I highly, highly disagree with the FAQ. That isn't how it is written. You would take two horror and do the search. You then draw tge card and play it. The horror OBVIOUSLY comes before the card play. Even if it comes from official sources, it does not follow the rules or logic of the game.

Minh Thi Phan can now become the Keymaster from the Matrix with Old Keyring and Scavenging (2). As long as you can afford to spend 1 resource every 2 successful investigates to pay for the keys, you are effectively permanently removing 2 shroud from every location.

Rules clarifications

• Both of Amanda's abilities are mandatory (see errata), including putting a card below Amanda.
• Hidden cards: Treat it as if it were in your threat area, so you cannot but it below Amanda.
• It's possible to put non-hidden weaknesses and encounter cards below her. Examples for valid weaknesses: Doomed, Dark Pact, The Tower • XVI; I don't know if valid encounter cards exist, most are hidden.
• If you have no other cards than non-hidden weakness or encounter cards in hand, you must choose them.
• Weaknesses and encounter cards below Amanda can be discarded. Weakness rules only prohibit optionally discarding weaknesses in your hand, but it's not in your hand and discarding is mandatory.
• If you have no cards in hand, you cannot put one below Amanda. For example you discarded your hand during mythos and Amanda's ability drew a weakness that was put into play.

This character has a very strong ability and combo potential, though her low stats seem to be the balancing factor. Cards with constant bonuses will work well on her, like Milan, Magnifying glass and Death. Or temporary replacement, like the Red gloved man or Strange Solutions (Acidic).

I think the most powerful combo on her will be Quick thinking (gained through Versatile) + Red gloved man, potentially gaining close to infinite actions. Both stay during next mythos phase, so the combo may go off again if you succeed on an encounter card.

Combos

• Grisly Totem 3 (seeker): +1 first skill test and draw another card each turn
• Neutral skill cards like perception: draw lots of cards
• Vicious Blow and Upgrade + Acidic Strange Solution: Deal 12 or 15 damage in 1 turn
• Daredevil 2: I don't think this is worth to put below her. If you have 2 of 3 aces in your hand, this potentially guarantees the third if you have no other rogue skill cards in the deck.
• Enraptured: Add 3 charges/ secrets to other cards, see below.
• Eureka: Only +1 to tests, but better than draw 3 cards
• Essence of the dream (dream diary): Skill card with 2/ 4 symbols that you can put below her. The timing is a bit off, so you can only use it every other turn.
• Leadership 2: Only +1 to tests but gain up to 6 ressources
• Stunning blow: Auto evade 3 times, if your attack succeeds (not very likely without fight boosts)
• Three Aces: Put one below Amanda and try to find 2 with Practiced makes perfect to get 2 auto successes (also gain6 cards and 6 ressources)

Versatile combos

• Quick Thinking + Red gloved man: Gain close to infinite actions
• Take heart: draw 6 cards and 6 ressources if you fail 3 tests
• Arcane Insight + Archaic Glyphs (Markings of Isis) + Double or Nothing: Investigate shroud 0 and put 2 assets into play each time, ignoring their ressource costs
• Fearless: Heal 3 sanity
• Inspiring Presence: Use exhausting allies more often, see below
• Nimble: Reveal all locations

Enraptured targets for secrets and charges

• Pendant of the queen: Auto evade, clue, teleport. Easy to assemble with all your card draw
• Mr. Rook: Search for more important combo pieces
• Arcane Insight: Reduce shroud to 0
• Archaic Glyphs (Markings of Isis): Put assets into play without spending actions and ignore their ressource cost
  • Add Scavenging (Versatile) to put assets from your discard into play
• Feed the mind: Draw more cards, but potential horror
• Ancient Stone: Deal more damage/ heal horror
• In the Know: Barricade yourself and takes clues from afar
• Old Book of Lore 3: Play assets cheaper
• Pnakotic Manuscript: Avoid chaos tokens (auto success)
• Scroll of Prophecies: Draw more cards; Add Abigail for double the fun and Ancient stone
• Scroll of Secrets 3: Not very good but may have some combos in the future
• More with Versatile but I dont think they're worth it, like Shriveling or Rite of Seeking

Inspiring Presence Targets

• Charles Ross: Make the next item cheaper by additional 3, i don't think this is worth it
• Mr. Rook: Use his secrets more quickly, but i don't think this is worth it
• Alice Luxley (Versatile): Deal 3 damage when investigating
• David Renfield (Versatile): Get lots of ressources, best used when you're about to remove him with a free action (Smoking pipe)
• Olive McBride (Versatile): Draw more tokens, avoid Autofail. I don't think this is worth it due to Amanda's low stats.
• Venturer (Versatile): Reload guns, Ornate bow and strange solution more quickly. I don't think this is worth it, moving 1 supply each turn suffices in most cases (E.cache 3 adds more supplies to venturer)

I recall tossing this cursed relic aside long ago, thinking it was a useless trap item that just takes up room. For many, it really is. But let me, the great explorer Leo Anderson, challenge your views and tell you at length about how I charmed an entire police force to die for my occult desires to feed my dark hunger of killing monsters.

So there I was, renowned expedition leader Leo Anderson, Returning to Dunwich with a friend new to town (he'd never been to Dunwich before). Well... Imagine my surprise when I found out that I had accidentally brought this mesmerising skull on the trip! I threw it into my 30L deep backpack as a thematic joke. I can see my old buddies around the bar now; "the mad explorer Leo jaunt around tombs and vaults with huge teams, only to return with one crazed friend and a weird skull". They don't understand this amazing cursed skull. It has power they cannot see... So I brought it along. Two of them, to be exact.

We laughed when I pulled it from my bag at the start of the investigation. I had to show it off - after all, Great Leo's life is shaped around watching his many, many replaceable allies die. It is sad but this is the way of the skull. My whole 'shtick is having the sheer inner willpower (4) to not go mad watching my friends and foes die in horrific ways. Infact my biographer says it is my unique ability to always have new allies!

So when I convinced my policeman friend to throw his life away to protect me from an unoffending rat, suddenly the skull glowed twice as the rat died in the kerfuffle. Next a hideous monster attacked, but my brave, brave Tetsuo was easily convinced to take a big hit for my drunk fellow investigator Rex. I was gazed in the attack, which gave me an opening to react with my blade and murder the savage beast of the night. Again the hungering skull glowed. All this happened in the blink of an eye, in one swift single round the skull rattled with 4 coins. Mitch didn't bat an eye, he'd seen worse on our adventures. Rex just gulped and drank more. A sudden windfall of resources allowed me to pull out loads of guns, and my guns were blazing all night, thanks to THE DECORATED SKULL OF DOOM.

The real benefit of this card is that you can take it twice. You might fail your first action, sure... but Survivors generally don't mind that. Or you could just move or play an asset... but this modifies the difficulty of your test and because you skill value cannot fall below zero, on your third action 2 shroud locations and two fight enemies have a difficulty of zero.

The benefit of this is clear with Stella, but the beauty of it comes for Wendy with access to Leo de Luca, haste, and the skeleton key. Action 1, fail with drawing thins/take heart, place the skeleton key, move, or play an asset Action 2, place the skeleton key, lockpick, or winging it (difficulty 0 because winging it further reduces shroud) Action 3, investigate with difficulty 0 at any location (assuming you played the skeleton key) Action 4, investigate with difficulty 0 at any location Haste Action, investigate with difficulty 0 at any location.