Asset

Talent. Composure.

Cost: 1. XP: 1.

Guardian
Health: –. Sanity: 1.

Fast. Limit 1 Composure in play.

Non-direct horror must be assigned to Combat Training before it can be assigned to your investigator card.

Spend 1 resource: You get +1 for this skill test.

Spend 1 resource: You get +1 for this skill test.

RJ Palmer
Echoes of the Past #107.
Combat Training

FAQs

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Reviews

IMO this card is almost unrunnable. Between the fact that guardians have very little horror soak and the general fact that these composures are too fragile and the effect not good enough, I honestly don't see any deck that would want this. Compare it to Scrapper (a card that's not even considered to be very good), for 1xp more you could have a permanent one of these. You will miss the 1 horror soak, but it drastically outweighs the problem of having to find and then pay for this card, only for it to discard itself. The one investigator that might actually want this, William Yorick, can use Scrapper, which as I said above is much better.

jonklin · 514
I haven’t included this card in any recent decks and I agree that it’s probably not the best. Level 3 Scrapper really outclasses it in most areas, although level 3 Scrapper is limited on Taboo playthroughs at the time of this writing. I think that the saving grace of Combat Training is that it’s fast, meaning you can save it in your hand until you hit a big combat/evade test on your turn, then play it and use it. It’s not really intended to be a permanent thing. Diana Stanley doesn’t have access to Scrapper, but a money-focused Diana could combine this card and Arcane Studies to pay to boost all 4 stats, which is kind of nice. So, while this card has some niche uses, I don’t think it’s unplayable. Of the “condition” cards, I think “Grounded” is a bit worse than “Combat Training,” at least. — ArkhamInvestigator · 296
How many guardians even test agility regularly? I tend to think it's the stat as a guardian you can ignore. You deal with monsters — bee123 · 31
* by killing them or using spells or stray cats or whatever. And you're in the class best equipped to soak the odd agility treachery. So I don't think it's worth the deck slot for agility pay-to-win and in terms of what else it does, there are so many better ways available to soak horror or boost combat. It just seems so weak... — bee123 · 31
I think, Tommy may also want this. He could play repeatedly, since this card is shuffled in his deck instead of discarding. fast is also good. — elkeinkrad · 483
Tommy's probably pretty happy with it: fast, "free" horror soak on a low sanity gator is good. If you're in carcosa or tcu it's probably decent, but i think other campaigns the teddy is all you need. — SGPrometheus · 797

I find that use is a bit too conditional, but then again so are the new "composure" cards.

The 1 horror shield perk is not terrible but guardians have better ways to shield/prevent/heal horror. The 1 exp cost makes it inferior for this use.

A rich Zoey might benefit from it under certain cicumstances but it's a bit of a head scratcher for Mark and Roland who are not usually resource-plenty. But even with Zoey, and it likely won't survive too long in your play area for you to benefit from it consistently. Mark can use Sophie to buff himself far more reliably and without resource cost.

The fast trait and cheap cost are the evident advantages compared to Physical Training if you're hoping to buff your combat skill. No willpower option however, for which a buff is always handy.

Also, correct me if I'm wrong, assets can only be played during your turn, so you cannot surprise-buff your agility for an encounter card agility test (because when are you buffing your combat during Mythos anyhow?) That means you need to have it played beforehand, adding more to its chances of a premature break.

The slot in your deck is probably better spent on other cards. Likely you'll just commit it than spend two resources to play and trigger.

Xulez · 144
Guardian doesn't have many horror soaks, so this card will likely be destroyed by it. But as a pure soak it's very expensive. — Django · 5063
Could be useful for carolyn fern, to compensate her low fight. She could include peter sylvestre as horror soak. — Django · 5063

I'm unconvinced this card is as bad as people are claiming.

The worst way this card could be bad is if you're firmly relying on the fight or evade to make checks at all, and it discards itself. That is a disaster and because it's a disaster this card should not be played in that position.

Where this card has room to be playable is horror soak with the benefit of some turns of turning decent checks into secure ones. At worst, it's the card for a fast resource to horror point. Something Worth Fighting For has the same resource conversion rate, better draw (3 horror for a draw), worse action cost (1/3rd per horror), though is admittedly lvl0. And you're going to have situations where you can simply replace it because you have the other copy in your hand and it doesn't cost an action.

This card would not be too good if it cost zero though (either XP or resources but not both), and would make it considerably more interesting on the deck building side. Honestly, I just think the restriction shouldn't be there. One sanity point on the one composure you can have in play isn't going to break the game without something truly degenerate, and if you're a tough guy, composure isn't the first thing you lose, it's the last thing you lose right before your last sanity point and if that's not thematically appropriate I don't know what is.

This card is essential if you roll into unspeakable oath (cowardice) as guardian. It's also good for a level where you need to make one or two evade checks like the hotel. — SSW · 209

I can understand why people don’t like the card. It’s too fragile and easy to loose. But with Muldoon the card is great, with his ability you get it always back in your deck when you loose it, you get the cost back and it doesn’t cost an action to play.

I guess it's probably because agility is not something guardians use. Though it does come in handy sometimes — Therealestize · 69