Agency Backup

[Carthoris 248]

Any Laundry Files readers here? This card has OCCULUS written all over it!

[Eldan985 360]

What immediately caught my eye was Trial by Fire on Calvin.

[Soakman 987]

9 minutes ago, Eldan985 said:

What immediately caught my eye was Trial by Fire on Calvin.

It has nice synergy with On Your Own as well. It's a great card overall, but pricey. On Your Own can greatly decrease that cost letting you pack 2 of them with fewer resource worries. 

Allies are SOOOO good, that I've been trying to figure out what cards would make On Your Own worth it. 

[Hordeoverseer 157]

I feel it's a tad over costed with how much XP you're pumping into it. Beat cop (2) seems better economically, even if it does less. If it gave +1 investigation and +1 physical, now it becomes appealing. As it stands, it seems to only fit into potentially Leo and friends (or maybe not).

[phillos 1,518]

14 minutes ago, Eldan985 said:

What immediately caught my eye was Trial by Fire on Calvin.

or potentially Preston if he needs to early campaign boost.

I really like Agency Backup though most of the Roland decks I create will have trouble paying that much for the card.  That said it does so much good stuff.  In particular it does the two most important things in the game testlessly.  I kinda really like the idea of Leo with an army of Beat Cops, Guard Dogs and Agency Backups.  Just walk around and do whatever you want while these allies TCB.

Edited February 15, 2019 by phillos

[Soakman 987]

Just now, Hordeoverseer said:

I feel it's a tad over costed with how much XP you're pumping into it. Beat cop (2) seems better economically, even if it does less. If it gave +1 investigation and +1 physical, now it becomes appealing. As it stands, it seems to only fit into potentially Leo and friends (or maybe not).

The real benefit is the free clue grabs for guardians really. But bring Carolyn along and it's even more cluegrabs at no test. Unfortunately, Carolyn can't take lvl 5 guardian cards.

[Jobu 720]

I think this may be the 1st card we see in a campaign which is not usable by one of the characters released in the campaign.

I would be hard pressed to use on anyone but Leo.  I also agree for 5 xp it seems like to high a resource cost card.   Although i do think 5 reosurces would be to cheap.

[Allonym 954]

I wonder if we'll see some other high-level allies in the pack. Agency Backup is an utterly absurd card, with an utterly absurd cost. It's pure fun. I like it, even if I won't use it on anyone except Leo and maybe Zoey.

[gazzagames 24]

11 hours ago, Allonym said:

I wonder if we'll see some other high-level allies in the pack. Agency Backup is an utterly absurd card, with an utterly absurd cost. It's pure fun. I like it, even if I won't use it on anyone except Leo and maybe Zoey.

From playing alongside Zoey in a few games and the Night of the Zealot campaign she certainly seems to have enough resources, especially late in the game, when this ally could make the difference....

[SGPrometheus 121]

Leo and Zoey are pretty much it for this card, which is too bad because the flavor overlap for Roland is perfect. Him and Mark would need some serious resource help to swing it.

Since we're talking about all the spoiled cards, I wanted to point out that Carolyn can take the level 5 Deny Existence, since it heals horror. It's conditional (as in, it doesn't always heal horror), but the FAQ entry indicates that the intent for Carolyn is that, if it heals horror, she can take it. As an upgradeable spell, this makes Arcane Research a more interesting choice for Carolyn too, since she could only previously use its discount on Clarity of Mind. Now, it's a 1-trauma investment for a 4xp return. That's pretty good!

[Allonym 954]

4 minutes ago, SGPrometheus said:

Since we're talking about all the spoiled cards, I wanted to point out that Carolyn can take the level 5 Deny Existence, since it heals horror. It's conditional (as in, it doesn't always heal horror), but the FAQ entry indicates that the intent for Carolyn is that, if it heals horror, she can take it. As an upgradeable spell, this makes Arcane Research a more interesting choice for Carolyn too, since she could only previously use its discount on Clarity of Mind. Now, it's a 1-trauma investment for a 4xp return. That's pretty good!

I hadn't even twigged that Carolyn could take it. That's fantastic. Deny Existence is already a ridiculously good card (and for instance is a decent counter to To Fight The Black Wind if using Carolyn's replacements)

I still probably wouldn't take Clarity of Mind in Carolyn, but if I have a spare mystic/seeker slot I might take Arcane Research just for Deny Existence as it has a niche benefit (if you draw Elder sign before you've taken any horror, you don't get the heal and therefore don't get a free resource). 

[dysartes 242]

Agency Backup is another card that makes me think Guardians could do with an economy card - maybe something that triggers on defeating non-human cards?

[SamWeiss 70]

9 hours ago, dysartes said:

Agency Backup is another card that makes me think Guardians could do with an economy card - maybe something that triggers on defeating non-human cards?

They have economy cards:

"I've Hard Worse" = "trade" damage for resources
Ever Vigilant = reduced cost on assets
Stand Together = resources AND cards in multiplayer
Teamwork = shakedown the rogue in multiplayer
Carolyn Fern = use her actions to stay sane and gain resources in multiplayer (she can even play Stand Together and Teamwork for you)
Charlie Ross, Esq. = 1 resource per turn for assests

While 2 of the 4 are only usable in multiplayer, the cards exist.
Of course, 3 of the 4 require experience, including both that work in solo, so Guardians wind up with a different economy problem.
Charlie Ross, Esq. can be used by everyone except Leo Anderson, who has access to Hot Streak (2), Payday, and Burglary.

There are options, it just requires choosing them and getting the xp to choose them.
(And making someone play Carolyn Fern. :P)

[CSerpent 520]

On 2/16/2019 at 10:23 AM, SGPrometheus said:

Leo and Zoey are pretty much it for this card, which is too bad because the flavor overlap for Roland is perfect.

Kind of not, though.  He's an agent, sure, but "...there's no way his superiors would understand. Roland knew he would have to handle this one himself."