(Update form The Feast of Hemlock Vale Investigator Expansion) Cleaning Kit + Emergency Cache (3) = Unlimited Arrow Works. Especially for Skids who can double it and got a good . Good to see this old cards being useful once more.
Darrell Simmons players may want to consider this skill as it is very easy to turn on in most decks built around Darrell's strengths.
Darrell begins every scenario with a Tool in play (Darrell's Kodak), so this almost always commits for at least
In addition, every other asset that generates evidence is a Tool or Science asset, like Hawk-Eye Folding Camera, Empirical Hypothesis, and Research Notes. So are all of the assets he has access to that lower shroud, like Old Keyring, Matchbox, and Flashlight.
If you're planning to run assets to enable evidence-generation or 0-difficulty tests, Well-Funded is a powerful effect to help you or your team pass important tests while you gather evidence.
I suspect Parallel Jim Culver is going to be a fan of this. When you need you can tap for four resources and some extra fuel for your shenanigans. That much compression also makes your economy elastic enough to install any of the Cursed spell suite (Armageddon, The Eye of Chaos, Shroud of Shadows) to your rig from near-poverty. Bonus points if you're Fast sealing them on Favor of the Moon for even more payout over time. You can afford to give up some of the usual -boosting accessories on Jim with allies like Granny Orne or David Renfield in your spirit deck.
Why does this card have an exhaust clause written on it anywhere, let alone on the option that adds doom to the board? Is the risk of adding doom not enough of a cost to curtail the card's potential abuse? I get that it's an ostensibly limitless 2 damage weapon, but you're adding doom to it each time you want +1 damage--that's something you gotta strategize or you're toast. I'm so bummed and confused why this card is so woefully underpowered. Heck, this card would still be fair in my opinion if it's first option read: "Place one doom on it to get +3 skill value and deal +1 damage for this attack. You may exhaust this card to deal an additional +1 damage." Its damage output is still throttled and requires the player to pilot their deck thoughtfully or else they'll wind up in big trouble.
Instead, we have something whose cost has basically no business being anywhere near 4 XP. Mystic upgrades have a bit of a reputation of being poor value for your XP, but even among that crowd of cards, the doom asset suite stands out as particularly anemic. Hopefully they all make their way onto the taboo list at some point.
I feel that other reviewers are missing what this card is. This card is not about failing a test on purpose, it is about earning a consolation when you fail a test that you really wanted to succeed.
Imagine you are facing a vital test for the scenario, but you can't ensure success in all cases (damned auto-failed). Of course you will invest all ressources you have to pass the test. If you additionally commit this card, it allows you, if the test fails, to earn cards et resources which will help you to cope with the consequences of failure.
This card is an insurance, it brings consistency to the game. It is not a circumvoluted Emergency Cache.