Event

Insight. Tactic.

Cost: 0.

Seeker

Fast. Play only during your turn.

Choose an investigator at your location. Move that investigator to a connecting location.

You know this town like the back of your hand.
Derk Venneman
The Dunwich Legacy #22.
Shortcut

FAQs

(from the official FAQ or responses to the official rules question form)
  • You can play this card during a skill test. This will not interfere with the test in any way, the 'target' of a test is determined and locked at the very beginning of the test.
Last updated

Reviews

Buddy, this way. No, this way...

Shortcut is a beautiful, simple card that flies somewhat under many people's radars. It's fast, which means it doesn't cost an action to play, and allows an investigator to move. What's special about that? At first glance, very little. Therein lies the beauty of the card.

The fact it's fast means it doesn't trigger Attacks of Opportunity if you're engaged with an enemy. Want to move and drag an enemy with you, to where your better-armed buddies are ready to support you? This is the card for you. Or want to push another investigator ahead of you into a location in which enemies wait, so that they engage him and not you? Again, shortcut offers that option, and it's at a zero-cost, actions and resources both.

Strikingly, its two traits, insight and tactic, reveal something of the utility of the card. If you have an understanding of Arkham Horror and want to think tactically, you'll soon see that flexible options to respond to a host of situations become vital in any well-built investigator's deck. Being able to save an action to move at a crucial moment can make the difference between success and failure. There are other great movement cards, such as Bait and Switch, Think on Your Feet and Elusive, but none allow 'pushing' other investigators. Pathfinder is also a premier movement card, a shortcut-on-tap, if you will, but comes with an xp-cost and a stipulation (no enemies engaged with you).

I will always consider Shortcut for any investigator that can take it, including the five Dunwich investigators, as it provides such options. Oh, and the icons aren't bad either!

zozo · 2971
Yup, diamond in the rough this one. I discovered it when building my 'zoey samaras: the stabbing Chef' deck. Definatly one of the most important card in there, free movement So she can unload with full 3 or 4 actions worth of damage. — Heyenzzz · 7013
it's such a good card. The ability to "buy" an extra move with your deckslots is a trade I'll make any day. All the investigate power and combat prowess in the world wont help you if you run out of time, this card is just that, extra time! — Tsuruki23 · 2519
I wonder if Nate and Matt fought over which class this should belong to. I can see how it's Seeker, but it feels very Rogue-ish to me. — ArkhamArkhanist · 9
Shortcut is a good way to trigger Fieldwork for +2 to any skill test. — Zinjanthropus · 227
When firing off a #storm of spirits will a shortcut let me avoid the damage? — Drakkhen · 8
Since there is no player window between drawing a token and resolving the effects you can't avoid the damage of the spirit storm by using a shortcut — Tharzax · 1

Incredible card, the ability to have a free movement, which doesn't cause opportunity attacks(which also means you get away from massive enemies for free) and can be given to other players is incredibly strong.

Notable investigators i've found make good use of this:

  • Amanda Sharpe can use this to move and still have her full 3 actions for a power turn wherr you have Deduction under her
  • Luke Robinson can use it to move two locations with his ability
Bakedsloth · 11
There are very few decks/campaigns where this is an option that it isn't a good option. Fast convert a card to an action is phenomenal, especially when it allows out of turn movement that doesn't provoke AoOs. — Death by Chocolate · 1428

It is easy to think "just move?". When looking at this kind of movement card in vacuum, often I forgot about how I may not be able to normally move (location enter/exit/stay hazards, insufficient actions, wrong turn order, enemies, ...)

This game is special because everything plays with the location. Only by having this card on hand while playing the scenario that I start to see how good this card is. Fast, 0 cost, and teamplay-compatible is VERY generous for a LEVEL 0 card. Here are some observations from a few scenarios I tested this card.

  • Combo with location-based Seeker cards such as Seeking Answers (2), Fieldwork. Move to where Inquiring Mind works.
  • Can't move while in Mythos Phase since it is not your turn. (e.g. Trying to go where it is easy to pick clues back up before dropping them with Dr. William T. Maleson, Forewarned,...)
  • Succeeding on evasion on your 3rd action is meh, since you can't get away and enemy reengages. But if a teammate with this card go later, then they can still help kicking you out of the location and follow, no one get the engagement. (On yourself, you would have to evade on the 2nd action so it is still your turn.) (Edit: See comments below)
  • When you are going to split up with the team and now standing together, you can go first and kick the other member to the other location you are not going to go. It reveal a location inside your turn, then you may change your mind to join together that way if it is what you are looking for. (For scenarios with randomized surprise locations.)
  • Working 1 location away from a location with skip AoO action (where you can Resign/Parley, etc.) at critical doom clock is much less risky of getting unexpected enemy spawn ruining the plan, as you can always use this Fast and then Resign/Parley both without AoO. Enemy engagement is the main thing that drains your tempo. You have insurance to count actions more accurately vs. doom clock.
  • Less risky to be 1 location away from where your Guardian is standing for a bit since you can always slide back in.
  • The classic safe fighting maneuver is to wait for Hunter to come near and move in, hit it 2 times to defeat it. You only get to hit full 3 actions if you are already engaged and that likely because it just spawns on you, or you just got hit the last turn and remain engaged. Sometimes it is impossible to defeat it in 2 hits, now you must donate 1 action to evade instead because you don't want the 2 dmg/horror, and next turn you waste even more actions. This card granting full 3 actions for the fighter by saving the move in action may have massive difference if it finished the job.
  • Helpful in scenario with dooms littered on enemies. Sometimes the fighter can't just go clean them all up when they are so split apart from the map junctions. (e.g. scenarios with Dark Cult set.) The more you can drag enemy close to the junction or kick the fighter around by standing on junctions, the less u-turn the fighter have to spend moving.
  • Dragging enemies without AoO has synergy with area/ranged attacks like Dynamite Blast or Storm of Spirits, so you can put them all where you want without playing janky timing with Hunter keyword.
5argon · 9420
"On yourself, you would have to evade on the 2nd action so it is still your turn" -- not actually true. After you take your last action, you still return to the player window before 2.2.1 one last time before you end your turn. (See Appendix II, framework step 2.2.1 -- "if an action was taken" not "if you have actions remaining"; note that this doesn't work if a card effect says "immediately end your turn") — Thatwasademo · 57
(overall a very insightful review, I just want to point out that the card is even better than you think in that regard) — Thatwasademo · 57
Wow thanks, I misread the loop thing for an entire year of playing this game, thinking that there is only a window given before each action. Edited the review. — 5argon · 9420