I have been guilty, gravely so, of underestimating this card. On its surface it doesn’t appear to do much, it’s in the growing list of +2 items which serve a secondary purpose, but in general without a +1 damage their function as weapons tend to be underwhelming. Even worse this card exhausts while fighting making it of even further limited use as a weapon

The +2 bonus is seemingly hamstrung by the same issues. The boost is only helping you with something you’re already good at, and still only once a turn. However in reality it’s a free, limited-scope guts every turn. Spread out over a whole scenario you’re looking at +10 or more, for 3r and an action. That’s some insane value and is almost guaranteed to save you a few tests if pulled early.

Note that it does compete with its hands-slot requirement. This isn’t so bad in Agnes, Akachi, Mystic Daisy or Sefina, but between his Trumpet and Grotesque Statue Jim may not be jumping to include a 4th and 5th hand item until mystic hand slot tech is printed. That being said the trumpet doesn’t show up in every game and it has good commit icons so there’s still justification if you only use the trumpet on occasion.

8/10

A solid, unassuming card that never steals the show but always has your back.

Generally lackluster...but I'm gonna run this card with Favor of the Moon and the curse suite of spells Armageddon, Eye of Chaos, and/or Shroud of Shadows. The hand slot is uncontested for a battlemage, and the +2 skill value cancels out the modifier for the curse token you just released, while guaranteeing your bonus effect from the spell. Then you just pull a token like normal...should make 3-damage strikes (or 2-damage and a recharge) from Armageddon pretty reliable. It's just too bad that either use of the Athame causes it to exhaust, which interferes with repeated hits against a boss, or finishing off a mortally wounded foe. Still, it's a low-XP and only slightly janky way to "cancel" a curse token and gain a resource every turn...

A solid pick for Diana Stanley if you're building clue focused. In my deck I went from enchanted blade to this. I'm trading off a bit of damage but gaining flexibility. We're also freeing up an arcane slot.

This is great for killing 1 hp enemies like cultist and rats etc getting your base fight upto 5. When you don't have to worry about enemies because your teams fighter has things handled you get a +2 on your spells which is really helpful if you haven't maxed the number of cards under you. The core argument of "boosting something you're already good at" is exactly where this is so good. There will be some turns diana isn't as good at what she's supposed to be good at (willpower). This can also cover your back when your weakness cleans out your stored up cards. Lastly it can be dual wielded for a bigger one time boost or two uses. This should either be before you get your signature weapon or in conjunction with Bandolier.

Bandolier (2) is another place you could make solid use of packing spirit athame alongside your signature & enchanted blade. This lets you get a bigger fight boost than the base enchanted blade and allows saving the charges for when you really need it. The bonus from Bandolier(2) is a welcome one for increasing your base heads. Possibly more of a play on a flex build.

I like sixth sense on diana so I don't have to worry about charges once setup and I also use Alchemical Transmutation to make me money to afford the plethora of expensive assets I run. The spirit athame works great with both of these.