I wonder why devs needed to give Kymani +5 starting xp.

• Their statline is one of the best among rogues. Compared to Winifred, they lose 1 Intellect&Combat and gain 2 Willpower. I think it's an amazing deal. While playing Wini, you can't depend on your intellect or combat without specializing on them anyway, and you may want to use your Agility instead on them with cards like Backstab/Pilfer/Lockpicks/Ornate Bow etc. However each point in Willpower actually matters, because it is the primary defensive statline (along with Agility), everyone's going to test it from time to time. Having two more Willpower could mean 1 or 2 fewer cards lost from hand against certain treacheries for instance, even if you don't outright pass them.

• Their deckbuilding option is a bit limited. But with each expansion, this means less and less. And again making a direct comparison against Winifred, Kymani beats her on this matter too!

• Their ability is also amazing. Yes, it's not action efficient (usually 2 successful tests to discard an enemy, and your second test needs to succeed by X), but it's totally free otherwise. No resource/xp/deck slot cost attached, means that you can specialize more on clue getting and become a... master-of-all? If you are afraid of losing victory points because this ability discards enemies instead of defeating them: 1) Most enemies with Victory X are elites anyway; 2) Just don't use this ability on them. Comparing Kymani's ability to Wini's not as easy as comparing their stats and deckbuilding. I'll just say that Wini also has an amazing ability, probably more powerful but also a bit worse from another perspective because it forces her to include a lot of skills in her deck.

TL;DR: Kymani could be the best "blank slate" to pull off whatever Rogue shenanigans you want to, if you don't need a specific off-class access. Also please give Wini 5xp too :)

As far as solo play goes (and maybe group play) Kymani Jones seems pretty overpowered once their Grappling Hook is in play. Add Gené Beauregard and Eon Chart and I wonder just how bad things could ever get for them in AH LCG. At this point, I don't think there's much of a threat! Aside from OP concerns my only 'complaint' about them is their title - "Security Consultant". Not a very 1920s term at all. I have a feeling KJ is going to be a very popular choice for investigator especially solo.

I don't like to write this type of review, but I have no patience with writing this. Kymani Jones is one of the most powerful investigator in AHLCG.

Statline is good: 5 for means they could do many things via rouge card effects like Backstab, Pilfer, Lockpicks. Unlike other rouges, they have 3 ; it means that they have good encounter resistance. One problem is that with no cards, nothing can do due to 2 & 2; they is not recommand to the beginner.

Ability is powerful: Someone may think Waylay. Here is huge difference, however. Waylay requires 2 action & 3 resources. Kymani's ability requires 2 action only. Moveover, Stealth (3) makes this ability 1 action-only discard ability.

The common support card make Kymani very powerful: Stealth (3) + 2 Pickpocketing + Lucky Cigarette Case. You can discard most of the enemy only with one action earning 3 cards (and 2 resources with high level pickpocketing). Moreover, you may perform 2 times if you setup two Stealth. In general (for normal difficulty), first evade may have some trouble (if, commit or boost), but Stealth test don't have trouble since -2 difficulty and +2 skill value.

Someone may think that discarding the enemy is the penalty since Victory enemy doesn't go into victory area. However, if you prepare some other fight method such as Backstab, it does not matter. Instead, discarding enemy detours Vengeance and Swarming enemy. Very powerful in some campaign. (If you discard Vengeance enemy, they do not go into Victory area, so that they do not contribute to the Vengeance points. You can discard host of swarming enemy even if there exists any swarm enemy, and all other swarm enemies goes out of play.)

Signature weakness is under average: For basic evade action, 5 vs 3 means that -2 token is successful. In standard difficulty, it's not hard work. Of course, discarding with their ability may be hard. You just fine to evade sometime and move to other location. Otherwise, here is Backstab. 5 vs 2 is usually successful.

Tool deckbuilding is not good, but enough: I think that there are few or none of non- tool cards, currently (since spoiler season, not all Scarlet Keys cards are considered). However, 0-5 is enough. They can access all key cards unlike Finn; Stealth, Pickpocketing, Double, Double, Well Connected, Hot Streak...

Starting xp is really cool: The main problem of class (and ) is starting deck is especially worse comparing other classes with high potential. Starting 5XP perfectly solves this problems. You may start with Stealth (3) for single action enemy discard + Charon's Obol. You may start with In the Thick of It + Double, Double.

Disclaimer: Pre-Scarlet Keys release review.

Skills that only bring icons are generally less interesting to me. I would much rather have a side benefit like "Watch this!" or Quick Thinking.

This being said, Promise of Power is considered excellent and sees a lot of play, so what about Calculated Risk?

Pros:

• It is par with Unexpected Courage on action 2 and brings 3 on action 3. It is especially interesting against notorious enemies like Frozen in Fear.
• This becomes increasingly better as you add Actions with cards like Leo De Luca, Haste, Grappling Hook, Ace of Rods, Eon Chart, .41 Derringer, Quick Thinking, Quickdraw Holster, Ace in the Hole, Borrowed Time, The Red Clock, Tony Morgan/Finn Edwards/"Skids" O'Toole abilities... you get the idea...
• It helps with Succeed by X effects that you would trigger at the end of your turn.
• _In fact this is probably the one skill that could give you the most in the game with a peek performance of 27 in a Tony Deck like this one. Edit: Olivia Juliet found a way to give 138 with Savant. Calculated Risk is probably #2 then.

Cons:

• It does not synergises well with .41 Derringer's extra action or ready in case of oversuccess cards like Beretta M1918 or the Mauser C96.
• It does not help with one of the main weakness of : the encounter deck. While Savant brings a lot of to the table for many Rogues, Calculated Risk simply cannot be played at all during the Mythos Phase.
• Daredevil (0) and (2) will now randomly end your turn if you commit it during your turn.

Conclusion:

This is a well-balanced card that can be good if you plan on having an investigator that cares for Oversuccess, especially with cards like Lucky Cigarette Case (3) and will want to increase the number of Actions available each turn. It also comes at the right time since we now have enough Encounter mitigation cards to be interested in other types of tech.

Disclaimer: at time of writing (August 15th), I have not seen the deckbuilding for Amina or Carson, and we have not seen Vincent at all yet.

Kymani Jones is quickly shaping up to be my favorite investigator in the Scarlet Keys and perhaps a new favorite for the game in total. I've done multiple videos about them already, here for the first reveal and this deep dive once we had their deckbuilding. I'll try to keep this review brief to not repeat myself too much.

Kymani's ability essentially lets you evade an enemy twice to get rid of them. There's a bunch more nuance to it (like discarding a Guardian of the Crystallizer with a single evade when it spawns exhausted), but in essence, this is what our Security Consultant does. But Kymani is more than just their and abilities.

Their statline is incredibly powerful. Getting 5 is fantastic with the new Thieves' Kit to get clues, and Backstab et al for enemies you'd rather not evade. 3 on top of that makes you so resistant to the encounter deck. Run some Guts or similar to deal with treacheries. You probably won't need or , and if you want to use those anyway, there are a bunch of different ways to boost those. Or you could just automatically succeed.

Then on top of that, you get 5 XP to start with. Charon's Obol from scenario 1 gives you a bunch more XP over the course of the campaign. Easy Mark makes your deck more consistent. Another Day, Another Dollar means a better starting position for the entire campaign. I could go on.

Their Tool 0-4 access isn't the most exciting, but there are some interesting options there. Fire Extinguisher can let you automatically evade a bunch of enemies. Pocket Multi Tool can help you with various skill tests. And if you're sick and tired of Agent Fletcher, a Sledgehammer can solve a lot of problems.

Signature-wise, the Grappling Hook opens up some interesting play patterns, though I think you'll really want to have some extra actions to be able to use it without giving up most of your turn. Fortunately, gets some good options.

As for their enemy weakness, Agent Fletcher, it doesn't seem like too bad a burden? Just make sure you have some kind of plan that doesn't involve repeatedly evading them until you succeed by 3 (keep in mind that Alert, unlike Retaliate, does work while the enemy is exhausted). Stealth can help, so can Daring Maneuver.

Kymani is a very flexible and versatile investigator, and I look forward to playing them tons.