One-Two Punch

Event

Spirit. Tactic.

Cost: 2. XP: 5.

Guardian

Fight. You automatically succeed and deal +1 damage for this attack. You may fight again. You get +3 and deal +2 damage for that attack.

Nathaniel is renowned for his rapid left jab and right cross signature move.
Patrick McEvoy
Nathaniel Cho #32.
One-Two Punch

FAQs

(from the official FAQ or responses to the official rules question form)
  • Q: If I use One-Two Punch on an enemy with the elusive keyword, and that enemy leaves my location after the first attack, does the rest of the attack resolve? A: Yes. If an investigator uses an ability that allows them to perform sequential attacks against a ready enemy with the elusive keyword, they resolve each of those attacks against that enemy in succession, even if that enemy changes location while the ability resolves. (FAQ 2.3, October 2024)
Last updated

Reviews

One seemingly overlooked thing by other reviews is that the upgraded version says "You may fight again" while the basic version says "you may fight THAT ENEMY again".

So the upgraded version allows you to attack two different enemies, which is really nice considering it would be easy to one shot an enemy (even a very strong one) with the first automatic success and then you can then follow up with a second attack on another enemy.

thereelaristotle · 17
Er? What? Oh my. I am one of those who overlooked this. I like this intepretation. — acotgreave · 842
Yup. I personally consider that one of the most important pieces of text on this card. Otherwise you are spending 5xp for just +2 damage. (And, yes, some accuracy but a high combat guardian running this with Boxing Gloves isn’t hurting for more accuracy.) Especially on Nathaniel, the flexibility of the two attacks and his ability lets you take out two enemies with 2/3, 3/3, or 2/4health in a single action - or even just make a big wallop for 5 or 6. — Death by Chocolate · 1447

You might wonder, does the automatic success mean that I can’t apply skill cards to the first test? Actually, you can. You don’t skip:

ST.2 Commit cards from hand to skill test.

That means your team can pile on vicious blows, quick thinking, overpowers....Which means this is an excellent first attack against bosses. And the second hit, even if your boxing gloves are gone, it’s going to take you to a +8, a fighting chance to hit any foe in the game. With regular boxing gloves, that’s +9, advanced ones +10, and you probably have a beat cop or other ally to give you that +1 bonus...The cost of course is five experience points and two bucks.

The upside is you can recur it with Nathan’s elder sign. And it’s a tactic, so you can guarantee to have it when you stick to the plan. It’s an investment in xp, and shouldn’t be your first purchase because the level zero version of this card is pretty good. But when you need the bust the toughest of skulls, you’ll be happy to have this.

MrGoldbee · 1451

Fun (sort-of) interaction with Lita: you get another bonus 2 damage across this card. If you're running through core you can take this after the XP-heavy second scenario The Midnight Masks and then go into The Devourer Below with murder on the mind. If you land the second attack ("No please!") you deal a whopping 7 damage.

If you're playing solo, this card will let you take out the big bad in two actions — one playing this, second with an attack from any standard weapon that deals +1 damage.

But if we're doing that, why don't we go further? Take Vicious Blow x2 (only one actually has to be levelled) and chuck'em in as well. Blam, blam! You just biffed the big bad beastie back below. In one action! It's about sending a message.

Now, the first of these 'combos' is easier to pull off; you're just looking for Lita (which you're doing anyway — she's incredible). But if you do happen to draw your Vicious Blows in time... well, surely one-two punching an Elder One back to beyond as soon as it raises its head is as cool as it's going to get?

BlankedyBlank · 21
Umôrdhoth is not a Monster enemy, so Lita's extra damage does not work on it. — ak45 · 450
Yeah but Narôgath stands no chance against Man of Punch — ironbrw · 17

I was wondering how does it interact with a Double or nothing... You do +1 damage twice, and perform two additional fight actions with the given bonuses? And doble the skill value for the enemy for the two additional fight actions?

Proxyone · 1
I think that double or nothing can only affect portions of it that are skill checks where you can commit cards. So the first punch would happen once, and you would double the second attack. — itachi18 · 1
On the non-upgraded version, being allowed to make a second attack is something you get for the test, so there it would seem that you get two additional attacks (with just the regular one-two punch damage bonus), in addition to dealing twice the damage with your first attack. The extra attacks would not have any increased difficulty, as Double or Nothing only affects a single test. However, on this upgraded card, the second attack is something that is not dependent on the result of the first test, and so Double or Nothing does not give you two follow-up attacks. — kalmakka · 1
I'd say yes to 2x additional attacks from looking at the FAQ on Double or Nothing:Q: Does Double or Nothing work with extra action effects like Quick Thinking or the level 2 .41 Derringer? A: Double or Nothing works with both of those effects! Those effects indeed trigger during step 7 [of a skill test], and then create a delayed effect which grants the extra action(s) after the test resolves. — Atrael · 1
@itachi if a test is automatically successful, you still resolve every other step of the skill test - including the ability to commit skill cards. @Atrael It does not work for the reasons that kalmakka discribes. The second fight just happens for the level 5 One-Two Punch. It isn't relevent conditional on 'if you succeed'. However, the level 0 version IS conditional on 'if you succeed' and thus could be combo'd with Double or Nothing. — Death by Chocolate · 1447