This is a .45 Automatic that doesn't use any hand slots if you use them all on Tools. Its offensive capabilities are not exactly impressive for a signature weapon but beyond being lucky it is your only way to replenish your Hunch Deck.

The big issue with the Colt 1911s is that it wants you to be exclusive by restricting your hand slots, and simultaneously being nowhere good enough to be your one true love. You might see this as nothing more than a commit card for this reason.

The problems to be solved are two: How can I conserve the ammo on my Colt 1911s so that I reserve it for finishing off foes, and how can I keep my competitive with a +1 weapon?

1. Being a cowardly little kill stealer: If you are not the main monster hunter in the party then you can let someone else deal with the big elites while you take pot shots at low-fight and low-health enemies, or finish off the big boys after someone else did all the work.

2. Getting another weapon out: The Sledgehammer is a weapon and a tool. It likely won't hold up in later parts of the campaign but in a lv 0 deck it will pull its weight. Bandolier and its upgrade is an obvious solution if you have the card draw for it, allowing you to equip a Machete or Timeworn Brand.

3. Using events and non-weapons: Strange Solution packs a punch and with your guardian access you can replenish Strange Solution, your gun, and a Fingerprint Kit with Venturer and Cleaning Kit. There's also "I've got a plan!" which fits inside your Hunch Deck.

Two cards that will aid you no matter what route you choose are Scientific Theory and Michael Leigh. Stat boosts exactly where you want them, and +1 dmg helps line up the Colt 1911s kill potential.

Overall a mid card that takes some effort to get full value from, but I'm glad it exists.

This card does three things: 1) let you investigate with Willpower 2) add two blesses 3) give an opportunity to collect an extra clue

Using willpower can be worthwhile in Daniela, Mary, Zoey, Diana, Duke, or Hank, as for them it means at least +2. Several other investigators would get a native +1 and willpower boosts tend to be more plentiful than intellect boosts in Guardian.

Adding two blesses is no bad thing, but Keep Faith adds four blesses for the same cost and is fast, so your bless deck is probably viewing this as a helpful rider.

To really make this sing, you need to be able to fish out a bless or elder sign. A few investigators can do that natively (Kohaku, parallels Wendy and Mateo) and any investigator can take Favor of the Sun with some experience. Note that Favor needs to already be in play, and you cannot use the bless tokens from #2 above. Doing so will secure you two clues for two resources and a card, and will give you a pair of blessings to help fill the bag.

Part of this card's challenge is that Scene of the Crime gets a testless clue for the same cost, and can get a bonus clue often enough. That second clue is likely easier to arrange (or simply wait for) than dedicating deck space and opportunity costs to fish out a bless.

If I were to include this in a deck, it's probably alongside Scene of the Crime and other bless support, and it's probably in Daniela or Hank where I need to use events to help with clues, either because I'm a kind and generous killer in a multiplayer group or because I'm a monster who dares attempt solo play with a mere 1 intellect.

It's a weird upgrade in a way.

Its predecessor Ever Vigilant (1) is an entirely selfish card. Three assets, three resources saved, all yours. Very good value for a 1 XP card. But while sitting with 3 assets on hand and the resources to play them is doable, the step to 4 assets is a lot tougher. Spending three additional XP on the potential of one action and resource saved is a luxury most campaigns won't allow.

What we're really paying all that additional XP for is the multiplayer aspect. Which means that the type of player who wants Ever Vigilant (1) is not the person who wants Ever Vigilant (4). That's what makes it a weird upgrade. With (1) you're getting your own assets out quickly. With (4) you're steamrolling your party's tempo. Often instead of your own. It's however very effective at that. Slap it on a Stick to the Plan and the rest the investigators at the table will be doing puppy eyes at you every setup. And you'll realize that it's worth delaying your own setup so that the cluevers can hit the ground running.

TSK had a lot of multiplayer focused cards for Guardians (which I liked as a direction). But while I think that this card is very strong as a multiplayer card, that is not what its predecessor was about. Another card that would have fit this design space better is Teamwork. A Teamwork (2) that gave every investigator at the location a to play an asset with a lower resource cost would have been great, followed the theme of the card, and helped with its original purpose.

I am surprised no one mentioned the strong synergy with Enchant Weapon before (neither here, nor at the other page). Apart from its own effect, it accelerates Dragon Pole's bonus damage being online via giving it an arcane slot.

Still, it seems to me that it's designed for Lily, but with Dragon Pole being level 0 any guardian can take it with Versatile and enable the combo.

I used this in a Bark Harrigan deck throughout 4P TFA and I'll say: It's good but unless your deck is built around allies I'd not use this card in solo or duo.

The cost reduction is pretty much always used in full so it's very comparable to an Emergency Cache that gives you one bonus action for playing it. Guardians are always in need of cash so more economy cards is good to have in your deck. But unlike Uncage the Soul the restriction on what you can spend it on really limits you. Unless you plan to play out a lot of allies then Motivational Speech can easily end up being a dead draw in a normal deck.

But the most important factor of this card is that it can be used on other investigators. It's a great tempo piece for the party, especially when other investigators have bought Charisma themselves so that you have at minimum 6-8 opportunities to play it. Don't see this as a worse Emergency Cache #3 and #4. See this as a 0 cost event that gives an ally one extra action and three resources.

Combined with Ever Vigilant (4) and Stand Together (3), Motivational Speech was what I used to make our cluevers start the first round with up to five actions and nine resources saved.