TL:DR: Extremely self sufficient weapon, great for 3 characters who want to focus on or if they just want a backup alternative to Shrivelling.

characters typically run weapons, don't, ergo the disparity in buzz for the two variants of this upgrade.

I would like to argue that Enchanted Blade is no slouch, even compared to it's very impressive cousin. Three characters in-class, Diana Stanley, Jim Culver and Akachi Onyele have 3, with blade in hand they fight at 5, by spending charges they fight at 6 or 7, this is by using the mechanics of the blade all by itself, no support required! With some very light support, a couple skills like Overpower and/or Vicious Blow you can fill a support fighter role killing off a few 2-4 hp threats. It's terrific solo where the self sufficiency is key.

The charge mechanic is very efficient, you basically have a +5 base attack and 4 vicious blows on retainer. You can kill 2 3hp threats in 2 attacks, or 2 4hp threats in 4 attacks. The relatively few charges reinforces the support combat role, you can defend yourself in solo or multiplayer or perhaps spend the entire weapon to beat a boss, but it's a one and done deal with probably no backups. I kid! You still have a copy of Shrivelling right!? Not to mention the infinite number of buffed 1-damage attacks.

Point of reference, a fully charged Enchanted Blade attack is 1 from being exactly as powerful as a Lightning Gun shot, you get 2 shots at the cost 3 resources!

There is a big, obvious downside. characters love their Arcane slots. Jim and Diana don't mind too much, their isn't that impressive anyway, but Akachi likes to play the Rosary game so I doubt sacrificing card slots and XP for a card interests her much.

P.S, the sheer power of a fully charged Enchanted Blade can even make fighting work for a 2 character, obviously it'll require a little bit of card support, Agnes Baker with her cards or a certain brand of Norman Withers can actually be very hard-viable with a sword-fighting build.

Well-Maintained is a card multiplier, it's power is strictly dependent on the card you apply it to so evaluating Well-Maintained in vacuum is HARD. Even so, here are some notes to keep in mind:

• It returns the cards to your hand when discarded, this means that cards that do not self-discard are not returned till manually or unintentionally discarded. The card is missing a clause that let's it discard the attached asset, in my mind.
• There are several treacheries that discard assets, such as Crypt Chill, that Well-Maintained helps you defend against.
• Costs are not refunded so you still must be able to pay for the asset again, an issue mostly for the big guns.
• Custom Ammunition and Reliable are the only/most important Upgrades to be released so far.

The most immediate way to read Well-Maintained is to assume it's meant for a big gun, but there are lots of cards that operate far more smoothly within the bounds of the wording. For example:

• Mk 1 Grenades self discard, thus you regain them without any extra actions or costs.
• Disc of Itzamna and Police Badge discard as part of their mechanics, the immediate re-occurrence is fantastic. This is also true for all items that grant health or horror, for example Bulletproof Vest, Elder Sign Amulet, Key of Ys.
• Some more notable self-discarding items: Backpack, Baseball Bat, Colt Vest Pocket, Gravedigger's Shovel, Grotesque Statue, Kerosene, Knife, Lantern, Lockpicks.

There are lots of items that don't discard but still work good with Well-Maintained, it just requires an extra step to execute on, to recurse an empty gun you need to play something else over it in the slot, for example a Flashlight or another copy of the gun, this is still a rather slow process so I wouldn't pick Well-Maintained for this purpose exclusively, Extra Ammunition is a much better option for reloading guns! But, when you have some of the other cards mentioned above, and/or one or both of the upgrade cards, Well-Maintained becomes a much more impressive addition.

Finally there's a couple more combos that are absolutely worth your attention:

• Any large gun + Well-Maintained + Act of Desperation. Recurse the cost and the gun you just sacrificed, ready to be played once more.
• Lupara + Well-Maintained, this combo is a bit slower but it's pretty robust, a good fit in a deck that's investigating with a full set of Lockpicks and Flashlights.
• .45 Thompson + Well-Maintained. The gun pays for itself, ready to do it again once you're able to discard it. A very natural combo.

This is an actual review of this card, not a wall of text about one combo ;)

The characters have a few among them that love skills passionately. "Ashcan" Pete is good with them in particular and Silas Marsh likes to sip his skills like fine wine.

In addition to the empowering mechanics from the 0xp version, Grisly Totem grants a failure umbrella much like Try and Try Again would, this is very good for key mechanics like Resourceful, Deduction and Vicious Blow and still very efficient for pure boosts like Overpower or the desperate skills.

The fact that you can play a skill card every turn, where you know that said skills's benefits are eventually guaranteed, this is a great luxury and potentially crazy powerful. You know how bad it feels to miss a 3-hp foe with a vicious blow? Totem gives you 2 chances at it! Just make sure to bring some easy to play skills like Unexpected Courage and/or Resourceful that you can play and cash in on that bonus as often as you can.

Note that Try and Try Again is a more complete fail umbrella than totem is, even so, the extra boosts really stack up.

A big argument against totem, which requires card commitment to operate, is that it shares a slot with one of the best cards in the game. Key of Ys. Obviously if you adhere to the taboo list then totem shoots up the priority list, especially if you're playing Silas Marsh or a Yaotl based deck.

(Also p.s. the combo with Take Heart is currently legit).

Tricky card to use but here's some tricks to execute the super tutor on demand.

Raw power it via an exploited main stat, for example:

• Agnes Baker with Holy Rosaries and Peter Sylvestre.

• Wendy Adams or Rita Young with Peter Sylvestre and Track Shoes.

• You get the gist of it. High base stat + static boosts.

Once you and your friends get the box halfway done, force the last bit right when you need it with:

• Seal of the Elder Sign.

• Stroke of Luck.

• Will to Survive. (Extra points if you use Leo De Luca or Quick Thinking to get 2 locks.)

• Sure Gamble.

And now you just sit back and dig out all your most overpowered stuff and play it free.

I don't know if this can be described as a good card. It's real meme-y with the 1/campaign trigger, huge cost in actions. But the payoff can mean a free tutored Agency Backup, Rite of Seeking, Ace in the Hole, Key of Ys or whatever other card might be critically important at that moment.

This card is a fantastic deck-cutter.

As skill cards go, +1 icon on a single test is low, the variety helps a bit, most characters can muster a use for either or , and anybody can use .

The benefit, the mini tutor, is just crazy for an action-less and cost-less effect. Use it to pull out key cards a little faster and/or obtain solutions to standing issues.

The low boost and useful success benefit means that you should play Eureka! on low risk tests, use it to push for a +3 or +4 advantage to secure the test. On standard/easy pushing for +2 is fine in early scenarios.

Any character with innate access should give Eureka! at least a passing thought.

Minh Thi Phan and Silas Marsh really like skills, this is obviously true for a strong one like Eureka!.

Eureka! is uniquely good for Norman Withers (for whom skills are low priority) since it bypasses his revealed top card and shuffles his deck, this gives him two chances to dig useful cards out of a deck with something unhelpful revealed on top.