I see Skids getting so much flak from AH content creators and it makes me sad. They underestimate the man, and I've always had a soft spot for the underdogs. And I think this is because they're playing Skids sub-optimally.

I'm of the opinion that you should try to maximize an investigator's special ability. Along with their statline and deckbuilding options, an investigator's special is what defines them. Virtually all special abilities are action compression/advantage and Skids' is online from the start without any extra stipulations. You start with 5 resources, so you have 2.5 actions banked. And thinking along these lines, I want to be taking my 4th action as often as I can. This means I don't want to be spending actions and resources playing assets. What I want to be doing with Skids is committing to tests and over-succeeding. Skids loves his Lucky Cigarette Case and the new Thieves' Kit is functionally Dr. Milan Christopher for him.

Between the and cardpool, Skids has some of the best access in the game with Take the Initiative, Quick Thinking, Daring, Calculated Risk, "Watch this!" (basically a icon, honorable mention), Daredevil which you can reasonably guess what you'll hit when you play it and it'll give you info as to when you're more likely to draw your weaknesses, and even Cunning and Steadfast have served me well. Interestingly, despite his 2 , I've found that he's pretty resilient to tests as long as you're willing to commit, and I think you should. Skids should absolutely run Guts and not be afraid of throwing cards at the test, because as Skids you're going to use the tests the game throws at you on it's turn to gain tempo and prepare for your turn.

I actually play Skids a lot like you'd play Winifred Habbamock, overcommit to tests and get rewarded. I'm not opposed to paying 2 resources to draw a card if nothing else presents itself. If I said there was a Permanent card that cost 0 XP, 0 resources, and only read: " Spend 2 resources: Draw 1 card." would you play it? This is often functionally what Skids ability is for me, with the flexibility and possibility of being anything else I need it to be. (Of course, I'm aware of provoking AoO.)

He also has some of the best encounter deck control in the game with First Watch, "Let me handle this!", "You handle this one!", and On the Hunt. I also think Skids is the closest thing in the game we have to a "dodge tank" -- he doesn't really want to fight enemies (guns are expensive, and his is 3) but with 4 he can evade most things, and with 's many, many icons he should have no problem locking enemies down. His signature On the Lam is said to be weak, but on the contrary I think it's very strong. Consider that the designers thought Infighting was worth 3 XP. Whether that's a mis-evaluation on their part or not, Skids' signature is way more powerful than that. And the ability to Taunt enemies off your teammates and then ignore them completely is not to be underestimated. Get enemies off your friends, and laugh as you play "I'll see you in hell!" or "I'm outta here!" after dragging them away.

Which is not to say that Skids can't be a killer. He absolutely can with access to both Vicious Blow and Hatchet Man and the skills his cardpool offers. When I go that route Overpower and Vicious Blow are some of my 1st upgrades. I've had a fun time lately with Sledgehammer one-shotting 4 and 5 health enemies. The new Toe to Toe is also great for him.

My main point here is that Skids likes skills and he likes 0 cost events, and as reviewer AndyB pointed out on his original card page, Skids likes speed. So maximize his special ability. Run low to the ground, setup quickly, and get to investigating. Stay flush with cards (the neutral skills like Guts, Perception, Manual Dexterity help, as does fun stuff like Three Aces and Easy Mark) and use the game's treachery tests as a spring board to powering your turn. That's just my 2 cents.

More a Question for a FaQ

lets say I have a legal starting deck with bloodpact, but then, upgrade it to bloodpact (3), would down the Rabbit hole trigger when I add a new card to fill out the one that has been lost? in addition would this only trigger with level 0 cards or could I sneak in a level 3 card in without paying any extra?

It is funny that nobody mentioned two of the most powerful elder signs reactions.

Jim Culver: take out an elder sign a transform it in a skull (0). With this you can force multiple reactions, like getting another clue with sixth sense or an additional damage with either****.

However, the most effective combo I got was

• Song of the dead plus eldritch inspiration for a 5 damage without test...
• An additional card as I activated crystal pendulum...
• Heal an horror with the trumpet.

Wendy parallel: the additional two curse tokens and a +2 (w/o effect). It could be extremely powerful.

• Do you have Armageddon 4xp? You get two additional damage (for a total of 4) or two additional charges.
• Do you have eye of chaos 4xp? Two clues plus another two somewhere else.

Pulled this card with Darrell and have no real way of getting rid of it as I have no way of spending excess resources or using excess cards. Though it is not that problematic as normally I am reducing skill tests rather than having to commit. If I had a card with 1 skill icon could I still commit it as it doesn't drop down to 0 until it is committed?

Quick Getaway is a card that tries to do a bit of everything, and unfortunately falls flat. Let's go into some of its different aspects.

Cancels an enemy attack

Stops a monster from taking a nasty bite out of you. The problem is you pay 2 resources for a chance to cancel the attack. In comparison, Dodge costs one resource less, can protect anyone at your location, and guarantees the attack is cancelled. Dodge may be in a different class, but many fighting rogues (e.g. Skids, Tony, Jenny) are able to take Dodge anyway.

Grants you an extra action on your turn evade

This is useful for cards that care about how many actions you've taken e.g. Pay Day. EDIT: As pointed out in the comments, I believe this is not true.

However, you would need to play this during your turn, which usually means taking an AOO, which is something that can often be avoided to begin with. The bigger downside is that for this purpose, Quick Getaway is completely outclassed by Swift Reflexes, which can be used to do any action, including evading with an asset or event, and even has the same cost and icons.

Triggers on evade effects, including exhausting the enemy

This is a nice benefit compared to Dodge. With this, you can trigger all those on evade effects that you didn't get a chance to do earlier. The most common scenario is when a hunter enemy moves into your location. (since, if it was during your turn, you could have done a regular evade instead, and the card you are looking for is Swift Reflexes). When the friendly next door monster wanders in, you can immediately evade it, empty its pockets, shoot it in the face, stab it below the belt, and finish up by calling in the nice cleaning lady. This is a very nice play, and can save you some move actions if you play it right, leaving you free to spend your turn at your current location doing more ..profitable things.

Swift Reflexes cannot be played during the enemy phase, so this is one area Quick Getaway wins out, if you are planning an ambush tactic. But again, here it is completely outclassed by another card, namely Honed Instinct with the Killer Instinct upgrade. Honed Instinct may cost more xp, but just does the job so much better.

One niche that Quick Getaway has is that it can disable a hunting massive enemy before it attacks. Dodge will only cancel one of the attacks, while Killer Instinct cannot trigger, since massive enemies do not have a moment where they actually 'engage'. But you run the risk of drawing the and having the monster smack each investigator around. Moreover, hunting massive monsters are fairly rare. I would rather avoid the risk, and disable the monster during the player phase instead.

Trick traited

Finally, something that sets this card apart. All the usual synergies apply i.e. Crafty, Chuck Fergus and Rita Young

Which deck wants this?

Quick Getaway is a card that is an odd mix of Dodge, Swift Reflexes, and Honed Instinct. It tries to do a little bit of each card, but so inefficiently that you'd be better off taking those other cards instead. I normally like flexible cards, but this one doesn't make the cut. A conditional attack cancel is just very, very bad; evading during the player phase is much better because if you fail, your team still has other chances to neutralize the threat.

The saving grace is the Trick trait, and this makes it viable for Rita Young, who cannot take any of the other cards. Rita already has a built in on evade trigger, and is often strapped for actions. Together with Crafty and Dirty Fighting, you could put this card to good use, although I suspect it will get shuffled out with some XP. But without supporting cards, it is just not strong enough on its own; the effect is situational, unreliable, and the cost is prohibitive.