I was very excited for this card and despite all the positive reviews I have to express my disappointment. I was just doing one of Forgotten Age scenarios with my GF as Leo Anderson with 2x Machete 2x Survival Knife and one Prepared for the worst. My GF drew only Survival Knifes and of boy its so hard without a weapon that does double damage. Additionally, when the enemy attacks you only with horror you cant retaliate. Of course Prepared for the worst returned no Machete. So in general this knife is great if you can have it as a secondary weapon but if you dont draw the primary one it sucks badly. That means the deck would have to have at least 4 primary weapons (or 3 plus Prepared for the worst) plus two Survival knifes and thats a lot of cards so I ll be replacing this asap. Too bad.

A very exciting card. This fills a long-time void in the Guardian class. Ever since the game was released, the best Guardian builds have revolved around Machete (excepting certain late-campaign, XP-intensive, two-handed weapon builds). But if Guardians have a Machete in one hand, what are they supposed to do with their other hand? They could hold another weapon like the .45 Automatic, but that's (mostly) redundant with Machete. They could hold some investigatory asset like Flashlight or (for Roland) Magnifying Glass, but for a multiplayer Guardian who just wants to blow stuff up, that's not a satisfying answer.

Dunwich and Carcosa provided our first two "off-hand" Guardian weapons with Blackjack and Trench Knife, respectively. Unfortunately, both of these cards are terrible. So for three whole campaigns, Guardians had no good options in the secondary weapon department.

But now, Survival Knife is here. And it's a wonderful complement to Machete. It provides a very powerful new ability and lets you do something Machete can't. A free +1 damage attack with a generous to-hit bonus is not to be underestimated. I'd say you only need to trigger the Knife a couple of times a game for it to justify its cost.

Survival Knife is also a good complement to the .32 Colt, if that's more your style. With this setup, the Knife will even be helpful in the player phase, because it's better than the Colt at dealing the last point of damage to odd-health enemies.

Whether Survival Knife can cut it as a primary weapon is another question. I kind of doubt it, as I think you will just struggle too much against enemies with 4+ health.

Survival Knife synergizes with other Guardian cards that encourage you to take attacks, e.g. Guard Dog. But I don't think such cards are needed for Survival Knife to be good. One problem with any Guardian build that plans on swallowing a bunch of attacks is that most enemies deal horror, and Guardians have no in-faction, cost-effective horror soak right now. Hopefully, the Guardians will get some help in that department sooner or later. That will make all these Guardian cards that revolve around taking attacks, Survival Knife included, that much better.

I think I really like this knife, surprisingly. It's certainly no Machete, but it does allow one more attack in a round than the Machete, and that attack has unconditional +2 and +1 damage, which is slightly better. I suppose your best case is to dual-wield, chopper in one hand and knife in the other, only using the Knife for its ability when available. Might actually make the Bandolier more attractive, since you can activate two Knives and hold a machete, or even get an extra free attack even with a Lightning Gun equipped. Knife + Bandolier + Zapper gets you 11 damage in a single round with 3 actions and no other cards; kinda crazy (and assuming everything hits).

As for the obvious drawback, soaking an attack, it turns out that an enemy attack always deals you damage, even if you assign that damage to your assets. Put another way, an effect that deals your investigator damage is always considered to have dealt you damage, even if you assign that damage to something other than your investigator. At least, if I'm understanding "Dealing Damage/Horror" on p. 7 of the Rules Reference correctly. What this means is, if you have your trusty Pooch out and, during the enemy phase, a Swift Byakhee attacks you, you can assign the damage to your excellent dog, triggering his effect, and trigger your Knife, taking no damage yourself and killing a 3-Health baddie without using an action. Furthermore, damage mitigation for Guardians is already pretty massive, so even without damage-soaking assets out the ability is pretty worthwhile. Weirdly, it doesn't work against enemies that only apply Horror, which isn't great, but those enemies are pretty rare anyway.

The more I look at it, the more I like it; I'll have to try it next time I make a Guardian. Probably best with Mark, as it synergizes with his love of taking damage, or with any asset-heavy fighter, like Leo Anderson.

Card text : " After an enemy attack deals damage to you during the enemy phase..."

Interaction against Retaliate enemy :

• Retaliate : "Each time an investigator fails a skill test while attacking a ready enemy with the retaliate keyword..."
• Enemy Phase : "... Upon completion of dealing the attack (and all abilities triggered by the attack), exhaust the enemy." (Though it would ready soon in Upkeep Phase, that's why no one bothered turning the enemy 90 degree after it attacks.)
• Triggered Ability : "A ability with a triggering condition beginning with the word "after..." may be used immediately after that triggering condition's impact upon the game state has resolved."

Performing Fight against Retaliate enemy therefore has 2 potential outcomes in the case that you fail :

• If it is exhausted before you trigger , Retaliate is disabled at the moment you are testing Fight against it.
• Inversely if it is still ready while you are testing your Fight, you will get hit if you fail your counter-attack.

(More related rules : "After", "Deal")

Unfortunately "After an enemy attack deals damage to you" is not the same as "after an enemy attacks you". After damage dealing step it is still not exhausted yet. (Someone also asked before)

You will have to take Retaliate attack if you fail the test.

Therefore :

• Enemy that gains debuff while exhausted, you will not gain that advantage during the counter-attack. (e.g. spoiler Carcosa enemy)
• Sometimes exhausted enemy gains a buff. (e.g. spoiler Carcosa enemy, spoiler Carcosa enemy) Your Fight will not have to account for these buff just yet, as it is not yet exhausted.
• Massive : "The lead investigator chooses the order in which these attacks resolve. " "The massive enemy does not exhaust until its final attack of the phase resolves."
  • If counter-attack can defeat it, choosing one with Survival Knife to take the hit first and defeating it saves the rest of the team from getting hit.
  • If it is both Massive and Retaliate (e.g. spoiler Carcosa enemy), Retaliate is not disabled no matter the knife holder take the hit earlier or the last.

Also unrelated, but Interpreting "You" When Taking or Being Dealt Damage : This FAQ has direct reference to Survival Knife so worth a read.

I’m surprised nobody has mentioned the usefulness when paired with Heroic Rescue. You can take the attack that would be directed against another investigator, do an auto damage, and get an attack. Nice simple 3 damage, and a feasible way of killing a pesky 3 health enemy engaged with another investigator (Which forgotten age has plenty of!) though with a risk of collaterol damage to your buddy!

Can I counterattack with this, then prevent the damage with Delay the Inevitable or Deny Existence? I think the answer is yes, because all 3 effects can be used in any order after the damage “is dealt” before the damage “is applied” according to the rules reference.