Butterfly Swords is interesting as guardian weapons go. In terms of investment, it's a 3-cost card that takes up 2 hands. The resource cost is average as weapons go, but its cost means you won't be holding a second item without a Bandolier.

It's a 2 XP weapon, meaning characters with secondary Guardian access ("Skids" O'Toole, Diana Stanley, Joe Diamond, and William Yorick, along with Lily Chen on release) can use it, along with all of the full guardians. It's rather cheap in terms of Resource cost, only requiring 3 resources to be a permanent fight option.

The fight option itself is also interesting. The first part is simply a fight at +1 attack - not a particularly strong option on its own. Any fighter wants to be dealing extra damage to actually handle larger threats, and non-fighters will need a bigger bonus if they want to reliably land a blow. It's a small bonus, but not the focus.

The second part is the part that you're paying for. After a fight with the swords, you can exhaust the swords to fight again, adding your to the test. This means that you'll get a second check (regardless of if the first hit or miss), which can be used to target the same or a different enemy, and which will be at a reasonable bonus. (The only Guardian with less than 2 is Leo Anderson, and everybody else will get +2, at the least.)

How good is that in practice? If you're only dealing with a single big monster, it's solid. You can take down 3 HP targets with a single attack, or get some decent attacks on 2 targets should their health be low. If the enemy has 4 HP, then you can match any other +1 damage weapon by taking two attack actions at it. 2 extra damage every turn isn't something to scoff at - at the least, you can compare it to firing off a +1 damage weapon twice every round, on a tool that doesn't require ammo.

Conversely, this means that the weapon is weaker if you're ever spending the entire time attacking, or don't have enough to make an extra attack consistently land. An extra attempt each sequence does mean you might be putting yourself at further risk if Retaliate is a factor.

More importantly, how does it compare to the other guardian weapons at that cost?

• .32 Colt (2) - A bit higher cost, and an extra hand slot is taken, but unless you're spending all 3 actions attacking, you're coming out ahead. Then again, unless you're Mark Harrigan, you're probably not looking at this to begin with - and even if you are, it's probably not one of your upgrade options.
• .45 Automatic (2) - You're comparing against the 'core' firearm. At 1 cost less expensive and winning over two rounds of fighting, if you can spare the hand slot, this probably comes out ahead.
• Blackjack (2) - Blackjack has always been a reasonable backup weapon at 3-4 player count, so in those circumstances, it's worth consideration. However, at lower player counts or as a compromise option, Butterfly Swords isn't bad - having your attack broken into two fights means that you risk more collateral, but will also divide the risk into separate instances as well.
• Survival Knife (2) - The Survival Knife tends to be a more specific weapon, useful when you plan on countering enemies that attack you. It's not a bad weapon, but is more to fill a specific niche, rather than being something meant for primary fights.

So, for its XP cost, this weapon can certainly have its place. Unlike other weapons, which tend to fill a secondary role, this weapon is more of a primary pick. If your hand slots are precious, then it's not the best option. However, if you don't need both hand slots and don't need as much of a raw boost, this might be a solid pick.

The main downside regarding low XP weapons remains that most of the time, full fighters prefer to jump to one of the 5-XP weapons to keep their efficiency high. Even non-guardians will have Timeworn Brand to jump to, and Guardians will jump at the opportunity to have their pick of Lightning Gun, Flamethrower, or Holy Spear. Even if there's XP available after, there are times where it's more cost effective to find a Backpack (2) rather than try to purchase more weapons.

So, is this worth getting? It depends on what you need. It's not one of the big guns that will let you take out a boss on its own. If you're looking for something to fill more of a 'backup' role or absolutely need to be able to spend your entire turn attacking, it may be better to look elsewhere. And if your hand slots are needed for other things, this will be awkward to fit in. However, if you have a reasonable to back it up, this is a solid weapon with good staying power that can last for a good chunk of a scenario. If you can take advantage of the bursts that it uses to fight, it's worth consideration.

This seems like a good upgrade if your seeker can cycle their deck quickly to redraw them after shuffling them in. The potential for an extra point of damage could be useful for odd-hp enemies, and if not needed you either get to keep an extra card or get an extra resource.

Also of interest is that this card has lost the text "When Occult Lexicon leaves play, find each of those copies of Blood-Rite (even if they are out of play) and remove them from the game." I think this means you can now swap the tome out after playing it and still keep the Blood-Rite cards in the deck. You don't get to use them as powered up versions, but replacing it with a better hand item might be worth the trade.

I just used this card with Calvin in a Dark Horse deck that uses "I've had worse…" instead of Perseverance, because it's free and brings fuel to your Fire Axe/Mariner's Compass, and it blew my mind!

That got me interested in looking deeper into the real benefits of this card over its competitors.

TL;DR: Shrine of the Moirai is the most versatile discard-pile-drawing card available to as of now. No limit of class, or level, is fast after being played. Buy it after you bought some key events to use them over and over again. It is important to be confident in your encounter prot though, before adding it to your deck. And this is useable by your fellow teammates!

Shrine of the Moirai: 1 action, 1 resource, 6 targets, 3 encounter cards, 3xp, limit: 5xp for the 2 cards, the user needs to stay at the same location when using it. this is the most versatile discard-drawing card.

Net cost: 0 actions (considering encounter cards like 1 action lost for each, which is an average, some will make you lose 2 actions, others just provoke a skill test or direct effect).

Best when: Played at the end of your turn, you can consider that you will use it once after playing it, and once at the beginning of your next turn. Also interesting at the end of your campaign to recycle certain of your key cards (events/skills most likely). Importantly, it can be used by anyone at that same location!

Down side: You need a solid encounter-protection to find a real benefit to Shrine of the Moirai. The new Nine of Rods helps scaling down the risk, and all the versions of A Test of Will as well. If you are pairing with a Mystic, that's also often going to be fine, especially as they can use Ward of Protection on it (and redraw it right after, along with a 5 pips spell, like Deny Existence).

Here is now an analysis of when X card is better or worse than Shrine of the Moirai:

Scrounge for Supplies: 1 action, 0 resource, 1 target, 0xp - limit: level 0 card.

Net cost: -1 action: You spend an action to replace Scrounge for Supplies by any other level 0 card in your discard pile.

Best when: Early campaigns when all your cards are level 0

Down side: Good cards tend to be in your discard pile by the end of the scenario when actions become really scarce, therefore Scrounge for Supplies may stay in your hand because you have more important stuff to take care of.

Resourceful: 0 action, 0 resource, 1 target, 0 xp - limit: cards, only works on success.

Net cost: 0 actions: You spend one card to find another one

Best when: Playing heavy decks like Calvin Wright or Stella Clark. Also, you need to be sure to succeed in your test and aim at higher level cards for a better return on investment.

Down side: draw the and you lost your chance. Let's face it, we all wasted Resourceful at least once on an excess of confidence in the Chaos bag.

True Survivor: 1 action, 3 resources, 3 targets, 3xp - limit: Innate skills (full list of Innate skills here)

Net cost: -2 actions

Best when: You play the combos of Brute Force and Sharp Vision. Or Resourceful to bring back your True Survivor for another round.

Down side: Very expensive in XP. Your deck must be more or less built around this strategy for you to find a spot for this card in your upgrades.

A Chance Encounter (0): 1 action, 1 resource, 1 target, 0xp - limit: Allies, only for 1 turn

Net cost: -2 actions

Best when: You use it on allies that bring something specific: Anna Kaslow, Tetsuo Mori if you can kill him fast enough, Medical Student, Laboratory Assistant, Research Librarian, etc... The Red-Gloved Man why not, but you lost your first use of him already...

Down side: The Ally is discarded (not defeated, sorry Xavier) at the end of the round, when it takes you already 1 action to play it.

A Chance Encounter (2): 1 action, 0 resources (it doesn't add to the value of the target), 1 target, 2xp - limit: Allies that are already defeated/discarded

Net cost: -1 actions: You spend one card to find another one

Best when: You heavily rely on certain allies that provide you a time-based benefit: Guard Dog, Beat Cop (2), Aquinnah (3), Agency Backup, Grete Wagner, Mr. "Rook", David Renfield, Eldritch Sophist, Dayana Esperence, etc...

Down side: This card becomes useful only when you first draw your ally and finish using it. It implies heavy use of this ally's benefit. It can also become a very costly strategy (Hey Agency Backup).

Scavenging & Scavenging (2): 1 action, 1 resource, unlimited targets, 0&2xp - limit: you need to be a good investigator

Net cost: N/A

Best when: You are an investigator with access to this card and you are interested in reusing certain items. First in mind are Rex Murphy and Minh Thi Phan with the Ancient Stone, Agnes Baker with her charged spells, or Calvin Wright, Wendy Adams that will like to re-use soaks. "Ashcan" Pete will also like to draw back some cards from the discard pile to turn them into dog food another time, and potentially Preston Fairmont could also use it.

Down side: You need to be confident in your investigating capacities to make the best out of this card. It is also often useful from the 2/3 of your scenario onward, as you first need to draw your item, use it completely, discard it, and play Scavenging to be able to spend another action to play it again. This decreases the overall value of Scavenging & Scavenging (2). It is often being used around twice to 3 times per scenario.

Conclusion:

Shrine of the Moirai fits best with investigators that have a great protection against encounter cards (Wendy Adams, Calvin Wright, Stella Clark for example) and rely on some key events.

It is expensive in XP, but is by far the most versatile one of them all. It is a great replacement for Scrounge for Supplies once you bought expensive cards and you want to use them as many times as possible.

Unless you play a certain style of deck in which Resourceful, True Survivor or A Chance Encounter will shine, Shrine of the Moirai is your go-to card for bringing value to your discard pile.

So you're playing your game as normal. You've completed the first two acts. You know what you need to do to complete the third and final act. There are three enemies on the board and two MAYBE three more rounds worth of doom left on the agenda. It's tight, but you can win if you just stick to the plan. And then you look and there's these two locations that don't seem to have anything to do with the scenario. Why is this even here? And you read the text on the back...

I don't imagine a lot of people would be reading reviews of individual location cards on here, but this particular one is proof of how brilliantly this game is designed. The creaters knew exactly what both the game state and your own state of mind would be when you are considering going there. In its first play through, it stokes the players' curiosity and their willingness to risk it all just to learn a bit more. The text on the back is just perfect. It knows who you are and speaks directly to your investigative gamer's soul.

Using this directive means there is no point in Roland using police dogs in the extra ally slot. As the dogs only bite after they have been assigned damage.

Brother Xavier: Pure of Spirit is also made worthless.