A Chance Encounter

Neat effect for replaying and keeping those allies who have a trigger an then discard.

Stray Cats in particular become A LOT better with this card.

Oh, and Pete can bring Duke back from the dead with this. So that is pretty great.

On the other hand, it does require you to pay the cost of the ally, unlike the level 0 version.

So basically, it needs to target low cost, potentially expendable allies in order to justify the slot.

It will get better with more allies, but right now I would probably skip this outside of some weird party compositions.

Myriad · 1226
this one lets you keep the ally, so if you're just using it on allies who discard to use, there's no reason to spend the xp to upgrade to this version. the 0-xp version is far superior, only costing 1 and having the same icons (and of course costing no xp). only upgrade to this one if you have allies you want to keep around for a while for some important strategy. and Duke, like you said, it's a good way to make sure Pete isn't alone if he ends up taking too much horror/damage. — dr00 · 13
If Duke doesnt have a resource cost, can you use this card on him? — Fenrirgarm · 11
Duke actually costs 2. I think Last Chance does work on him. — Mogan · 1
Waylay

Survivor Sneak Attack or Backstab depending on how you look at it.

I won't deny that the effect is powerful, but it also does require that you have evaded (and exhausted) the enemy prior to the playing of this card. That isn't impossible, and for survivors it is even manageable to easy depending on your build.... but that extra action can really pinch you.

Still, it is a card that adds to the evasion only characters (WENDY) tool set by allowing them to eliminate a threat or a victory target.

I think the price is right and while this won't find its way into every Survivor character, it is pretty great for evader characters, especially Wendy.

So slot it in Wendy decks, but avoid it otherwise.

Myriad · 1226
Seems like it might be the missing piece in an evade heavy Wendy build. — youperguy · 7
It also auto-kills those things in dunwich horror. You know what I mean. Don't 'brood' over it. — CecilAlucardX · 10
In hindsight I also appreciate that this card and hiding spot allow you to run Mark Harrigan as an agile guardian. — Myriad · 1226
Scrying

Read the card closely. I think most people miss that this card no longer requires an action.

Yes, it has the potential to hit you for a horror now, but you gain the ability to now reliably use the card and not tax out your actions.

For almost ALL mystics, that makes this card far more playable, especially for Akachi and Norman Withers.

Check this card out if you are one of those two investigators, and maybe even some Agnes builds. Sometimes that horror trigger and the knowledge of what is coming can be all you need to pull out a win.

Myriad · 1226
I would see this as probably a good upgrade of Forbidden Knowledge for Agnes, especially if you are running uncage the soul — 2-XL · 1
I reviewed the core set versionof Scrying back in the good old days. Back toen I thought it was a rally good card. Thing changed afterwards when I noticed scenario's being a true race against the agenda deck. Giving up actions to trigger Scrying hurts when racing the agenda deck. This upgraded version makes me rally like Scrying again. — Heyenzzz · 7448
This version of Scrying synergizers beautifully with Norman Wither's signature asset: Split the Angle. StA makes you use an action to reveal the top encounter card, and then lets you discard for a fast action. With scrying, you can now reveal and discard, both for fast actions. Scrying also works well with Stargazing in solo mode. Makes it likelier that you'll find the all-important "Starts are Right" before the deck shuffles or the scenario ends. — Mordenlordgrandison · 464
This card is also ridiculously good for Luke. Give yourself a monster and go to your dream gate during upkeep -> the monster gets discarded. Seeing encounter cards for the next 1.5 turns is really good in 2-player, but with more, guardians have got better options. — Kitsunin · 1
Torrent of Power

Torrent of Power single handedly justifies the inclusion of spells that HAD been very fringe prior to its release.

You see, before this card, any spell outside of Shrivelling and Rite of Seeking was considered "filler". I am thinking of Scrying, Rite of Seeking and Clarity of Mind.

This card lets you turn those slots that had been inefficient into a bank for these cards.

This card is particularly good because it is modular. You CAN spend an extra charge off of your key spells (Shrivelling and ROS) to get a slightly more powerful Unexpected Courage, but it really doesn't do this card justice.

No, to get the most out of it, you will have to play some other spell and let it sit out as a bank for this card so you have the potential to just blow a key test out completely.

This card is also fantastic on higher difficulties as you can reliably spend up to what you need for those key tests.

I would consider this card in most Mystics, but it will require that you include a third spell into your builds aside from Rite of Seeking and Shrivelling in order to really get the most out of it.

Myriad · 1226
We really need Spell cards that benefit from having extraordinarily high success results (think a Shotgun spell of sorts). Torrent of Power'll shine when something like that exists in the card pool. — Darthcaboose · 285
This spell could go a ways to justify the much derided Book of Shadows (3), as an extra arcane slot would be a big benefit to this skill. — bern1106 · 2
edit "I meant skill" — bern1106 · 2
.41 Derringer

The Derringer caught a lot of flak for being "Unreliable" and honestly, it is probably deserved. When you include a weapon in your deck you count on that +1 damage so that you can reliably keep up with threats as they emerge from the encounter deck.

The upgraded .32 is a vast improvement over its predecessor, requiring only a +1 over your value is not only easier, but REASONABLE. Most tests you attempt succeed by at least 1 (if you succeed), which means statistically you will do the extra damage.

But lets just say you are swinging for the fences and the chips are down and lady luck smiles on you and you get that coveted +3 or +4 over the test. Go ahead and take another action!

The ability to gain an action is HUGE. That means if this triggers once, you made back the cost of "playing out" the derringer.

If you combo this card with sleight of hand or a skill like vicious blow you also might get a turn where you just blow out a test, do a ton of damage and get a follow up action.

For most rogues, this card is worth checking out, especially if you are already packing Sleight of Hand OR Extra Ammunition.

Also, Lola Hayes likes this card quite a bit as it is a great little weapon in her hands.

Plus, who doesn't secretly want to just slap down two pistols and pretend to be Jenny Barnes? Pew-pew!

Myriad · 1226
Also, while it would require a good fight or flight turn, Wendy could use this with Will to survive and just KO alot of boss monsters in 1 turn. Zzzzzip! — CecilAlucardX · 10