This Survival Instinct is absolutely awesome. Evade a whole bunch of enemies - and because it's Evade and not Disengage you might stand a chance of getting away from them - and move too!

In particular (Spoiler ahead) in The Devourer Below, it's a fantastic way of getting past the cultists from the Midnight Masks. Walk up, evade one of them - and you're home free, as they're not hunters. You still won't win, but by heck it helps.

Also, 2 icons - excellent.

I'm almost certain this will be an automatic choice for Agility based survivors. It's like Cunning Distraction, only affordable.

Man this guy is a huge jerk. As leader and teacher to all of the little Acolytes he has the same effect they do, but worse.

First of all, he spawns somewhere empty which usually means 'at least one action away from you' and he immediately gains a doom at the end of the mythos phase he spawns in. So far he's just as bad as his little minions. But as extra rank gravy he also has the following:

• at 4 str and with the retaliate keyword he knows how to fight and will punish you if you don't (though with 1 damage, not by much)

• with two health he is not flimsy, requiring either multiple actions or a weapon to down

• one doom is not enough for this bad guy, oh no he adds an extra doom at the beginning of every round. (thankfully, without a threshold check) meaning you can easily lose 2, 3 rounds to him if he spawns in a particularly bad spot and time.

The first two additions make him a difficult kill for non-fighting investigators who aren't packing plans or solutions, but the last effect almost certainly mandates that he is a priority target regardless of whether anyone around is good at fighting.

10/10 on theme and drama though. While I hate seeing him show up, he is a flashy and intimidating villain who presents a threat that is a bit more than just a sturdy body and damage. It makes for great stories (and losses)

Final note: it is especially important that you not misunderstand the grim rule with this guy. While you may have multiple options of where to put him, he doesn't have to go as far away from you as possible. The rules explicitly state that when spawning an enemy if there are multiple valid locations it is player choice on where he goes.

EDIT: Disregard.

After re-reading the timing chart I've noticed there is a player window between Hunter enemies moving and enemies making an attack, which means it is possible to make the enemies move and elude them afterwards. This is useful in some scenarios with out-of-the-way locations.

Writing one serious review:

Solid card, should be a 2 of in any investigator's deck unless you're a dedicated these-hands-are-for-shotguns-only fighter, or Agnes who can't investigate her way out of a paper bag (and who's spells don't work with this action). Even when not being used to cheese the rules it can bring even terribly shrouded locations into acceptable investigation reach which is pretty nifty.

the FAQ bump says everything you need to know about playing this in higher difficulties. For 2r + 1action you get 3 clues off of 1 or 2 shroud locations, with the single token being the only exception. The value of this would be good if it was almost twice as costly on expert, where -4 is the average you're going to pull from the bag. This saves you actions and cards that you will need bumping tests elsewhere.

So stock up on batteries guys.

So, at the time of release in the Dunwich campaign, there's only a handful of cards that this one will apply to:

• Alyssa Graham
• Arcane Initiate
• Blood Pact

... and this card is awesome. It makes Blood Pact actually work. Previously, 1 doom for +3 to a test seemed, well, expensive. This would only leave the 'end of agenda' turn to make use of Blood Pact (when further doom wouldn't hurt).

Now, though, go nuts! Blood Pact all over the place. Just hope that you can draw Moonlight Ritual (or better, already have one) before the agenda advances, and then clear it down.

I really like the gambling nature of this combination. It feels like a Faustian pact. Will I draw Moonlight Ritual? Do I wait one more turn and use Blood Pact one more time, risking Ancient Evils, or do I clear it now and struggle with a test?

Brilliant combo, both thematically, and in play.