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Q: Does Arcane Research with Archaic Glyphs, where you're upgrading a non-Spell into a Spell? A: Arcane Research reads "After each scenario of a campaign, reduce the experience cost of the first Spell card you upgrade before the next scenario by 1." In order to gain the experience discount from Arcane Research, you must be upgrading a card with the Spell trait. You would not get the experience discount if you are purchasing a new Spell, nor would you get the discount if you are upgrading a card that does not have the Spell trait (even if that card would upgrade into a card with the Spell trait).
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Additionally, the minimum experience cost for upgrading any card is always 1 (see Experience), so you would need to be paying 2 or more experience in order for the discount to apply.Ruling overturned: I will reverse my earlier ruling to suit the language in the FAQ, as this directly contradicts the minimum stated in the Rules Reference. The 1xp minimum does not apply to upgrading cards, and Arcane Research can therefore decrease the xp cost to upgrade a card to 0. -
Q: Can you include Arcane Research in your deck at the start of the campaign? If so, do you take the mental trauma? A: Yes, you can, and yes, you should. Any card effects that resolve when a card is purchased should be resolved when that card is chosen to be included in your starting deck.
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Q: If you decide to purchase Arcane Research after a scenario, can you take advantage of the discount it provides immediately? A: No, you cannot. The text "After each scenario of a campaign…" indicates that Arcane Research must be in your deck at the time the scenario concludes in order to take advantage of its text. (Essentially, it triggers immediately after the scenario, and creates a lasting effect.) If you purchase it in between two scenarios, it is too late to trigger its ability for the scenario just played. [Note that this is different from a card like Adaptable which simply reads "In between each game of a campaign..." At the time you purchase Adaptable you are still in between two games of a campaign, so you may take advantage of its ability immediately.]
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Q: How do Adaptable, Down the Rabbit Hole and Arcane Research interact with Innsmouth scenarios and interludes where experience is not allowed to be spent? A: You can use Adaptable in between any scenarios in Innsmouth. You cannot use Arcane Research or Down the Rabbit Hole during times you cannot spend XP – essentially, you are unable to “upgrade” cards at these times, even at a discount.
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Q: In The Innsmouth Conspiracy campaign, various scenarios instruct the players during the resolution to record experience, then "not spend any of it yet" (with later instructions, typically during a scenario intro, to spend the experience). Is this intended to be read as a blanket prohibition on spending any xp at all, or just a prohibition on the xp earned from that particular scenario? The exact wording is that we will be instructed to spend "this experience" at a later time, which seems to imply only the particular scenario's xp is locked away (as opposed to banked experience from a previous scenario, In The Thick of It, etc.) However, an email ruling from MJ seems to imply there is a total experience-spending lockout. Furthermore, even if there is a total prohibition on spending any xp after these scenarios, is it still possible to upgrade my deck by spending 0xp? For example, if my deck contained x2 Arcane Research, then upgrading one copy of Rite of Seeking from level 0 to level 2 would cost 0xp, which seemingly would not violate even a total ban on spending xp. A: To answer your question(s):
- In the Innsmouth Conspiracy, when instructed to not spend earned XP from a scenario, this would include unspent XP gained outside of that scenario. In other words, no XP can be spent during that time.
- You would also not be able to upgrade your cards during times you cannot spend XP, even if you had a way of avoiding spending XP at that time.
Vorteil
Talent.
Cost: –.
Dauerhaft.
Sobald du Arkane Forschung erwirbst, erleidest du 1 seelisches Trauma.
Senke nach jedem Szenario einer Kampagne die Erfahrungspunktekosten der ersten Zauber-Karte, die du vor dem nächsten Szenario verbesserst, um 1.
FAQs
(from the official FAQ or responses to the official rules question form)Reviews
How do I say auto-include in ancient Mesopotamian?
What about two of? Most mystics want this as at least a two of. Some want it as a one of as some mystics cannot play it well with shriveling.
Agnes is probably the best example of this, as the trauma will need to be healed and it will reduce her maximum number of character ability triggers.
But for everyone else. Take at least one or two if you are feeling ballsy.
It IS that good.
Man, this might be my favorite Mystic card. I expect it to get Taboo'd at some point, maybe with that replacement ruling reverted back to the original, because an essentially free 14 XP (because you always take two) is just too easy to take in this game. Even Agnes should consider it despite the anti synergy with her ability- her Mystic/Survivor card pool gives her decent access to horror soak, heal, and prevention (you can always try and infinitely recur St. Hubert's Key with Scavenging for example) which makes the 2 horror she starts with not too big of a problem. But let's check in now and see what spells we can upgrade to as of The Circle Undone wrapping up:
Blinding Light Blinding Light 2 for 0 XP
Clarity of Mind Clarity of Mind 3 for 1 XP
Deny Existence Deny Existence 5 for 3 XP
Mind Wipe 1 Mind Wipe 3 for 1 initial XP
Mists of R'lyeh Mists of R'lyeh 4 for 2 XP
Rite of Seeking Rite of Seeking 2 Rite of Seeking 4 for 0 XP
Shrivelling Shrivelling 3 Shrivelling 5 for 1 XP
Sixth Sense Sixth Sense 4 for 2 XP
Ward of Protection Ward of Protection 2 Ward of Protection 5 for 1 XP
Also in Return to Carcosa we're getting a lower level Suggestion, so look out for that Sefina Rousseau and Akachi Onyele.
So which of these upgrades do you shoot for? Remember that you only get the benefit on the first spell you buy, so a chain of three cards like Shrivelling to Shrivelling 5 is going to take 4 scenarios to reach if you want the full discount. In other words you'll get the benefit 7 times in a standard campaign (though side stories will help you out quite a bit). There's a few up there that stand out to me:
Obviously if you're going to be a fighty Mystic it's a good plan to move through the Shrivelling chain. However you might find you have XP to spare in which case it's probably better to spend the XP for the other upgrade sooner, making you more powerful more quickly (and increasing the liklihood of picking up enemy Victory points later). Instead, I recommend using AR's savings in other areas.
If your name is Diana Stanley or Agnes Baker then I strongly recommend Deny Existence 5. If you plan on running Diana with Dayana then I even more strongly-er recommend it.
Mists of R'lyeh upgrades into a big +3 bonus and an added charge. Particularly good for Jim who is just a bit lower in than anyone else, and also valuable for that one campaign we all know where evasion is super useful.
Ward of Protection 2 is usually considered superior to its overcosted counterpart upgrade Ward of Protection 5, so probably just go up the first step in this chain and then stop. This is especially true in higher count multiplayer, and especially extra super true for Diana in multiplayer. In solo with a less fight capable mystic you could eye 5 instead, or else skip the chain entirely.
Jim should probably always take Sixth Sense 4 since it becomes a very consistent multi clue gathering tool for him, assuming you're building him in the traditional manner of drawing more spooky tokens.
A fantastic card that'll help propel Mystics up the spell upgrade tree. Spells are expensive, and even though there's just a handful of targets as of the writing of this review, what is available is quite expensive!
All the better if you're playing with Carolyn Fern in your group of Investigators, as she can turn that pain into profit.
(Edit: 12/1/19, Return to Dunwich).
This is quite good, despite the risks involved. Take 2!
Each scenario finished with this on the table basically nets you +2 XP for every scenario throughout a campaign. To maximize profits the current ideal path is probably:
Shrivelling -> Shrivelling -> Shrivelling X2, this takes 4 scenarios and costs only 2 total XP total.
Then: Ward of Protection -> Ward of Protection -> Ward of Protection also for just 2 XP total.
Finally Rite of Seeking -> Rite of Seeking -> Rite of Seeking for 0 XP total.
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That nets you several incredibly powerful cards for just 6 XP, but it will take an entire 8 Scenario Campaign (With New Orleans. Cairo and Venice Thrown in) to make it all the way to this point, for the sake of sheer power in a deck as soon as possible you can choose to forego a few of these triggers to gain a stronger deck earlier, for example spending the 4 XP to finish up Shrivelling before scenario 3.
So, now that some of the most important tools in your deck will basically level themselves up for free, what to do with all the XP you earn?! This is the REAL fun of this card, now all the cool cards like Seal of the Elder Sign, Time Warp and Recharge can make MUCH earlier appearances!
So, when do you take this? On easier difficulties (Standard/Easy) I don't see no reason not to take this, but even so a few Investigators don't quite synergize with this card, Jim Culver for example is the most consistent dude in the game but he is also very very squishy, if you don't see the Jim's Trumpet very very early then you stand to suffer some unwelcome defeats at the hand of the very Shrivelling card's you took Arcane Research to upgrade. Grab Fearless asap to counter the extra horror.
Mystic cards are expensive, and this card successfully mitigates all of that. With only two exp you can get a copy of the level 4 spells by the second scenario, which is extremely powerful. Couple it with in the thick of it and rabbit hole for absolutely ridiculous early game gains.
Does anyone know if say - Daisy could take this card and purchase the 3XP version of Shrivelling? Her deckbuilding requirements say Seeker cards level 0-5 and Mystic Cards level 0-2. Arcane research lowers the XP cost of the first spell card you purchase by 1. Does this lower the "level" of the card or just the XP "cost" of the card? These these things different?