Hunter's Instinct

This is deceptively useful in the core box. Because the card pool is so narrow, economic options are much fewer. So why not recur emergency cache? Especially for Miguel, who has a free event play action, you'll need a way to pay for the $2 fast events you cover the map in.

This is even more fun in survivors like Rita and Yorrick. Yorrick now has an easy way to get his events out of the trash with an asset. Rita can make sure she always has Belly of the Beast right before she evades. Wendy will like it because the more stuff out of her discard, the less horrible her weakness. And if she's particularly devious, she can get three copies of easy mark(1) even after she's spent them.

This is a fun new toy for survivors, more useful later in the match when your discard pile is big.

4/16/26

MrGoldbee · 1585

Mark my words: This (and its level 2 counterpart) will get the Scavenging treatment. I have played extensively with this card, albeit with the full card pool, but that's enough to gain context into the true strength of this monstrosity.

Think of any level 0 event that you find incredibly useful and ask yourself this: "How much stronger would it be if I could recur this as a reaction to something that happens pretty regularly?" Maybe Miguel de la Cruz wants to put a Lie in Wait back into play. Maybe Bob Jenkins is looking to Pay Your Dues to get out of a tight situation. Maybe you just dig up another Emergency Cache because you're strapped for cash. These are all really tame examples I'm putting out here, but you can probably already see the immediate value this card brings to the table.

Now lets up the ante by just a smidge by looking at what this can do with some older cards as well: Darrell Simmons starts recurring Shed a Light, Rita Young starts recurring Grift or Sneak By for wild econ value, and both of these people recur Hunter's Instinct when it runs dry with a Do-or-Die. But of course this is a level 0 card with a level 2 variant, so we can't forget that Zoey Samaras and Tommy Muldoon can take this, and they can start recurring any of their nice Guardian cards, like the shiny new Bounty. Guardians get a lot of mileage out of this, to nobody's surprise, though it can work well with any investigate that manages enemies in some capacity. Agnes Baker can use it to recur all sorts of fun stuff like Deny Existence or Spectral Shield or even Fight or Flight.

And then there's William Yorick, who I refuse to elaborate on beyond simply linking the page to his investigator card.

It also discards itself so you can more easily recur it to begin the cycle anew, and NONE OF THIS is to speak about the absurdity you can perform with the level 2 version (I've been using it with "I've had worse…" to disgusting effect) All of this, ALL of this, for one action and two resources, with an additional 2XP if you want the upgraded version.

I love this card, I really do, but it's not gonna last in its current form. They're gonna make it cost extra XP, but that won't change the fact that this card will shape countless decks by the virtue of existing within the scope of level 0-2.

6/13/26

ClassyD · 12

Drawing was a 0$ turn an action into a hard action. This is turn $2 into three recursions. — MrGoldbee · 1585 6/13/26

Also a good pick for Mario Tavares s a Guardian who lives events and can take the level 0 version — Tharzax · 2 6/15/26

@MrGoldbee The initial cost means very little when you take into account that events (typically) have stronger effects than assets, as events are balanced around being used (typically) once per card per game. By just throwing Hunter's Instinct into a deck you suddenly get to play that card 3-6 extra times per game. If you build around this, which is as simple as having two copies of Resourceful, then the fact that it's limited in uses means very little. I don't believe it's inaccurate to say that this is on par with Drawing Thin when you examine the potential use cases as opposed to just what's printed on the card. — ClassyD · 12 6/15/26

Drawing Thin didn't NEED any combo pieces tho. This inherently does; you need events, and they have to be in your trash. — MrGoldbee · 1585 6/15/26

@MrGoldbee Ah, I seem to have misspoke. I said Drawing Thin, but I meant Scavenging. They're both Survivor talents that later had their XP costs increased, so I mixed them up. — ClassyD · 12 6/15/26

For the comparison to Scavenging, that was infinite and didn't depend on having enemies in play. This is finite and does, and has a higher resource cost. Re. the combos with Ch1 cards, this is balanced with Ch2 in mind so I don't think that's so important to be honest. Also, survivors get like no resource economy now in Chapter 2, so 2 resources (and then the resources you need for events, unless one of the ones you recur is E-cache, and then you're spending precious uses) is a much meatier cost than it is in Chapter 1 contexts for the class. There is Same Old Thing for discounts on events, but you are then getting into the weeds with play actions on play actions to assemble everything. It's good for sure but not taboo-able for me. — HungryColquhoun · 18542 6/17/26

With the current roster of cards there are strong options, but nothing broken, this is true. But each time they release new Events and Onvestigators there is a chance t — ClassyD · 12 6/17/26

(commenting via phone, never again, can't even edit it) ... there is a chance that the strength of this card increases tremendously. Mind you that Scavenging would only be okay if there weren't strong options to recur like Keyring (3) or Icepick (3). Consider which is more likely: that every Event from this point forward is kept mild and tame to account for Hunter's Instinct, or that it'll get Taboo'd as stronger options appear. Econ improves with card selection, though 2 resources and an action still means very little when compared to what this card can provide. — ClassyD · 12 6/17/26

Do not underestimate this card, because it is an economy booster. While scavenging is used to replenish mighty assets most of my decks cover card draw (thorough inquiry, glory) or gaining resources (bounty, EC) with events, which stays in the deck until the campaign is over. At best you can recur fast or reactive events. I would expect a taboo sooner than later especially also because the trigger is quite compared to the over success of scavenging. — Tharzax · 2 6/19/26

@Tharax the catch-22 though is if you're using this for economy you're passing on more powerful events, and 3 uses don't go very far. I think it would stay off the taboo list for that reason. @ClassyD cards will cycle out of being in print though, so even if there are spicier combos in the future the balance for evergreen at least looks alright. — HungryColquhoun · 18542 6/21/26

What you recur depends on you situation. In general there were enough lvl 0 events that stick in my deck until the end of the campaign like spectral razor and shortcut. It's three uses are not as powerful in my opinion as the auto discard condition. In a class, where getting cards from your discard pile is quite easy, you can create a infinite loop. — Tharzax · 2 6/22/26

@Tharax as FFG are only balancing around Chapter 2, I think that's the appropriate lens to view the card (most people won't be able to track down Ch1 going forward). Recurring it then becomes more problematic - I think it's just Do-or-Die IIRC. Not bad for sure, but not trivial and an action sink on top of this. — HungryColquhoun · 18542 6/22/26

Actually I don't see an action sink here, since all investigators, who can take it, have either enough fast or reactive events available or have some ability that works around event (Daniela and Miguel). What limits the card in my opinion the most is actually the deck building of the investigators and the limited card pool of chapter 2. And both will grow over time. — Tharzax · 2 6/24/26

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