My post is up. It's late because the images weren't uploaded... but oddly enough there hasn't been much discussion on the topic in the meantime. I suppose this batch of player cards is not as sexy as some other releases?

Anyway, I personally feel like Mystics are the real winners of this box, with Rogues in second place. Survivors come in third, then Guardians, and lastly Seekers are in the odd position of actually being slightly weaker with this product (thanks to Shrewd Analysis).

Other opinions?

Guardian Cards: Not much to add, both of these are a bit medicore.



Logical Reasoning (4): small correction: You mention the new Logical Reasoning is a level-5 card, but it's a level-4 card. Doesn't change much, but still. I think this is pretty good. As a heal, LR is pretty meh, but I usually play LR-0 anyway, because of the ability to get rid of a Terror card, some of which can be absolutely crippling. LR-4 buffs the healing ability massively, which is nice but probably nicer for your allies than for you. A card that might be played if you are feeling generous.

Markings of Isis(3): I'm really not sold on this card. It's kind of a repeatable Unearth the Ancients, a card which is... well.. it's pretty bad. Although with Isis you do still get the clues anyway, which is a severe improvement over Unearth the Ancients. It costs 2 to get this into play, plus your play action, which are all resources you could have been using to play what you really wanted in the first place. The most notable thing about this card IMO is that to me it is really weird they would put a Translated type card in a pack like this. Especially one of questionable value. If we are willing to say that Markings of Isis is not very strong, then we must also generally agree that buying Return to Carcosa does a peculiar thing to the card pool: It makes Shrewd Analysis worse, since before buying Return to Carcosa you could only get either Guiding Stones or Prophecy Foretold. Now you might randomly pull the lame one.

Alchemical Formula(2): If your math is right, this looks pretty impressive. I do tend to find mystics to be generally the least in need of extra money though. But cool. Take if you need more economy.

Storm of Spirits(3): looks good too. I guess this really depends on how much you need that 3rd point of damage from this spell.

Stealth (3): I'm going to go ahead and disagree with you on stealth(0). I hate stealth(0). Not exhausting the enemy is ultra annoying a lot of the time, allowing the enemy to still hunt and then come pound you (or a friend) in the enemy phase. Stealth(3) is a little better now though as it no longer costs an action, so that can be powerful. Still, if you are playing a class that has access to this card.... please just actually evade them instead. Don't play stealth.

Suggestion(1): I think this is nice, and it might be a good stepping stone to its more expensive counterpart. Still... I doubt I will have room for this card in many decks. I rarely do.

Shovel/Lantern (2): I'd rather just have the level 0 version and keep my XP on both of these. Unless I really have nothing else to spend survivor XP on. Which could definitely happen.

Yes, I too find Stealth in general to be a bit silly in the class with the best evade stats. Now would it be worth it on, say, Tony? Maybe if he needs to go fight off a DIFFERENT enemy for his seeker in the room adjacent. Upgraded stealth is even better in this situation because it does not take an action.

I don't like shovel/lantern at all, but I hardly ever use scavenging because most survivors have poor intelligence to begin with.

Upgrade to Alchemical Formula looks great. And honestly, having an option outside of Uncaged is nice. it combos well with allies that add doom because if you take damage, you can just kill off the doom. It also makes excellent fodder for use with Torrent of Power if you decide that you don't really need those resources anymore. At 0 cost, you'r basically banking either a bunch of resources for later, OR up to an additional 1-2 pips per charge depending on if your using torrent to power a will test. I've already effectively used this card in a Marie investigation deck for either rites of seeking, resources (the action becomes free if you have doom), or for powering my guiding stones for a +4 to my investigate (intelligence test).

I agree that the losers in this pool are the Seekers. In my opinion Markings of Isis has the dubious honor of maybe the worst card in this lot with the best name.

I have never seen any point in 0 Stealth, so never used it. The upgraded version to me seems to be useful in only specific kinds of situations, and I doubt I will ever not have something more efficient to spend my XP on.

Suggestion is kind of interesting, but only depending on the Rogue. Dead useless with Finn who will add a whopping 1 to the evasion attempt, but for Preston who can almost always afford to buy up his will or evade with Streetwise, it could be awesome. Kind of the Lock Picks of evading.

Shovel/Lantern seem like they cost too much for too little. But Survivors sometimes have trouble spending all their experience, so maybe it’s all relative. There are just more game changing Survivor cards available now for the same cost or even less.

Upgraded Alchemical Transmutation and Storm of Spirits are classic Mystic spells. Big reward with comparable risk! It’s part of the fun of being a Mystic. Awesome, even impressive when all goes to Plan, and a hot mess when it goes awry. But that 3 damage can often save an action. I have seen a lot of 5 health enemies lately, which someone using a +1 dmg weapon or spell, will end up having to use all 3 actions with no room for error to dispatch. 3 dmg can leave room for error, or finding a clue, or getting the heck out of there, in the same turn. But there is risk....

Well, I did try to get discussion rolling when the set came out over here - apparently people weren't interested. Also, I wasn't clear on how much of the cards I could spoil on the forums, which may have been a factor.

Unfortunately, due to one of the people in my regular group suffering from bad migraines recently, I've not yet been able to bust any of them out and see how they do.

.32 Colt (2)
Being able to reload the Colt also has significant potential in scenarios with critters you wouldn't want to touch with a 10' pole - because they destroy your melee weapon, or because their combat value drops when attacked by a range weapon - which is of course several more scenarios after The House Always Wins.
As for investing in boosting skills, to me that says Keen Eye. A Guardian not burning resources on high cost weapons can afford to pay to zero in his Colt turn after turn, and will enjoy the high ammo and easy reload. Of course that will be affected by the difficulty you play at.

Eat Lead (0)
While useful with a .32 Colt, it does come off as a bit too little to be quite that useful. If anything, it seems it has more potential to make sure you "only" get an Autofail rather than some horrible Special Symbol effect.

Logical Reasoning (4)
Really awesome healing, especially for Carolyn who gets to "give away" 3 resources with it, but the xp cost is harsh. Comparing it to Ancient Stone in terms of opportunity effect, I think the big draw with this is the potential to get rid of three Terrors instead. It is that effect I think that makes it worthwhile. The only problem is finding enough xp for it without Delving Way Too Freaking Deep.

Archaic Glyphs: Markings of Isis (3)
This is effectively a 3 use Unearth the Ancients, with the added benefits of applying to all cards rather than just Seeker cards, and not having to declare the target card at the start of the action. It loses being able to draw a card if you play a Relic as a result, and it costs 3 xp. AND it means you cannot have Guiding Stones or Prophecy Foretold. The first part of this is cool. The second part not so much. It is the third part that makes it a non-starter, as even 10 uses of Unearth the Ancients would barely be worth giving up Guiding Stones or Prophecy Foretold.

Alchemical Transmutation (2)
Ultimately it is the Chaos Bag draw that speaks against this. No matter what, pulling a Special Symbol token and eating 1 damage, plus provoking some horrible effect in later scenarios of a campaign, just does not come across as making all that Mythos Gold worthwhile.

Storm of Spirits (3)
Dynamite Blast for Mystics, except instead of the damage being automatic it is dependent on a Chaos Bag draw. Yeah, that's one of the illustrations in the dictionary under "Fun".

Stealth (3)
The zero level version does not do it for me, but the free action aspect of this intrigues me. I'm thinking of this on Finn, and feeling sad that Rita cannot take it.

Suggestion (1)
Leo can use this to actually evade a couple of times. Sefina gets almost as many charges from it as Wendy. Jenny can also put it to good use.

Gravedigger's Shovel (1)
Lantern (1)
Pretty much "custom" upgrades for Yorick, burning some xp to reduce the cost on these while he recovers them endlessly.

Stealth Level Zero is a great card for a single player game. The more players in the game, the worse it is.

Teamwork is a horrible card for a single player game. The more players in the game the better it is.

I think Eat Lead (0) is pretty good early on in a campaign. Guardians don't have much token manipulation, and this is like a Grotesque Statue for shooting your guns.