I can’t believe there’s still not a great review for this great investigator! So, shall we start?

Her stats add up to 13 when the average between investigators is 12, so we’re good from the get go. Let’s now take a close up to them:

5 she’s a powerhouse even in her own class! The class that makes every single test a willpower test and is so easy to level it up via some of the staple cards like Holy Rosary, David Renfield, St. Hubert's Key or Fearless.

2 for other classes this may be a hinder but can use Sixth Sense, Rite of Seeking, Drawn to the Flame, Read the Signs or the new Clairvoyance so getting clues without using your book is not a problem. And even if you don’t get those spells, an Arcane Insight is an enhanced Flashlight (and using them together can assure you find clues even on a 4-shroud location). However, this does let you susceptible to parley or treacheries that test raw Intellect, but some Fine Clothes or skill icons can save you if needed.

3 makes you more comfortable fighting against 1 fight enemies (a.k.a. Swarm of Rats) without spending those beautiful charges from your Shrivelling or even if you still hadn’t got your fighting spells. This can be leveraged by using a simple Knife, a powerful Spirit Athame or my personal favorite Enchanted Blade, which puts you on 4 or 5 combat and lets you deal 1-2 damage, which scales even greater with any of the upgraded blades. Even if you need to test your strength for a scenario card, an Overpower will do the work.

3 is not that bad, since it is sometimes tested by some treacheries or is needed for some enemies. And yes, you guessed it, a Manual Dexterity can put you in a great place to pass a test when needed or you don't have your evasion spell cards like Blinding Light, Suggestion or Mists of R'lyeh.

So far so good, eh? And we haven’t even spoken about her ability which is bonkers good! Get an additional charge for the assets you anyway want as a Mystic? This means you get more uses for your money than any of your fellows. A 5 charges Shrivelling can take down a boss without needing any other combat support, and this is the same for all the options Akachi has for fighting, investigating and evading (listed above). Besides, some other powerful cards can take advantage of this too: keep more time in play your Seal of the Seventh Sign, commit Torrent of Power without too much worry or cheat on the game with Grotesque Statue. It may not sound very impressive at first, but it’s nuts compared to other , and oh this gets even better with her signature.

Spirit-Speaker is both your recharging tool as well as a resource engine if needed. We all know Mystics needs their spells to succeed in a scenario, but when once your Shrivelling runs out of charges and a boss is coming to you, you’ll be in a hurry to find your other copy. However, once Spirit speaker is in play, Akachi only needs one of her spells and a way to tutor for them (Arcane Initiate or Word of Command) and your good to go. Imagine being able to bounce back and forth your Grotesque Statue before it runs out of charges, or needing only one combat spell and never worry about finding the other one. Of course you need to pay for those assets again, but between Emergency Cache, Alchemical Transmutation, Uncage the Soul, David Renfield, Sacrifice or Spirit-Speaker itself you have plenty options to get those precious resources.

Even her weakness is not that bad. Angered Spirits does take away some of your charges, but anyway you have plenty of them and can play back if needed (once Spirit-Speaker is out, of course), and the exhaustation doesn’t prevent you from using your spells (except for Suggestion) nor it takes away any of your actions. Did I mention this stays in your threat area so once it’s out you don’t have to worry about drawing it again?

To sum up, Akachi is one of the most powerful investigators, very flexible (can be a generalist an specialist and even a support) both in solo and in multiplayer. And would even recommend her to a new player because of how straight her ability is and the limited cardpool; so go ahead and try her, you won't be disappointed.

This review won't really be a state-of-the-art of current Akachi Onyele, but more some speculation of Akachi Decks by the end of Carcosa. I have to admit I play Agnes Baker as Mystic and not the Shaman... but that may change by the end of Carcosa as the card pool grow, and I'll try to explain why.

Where should I start ? Building efficient and polyvalent Mystics decks was really troublesome for me. They lacked staying power. Okay, you can use a Blinding Light or other one-shot spells to deal with monsters... but they are often very resource-intensive (around 3) and not reusable. My mystics decks ended relying a heck lot on Rite of Seeking (lvl4) to gather clues and Shrivelling (lvl3 ; lvl5) to kill ennmies. That wasn't enough so I get in Flashlight, Drawn to the Flame for consistency. In the case of Agnes, I tried to be less reliant on spells and more on her own power (just take those f*cking pills to ease your headache).

I didn't even give a shot on Akachi. 1 more use on spells ? Good, that delay their obsolescence. But that doesn't tackle the issue you need to get the spell. Having only 2 copies aren't enough. And you cannot even rely on your innate ability to do something without it. (Contrary to Agnes who will take drugs in that case.)

When it came to card pool, Akachi Onyele seemed waaaaaaay behind. No access to lvl0-2, no access to 5 splash cards. So, Akachi was definitely a no go for me. Until I saw the recent spoilers... Some new cards that Akachi can use since they are Spells ("use : charges") or Occult.

1/ Suggestion is a new way to make her untouchable. (8 escape unboosted, 6 if you won't use any charge). Plus, you can cancel up to 4 attacks that are dealt to her. Wow. Untouchable. What's more, it works well with Shrivelling : sometimes, you don't want to use charges to deal with a non-hunter monster. Getting out, quite for sure, without consuming any charge ? More please ! And if it is a Hunter ? The way suggestion works, it will give you plenty of time before you really need to take care of it.

2/ Arcane Insight is an upgraded version of Flashlight. For 1 more resource, you have 4 uses. And the -2 stays the whole turn, without costing any action ! You can even use it for teammates ! Too great to be true. It's not really a card for Seekers, that have insane ways for gathering clues... but it's a perfect fit for Akachi ! Use it once on a 2 or lower shroud, and you can gather up to 3 clues in that place this turn !

3/ If archaic Glyphs works the same as Strange Solution, we can expect something as powerful as Strange Solution later in the game. It might be a bit tricky to translate them, but once it's done... Let's gamble we will have some really good staying power... with charges !

So, okay, 3 new cards for Akachi that will make consistency. More cards to deal with monsters effectively, and more cards to gather clues. Good ! All spells with charges, that synergy with Akachi, even better. But... 4 different spells ? For 4 arcane slots ? Should we use that old and dusty Book of Shadows ? It seems a bit too expensive. So, we now have a different trouble : we are too rich when it comes to good staying-power spells ! I guess Akachi will see more plays in a near futur....