This review won't really be a state-of-the-art of current Akachi Onyele, but more some speculation of Akachi Decks by the end of Carcosa. I have to admit I play Agnes Baker as Mystic and not the Shaman... but that may change by the end of Carcosa as the card pool grow, and I'll try to explain why.

Where should I start ? Building efficient and polyvalent Mystics decks was really troublesome for me. They lacked staying power. Okay, you can use a Blinding Light or other one-shot spells to deal with monsters... but they are often very resource-intensive (around 3) and not reusable. My mystics decks ended relying a heck lot on Rite of Seeking (lvl4) to gather clues and Shrivelling (lvl3 ; lvl5) to kill ennmies. That wasn't enough so I get in Flashlight, Drawn to the Flame for consistency. In the case of Agnes, I tried to be less reliant on spells and more on her own power (just take those f*cking pills to ease your headache).

I didn't even give a shot on Akachi. 1 more use on spells ? Good, that delay their obsolescence. But that doesn't tackle the issue you need to get the spell. Having only 2 copies aren't enough. And you cannot even rely on your innate ability to do something without it. (Contrary to Agnes who will take drugs in that case.)

When it came to card pool, Akachi Onyele seemed waaaaaaay behind. No access to lvl0-2, no access to 5 splash cards. So, Akachi was definitely a no go for me. Until I saw the recent spoilers... Some new cards that Akachi can use since they are Spells ("use : charges") or Occult.

1/ Suggestion is a new way to make her untouchable. (8 escape unboosted, 6 if you won't use any charge). Plus, you can cancel up to 4 attacks that are dealt to her. Wow. Untouchable. What's more, it works well with Shrivelling : sometimes, you don't want to use charges to deal with a non-hunter monster. Getting out, quite for sure, without consuming any charge ? More please ! And if it is a Hunter ? The way suggestion works, it will give you plenty of time before you really need to take care of it.

2/ Arcane Insight is an upgraded version of Flashlight. For 1 more resource, you have 4 uses. And the -2 stays the whole turn, without costing any action ! You can even use it for teammates ! Too great to be true. It's not really a card for Seekers, that have insane ways for gathering clues... but it's a perfect fit for Akachi ! Use it once on a 2 or lower shroud, and you can gather up to 3 clues in that place this turn !

3/ If archaic Glyphs works the same as Strange Solution, we can expect something as powerful as Strange Solution later in the game. It might be a bit tricky to translate them, but once it's done... Let's gamble we will have some really good staying power... with charges !

So, okay, 3 new cards for Akachi that will make consistency. More cards to deal with monsters effectively, and more cards to gather clues. Good ! All spells with charges, that synergy with Akachi, even better. But... 4 different spells ? For 4 arcane slots ? Should we use that old and dusty Book of Shadows ? It seems a bit too expensive. So, we now have a different trouble : we are too rich when it comes to good staying-power spells ! I guess Akachi will see more plays in a near futur....

The thing about this gun is this:

Machette exists.

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The reason you get this rather then Machete is because you're not always just fighting a single foe and a rare few foes reward ranged weapons over melee.

The annoying thing is that the opportunity cost of playing this over machete is scarcely worth it. The +1 to hit is a dealbreaker.

Maybe if there had been an alternate fire mode, something like:
-> Spend 1 ammo: FIGHT. You gain +1 (Strength) for this attack. This gun would be flexible enough to compete with the best non-xp weapon in the game.

The saddest part is that co-operative games don't get balance updates, which means that this card is condemned to uselessness until some blanket-effects (a character and/or investigator card) are introduced.

Revision: Now that "Eat Lead" is going to be a thing, this gun just got it's "Blanket-effect" buff.

Cool fellow but tricky to use though. Ideally you play him when you lots of time left before a timer advance OR when it's right about to advance. Remember that if doom appears in the same round that the timer advances anyway, that doom goes away too without issue. This means that you can trigger David in the round's the agenda advances as a "freebie". If you can do this just once you've just spent 1 resource to get a +1 Willpower proc' for a round, 2 health and 1 sanity. Every extra time you can pull this off is pure grade-A, gravy.

The trick is to know when to kill David off, despite his powerful ability you must keep in mind that like other cheap Allies (Art Student, Dr. William.) he is first and foremost a throwaway character. If you manage to squeeze 2-3 resources, one or two uses of the +Willpower and then soak a 1/1 attack with him you've gotten tonne's bang out of this one card!

The big risk in using David is falling into the trap of stacking doom on him frivolously, the way to do this safely is to, as already mentioned, make sure he dies a timely death. In a scenario where you've got 4-5 rounds between advances you can stack 2-3 Doom on him for a gain of 6 credits, in this case you've got to get in some deliberate trouble so that he gets punched before the big payday turns into a premature nightmare.

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Pros: -Consistent benefit when used safely.

-High yield benefit in the right circumstance.

-Moderate benefit in the wrong circumstance.

-At worst a 2-point damage soak or 1-point horror soak.

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Cons:

-Game-loosing if used wrong.

-Dead-draw in the lategame of each scenario unless you can find a use for raw hitpoints.

-Inherent risk, even the safest bets can fail every now and then.

With the introduction of Ever Vigilant, it's time to re-evaluate First Aid and make once more the obvious comparison with Emergency Aid.

PRO

• Encounter Deck protection: It protects Guardians more expensive assets from getting destroyed by nasty encounter cards.
• Flexibility: It can heal Horror and Damage, on both you and other investigators
• Economical Combo: It's an asset and so it can come in play with Ever Vigilant.
• Heals more: It heals 1 more compared to the Emergency Aid, if you chose to spend the actions
• Great for idle moments: if there ever is such a thing

CON

• Economy: its still slower then Emergency Aid
• Not on Allies: Cant be used on allies like the obvious Beat Cop.

Disclaimer: Why heals are good? Cause there is such a thing as direct damage/direct horror. People often have to resign when they run the risk of getting killed/insane by a single encounter card.

I don't really know what to think about this Relic...

Jewel of Aureolus costs 3, which is huge in a mystic deck. And guess what ? At 3 XP, it can only be played by wizards. Huge cost indeed, but for what results ? "Draw a card" or "gain 2 resources" every 1 or 2 turns. It has to trigger 3 times to refund itself (1 card, 4 resources) and 3 times to generate as much value as Emergency Cache. Unless you're playing with many players, it means often 6 turns at least. After that, it's bonuses ! So, it nets a value only if it's played during the early game.

Tell me if I'm wrong, but, playing as Agnes Baker, I often want to play staying power during my first turn. That means, Shrivelling (lvl0, 4 or 5), Rite of Seeking (lvl0 or 4), Peter Sylvestre (lvl0 or 3). And cards to support those assets, Spirit Athame, Holy Rosary... So, Jewel of Aureolus often comes on the board after spells, and doesn't directly empowers it. So, it nets a bonus, yes, but a very thin one.

It's even worse when you draw it during the scenario. It's close to impossible to extract value from it. Hopefully, it has a Wild Icon, so it's not a totally dead card.

All in all, it's more a less a filler, not a premium card you need to get. What's more, mystics have a long list of XP-intensive, must-have, cards. (Shrivelling, Rite of Seeking, Grotesque Statue...) When it will be time to invest in resource-gathering, Emergency Cache (and the upcoming Emergency Cache) might outshine Jewel of Aureolus - at a lesser cost.