Alchemical Transmutation

People think that this card is a trap, but I am considering it to use with Akachi (5 charges for 0 resources and one action). Even if you don't have the actions to milk it, it can be converted to resources with spirit speaker or used to pay angered spirits.

DrunkenChen · 36
Use this with Dexter and Rogue skills, as it’s an on demand 0 difficulty test. — StyxTBeuford · 13049
I actually love this card. I use it in a Sefina deck with Watch This and Double or Nothing to generate a heaping pile of resources. The test of 0 is extremely important for getting the absolute most out of it. — LaRoix · 1646
I've done this and it works great. I took versatile to get at double or nothing and save actions, but this is also a good option when you're going to use rite of seeking and don't want to risk ending your turn early. — deathsomething · 8
It occurs to me that as a difficulty 0 test, this can only be failed with the autofail token... no matter what difficulty you're playing on, and no matter how bad of a negative modifier you draw. Are there any combos out there that would profit from a near-unfailable on-demand test? Only thing I can think of is Daring Maneuver to (nearly) guarantee Rogue oversucceed rolls. — HanoverFist · 746
Prescient

It's more or less a Resourceful but for spells. Being , it has a game attached to it. I think this is mostly a chaos bag Mystic kind of card, most likely limited to Jacqueline, but fun if you like gambling. Most Mystics will prefer to take Fearless, Guts (2), or maybe Defiance for a willpower boost.

It's important to note that you do NOT need to succeed your test to get your spell. — AlexP · 276
I think this card is less useful than at first glance. Remember that your spells do not get discarded because they run out of charges/secrets. This is a nice EVENT spell fetcher. — dlikos · 160
There are plenty of amazing spell events to get back and if you're the primary blaster you can run through charges, load the next copy and still want to get the first one back — Timlagor · 6
There are quite a few ways to 'force' this too. Scrying mirrors are probably the strongest. — Timlagor · 6
Parallel Fates

This is a flavorful card, but I'm not sure how effective it is outside of Jacqueline or another chaos bag manipulation Mystic. It's also of less use in Solo, since you can't parcel out the cards to the investigators best suited to withstand them, although knowing what the next 4 Mythos Phases are going to spit out isn't nothing (always assuming the Act or Agenda doesn't reshuffle the Encounter Deck before you get to the 4th Round).

It's most similar to First Watch, with -1 cost, requires an action, has a "bad stuff token" test, and always looks at 4 cards. In 4-player, First Watch is much better, in 2-player, Parallel Fates lets you pick between investigators for 2 turns, so it probably edges the card out.

Gloria Goldberg might like this, since it synergies with her ability, although she'll need chaos bag support to make it really work. All in all, this might have a few too many moving pieces to be a mainstay, and I'd be happier if it was Fast or didn't have the token pull, but maybe future cards will make it more reliable.

I agree this card really needs fast to make it viable and fun. It still wouldn't be particularly powerful. — housh · 171
Don't forget that it is worthwhile even if the agenda advances and reshuffles. If you see a card you don't have an answer for, push it to the bottom and let the agenda reshuffle it. It's a bit jank, but I've done it with Scrying and it can be helpful to avoid certain treacheries you just don't have the patience for. — LaRoix · 1646
Look at top 4. Works with Mandy? — petercheungjr · 1
It doesn't say "search", so my understanding is that you cannot use Mandy's ability with this card. — snacc · 1014
Ineffable Truth

Pretty much everything that one can say for the Level-0 Version, but more so. How does it stack up to Mists of R'lyeh (4)?

  • Costs 1 more XP
  • Costs 1 more resource
  • Has 2 fewer charges
  • Doesn't give you a free move
  • Does 2 points of damage
  • Might cost an extra 2 resources if you draw an , +1, or 0

This is looking like a less attractive upgrade, especially since a bad draw with Mists (4) still only costs you 1 card. Alternatively, if you compare it to Ineffable Truth (3), you are getting a +1 and +1 damage for a cost of 2 XP and the risk of an extra resource lost on an unfortunate token pull. I suspect it will take a very specific deck to want to upgrade beyond the 3-level version of the card. I guess Meat Cleaver Agnes can use this to do 8 damage to an enemy in 1 turn, leaving it exhausted at the end, but Agnes has a lot of ways to hand out hurt.

It also doesn't compare all that well to the higher-level versions of Mists, although you probably want to look at Ruduen's comments on the "good token" vs "bad token" suite in the Azure Flame review.

Obviously, 2x Arcane Research mitigates some of the extra XP issues, but you could still be spending that XP on cards that provide a bit more punch for the cost.

TL;DR? Level-0 is fine, but, if you are going to upgrade, you might want to stop at the 3 XP version.

Sure, it has an increased penalty while Mists4 doesn’t, but Mists4 also doesn’t have an increased upside. If you are JUST taking these for the evade effect, Mists was always a more efficient option, but 1) unlike the 0 or 3, this 5 deals 2 damage, and 2) it is easy to mitigate the penalty by just having 1 or 0 resources. — Death by Chocolate · 1489
True, but how often is “Evade and do 2 damage” something you want to do? Hitting for 1 Damage is a nice setup for getting rid of a 3-health enemy, but 2 is awkwardly extravagant. It would be useful for taking down a 5- or 7-health Elite, but surely you would want more attack power in that case. — LivefromBenefitSt · 1083
we generally play with a limited card pool, which is tied to the campaign we're running (e.g. TCU = New Core set, Solo Investigator Packs, and TCU/RTCU) and aside from being a way more fun and thematic way to run the game for us (way less overpowering and going back to the same cards), it means we need to try new things. This card in TCU isn't bad, my Mystic is using it to evade the Watcher and eventually off it, as well as dealing with other Hunters in a decent way. — Krysmopompas · 366
A Test of Will

Normally, I'd would entertain the idea of having a chance to not exile a card, especially if it's determined by a moderate difficulty test of a skill that many investigators in this class excel in, and also gain a 1 resource discount for 1 additional XP.

But the very same pack that introduces this card also contains a card that lets you return its cheaper variant back to your deck for FREE in between scenarios. Both copies, potentially. Understandably, you might not have Unspeakable Oath, or maybe, you really don't want to chance exiling your Test of Will. This pack gives you an even CHEAPER alternative with the exact same effect. The only thing that this card affords you over its Lvl 0 version is that the effect is guaranteed to happen in Lvl 2, but then you have to pass the exact same test in order to keep it from being exiled. If you weren't confident enough in passing that test to settle for the Lvl. 0 version, what makes you think that you can salvage the Lvl 2? In that case, you're just flushing an extra XP down the drain; I'd rather take my chances on the Lvl 0.

The biggest benefit this card is supposed to give you is saving your XP from having to dump it into upkeeping its exiles, and you know what, if you just bought 1 copy for the fun of it and wanted to see how far you could get without losing it, then sure, this card obviously has more sustainability over time than Lvl 1. But if you're including this in an exile deck or planning on buying 2 of these, just use Lvl 0 for lower difficulties and Lvl 1 + Deja Vu for higher difficulties. This card really has no place in your deck given the alternatives. If you don't have Unbreakable Oath, just pretend these cards are Lvl 1 problem solved :)

TheDoc37 · 468
Generally agree, although one thing to note as Stella, if you have this a test of will, and commit "neither rain not snow" you essentially autopass, because even if you fail, you cancel the treachery and don't exile the card — NarkasisBroon · 11
Damn, good point Nark! — MrGoldbee · 1486
It definitely fits a new design space that I am unsure how I feel about. 2 XP in Survivor gets you so many good cards, it seems like either going hard into Exile or just stiicking with Level-0 is more attractive. — LivefromBenefitSt · 1083
Deja Vu also exists, and if I have that card already, I think I prefer unsure if exile over unsure if cancel — StyxTBeuford · 13049
But, if you are going with Déjà Vu, you've already committed to Exiling cards. You might as well go with Test of Will (1), because you can replace it for free. ToW (2) just lets you gamble with XP, which isn't that fun a game from where I'm standing. If I want 2 XP Exiles, I think Fortune or Fate or Stroke of Luck are better choices, but that's me. — LivefromBenefitSt · 1083
If your willpower is high enough, it becomes an XP savings in the long run since you will almost always pass that test. — StyxTBeuford · 13049
Take Deju Vu twice and just leave yourself open to get 2 xp exile cards back, if all of them are conditional then you don't want them all to exile in the same game so having random chance attached to each one is good. — Zerogrim · 295
I think 2 Déjà Vu would just give you 1 XP for 6 cards. If you are examining six cards per scenario, that is impressive. — LivefromBenefitSt · 1083
only other benefit I see with this one is again for Stella - she plays this with the intention of failing the Will test, meaning she cancels the revelation effect and gets an extra action during her turn that round. Maybe expensive for the 2xp (even with the Deja Vu discount), but something to consider if you like more actions at critical moments. — Krysmopompas · 366
There is one additional benefit to this version over the lvl 0 in Stella. If she commits her signature and fails she gets to keep this card, cancel the encounter, and gets the extra action on her turn. — jsronce · 1
One other difference: This card doesn't need resources to play it, which could be important for a Dark Horse build. — fuzzlepuzzle · 1
With or without XP, all you can do is resist. — MrGoldbee · 1486