I think the real secret of this Card is you are spending the XP not for the extra ability but for the access. I am less interested in this card as an "UPGRADE" than as a good boost to willpower and sanity buff. For Roland, this is almost a auto include. I often upgrade to Elder Sign Amulet with him or Mark and this is just better across the board. The extra willpower helps to protect them from the encounter the deck and the sanity boost is well worth the cost.

Can you use this card to look for the same title, but different level?

Let's say you have 1 copy of Shrivelling (0) and 1 copy of Shrivelling (5) in your deck.

Could you use Lucid Dreaming to find the other one?

That would be lovely for Mystics as it is a spell and therefore you can find it with Arcane Initiate.

Interesting and powerful card, that is released in the same box as the upgrade of Sign Magick, for the same amount of Experience, and the same resource cost.

Nevertheless, I will prefer Sign Magick to The Hierophant • V for the Fast Aspect, to keep the Tarot slot free for Four of Cups, and most importantly for a free trigger of another spell: You killed an enemy (or not btw), get a free investigation (without AoO); you didn't kill the enemy, get an extra attack or an evade to dodge the damages.

Replacing Four of Cups for The Hierophant • V to have an extra slot to play Holy Rosary is the same as paying 2 XP and 2 resources for 2 Sanity. (Mr. Pawterson is looking at you). Crystal Pendulum and St. Hubert's Key are barely better in that slot.

You're therefore more likely to use this card to improve the size of your Arcane pool.

Is it the best card in doing so?

I don't think so. Familiar Spirit and Sign Magick (0) are lvl 0 cards, and Sign Magick (3) offers insane options for the same amount of XP and using a slot that is less contested in Mystics than other classes.

For a more detailed review of both cards and more info on why I believe that Sign Magick is better, see the review of Sign Magick.

I'm unconvinced this card is as bad as people are claiming.

The worst way this card could be bad is if you're firmly relying on the fight or evade to make checks at all, and it discards itself. That is a disaster and because it's a disaster this card should not be played in that position.

Where this card has room to be playable is horror soak with the benefit of some turns of turning decent checks into secure ones. At worst, it's the card for a fast resource to horror point. Something Worth Fighting For has the same resource conversion rate, better draw (3 horror for a draw), worse action cost (1/3rd per horror), though is admittedly lvl0. And you're going to have situations where you can simply replace it because you have the other copy in your hand and it doesn't cost an action.

This card would not be too good if it cost zero though (either XP or resources but not both), and would make it considerably more interesting on the deck building side. Honestly, I just think the restriction shouldn't be there. One sanity point on the one composure you can have in play isn't going to break the game without something truly degenerate, and if you're a tough guy, composure isn't the first thing you lose, it's the last thing you lose right before your last sanity point and if that's not thematically appropriate I don't know what is.

TL;DR: Interesting update for sure! A must-have for a Spell heavy and orientated Mystics. It brings more value to Wither + Shrivelling combo / Sixth Sense + Rite of Seeking combo / Attack + Investigate + Evade Spells builds.

When level 0 of Sign Magick was often clunky and had a hard time finding a real value in decks, it was with Familiar Spirit the only way to open up your Arcane slot. The question was then: should I sacrifice an Ally slot, or a Hand slot?

And now, we have this upgrade and the The Hierophant • V in the same box that both offer an extra Arcane slot.

Let's look closer at these 2 cards:

The Hierophant • V:

• Free AND Fast when in your starting hand. It will most likely not be your first mulligan target as you will focus on your key spells.

• 3 resources, 1 card and 1 action to play - 6 actions. As with every other 'extra slot card', it becomes less and less relevant the later you draw it, knowing that you will need 1 action to play this card AND 1 action to play the extra Spell/Accessory. This makes this card useless in the late game when actions become really scarce.

• Doesn't bring any icons for skill test unless you bought Moon Pendant as your extra Accessory.

• Brings flexibility between your Accessory slot and your Arcane slot. Bring 3 Arcane spells and 2 Necklaces and play down the first 4 cards that come to your hand.

• Takes the slot of Four of Cups that is a commonly used Tarot card.

Sign Magick:

• 3 resources AND Fast. Even in the late game, if you have your other spell in hand, it is worth playing it if you have extra resources as long as you have 1 action to play your spell. Uncage the Soul can also make it free!

• Brings one extra action PER TURN (2 when you have the 2 cards down), on one of your spells (!!!)

•• Always use Wither or Sixth Sense before you use your Shrivelling/Armageddon/Azure Flame or Rite of Seeking/Clairvoyance/Eye of Chaos to benefit from the Symbol token effect on your second spell.

•• As it is a , you can use Rite of Seeking right after your attack with Shrivelling without provoking Attacks of Opportunity (!!!)

•• This is extremely interesting as Sword Cane was starting to make Wither (0) a bit useless. Not anymore.

•• Use Wither with Jacqueline Fine and bring an Icon token. This attack does 1 damage and -1 health. Use Sign Magick's to trigger Shrivelling for a nice potential 5 damages turn.

•• Use Sixth Sense with Jacqueline Fine and bring an Icon token. You are now investigating at a different location and find 1 clue. Use Sign Magick's to trigger Rite of Seeking to grab a nice amount of 4 clues at a different location [The rules of "As if" say: "Other card abilities or game effects resolved during the duration of the indicated ability or action are also resolved with the altered game state in mind."]

•• Use Mists of R'lyeh for evasion + move and send an immediate investigation on that new location with Rite of Seeking for an evasion, one move and 2 clues in one turn to make Ursula Downs feel like a sloth.

•• It also looks like it will bring nice combinations with the soon to be released Blur and its Fight version. Evade with Blur, investigate right after with Rite of Seeking and get your action back.

•• Finally a fun one: Borrowed Time will gain 1 free click per turn as it is a Ritual, unfortunately no one so far can use level 3 and level 3 in the same deck.

Conclusion:

I will prefer Sign Magick to The Hierophant • V for the Fast Aspect, to keep the Tarot slot free for Four of Cups, and most importantly for a free trigger of spells: You killed an enemy, get a free investigation, you didn't kill the enemy, get an extra attack or an evade to dodge the damages.