I'm still fairly new to the game. I can't seem to understand how the special ability of this item will help you in combat. It says to exhaust to change anchent spear to a magical weapon until the end of this combat. But I thought once you exhaust a card, turn it over, you won't get the bonus it gives you in combat?

Ken on Cape said:

It depends on the type of the weapon and its abilities, i.e. exhaust to use weapon like Flamethrower is a one time use, for one combat check only. But in the case of Ancient spear, you would exhaust it to combat a physically immune monster to get +4 bonus for multiple rounds of combat (as it states end of this combat) with that same monster until you win, lose, flee, or no longer choose to designate a hand(s) to it.

So when you exhaust the card, it still grants you the bonuses, but depending on what it says on the card, you cannot use its abilities until refreshed.

OK thanks. I thought when a card is exhausted you lose all the properties on the card, so you would not get the bonus to combat checks with it being face down.

Also, you don't turn the card face down, when exhausting, just tilt it sideways. Then you refresh it during the upkeep phase.

pahapasi said:

On page six of the main rules it says you turn it face down when you exhaust a card.:

1. Refresh Exhausted Cards
Some cards exhaust themselves when used, which
means that they are turned face down for the remainder
of the turn.

People have different preferences - I know when I first played Arkham I turned cards sideways to exhaust them, because I used to play Magic. Now I flip them over. But it really doesn't matter - the important thing is that you know which cards you've exhausted so that you don't use them twice in one turn.

I tend to turn cards sideways rather than flipping them over. I too am a former MtG player, and that's how you 'tap' things in MtG.

Regarding the actual rules issue: of course, cards which have already been exhausted really do have to lose some of their abilities, otherwise there's not much point in the idea of exhausting them. But there are exceptions to this, and they're not clearly marked. You just have to judge from the context, and try to guess the designer's intention. So in the case of Ancient Spear, the fact that the strict interpretation makes the Spear useless is a clear sign that you're not meant to apply the same strict interpretation to this particular item.

There are lots of cards which have rules quirks of this sort. Decoding incomprehensible card text is part of the challenge. Arkham Horror: it's the cryptography game for all the family to enjoy!

My bad, tapping is in my blood And I think we've been playing this way ever since we started ages ago. But in my opinion only tapping these particular cards helps to keep better track of bonuses applied.

Turning sideways makes more sense for some cards, too. If you cast Voice of Ra, you get the bonus for the rest of the turn, but it looks just like any other exhausted spell if you turn it upside down.

(Oddly, Descent uses the "turn sideways to exhaust" rule.)

I can see where turning the card sideways would make sense. I'm a former MtG player myself. I was going by what it said in the rules.

I thought the flamethrower was for ALL combat checks for ONE combat ?

Hem said:

"Exhaust before making a Combat check to gain +7 to that check."

1 check only I'm afraid. Fail it and you're toast, (insert irony emoticon).

There are a few weapons that only give a bonus to a check e.g. the carbine rifle.

- Mariana the ex-nun cultist

Mariana the Ex-Nun Cultist said:

Gee, thanks. I have to call a friend who s devoted to that weapon ; got to reprimand him for abuse of flames...