Harlan's Curse

Harlan's Curse

Note that this search only checks the encounter deck, not the discard pile (and victory display). For that reason, it's a good idea to advance "Harlan's Curse" when all 3 Acolytes are in the discard/play (or even just 2 Acolytes in the discard/play when 3/4 player) - this prevents the spawn.

Of course you might be dealing with the other version of this act, so this gambit might have no effect. But if it works well, it can be nice.

duke_loves_biscuits · 1285

Knowledge is Power

Knowledge is Power

How does this work together with cards that need multiple actions to activate like the new forbidden tomes?

Forbidden Tome Forbidden Tome

Is the multiple actions needed as a part of the trigger or a part of the cost?

iro · 5
I'm pretty sure that you don't need to spend any actions because the actions are part of the cost — Zinjanthropus · 231
I am also of the opinion that KiP should activate a use of either Forbidden Tome, but the is the argument that "an action of fast action ability" indicates only one arrow. That seems kind of stiingy, but "Grim Rule" and all.... — LivefromBenefitSt · 1091
@LivefromBenefitSt Check the Reference guide for the different types of triggered abilities. Even if they cost multiple actions, they are still an ‘action triggered ability’ or ‘=> ability’(I can’t embed symbols in comments). So, KiP can activate the forbidden tome regardless of Hand Size. — Death by Chocolate · 1484
That's good then, because it seems kind of cheap otherwise. — LivefromBenefitSt · 1091
So, if you put a Forbidden tome on Abigail Foreman, you could trigger it twice with KiP and then Ms. Foreman's ability.... — LivefromBenefitSt · 1091

Hunting Horror

Hunting Horror

An elite monster that can gain massive and readies itself is threatening. It’s why it’s the only monster in the module it’s in. (Bad news for guardians who like fighting a lot of people... hope your party has stubborn detectives, creatures from the crystallizer and the like to keep you busy.) but a few investigators make quick work of this beast…The first one Is Jaqueline, who can pull multiple tokens. Another is Trish, who can use a fast or ~ ability to get clues and evade the monster in 0 actions. That means the deadliest thing in this module is probably getting a infinite hallway in the main corridor, running through your deck and taking 10 damage. Make sure to Delay the Inevitable or Defy Reality.

MrGoldbee · 1493
One fun strategy is to have a designated evader stay with the Hunting Horror and just keep evading it while your cluegetters finish the scenario without distractions. Your evader will need to be a little tanky since they will get attacked occasionally. — The Lynx · 999
Or just use Pendant of the Queen during the free trigger in the enemy phase because they forgot to make it not effect Elite enemies. — Death by Chocolate · 1484
FYI - the "ready Hunting Horror" is significant if the Hunting Horror (H.H) was evaded during play which would have exhausted the H.H. If the H.H. was damaged due to fighting during play, it would not be exhaused and the "ready H.H." might not be relavent. — Moragg · 1

Arcane Studies

Arcane Studies

Slotless reoccurring skill boosts are generally amazing, and this would be no exception ... if it weren't for the fact that Recall the Future is half the XP cost and only triggers when you need it. There are two upsides to this card vs Recall: the first is that Recall only covers one "out of range" token, while this is a normal skill boost, but I think half a Lucky! is still better than a Guts; the second is that after you use the two resources off of it you're left with an Arcane Studies (0), but to be honest I just haven't liked any of that cycle since the cardpool got big enough to not need filler cards.

Thatwasademo · 58
Fair argument, but RtF also a) exhausts and b) involves a guessing game which makes it most effective in a subset of Mystics. It’s a good card, but it requires more support than this one to really shine. — LivefromBenefitSt · 1091
Nah, recall works incredibly similarly even without support, as going up by +2 is not dissimilar to just Recalling the worst token in the bag, though it depends on how far up a test you are. I do agree generally that Recall, for the price, is a better pick. — StyxTBeuford · 13051
Recall the Future only exhausts if you ‘guess’ correctly. I.e. you hit the token it is relevant for. It’s not really a guessing game, but a risk mitigation game. — Death by Chocolate · 1484
The point is that Recall the Future gives you a +2 boost to a single test per Round. Arcane Studies can give you +2 to one test, +1 to two tests, or as many tests as you might have resources for. Also, Arcane Studies always "goes off;" there is no chance of it failing. I like Recall the Future and had some good fun with it in a Chaos Bag Jim deck that rocked Carcosa, but I think the two cards exist in different design spaces and aren't really in competition with each other (except in the way that all cards are in competition for limited deck space. — LivefromBenefitSt · 1091
You have to also keep in mind what DbC is saying- Recall is reactive, it only works when you need it. With skill boosters, you might waste the boost if you draw a good token. You often spend 2 just to ensure yourself passing against the worst token, which often doesnt get pulled. — StyxTBeuford · 13051
I wouldn't say there's no chance of Arcane Studies failing, at least in any sense that there's a chance of Recall the Future failing -- there's always some threshold skill value you're looking to hit, usually the test's difficulty but sometimes a little above or below, and if you draw a token that meant you would have been above that threshold without spending for the boost then it's exactly as though you didn't get it. (And likewise, if you draw the autofail or any other token bad enough that the boost doesn't put you above the *lowest* value you were looking to hit, but that's less likely most of the time you're using any sort of boost) The difference being that for this card, you already spent the resources (or "resources"), but for Recall missing means it's still ready. — Thatwasademo · 58
Recall the Future can fail to "go off" if you have more than one token that will cause you to fail by 2 or less and you pick the wrong token. It's still ready, and it can be used on all tests, which are both points in its favor, but I think the two cards exist in such different design spaces that saying one is better than the other is a little self defeating. Different Decks have different priorities, after all. Probably the biggest drawback to Arcane Studies is that Mystics traditionally have resource crunches, making "pay to pass" more difficult. — LivefromBenefitSt · 1091
Realistically you’re probably committing on a RtF test also, you just commit less since RtF makes up the difference to ensure success barring autofail. The same is probably true for Arcane Studies- you will commit and spend the resources off of it. — StyxTBeuford · 13051
In other words you can usually ensure that only one non autofail token is the issue and use Recall for that. — StyxTBeuford · 13051
There is another advantage of this card, albeit only for Diana: it synergies with "Well Prepared". Granted, you get that also from the level 2 version. But if you put that into your deck, you are better off with upgrading it, than using additional deck slots and play action for the other card. — Susumu · 382

Arcane Studies

Arcane Studies

4XP is a lot, but I like this suite of card designs. Recurring credits were a definite thing in Netrunner, and they are just as good here. Getting a +2 for an Investigation, or boosting almost any spell by +2 once a turn is pretty nice, and this will help with most of the Parlay tests that come up in scenarios. And, of course, if there is some ridiculously high test, you can always spend resources on it. It's gravy that it refills at the beginning of the Round, so it's available for Treachery defense.

LivefromBenefitSt · 1091
It looks to me that the best use of this card is in an Agnes Baker "dark horse" deck: you can at the same time benefit from the Dark horse bonus by having no ressoures AND have 2 ressources to boost your willpower/knowledge. Or even 4 if you also use Forbidden knowledge and Madame Labranche (and a 5th if you took your ressource during upkeep). Turning a 5 2 2 3 investigator to 11 2 2 3 or 5 6 2 3 for a single test or to 8 2 2 3 or 5 5 2 3 for 2 tests. — AlexP · 287