If this card had 3 icons and said "Commit only to a skill test you are performing during the Mythos phase," I would still consider taking this card in some Guardian decks.

This card can do that and it can played to boost some early action checks. I think it's quite good. Guardian characters normally want to go first anyways in order to clear out enemies, so they get good use out of it.

It's true that this card loses a little bit of utility if there are multiple people using it, but I think that it doesn't diminish it enough to say that only one investigator can use it exclusively.

I find this card is easier to consistently use more than Inquiring Mind, Last Chance, and Rise to the Occasion. One thing you can normally count on in Arkham Horror: There will be encounter cards, and they will try to kill you.

I think this card is not a practical option for most investigators, particularly the ones who also have access to Beat Cop.

However, I think that you can make the case that this card has some use in a Leo Anderson deck.

Leo's ability lets him play Hired Muscle without spending a and for one less resource. That means that, if you play Hired Muscle using his ability, it costs essentially nothing for the first turn.

I think that Leo Anderson wants to hold Hired Muscle back and only play him at the start of a turn where he's going to fight. At that point, he can then play him for free (and without provoking attacks of opportunity) and benefit from the +1 for the duration of the turn. Hired Muscle also sticks around for the enemy damage phase, so he should be the first one to take hits, since he's expendable. The "pay to keep" option doesn't come around until the Upkeep phase, and during that time Leo can decide if he wants to pay one resource to retain the help.

It can be convenient to hold Hired Muscle in your hand to help combat Bought in Blood - Leo generally wants to play his allies quickly, but Hired Muscle is more of a combat trick, so if you discard him out of your hand, it's less painful than losing an ally you paid to bring out. If you have no allies in hand, you don't always have that option, so Hired Muscle mitigates that a little bit by living in your hand until you need him.

To the people that say he competes for the coveted ally slot, I would say: you are correct. However, Hired Muscle can take up one of Mitch Brown's 2 non-unique ally slots. Additionally, I would say that Charisma is almost mandatory for a good Leo Anderson deck, and so that should give you some more flexibility. I'm not saying you should get Charisma just for Hired Muscle - I think you should be getting Charisma because it's good for Leo Anderson in general.

Would I use Hired Muscle for any other investigator? Usually, no. For Leo Anderson, though, I can see this card being effective.

Moxie is probably my pick for #2 Composure behind Plucky. It in a faction that loves the pay-to-win mechanic, and it has stats that are generally very useful to those who can take it.

• Sefina is a no-brainer for Mox, as she's basically a Mystic and loves to turn those Painted Streaks into Shrivelling hits.
• Although Jenny seems like a likely candidate, she often enjoys Streetwise, which already comes with a superior booster, so you're taking Mox for the pump. If I could afford the off-faction slots, I'd sooner take Physical Training than Moxie for the complementary stats.
• Skids and Finn both make for surprisingly effective homes for Moxie. By playing either of these gentlemen, you're resigning to fail most tests. However, some are still must-pass, and Mox becomes an "in case of emergency, break glass" tool for help your Frozen in Fear and Rotting Remains woes. The booster is also welcome for either gator.
• Wendy very much enjoys this card as well. Her already good means Mox covers you for any extra difficult willpower tests, and she's obviously going to love the agility help. Wendy has access to economy like Hot Streak(2), and Survivors also don't have a ton of expensive cards to play.
• Leo seems to be least likely on this list to take Mox, mostly because he's very money-hungry and doesn't have the extra cash to fuel this. Also, his is so laughably low that he will have to pay too much during must-pass agility tests.

Overall a situational but effect tool for most investigators.

When Norman Withers was first released, my initial reaction was disappointment. He's a Seeker character with the Miskatonic keyword, but he can't use Higher Education! It's such a good card for Seeker investigators that I almost immediately dismissed him once I learned he didn't have access to it.

After using him once through The Path To Carcosa campaign, I've changed my mind and I think that he's a very capable investigator - possibly one of the best.

Card Pool

Norman technically has one of the smaller card pools. In addition to the Neutral card options, he can take level 0 Seeker and level 1-5 Mystic cards, with up to 5 level 0 Mystic cards that can be splashed into the deck. This essentially means that he has access to a little more than one class's worth of cards, which is less than the pool of cards available to most investigators. For reference: as of this writing, this is only a little better than the card pool of Father Mateo (all Mystic cards plus 5 starting experience) and on par with characters like Mark Harrigan (all Guardian cards with some low-level Tactics cards). At face value, Norman's card pool is not quite as good as most core set investigators since they get one full class's worth of cards plus 2 levels' worth of cards in a secondary class, and it's also not quite as good as the Dunwich investigators who get a full class's worth of cards as well as any 5 level 0 cards.

However, in my opinion, level 0 Seeker cards are some of the best level 0 cards in the game. You get cards that amplify Norman's strengths like Magnifying Glass and Dr. Milan Christopher. You also get cards that shore up his weaknesses like "I've got a plan!" and Mind over Matter. All in all, there's some solid options.

Similarly, Mystic cards are generally some of the best experience options in the game as well (barring Blood Pact, which doesn't quite stack up to its counterparts in other classes). Shrivelling (3) and Shrivelling (5) are powerhouse combat options. Grotesque Statue is great for improving critical tests and working around the token. Ward of Protection (2) and Ward of Protection (5) are great counters to some terrible encounter cards. Again, there's a lot of solid options.

For the level 0 Mystic cards, Norman has access to the regular Shrivelling as well as Holy Rosary. Players who are feeling bold can even use these slots on Delve Too Deep. However, I personally think the best use of these slots is for 2 copies of Arcane Research since it lets him power-level Shrivelling and makes getting Ward of Protection (5) much more viable.

Overall, I think he's got some good choices.

Stat Line

I think that Norman Withers might have one of the best stat lines of all investigators. He has:

• 4 - this stat matches that of many Mystic investigators. It means he can cast spells with the best of them and avoid most nasty Treachery cards that deal horror.
• 5 - the same as Daisy Walker. This stat is very strong and means Norman will be able to gather clues very effectively.
• 2 - this stat is not very good. However, it's a shortcoming that Norman can work around with his card pool. Most tests are against monster enemies, and Norman can normally handle those with Shrivelling, Mind over Matter, or "I've got a plan!" All of these cards key off of his stronger and stats.
• 1 - This is probably Norman's most glaring weakness. Conventional wisdom says that low can be managed around if you have good combat options, because fighting is often better than running away. However, there are some Treachery cards that deal damage for a failed test, and Norman only has 6 health. It's best to pack some Painkillers or bring a Ward of Protection for those kinds of situations.

Barring some unusual scenarios, most of the tests Norman makes will be either tests or tests, and those stats are very good for him. His and are low, but he has cards in his pool that can work around those shortcomings so he can ignore those flaws rather than try to improve them to a passable level. This lets Norman focus on his strengths: investigating and casting spells. He is the first investigator to have a base stat of 4 and a base stat of 5! His focus on having 2 strong skills makes him very specialized and very powerful in his areas of expertise.

Special Abilities

Overall, I would say Norman's power is just OK. Being able to see the top card of the deck is normally useful, and having the option to play it effectively means Norman has one extra card in his hand at any given time. Being able to play that card at a one-resource discount is nice, but it's not as strong a benefit as Jenny Barnes, who is granted one extra resource a turn by her ability. I say this because Norman will not normally be able to benefit from his discount every turn, so the savings are not enough to rival what Jenny Barnes would make over the course of the game.

I normally measure the usefulness of an investigator's ability based on how it saves actions over the course of the game. Finn Edwards has an extra action, but it has to be used to evade. Jenny Barnes gains an extra resource, and gaining a resource is normally an action. Roland Banks discovers a clue when he defeats an enemy, which effectively saves him one action. Using this metric, it's hard to see if Norman's ability saves many actions by comparison. Like I mentioned before, it's essentially a constant +1 card with the occasional resource saved on that card's discount. I would say it's a situationally useful ability, but not one that's worth building the whole deck trying to leverage it.

There is sort of the unfortunate side effect that Norman can be hit by his Weakness cards immediately after he draws his opening hand. It doesn't happen often, but when it does it can be quite difficult. Being subjected to Paranoia or Amnesia before getting to play any cards is really, really brutal, and any enemy cards you draw will hamper your first few actions. If you choose to play as Norman, you need to be aware that it can happen - I would say this makes him slightly more vulnerable to Weakness cards than the average investigator.

In multiplayer, Norman's ability does improve communication a little bit. While players can't share what is in their hands, everyone is able to see Norman's revealed card. This means everyone can plan around it and discuss the best way to use it. It's not a big benefit but it's kind of neat.

Norman's ability is relatively unremarkable. It will normally just provide a bonus to succeeding. Being able to switch the card will let Norman take advantage of his top-card discount slightly more frequently, but it doesn't usually make that big of a difference.

Overall

I think Norman Withers compares fairly well against other investigators up through The Forgotten Age. His 5 means he can investigate with the best of the Seeker investigators and his 4 means he can cast spells on the same level as Mystic investigators. His card pool is a little smaller than normal, but it's focused enough to support him to do what he's meant to do. Once he earns enough experience, Norman Withers is a force to be reckoned with.

In context of solo play Roland is very solid pick because his statline and cardpool allows him to get clues as well as deal with enemies. Roland´ ability is basicially a once per round use of evidence which can be used to clear clues of high shroud locations which he is unable to investigate with cards such as Flashlight and Magnifying Glass. This becomes especially important in solo play there the presence of enemies usually means that you need to waste actions on dealing with them. However, in context of Roland´s ability the presence of enemies is beneficial as they can be used in order to make progress towards the act deck. This theme is further developed by cards such as On the Hunt which spawns enemies at your locations and Scene of the crime which profits from the presence of enemies at your location.

Roland´s glaring weaknesses are his low willpower and sanity. Roland´s willpower of three makes him vulnerable to nasty willpower treacheries and the existence of encounter cards which can deal up to three (or even more) horror means that Roland is prone to go mad during the course of a scenario. What makes this situation worse ist that Roland´s unique weakness Cover Up forces you to either waste time in order to get rid of the clues on it or to take a mental trauma which makes it even more likely that Roland will go insanse.

While these weaknesses were huge problems at the beginning of the game when there were not a lot of good ways to deal with them, the growing card pool has mitigated them more and more: the dunwich cycle introduced cheap expendable allies such as Art Student and Dr. William T. Maleson who could soak sanity damage and provided additonal benefits for Roland. During the Path to Carcosa cycle Roland got access to cards such as Forewarned and Logical Reasoning which provided him with even more ways to deal with nasty treacheries or heal horror. At the same time Roland also got access to more and more cards which allow him to place clues on locations such as Quick Study from the current Forgotten Age Cycle. These cards allowed Roland to place clues on locations in order to mitigate a situation in which Cover Up came up and there were no collectable clues in play. All of this in mind I think Roland is a very beginner friendly investigator who allows you to play a guardian who contributes not only in regard of slaying the beasts of Arkham but also in regard of clue gathering.