Just for easier reference when viewing this scenario;

The ability on this card, once translated, reads:

Each Distortion location gains: "Spend 1 clue: deal 3 damage to Eixodolon. (Group limit once per game)."

One of the upgrades I've been hoping for the most (bare with me Read the Signs and Spectral Razor, I'm sure you're next).

I was sure they would make it 3xp or something, but no, they followed the Cheap Shot and Slip Away template, and it is fantastic!

It doesn't read that good, so why would it be such a relief to have it, and why did they wait so long?

• First of all, one of the main frustration for a taking the main cluever role is the fact that Lockpicks exhaust. If you have only 1 in hand, that means that you can effectively only get 1 clue per turn. How inefficient is that to progress the game?! Well, you can now officially call yourself the main clue-getter as you now have another way to get more clues at your location during your turn, even if there are no enemies.

• Crafty and Chuck Fergus basically make this card free once per turn, making it a slotless Lockpicks (0).

Some good synergies:

• As it is an event, it attaches to Crystallizer of Dreams, so you can commit it to another test during the same turn before it comes back to your hand.

• Works well with Gené Beauregard, who boosts the 2 relevant stats and can pull enemies, so you don't waste the evade part of the action. Trish Scarborough and Rita Young love this.

• Speaking of Allies, add Lola Santiago for +2 skill value and a way to accelerate your clue rate significantly.

• Works well with all the success by X mechanics like Lucky Cigarette Case (3), Momentum, etc...

• Slot Daring Maneuver (2) in your Deck as a safety net.

With all this being said, it sounds good, but not great yet. Well, what makes the difference to me is that, before Hidden Pocket at least, Hand Slots were incredibly competitive. Being able to investigate twice a turn without using a Hand Slot opens up for some real flex options like having the Beretta M1918 in your hands. Pack some boosts and Sharpshooter and you're ready for any situation! On another hand, were amazing at collecting actions (Leo De Luca, Haste, Ace in the Hole, Borrowed Time, Quick Thinking, The Black Fan, yadi, yada), but no way to actually investigate the crap out of the game with them. No more!

When it comes to Why now?, I believe that it is because we now have the Thieves' Kit as a way to investigate with our without exhaust, making less reliant on the Lockpicks and opening space to use something else instead of them.

Who would benefit from this card?

• My first thought is, of course, Trish Scarborough as it makes her discover 2 clues if an enemy is there (thanks Gené Beauregard for teleporting one). With her stats, she tests with 8 skill values which still requires a bit of support to make sure that you don't lose it too soon.

• Winifred Habbamock overcommits, so the succeed by X requirement isn't much of an issue, and testing also with 8 base value makes it an auto-include in her, in my opinion. This opens the door to a real flex Wini with weapons in hands and Breaking and Entering/Pilfer to investigate.

• Rita Young finally has a reliable way to do some clue support while leaving the rest of her deck free for enemy management.

• A tool-oriented Bob Jenkins deck could like it to take advantage of Crafty and use his good stats. With The Black Fan, for instance, you're testing at 9 skill value.

• Finn Edwards will love a side alternative to the Lockpicks to get more clues each round.

• Kymani Jones will most likely try to maximise their or value for their own ability, making them a potential great user of this card. As they will veeery likely take Crafty anyways, it would be a shame not to look at Breaking and Entering (2)/Cheap Shot (2).

• Monterey Jack! No wait...

This weakness is worse than it first appears, and definitely the worst of the 4 new EOtE weaknesses.

It prevents you from taking more than one action of either "fight" or "activate" each turn. That doesn't seem so bad... until you realize that A LOT of things are "activate".

In fact, any action, printed on any card, with a , is an "activate" action, on top of its descriptor, if any. This includes, for example :

-most "resign" on locations or agendas / acts

-most weapons

-most clueing tools (fingerprint kit, lockpicks...)

-most spell assets (for fighting, clueing, evading...)

-some investigator specific abilities, like Preston Fairmont cashing in his inheritance and Lily Chen's Disciplines

-most "parlay" on enemies or bystanders

-a lot of special actions on locations that are mandatory to advance a scenario

This card car thoroughly mess with your planning, especially in low player counts / solo when you realize that you can't grab the last 2 clues with your spell then resign because they're both "activate"... The fact that weaknesses are added to a deck after it is completed only makes it worse : some decks can heal damage easily, while others will have no healing whatsoever.

Q: Whose discard pile does it end up in? The naïve reading of the card suggests that it goes in the discard pile of the person who played A Chance Encounter, but I know better than to be so naïve!

The reason I ask: is ACE a way that William Yorrick can use another player's ally as the card describes, discard it to WY's discard pile, for it to be 'dug' up to play again using his special ability?

Teamwork struggles in the course of normal play unless your group goes out of its way to coordinate unlikely asset combos, and even then playing this card likely slows the group down compared to playing independently functional decks.

This card struggles to be consistent, but it's worth noting that because it has the Tactic trait Mark Harrigan can take it.