Old Keyring · ArkhamDB

A reprinted Flashlight? What gives FFG? Well.... Not quite!

Old Keyring actually differentiates itself dramatically from Flashlight with several key details that completely turn this classic mechanic on its head.

First off, an Old Keyring only spends charges on successful tests. A Flashlight is best used to automatically beat low difficulty locations, a great way for low- characters to get clues in any difficulty, especially with low player counts. However the risk of failure when you turn a Flashlight at a high-shroud location is great and often not worth it, an all-too familiar issue for a 3- character trying to tackle a 4-shroud location.
Old Keyring shares the Flashlight's ability to beat a low shroud location, but the fact that charges are only spent on successes means that you can MUCH more fearlessly blast a 3-5 shroud location with repeated investigate checks until you eventually hit all the clues, Old Keyring basicly reads "+2 until you've discovered 2 clues", a rather terrific ability.
Finally, this card self-discards right after success. Self discarding means that cards like Resourceful can recover the Old Keyring, more importantly, Old Keyring + Scavenging are a natural combo! It's actually ridiculous if you consider the upgraded Scavenging, investigate a location, finish the Key, immediately replay it! This is now one of the go-to combos for clue strategies.

4/1/20

Tsuruki23 · 2119

Basically anyone who takes an early flashlight but has access to survivor cards should take this instead. — SGPrometheus · 594 5/24/20

Scavenging triggers in ST 6 of the skill test, while Old Keyring wod discard one St 7, so you can’t actually use them on the same skill test. — iceysnowman · 153 6/6/20

iceysnowman is correct. If you had a second Old Keyring in play or discard you could use them to bring each other back, but it won't put itself in the discard in time to Savenge itself. — Death by Chocolate · 979 8/29/20

I think the one big drawback to Old Keyring compared to Flashlight is the fact that Flashlight DOESN'T discard itself, which makes it a better candidate for Act of Desperation. You will probably never AoD this card, but a Flashlight is a great target for it, netting you likely 2 or 3 clues for no cost, versus Keyring's 2 clues for 1 cost. That said, it's easy to take advantage of Keyring's fail ability in someone like Stella, and it works incredibly well with "Look what I found!". I definitely think, 90% of the time, this is better than Flashlight. — StyxTBeuford · 12593 9/26/20

Talk about power creep. I wish the investigator decks were never released. — flamebreak · 19 2/5/21

This just in, card that only some investigators have access to often more powerful than card all investigators have access to. More at 11 — NarkasisBroon · 1 3/18/21

I need to wait so long until Stella Clark released. So I afraid someone would discovered this synergy first.

First you need to be Preston Fairmont (Recommend) or Jenny Barnes (less effective)

Use this Old Keyring and upgrade the Lola Santiago
Trigger Old Keyring to investigate with -2 shroud
Trigger Lola Santiago to get clue and pay her -2 resource from above
You would always failed investigation so the Old Keyring never ran out

Infinity and cheaper efficient Flashlight !

Note

You can use Take Heart, Rabbit's Foot or Rabbit's Foot (3) to fail more efficiently.

5/5/20

AquaDrehz · 166

There's a step missing here. Why does the test always fail? If it is high enough to make Jenny consistently fail (5-6 shroud) then this isn't particularly great and you'd be better off with an Intel report. — DAAAN · 1 5/13/20

Agreed. It is guaranteed success on Shroud 1-2, and even Shroud 3-4 will sometimes be a pass for Preston (and fairly often for Jenny). — Death by Chocolate · 979 8/29/20

The other issue to this combo is that it costs you an action to fail the test and reduce the shroud by 2. You would probably be better off just buying the clue with Lola and including an additional economy card in your deck (at least for Jenny). I could see Preston using the Old Keyring to get clues from 2 shrouds anyway. — TWWaterfalls · 781 9/5/20

This doesnt work. At all. — JeremyL · 1 10/18/21

The -2 for the shroud only applies to the particular investigation. You can tell by the Investigate keyword and the fact the text says -2 FOR THIS INVESTIGATION. You cannot use Key Ring or Flashlight to somehow reduce the cost for assets like Lola Santiago — JeremyL · 1 10/18/21

@ JeremyL: it is possible, because there is a lightningbolt window in every test before and after commiting cards. During either of these you can trigger Lola's ability, while the shrowd is lowered. — Susumu · 166 11/8/21