I was excited when I saw it was an Escher themed Apocrypha (partly because I rightly guessed it was preceding this weeks pre-orders that I've been waiting months for), but I wasn't all that impressed with what we got. Chem-alchemy needs a massive overhaul and adding 3 new chems that require a Chymist to be bought at all
and don't get discounted by the Chymist does not solve the prohibitive credit sink that Chem-alchemy is.
Looking at each chem, Blood Boil is probably my favourite of the three as the +1 to the roll to see if the Toxin Trait works is something I think is needed more than most of the options for Toxin weapons. Concentrated already offered a bonus but only for the first hit with the weapon and adding in Exploding and Maddening, that are included in Blood Boil, would be 10 credits more than Blood Boil is. Maddening adds some disruption if you fail to take the target out and Exploding gives an AoE if you do which are both alright, especially with a +1 to the Toughness roll, but I', still not sure it's worth 30 credits per game (with compulsory Chymist that gives no discount). Skin Fire suffers from the same issue that I feel plagues the Toxin chems, it only does something if you Injure someone and doesn't help with Injuring in the first place (why I like Blood Boil). It effectively has a poor version of the Blaze Trait, applying the Blaze condition on a 4+ but requires Flesh Wound/Serious Injury rather than just a hit and doesn't gain synergy with anything that references the Blaze Trait such as Gunk. It includes Debilitating and Decaying which would make up 60% of it's 25 credits. They debuff characteristic tests and saves, which could be problematic for someone on fire, but again relies on Injury having happened, so doesn't matter much if they were Seriously Injured and you're in position to Coup de Grace, but I guess it'll really mess up someone if you only got a Flesh Wound. Predator's Kiss is a bit of a mixed bag at a high cost of 45 but includes Blood Rush and Hyper that are normally 35. New feature is +1S in melee but everything is Reckless, which I guess synergises with Hyper's speed boost, but it reduces accuracy so the increased chance to wound is offsetting the reduced chance to hit. In the Narrative version of the scenario taking this on Athera will be fine though as she has the WS and Chainaxe hit modifier to ignore the downsides and Acrobatic with increased Move will see her jump in to fight whomever you want her to. Just don't fire her Plasma Pistol as the chem makes her less likely to hit and unable to choose her target! The third part, Blood Rush, is an instant effect when applied, which I feel doesn't synergise so well with the other parts that you might want in effect from the beginning rather than waiting and spending an action to administer when needed. I'd rather take Blood Rush by itself on multiple people than have it as part of Predator's Kiss.
One thing I found interesting here is that the new ones already contains the effect of existing ones, allowing for even bigger combos of up to 3 chems?
"If your gang includes an Apprentice Clan Chymist, then the following may be purchased as Chem-alchemy Elixirs. Note that unlike other Chem-alchemy Elixirs, these may not be combined with other chems and an Apprentice Clan Chymist does not reduce their credit cost."
They add a new function to two existing ones to effectively make a pre-set trio with no customization, no offset of cost through Chymist and only available if you have a Chymist.
Same as Goliath cause they got mounts instead. Ash Wastes content (vehicles & mounts) is very random and unevenly distributed!
