Card Reviews · ArkhamDB

Smite the Wicked

So playing yesterday as Zoey on Where the Gods Dwell, and some of you will already now know where this is going, and I draw Smite the Wicked and the first enemy I discard is a copy of Nyarlathotep.

So what's the interaction here?

I knew that StW overrode Spawn instructions but what about Peril/Hidden and Revelation effects?

In this particular instance it didn't make much difference as we were soon to fail, so I just added it to my hand and took a point of Horror damage.

But should of I spawned Nyarlathotep and he then behaves as any other Hunter Enemy?

6/15/22

screamingabdab · 98

When instructed to "spawn" an enemy, you aren't drawing it. That means no revelation abilities initiate, including any associated with the hidden keyword. In this case, that does indeed mean you'd get to fight that copy of Nyarlathotep as a normal enemy instead of having to find a Whispering Chaos treachery. For a non-weakness way of accomplishing the same thing, consider On the Hunt. — Thatwasademo · 56 6/15/22

(though, of course, since some of the copies of Nyarlathotep have quite a lot of health, you may or may not actually find fighting his pieces normally easier than drawing them as hidden cards and using the scenario gimmick) — Thatwasademo · 56 6/15/22

hmmmm, well that's good to know for future attempts of Dream Eaters, cheers. — screamingabdab · 98 6/16/22

Fang of Tyr'thrha

"Choose an enemy [Elite as well]... as the target of this attack."

"You may [i.e. you may choose not to] move to that enemy's location."

Remote damage against boss monsters and humans. Every. Single. Campaign has Elite enemies that don't spawn on you directly, either because they start a pursuit from a distance, or because they're guarding a location of interest. Springfield M1903 (with current taboo) and Telescopic Sight can only remotely target non-Elite enemies. Marksmanship and Dynamite Blast are the only cards I know off that deal remote damage to Elite enemies. As a result Fang of Tyr'thrha is occupying a relative unexplored area of fighter tech, and its pushing boundaries in the process. Here's hoping it doesn't trivialize certain scenarios.

EDIT: Oh wait, in single player games where "4 health per player" means "4 health", it DOES trivialize certain scenarios.

6/14/22

Lucaxiom · 4136

One challenge of this card, it doesn’t engage the target if it’s on another player. So massive damage if you miss and if you didn’t move there, they’re still alone — Django · 5057 6/14/22

Indeed, but in the use case I've focused on, that is not an issue. — Lucaxiom · 4136 6/14/22

Quickdraw Holster

Quickdraw holster does a nice thing:

It saves you a fight action.

It means that your first gunshot per turn is a free action, use it with a Lupara or Sawed-Off Shotgun, maybe Vicious Blow, to nuke moderate enemies or chunk a boss right as you step into their location. Use it with smaller guns like .45 Automatic to do 4 fights in a turn or clean up chaff efficiently.

But.

It costs 4 resources.
It does nothing by itself. Nothing! You still need to find the gun and pay for it.
It's 4 XP.
It has trouble with timing. (if you have, say, some tools or a 2-hand gun in play, playing a 1-hand gun will kick out something existing.
Again, it does nothing! Often support cards that supplement a playstyle come with some niceties like a health or sanity tank, bonuses on tests involved.
It costs 4 resources, again.

All that put together, Quickdraw Holster is very much the cumbersome capstone to the whole "1-hand firearm" archetype. At which point you might ask, "what, there's a 1-hand firarm archetype!?", which is a good question, because there is not!

Maybe if there were better 1-hand guns around with useful and intuitive support this card would be useful unto itself, a capstone to a build, but in the current cardpool this is a lone wolf with no pack to hunt in, But until then, you'dd be better served spending these 4 XP on Charisma + Leo De Luca, they wont get you that extra hand slot, but it'lll get you that extra roundly fight action, and then some!

6/12/22

Tsuruki23 · 2519

I think the main useful target for it is a Finn. In a UC deck (which is great for Finn), it's only 4xp and much easier to get out when you need it. Finn's signature is a 1h gun, as are a few rogue weapons Finn can use quite well. — Maseiken · 1 6/13/22

attacking at fast speed means you can attack hunters as they move into you or attack during someone elses turn, don't know why people have this blindspot for quickdraw holster. — Zerogrim · 290 6/13/22

People tend to miss all three of the player windows in the Enemy and Upkeep phases -- Delilah O'Rourke working on enemies that had just attacked also had to be pointed out for most of the community to realize it. — Thatwasademo · 56 6/16/22

I'm flirting with asking my Tony Morgan to upgrade to Quickdraw, since he already has two signature guns under his belt. But I have not done it yet, I am playing expert and 4xp for $4 is a steep price to pay for having an additional but unessential ability even for Tony — liwl0115 · 41 6/20/22

I can’t wait to start my Wilson Richards deck and figure out when the right time to buy this upgrade comes. I my campaign he will indeed be the one-hand gun archetype! And now I have to go check and see if he has access to Crafty as well. — Staticalchemist · 1 1/1/24

Prismatic Phenomenon

I now hate this card.

Just playing Dream Eaters as Zoey with Luke and I've drawn this several times so far (and to rub it in Luke hasn't drawn it once) and it's just devestating to fighter. Fast cards, lol forget about them.

I wish that instead of discard upon a successful investigation it discarded after a clue was discovered (cancelling the discovery of the clue) or the option to take a bit hit of horror to discard it.

6/12/22

screamingabdab · 98

I recommend most decks to at least run a couple of 3 Wild commit cards for situations like this. Also, regarding to Fast cards, from the RR: "A fast card does not cost an action to be played and is not played using the "Play" action." — Nenananas · 251 6/12/22

One note is that it does not specify a *basic* Investigate action. So if you have Sixth Sense you can still ditch it relatively easily as a Mystic. I could even see burning a charge or event on it. — Maseiken · 1 6/12/22

Honestly the benefit of making it "instead of discovering a clue" would be pretty rare. Working a hunch, Roland and Finn, Stirring up Trouble. Other clue discovery effects tend to get less worthwhile as a Trade. — Maseiken · 1 6/12/22

@Nenananas thanks for the heads up on that one, that makes a whole lot less crippling. — screamingabdab · 98 6/14/22

Also note that because it is phrased 'instead of discovering clues', it refers to that outcome of an investigation and not the discrete situation of ACTUALLY discovering a clue. This means that you can still do the replacement effect when investigating a location with no clues on it, which can provide some options for picking a lower shroud location to make it easier. (Compare to the FAQ on Burglary.) — Death by Chocolate · 1428 6/14/22

Crisis of Identity

I don’t see why this card gets so much hate. At some point during a campaign I’ll be in charge of enemy management and wish I was a seeker clue getter. Sometimes as a clue getter I’ll wish I could just go back to being a guardian and hit things.

This card solves that. Up to twice a game you get to switch things up and break the monotony. How anyone could justify playing a flex deck but spit on a great utility card like this is beyond me.

6/12/22

SorryLaurie · 575

Maybe because you can draw this card in your seeker role if you want find clues? Also you discard all cards of your current class so hope you don't have some important or expensive assets out in play. For example with a. 45 magnum and beat cop you loose 8 ressources and 2 play actions which is much more than the usual 2 to 3 action/cards/resources which a weakness costs you. — Tharzax · 1 6/13/22

.45 Magnum & Beat Cop are great if you want to fight, but what if I don't want to fight? What if after shooting down that ghoul I realized it had a family? What if there was a better way? Maybe we can win the scenario without guns, maybe we can't and we'll lose, but we'll never know if we don't try to change. — SorryLaurie · 575 6/14/22

@SorryLaurie: Ghouls are the good guys, so thank you for your willingness to introspect. — anaphysik · 94 6/14/22

But why did you throw your new hiking boots after your trusted partner Dr. Christopher? Just because you don't know who you are? — Tharzax · 1 6/14/22