Ritual Candles

What about two of these, two Protective Incantations, and 2 Recall the Futures? That covers a LOT of ground. It seems to me that a setup like that could be very viable for Sefina, who can rely on Rogue for pretty much everything else, including funding the Incantations. It's also extremely cheap -- even in the xp needed to purchase -- and Sefina can get to them pretty quickly. I'm a big fan of Suggestion + Pickpocketing 2, and it ruins that, but with such incredible odds of succeeding at any test in general, and with Sefina at a natural 4 in Agility, it seems to me like the trade off could be very worth it. Heck, I might even still run Pickpocketing 2.

crymoricus · 252
I think Sefina without arcane slots will be pretty much useless. Those evades, Backstabs and Sneak Attacks are simply not enough to do the job. Heck she definitely needs at least 1 arcane slot. Maybe consider running 1 Incantation instead? That could be better... — matt88 · 3210
Counting on drawing multiple copies of so many cards seems unwise. — CaiusDrewart · 3183
This would turn Skulls into +1s for Jim Culver. So in campaigns where there are usually two Skulls in the bag, that is a very huge deal imo. — majer3raistlin · 23
But how often do you account for the +1 on a check? It actually Worse on Jim than anybody else in my opinion, he's already treating them as 0's and you rarely attempt a check to begin with if you cant beat 0. — Tsuruki23 · 2568
The +1 for Jim is less about attempting a check and hoping for +1 and more about Mythos odds. It can also help if you are running a card like Scavenging where you want to succeed by 2. Much easier to succeed by 2 with extra +1 in the bag. — Time4Tiddy · 248
Oops!

With the release of Heart of the Elders--and specifically the card Live and Learn--Oops!'s stock has definitely gone up. I'd seriously consider running this in a combat-oriented survivor deck over Overpower in a multiplayer setting now if I had to choose between the two. It's still a situational card, but pairing this with Live and Learn on a failed attack lets you damage another enemy at your location, then follow up immediately with a second, action-free attempt with a higher odds of success on your original target. This means you're potentially getting two damage-dealing attacks for one action. That's a serious tempo boost right there. And unlike previously suggested strategies using this card, with Live and Learn you can afford to take a swing at the bigger baddie knowing you're gonna get a second shot at it with a better chance of success if you fail.

Is this kind of combo going to line up every time? No, probably not. But it's a juicy enough proposition to warrant serious thought about running this card if you're building an investigator who'll be looking to knock some heads together.

Sandmole · 46
I guess Oops! + Live and Learn adds up to kind of a janky Storm of Spirits? Not the worst. — CaiusDrewart · 3183
Take the Initiative

This is an incredible card. Lets break down why:

It has 3 wild icons. Extreeme value with complete flexibility, whether it's to kill an enemy, evade it or just grab a clue it's great card-to-bonus value.

But there is a downside, two actually, every action taken in a round kills one icon. Thus if you go second the card is effectively blank. This is actually the smaller downside, the other being "Commit only to a skill test you are performing". One of the strengths of skill cards is the fact that you can chuck em at a buddy, this is especially true for Unexpected Courage, a card that occupies the same deckslot this one does.

The first weakness, loosing icons, is largely mitigated by the fact that the card can be played at full value in response to events and cards drawn in the mythos phase. Rotting Remains for example, this in fact is the cards's greatest strength in my opinion.

So. 1 extra icon at the cost of only being playable selfishly. That's not a terrible trade.

This card is good. If you can fit an Overpower or Unexpected Courage then consider this one instead.

Tsuruki23 · 2568
I agree that this is a fine alternative to Unexpected Courage for the reasons you suggest (though I usually wasn't running Unexpected Courage anyway.) But I think Overpower is far, far better. — CaiusDrewart · 3183
The more players the less useful is this card. It also conflicts with Mano a Mano and scene of the crime. — Django · 5148
I agree that this card is very useful in the Mythos phase and in my opinion this is one of its strengths. I would personally put this in a Carolyn deck to either use it in the Mythos phase or try to evade an enemy (as that I will do with my first action) while also having my stats buffed via Peter Sylvestre (2). — matt88 · 3210
It's easily overlooked that this says "phase" and gets thought of as "round". You can commit it for full value if you happen to take a test in the enemy (Survival Knife) or upkeep (admittedly rare) phase. — Yenreb · 15
Rabbit's Foot

A perfect card for those Wendys out there, that are in direct contact with a tough enemy and would like to pick a fancy card by trying to sucker punch him with a "1" fight skill. All those Calvins out there don't even need an enemy. It's enough for them just to be at the beggining of the scenario and trying to get a life. To be honest almost every investigator has a way to forcibly trigger the condition on the maximum possible outcome.

But it's a question whether you actually want that. Whether you have time and need to dig. In my recent runs with this card (normal difficulty) it was not essentially better than a simple 0-level version. I had 4 occasions to use it. 3 of them were just a single card draw, but this one time I was really cherry picking a card that hit the sport perfectly.

Is it worth those 3XPs? On hard/expert it rather is. On easy/normal it's one of those updates you can perform later during the campaign, when chaos bag is getting more and more sick and negative.

Onetribe · 343
Cornered

If you're Patrice Hathaway, just put that inside as a first upgrade. No question about it.

But if you're not.... :)

Still joyfull times. I can finally make decks that don't have Unexpected Courage inside as an obligatory inclusion. That's of course not a direct replacement that's ultimately better, but a solid thing to consider for consistency:

  • It's repeatable, but it costs you an action and resourcesto install
  • It's always there, but if you rely on it too much it just eats cards, that are already eaten by Duke or Wendy Adams signature ability
  • You'll be good at any test, but you'll also be heavily tempted to use it all the time. That's a serious risk for cautious players. Madame Labranche will be triggered more often, that's for sure.
  • It gives good use to an unplayable second copy of an asset that's already on the table like Lone Wolf or Rabbit's Foot or any other accessory you like
  • It does not directly compete with any of supporting assets, other then the fact that you can't really spend the whole scenario building your tableau
Onetribe · 343
A pretty valuable asset for William Yorick: discard a leather jacket to fight a monster, kill the monster and play the jacket from the discard! — mogwen · 254
Agree, this is definitely a Yorick card. He loves running a ton of items (with terrible icons), and he loves committing them to skill tests to get him in his discard. On the other hand, the 2-resource cost of Cornered is actually a big problem for him. It might well be worth it, but it's tough to handle when he was already the most cash-strapped investigator in the game by some margin. — CaiusDrewart · 3183
*to get them in his discard. — CaiusDrewart · 3183
I don't think the 2-resource cost is an issue. The huge benefit Yorrick gets from this card overpasses that so much that you can't even think of it as a downside. I actually want to play Yorrick almost exclusively because of this card!! — matt88 · 3210
Can someone explain to me why being 'cornered' is a 'talent'? — Difrakt · 1313
Maybe it is meant to be a boon and bane to fight best when you are cornered? — Synisill · 803
I'dd just like to add that this is also a great Minh card. With Feed the Mind, Acidic Ichor and Cornered in play you basically have an infinite number of cards to feed into whatever you want to do, and do everything but evade like a champ! — Tsuruki23 · 2568
I've also found it very interesting in combination with Yaotl. I'm currently trying that deck in TFA, and so far, it's an excellent way to get things like desperate cards into the discard. — Eldan · 4
I can confirm perfect combo with Yaotl. Next good combination was discarding Winging It for +2 and immediately playing it from discard pile to get more clues. — johniez · 3
Do you guys know what happens if you have 2 of these cards in play? can i use the 2nd instance of cornered for the same test? — le_asmo · 1
@le_asmo: Yes, you can use 2 copies for the same test. „Limit“ refers to a card itself (unlike „Max“). — Astrophil · 1
Does not cost you an action — Gorkygorky · 1
Does having a second copy of cornered in play allow you to discard two cards per test? — Dhanos · 2