This is to Investigation what Improvised Weapon is certainly not to combat.

A -1 on investigate checks is largely equivalent to a +1, and +1's on investigating tend to be regularly useful, moreso then fighting since failed investigate checks rarely have the same repercussions as failed fights.

The kicker is the + 1 clue, this mechanic is so very hard to come by, multi-clue pickup is rare and powerful, and the audience that has access to this card will appreciate it! Wendy Adams can drop the card initially for her ability and just cash in for the clue benefit. The other dudes, despite their lower stats, can still play this card on 1 difficulty locations to trick up clues just as they would with "Look what I found!". Out of faction Minh Thi Phan can play this alongside Deduction to hit impressive clue gathering speed and Finn Edwards might even give it some though.

Wendy Adams and Finn Edwards can even combo Winging It with Double or Nothing to net 4 clues!!

Unlike Improvised Weapon where the first play of the card is rather iffy, there is actually an extra bit of usefulness for this card, you can lower a 3 difficulty location to 2 difficulty, putting it into the "Look what I found!" combo sweetspot like a Flashlight would. This greatly extends a character's ability to gather clues, especially if said character has their hands full with a Baseball Bat, Ornate Bow or the like.

Is this card better then Deduction? Probably not, but it's good for what it's made to do, surprisingly flexible, and a fresh source of multi-clue gathering.

Neutral cards are few and far between, especially long lasting assets, so here's one Accessory option that boosts and regardless of class.

The card is very powerful in theory. For 2 resources a +1 to 2 skills is great (camera great, so you get your money's worth even if you just ignore the empowered bonus. And sitting somewhere connected to 2 locations actually seems like it should be easy.

Often enough locations aren't actually in play for the majority of a map, other locations being connected to them doesn't fill the bonus requirements. This makes Hemispheric Map rather terrible when locations are being hidden behind Agenda or Act advancements, which they routinely are. Furthermore many high density clue locations are bottlenecks, for example Attic and Cellar, Hemispheric Map is just blank at these places, they are far from rare! If you take this in The Night of the Zealot, the card is inoperable in The Gathering, it's active throughout nearly every location in The Midnight Masks, and again it's just Off in The Devourer Below.

So you pay 2 resources, 3 XP and an Accessory slot for an item that's largely offline.

If I start talking about the other campaigns, it's again a rather specific set of goods and bads:

• It's no good in Dunwich until the 5th scenario (even then it's not helpful in the most important part!), it's flaky in the 7th and 8th scenario, so a mixed bag.
• It's nearly useless in Carcosa until the 5th scenario, from which point on it's actually great, terrific even.
• In the Forgotten Age it's all over the place, in exploration scenarios it's just off, the other scenarios tend to be multi-connected up the wazoo.
• Verdict is still out for Circle.

TL:DR, steer clear unless you're familiar with the map and know about a few high intensity spots where it will be good, frankly speaking the only campaign I can guarantee that it's good in is Carcosa scenario 5+, where locations are routinely connected to 2 others or more.

I think that the 4 resource cost is going to be prohibitive for most investigators. For 4 resources, you can play an asset that will help you actively advance the scenario such as Dr. Milan Christopher or Beat Cop. In my opinion, this card doesn't really deliver a powerful enough benefit to justify that cost.

Still, Carolyn Fern might want it for its flexibility and its potency. Any Mystics who are running 2 Arcane Research assets can benefit from its stronger horror healing ability early on, and Agnes Baker in particular would appreciate that. If the campaign has gone poorly, I can see some Rogue characters using their Adaptable talents to switch this card in towards the end of the game.

I think you'd only ever use it for the heal on traumatized investigators - if you use it for the one-off healing, it's mostly less effective than First Aid, and that's saying something, since First Aid is largely regarded to be an inefficient card.

I thought that this card was going to be pretty solid for people that can benefit from both of those stats. Certain investigators like Jim Culver, Marie Lambeau or even Wendy Adams to name a few. I'm giving it some more thought as to when you usually want the intellect bonus, the majority of the time it's on a dead-end where you will not be getting any help.

If you just need the than you're better off with Holy Rosary. And I'm not sure if taking it just for the is worth it alone.

Half of the time you'll be getting the bonus because most locations have two connected symbols to them, but the half of those locations seem to be the ones connecting to the locations you'll be getting close at in many scenarios. They're not the locations themselves where you will be picking up clues. I really wouldn't count on having the secondary benefit. It's an unlikely scenario but may eventually be a benefit in certain circumstances. I think overall it might not see play..

I think that this is too expensive for anyone but Calvin Wright to consider. I can see him needing to get himself out of a hole every once in a while. An investigator doesn't want to spend 4 for an asset that can heal once per turn. Even if it is somewhat a bit more flexible than First Aid. Only the second version of First Aid makes someone's list the majority of the time.

When Calvin Wright starts getting to that tipping point, he can lower his stats in a pinch to get to a safer ground. But, I still don't see it as that appealing.