Machete

Asset. Hand

Item. Weapon. Melee.

Cost: 3.

Guardian

: Fight. You get +1 for this attack. If the attacked enemy is the only enemy engaged with you, this attack deals +1 damage.

Cuts through vines, underbrush, and tentacles equally well.
Jason Caffoe
Core Set (2026) #20.
Machete

FAQs

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Reviews

A reminder that if you exhaust Machete to gain the +1 damage you can still spend an action using the Action trigger to gain +1 fight as this ability does not require exhausting the card. An important distinction especially for new players to chapter two as I feel this is not well highlighted in the rulebook.

GrimGuvna · 5
That's very likely true for new players. I recently watched a video, where somebody made this wrong assumption: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDaSbVlWYRY — Susumu · 393
I'm a bit confused, because in the german version (2026) it is written that you may exhaust the card to gain +1 damage. — Biephi · 1
I am sorry, but what do you mean? You can't use asset if it exhausted or I don't know or understand something. I mean, you spend action to activate Machete then you can add aditional damage by exhausting it, after you can use Machete for your second action. Could you specify, if it possible. Thank you! — ellen.levina.games.cult · 2
@ellen.levina.games.cult I don't really know what the original comment is trying to clarify. As for your question. To resolve anycard with a cost you have to be able to pay the cost. The cost is anything before ":". In this case the only cost of the card is an action, after paying that cost you may exhaust that card for +1 damage. If we than look at a card like [Arcane Initiate](/card/01063), we can see that exhausting the card is part of the cost, since you cannot exhaust a already exhausted card the ability can only be used once per turn witohut other card interactions. Back to Machete, you get 1 instance of +1 damage per ready of the card but can use the Fight action as many time as you want since it does not require the card to be unexhausted. Hope that helps! If you or anyone else have rules question or anything else related to Arkham Horror you can add me "reckysfriend" on discord and I'll gladly chat / help! — reckysfriend · 1

People responsible for chapter II have said that machete (core) was a card it was nearly impossible to balance around, because in many circumstances, it was infinite 2 damage. Now, for better or worse, there with the broken bottle (which costs less, but gives the same bonus and discards, and lets you hit an enemy engaged with the teammate).

If you have a signature weapon, it's better than machete now. Guns, with limited ammo, are better than taking a jungle cleaver to the streets of Arkham. It's still a must pick due to the incredibly narrow cardpool, but I don't see it surviving through the next two expansions in anything but a niche role. Which might be a reasonable thing for a level zero card.

MrGoldbee · 1589
I think it might be able to hold its position as a good infinite weapon in level 0 decks during chapter two. The condition for extra damage is quite easy to fulfill and costs nothing, compared to other melee weapons on lvl 0 like the meat cleaver or the spring knife it's still good. — Tharzax · 2
The nerf is decent and it brings down Machete from its long-occupied throne. I would say the exhaust effect only matters if you A) miss the attack and/or B) you need to deal more than 3 damage in 2 actions and/or C) you are dealing with more than one enemy. In any combination of these scenarios you will struggle with this weapon, unless you have a backup. But that's the thing - not having to worry about ammo should come at some other cost and this feels very fair. — MarTom · 8
The recent errata moves the exhaust part to after a successful test, which means you never waste it on a missed attack. A small but useful improvement. — RichardPlunkett · 14