Quick study is a natural upgrade if you have Dr. William T. Maleson in your deck as Trish. Dropping a clue with an aloof enemy means an easier investigate but you still get two clues. Dropping one on an empty square means you can use any number of fast cards to get the clue and evade.

When you have a high willpower investigator, this one seems quite easy to get. Unless of course you draw tentacles like I just did, causing the doom to go from 4 right up to 8, ending the game. :( Better save this cultist until last.

If there’s a non-elite enemy, you don’t wanna kill them for a while, you don’t bind monster or handcuffs access, and you have Chuck who lets you play this fast and for free, this is a good card for you. And that niche may exist, if you get “beneficial“ enemies, like a stubborn detective who can help Preston or Lola the actress.

Also, it can be a weird combo with Crystallizer of Dreams. Use it, Crystallize, then add it to your hand again!

I'll be honest; unless I'm just bad at math & probability - this card is almost impossible to resolve naturally. I guess it's expecting you to lean into cards like Premonition, Grotesque Statue, The Chthonian Stone etc - to manipulate your odds. I'm just not sure I would want to dump 2 XP and a load of other cards in order to make it work. Am I missing something here?

This seemed underwhelming at first, especially since Zoey Samaras, who should benefit from this the most, finds it competing with her signature, and Relic Hunter feels like a heavy investment for something like this. But the more I think about it, the better it seems. Any turn where you make an engage action is one you'll be fighting, and any turn you're fighting will likely benefit from one more fight action, whether it's just in case you miss on the first, or whether the target needs multiple fights to take care of. Even if you don't end up using the spare action to fight, it can get a resource or a draw.

Inside of Zoey Samaras, it might be worth picking with intentions to upgrade to Relic Hunter - with it and her cross in play, not only can any one health enemy be killed instantly, any one health aloof enemy can be killed without tests or real actions.

Outside of her, there aren't many Guardian cards competing for the accessory slot. Hallowed Mirror is nice, but can only be taken at 1 copy, so is less likely to be drawn, and can be used up and replaced by any other accessories you might be using. Empty Vessel is similarly limited, and costs a significant chunk of XP. Unlike the mirror, it stays in play, though. Police Badge is also not a level 0 card, but it can be discarded for the whistle if you draw it, though I'm not sure what kind of situations that would be good in.

As a cross-class option it's less appealing - Mystics, and Innsmouth's own Sister Mary prefer their -boosting accessories, Survivors have cheap sanity soak that Yorick and Tommy really don't want to lose, and Seekers have plenty of good options, though Roland and Joe might give the whistle a look, depending on the build. It's probably worth looking at for people with a Rogue/Guardian pool, though - it can save a shot on a Colt Vest Pocket, or add a resource to a Pay Day turn, for instance.

Overall, I'd say it has most use in Zoey Samaras (alongside her cross), Mark Harrigan (alongside his mirror), and "Skids" O'Toole or Leo Anderson.