Damning Testimony has few investigators who want this because of the book requirement in Rogue. Without the Seeker 0-5 Rogue 0-2 Investigator, currently the only people who really want this are Trish, Finn and Alessandra, because they all have 4 book in Rogue, and also all benefit from enemies being alive already. Trish baseline gets an extra clue, Finn likes Evading, and Alessandra wants to Beguile enemies all over the board.

The closest comparison for this is actually Fingerprint Kit, because that is a high cost limited use item that gets you 2 clues in 1 action. The main value here, is that Damning Testimony gives 2 clues in 1 action in Rogue, which is kind of the best clue efficiency Rogue can ever get. Normally we look at Lockpicks or also Thieves Kit. Rogues' main value was getting additional actions to use, but Lockpicks was always once per round. Damning Testimony is also once per round. But the pros?

Pros:

• 2 clues on a success if there is an enemy at a location with a clue (it can be your location as well)
• You only spend evidence if you succeed (unlike Fingerprint kit, so you never lose out value on the autofail)
• Upgradable flexibility
• Illicit so you can dump this in your Underworld Market
• The important parts of Damning Testimony do not care about enemy Elite status.

Cons:

• Once per round
• 4 resource cost which is not nothing in Rogue
• Requires an enemy to be in play. This is important for some scenarios, and so this shouldn't be the only way to get clues.
• Limited uses (not as important when you consider you only spend if you succeed, so the uses always get you an extra clue

While there are 6 upgrades you can take, I personally only think 2 are of serious value, for 4 xp. Blackmail, to get a +2 to the test so you pass, and Fabricated Evidence, so you get 66% more value from your item. for 4 xp then, in the 4 investigators i mentioned, you're testing at 6 to shroud which is a great start to be in and 5 times you can get 2 clues over 5 rounds. This is really good considering its 1 handed, so you can still run something else in the other hand, be it a weapon, or a different item to help investigating such as a lockpicks or a thieves kit. or another Damning Testimony. Damning Testimony also goes up in value for quite a few scenarios if you know them, such as scenarios with patrolling enemies (Fortune and Folly), or chasing enemies (most of the Innsmouth campaign, that infamous train scenario)

Combined with Lockpicks to have something to do with your other 2 actions, I think this is incredible value for XP and Resources. The main problem to overcome is having enemies at the correct locations, which can be a problem to manipulate, but not insurmountable. Rogue now has 2 cards with Bonded enemies they can force into play (Crystalizer of Dreams, and Bianca die Katz). Trish can use Existential Riddle on Hunter enemies so they keep moving. Transmogrify can be used on 1 location to lock an enemy down. Alessandra has Beguile which lets her just move an enemy. Disguise Kit and multiple other effects can lock an enemy down for multiple rounds. But if you're looking to get some clue efficiency in Rogue, I think Damning Testimony is worth the run.

This card is the definitive nail in the coffin for Sharpshooter which was already a weak pick to slot into your deck. All the investigators who can get this card are shooting at a 6+, not including any passive boost, and synergizing with any skill commit that has the icon. Compared to the Ornate Bow it also has the added benefit of keeping your other hand free. Great include for both Sefina Rousseau and Wendy Adams for extra enemy management.

Ignoring the aloof is icing on the cake. It allows you to take care of annoying birds of all sizes while saving an engage action, and the potential to put it out for free when you tried to bluff to them that you are also a bird.

Or you can take potshots from the safety of your Hiding Spot.

Since nobody wrote a review of it yet: This card (and to a lesser, but not very low degree it's downgrade) is freaking nuts! Not only because of it's obviously useful ability to make all kind of debuffs to non-Elite enemies, gives a great toy with Abyssal Rot to fellow Alessandra or Trish players and even a nice econ option for yourself with Aember Rot, but it can be triggered in any player window, including during tests (before or after committing cards). This makes for a bonkers combo piece with the Innsmouth set of Spell assets, as the tokens revealed will count for the effect, and you put them back into the bag before the "actual" reveal token step of the test, so you might draw them again. Just notice, that there must be a non-Elite enemy to be targeted on the board.

You can soup up this cheeky trick with Olive McBride. Reveal 4 tokens normal, then for your fifth, with the new level 2 version, reveal 4 and cancel 2 of them. Note, that in case you draw 3 or 4 tokens with Olive, you can only count 2 of them, the cancelled ones are not considered to be drawn for the later effect on your Eye of Chaos or Armageddon. I repeatedly managed to first charge up my spells with enough charges to last an entire scenario, then used the reveals for extra damage or clues. Since you can't discover additional clues on a on your (only a connecting) location, I was less conservative with charges on the Eye than on Armageddon, because I would get extra charges later on, when there were no clues on connecting locations anyway. Obviously, Shroud of Shadows should be similar good in this combo. I did not take it, as I rather used Occult Reliquary for a hand slot for the Rod and did not have the deck slot for another card with additional arcane slot.

Of course, this can be abused for other skill tests as well. Like on the new set of upgrades of DreamEaters Spell events, which I'm pretty sure will foreshadow other Spell upgrades, based on the return on succeed by x design pattern we've seen in . Probably even Song of the Dead might be build around, though I would rather not. Just as I wrote this review, I noticed another one suggesting .35 Winchester as combo piece. As I mentioned in another review, it is a fantastic enabler for macabre depiction on Living Ink. Revealing the token you want on a test has never being easier than with this card.

Now let's talk about Macabre Depiction for a while, as it has not been done before. This customisation has become extreme valuable at the latest with the Hemlock Vale Investigator expansion. I played Kōhaku Narukami with Living Ink, Rod of Carnamagos and Olive McBride, and after I purchased Macabre Depiction (which I did before scenario 3), I never dropped below 3 charges. I always draw at least one symbol token, the turn I played it, so it got 4 charges at that point. Then, if I draw a symbol during the Mythos Phase, it might max out at 5 charges, at the start of my turn it dropped at 4 or 3 charges. In retrospective, my built would have been viable for a Torrent of Power, to be committed for 5 or 3 , and still being safer not to "break" than a Lockpicks (1) on an Easy bag. This is not a hyperbole.

Now of course, this build requires to go into blurse, but who with the Rod of Rot would not go into curses at least? Note, that you kind of have to take Olive (2) as well, as you can't use the Rod, while there is no non-Elite enemy on the board, because you need a target for it.

Kōhaku can check 6 boxes, so I took Shifting Ink and Eldritch Ink (, with being my initial skill of course) as well, the first was a bit of a wasted experience. I never played both copies, as Alessandra much preferred the feel of silk against her skin to an ordinary tattoo, and I never draw the second copy in time to spend it on Hank anyway. But the later was quite useful. With Gabriel Carillo and the tattoo, I got a base of 6, so was not solemnly depending on Eye of Chaos to investigate, although it was of course my main way to do.

Hank Samson wants, at least that's my believe, flip his investigator card as soon as possible. Since this is done by taking dmg/horror Toe to Teo may be of great use to him. Not only it gets the job done → kill/damage enemy but also gets him closer to flipping his investigator card.