Arcane Studies

Arcane Studies

Slotless reoccurring skill boosts are generally amazing, and this would be no exception ... if it weren't for the fact that Recall the Future is half the XP cost and only triggers when you need it. There are two upsides to this card vs Recall: the first is that Recall only covers one "out of range" token, while this is a normal skill boost, but I think half a Lucky! is still better than a Guts; the second is that after you use the two resources off of it you're left with an Arcane Studies (0), but to be honest I just haven't liked any of that cycle since the cardpool got big enough to not need filler cards.

Thatwasademo · 58
Fair argument, but RtF also a) exhausts and b) involves a guessing game which makes it most effective in a subset of Mystics. It’s a good card, but it requires more support than this one to really shine. — LivefromBenefitSt · 1067
Nah, recall works incredibly similarly even without support, as going up by +2 is not dissimilar to just Recalling the worst token in the bag, though it depends on how far up a test you are. I do agree generally that Recall, for the price, is a better pick. — StyxTBeuford · 13028
Recall the Future only exhausts if you ‘guess’ correctly. I.e. you hit the token it is relevant for. It’s not really a guessing game, but a risk mitigation game. — Death by Chocolate · 1485
The point is that Recall the Future gives you a +2 boost to a single test per Round. Arcane Studies can give you +2 to one test, +1 to two tests, or as many tests as you might have resources for. Also, Arcane Studies always "goes off;" there is no chance of it failing. I like Recall the Future and had some good fun with it in a Chaos Bag Jim deck that rocked Carcosa, but I think the two cards exist in different design spaces and aren't really in competition with each other (except in the way that all cards are in competition for limited deck space. — LivefromBenefitSt · 1067
You have to also keep in mind what DbC is saying- Recall is reactive, it only works when you need it. With skill boosters, you might waste the boost if you draw a good token. You often spend 2 just to ensure yourself passing against the worst token, which often doesnt get pulled. — StyxTBeuford · 13028
I wouldn't say there's no chance of Arcane Studies failing, at least in any sense that there's a chance of Recall the Future failing -- there's always some threshold skill value you're looking to hit, usually the test's difficulty but sometimes a little above or below, and if you draw a token that meant you would have been above that threshold without spending for the boost then it's exactly as though you didn't get it. (And likewise, if you draw the autofail or any other token bad enough that the boost doesn't put you above the *lowest* value you were looking to hit, but that's less likely most of the time you're using any sort of boost) The difference being that for this card, you already spent the resources (or "resources"), but for Recall missing means it's still ready. — Thatwasademo · 58
Recall the Future can fail to "go off" if you have more than one token that will cause you to fail by 2 or less and you pick the wrong token. It's still ready, and it can be used on all tests, which are both points in its favor, but I think the two cards exist in such different design spaces that saying one is better than the other is a little self defeating. Different Decks have different priorities, after all. Probably the biggest drawback to Arcane Studies is that Mystics traditionally have resource crunches, making "pay to pass" more difficult. — LivefromBenefitSt · 1067
Realistically you’re probably committing on a RtF test also, you just commit less since RtF makes up the difference to ensure success barring autofail. The same is probably true for Arcane Studies- you will commit and spend the resources off of it. — StyxTBeuford · 13028
In other words you can usually ensure that only one non autofail token is the issue and use Recall for that. — StyxTBeuford · 13028
There is another advantage of this card, albeit only for Diana: it synergies with "Well Prepared". Granted, you get that also from the level 2 version. But if you put that into your deck, you are better off with upgrading it, than using additional deck slots and play action for the other card. — Susumu · 371

Arcane Studies

Arcane Studies

4XP is a lot, but I like this suite of card designs. Recurring credits were a definite thing in Netrunner, and they are just as good here. Getting a +2 for an Investigation, or boosting almost any spell by +2 once a turn is pretty nice, and this will help with most of the Parlay tests that come up in scenarios. And, of course, if there is some ridiculously high test, you can always spend resources on it. It's gravy that it refills at the beginning of the Round, so it's available for Treachery defense.

LivefromBenefitSt · 1067
It looks to me that the best use of this card is in an Agnes Baker "dark horse" deck: you can at the same time benefit from the Dark horse bonus by having no ressoures AND have 2 ressources to boost your willpower/knowledge. Or even 4 if you also use Forbidden knowledge and Madame Labranche (and a 5th if you took your ressource during upkeep). Turning a 5 2 2 3 investigator to 11 2 2 3 or 5 6 2 3 for a single test or to 8 2 2 3 or 5 5 2 3 for 2 tests. — AlexP · 252

Guts

Guts

I am not sold on this suite of 2XP upgrades to the Level-0 Neutrals, but, apparently, a lot of people love them. I can admit that Mystics are not exactly swimming in card draw, and a chance to get two cards for a fairly easy test on any of the "first upgrade utility spells" (Shrivelling (3), Azure Flame (3), Rite of Seeking (2), Wither (4), etc) would be helpful to most Mystics. Once you are testing 10, getting 2 up isn't that hard.

Edit: On review, Silas can take this and might very well like to to shore up his kind of shaky .

LivefromBenefitSt · 1067
I am with you on not understanding the attraction to this set of cards. The card draw is nice but in most of the classes my investigators are testing high enough that I don't include the L0 version. Yes, it gives you card draw but I would rather have the other better cards in my deck in the first place. — The Lynx · 980
So typically, if I am testing one or two stats very frequently, I usually include the level 0 versions of these skills. All my fighters take Overpower, all my cluevers take Perception, etc. They have always been good cards and I think people have shifted to underplaying them. They just increase your consistency and help you cycle into your best cards faster. These upgrades are just more gas in that tank. — StyxTBeuford · 13028
I also typically focus on boosting 2 skills for each investigator but one I focus on boosting only with static boosts. The other I focus on boosting with wild/skill icons. And I could get L2 skill card but usually I would prefer to add the L2+ card that boosts itself like Rite Of Seeking (2). I could see myself using the Overpower version because I usually always have extra combat icons in my deck since failing a combat test can turn things ugly very quickly. Most of my Mystics decks are testing at an 8WP by mid campaign and I barely include any skill cards in their deck anyway. — The Lynx · 980
I’m not particularly excited about most of the cycle, although I find them interesting. I particularly value Perception (2) and Overpower (2) because they add more powerful gas to Practice Makes Perfect. — Death by Chocolate · 1485
I use Guts in my deck as a support card for other characters. My WP is fine but I often pitch this in to help a teammate when location effects are increasing the difficulty and I need to have another in my location. — Staticalchemist · 1
0 actions -> 2 draw + bonus against harsh tokens — Drostt · 116
Cryptic research 2xp more, 1 draw more, you don't have to test anything (plus any player can take it), I think they are on pair, especially that this can be taken by mystics — Drostt · 116

Hypnotic Gaze

Hypnotic Gaze

It's -1 cost compared to the level 0 version, and it has an extra icon. If you can pull off the token pull (hello, Jacqueline, Olive, and various kindred cards) you can use it on all those annoying Geist enemies from TCU, plus any horror-not-damage enemies you care to fight. The reduced cost makes it more playable in Mystic decks that often suffer from resource shortages, and it;'s nice that both versions work on Elites.

LivefromBenefitSt · 1067
It’s still a very expensive dodge. I do not get this card. — StyxTBeuford · 13028
I'd say this card is very strong. I rarely played the lvl 0 version because 3 resources is a lot, but this version is more reasonably priced and you can use either damage or horror values which means you can easily pull off 2 or even 3 damage which is significant. It does require a test in that you need a specific token, but there's no consequence if you fail and there are lots of ways to force one of those tokens to resolve if you really want. — LaRoix · 1645

Grotesque Statue

Grotesque Statue

This is very a simple and direct downgrade of its older sibling. 2 XP less, 1 resource more, 1 fewer charge. I can see either buying this on the way to Grotesque Statue (4) or stopping at this version. Obviously, only some decks will want this, but those that do will find it a nice stepping stone.

LivefromBenefitSt · 1067
One nice thing is that it gives off-class Mystics a chance to do more bag control stuff — Zinjanthropus · 229
Finally Marie Lambeau can use Grotesque Statue! Only this version though, not the original. But with all the spells you're running with her, a little token manipulation for special effects sure does come in handy. — Pinchers · 131