Nathaniel Cho

Nathaniel Cho

“Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. His fangs can't bite what his eyes can't see. Now you see me, now you don't. Yig thinks he will, but I know he won't.”

In a pure horror game, Nathaniel would be ridiculous. But Arkham is Pulp Horror, and pulp is ruled by the mean right hook.

In terms of similarities, Nathan has a similar card draw to Mark (assuming you get your gloves out), and a damage potential surpassing Zoey. NaCho loves punching enemies, and if you’re playing right, a great deal of your deck will help you do that. Unlike some of the investigators, your weakness can be solved with your greatest strength, it will just take longer. (Hopefully you have some instant damage and a 1-2 punch, or someone to evade Tommy Malloy.)

With a little creativity and a deep understanding of the action phases of the game, Nathaniel goes from cool to superlative. Not only can he do bonus damage in the investigator phase, he can counter-punch during the enemy phase, play a fast attack (get over here!) during upkeep, and Ambush during mythos. It’s unlikely you’ll be able to do that every turn, but in a three or four player game, those extremely tough bosses become viable to defeat. If you get your draws, Nathan is like having another half of a guardian. When you don’t, things are going to get rough. With your gloves taking up both hands, either hope for bandolier so you can add another weapon, or rely on vicious blows.

Handcuffs can help you fill the gap. Like most guardians, you weren’t going to be hitting the books for clues, and your evasion isn’t superb. But sometimes, it’s easier to put someone on ice. Especially Malloy.

There’s nothing like going one on one with an Elder God, or throwing dynamite with that plus one damage aplomb. Go the distance with Nathaniel, you’ll be glad you did.

MrGoldbee · 1470

Quantum Flux

Quantum Flux

This card is very useful in a few cases:

The first is if you get rewards from searching your deck, like any research power. Mandy, Daisy, Minh, all of them benefit from putting astounding revelations back into their deck. Every time you use quantum flux, you’re giving yourself six resources later in the session. If you’re Luke, this is a great way to keep your gate box powered up by reupping enraptured.

Another is if you have a weakness or weaknesses that get shuffled back into your deck until your deck is very small. Sefina saves herself hit points and horror when she puts quantum flux in her deck.

The final case is anyone in Dunwich, which punishes you by trying to run out your deck.

MrGoldbee · 1470
how does that power up Luke's Gate Box? — PowLee · 15
It returns Astounding Revelations to your deck to let you find them again with search effects. — TheNameWasTaken · 3
But astounding revelation doesn't interact with gatebox at all? You can only place secrets, not charges. — PowLee · 15
Oh, that's right. I mixed it up with Enraptured, which can place either. — TheNameWasTaken · 3

Beyond the Veil

Beyond the Veil

One od the worst drsigned cards in the game. Treachery cards that gice you no recourse to deal with them are a design flaw. The other issue is that for some xharacters this us trivial, while it is an almost guaranteed defeat for others.

Tilted Libra · 37
There are ways to deal. Cancel the card, let it trigger and cancel the damage, be hardcore and just take it, Alter Fate, or resign. Or just stop drawing cards. I think anyone can do at least one of these. — TheNameWasTaken · 3
I cant think of a single character who is definitively destroyed by this card. Patrice without tech (eg 1 copy of Quantum Flux) still has a very strong chance of pulling her Elder Sign which prevents her being decked out, and draw heavy characters like Wini or Seekers have full control over their draw power. This card has literally never killed me, and it’s not hard to tech against if you are worried about it. And in a game where losing a scenario is nowhere close to the end for your character, I cannot agree that it’s a design flaw. — StyxTBeuford · 13028
I would just point out that while draw-heavy investigators have full control of their draw power, it still potentially shuts down their play style. That being said, needing to choose / build your investigator to counter campaign specific stuff is certainly not unique to Dunwich. — Zinjanthropus · 229
Also just because you have counters In your deck doesn’t mean you have them available with this card. They might be discarded to other milling effects in dunwich... — Django · 5108
I think generally most draw reliant investigators are Seekers who generally are already really powerful without needing the absurd draw anyway. And the more draw heavy your deck is, the more reliably you can find the tech for this before it hits you. — StyxTBeuford · 13028
@StyxTBeauford: While I do agree about Seekers (and they could use deck searching instead of straight draw, anyway), I don't think that Winifred is very good if she can't draw through her deck (The draw is really what makes her so OP). Though I suppose she could Versatile for Quantum Flux pretty easily. — Zinjanthropus · 229
Since this is included with milling effects, it can easily kill any investigator. — Tilted Libra · 37
@StyxTBeuford Have you played Patrice much? You can eaily go a whole scenario without pulling her Elder Sign. And when the only recourse to something is a random chance, that isn't good design — Tilted Libra · 37
@Tilted Libra, Eucatastrophe does wonders for Patrice against this card. There are definitely ways to handle this. It just takes planning. — dapineaple · 1
Ive played Patrice tons, I almost always pull her elder sign before she decks out. If you build her to test a lot it’s really not a big risk. — StyxTBeuford · 13028
In Dunwich I play Patrice with her friend, Olive. They do well together, making avoiding bad stuff like that trivial. — chrome · 59
I think it's a very well designed card, especially at the point it was introduced. The game needed something to shake up the "gather clues, kill enemies, win" rut from the core box, and this card suddenly made the act of card drawing dangerous. The sheer anxiety this effect managed to produce, coupled with the Encounter cards that punish you by making you discard cards from your deck, created a completely new type of challenge as yet unseen ... and it pretty much set a trend of introducing new creative mechanics in each new scenario and exploring the design space in unexpected ways. — ratnip · 68
With Amanda, you cannot just "not draw" a card. And with 2 copies of beyond the veil in your area, and no way to counter them, you are pretty much finished. Sure, in a 4 player game you can find a way, but not in a solo game. — casey080 · 25
I saw my mistake, but cannot edit it. Yes, you can have only one of those bad boys... I guess I still have a chance. — casey080 · 25
the fact that you you tilt up to your name make me love this game more. Yes, this card is strong and actually stressed me out too but it just embrace the "fail forward" principle so I could accept it. balanced out other weak discard cards encounter card aswell. and yes resigning is always an last option and this card make it matter more =/ I played the Pete miling build which run out fast and whole Dunwich give me big counter. got a good challenge there — Pawley · 30

Joey "The Rat" Vigil

Joey "The Rat" Vigil

So, assuming that I'm correct, Joey can discard an Item asset from any Investigator in play anywhere, since unlike Sacrifice, it doesn't say "you control". UPDATE: Sacrifice has to specify "you control" since it's not a cost, unlike this card

This makes Joey a crazy money generator, being able to discard empty guns, spells, and Flashlights at any time in a very flexible way. And since it's not an exhaust, he doesn't have to hold back. Perfect for Tony Morgan who plays tons of guns, and - dare I say it - maybe even better than Leo De Luca.

Nenananas · 258
Got too excited there for a moment: no Spells. — Nenananas · 258
Only the cards controller can use a card's abilities, unless it says differently. But, I expect this to be tabooed because you can get free money with zero costing assets. — jdk5143 · 98
Under Costs: “ Only the controller of a card or ability may pay its costs. Game elements another player controls may not be used to pay a cost.” you cannot discard assets someone else controls to get the money benefit here. It’s useful but not that useful — Difrakt · 1304
it would be kind of funny if you could discard any asset in play. you could really piss of your friend who finally just got their Flamethrower it, or whatever — Zinjanthropus · 229
Welp, that explains the difference between Sacrifice and this card... Thanks @Difrakt — Nenananas · 258
Worth mentioning that you actually can discard certain of other people's stuff with Joey, you just have to take control of it with Teamwork, first. Skids, Jenny, and Guardian Tony can all take Teamwork. — Zinjanthropus · 229

One-Two Punch

One-Two Punch

I was wondering how does it interact with a Double or nothing... You do +1 damage twice, and perform two additional fight actions with the given bonuses? And doble the skill value for the enemy for the two additional fight actions?

Proxyone · 1
I think that double or nothing can only affect portions of it that are skill checks where you can commit cards. So the first punch would happen once, and you would double the second attack. — itachi18 · 1
On the non-upgraded version, being allowed to make a second attack is something you get for the test, so there it would seem that you get two additional attacks (with just the regular one-two punch damage bonus), in addition to dealing twice the damage with your first attack. The extra attacks would not have any increased difficulty, as Double or Nothing only affects a single test. However, on this upgraded card, the second attack is something that is not dependent on the result of the first test, and so Double or Nothing does not give you two follow-up attacks. — kalmakka · 1
I'd say yes to 2x additional attacks from looking at the FAQ on Double or Nothing:Q: Does Double or Nothing work with extra action effects like Quick Thinking or the level 2 .41 Derringer? A: Double or Nothing works with both of those effects! Those effects indeed trigger during step 7 [of a skill test], and then create a delayed effect which grants the extra action(s) after the test resolves. — Atrael · 1
@itachi if a test is automatically successful, you still resolve every other step of the skill test - including the ability to commit skill cards. @Atrael It does not work for the reasons that kalmakka discribes. The second fight just happens for the level 5 One-Two Punch. It isn't relevent conditional on 'if you succeed'. However, the level 0 version IS conditional on 'if you succeed' and thus could be combo'd with Double or Nothing. — Death by Chocolate · 1479