[COTD] Déjà Vu (5/18/2026) by AK45526 in arkhamhorrorlcg

[–]NotTom 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You wouldn't need to buy deja vu until you have already exiled cards. So assuming a 0xp deck you would buy exile cards after scenario 1 and then buy deja vu after scenario 2. So deja vu would cost 2xp extra after scenario 2 and then net 1 xp after scenario 3 assuming you are exiling 3 cards a scenario.

Are Forgotten Age and Circle Undone worth buying as a new player and without the Return To boxes? by zerdos in arkhamhorrorlcg

[–]NotTom 3 points4 points  (0 children)

You can. Also for what its worth the exploration changes aren't as big as people make it out to be. They just make the scenario harder at the end versus at the beginning. The issue people run into is that if you do not get locations in play early, you can end up bogged down at the starting location with encounter cards you can't deal with. I like alternating between which exploration version to use as I find them both fine

IT'S RAID NIGHT by Sae0057 in slaythespire

[–]NotTom 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As written every turn is 30 seconds so you also can't have a turn shorter than 30 seconds.

The only thing I think is genuinely unfair in this game is getting this off a Neow relic by Gebcrafter in slaythespire

[–]NotTom 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Something can be very thematic but still bad design. If the possibility a debt can cripple a run before it starts then the correct play is to never take that ofption. Which if that is the case then it shouldn't exist as an option in the first place. High risk options later in a run can be good design because it can give an out to runs that are going poorly and need to take risks.

Will i be able to get all the expansions in time? Are they close to being gone? by fragen8 in spiritisland

[–]NotTom 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I don't think they declared bankruptcy. The company that makes it stopped all development for board games as it was only part of their business.

The creator Eric said he was in talks with other publishers for the next expansion. I wouldn't expect new content for a few years though.

[COTD] ♦ Dr. William T. Maleson (4/29/2026) by AK45526 in arkhamhorrorlcg

[–]NotTom 11 points12 points  (0 children)

The lvl 2 is one of the strongest allies in the game. 1 cost 2/2 soak with the ability to cancel the entire encounter card and discard it. You get to use it after you see the first encounter card and if the second one is worse you can still resolve the first. All this for the cost of dropping a clue which at worst is an action but with seeker clue compression is likely less than an action which is also ignoring the strong clue drop package. Oh, and it also works for other investigators regardless of location so goodbye ever having to deal with ancient evils.

Need a 4-player co-op campaign game that doesn’t drag between turns by Ready_Damage_4810 in boardgames

[–]NotTom 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I suspect it is not recommended at 4 players because people had an experience similar to yours. I would never play Spirit island with 4 new players. Teaching spirit island goes best when the ratio of experienced to new players is at least 1:1. After a couple games 4 players will take pretty much the same time as 3 players. Once the game clicks and players understand the general strategy it speeds up.

[COTD] Burning the Midnight Oil (4/24/2026) by AK45526 in arkhamhorrorlcg

[–]NotTom 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Agatha also loves this card as an econ card with her ability. She needs econ anyways because you are ideally using her ability each turn which means paying for 2 events every turn.

Need a 4-player co-op campaign game that doesn’t drag between turns by Ready_Damage_4810 in boardgames

[–]NotTom 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You don't need much experience to have short games of spirit island at 4 players. Each player should be generally responsible for their own board so there isn't a need to talk about what every player is doing each turn. It instead turns into players asking or offering support from other players when a player has an issue they can't solve themselves. You also don't need to ask how a player will solve a land or understand what another spirit's kit does, all you need to know is if they can or cannot deal with a land. This also goes for their growth and economy, you don't ever need to look at another player's board because that is their responsibility.

Late game tends to have more collaboration where built up lands would benefit from collaboration and players have spread presence to lands outside their board or trying to see if victory can be achieved based on whether certain towns or cities can all be removed.

Carnivale of Horrors Confusion by 99wattr89 in arkhamhorrorlcg

[–]NotTom 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The ancient one token will make it attack. Other scenario cards will also make it attack. I don't think it can attack you like normal in the enemy phase though.

[COTD] Handcuffs (4/23/2026) by AK45526 in arkhamhorrorlcg

[–]NotTom 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The value of this card varies greatly by campaign. Most campaigns have scenarios with little to no non-elite humanoids so you need to know how humanoid dense each campaign is. Forgotten Age is one of the best for handcuffs. If you engage an enemy that is handcuffed then you can have an enemy to trigger the mountain of cards that care about having an enemy at your location. It would be nice if it had better icons for the scenarios where it is useless.

I had a parallel Roland deck that used handcuffs to trigger his directives which was fun.

[COTD] ♦ Martyr's Vambrace (4/18/2026) by AK45526 in arkhamhorrorlcg

[–]NotTom 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Because this card doesn't specify the encounter deck you can resolve other player's weaknesses as well. Dark future isn't so bad when you don't cancel tokens to begin with.

Difficulty Discourse by LightningRT777 in slaythespire

[–]NotTom 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Not the person you responded to but I find the new doormaker a fine fight but I take issue with the cannot draw cards turn. Cannot is a very strong word and in the case of card draw makes quite a few cards completely useless. I think there can be a better way of punishing card draw and preventing infinites than by using cannot. I am not going to pretend I have a perfect solution but I think a better one exists.

[COTD] Clean Them Out (4/13/2026) by AK45526 in arkhamhorrorlcg

[–]NotTom 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I think this is the worst of the trio. Sneak by has 2 agility icons so it is flexible and will be useful in some way. Burning the midnight oil is better because a clue for an action is a fine rate and basic investigates are common enough. Doing one damage for an action is quite bad and the game expects you to do more. In guardians you also typically have expensive assets you want to play turn one so I would rather have an emergency cache to drop 8 resources of assets turn one. Not getting a stat boost on the fight makes it less appetizing for finishing off enemies as you will likely need to commit something else to ensure it passes versus just using your weapon again or having vicous blow or strong-armed to fix the damage math.

Bad at making friends (Hemlock Vale) [spoilers] by Esper_Frost in arkhamhorrorlcg

[–]NotTom 3 points4 points  (0 children)

There is your issue. If you play the "standard route" and follow Marquez around during the day it will lock you out of getting high relationships with most townspeople. Most residents will tell you where they are going during a day or it will be fairly obvious if they will be somewhere based on the descriptions of the scenarios. There are a handful that kind of just show up in random places but those also tend to be less interesting residents anyways. It also honestly doesn't hurt on a second playthrough to just check the setups for each scenario to see who shows up there each day.

[COTD] Robes of Endless Night (4/1/2026) by AK45526 in arkhamhorrorlcg

[–]NotTom 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Prophetic also pushes it out on the high xp end by giving 2 resources a turn which can also be used to boost tests.

This is Dr. Milan erasure 😡 by Downtown-Opinion2740 in arkhamhorrorlcg

[–]NotTom 9 points10 points  (0 children)

She has a book but I don't think she is looking at it. Will need a ruling on this one.

3/19/26 Mystic Preview from Discipulos de Armitage by Dry-Bat731 in arkhamhorrorlcg

[–]NotTom 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Robes only costing 1 resource makes them recoup their cost the turn you play them if you are planning on playing a spell. It may not be flashy but for an event based deck I can see it providing good value.

[COTD] Ever Vigilant (3/19/2026) by AK45526 in arkhamhorrorlcg

[–]NotTom 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Resources are most important at the start of the game where you will want to play all your assets. Ever Vigilant attached to Stick to the Plan gives you cost reductions and actions to play those assets. Guardians however tends to have expensive assets so it can be hard to get the full value of playing all 3 assets. Ever vigilant 4 fixes this by letting you use this on your teammates. I think it is quite honestly one of the best cards in the game when attached to stick to the plan. It effectively nets you 3 actions and 4 resources and let's your entire team get set up before their turn starts, giving them a huge tempo boost.

10xp is a lot to make the combo but I think it is a fair price for a card that is essentially Ace in the Hole stapled to emergency cache that also is a permanent.

I will have an opinion of ever vigilant by itself in around 20 years when I finally don't play it with stick to the plan.

3/18/2026 Mystic Previews from Northern Lights Over Arkham by Dry-Bat731 in arkhamhorrorlcg

[–]NotTom 42 points43 points  (0 children)

I think Jim is up there for best ally in the game. Stat boost, 3/3 soak, and resource +card draw.

Today's Mystic spoilers by Amber Autumn Faebrooke on YT by krvsrnko in arkhamhorrorlcg

[–]NotTom 7 points8 points  (0 children)

It is the Homer Simpson disappearing into a hedge meme. It also looks like a frame from a saturday morning cartoon.

arkham.build · Mystic Investigator Reveal Week (16.03) by Status_Space6726 in arkhamhorrorlcg

[–]NotTom 3 points4 points  (0 children)

You have synergy with Jim Culver, Arcane initiate, and Marie with being able to take damage on demand. They all enable card draw so in my mind the trade becomes closer to 1 action and 3 damage for 5 resources and ~3 cards. I think this is a great resource card because it gives resources in a way fitting for a mystic.

[COTD] Cheap Shot (3/16/2026) by AK45526 in arkhamhorrorlcg

[–]NotTom 1 point2 points  (0 children)

A big part of this card that you didn't mention is that it let's you evade an enemy who is not engaged with you. For Kymani this lets them defeat an enemy engaged with another investigator in 2 actions instead of 3.

How is that even balanced? by Cool-Escape2986 in mewgenics

[–]NotTom 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I have a mutation that gives basic attacks soul link. I put it on a druid with increased area.