Okay, maybe this is not an amazing card, but I wouldn't say its anywhere near as bad as people describe it to be.

The main downside about this is that it can be sometimes hard to time it correctly to get the most out of it, but the thing is, the ??? icons will be most useful and important precisely toward the end of the act/scenario, and by that time there is usually 6 or more doom in play. And if not, it can usually safely give you two ?? icons, just like Unexpected Courage. With the amount of luck/gamble reliant cards, and the newer Dilemma cards I think Prophesy fares pretty good, compared to other cards that are situational or require luck.

So most of the time you'll be running it with ??. The card's single ? might be a bit of a pain especially early on, but it's ??? might also save you at times, especially later on. In particular, if you have access to Practice Makes Perfect then Prophesy changes from average to a pretty good card. On the other side though, you also have practiced cards like Promise of Power which outshines both Prophesy and Unexpected Courage combined.

It's the second campaign (almost at the end now) I'm playing with these cards instead of UC and there were only two times where the situation was sticky because of a single ? instead of ??. I know this might not be statistically significant, and I admit I didn't run the numbers on this card, but ultimately I had fun having it in my deck and i think this matters the most.

So ultimately that's what it boils down to, having fun. And gambling. Generally having this in a deck is a bit of a gain or a bit of a risk, so if you want more stability and predictability you should probably aim for the safer Unexpected Courage. If you want to take the chance of losing one ? for the additional ? and try to time it and just gamble it, Prophesy will work just fine.

This is a .45 Automatic that doesn't use any hand slots if you use them all on Tools. Its offensive capabilities are not exactly impressive for a signature weapon but beyond being lucky it is your only way to replenish your Hunch Deck.

The big issue with the Colt 1911s is that it wants you to be exclusive by restricting your hand slots, and simultaneously being nowhere good enough to be your one true love. You might see this as nothing more than a commit card for this reason.

The problems to be solved are two: How can I conserve the ammo on my Colt 1911s so that I reserve it for finishing off foes, and how can I keep my competitive with a +1 weapon?

1. Being a cowardly little kill stealer: If you are not the main monster hunter in the party then you can let someone else deal with the big elites while you take pot shots at low-fight and low-health enemies, or finish off the big boys after someone else did all the work.

2. Getting another weapon out: The Sledgehammer is a weapon and a tool. It likely won't hold up in later parts of the campaign but in a lv 0 deck it will pull its weight. Bandolier and its upgrade is an obvious solution if you have the card draw for it, allowing you to equip a Machete or Timeworn Brand.

3. Using events and non-weapons: Strange Solution packs a punch and with your guardian access you can replenish Strange Solution, your gun, and a Fingerprint Kit with Venturer and Cleaning Kit. There's also "I've got a plan!" which fits inside your Hunch Deck.

Two cards that will aid you no matter what route you choose are Scientific Theory and Michael Leigh. Stat boosts exactly where you want them, and +1 dmg helps line up the Colt 1911s kill potential.

Overall a mid card that takes some effort to get full value from, but I'm glad it exists.

This card does three things: 1) let you investigate with Willpower 2) add two blesses 3) give an opportunity to collect an extra clue

Using willpower can be worthwhile in Daniela, Mary, Zoey, Diana, Duke, or Hank, as for them it means at least +2. Several other investigators would get a native +1 and willpower boosts tend to be more plentiful than intellect boosts in Guardian.

Adding two blesses is no bad thing, but Keep Faith adds four blesses for the same cost and is fast, so your bless deck is probably viewing this as a helpful rider.

To really make this sing, you need to be able to fish out a bless or elder sign. A few investigators can do that natively (Kohaku, parallels Wendy and Mateo) and any investigator can take Favor of the Sun with some experience. Note that Favor needs to already be in play, and you cannot use the bless tokens from #2 above. Doing so will secure you two clues for two resources and a card, and will give you a pair of blessings to help fill the bag.

Part of this card's challenge is that Scene of the Crime gets a testless clue for the same cost, and can get a bonus clue often enough. That second clue is likely easier to arrange (or simply wait for) than dedicating deck space and opportunity costs to fish out a bless.

If I were to include this in a deck, it's probably alongside Scene of the Crime and other bless support, and it's probably in Daniela or Hank where I need to use events to help with clues, either because I'm a kind and generous killer in a multiplayer group or because I'm a monster who dares attempt solo play with a mere 1 intellect.

It's a weird upgrade in a way.

Its predecessor Ever Vigilant (1) is an entirely selfish card. Three assets, three resources saved, all yours. Very good value for a 1 XP card. But while sitting with 3 assets on hand and the resources to play them is doable, the step to 4 assets is a lot tougher. Spending three additional XP on the potential of one action and resource saved is a luxury most campaigns won't allow.

What we're really paying all that additional XP for is the multiplayer aspect. Which means that the type of player who wants Ever Vigilant (1) is not the person who wants Ever Vigilant (4). That's what makes it a weird upgrade. With (1) you're getting your own assets out quickly. With (4) you're steamrolling your party's tempo. Often instead of your own. It's however very effective at that. Slap it on a Stick to the Plan and the rest the investigators at the table will be doing puppy eyes at you every setup. And you'll realize that it's worth delaying your own setup so that the cluevers can hit the ground running.

TSK had a lot of multiplayer focused cards for Guardians (which I liked as a direction). But while I think that this card is very strong as a multiplayer card, that is not what its predecessor was about. Another card that would have fit this design space better is Teamwork. A Teamwork (2) that gave every investigator at the location a to play an asset with a lower resource cost would have been great, followed the theme of the card, and helped with its original purpose.

I am surprised no one mentioned the strong synergy with Enchant Weapon before (neither here, nor at the other page). Apart from its own effect, it accelerates Dragon Pole's bonus damage being online via giving it an arcane slot.

Still, it seems to me that it's designed for Lily, but with Dragon Pole being level 0 any guardian can take it with Versatile and enable the combo.