Empty Vessel

Manicly good and a natural supplement/upgrade to Hallowed Mirror. Requires some build-around.

Getting the charges is a bit of work, but is'nt a terrible challenge for a focused combatant character (like characters usually are). Once the charges are ready the ability to negate very bad tokens makes the character better at literally everything! In one go you can resist a treachery and heal pain, prevent a missed attack and heal, safely pull up a clue and -heal-!

When the Empty Vessel is charged and you swap for Wish Eater it opens a big window of power where attacks get more accurate, tests and treacheries get easier to beat and your pain literally flies away. The benefits make the commitment worth it.

A little groundwork and item teck is required to make it easier to find the Empty Vessel early enough to get the charges, a friendly with a No Stone Unturned, a Tetsuo Mori. Generally the cards you need to make a Empty Vessel shine are good anyway.

Once the Empty Vessel is on the table and charged you need to carefully consider when to swap it. Some scenarios have enough enemies running around that you can get it transformed twice, other times you would save up 3 or 4 charges to do the one and only swap of the scenario. Do note that the swap trigger is Fast and not locked into your turn, so you can rest easy with 3+ charges until right when you need the help.

Finally: Akachi Onyele can use it and it, works, gooood for her. She really needs Relic Hunter to make it work but oh BOY, a combat specialized Akachi Onyele with Wish Eater can bulldoze through fights.

Tsuruki23 · 2577
This card is hard to sell. The only noteworthy effect is the token cancellation, and I only see that being relevant in rare occasions. If there is a treachery that is very bad for you and/or if there is a very nasty token maybe this would help...but in that case you would have to somehow draw this early, kill 3 enemies, then during the window this is charged you have to draw the very bad treachery and/or the bad chaos token. Even in a search deck/comp this is bad, since there are better search targets than this...like your main weapon or any other good combo cards. Situational, hard to draw (limit 1 copy), mediocre effect, costly (4xp)... — Alogon · 1145
Backpack could help you find this and your weapon — Django · 5162
I think you're underestimating the value of the healing. I had this in Akachi and would find myself hoping for the nasty tokens, so I could cancel them for healing. Coupled with cancelling the token = it wasn't drawn= no nasty side effects from spells (like 2 horror from Shriveling V?) and that's some real value — Yenreb · 15
I agree, the combo with "Shrivelling" (5) is great in Akachi. It's almost a "Deny Existence" (5) on a stick, that works with spell side effects rather than encounter cards. I recommend "Decorated Skull" (3) (and of course "Relic Hunter") on her to make finding the vessel more likely. — Susumu · 381
Mind over Matter

Brilliant, Brilliant, Brilliant!

The mechanical change of supplementing your and instead of replacing them means that people with already good or can now use it too.

A Roland or Joe can use this card to gain monstrous efficiency for a round (7 or more -before- adding weapon bonuses!), AND the card replaces itself too. Frankly I wont hesitate to say this thing is an autotake, especially on hard difficulties where staying ahead of the token bag gets very expensive. If you have level 2 access and fight with weapons, you want this card in your deck.

For non combative characters (I.E most folks) this thing is mostly a means to duck out of combat, which is not always worth the slot and XP over just taking a copy of Manual Dexterity. It's still worth looking at for big multiplayer groups for characters who can net 8+ and pull themselves or others out of a pile of enemies.

For an interesting left-field combo you can run Mind Over Matter with Strange Solution to get a full round of 3 damage attacks made at 10+.

Good, versatile, card.

Tsuruki23 · 2577
I hadn't thought about the Guardian/Seekers, this would be extremely good for them. As for Strange Solution, that's already an incredible Joe card, he could just demolish a boss with that combo. Good stuff. — Zinjanthropus · 230
Spiritual Resolve

The ultimate tank card.

A fast draw deck that can find it and heal it quick will be walking through fire without a scratch! It's cheap and therefore usable by money starved characters like Roland Banks and Mark Harrigan, Zoey is also good with it.

This card is a steal for 5 XP.

Right now this card has just one "just right" fit, in Mark Harrigan who'se ability to draw very fast and need for both horror and health tanks line up to make this a core part of a mid-high level Mark Harrigan deck. It's a fine method to make every character reasonably tanky without breaking the bank.

Tommy Muldoon seems like he might want this card but really, his abilities dont line up with it, his draw is too slow and his card slots are already commited to other cards that align with his ability better. It's better to put the xp into Charisma and play beefy allies who will net you similar tank volume and some useful mechanics while they're at it too.

Tsuruki23 · 2577
Why wouldn't Tommy just allow this card to be defeated instead of using the free action discard to heal the damage? It would cost 3R and an action to play the next one but he would be making a profit from the first one being defeated. — The Lynx · 993
He could, or he could get more value from other tank cards that he wants to fill his deck with. — Tsuruki23 · 2577
Don't most of those other better tank cards occupy contested slots though? — The Lynx · 993
@TWWaterfalls They do, but when you're using beat cop, BroX, or agency backup, you can expect those slots to open back up sooner rather than later. Even if you want the fight boost from beat cop forever, you can just take charisma and give yourself more of those contested slots. I'm not saying (and I don't think Tsuruki 23 is saying this either) that it's wrong if you take this as Tommy, we just think there are better uses for your deck slots. I don't think anyone's going to say that 18 soak for 5xp, in an uncontested slot, isn't good. — SGPrometheus · 847
Ill add a bit more clarity to the review. — Tsuruki23 · 2577
I just disagree with Tommy not wanting this. You dont use the healing ability on it, but the fact that his draw is poor actually makes this- a 3 of for only 5xp- more attractive, not less. And of course it doesnt take any contested slots. This is a great Tommy card. — StyxTBeuford · 13049
One-Two Punch

There are a few interesting things going for this card.

I'll start with the obvious - First, this is a card that effectively condenses 3 damage worth of attacks into a single action. If you're fighting an enemy with low fight but 3 toughness, this is going to help you clear it out in a single action. Obviously, this works best on Nathaniel Cho, who can turn it into a solid 4 damage without any external support. However, 3 damage is still good enough to handle a wide variety of normally irritating creatures.

Second, the effect is an isolated card that gives you a +1 for the first attack, and a +2 for the second. This isn't as large of a boost as something like Spectral Razor or Act of Desperation can give, but most Guardians have respectable to begin with - the +1 is enough for most easier fights, and the +2 can help make up the difference. In general, this will be as reliable as any 0 XP weapon.

Third, this is a Spirit card. The primary benefit means that it's something that you can find via Boxing Gloves, but it also means you'll be able to grab it with Calvin Wright, should you find you want more damage more than you need pure stats.

Finally, it is a Tactic card. The biggest benefit of that means it is available via Stick to the Plan, providing most Guardians with a low-price option if their weapons are not available.

It does have a couple of notable downsides. First, the attacks are broken into two separate fights. This means that you will need two draws from the bag to make that three damage land. You will only boost one part of things with commits or any other effects that boost the next skill check, and this means an additional chance to hit or some other negative token effect. Missing the first check is just as bad as missing any other combat event, though you can still get enough damage if you miss the second. If you were playing it specifically to deal with a 3-HP target, it does mean you can at least make a follow-up attack with a weapon.

Second, it's also a 2-Cost Event. Many Guardians have fairly limited income, and many guardians may prefer to spend their resources on a repeated-use weapon, rather than a one-shot event. Its price might be higher than some like.

Is this going to fit into most Guardian decks? While it's not a bad option on the whole, I suspect it's a little niche to be a top option for most. However, if you're using Boxing Gloves, if your hand slots are otherwise precious, or if you simply have the resources to warrant a bit more to deal 3 damage now and then, it's not a bad pick.

Ruduen · 1021
As far as the resource cost goes, if you were willing to play a .45 automatic, then you are willing to spend 4 resources, a card, and an action to get +4 damage over the next few fight actions. One-Two punch costs 2 resources, and a card to get +2 damage over one action. — Death by Chocolate · 1489
The Eye of Truth

Really doesnt need much discussion. Great card.

As a 4x skill card you can beat some surprising tests, a hard scenario test, a parlay, but treachery tests is where it'S at. On one hand you can filter out a bad treachery by sneaking it aside, and you make the other copies of it easier too! Many late-campaign treacheries will murder you if you get hit! Also makes stuff like Frozen in Fear less nasty.

Great card, but is it worth 5 XP? Not at the start, no. Not worth slowing down a research card or some key asset. It's a great use for XP once youre post-20 XP.

Tsuruki23 · 2577