Buried Secrets is, in most cases, a mild weakness. Resolving it takes a single by testing a stat that Monterey is inherently good at. Even if you fail, you get to decide if you want to try the test again or take 2 horror and shuffle the weakness back into your deck. You know it's a generous weakness when even the worst case scenario isn't all that bad.

Let's break it down:

• Buried Secrets has a revelation effect, so it goes into your threat area immediately after being drawn.
• The ongoing effect is that you, the Monterey Jack player, can no longer move if your current location can be investigated. If it can't, (Locked Doors for example) you can move but the no movement-clause will kick in as soon as you reach a location that can be investigated.
• To make Buried Secrets go away, you have to spend an action and pass a single investigation test. If you pass, the weakness is discarded and that's that. Remember that you can investigate locations without clues on them.
• If you fail, you may take 2 Horror and shuffle the weakness back into your deck. Or you can let it be and just try again. That's mighty generous for Arkham Horror.
• Buried Secrets is your threat area, so any other investigator can activate the . If they fail the test, they get to decide if they'll take the horror damage or not. If they do, the weakness will be shuffled into your deck (not theirs). Having friends around will milden Buried Secrets even more.

In almost every case, you will draw this weakness while unegaged and on a 2, 3 or 4 shroud location. Then you can simply pass a single test with the odds highly in your favor, and be on your merry way. (Or you get get a friend to help you out, either a smart one one with a decent chance to pass the test - or a dumb one with two spare Sanity).

But if you're unlucky, there'll be an enemy engaged to you, one that needs to be evaded first. The guardian is three locations away. You'll fail the first evade, pass the second but then you have to spend your last action on getting rid of Buried Secrets. You're stuck and the enemy will re-engage in the enemy phase, so you'll need to spend yet another action evading it before you can move on. And you'll be muttering "Man, this weakness sucks!". But the very next round, your friend playing Marie Lambeau draws Baron Samedi. And you'll think "Okay, Buried Secrets is really not that bad."

A Practiced card that can't be used with Practice Makes Perfect ..but potentially still very good as it is likely to be very helpful for evasion occasionally while still being at least +2 to investigate for most people who can use it and even better for some.

The discard effect on this weapon is certainly interesting, with it's automatic evades and pairing nicely with Scavenger. Thing is though, that's just an extra little novelty of this deceptively good weapon.

Consistent +1 damage on attack, without any restriction, cost or drawback, is pretty rare. It's only found on 5 other weapons, those being: Holy Spear, Cyclopean Hammer, Sledgehammer, The Hungering Blade, and Timeworn Brand. All of them cost more resources to play, four of them cost more exp, and three of them take up 2 hand slots. This weapon not only gives that consistent extra damage(with a small combat boost even), but it's cheep (both resources, and exp) and keeps your other hand free. It's a bit funny, comparing a random fire extinguisher to an ancient relic sword of legend, but yet...here we are. The biggest drawback to this weapon is the lack of combative investigators with access to 3 pip Survivor cards. Daniela Reyes, with her inherit 5 combat, is the most obvious choice but it's also a great weapon for the other Survivors who like to pick fights (Yorick & Silas). If you're looking for easy access to reliable +1 damage, and your playing an investigator who can actually use this, this is a very...very solid choice.

Other people are writing interesting analysis and ideas. I have something different for you all to consider. Let's take a look at 3 notable permanents that we can combine to create the dumbest build in the world.

In the Thick of It

Versatile

Forced Learning

Now why are doing this you may ask? Wonderful question, but I'll need to bring up an important ruling first. Crystallizer of Dreams has a clear ruling in its interaction with The Painted World that says that forced abilities take priority over other replacement effects.

Now let's consider Patrice Hathaway. By using Versatile to bring in Forced Learning (thanks to the xp from thick of it) we are able to replace Patrice's signature ability with "Draw 2, Discard 1". You'll also have a 62 card deck size. To be clear, this is not a good idea, but it is hilarious and does allow you to laugh at both the watcher and much of the Dunwich encounter deck. If you actually decide to do this, please let me know and let me see your deck because I am sure it will be amazing.

Scenario spoilers ahead.

I just ran this scenario with a Mandy/Tony combo, and it ended up being a joke. I feel like I must have done something wrong, but this scenario seems to lack the teeth one usually expects from the final scenario in a campaign.

The first part of the scenario is a fairly straightforward "grab the clues, get to the end" - nothing worth writing about except that interestingly enough, you are not punished for leaving doom on locations. I would have expected it to maybe move to the agenda.

I really like the main scenario gimmick that pops up in the second agenda. I think it's really well designed, flavorful, and interesting. However, those legs are pretty darn weak when the act lets you spend 1 clue for half of their life (with two people). Add to that the fact that they can't AOO, and their fight averages around 3 or so, and they're more of a meat cushion than a challenge. Mandy and Tony were able to split the legs evenly, with Mandy gobbling up clues like a high level seeker does and Tony using his many actions and guns to fill the legs with lead. Side note - "The Spinner in Darkness" is totally meaningless here. Maybe leftover copies should transfer to Atlach-Natcha in the final act?

Atlach-Natcha itself in the final act is where things are supposed to get real, except that our investigators had a dearth of clues, so two clues plus a pistol shot is all it took to down an Ancient One. Definitely a hollow victory.

Maybe we just got really lucky with the Atlach-Natcha spins and the locations that were arranged in Act 2? Either way, lots of potential here, but definitely not what I would expect from a final scenario.