Cryptic Writings · ArkhamDB

Cryptic Writing, Crack the Case, and Burning the Midnight Oil all fulfill very similar roles: actionlessly turning cards into resources.

Of the three, Crack the Case has the highest resource potential and the ability to support your allies, at the cost of not being always available when you need it. Burning the Midnight Oil is more reliable and only asks that you be able to make a basic investigate action, which any Seeker should be able to do. Where does that leave Cryptic Writings?

Cryptic Writings will far less reliably give resources actionlessly (especially at lower XP), but it does have icons. This means if you don't need the resources, you can simply treat it as a skill card , and it makes for good Crystallizer of Dreams fodder for Ursula and Trish. With a bit of XP, seekers will draw far more cards on their turns than during Upkeep so its reliability in coughing up resources will improve. It also has a slight edge in speed over Crack the Case or Burning the Midnight Oil it'll due to not having to wait for the right timing, again assuming you can reliably draw it on your turn.

If you're running Higher Education, you'll most likely be looking at one or both of the other cards. If you're running a heavy card draw or cycle engine, Cryptic Writings could merit a second glance, although most likely Astounding Revelation would be all the resource you need unless you're hoarding cash for some reason or have really good resource sinks not named Higher Education.

3/17/21

suika · 7552

I've tried to like and enjoy Cryptic Writings, but every time I've put it in a deck, it's been disappointing. I find Crack the Case to be far the best of the three because there's always one location that has a good shroud, and if not, a free action to get 3 resources (or even just 2) is pretty good. — acotgreave · 89 3/18/21

Cryptic Writing's only advantage is if you cycle your deck faster than you investigate, it generates cash a lot faster than Crack the Case, which becomes dead cards in your hand. — suika · 7552 3/19/21

It also has better icons, which is especially relevant for Amanda. You could also run both- CTC to share resources, Writing to inject cash into your own engine. — StyxTBeuford · 12419 3/19/21

The L2 has felt pretty wildly efficient the few times I've taken it, but I think Crack the Case is more than efficient enough, and probably has fewer feel-bad moments. — Zinjanthropus · 160 3/20/21

You're just never going to draw it during your turn.

Finding it is nice, but most of the time you will just feel bad and annoyed. It's not important enough to try and search for it with search effects. And the rest of the time it's just a bad Emergency Cache and you'll be cursing it in anger!

The card is quite decent in Norman Withers decks, and I could imagine it in a deck with Scroll of Secrets.

10/6/20

Tsuruki23 · 1955

Heavy disagree. If you build your deck to cycle quickly, you will frequently draw this during your turn. Even Crack the Case require you actually clear a location to get the burst. This is just gas in a draw heavy deck. — StyxTBeuford · 12419 10/6/20

Yeah, a typical draw-heavy deck will draw 2x, 3x, or even 6+x as many cards during their turn as during the upkeep. — Death by Chocolate · 711 10/6/20

And at worst, you've got 2 int symbols, the best non wild symbols to have in the game. It hurts less than accidentally drawing Astounding Rev, which you should still run despite that risk in a search deck. — StyxTBeuford · 12419 10/6/20

I agree with Styx. Harvey with his Vault of Knowledge out has got great odds of drawing this during his turn. If it's early in the game, you'll be glad to have the resources. If it's mid to late game, those icons are beautiful. A great card either way. — Pinchers · 6 1/8/21

@Death by Chocolate, can you link me a deck that draws 6 cards every turn? Curious. — flamebreak · 18 2/3/21

@flamebreak simple example: any Seeker investigates commiting PMP, drawing Perception (2), exhausting Gristly Totem, passing, gaining +4 cards in a single skill test; investigating again commiting the Perception, gaining +2 cards. Exhausts a Taboo'd Scroll for +1 draw. Exhausts Rook for +1 draw. Exhausts Dream-Enhancing Serum for +1 draw. Plays Cryptic Writings for +3 more. Spend 6 secrets from the Necronomican for 6 more cards. Of course, this will be spread out in a few turns to avoid running into the hand size limit...or you might not care becuase you have the Dream Enhancing Sereum in play. — suika · 7552 2/15/21

It's a nice adjunct to/replacement for Burning the Midnight Oil. Rather than being 2 Resources for something you would probably be doing anyway, this is fast in a different way. I guess it would not fire if Minh Thi Phan recurred it from her discard pile with Scrounge for Supplies, but why would she do that? NOt flashy, but a nice utility card, especially since Seekers often need to spend resources on Assets to really get going. This might also help Roland Banks with his perennial resource problems.

9/7/20

LivefromBenefitSt · 603

Does Roland draw cards during his turn? Maybe with the new "Draw 2 cards after you defeat an enemy" card — Yenreb · 9 9/8/20

Yeah I dont see how Roland justifies this. Astounding Rev works much better thanks to the Stick to the Plan interaction, though it also works great with Practice Makes Perfect and Calling in Favors. — StyxTBeuford · 12419 9/8/20