Asset. Hand. Arcane

Item. Relic. Weapon. Melee.

Cost: 3. XP: 3.

Mystic

Uses (4 charges).

: Fight. You get +2 for this attack. As an additional cost to use this ability, you may spend up to 2 charges to empower the blade (for each charge spent in this way, you get +1 and deal +1 damage for this attack).

Tiziano Baracchi
For the Greater Good #193.
Enchanted Blade

FAQs

No faqs yet for this card.

Reviews

TL:DR: Extremely self sufficient weapon, great for 3 characters who want to focus on or if they just want a backup alternative to Shrivelling.

characters typically run weapons, don't, ergo the disparity in buzz for the two variants of this upgrade.

I would like to argue that Enchanted Blade is no slouch, even compared to it's very impressive cousin. Three characters in-class, Diana Stanley, Jim Culver and Akachi Onyele have 3, with blade in hand they fight at 5, by spending charges they fight at 6 or 7, this is by using the mechanics of the blade all by itself, no support required! With some very light support, a couple skills like Overpower and/or Vicious Blow you can fill a support fighter role killing off a few 2-4 hp threats. It's terrific solo where the self sufficiency is key.

The charge mechanic is very efficient, you basically have a +5 base attack and 4 vicious blows on retainer. You can kill 2 3hp threats in 2 attacks, or 2 4hp threats in 4 attacks. The relatively few charges reinforces the support combat role, you can defend yourself in solo or multiplayer or perhaps spend the entire weapon to beat a boss, but it's a one and done deal with probably no backups. I kid! You still have a copy of Shrivelling right!? Not to mention the infinite number of buffed 1-damage attacks.

Point of reference, a fully charged Enchanted Blade attack is 1 from being exactly as powerful as a Lightning Gun shot, you get 2 shots at the cost 3 resources!

There is a big, obvious downside. characters love their Arcane slots. Jim and Diana don't mind too much, their isn't that impressive anyway, but Akachi likes to play the Rosary game so I doubt sacrificing card slots and XP for a card interests her much.

P.S, the sheer power of a fully charged Enchanted Blade can even make fighting work for a 2 character, obviously it'll require a little bit of card support, Agnes Baker with her cards or a certain brand of Norman Withers can actually be very hard-viable with a sword-fighting build.

Tsuruki23 · 2523
I love this weapon with Jim and the things you can do with it, throw scavenging and rite of seeking or clairvoyance and you can get it back, to discard it play a card or even sacrifice it and get your money back. If you want to see it more often add two copies and two doctor ellies and is out almost always and with the bonus points of being sloot free and cost free :) — xemacm · 20

Normally I think of Enchanted Blade as a weapon designed for guardians, since the additional cost of an arcane slot means nothing to them but is very painful for mystics. But since this version of the weapon can only be taken by mystics, I thought it was an interesting exercise to compare it to a spell instead, Shriveling (3) in particular, which has the same resource and XP cost, and compared to spending one charge on the blade, is the same number of uses for the same damage.

To make this comparison directly you have to pin down the relative willpower and combat ability of the mystic. I feel that a mystic whose combat is only two points below their willpower (for instance, Jim Culver with St. Hubert’s Key, or Akachi without a willpower bonus) is a relatively muscular Mystic who would be a good candidate to wield a blade, so I made the following comparisons assuming combat equals willpower minus 2:

Advantages of Enchanted Blade:

  1. Allows you to spend two charges on a single attack for double the bonus. This is a huge advantage since it is actually very efficient to do so when fighting an enemy where the extra damage is useful.
  2. Enchanted Blade can be used without spending charges, and is equal in combat ability to the Sword Cane for this purpose, without having to spend the extra card and resources to play the Sword Cane, and without the limitation of having to exhaust it.
  3. Enchanted Blade does not have the risk of causing horror damage.

Advantages of Shriveling:

  1. Compared to using the Enchanted Blade and only spending a single charge, Shriveling gives you +1 fight ability.
  2. A Mystic is likely to have lots more ways to commit cards with willpower bonuses or otherwise boost willpower, fewer ways to commit cards with combat bonuses or otherwise do anything to boost the fight ability on Enchanted Blade.
  3. This card can be upgraded to Shriveling (5), which is a very impressive upgrade and is much better than the blade if you frequently fight foes with 3 health or with 5+ health.
  4. Some decks may find it helpful that this is a spell rather than an item (such as a deck using Arcane Initiate).
  5. Does not require a hand slot. If you use your hand to hold a Sword Cane, you can use it to evade, which Enchanted Blade cannot do. Or you have the option of holding something else in that hand.
  6. In order to keep using the Enchanted Blade’s ability to fight without charges, you have to keep it in play eating up a spell slot. If you play Shriveling and Sword Cane instead, you can replace the Shriveling with a new spell once you run out of charges, and the Sword Cane will stay in play.

After doing the comparison, I felt the Enchanted Blade is more impressive than I first thought. I don't think either the blade or the spell clearly wins the comparison, it depends on the character, but the blade looks like a perfectly reasonable choice for the deck of a Mystic with good combat ability, despite costing a spell slot.

ChristopherA · 110
I think Shrivelling is the clear winner in this comparison. I can see a case for Jim, as he has just +1 in willpower compared to strenght, and a weakness, which can dish out some surprise horror. (But then, he could just as well rather take "Azur Flame" to counter the extra horror and have extra synergy with his ability.) Akachi (who in theory could also take the Guardian Blade) in particular likes additional willpower buffs like "Holy Rosary" or "Four of Cups", which synergies best for her, because she will use her main stat not just for fighting, but preferably for clue finding and possibly evading as well. A charge from the blade also would not satisfy "Angered Spirits". Your 3rd bullet point is particular true. Both level 3 cards seem fine early to mid campaign, but Shrivelling can be upgraded to a great end campaign card, XP spent on the blade will get more and more mediocre on the long run. On a general (albeit very niche) note, there are a couple of Dunwich enemies, who are better taken care of with a spell than a melee weapon, being a relic does not help with them. Also even though there are plenty other options for using your "Arcane Research" discount XP, it is very likely that you will spend just 4 XP for both copies of your main fighting spell at level 3. So you might get both copies a scenario earlier than you would get them in case of the weapon. — Susumu · 366
It is also a good option for Diana since her Willpower can fluctuate quite a lot during a scenario. — LaRoix · 1643
I played a lot of Diana. She's the only investigator, I published a decklist here for so far. And I think, "Enchanted Blade" is pretty bad for her. 6 XP for 2 copies are awfully expensive for a card that gets obsolete in any game, once she has 3 cards below her. You can get her there quite fast, if you pack enough cancels and ignores in her deck. — Susumu · 366
Idk, having an extra fight option isn’t bad at all, and E Blade is better than Shrivelling at delivering one fantastic hit when you need it. Diana’s economy and draw means she doesn’t need two copies necessarily anyway. It’s definitely not bad for her- maybe not her top option, but plenty of people do fighty Diana with .45 Auto level 2 or Machete or lots of other things. — StyxTBeuford · 12985
My weapon of choice was the .45 in Diana, because it has the potential to cancel a retaliate triggered by "Daring". In practice, I think it was not really worth it either. I consider forfeiting combat-based fighting as a whole with her in future decks. "Shrivelling" is in my opinion not the best option for her either, "Azur Flame" is much better. Because of the self inflicted horror caused by "Arcane Research" and "Ward of Protection", she is much more durable in damage than in horror. But she could still take a one-off "Shrivelling" (or "Armageddon") as back-up. Diana's draw is also balanced with her increased deck size, so she definitely wants two copies of her important cards for consistency. — Susumu · 366
*to IGNORE a retaliate triggered by "Daring". That's important distinction. Albeit in practice, I normally was on 5 or 6 willpower, by the time, the gun was empty. — Susumu · 366