, and sometimes you or a teammate can deliberately provoke an attack of opportunity to enable it. I prefer it to really expensive cancels like Hypnotic Gaze or Hand of Fate, or unreliable cancels like Eldritch Inspiration, Defiance, and Read the Signs. But I see Dodge as a necessary evil in her deck, not something I actively want for its own sake.

CaiusDrewart · 3004
This very closely mirrors my own group's experience with the card. It used to be an auto-include in the early days of the game, but as the card pool has gotten larger, decks (even level 0 ones) can be so much better tuned and efficient, and situational cards such as Dodge fall in value both because the sleeker decks are better able to deal with enemies efficiently (meaning fewer stray attacks) and it takes up a deck slot that could be used to make it even sleeker. — Death by Chocolate · 1364
Yes, you've much more succinctly expressed what my review was trying to say. It's remarkable how this card's stock has fallen in my group. Back in the days of just Core or Core + Dunwich, I put two of these in all my Guardian decks. I even recall splashing for it as Pete in my group's blind Dunwich run. But now, with pretty much the sole exception of Diana, this just stays in the binder. — CaiusDrewart · 3004
I don't see, how this card is "more situational than you like" on Diana. It cancels attacks of elites on other investigators at your location. If there is no enemy in play, there is no real urge to level Diana up. I played a lot of Diana, mostly of the Desperate to Well Prepared version, I also published the decks for and imho, this is among the very best Diana cards at level 0, and will stay in the deck till the final scenario. For other investigators, I consider it, if they have exess to "Stick to the Plan" and a free slot on that for the card. It is preety nice as a one off, you can use, whenever you need it but don' — Susumu · 329
... but donoesn't fill your hand until or can't be found when needed. In my current Carolyn deck, I run it next to one-offs of "Dynamite Blast" and "Ever Vigilate". Not sure, if this is the best use for her, but she definitely doesn't need "Prepared for the Worst". — Susumu · 329
Hi Susumu, about Dodge and Diana: this is an interesting one. I think it just comes down to build. After a lot of experimenting I've found a way of playing Diana that works for me, and what I try to do is basically churn through cancels quickly and get her Willpower up. I don't have much time for using her non-Willpower stats, because on high levels it's just so hard to get anything out of them. — CaiusDrewart · 3004
So you can imagine, if I'm trying to crank up her Willpower quickly so she can start contributing, the fact that Dodge is literally unplayable with no enemies around can be a nuisance. Yes, it's a much better card than Dark Prophecy, which is a really terrible card. But Dark Prophecy will get me that +1 Will more reliably. All that said I do run Dodge as Diana because you just need a lot of cancels, the alternatives are worse, and Dodge can (as you say) have some really good moments now and then, which is more than I can say for some of the other ones. — CaiusDrewart · 3004
It's very situational because enemies attacking investigators is not common, unless you're deliberately going out of your way to take AoOs. And Dodge seems like one of the least useful things to Stick to the Plan because as CaiusDrewart points out, it doesn't solve any problems on its own. Diana has enough cancels now that you'd almost never consider this card after dropping it for I've had Worse. — suika · 9247
And I think Dodge is sufficiently situational that, if you're trying to play it quickly to boost Diana's Willpower, it's going to be hard to get meaningful value out of it. Unlike the premium cancels like Ward of Protection and Dark Insight which will generally provide good value even if you play them very aggressively. — CaiusDrewart · 3004
Yeah, deliberately taking AoOs (or having a teammate do it) so I can get Dodge out of my hand is pretty common in Diana. — CaiusDrewart · 3004
Regarding "Stick to the Plan" I still think it is a good card for Carolyn, because many Guardian staples competing for these three slots are not interesting for her. She doesn't need ammo cards for instance. But SttP is still very good for her to thin the deck by four cards (with the Torah Research Funding), and Dodge is among the cards, that are nice to have ready when you need them, but not to fill up your hand. — Susumu · 329
Regarding Diana: unfortunatly I still never can talk my group into playing on hard or expert. And (true) solo I consider standard challenging enought, I at least incorporated taboo into my solo games. I would actually apreciate opinions on my Diana decks from an expert veterant like CaiusDreward very much. I don't think, I build my Diana decks that different to his, getting will up was also high priority for me. But desperate skills in low XP decks and "well Prepared" later in the campaign was just a way to push the middling other skills in particular for the first few rounds, before she is kicking in will. — Susumu · 329
Hi Susumu, I'm looking at your Well Prepared Diana list right now. Great list! You're right that the basic strategy is the same as how I play Diana. I'll leave a more detailed comment on the list. — CaiusDrewart · 3004
I have to agree simply because this is how my experience with the game has turned out as well. Dodge was a staple until it was clear that you really just need to deal with the problem, so other cards end up taking priority. An unfortunate victim of power creep, methinks. I will note though that Dodge is still a contender for Diana, Carolyn, and Zoey since Zoey stomachs a tremendous amount of punishment. — LaRoix · 1627
Again, I think it is less a victim of power creep in individual card design so much as the inherent power creep of a broadening card pool. Even if the gradient of card value stays relatively consistent over time, you still put the thirty best cards in your deck, but the thirty-best now looks much better than the thirty-best then. — Death by Chocolate · 1364