Waylay

Event

Tactic.

Cost: 3.

Survivor

Choose an exhausted non-Elite enemy at your location and test (X), where X is that enemy's evade value. If you succeed, defeat that enemy.

"Is… is it over?" Her hands shook, and she fell to her knees. "Is it finally over?"
Matthew Cowdery
The Pallid Mask #237.
Waylay

FAQs

No faqs yet for this card.

Reviews

I will offer a dissenting view. This card looks powerful but I don't think it is outside of some rare situations or possibly a rich investigator that can't fight. It requires an action/test to evade and exhaust the enemy by any of the investigators. It requires a second action/test to defeat the enemy. And it requires 3 resources to attempt the test (success not guaranteed). And beyond those drawbacks it quite situational since it can only be used against non-elite enemies.

Most of my Survivor decks either want to use Dark Horse or they usually a little on the poor side and 3 resources is a lot. I would prefer to just kill the enemy. There are several good examples of high health non elite enemies in the other review but overall there are probably fewer than 10 such enemies in all of Dunwich and Zealot scenarios.

I might however spend 1-2 XP to add it to my deck for Undimensioned and Unseen but beyond that it is just too situational and expensive to be useful in general.

I haven't played about half of the investigators yet but the only one that really wants this card imo is Wendy Adams with 4 agility and 1 combat. She just can't fight even with access to the Rouge weapons (there might be one that uses agility) although Ornate Bow works for her (I think). Rita Young probably prefers to straight up evade and run away or use the Ornate Bow or Baseball Bat to whack most enemies. Situationally it would be great for her but not very often. Pete has Duke and Fire Ax to just kill enemies. Yorick will just kill enemies.

The Lynx · 967
I ran it in a Wendy deck through Carcosa and never used it during the whole campaign (except as fodder for her ability), because I always had something better to use my resources or actions on. I teamed her up with Mark who usually dealt with enemies and in a pinch I could always evade non-hunters, non-elites or I used Sneak Attack (2), which I ran in the same deck. The card would be more playable if it was less resource hungry, or if you could use it on ready enemies. — PowLee · 20
It's a good adaptable target for specific scenarios where it can be quite effective, such as undimensioned and unseen — Weirdmarine · 3
As you say, it absolutely shines in Undimensioned and Unseen. I ran it in a solo Wendy run through that scenario and took out three of the big beasties with it. Way more efficient than trying to defeat them normally. Otherwise, the 'non-elite' restriction makes it difficult because most enemies with high health ratings tend also to be elite, and the only real advantage to this is the action compression you can get from using only two actions to defeat them. — Sassenach · 179
I think an evaluation of the card based on running Wendy alongside Mark, who is pretty much universally considered the best "kill em all" investigator is not at all fair. If you're running this card in solo Wendy, it's faster usually than Evade + Sneak Attack. In solo you just need the board to be clear, and the fact that this instantly kills one enemy regardless of their total health is a huge deal (two tests sure, but less than would have been needed to kill them otherwise most likely). You have to build her for evasion (Sylvestre, Track Shoes, Moon, possibly Trench Coat), but if you do it's a good way to keep the board clear. Also, testing twice in Wendy is not nearly as demanding as testing twice for other investigators, thanks to her main ability and her survivor access. — StyxTBeuford · 12987
I will agree that you don't take this card in a Dark Horse deck, but not all Survivor decks should take Dark Horse. — StyxTBeuford · 12987
But is Wendy the only investigator that it makes sense for? Or a couple of isolated big health non-elite enemies? — The Lynx · 967
I think Rita could do it also. Finn I dont think wants it because his slots are too competitive. Patrice could also use it if she builds up her agility a little (she likes double icon events the most). — StyxTBeuford · 12987
You are still leaving out that Survivors are a relatively poor class (with or without a Dark Horse deck) and 3 resources for a one time event is a really big cost on top of the 2 actions that aren't guaranteed passes. These aren't rouges with cash to throw at everything. I just don't think it is a great card if it is mostly limited to one investigator and even then situationally useful. Because I think Rita would just as soon evade it for a damage and then use her Bow or Bat or just simply run away from it than spend 3 resources on it. I haven't even looked at Patrice yet so perhaps. — The Lynx · 967
Well Patrice can (and in my opinion really should) take Labranche, which combined with her Violin means she can pay for 3 resource events every turn if she wants to. I also don't agree that Survivors are necessarily poor. That's again mostly an archetype dependent on Fire Axe, Labranche, and possibly Dark Horse. 3 resources isn't cheap, but it's not that demanding either. Rita's ability is incredibly good for closing damage, but a card like this is situational but powerful for killing a high health enemy much quicker (for example Hoods). The fact that it commits for two agility icons makes it a low risk include, not a high risk one. — StyxTBeuford · 12987
I should also add that Rita vastly prefers taking Peter Sylvestre over Labranche, so a poor build makes less sense with her in my opinion. — StyxTBeuford · 12987
I find that Survivors are typically poor because they have very few gain resource cards available except for the ECache and the recently taboo'd card. If you are stuck with collecting one resource per turn or spending actions for resources then I like to use those resources judiciously. Spending 3 for one event that takes two actions (evade and pass the Waylay test) makes it very situational in its use. I still don't see how killing a 3 or 4 health enemy with Waylay is quicker than a normal fight action for Rita. Grab a baseball bat and whack it twice and save 3 resources. I think this card works for Wendy alright, for Rita it is not bad and I haven't played Patrice so I can't comment on her. I am not saying that it is a terrible card (the two skill icons largely save it) but it isn't anywhere close to Backstab/Sneak Attack that have been mentioned as comparables. I have it as one of the last 5 cuts from my current Rita deck. If it stays in the deck then it will probably be cut after the first campaign. Also it seems like a bad idea to use it against Hoods since he attacks when evaded. — The Lynx · 967
Well Rita can't take Backstab or Sneak Attack as they're tactics, not tricks. Waylay is nice as an option to fight with Agility on evade value instead of Combat on fight value. Typically Rita can get to 7 Agility with Sylvestre and Track Shoes, while her best weapon options (Meat Cleaver, Baseball Bat) push her to 5 Combat. Having the option to test against either value or to use your higher stat is sometimes worth it. Yes you're better off hitting the Hoods with a normal weapon, I agree, but you don't always have or draw a weapon, so an evade + Waylay into Hoods takes care of the problem and only hurts you once. For enemies with high fight and high health, Waylay is absolutely a worthwhile include. It's campaign specific for sure, but again because of the two icons it's often an easy replacement for Manual Dexterity. — StyxTBeuford · 12987
For what it's worth in Rita I'd probably replace it at some point with Ornate Bow. — StyxTBeuford · 12987
TIC has 7 health non elite enemies. — MrGoldbee · 1451

The obvious comparison to this card is Backstab. "It's the Survivor backstab", I hear you say. And Backstab is a kinda-average card: OK but a little clumsy and quite expensive, so the temptation is to think that Waylay fits into that category, but it's a far superior card for many reasons.

Firstly it can do more than 3 damage. Frequently you will do four, five, or even six damage with it. That's great.

Secondly it's "attacking" on the evade value rather than the fight value. There are lots and lots and lots of creatures that have a weaker evade than fight. The above two-cases provide a ton of monsters of which Waylay is a great target for. Almost every scenario has some, many of which provide XP. You'd be surprised what isn't actually elite.

Next is the fact that it's not technically an attack action, nor is it technically doing any damage. This might seem strange, but it gets around certain edge-cases, some of which are niche, but some of which are significant, or common. (You do also need to be aware that as it isn't a "fight", it will provoke if there are other enemies engaged with you. Stay safe heroes).

Lastly it has better icons. Double-anything is usually good, and here we're getting something that matches with our Agility (presumably we like Agility, as we're chosing this). Obvious heroes are Wendy, but it is excellent in Finn also, who can set it up with his free evades.

duke_loves_biscuits · 1252
The significant downside here is you may not use it against elite(s).. — XehutL · 47
Of course. But the point is, there are lots of big bad monsters that are not elite. Surprisingly many. See all of the hotlinks above, and many more. — duke_loves_biscuits · 1252
Still, I would compare it rather to Sneak Attack than Backstab - as they are IMO more close to themselves.. — XehutL · 47
Both comparisons are lacking... id rather view it as a card on it’s own. Backstab only needs one evade test to succeed, while this card needs at least 2. — Django · 5072
I think Backstab is good comparison, because both of these cards will be used to kill something big in one go. — matt88 · 3117

  • This Card can defeat any exhausted enemy at your location, so you don't need to engage and evade it yourself.

  • Playing as Minh Thi Phan, you can use Prophecy to evade any enemy (ignoring its Location and who it is engaging)

  • Snare Trap can exhaust hunter enemies, as well

  • Use Cheap Shot to evade enemies engaged with other investigators

  • Can be used on Brood of Yog-Sothoth, to defeate them. So you gain victory Points, unlike Disc of Itzamna or Close Call.

  • Resourceful can recover this card
Django · 5072
Or how about an auto-kill Yorick with @Stray Cat and @Waylay and then recovering the cat with Yorick to do it again later. Yorick's Elder Sign ability let's you recover Waylay again. Sweet stuff — ellonellanfair · 7
Prophecy can only evade enemies engaged with you. (See FAQ.) — Death by Chocolate · 1447

So turns out, duke_loves_biscuits already mentioned it - this card is suited for Finn Edwards.

I will add a small caveat. With Anatomical Diagrams. Most of the time you wouldn't even consider that card for a cluegathering style. Although Finn does it already well enough with Lockpicks. Otherwise Finn is an assassin. He understands and sees through the human anatomy so he could pull a stunt like this.

Even more to it, some enemies have an agility below two ([Hunting Nightgaunt](/card/01172), Relentless Dark Young, Wizard of the Order), so he can perform two action(one of them free) with 99% accuracy. Would you pay 4 resources and an action to deal with Hunting Nightgaunt? I would!

In total I'll start the Finn campaign with 2x Anatomical Diagrams, 2x Lucky! and Waylay. To later swap in Fight or Flight and Practice Makes Perfect. Second Anatomical Diagrams is for a combo with Eavesdrop.

I've basically written a small review for Finn here, because I don't really see Waylay being used anywhere else. I would welcome any suggestions in the comments :)

Finn

ambiryan13 · 177

Survivor Sneak Attack or Backstab depending on how you look at it.

I won't deny that the effect is powerful, but it also does require that you have evaded (and exhausted) the enemy prior to the playing of this card. That isn't impossible, and for survivors it is even manageable to easy depending on your build.... but that extra action can really pinch you.

Still, it is a card that adds to the evasion only characters (WENDY) tool set by allowing them to eliminate a threat or a victory target.

I think the price is right and while this won't find its way into every Survivor character, it is pretty great for evader characters, especially Wendy.

So slot it in Wendy decks, but avoid it otherwise.

Myriad · 1220
Seems like it might be the missing piece in an evade heavy Wendy build. — youperguy · 7
It also auto-kills those things in dunwich horror. You know what I mean. Don't 'brood' over it. — CecilAlucardX · 10
In hindsight I also appreciate that this card and hiding spot allow you to run Mark Harrigan as an agile guardian. — Myriad · 1220

When waylay came out with a pallid mask, it could do some good work.
Adventures since (and Carcosa's return) have given us more difficult enemies, five or six or seven hit point foes, who aren’t elite. Yet, despite being 0xp, this card is best as a skill commit until mid adventure. Lola, Wendy, Preston… all three can use adaptable to swap it in. And it’s expensive, but a rogue splash or on your own can handle that. Your mileage may vary.

MrGoldbee · 1451
My millage with this card was taking it preston for undimensioned then leaving it in my deck and just finding instantly killing any problem using prestons cash. I think I undervalued it greatly, I prefer it immensely to back stab personally. — Zerogrim · 292
I could see Darrel getting some use from as his ability can also reduce the difficulty of the test. I don’t carry a single weapon and Flashlight(3) is helping with my evasions when I have to gain way for murderers in my group. — Staticalchemist · 1

Wait people actually think this card is good? Its terrible.

Lets look at all the negatives.
-Costs 3, a card and an action.
-Have to do a test with no bonus.
-No refund if you fail the test.
-Non-elite only.
-Your location only.
-Enemy must be exhausted.

Just kill the enemy normally or evade an move away. This thing needs to do like 10 damage for it to be worthwhile (and again only affects non-elites).

fates · 53
I almost always put it in Rita, but later i swap it for Sweeping Kick unless we are playing some campaign known for big enemies. It is nice to defeat an enemy with 1 skill test basically and with your AGI — Blood&gore · 420
If it was a trick, which thematically it avbsolutely could have been, I would too see this in Rita. 3 resources is a big ask for her, though, for a card, that can't be payed with "Crafty". — Susumu · 366
I once took it to Dunwich and killed Broods of Yog-Sothoth with it :) best feeling ever — Pawiu14 · 184
If you look at all the negatives of a card without the positives, yeah, it's gonna look bad. This card still has the fairly unique space of being a way to defeat enemies with evasion, which even Kymani can't do. It's easy to say 'why not just kill the enemy', but some evaders are unable to do that. — SSW · 209
Considering the icons I think it is OK to be this situational, if you have enough agi to include this card, you can always perform regular evade also with the commit. That said I would not add this card unless an another player can sometimes evade too to help with action economy (agi 3+) so you don't have to exhaust it yourself. — 5argon · 9935
Try it in Finn with Anatomical diagrams. 4 resources and 1 action for 4-6 hp enemy is worth it. — ambiryan13 · 177
It's highly situational, but I think terrible is quite the overstatement. It's a level 0 card that can defeat an enemy (regardless of remaining health) with a single test, so of course it comes with steep requirements. — Pseudo Nymh · 54