Flurry of Blows

Event

Tactic. Double. Fated.

Cost: 2. XP: 5.

Guardian

Play only if you control a Melee asset. As an additional cost to play Flurry of Blows, spend an action.

Fight. Choose a Melee asset you control and take an immediate fight action with that asset (without paying its cost). You may repeat this effect up to three times. After the final attack resolves, if it is your turn, end your turn.

Lin Hsiang
The Feast of Hemlock Vale Investigator Expansion #37.
No image

FAQs

No faqs yet for this card.

Reviews

Very underwhelming card, to be honest. Artwork is awesome, skill icons are good, and when you see a 5xp event you immediately go "wow this gotta be good". Well, it ain't! So for 2 actions, you get 4. That is basically it, this card gives 2 actions, and all without any boost or anything else. Also, you need to control a Melee asset, it can't be a gun or something else you had in mind. It is very difficult to understand the logic behind why this costs 5xp, when in the same box we got Hand-Eye Coordination which gives you 1 action for 1xp, meaning that for 2xp you get, well, this?! After all is said and done, i think i have found an explanation for this card, so hear me out:

There is a janitor over there at FFG. He works night shifts ofc, and has keys to open-up and clean each room in the building. Some years ago, and i think around the time when Innsmouth was being released, he started messing with us and started doing some "funny" things. So, when our designers distribute what will they do, they arrive at their office and what can they see? Some of the cards are already designed!!! "Sweet", they think! In their head they think the other designer has designed the card already, so even if they see the card they just read through it really fast and think "okay, he must have play-tested it so i won't complain", but little do they know that it wasn't the other designer, IT WAS THE GOD DAMN JANITOR WHO PUT IT TO COST 5xp!!!! He didn't know shit, he doesn't play this game, but he heard the others talk about XP and stuff like that, and when he was f*cking around with cards he saw those dots under the number and he thought "they won't notice that i've placed some dots there!". And those dots are, ofc as we play the game so we know, the experience cost of a card.

When all is said and done, we get cards that are so weirdly costed that it makes no sense, like Flute of the Outer Gods, Signum Crucis (which they realised after 2 years and changed it to 0xp), Blood Will Have Blood, Quickdraw Holster, Rod of Animalism, Clean Sneak, Katja Eastbank etc. In this campaign he got into the room couple of times, as we can see in the cards like this one Flurry of Blows, Stir the Pot, Providential, and ofc let's not forget that one time he said "fck it" and deleted all the new text that was supposed to be on the Fire Axe and just typed in "Fast" as a funny joke describing how fast he comes in and changes things without anyone noticing.

I think after all is said and done, FFG has really gotta do something about that guy, as before that guy started messing with us we would get maybe some cards that are completely out of the way, but in the last couple of expansions there is some weird shit happening around XP costs and effects, but not in all cards, just some so they don't figure that guy out, but i have figured it out!!!

Janitor, if you're reading this, know this = we will get you and feed you to a Shoggoth, you son of a....

Blood&gore · 421
You make a good point! And this review is hilarious so +1 for that too. — waltercardcollector · 11
Rod of Animalism is fair at 1xp. — MrGoldbee · 1452
There are some weapons that might go crazy with this card like the holy spear with 8 blesses in the bag, the big sledgehammer with an additional action or simply his small basic variant. — Tharzax · 1
The review is right though, Holy Spear might go crazy with so many attacks, but this card isn't what makes that good, Holy Spear is. If you use Hand Eye Coordination on your Holy Spear you're doing what this does minus 1 attack for 4 less exp. — Spamamdorf · 5
I read the spear again and the seal of bless tokens is part of the cost. So you can use the second ability with furry of blow 4 times with only 2 bless tokens. — Tharzax · 1
no, you can't. Only the action cost is ignored. And the "repeat this effect" refers to "choose a melee asset you control..." — Adny · 1
Hmm that would make playing this card with the sledgehammer impossible. Due to the action wording compared to the one on hand eye coordination only the first action was free. — Tharzax · 1
yes, the hand eye coordination FAQ has made the sledgehammer shenanigans.dec imposible... This basicaly lets you do 8 damage in two actions, which is on par with other high level fight events — Adny · 1
I think, the janitor is around for longer than Innsmouth. He really messed up LiT&S with "Decyphered Reality" and "Monster Slayer". — Susumu · 366
And don't forget that FoB ends your turn right afterwards, no matter what. That's another drawback.. — joster · 40
Would this be fair at 3xp, or 2Xp even, complementing the Police badge at 2xp, 1 action, 1 neck slot, and 3 resource cost? If say 3xp/ 2Xp would be sweet, same cost and effects. This would save you a slot, but it's more restrictive in Fight only actions and a melee slot needed. Actually on saying all this, nah, 2xp. You need a slot for this too, a Melee weapon. 2Xp, anyone? — Quantallar · 7

This card blows: I'm genuinely flabbergasted how this got past beta test, let alone get printed. Somehow the design team thought "Yeah, no, this definitely deserves to cost 5 exp"

I will say one thing in favour of Flurry of Blows: it actually would be a decent card at level 0 if you are specialising in using melee weapons. If you are committing your entire turn fighting, then yeah, an extra 2 actions to strike enemies is decent if you can work around the drawback with the fact you won't have action left to take when you play this, but this cost 5 experience

You know what you can get for 4 exp? Fang of Tyr'thrha, which does 4 damage for 1 extra resource in one action (AND can teleport you anywhere that is revealed, mind you!)

And before somebody comes and say some stupid crap like "Oh but this is gated behind an high exp cost because it gets better the stronger your melee weapon is", by that same logic should that mean Venturer should cost 5 exp because it can replenish ammo on the Lightning Gun and Flamethrower?

I always thought the Guardian's design philosophy and card pool always had a consistent issue that only got worse with each release: that Guardians, the class specialised in fighting monsters and tanking, sucks A$$ at fighting monsters and tanking.

While every class got more tools to deal with monsters on their own and also gain extra survivability (I think the biggest moment where Rogues got more resilent is when both version of Precious Memento got printed), Guardians have been either consistently getting highly situational fighting assets and events that are simply not great in practice or support stuff that doesn't help them kill crap. It is just... Sad to see this class becoming the worst of the bunch, outdone by basically everyone else on a regular basis.

Now, thankfully there are still good cards in the Guardian card pool, even added by Hemlock Vale (thank god for Hand-Eye Coordination), but this should be a wake up call: Guardians NEED better weaponry and more consistent tools for fighting. And before some smart alec comes with the argument of "B-But this is based on Lovecraft Mythos, you can't just shoot a Shoggoth in the eye and kill it!" I'll reply: I don't care. This type of thinking does not work in this type of game, period. Arkham Horror LCG is not a bloody Lovecraft story, it's a pulpy action-adventure take on it, and something like that NEEDS some Investigators that are capable of snapping the neck of a ghoul with their bare hands! And I can assure you, the same people bringing this absolute nonsense up are the same that are perfectly fine with Daisy shocking Umôrdhoth to death as a prank when he puts one of his tentacle on a doorknob or Darrell flashing his camera in Yig's eyes and then kicking him in the trouser snake

Anyway, rants is over: sorry for the antagonistic tone, but I'm honestly sick and tired of these design choices and as I said before, I find Flurry of Blows to be the culmination of this utter garbage balancing.

Oh, actually I forgot to add one thing: "Skids" O'Toole also gets to take an extra action (without having to end his entire turn after taking it, mind you!) by spending 2 resources once per round, and he can use that action for ANYTHING, not just attacking with a melee weapon

Let me repeat that: an investigator, from the core game, has a better version of an ability of a FLIPPING level 5 card

Let that sink in.. (with just the small reminder Third Time's a Charm is a better version of Wendy's ability and only cost 2 exp)

Edit: As TheNameWasTaken pointed out, you take an extra fight action and then resolve 3 more, so you actually get 2 extra attacks by using this card than you normally would: this still doesn't justify the exp cost in my opinion, but it does at least put it on the same level as Skids' ability, given Skids gives you an extra action you can use to do anything, while Flurry gives you 2 extra actions just to fight, so Skids' main power is more versatile than this card, which in my opinion makes it better. There is also the whole issue that attacking 4 more times makes it more likely to fail more attacks, as Arkham is a game where the odds are stacked against you: the more skill checks you take, the higher the risk you run into revealing certain tokens, which is another reason Butterfly Swords are so garbage.

HeroesOfTomorrow · 49
This card delivers four attacks in two actions, so your math is somewhat off. — TheNameWasTaken · 3
I'd disagree regarding the statement that Guardian isn't receiving fighting support (Cyclopean Hammer and Runic Axe), but I agree that this card is unplayable at its XP cost and that it feels like Guardian is in a weak position vis-a-vis the other classes. My guess is that part of the problem is the way the class is conceptualized: most of the time, instead of focusing on how the class accomplishes tasks like Rogue focuses on turning resources into success, Guardian is laser-focused on the task it performs, a situation which paradoxically creates a mental barrier towards Guardian's fighting capabilities for the designers. They don't want to give it super-effective fighting or tanking tools because that would make it (even more) boring, turning most Guardian decks into over-glorified "Delete enemy" buttons. At the same time, they feel they have to be very careful in giving it non-fighting or tanking tools because they don't want to make the champion combat class also become the best at investigating (of course, they don't seem to have the same problem with giving Seeker combat tools, but that's a topic for another day). They feel they can't allow Guardian to improve its strengths or its weaknesses too much because they're focused so much on what it does that they don't stop to ask if there are alternative ways for it to do what it does. For an example of what doing that might look like, Scene of the Crime takes Guardian's focus on enemies and uses that to provide them with cover for cluevering, one of their weaknesses. It's good, it's true to the class' identity, and it doesn't break the game. Similarly, while I don't think Melee weapons needed the support, Strong-Armed shows how it's possible to make a Guardian card that helps them fight without just turning their game into "Fist v. Fight." Again, it's Vicious Blow so it's good, it's interesting, and it fits with the Guardian theme. It is possible to make good, interesting Guardian cards, FFG; you don't have to make Flurry of Blows. Just take a step back, stop thinking of Guardian as "the combat class," and start thinking about it as "the class that uses enemies like Survivor uses failing." — NightgauntTaxiService · 404
Also, you're completely right about the need for theme to give way to mechanics in this case. As the blog Ancient Evils pointed out, Before the Black Throne manages to nail the feeling of not being in control of your fate. Is it thematic? Certainly, it hits the theme out of the park. But is it actually fun? You know, that thing games like Arkham kind of need to be? — NightgauntTaxiService · 404
@TheNameWasTaken Sorry, was just pissed at this card so much I ended up misinterpreting it a bit: I'll edit my review. Still, 1 extra attacks DOES NOT change my opinion this should be a level O card — HeroesOfTomorrow · 49
@NightgauntTaxiService Honestly, my main issue with Guardians is not that they did not gain any combat support, is that they do not gain *enough* combat support. Like, one of the things that makes playing Guardians so boring is that few weapons feel truly "viable" (as you mentioned, the Hammer and the Axe), but... Using those, Machete and nothing else, makes the class boring, beside the issues with also their power level. Because basically every Guardian deck translate to "Put this weapon down and keep attacking" and that is it: I feel like making Guardians openly overpowered in fighting is not the solution, because you certainly can very easily with some stupidly designed assets, the solution is to make their fighting abilities actually interesting to use. As you pointed out: enemy management should be the main appeal of Guardians, and Guardians suck at that beside killing, and they are only good at it with some specific set up, mind you. I do agree adding non-combat tools to their kit adds depth to their class and helps non-fighter Guardians shine and offers more variability, but if their main fighting kit is so flawed from the foundaments, it doesn't matter how good support options they get when 50% their weapon assets are botherline unusable, the class just feels bad to play — HeroesOfTomorrow · 49
I will say, many Guardian combat events that do not include the words "Dynamite" and "Blast" are pretty good, which is why Nathaniel is one of the best combat Guardians in the game imo — HeroesOfTomorrow · 49
Also, the Fact Guardians are the ONLY class that does not have any skill card above level 2 is another thing that really adds to how "samey" Guardians feel, and it's laughable that Joe can just take ALL Guardian skills if he wishes to — HeroesOfTomorrow · 49
I definitely agree with you that making Guardians overpowered in combat isn't the way to go. Regarding the way to go, I think there are a few pre-existing themes in Guardian that, if expanded, could make the class stronger while also making it more interesting to play. 1) More cards like Cleaning Kit and Custom Modifications. To use an example from Dungeons and Dragons, make Guardian more like Warlock, able to take their basic abilities in countless different directions. This would also help with the Guardian fantasy of using your own personal weapon to bring down the Mythos. Instead of using Generic Sword #435, allow players to use Leo Anderson's gun, or Mark Harrigan's trench knife. Tap into the fantasy of fighting the Mythos with whatever you have on hand and hoping that it's enough. 2) More cards like Scene of the Crime and Second Wind that allow Guardians to turn the Mythos against itself indirectly. — NightgauntTaxiService · 404
What takes the cake is this came out in the same set as Rod of Carnamagos. Whacky token manipulation effects aside, the Rot cards have more interesting and powerful enemy management effects than anything in the Guardian card pool. And for only 2 xp and 2 resources! This is the type of enemy management card Guardians should have gotten, but no. Instead they got Grievous Wound which is basically a crappy version of Scarlet Rot. — MindControlMouse · 41

While not for everyone, I've had great results with Sister Mary & Holy Spear You get 4 uses of the the +4 & +2 damage without needing to seal tokens. This is particularly great when there are already a bunch of sealed on Holy Spear or you don't have the bless tokens in the chaos bag. In this scenario, 2 resources & 2 actions can deal upwards of 12 damage!

While it's good at boss clearing & removing victory enemies, it can also be used when you get overrun with monsters. Each Fight can target a different monster at your location.

Overall, I was happy using it, but it's likely slightly overcosted in XP since you already need to buy the Holy Spear.

Calprinicus · 5882
ignore the action cost DOES NOT mean you can ignore other cost . You still — OnThinIce · 25
-- need to seal tokens — OnThinIce · 25

As a fun thought exercise, I decided to calculate what's the most damage Flurry of Blows could do. Results are below.

ASSUMPTIONS:

  • The investigator using Flurry of Blows (hereafter referred to as "The fighter") is paired with an investigator who plays Shrine of the Moirai on their location.

PROCESS:

  1. The fighter plays Written in the Stars, discarding Vicious Blow (2).
  2. The fighter plays the second copy of Written in the Stars, discarding a second Vicious Blow (2).
  3. The fighter triggers Shrine of the Moirai to recur both copies of Written in the Stars.
  4. The fighter plays both copies of Written in the Stars, discarding two copies of Strong-Armed.
  5. The fighter plays Flurry of Blows, choosing Butterfly Swords (5) as the Melee asset.
  6. First activation: +8 to skill value (+2 from asset, +6 from cards committed by Written in the Stars), succeeds by >1, deals 7 damage (1 from the attack, +2 from each Vicious Blow (2), +1 from each Strong-Armed).
  7. Fighter chooses to fight again, +8 to skill value (+8 from cards committed by Written in the Stars), succeeds by >1, exhausts Butterfly Swords (5) to deal +1 damage, 8 total damage. Cumulative damage: 15.
  8. Second activation: +8 to skill value, succeeds by >1, deals 7 damage. Cumulative damage: 22.
  9. Fighter chooses to fight again, +8 to skill value, succeeds by >1, deals 7 damage. Cumulative damage: 29.
  10. Third activation: +8 to skill value, succeeds by >1, deals 7 damage. Cumulative damage: 36.
  11. Fighter chooses to fight again, +8 to skill value, succeeds by >1, deals 7 damage. Cumulative damage: 43.
  12. Fourth activation: +8 to skill value, succeeds by >1, deals 7 damage. Cumulative damage: 50.
  13. Fighter chooses to fight again, +8 to skill value, succeeds by >1, deals 7 damage. Cumulative damage: 57.

Grand total: 57 damage dealt.

And all it took was 19 XP, 11 resources, 11 cards, 2 decks, and the stars aligning perfectly!

NightgauntTaxiService · 404
You could use some player windows to play Galvanize twice, readying Butterfly Swords (5) and getting two more attacks with +1 damage out of it. — AlderSign · 290
Also the new Hand-Eye Koordination should work for additional free fight action. — Tharzax · 1
Sorry, I do not understand how it is possible to use Vicious blow so many times for damage and why can you use the exhausted Butterfly swords the — Dash83 · 1
Now I have understand it — Dash83 · 1
The Card Written in the star let you commit the the discarded card to each egliabile test you perform. It works like Amanda's investigator ability. And you can use the sword if it's exhausted, because the exhaust effect is not part of the costs. It's part of the effect. — Tharzax · 1
AlderSign, I think it would be more efficient to use Galvanize separately (assuming you hit and succeed by >1, each Galvanize provides +15 damage if you use it to attack vs. +1 damage if you play it during Flurry of Blows), at which point I would argue that isn't part of Flurry of Blows. Similarly for Hand-Eye Coordination, Tharzax. Both would allow you to output even more damage, but that damage would be from those events rather than Flurry of Blows. — NightgauntTaxiService · 404
It gets hard to differentiate between damage sources at some point, I agree ;) Haste also works, btw. — AlderSign · 290

This card is generally weak and not worth 5exp, but the combo i see is with Sledgehammer, immidiate 24 damage, so it kills basically any boss immediality. Due to that, the only point of taking those are campaings that require a boss to be killed, like NotZ or PoC.

Pawiu14 · 184
I'm afraid you have misunderstood how it works. It's confirmed that "ignoring its action cost" only ignores 1 action of the cost. So to use this (a 5xp card) with sledgehammer (a 4 xp card), you need to spend 2 actions playing this. Then you can activate 4 fight actions. But the sledge hammer 3 action swing would cost you 2 more actions each time you use it, so you'd need 10 actions to deal the maximum of 32 damage. If you had 4 actions you could to a 6 damage swings and then 3 2 damage swings for 12 damage. If you only have the normal 3 actions, you can only do 10 damage (5 2 damage swings) — NarkasisBroon · 10
Compare it with the FAQ of the card "Hand-Eye Coordination" from Hemlock feast — Tharzax · 1

For a 5xp card, the least they can do is "ignoring all costs" instead of the ridiculous "without paying its → cost", which will at least open up possible combos with Holy Spear or Sledgehammer.

FYI: Pushed to the Limit, a 0xp card which was released in the same expansion, "ignoring all costs".

ethereal64 · 505
To be fair, pushed to the limit activates an ability from a card in your discard. If it didn't ignore all costs, you couldn't use anything that required uses at all. — Champ · 1