I've used the hammer to crushing effect in a playthrough of Innsmouth Conspiracy with Zoey Samaras. Hitting at 8 by default is good enough to get 2 damage reliably, but for the real magic to happen you want at least one, ideally two copies of Reliable attached (each copy gives +2 to hit) and maybe 1 or 2 stat boosts from other sources.

Once I was able to achieve this, pretty much every enemy in the game became a massive joke, as I was essentially using a lightning gun at 13-14 skill value every swing, dealing 3 damage every time, with unlimited ammo.

This freed my deck completely from having to run economy cards + extra ammo generation, usually the biggest problem for big gun guardian builds. Instead I filled my deck with encounter deck manipulation, ensuring I was always able to draw enemies from investigators around the table.

In short - too strong if you can hit 3 damage reliably.

I feel the other review underestimated the value of this card in one investigator: William Yorick. I play him in Innsmouth right now with 2 other players (one scenario to go, and until now we are rocking the campaign on hard, but without taboo list), and from my impression it's time to say: In him, this is no niche card, it's a staple!

• It can be used to pay for other assets in the discard pile in later rounds. Unfortunately no Ally or Talent (up until now Beat Cop, Safeguard and Well Prepared were the only non-permanent assets without the Item Trait in my deck), and it won't be needed for Mr. Pawterson or a Leather Coat, but there was always use until late game for me, gaining extra actions recycling a Police Badge or getting a new weapon into play.
• With level 0-2, Yorick has no access to Stick to the Plan. Yet, in an excessive Asset build, which you likely do with him, Ever Vigilant is still a solid pick. But having the resources for optimal use, if you don't get it into the starting hand, is normally not a given. With a catalog, either in your hand to be played as the first card, or just played after killing an Enemy, it's so much easier to use this event efficiently even later in the game, when you've used up your starting resources.
• I have "greedy" partners. Maybe 30 to 40% of the revenue went to them for playing their Items. Since there were turns without enemies on the board, getting a bit into support for the others was a good way to put additional value to my role in the team.

There was not a single game, where I didn't play the catalog at least 4 or 5 times, in one game it might have been up to 8. But the secrets were hardly ever wasted. I will keep going shopping into the Maelstrom.

Roland Banks is a very good beginner character, and I love his deck options with Guardian and Seeker combo, making him great at the 2 main aspects of the game, getting clues and killing things. The 5 Sanity is an issue, and can be conquered by Elder Sign Amulet (3), Kerosene (1), and Logical Reasoning. .36 Colt (2) is kind of broken in my opinion, and an auto-include. .45 Automatic (2) is a reliable weapon, and can take out some of the harder enemies. Roland's 4 Combat right off the bat tells you what he's good at. To amp him up to 7 Combat, Beat Cop (2) and .45 Automatic (2) can get the job done, nearly guaranteeing your attack will be successful (minus autofail). A Mystic friend would help him out with Clarity of Mind (3). For Cover Up, Deduction (2) can help rid Cover Up of clues faster. First Aid x2 (3) is OP, and necessary with some Ally like Beat Cop (2), for example, who just hurts himself. Just be sure to get rid of all the clues on Cover Up, because mental trauma as Roland Banks is bad. Timeworn Brand (5) is nice when your guns run out of ammo. Speaking of which, Venturer, Extra Ammunition (1),and Contraband can all help.

Norman Withers can play stupid games with this lady.

Namely, True Magick takes up neither hand nor arcane slots while under her control. He can place it on top of his deck for guaranteed tutor using his signature. Both his signature and True Magick can be tutored by Research Librarian.

Norman also gets to play dumb games like using Livre d'Eibon to place Enraptured on top of his deck, then Written in the Stars to place a load of charges on something while spending a whole turn investigating 6... something like True Magick.

With Astrological Atlas/Livre d'Eibon in play, you can get away with a serious amount of shenanigans recurring cards like Enraptured and Fearless. Eli holding True Magick, you can also get a giant Clairvoyance or Shriveling once a round only limited by what you've got in your hand, and Norman, being a Seeker, can draw like a beast.

This card is nuts on True Magick, and Norman is a great candidate for reaching both.

Sounds like a nice item for Trish Scarborough, as it gives her some control over hunting enemies in case you don’t want them to enter your location (you still need to dodge the AoO attack with e.g. Obfuscation )