Stray Cat

Stray Cat

As a cat person I have always wanted to include the Stray Cat in a deck but it never quite made the cut. I think there was once or twice that it made it in with the hopes that I could use Calling in Favors to search for the ally that I wanted but it got bumped out almost immediately by XP upgrades.

The cat has always been an iffy play because of its one time use AND restrictions on use but I was trying to find an investigator to pair up with Ursula for my first play of The Forgotten Age. The only thing that I really knew was that evasion was good and I knew a little of the Vengeance mechanic. Most of the other types have really poor evasion skills but I got the idea to pair Yorick with the Stray Cat.

And it was an amazing combo. Ursula and Yorick were usually able to clear clues off of locations and even stay ahead of previously evaded Hunters.

It's ALL Actionless

The best part is that the Stray Cat with Yorick achieves the ultimate action efficiency. Once it is in the discard pile it can be played/recurred after any kill without using an action and it can evade without using an action. It can even evade ANY enemy at your location.

It isn't that hard for Yorick to kill enemies but it usually takes 2-3 actions to do it and there are always the chance of bad token pull (retaliate) or special tokens that cause something else to happen. Yorick can instead use his Flashlight 1-2x and move to the next location getting closer to completing the scenario instead of needlessly hacking at an enemy.

Does it makes sense to play the Stray Cat with other investigators or in other campaigns

This was obviously the perfect campaign for the cat but I will definitely keep this in my Yorick decks for action efficiency.

Other possible investigators to use it and none of these are definite since they all have other strong allies to include

  1. Ashcan Pete - I could see this working in solo where he can avoid enemies and sneak through scenarios.
  2. Patrice - I haven't played her yet so there might be too much competition for allies but it is cheap so it can get played easily and it keeps her safe if she hasn't drawn/played the right cards.
  3. Tommy Muldoon or Tony Morgan (Survivor) in TFA (and only in TFA) - Not very good matches for them but they will really need to evade with some regularity in the campaign. But would you push out another ally that works so well for them? Unlikely.
  4. A splash card for Zoey? in TFA - Very unlikely
  5. Minh Thi Phan - It gives her some mobility but it would probably just be easier for her to play skill cards and evade

The rest of the other survivors have high evade skills so it wouldn't help much.

I have never played nor even thought about how to build decks for Preston, Lola or Calvin. I doubt it makes sense.

Overall it worked great for Yorick in TFA but Ashcan Pete is probably the only other investigator that I would try to include it in. And that is only because I want to setup a deck without Peter Sylvestre for Pete. I think it is safe to keep this in your unused cards section. Unless you are playing Yorick.

The Lynx · 980
Tony can't take it because it's an asset. Love the Yorick idea though, that's genius. The only time I ever included this card was as a thematic placeholder for Miss Doyle until I upgraded into her. Don't think I ever used it. Odd choice of card to be included in the core set really. It fits with the theme of Wendy but she has no use for it. — Sassenach · 179
Rita obviously likes Peter Sylvestre more, but Stray Cat being able to auto evade any non Elite at your location means she can trigger her ability off of an enemy engaged with someone else, either to ping it for damage and then maybe later have it engage with her, or for movement. Tony can't take the cat (events and skills only), but probably wouldn't anyway because his ally competition is fierce between Greg, Leo de Luca, and Lola Santiago (he loves sanity soak). Patrice can use the cat to auto-evade the Watcher officially now, though I've found Fire Axe to be a more well rounded solution, and while she doesn't have too much ally competition (Madame Labranche is really the only must have one) she doesn't want to include too many assets in my experience. — StyxTBeuford · 13028
I keep forgetting about Tony's restriction but I haven't played him. Isn't Patrice's asset issue the cost? I also haven't played her yet but her deckbuilding is quite interesting so I have looked at it a little. I could see some potential to use the Cat as a free action to evade and then fire - reload - fire the Ornate Bow for 6 damage (and no AOO) with Wendy/Rita but it would only work against non-elites with 4 or more health (or 5 or more with Rita). They exist but are somewhat rare. — The Lynx · 980
The issue with Patrice is more actions. Between Violin and Labranche cost is not an issue at all. Events are nice because they’re often fast or at least have good icons. — StyxTBeuford · 13028
I guess it then becomes spend an action one turn to play it and save an action later. Not super strong though for her but possible. Yorick's actionless recursion really increased its value in that campaign. — The Lynx · 980
While you can recurse it with Yorick, I think the main reason not to is that having Yorick to constantly evade is actively playing against his primary strength as a monster killer. He has access to 4 strength and a variety of very good tools for killing monsters, and he wants to do so so he can bring back tools. Each time you're using Stray Cat from the discard, you're giving up the chance to bring back something else, and you often need to deal with the monster later anyways. Yes, you can use Stray Cat to avoid one attack if things look bad - but you can effectively take the blow on another ally for similar effect (or better, if you're playing with Guard Dog or Aquinnah). — Ruduen · 1004
You are forgetting about action efficiency and that everything doesn't need to be killed. If Yorick uses the Stray Cat 2-3 times during a scenario then he saves himself many actions. It will usually take him 2-3 actions to kill something since they are still tests that he can fail. That is 4-9 actions each scenario. Instead of spending 2-3 actions killing an enemy he can use the stray cat as a non-action, use the Flashlight (and combo Lucky/LWIF) to grab a clue or two and move to the next location and be closer to advancing the deck. It was quite common that Ursula and Yorick could clear clues fast enough that they could stay ahead of Hunter enemies. I really enjoy Guard Dog/Aquinnah (3) combo with Yorick but this deck flowed much better economy wise. I didn't even need to include ECache it worked so well. And he still killed 5-8 enemies each scenario so it wasn't like he was constantly tossing a cat at them but it saved a lot of actions for him and Ursula. — The Lynx · 980

Body of a Yithian

Body of a Yithian

Just about strictly better than Preston Fairmont's investigator card in a Preston Fairmont deck. You get +1 to every skill, lose his passive drawback but keep Family Inheritance, gain a response trigger that combos well with a fair amount of Preston builds, and the Elder Sign ability is very slightly better (though it does lose the automatic success possibility for very high difficulty checks, +2 should cover most checks anyway). 10/10 would recommend being stuck in the City of the Great Race again.

Thatwasademo · 58
Oh man, that's so janky! I was going to say that it combos well with Monstrous Transformation (also very janky). — Zinjanthropus · 229
a yithian wrote this — HanoverFist · 738
Also great with Lola Hayes! — Lactamaeon · 13
Though, you lose deckbuilding options. Can you even spend exp if you're a yithian? — Mataza · 19
it must be terrible to live like this if you stuck in that body... oh my god — Makaramus · 5
I love this review. Thanks for the laugh. — EmmeBGG · 13

Enchanted Blade

Enchanted Blade

I don't like this card. I have 2 reasons

  1. This card is unthematic. Why guardians can use a magic blade? I don't understand. They should use fire arms, knifes.... no magic blades. It's more, guardians use magic blades better than mystics. No sense.

  2. This card is unbalanced. Compare it with .45 automatic level 2... is better than 45 level 2!! that cost 2xp. I don't talk about 45 level 0...A good weapon, but obsolete because exist this enchanted blade.

Solution: for use swords charges, you should use "head" instead of "fist". Only guardians with high "head" could use it optimally in this way.

Sisvel · 15
Yeah I'm not a fan of guardians using magical items (at level 0 at least), flavor-wise. You have the mirror too though, so that might become more common. If it was a niche card I'd be OK with it, but it's the best guardian 0 weapon... — jd9000 · 73
I actually agree, I think the level 0 version is slightly too good, and it awkwardly came out right when Machete got taboo'd. Arguably this is better than Machete, but there's no competition between them for taboo players since Machete costs XP and this doesn't. I think for now it would be worth un-tabooing Machete and seeing how they fare against each other. I do like the upgraded versions of both cards in how they synergize with what their respective class would want. I think magical items are fine... as upgrades or rare items like the Mirror. — StyxTBeuford · 13028
I do understand the criticism, but this is not better than 45 lvl 2. It's cheaper to play by one resource but also has fewer charges than the 45 has bullets, can't easily be reloaded by guardians, doesn't ignore retaliate and takes up an additional slot. Granted, some of these are fairly marginal advantages for most guardians, but they do exist. — Sassenach · 179
Ok, It's possible that 45. automatic level 2 has marginal advantages. But with a cost of 2 xp... Not compensate, in my opinion — Sisvel · 15
On the other hand, the Enchanted Blade can still be used even without charges (for a +1 combat boost, good for finishing odd health enemies where you'd otherwise need to spend an ammo), costs 2 less XP, one less resources, has a better commit icon, and let's be honest takes up an extra slot Guardians do not care about at all right now. Ignoring Retaliate is decent, and particularly cute with Diana, but other than that I definitely think E Blade 0 edges out the level 2 .45 auto. Let — StyxTBeuford · 13028
Of course different weapons can be better or worse in certain campaigns, so there's arguments for level 2 .45 in certain contexts, but in a vacuum I think it's a really easy choice. — StyxTBeuford · 13028
I think the ability to replenish the ammo in the 45 makes it the superior choice most of the time. The +1 boost to finish off odd health enemies is nice I guess, but for most guardians it's not that big of a deal. Punching for 1 damage is liable to be almost as effective. — Sassenach · 179
Although I would say that EB lvl 3 is vastly superior to 45 lvl 2, and if I were inclined to take the upgraded 45 it would be better to spend 1 more xp and get the better weapon instead. — Sassenach · 179
The issue here is that the machete exists. If the devs want to create a weapon that competes with the machete (such as EB), they're naturally going to invalidate every other weapon in the game. — flamebreak · 19
The only big downside to the Enchanted Blade with Guardians is that they can setup an Extra Ammo/Venturer ammo resupply for their other guns but this is pretty much as strong as the L2 .45 Auto. A Guardian will need at least 4 weapons so both have a place in the deck. The one huge benefit in favor of Enchanted Blade is during Carcosa with those pesky ghosts. Of course, Dunwich benefits non-melee weapons like the .45. — The Lynx · 980
Nothing thematically says Guardians shouldn't have access to some magic. It exists in their world, of course they would find ways to use it. — Tilted Libra · 37

Stargazing

Stargazing

This card slow down the threat a lot!

When you got any treachery card, it cost as following

  • 0-1 action for average test that may make you discard, lose Health or Sanity
  • 1-2 action when you draw the enemy if you can kill it. But cost more if you can't

But put this card provide you the The Stars Are Right it return you

  • 1 action - Tie you playing action
  • 1 resource - count as 1 action
  • 1 card (From drawing) - count as 1 action
  • Additionally eliminate action cost from the treachery card count as 0-2 action

In short, this card pay back you around 2-4 action as soon as you found it.

Especially when the treachery card is punishing on late scenario.

AquaDrehz · 197
This card is soo good in late game when the treachery cards really punish you. I normally take this going into the final scenario whenever I go mystic. — Calprinicus · 6010

Through the Gates

Through the Gates

On paper, this weakness doesn't seem that bad. It's easy to picture scenarios where you draw something like Emergency Cache, some skill card, or end up having to toss an asset in play that's out of ammo or charges. Sure, it's too bad if you end up losing that second copy of .45 Automatic or whatever, but for all intents and purposes, that card might have been on the bottom of your deck and you weren't going to draw it anyway. And heck, maybe the second copy is already in your discard pile - no biggie, right? Or maybe you don't even have a second copy of the drawn card! Then all you've lost is a single card draw - far from the end of the world.

And yeah, you will encounter those types of low impact situations with this card from time to time - which can make it feel pretty mild.

However, when this card hurts, it really hurts. It's particularly brutal if it causes you to lose your only weapon in play, or some other asset you are heavily relying on. If you are playing solo, then - depending on your investigator - you can find yourself suddenly defenseless with essentially no recourse other than to resign. There's the potential for some real feel-bad moments when you end up losing a fully powered Hawk-Eye Folding Camera, or an Investments that you've been juicing since the start of the scenario. And there's nothing quite like having your big gun disintegrated right before a boss fight to really elicit some choice swear words.

Having played with this card a few times now, I have to give it a lot more respect than I did initially. It's a lot of fun (in the way that only cruel cards can be) and is probably one of my favorite weaknesses, just because you never really know how much of a disaster it's going to be until you see what's sitting underneath it.

bricklebrite · 518
Maybe consider running singletons of your super weapons if this is your basic weakness. There are enough high power lvl 4-5 guardian weapons that you can easily diversify if you know this is in your deck. Other staple cards are harder to justify playing around this card, but it is doable with the current card pool this deep. — Death by Chocolate · 1473
i would think it's especially bad if you lose a one-of-a-kind card that's a core part of your strategy. something like Peter Sylvestre or Lola Santiago — Zinjanthropus · 229
Yes, it is very swingy. A friend of mine (first time player) was playing a 19 XP deck, draw this one as one of his weaknesses, and had both 5 XP Shrivelling removed by it. So he was basically playing a 9 XP deck with one extra RBW. This was quite harsh. — Susumu · 369
Forgot to mention: this was a stand-alone, Carnevale to be precise. — Susumu · 369