I completely agree with Bronze, who said:"I don't think that these protective cards are getting enough love." Just take a glance at this happy detective bragging in the office how closely he escaped a domestic dispute with his wife, and you know what i mean.
Alongside Bulletproof Vest, only two other assets are worn on the body. But the other vestments are cheaper in xp and play cost.
The question emerges if and when the investment of 2 resources and 3xp pays off. For the sake of simplicity, i do not count any sanity bonuses in the ongoing comparison.
A look at the competitors for the body slot discloses the vest's shortcomings:
- Leather coat protects 2 health lesser for 2 resources less.
- Fine Clothes protects 3 health lesser for 1 resource less. And grants you a special ability.
Of course, there is the strategy of reallocating damage to other assets, so Bulletproof Vest has to be evaluated against...
- Guard Dog protects 1 health lesser for 1 resource more. Grants an additional trait.
- Hired Muscle protects 1 health lesser for roundabout the same cost as the vest. Grants an additional trait.
- Beat Cop(2) protects 1 health lesser for 1 resource more. Grants an additional trait.
- Leo De Luca(2) protects 2 health lesser for 3 resources more. Grants an additional trait.
You can play other assets to heal damage....
- First Aid heals 1 health lesser for the same cost. Requires 3 additional actions to spend.
...or events...
- Emergency Aid heals 2 health lesser for 2 resources less. Can be used on others, too.
- "I've had worse…" heals up to 1 health more for 2 resources less.
- Dodge prevents up the the same health for 2 resources less. Can be used on others.
To sum things up, under the key aspect of health protection, Bulletproof Vest is the
second to best economical choice for permanent health protection available.
On top, it can be combined with all other methods of health reallocation/protection/recovering.
If your investigator has a low base Health or suffers from severe physical trauma,
Bulletproof Vest is the card for you!
Non-body-assets in the first place give you additional, powerful abilities to cope with a variety of
situations. If you plan to start a killing spree and have to tank away massive hits,
the vest makes you fit for survival. It's a tool for a special role and should be valued in this scope only.
Guardians can, of course, rely on their more powerful events instead or complementary.
Just keep in mind that the vest is permanently there, while events are often bound to certain triggers.
Pros
- Bulletproof vest endows you with the best health bonus available, only one other card, Leather Coat, competes.
- Good play cost.
- Combines well with Scavenging.
- Great click compression, only Guardian events are better.
- -icons can alternatively boost skill tests.
Cons
- Protects the wearer only.
- Should be played before enemies appear, during a fight it's useless.
- Pretty tough xp cost, viable only for special decks.