It's a good principle of card design that when the effect of one card is objectively, statistically better than that of another, then it should come with a higher cost -- whether in money, actions, or xp. Given that principle, could someone explain to me, please, why this wretchedly inefficient card costs the same as First Aid? They both come with three charges/supplies; they both heal for an action; they both cost two resources; and they both have a single will icon. The only differences are that First Aid can heal sanity as well, and Healing Words takes up a valuable arcane spot -- both of which make the Words worse. This upsets me...

When you put this card up against other healing options, it only looks shabbier. Painkillers get you the same amount of healing for half the cost and 1/4 the actions! (sure, it'll cost you 3 sanity as well...) Thermos, which, for the record, I hate for it's ruinous 4-resource cost, at least has the versatility of First Aid, and is a decent deck addition if you're loaded up with trauma. Or what about humble Emergency Aid? Heal two damage for two resources and an action. Would anyone rather pay three MORE actions for one additional point of healing? That's the deal Healing Words offers you....

Full disclosure: My animosity against this card is personal at the moment. I'm in the middle of a Dunwich run with a beat-up Daisy Walker, and she's in desperate need of additional healing. Out here in nowheresville, she can't get a steady supply of her pills, and the Medical Texts she totes around look like they're from the 17th century... All I have access to by way of deck upgrades is this lousy spell -- or a Thermos of clam chowder... Broods of Yog-Sothoth, here I come...

As a cat person I have always wanted to include the Stray Cat in a deck but it never quite made the cut. I think there was once or twice that it made it in with the hopes that I could use Calling in Favors to search for the ally that I wanted but it got bumped out almost immediately by XP upgrades.

The cat has always been an iffy play because of its one time use AND restrictions on use but I was trying to find an investigator to pair up with Ursula for my first play of The Forgotten Age. The only thing that I really knew was that evasion was good and I knew a little of the Vengeance mechanic. Most of the other types have really poor evasion skills but I got the idea to pair Yorick with the Stray Cat.

And it was an amazing combo. Ursula and Yorick were usually able to clear clues off of locations and even stay ahead of previously evaded Hunters.

It's ALL Actionless

The best part is that the Stray Cat with Yorick achieves the ultimate action efficiency. Once it is in the discard pile it can be played/recurred after any kill without using an action and it can evade without using an action. It can even evade ANY enemy at your location.

It isn't that hard for Yorick to kill enemies but it usually takes 2-3 actions to do it and there are always the chance of bad token pull (retaliate) or special tokens that cause something else to happen. Yorick can instead use his Flashlight 1-2x and move to the next location getting closer to completing the scenario instead of needlessly hacking at an enemy.

Does it makes sense to play the Stray Cat with other investigators or in other campaigns

This was obviously the perfect campaign for the cat but I will definitely keep this in my Yorick decks for action efficiency.

Other possible investigators to use it and none of these are definite since they all have other strong allies to include

1. Ashcan Pete - I could see this working in solo where he can avoid enemies and sneak through scenarios.
2. Patrice - I haven't played her yet so there might be too much competition for allies but it is cheap so it can get played easily and it keeps her safe if she hasn't drawn/played the right cards.
3. Tommy Muldoon or Tony Morgan (Survivor) in TFA (and only in TFA) - Not very good matches for them but they will really need to evade with some regularity in the campaign. But would you push out another ally that works so well for them? Unlikely.
4. A splash card for Zoey? in TFA - Very unlikely
5. Minh Thi Phan - It gives her some mobility but it would probably just be easier for her to play skill cards and evade

The rest of the other survivors have high evade skills so it wouldn't help much.

I have never played nor even thought about how to build decks for Preston, Lola or Calvin. I doubt it makes sense.

Overall it worked great for Yorick in TFA but Ashcan Pete is probably the only other investigator that I would try to include it in. And that is only because I want to setup a deck without Peter Sylvestre for Pete. I think it is safe to keep this in your unused cards section. Unless you are playing Yorick.

Just about strictly better than Preston Fairmont's investigator card in a Preston Fairmont deck. You get +1 to every skill, lose his passive drawback but keep Family Inheritance, gain a response trigger that combos well with a fair amount of Preston builds, and the Elder Sign ability is very slightly better (though it does lose the automatic success possibility for very high difficulty checks, +2 should cover most checks anyway). 10/10 would recommend being stuck in the City of the Great Race again.

I don't like this card. I have 2 reasons

1. This card is unthematic. Why guardians can use a magic blade? I don't understand. They should use fire arms, knifes.... no magic blades. It's more, guardians use magic blades better than mystics. No sense.

2. This card is unbalanced. Compare it with .45 automatic level 2... is better than 45 level 2!! that cost 2xp. I don't talk about 45 level 0...A good weapon, but obsolete because exist this enchanted blade.

Solution: for use swords charges, you should use "head" instead of "fist". Only guardians with high "head" could use it optimally in this way.

This card slow down the threat a lot!

When you got any treachery card, it cost as following

• 0-1 action for average test that may make you discard, lose Health or Sanity
• 1-2 action when you draw the enemy if you can kill it. But cost more if you can't

But put this card provide you the The Stars Are Right it return you

• 1 action - Tie you playing action
• 1 resource - count as 1 action
• 1 card (From drawing) - count as 1 action
• Additionally eliminate action cost from the treachery card count as 0-2 action

In short, this card pay back you around 2-4 action as soon as you found it.

Especially when the treachery card is punishing on late scenario.