I don't know if anyone's figured this out yet, but there's a fairly powerful exploit for Credit Rating. Y'know how the game designers made the rule that you have to spend money while shopping (to prevent players from trolling the unique deck for elder signs)? Welllll... All you need to do if you have a Credit Rating is go shopping with three dollars ;') that way you don't have to buy items you don't want (most of the items in the unique deck are four and above, with the exception of a few 3 dollar tomes and the Kings in Yellows that you can pick up for free). So basically you can browse through the top three cards every turn if you have 3 dollars on your investigator until you come accross an Elder Sign (or an Eldritch Tome, I'd go for that too).

This little tactic also makes me think a little more highly of Lola (since there's a decent chance you'll be able to come accross Credit Rating and play this sneaky game if you use her ability to search through the skill deck, you probably have about a %30 chance of being able to get it in a timely fashion, not *great* but an unreliable major bonus).

http://www.arkhamhorrorwiki.com/Credit_Rating

Any Phase: Exhaust instead of spending $2.

Yeah, but what if you draw nothing but 3-, 4-, and 5-dollar items that aren't Elder Signs? You'd have to buy one, and that would cut down your $3 supply money.

Tibs said:

No you wouldn't. There's no rule forcing you to exhaust your Credit Rating. You would have to buy a $3 item if it came up (of course you could exhaust your credit rating so you only have to spend one dollar, you'd then need another investigator to hop by so you can continue trolling the deck, and in the meanwhile you could go to the Newspaper or possibly some other nearby task that you could perform). You wouldn't have to buy the four dollar items or the five dollar items because of a loophole that requires the spending of money. Credit Rating isn't money :')

I think that since Arkham Horror is, at its core, glorified solitaire, when you find an exploit like this, you should close it on your own.

Personally, I'd say that you must count the Credit Rating as $2 when factoring in money.

Leafwhistle said:

Hah, that would be following the *spirit* of the law, not the letter. I'm just saying what is or is not technically permissible.

Hmm, I see. I guess if you drew all $3 items, your plan would kind of be sunk. Better take along extra cash. Oh, and don't waste too much time there. The Ancient One awaits...

Tibs said:

Well, you just need another investigator to back you up or be semi-available in case you draw a 3 dollar tome. As for "wasting" time. Getting King in Yellows and Elder Signs is not wasting time :') and of course there's also illuminated manuscripts and Eltdown Shards. Time lengthens if you bend it properly.