Arkham Horror: TCG – New Investigator Cards In Return To Dunwich
Fantasy Flight Games is showing off a new batch of cards that will be available to the investigators of Arkham Horror: The Card Game in the upcoming Return to the Dunwich Legacy Expansion. Some old favorites have gotten an upgrade and a whole lot more!
Arkham Horror: The Card Game is revisiting the previous investigators with the new “Return To” series. It started with Return to the Night of the Zealot where players got to revisit their very first journey into Arkham Horror. Now it’s continuing with Return to the Dunwich Legacy – which is the second mythos expansion for the game.
These “Return To” expansions are more than just repackaged old adventures in a new box – although the box is pretty handy. They add some additional layers to the game with more challenges, new weaknesses, new enemies, and some additional twists on these investigations. They up the difficulty as much as they make these games feel fresh and new again.
Today, we’re getting a look at a few of the investigator cards that are going to help you overcome these new challenges. You didn’t think the investigators weren’t going to get some upgrades too, did you?
Well Hello Old Friend
FFG only has a handful of previews for the investigator cards but I’m pretty pleased with what they are teasing so far. The Bandolier upgrade, for example, nets you a nice bonus for have two or more hand slots full of weapons:
Original on left, upgrade on the right
To put that into perspective, most Guardian decks run with quite a few weapon assets. This adds two additional weapon slots AND if you have at least two hand slots occupied with a weapon asset, you get a nice +1 to your Willpower tests. That means you might have a Machette and a .45 or you might just have a shotgun – either loadout will give you the bonus.
Some cards are also just cheaper versions of their original card which is also a nice boost:
The original version of this card cost 2 to play. The upgrade is the same card, only it is free to play – totally worth the XP investment.
Basic on left, upgrade on right
Rise to the Occasion is another upgrade card – but it doesn’t look like it at first. The loss of a “?” icon means this card looks weaker than the previous verison – however, on close examination it’s quite a bit more powerful. First off, the difficulty require is now reduced – you can play this card as long as the test is higher than your base skill value. On top of that, it also gives you bonus “?” icons based on the difference up to a max of +3 icons. That’s a HUGE swing!
Never Said This Would Be Easy
While these new cards are going to be a great boon, the challenges you face are just as nasty. Through the Gates is a card that any investigator is going to hate to pull:
On one hand, you can only ever have two copies of a single card in your deck. On the other hand – OUCH. Losing two cards from your Investigator deck is going to set you back no matter what you draw, it’s really a question of how far back. Did you lose a copy Emergency Cache? Okay, you might be able to get by. Did you lose your fancy new M1918? Well that’s certainly going to sting.
This new set also introduces some extra challenges in the form of Ultimatums. These are self-imposed challenges players can attempt and upon completion you only get the bragging rights:
“…the Ultimatum of Chaos states that the thirty chosen cards of your investigator’s starting deck must be selected at random from among all eligible options, while the Ultimatum of the Highlander demands that your investigator’s deck only include a single copy of each card.”
Whew, glad those are optional. I do not envy those brave souls who take on the challenge of the Ultimatum of Chaos.
Return to the Dunwich Legacy $29.95
Return to the Dunwich Legacy invites you to re-open your old cases and experience the first full-length campaign for Arkham Horror: The Card Game with fresh eyes as you encounter new challenges and new surprises. Across this expansion’s 81 new scenario cards and 23 new player cards, you’ll explore new locations, face more ghastly treacheries, and enhance your investigator’s abilities as you face even more unspeakable terrors. Finally, Return to the Dunwich Legacy also features a premium box and thirty-two divider cards to conveniently store your complete campaign in one place.
Return to the Dunwich Legacy is up for Pre-Order now and was slated for a Q4 release last time we got an update. But Q4 is almost over…
