Holy Spear

Holy Spear

Ancestral Token has given this card new life. It now makes it very easy for Guardians (who historically don't have much competition for the accessory slot) to generate the bless to power this card. And of course Sister Mary only loves the spear more now.

c-hung · 12
I agree that spear is better than it was thanks to Ancestral Token, great boost to older card. However I think Hallowed Mirror is and always was a strong pick for guardians. — bugiel_marek · 21

Press Pass

Press Pass

Press Pass is not a good card. Even clue drop decks may want to think twice before including it.

It's an accessory slot Leo de Luca. Except it's 2 resource cheaper, 2xp more, doesn't give any soak, and most importantly, is conditional on you playing out at least two other combo pieces to trigger.

An additional action per round is the strongest when you get it early, but when you get Press Pass early you get no benefit from it. Until you can play out your other combo pieces, this is a dead card. And after you've played all your other combo pieces, you still need to find 4 resources and an action to play it.

While seeker as a class is great with resource generation and cards, clue drop cards like Research Notes don't lend themselves to any sort of engine. So setting up and drawing through your deck to find your combo is slow and inconsistent, too. Unless the stars align (or you have a ton of XP), it's unlikely that you'll be getting actual acceleration from Press Pass until half the scenario is over.

Meanwhile, Eon Chart simply gives you 6 additional actions. Pathfinder gives you an additional move you can use every round, immediately. Farsight gives an additional event play every round. A Fingerprint Kit just gives 6 bonus clues. As far as acceleration goes, Press Pass compares poorly to just about every other way speed up game progress.

You can use it with The Raven Quill (Interwoven Ink) on Research Notes to ready Press Pass again and use it twice per round...if you don't mind dropping multiple clues per round for some reason.

The best thing I can say about Press Pass is that it's much better in specific scenarios that require you to drip-spend clues.

suika · 9413
I think, you are a bit harsh. Leo is in "the action class", Pathfinder is sure a staple, even at the extra XP from Taboo (but if you would make it cost more, it would start to look overcosted compared to Guardian's "Safeguard"), and "Farsight" is simply for another archtype. The "Clue Dropping" thing was quite well suportet in the same cycle, and "Research Notes" helps to turn the tempo loss around to a tempo win. "Press Pass" is probably worse and more expensive, but it comes in a less competitive slot than "Research Notes" and "Fingerprint Kit", and seems to me to a good addition to the former to flesh out the archtype and give an extra payout. Of note, it can also serve as mythos protection (in scenarios like "Forbidden Peak" or anyone with a "False Lead" type treachery. — Susumu · 366
I mostly agree with Susumu. Isn’t the best touchstone for comparison Eon Chart, in that they compete for the same slot in the same class and are both XP cards that give bonus actions? Eon Chart is generally regarded as a good card, so the question is whether this will wind up giving more value than that for some decks. I think there is an obvious path to “yes” on that question (and an equally obvious “no”). So I agree the review is too harsh, but I like the way it acknowledges that the card will give bonus actions in almost every scenario without requiring combo pieces, and will give quite a lot in certain scenarios. I also like the recognition of the potential power of Interwoven Ink allowing Press Pass to grant multiple actions per turn. The ceiling on this card is very high, even if it asks a lot of the investigator who plays it. — Holy Outlaw · 268
I agree that this review is overly harsh. For one thing, most of the cards listed for comparison are level 4 cards, and lower level cards will always compare poorly to higher level cards. The Leo Deluca comparison only matters for investigators who can take both cards, which is a limited group. Press Pass also triggers when you spend clues, so the talk of needing combo pieces (presumably to drop clues) is misleading. FWIW I don't think Press Pass is a great card, but I also don't think it's as bad as this review suggests. — Pseudo Nymh · 54
It's perfectly valid to compare mid-level cards to high level cards, especially if they serve the same role. It's commonly acknowledged that mid-level weapons cards are bad, because you'd rather skip them and go for a high-level weapon that's way better. Press Pass has the same problem. In almost all cases, even in a clue drop deck you're better off running Pathfinder and/or different tempo generating card. — suika · 9413
Fun and 0 tempo loss for Roland. — MrGoldbee · 1452
I agree with suika, the tempo of this card just isn't favorable to things that compete for the same slot and things that cost similar resources or XP. Pathfinder even taboo'd looks much more favorable, especially for a specialist Seeker who isn't worried about enemies. And arguable a card like Disc of Itzamna does a lot more for a specialist seeker in this slot than extra actions would. The only exception I can think of is in a flex fighter, and even then... I mean Roland and Joe both have access to Safeguard, and efficient clue drop might take up too many hand slots. Joe is better at mitigating the latter, while Roland can more reliably utilize clue drop as a specialized fighter instead of a flex, and doesn't get Eon Chart 4. Outside of Roland, I don't really see it. — StyxTBeuford · 12987
If you want to know who this card is for, it's Darrell. He can't use farsight or eonchart 4, he has strong enough economy to pay for it. He can take quick learner which makes gaining an extra action more valuable to him than pathfinder because every extra action potentially is done with reduced difficulty. Its also an item so he can scavenge it unlike pathfinder or safeguard. And clue drop is particularly inviting in him because evidence on research notes has 3 different used, reduce the difficulty of skill tests, absorb horror from his weakness, and what it does for everyone else, pick clues back up. It was clearly designed with him in mind both mechanically and thematically — NarkasisBroon · 10
Darrell can take Scavenging 2 and Eon Chart 1 though, which I do think is better for him- it takes a lot of plays before it becomes more expensive and he doesn't need generic actions- just investigate and move for the most part. Or Disc to save actions on enemy spawns, though you can also just evade as Darrell with some evidence. I do agree that Press Pass fits a clue drop Darrell really well, and I think it's a good way to go without more cards, but just from a comparative standpoint I don't think it's that favorable. — StyxTBeuford · 12987

Virescent Rot

Virescent Rot

I have a question. If you move while an enemy is in your treat area with this event attached does the enemy move with you or not? I'm not sure if it counts for movement in this enemy's case. If the enemy would stay behind this seems like a good rot event to get rid of enemies and leave them behind after the AoO.

Redburningdragon · 27
"Cannot" is absolute, so the enemy does not move. — Holy Outlaw · 268

Long Shot

Long Shot

Obviously an excellent card for many reasons, but there are some interesting implications to the extra point of damage happening after the test is completed. In particular, I think the synergy with Hatchet should be noted. Hitting a 3 health enemy for 2 with the attack and then finishing them off after the test with this card's extra point of damage is a sneaky way to have your cake and eat it too.

Wundle · 5
But the damage from Long Shot applies in ST.7 together with the standard damage, not after the test. Sorry, no particular Hatchet synergy to be found here. — TheNameWasTaken · 3
I'm not sure that's true TheNameWasTaken. I think this could go either way unless there's been a ruling. While you are right about the timing of the damage there may be a positive interaction with hatchet. Hatchet discards if the attack defeats the enemy. And what exactly this means isn't well defined. Long Shot is different from e.g. vicious blow in that it doesn't increase the attacks damage by 1, its just a card that deals 1 damage that can trigger off of a successful attack. It probably wouldn't be the case that if you started a fight with hatchet, then played a fast card that defeated the enemy that you would discard hatchet, because even though it happened during the attack, the attack itself didn't defeat anything. That being said, it could easily be ruled the way you are saying because a damage as a result of a successful fight test could be sufficient to count as the attack, even if its not strictly speaking the attacks damage — NarkasisBroon · 10
I’m pretty sure the combo works. When you have multiple effects to resolve at ST.7, you choose the order. Like if you have to gain a clue from investigating and draw a card from Perception, it can be either order. I don’t see why this would be different. And as for the question of whether the Long Shot damage attaches to the weapon’s attack, there are two reasons to doubt that. One is that MJ Newman ruled six years ago that even Vicious Blow didn’t do that, in response to a question about killing the Broods of Yog-Sothoth in Undimensioned and Unseen. (I admit that is a peculiar ruling, but I do not believe it was overturned.) The second reason is that Long Shot also does a point of damage during an Evade attempt, and even from another player’s Evade attempt. What is the source of damage in that case? In other words, if I evade an 1-health enemy and you throw in a Long Shot, it’s you, not me, who gets to play Glory. — Holy Outlaw · 268

Pocket Telescope

Pocket Telescope

Note that the FAQ entry above stating "you can't interrupt one action with a second action" appears incomplete, based on this response from FFG:

Q: "Hello! I am Roland Banks taking a fight action against an enemy. In one of the timing windows of the skill test, I want to activate a Shortcut (2) that is attached to my location in order to move to an adjacent location in hopes of discovering a clue from killing the enemy. Can I do this?"

A: "Thank you for your interest in Arkham Horror: The Card Game. To answer your question(s): Yes; as Roland Banks, you can use Shortcut (2)’s free triggered ability during an attack skill test to change locations so that you will be able to discover a clue from the new location if successful. Feel free to reach out to us if any more questions arise!"

Because Shortcut reads: " Exhaust Shortcut: Move." It counts as performing a Move action, which is apparently legal during a Fight action. It's not clear what principle prevents the Chuck Pilfer / Pocket Telescope / Pilfer combo.

Holy Outlaw · 268
you can perform an action during a skill check, but you cannot make a skill check during a skill check — Adny · 1
The longstanding rule has been that a skill test can be initiated during another, but it won’t take place until the first test finishes. The questioner above obviously understands that and baked it into his question but was still rejected on the grounds that “you cant interrupt one action with a second action.” If that is no longer the case, then the FAQ entry above is obsolete. — Holy Outlaw · 268