Greed

I was scared of this weakness at first, but it's actually not that bad. It's mid- to low tier, albeit a bit more dangerous in the more horror heavy campaigns such as Innsmouth Conspiracy.

First, try to avoid being reduced to 0 resources during your turn: [...] Upkeep phase: 4.4 each investigator draws 1 card. Once those cards have been drawn, each investigator gains 1 resource. So staying at even 1 resource turns this card into, well, an unlucky Rotting Remains. Our Bob wont like it, but he does start with 8 Sanity so he can take bit of mental anguish over his finances.

Now, a personal weakness like this kinda forces your hand abit when it comes to deckbuilding, because you can never afford to go too low on Sanity. You could include an Cherished Keepsake but Bob really like the card draw from either Lucky Cigarette Case or intially Rabbit's Foot. You might want to invest in Relic Hunter early, or you could go for Peter Sylvestre as your first ally. He'll keep you sane enough to handle Greed when it hits (as well as boost your mediocre Agility score).

Eventually upgrading the deck into a big money-Bob deck will neuter the weakness completely. So that's certainly an option, and it feels like that's what Bob himself would have wanted. But there's lots of ways to soak Horror in this game; you just need to plan ahead a bit.

Last, Greed reminds me of Harvey Walters' Thrice-Damned Curiosity. Harvey's curiosity punishes him for having lots of cards on hand. Bob's greed punishes him for spending all his cash on items. And both feel a bit contrary to the character designs.

olahren · 3561
Agree all around, and interesting how Harvey's weakness is so much worse than this. Harvey's weakness is basically "The better you play, the harder you'll fall", full stop- holding back on card draw protects him, but also doesn't advance his position. Whereas with big-money Bob, saving a little money both protects from the weakness AND advances his position. Even their desired permanents- Studious for Harvey, Another Day Another Dollar for Bob- will increase & decrease their liability, respectively. — HanoverFist · 748
Why this card has three different amounts listed? It's just clear that when there is 10 and less resources you take 1 additional horror. Why to list 5 and 0? — Kuciapka · 1
You have to take +1 horror for EVERY condition that's true, which is what makes it threatening- the less money Bob has, the more horror he takes. (e.g. If Bob has 12 resources, none of the last three lines activate, and he takes only 1 horror. If Bob has 4 resources, then the 1st and 2nd conditions- LessThan10 and LessThan5- are both true, so Bob takes 1 +1 +1 = 3 horror.) — HanoverFist · 748
Think on Your Feet

A card that's largely been decent but fairly niche up to now, but I think with the release of Edge of the Earth, this may have found a character who considers it very strongly. Monterey Jack's ability draws him a card right at the end of any turn he wishes to use it - which, if playing solo or just taking your turn last, is a bit of an issue for weaknesses like Mob Enforcer or Stubborn Detective which will both immediately hit you for a damage and stick a tough enemy on you, Your Worst Nightmare, which will then immediately hit you for two horror in the enemy phase (though thankfully can't be drawn in solo), or worst of all Silver Twilight Acolyte, which will hit you and immediately place a doom on the agenda. But holding this in hand, you can just completely negate this aspect of threat from them, meaning there's little need to play around having Monty go first, or stick near to the fighters just in case he drew one of his worse weaknesses.

And what happens if you don't draw one of those weaknesses? Well, it's still a strong enough card. His ability checks where you were at the start of the round, rather than your turn, so it effectively just shunts you away from a monster and pays for itself (or gets you a draw). And if the monster spawned is a hunter, you can then just move during your turn and get a resource and a draw. You might not carry it through too much of the campaign, as it still generally loses out to more consistent movement tech from seeker, but it's still very much worth including at deck creation.

SSW · 217
Unearth the Ancients

Unearth the Ancients (0) was one of those cards that everyone wanted to try out when it was released in Forgotten Age. Some players here thought it was decent, others thought the card sucked and heated argumentes followed. Three years later, Unearth the Ancient (0) is practically never played, apart from the odd Ursula deck as her free, once-per-round investigation action makes it... less bad.

But now we have an upgraded level 2 version! The difference between the level 0 version and this is ...drumroll... you can now put TWO items into play rather than just one! The skill test is the combined cost of both. Plus, it's free to play now at 0 resources and yeah, they added a single icon and you'll get a clue now if you suceed at the test.

But is it worth it? I don't think so. Yes, the payoff can be great, but there's quite a few pieces you need to line up here. First you need to have the card in hand, along with TWO assets, hopefully relics, that you want to get into play. That's three cards. It should ideally be early-to-mid part of the scenario too, because that's when you usually need to play assets. And the assets really can't be too expensive because you need to be able to pass that skill test. The card gets less reliable on harder difficulties and in scenarios with evil special tokens.

And remember that the intial payoff is resources saved. You spend one card and one action, the reward is two assets put into play for free. Seekers have plenty of good economy cards, such as Crack the Case, so these are the cards we need to compare Unearth the Ancients (2) to. The exception is if the assets are relics, since card draw is always good.

TL;DR: This card is often bad, unless you can count on passing the test and you have a clue you want to find and and at least one of the cards put into play are a relic. Then it's good. It's just that you need a rather specific type of deck and quite a bit of luck to get there. Me, I would rather spend those 4 experience points on something less risky and more generally helpful.

olahren · 3561
Notably you get a clue if you succeed with the leveled version. I don't think you need both the cards to be relics either, spending one action to get a clue and place two assets for free is incredibly efficient. — Vultureneck · 74
"up to 2" assets, you can pick 1, and its unclear if you can pick 0 assets to set the shroud to 0. — Zerogrim · 295
As I know, you can pick 1, but not 0 as in third bullet of target rule. However, you may set 0 test by Choosing 1 level Magnifying Glass if necessary. — elkeinkrad · 501
Target rule does not apply here. Playing the event still changes the game state by triggering an investigate, even if it would be a normal investigate at DC 0. — suika · 9511
Quite sure that you can pick 0 assets by this card, the word "up to 2" clear that. — doldol161 · 53
For one card you 1) get a clue; 2&3) put 2 assets in play; 4&5) draw 2 cards; 6,7,8,9,10...) save (so gain) that many resources. You play one card that gives you 6 to 8 actions at once, I don't think that can be bad. Sure it requires some buildaround but if you're playing relics it's a no brainer. Even putting a single relic in play is going to be worth 4-6 actions. — Oriflam · 207
Comparing the card to 'crack the case' is bs. Crack the case is a really good card i'd gladly pay an xp for, and there aren't many other resource cards out there if you're not the discover or hand size seeker, so this makes perfect sense in an asset focussed deck as a very much needed 3rd and 4rth crack the case — steventjes · 1
Join the Caravan

I think this card is strong, and going to be pretty popular (as long as you're playing anything more than a monoseeker deck).

While Seekers do get a number of cards that let them be nippy - Shortcut, Pathfinder, this card has three things that make it worth the cost.

  • Firstly, it's a fast. This is great for both action efficiency and as a panic button (cause it doesn't provoke AoO).

  • Second, it's move to any revealed location. This is obviously why it has a chunky cost, but by hokey I think it's worth it.

  • Third, the cost itself. The XP cost is real low at 1, so it's not a hard card to slice in, and any investigator that can splash low-level seeker can take it (Poor Norman Withers, he's just not that nimble). And the resource cost is almost...a trick? It's real unlikely to cost you 5 because you're damn sure to have at least 1 Seeker card out - the only exception might be very near the start of the game, in which case you're also not likely to have explored many locations so the card isn't real useful. So, a realistic cost of 4. And with the Edge Of The Earth's cardbase encouraging multiclass card splashing with the synergy keyword and a new host of multiclass cards - on top the existing fact that of a lot of decks already have two class cards in. So outside of EotE a likely cost of 3, and in EotE (especially if Bob Jenkins is around) possibly even 2 or 1.

I'll mention that it has a single intellect and agility icon, which is something I guess if you really need them. But you'd never want to throw this into a skill test.

In conclusion, 1xp and 3ish resources for an instant "get me anywhere" card feels like a solid and powerful card. It's not cheap, and you might only pack a single copy. But. It lets you to flash to support any other player, to flash to any player to get support, or the safety to stay in a location to get that final clue. The list goes on. In short, it gives you a lot of options to capitalise on, and big ol' safety net to boot.

knockthrice · 57
It gets even better for Joe. With the insight trait you can play it fast often for only 1 ressource — Tharzax · 1
"the only exception might be very near the start of the game" You mean, if you are Lola, and did not take "Shrewd Analysis"? All other investigator control at least one class card: their Investigator card. — Susumu · 381
According to https://arkhamdb.com/rules#Ownership_and_Control you control all the cards in your hand, deck and discard pile. — david6680 · 66
Yes, David. But also, see RR on Ability: "Card abilities only interact with other cards that are in play, unless the ability specifically references an interaction with cards in an out-of-play area." That's why control of cards in out-of-play Areas does not "synergize" with this card. — Susumu · 381
I like all the synergy cards to play with the Dunwich investigators and the new level 0 permanents. In Rex Murphy I had three different permanents out, so never paid more than 2. With things like Eon Chart, Ice Pick, Professor William Webb or Crafty I even got down to pay it for free. — Miroque · 25
Luke can use it to exit his weakness. — MrGoldbee · 1492
Ikiaq

Step 1: Play Lola Hayes, focusing on and for enemy management.

Step 2: Play Ikiaq and let your team never worry about weaknesses ever again. Don’t have to worry about Crisis of Identity either!

This is the biggest Lola buff in the game prior to the new synergy cards in the Edge of the Earth expansion!

joshcurtis · 51
Ikiaq doesn't cancel Crisis of Identity, since it's not a basic weakness. — Thatwasademo · 58
to trigger Ikiaq ability, you have to by a mystic role — Pawiu14 · 202
Poor Lola. Every time a new card comes out that seems to synergize greatly with her, it always backfires :/ — LaRoix · 1646