https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2017/4/4/the-hidden-chamber/

Hoo boy, that Prepared for the Worst card is amazing.

I'm not sure it is. For characters will strong, one-of signature weapons (like Roland and Jenny) it's got a lot of use. But as a general Guardian card? Why would you include it over just more weapons? Between the .45 and Machete Guardians already have a strong selection of weapons to stock. MAYBE you include this to dig for your Shotgun, but if you're relying on that one gun you've got other problems.

I understand its incredibly unlikely being your deck is 30 cards but it could help you find a weapon in the off chance you cant mulligan for one or a specific weapon to help you deal with certain monsters.

Just think of it as your third Machete or .45.

1 hour ago, Network57 said:

Just think of it as your third Machete or .45.

That is true. Sometimes two copies of your favorite weapon aren't enough.

It could also be your second Shotgun (or other high-level weapon card). Something like the Shotgun or recently-spoiler Lightning Gun is very expensive to add to your deck but undeniably powerful. Prepared for the Worst is a lot cheaper that buying another copy of your favorite high-tier weapon.

However, I do think it's not worth it if you don't have some specific reason for its inclusion.

So looking at the numbers:

Your deck is 28 cards (33-5 for your opening hand) and gets smaller each turn. Even if you play it out of the gate (probably not the best use but you can always hold the card you got for later use), you get to look at about a third of your deck. Most heavy combat decks won't have more than 1 out of every 5 cards be a weapon. So you end up with near certitude of drawing a weapon versus a 20% chance of doing so. That can be important. Guardians also have a significant lack of card draw/fish as every other class has at least one level zero card that allows them to do so, (Book of Lore, Scrounging, Arcane Initiate, Rabbits Foot to name a few),

I do agree that in a lot of cases another weapon or just extra ammo would suffice just as well.

I will say it is very good for characters with signature weapons and for investigators that have a mix of heavy and lighter weapons. Even if you have a shotgun in your hand, you may prefer to play a .45 or a machete early on since you don't need that much firepower early on. Likewise you may have a .45, but then a Goo pops out and you really want that lightning gun.

I actually think its pretty well balanced against other options.

Also can we talk about Keen Eye? I originally dismissed it as resource inefficient but....

Its a permanent so it starts in play. By spending 4 resources I can get a +2 to my fight for the three attacks I am going to make this turn. That's the equivalent of paying 6 resources for physical training and you don't need an action and 2 resources to get it into play. Plus if you want to spend the entire turn investigating, its not horrible either. If you build the right deck, this card can be very, very good.

Plus it can really help if I am just going to investigate hard this turn.

1 hour ago, Jobu said:

So you end up with near certitude of drawing a weapon versus a 20% chance of doing so.

This isn't right. With a mulligan, you're going to see 10 of 31 cards in your deck. With 4 weapons, that's an 80% chance of drawing one in your opening hand. If you've got 6 (your 1 in 5 number) it's 92%. (Simple draw calculator here)

But that still ignores the core point - you have to draw card X. If that card is Prepared, then you get to search for a weapon. If it IS a weapon, then there's no need to search. If you feel the need to add Prepared to make sure you're getting weapons, then you're better off just adding more weapons.

There's definite use in it for finding SPECIFIC weapons, especially single copies. But as a way to just make sure you've got weapons, it's not really that beneficial.

13 minutes ago, Buhallin said:

This isn't right. With a mulligan, you're going to see 10 of 31 cards in your deck. With 4 weapons, that's an 80% chance of drawing one in your opening hand. If you've got 6 (your 1 in 5 number) it's 92%. (Simple draw calculator here)

But that still ignores the core point - you have to draw card X. If that card is Prepared, then you get to search for a weapon. If it IS a weapon, then there's no need to search. If you feel the need to add Prepared to make sure you're getting weapons, then you're better off just adding more weapons.

There's definite use in it for finding SPECIFIC weapons, especially single copies. But as a way to just make sure you've got weapons, it's not really that beneficial.

I was referring to drawing cards after your opening hand. Since you can draw up to 10 cards for your opening hand that's a near certitude as well (10 is very close to 9). So we are in agreement.

I also agreed with you on the "core point" saying, I don't think its that much better than extra ammo or another weapon.

I also was agreeing with you on the last point, its useful to find specific weapons/classes of weapons.

We are saying the same thing. Why are you saying things like "This isn't right" or "But that still ignores the core point"?

great calculator by the way, bookmarked.

I think Prepared for the Worst is a card we are going to be seeing a lot of, but maybe not until a bit later on. "Just add another weapon to your deck" is a good substitute for Prepared for the Worst under initial deck building conditions, but we're bound to see more and more weapon cards that cost XP. If a leveled weapon is what you want to use, it's going to be far easier to include one copy of it and Prepared for the Worst rather than 2 copies of the card. It's also handy if you happen to be running off of 1 core =D.

As far as Keen Eye, I love it. Fighting and Investigating are sort of the two most important parts of the game, so the ability to turn resources into bonuses in these departments is amazing. For Zoey it lets her investigate competently if she absolutely has to, despite her low Lore score. And any guardian looking for a nice boost for their attacks against a tough monster merely needs the resources to make it happen.

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It's also handy if you happen to be running off of 1 core =D.

Yup, which is the exact reason I'm including one in my Roland deck.

PFTW - great card! So it's the last scenario, and you've spent 5 XP on 1 copy of lightning fun (I shudder to think what evil monster needs to be taken down with a weapon this good !!) - let's face it you're not going to have 2 copies in your deck - it may even take a couple of scenarios worth of XP, PFTW - will help you find it! Imagine spending all that XP and not drawing it.

I think there are circumstances where prepare for the worst is much better than another weapon. If its late game, prepare for the worst can be used to buff an intellect skill test. Look at cards with the weapon trait and you'll find buffs to agility and strength. Presumably at the late game, Zoey's strength is taken care of, but that bonus to an intellect skill test would be likely be helpful. Drawing a machete late game when your better weapons are out doesn't really do anything for you. I think so far only Evidence, Emergency Aid, and Extra Ammunition buff intellect.

Also note, they did put Zoey on the article headline.

15 hours ago, Jobu said:

I was referring to drawing cards after your opening hand. Since you can draw up to 10 cards for your opening hand that's a near certitude as well (10 is very close to 9). So we are in agreement.

I also agreed with you on the "core point" saying, I don't think its that much better than extra ammo or another weapon.

Sorry, the draw part was unclear, I thought you were just ignoring the mulligan. I still think it's somewhat wrong math - you're basically saying that once you draw Prepared you have a "near certainty" of finding a weapon... the "core point" I'm making is that if it's a weapon, then you have a full certainty Effectively you're ignoring the odds of drawing Prepared in the first place.

As others have said, for those like me running one core set, prepare for the worst will be super useful.