Update after the release of Path To Carcosa:

Dodge is such a great card, why did nobody bother to write a review about it yet? I fancy that stressing it's obvious power must sound moronic, and no one wants to read what he/she already knows.

So i will just put other cards with the same effect from the other factions into advisement, none of them reaching Dodge's potential:

1. Mystics have Hypnotic Gaze in faction - but the play cost is higher.
2. Rogues have Suggestion - which has a steep aquisition cost of 4xp and does not work against Elite threats, neither can you protect other investigators with it.
3. Survivors can buy Infighting - the aquisition cost of 3xp is crazy for an event, which does not at least protect against Elite threats, neither can you protect other investigators with it.
4. Seekers have the Disc of Itzamna - it does not cancel the attack, but the effect is similiar, Seekers can stay at the same location while circumventing the attack. Higher play cost of 3 and 2xp, too.

Pros

• Dodge is a fast action to cancel any single attack (damage and horror) without a skill check.
• It can be used to save other investigators at your location.
• Works against all sizes of attackers (Elite, Massive).
• The investigator stays at the same location, usually saving a lot of actions he would spend if he evaded and returned later.
• Special mention of Yorick, when drawing the elder sign from the bag, he can retrieve Dodge from the discard pile.

Cons

• One-time effect. Make it worthwile!
• Does not combine with I've had worse.

MMMh.... a shovel. Uh, it is owned by someone, a Gravedigger. Uh oh, this new handsome's job is burying the dead. Following this logical chain William Yorick's favorite assets are Gravedigger's Shovel and Lantern.

I daresay that this beautiful picture is only skin-deep. Imagine Mr. Yorick carrying both, shovel and lantern. He fights with the shovel and uses the lantern to gather clues. Each time he defeats an enemy, he just forfeits his reaction ability? Or is he meant to throw the lantern into the enemy's face at first sight, then charge with his shovel, hack away and lastly retrieve the lantern for 2 resources? Does it sound better if William Yorick had both his shovels to his disposal? He would be well advised to discard the first shovel to discover a clue, then equip the second shovel. With it, he could easily beat an enemy, trigger his special ability... oh, dang! The lantern blocks his other hand! To get this combo running, Yorick would have to keep his second hand free all the time or draw his Bandolier early. Even then, it still seems costly to me: 2 resources for each 1 clue gained! Let us face the truth, Mr. Yorick is a dumbass. He did not pass as an actor, nor does he have a detective's training. He is really good at tanking/fighting and recycling assets. But this review is not about William Yorick, it is meant to demonstrate how intricate Gravedigger's shovel's second ability works under the best of circumstances (continuous, action-free retrieval).

As a conclusion, use the shovel mainly as a weapon. The +2 is a strong bonus for fighters (hard/expert mode) and weaklings (easy/normal mode) alike. As a one-handed weapon, you can pack complementary assets. And, if a treachery raises the shroud value of your location into the sky, you can trigger the emergency button and discard the shovel to auto-access a clue nonetheless.

I should stress that the auto-success is invaluable if you play in expert mode, where tempo is more important than anything else!

Pros

• Unconditional +2 Combat for each attack.
• One-handed weapon.
• Decent install cost.
• The second ability works as an auto-success on clue finding.
• Can be retrieved with Scavenging or Yorick's ability.

Cons

• The second ability can not be combined with any other card's effect at the time of this writing.
• Don't waste it to boost skill tests.

Recommendations

• A spoiler can be completely bypassed with the shovel's second ability.
• spoiler is not discarded after discarding the shovel, because there was no prior investigation.

Technology decides wars. In Arkham's scope, technology decides which cards are being played and which stay in the binder. There are circumstances in which the old-fashioned Lantern beats the Flashlight. Every character that can include Lantern without spending xp should have a look at the following passages, all other character classes can adhere to the neutral Flashlight.

Let me start to evaluate Lantern's worth on the background of it's main use, as a clue finder tool. Reducing shroud can either have a very powerful effect or a mediocre effect - depending of the final shroud value.

Reducing a location's shroud to zero is the ultimate chance for success, because any result will match the test difficulty of zero. Only the auto-fail token lets the test fail (1 out of 16). Currently (with Path to Carcosa just released) there are 23 shroud-1 locations across all campaigns, 6 of which do not have any clues on them. 17 of 147 locations can be reduced to shroud-0 with the Lantern. As a result, it can not be recommended for the powerful effect.

The mediocre effect kicks in if the shroud is still 1 or more after applying the modificator. Investigating at that location gives you a bonus of 1 on the skill test, comparable with having a +1 Intellect boost on your investigation attempt. While on Hard/Expert mode failure is unforgiving, this marginal bonus is absolutely neglectable, it can make all the difference in Easy/Normal gameplay. Even better, Lantern does have unlimited uses! So, if you play a Survivor in Easy/Normal mode, add Lantern to your deck!

The Lantern also serves as a throw-away combat tool. For one action you can once inflict 1 damage to one target at your location. Not overly powerful, but a decent weapon against Whippoorwills: Lantern absolves you from spending one additional action and executing the skill test.

Pros

• Unlimited uses to boost investigation tests by 1.
• With the lantern, shroud-3 locations can be conveniently cleared with the help of Look what I found! or Lucky!
• Decent install cost.
• Has an alternate one-time usage as weapon, either as coffin nail for bigger foes or against nerve-janglers: list
• Combo with any skill commitment card.
• Works best on Easy/Normal mode.

Cons

• Almost never sparks the really powerful effect that Flashlight can ignite.
• Can not be combined with Flashlight, because both require an action.

Recommendations

• In Extracurricular Activity there are two shroud-1 locations, spoiler and spoiler.

Official ruling on Hiding Spot from Matthew Newman regarding enemies spawning on investigator at Hiding Spot location.

If a non-Elite enemy would spawn at a location that has Hiding Spot attached to it, the enemy gains aloof as they are going through the process of spawning, and thus the rules for “aloof” kick in ("When an aloof enemy spawns, it spawns unengaged,” RR page 4). As a result, the enemy will spawn unengaged.

Though a more recent card brought into the card pool at the time of writing this, I am going to see this as a future staple for any Mystic investigator or any investigator being able to use cards from the Mystic class (Sefina Rousseau being the primary candidate for now).

This will be best for any Ritual or Spell card that is costed 3 resources or slightly higher, which means that putting out your Rite of Seeking or Shriveling will be less of a burden on your resource pool. The other great thing going for Uncage the Soul is that it does not cost a resource to play it. However, you want to get this card in the early game in order to gain its benefit towards putting out your spell cards. This is slightly balanced by the ability to pitch it for two Willpower points towards a test or anything needed at the moment that may occur.