Jim Culver

Jim is frequently under-estimated, and for two main reasons:

  1. Most people play on Standard, where his special ability is not as important.
  2. People miss the single most important thing to know about Jim!

The single most important thing to know about Jim is that the particulars about his character make Grotesque Statue super powerful. There are 3 key reasons for this:

  • Jim can use Scavenging to pull Grotesque Statues Back
  • The fact that =0 shifts the mathematics of the chaos bag in such a way that you are extremely likely to prevail when you get two draws. In fact, since =0, you are very likely to prevail by 2 or more, and since Grotesque Statue goes to your discard pile immediately, you can actually use a Grotesque Statue pull to get a Grotesque Statue back!
  • Double the draws means double the chances for tokens. This is less important now with Carcosa out, but earlier it was very important to get to activate Jewel of Aureolus. Now, with Uncage the Soul, this is less important.

Once Jim gets a statue, he is essentially (invincible) [arkhamdb.com

FBones · 19685
"Now, with Uncage the Soul, this is less important."...could you explain this statement a bit? — KillerShrike · 1
KillerShrike: If I may speak for FBones, I think he's suggesting that triggering Jewel of Aureolus was previously really important for the sake of Jim's economy, but now that Uncage the Soul exists, Jim's economy doesn't need the help as much. — CaiusDrewart · 3210
I think the suggested Grotesque Statue + Scavenging build is super clever, but it's also slow and XP-intensive. Other investigators can be more effective at less expense. Overall I can't say that Jim's special ability is good. Compared to what other investigators get, getting better results (often only slightly better) on 2 or 3 tokens is not much. — CaiusDrewart · 3210
Sefina Rousseau

I'm writing this review because there is one critical thing that no one else has mentioned:

The Painted World is a Spell. This means you can pull them using Arcane Initiate! If you get a Hot Streak in your opening hand [60% chance if you have 2 of them and no story assets], this means you will often get to play 4 Hot Streaks in a game. This, along with the availability of Uncage the Soul) makes Sefina richer than Jenny Barnes.

With Streetwise and either Moxie or Arcane Studies, this means Sefina can pump any stat except . With a Spirit Athame she can investigate for 2 clues with a skill of 6 using Rite of Seeking once a turn [which is the most you want to do anyway since you should always use Rite of Seeking on your last turn].

Similarly, with a Spirit Athame, she can attack for 2 damage with a skill of 6, but only once per Athame. If you need to take down a big creature, you would dip into your massive resource pool for the second attack.

The fact that she can copy tons of awesome cards (Drawn to the Flame, Ward of Protection) along with Hot Streak makes Sefina the first super-powerful non-seeker in the game!

FBones · 19685
I just don't think this prediction for Sefina holds up, sadly. I think her power level is still quite low at the moment. She's also wildly inconsistent scenario to scenario. If your whole plan depends on getting Hot Streak in your opening hand and at least 40% of the time that won't happen? That's a big deal. — CaiusDrewart · 3210
Recharge

I've used this card in my sefina deck for 3 games so far and noticed the following:

  • Has a ~2/3 chance (depending on chaos bag) to function, so can be like a cheap 3rd or 4th copy of Shrivelling or Rite of Seeking.

    • Don't use it on cards with charges left, as this may kill the card with the charges
  • As a spell, Arcane Initiate can "find" it
  • It has two icons, so it's nice to commit to most spells
  • As event, it can be used with Sefina Rousseau ability
  • Grotesque Statue can be used to increase the chance of recharging the spell (but sefina cant play the statue)
Django · 5175
Relic Hunter

Compared to its cousin Charisma, this card doesn't really see much love, despite serving an essentially identical function. With that said, you should watch this space because as more and more must-have accessories are released, this card will only increase in value. I'm willing to bet that a year from now (or even sooner), we will start seeing this card being considered a lot more.

As things currently stand however, there just aren't enough high-powered Accessory cards to merit purchasing Relic Hunter for pretty much every investigator.

The one massive exception is Zoey Samaras. Her signature card, Zoey's Cross is an absolute must-play when you draw it. It's so powerful that you'll probably think twice before purchasing any other accessory cards, as they'll essentially just be used for their icons if the cross hits the table first. This is a huge shame, as not only would Zoey really like to pick up an Elder Sign Amulet at some point, but she is also the only investigator who has access to both Holy Rosary and Police Badge, arguably the two strongest accessories in the game right now.

But with Relic Hunter, Zoey can fill her deck with these accessory cards and get good use out of all of them. If Zoey's Cross is the card you never want to leave your side (e.g., the accessory equivalent of Leo De Luca, Dr. Milan Christopher), the others are all expendable and can be replaced once they've served their purpose (Art Student, Guard Dog, etc..)

bricklebrite · 540
I'll agree with that, except to say that it's also a good choice for Yorick, who can have Cherished Keepsake and Police Badge also. Those are good choices for him for surviving horror, or for that "one big turn". For bonus points, combine with "Will to survive" — AndyB · 958
With Key of Ys now out, Yorick is heavily eyeing this to have crazy Police Badge/Ys combos. — clydeiii · 41
Yorrick + 2x Cherished Keepsake — bits-in-a-ghoul-tummy · 32
I would definitely say that Key of Ys probably makes this card worth taking for some investigators — Zinjanthropus · 233
Anatomical Diagrams

This card is a little weird, and it is best compared to another similar card, Mind over Matter.

For 1 resource you drop a foe's combat and evade rating by 2, this is a much stronger effect than increasing your own chances by the same value because: When you attempt a skill test, the result cannot go under 0. I.E, if you encounter foes that have 2 or less evade and fight values, evading or fighting them becomes pretty trivial once you drop those number's to 0. Swarm of Rats become autokill's for example, and so do Ghoul Minion if you just got the two actions.

So why isn't this autotake? I'll tell you, it's not just because of the severe drawback listed in it's play conditions. Against a foe that is harder to hit or Evade than just 2, you Immediately need to start backing up your tests with some actual stats, dropping a foe to 1 fight for example so that you can throw your Str of 2 at isn't that much better on, say, Hard difficulty. You'll need some other way to boost the attempt.

There is another upside to this card. Playing it to buff an actual combat character is a huuuuge play, especially if you're trying to kill some kind of boss, a -2 difficulty on every attack for 2 or 3 attacks is going to stack up a lot of extra hits

.

So, the comparison. Mind over Matter does a similar thing, but it's not limited by Sanity, and it's not team friendly, a fair trade-off because for character's the net benefit is mostly the same, usually a gain of +2 or more or , with Dr. Milan Christopher the gain can be enhanced. Dont forget that a isnt likely to have perennial support cards like Overpower, meanwhile Mind over Matter enables the use of Perception and the like to pump your fight value.

So, IF you do intend to take your brainiac out to punch some fools, this card is probably a bit better than Mind over Matter because of it's team utility and it's enhanced efficiency against low difficulty threats (Which can be an issue for pacifist characters to deal with), but if you actually intend to crunch some heads with your superb intellect then Mind over Matter is more reliably going to help you score hits on harder foes.

Edit: I'm a huge fan of equipping Norman Withers with Knife / Enchanted Blade, this card and Mind over Matter. One of the problems with combo cards like this one is actually finding it early enough to be in your hand when the circumstance arises. Norman speeds through a deck and can assemble all of those pieces faster than anybody else, also Anatomical Diagrams lets him autokill his weakness (barring autofail tokens).

Tsuruki23 · 2594
I agree that it's not an autotake, mostly because it's not Seekers Job to deal with monsters. I think the comparison with Mind over Matter is faulty though - while you can use e.g. Higher education to pump MoM further, Perception (or other pure Intellect boosting cards) explicitly don't work with MoM, as their skill icons don't match the original test, so can't be committed in the first place. So Anatomical Diagrams does not lose out much here. — Shakiko · 6
Just want to point out "if you're trying to kill some kind of boss, ..." the card says "non-elite" — theatog · 1