A profitable time at the University...

Suppose you’re at the first ‘cycle’ of the University. Suppose you just want the term to pass so you can sample some more of the end-of-term options. Which of the ‘Term passing…’ options is generally considered to be the smartest, in terms of profit in materials and/or connections? Towards the end, between 11 and 12, I tend to harvest souls from the advocates at the Soul-Trade Debate (let 'em put their souls where their mouths are at, am I right?), but that still leaves 10 points worth of term-passing where I dunno what the smart thing to do is.

Teaching for Shrieks? Doing papers for Gold? Researching for Cryptic Clues? Or some arcane route bouncing between the various options as they lock and unlock?

Mmm… The university has different actions each term yet I believe it eventually resets the cycle unless I’m mistaken. Though in other terms there are profitable options too. I recommend when the first terms over to do the university who done it story as it opens up stories in the future. I usually teach for shrieks and pick out likely candidates.


Forever Changed by the Nadir
Imprisoned by Nightmares

Personally, I’m a big fan of Enjoying the pace of academic life. Strolling around the quad offers 95 whispered secrets (perfect if you need expedition supplies) on success, and instead of menaces or cp loss on failure, it simply double-advances you through to the end-of-term rewards.

On this subject, I do have a question for those who have already exhausted the University stories. Is there any real reason to advance through A most notable academic? It seems like it removes a lot of options, and from what I’ve heard, doesn’t leave you with many new ones at its conclusion.

edited by The Machinist on 4/4/2015

The second half of the University content is way more interesting than the first half. There’s also the University/Flit grind while you’re working through it, and if you ever want to get to Flute Street or Embark on a Voyage of Scientific Discovery you’ll need to finish up at the University. You’ll want to wrap things up at the University eventually, but there’s no reason you have to rush through it. Take your time if you’re enjoying yourself.

Oh, certainly, I’m enjoying it, BUT… my problem is twofold: Firstly, unless Turtwigii is right (which contradicts several things I’ve read in the Wiki), I can never go BACK to the earlier ‘state’ of the University. Second, once you hit 12 ‘Term passing…’ you only get ONE chance to pick an end-of-term activity before it cycles back to the start again. I want to check out all the options - Cricket, feasting, anarchists in the library, murder mystery, debate, all of it. And that means going through the full ‘Term cycle’ a solid 5 times. (Maybe 6 if I also want to seduce the Summerset Provost, which I didn’t have enough Connection to risk the first time around…) I had completely explored all the ‘earlier’ options before the second cycle was complete. So at this point, all I want is to get as much benefit as possible out of the numerous actions I’ll have to spend every time I go through the Term Cycle to try another end-of-term option…

The Machinist’s suggestion is interesting, though… if he’s RIGHT about ‘A stroll around the quad’ giving double the ‘Term passing…’ on a failure. That contradicts the wiki, though. According to the rather extensive table there, you actually get HALF the ‘Term passing…’ on a failure. In fact, it seems like the general rule is: All activities provide 2 ‘Term Passing…’ on success, and 1 or 2 on failure. The only exception is those only available at ‘Term Passing…’ level 11 - the penultimate activities - which all provide 3 cp whether you succeed or fail. I’ve got no trouble deciding how to spend my time once I reach THAT stage, though - I always hit The Debate and collect a few souls. 75 each time, with no skill-check. Not bad.

Yes, when you pick an option at the end of the cycle it resets Term Passing so you can go through the cycle again. You also can’t go back once you choose to proceed into the second half of the University content, so don’t progress into it lightly.

As for the best way through the first cycle of the University? I think that depends on what you’re looking for. I prioritized First Sporing, so I would do a bit of Wine Tasting with Summerset for the occasional bottle. If there are some resources you can get which will feed nicely into other goals you have I would pick a path that picks up as much of them as you can, and if not just choose whichever option seems to have the highest ppa for that section of the term.

Hmmm… well, First Sporing IS always handy, especially once you become Noteable and can’t rely on Laudaneum anymore. It’d be something to do from 8-10, certainly. Only problem is, a ‘Failure’ there drains Summerset connection…

See, I get what you’re saying about aiming for the stuff you actually need. Problem is, none of the things that are available from university-related activities seem relevant to any of my short-term goals. They’ll all probably become useful at SOME point… or I’ll refine them into something useful… but I can’t quite predict which will be nicer. The only thing I could use in the short term is Connection: Summerset, for that ‘Seduce the Provost’ challenge at the end of Feast of the World… so I’ll probably spend some time grinding the ‘Summerset Days’ options. But even so…

…well, the items you can earn from the university mainly boils down to: Proscribed Materials, Primordial Shrieks, Rostygold, Greyfields 1882 and a few options for Stolen Correspondence and Whispered Secrets. Dunno what’s more likely be handy in large quantities, out of those. Well, certainly not the Rostygold, but other than that… (if only because I intend to move on to the Black Ribbon Duelists after I’m done with the university, so I’ll be swimming in the stuff at that point.)

Although… a closer read of the Wiki’s (recently-updated) list shows me that I DO know what I’ll be doing from 8 ‘Term Passing…’ and upwards: ‘Learned Discourse’ from under ‘Do some actual research’. Rare success gives points in Scholar, which there isn’t very many options for. So that just gives me 7 levels to ‘occupy’ myself on… and I might be able to expend a fair quantity of that grinding Summerset-connection.

Things are looking up! But any advice is still welcome. ^_^

[quote=BlakeTheDrake]Hmmm… well, First Sporing IS always handy, especially once you become Noteable and can’t rely on Laudaneum anymore. It’d be something to do from 8-10, certainly. Only problem is, a ‘Failure’ there drains Summerset connection…

See, I get what you’re saying about aiming for the stuff you actually need. Problem is, none of the things that are available from university-related activities seem relevant to any of my short-term goals. They’ll all probably become useful at SOME point… or I’ll refine them into something useful… but I can’t quite predict which will be nicer. The only thing I could use in the short term is Connection: Summerset, for that ‘Seduce the Provost’ challenge at the end of Feast of the World… so I’ll probably spend some time grinding the ‘Summerset Days’ options. But even so…

…well, the items you can earn from the university mainly boils down to: Proscribed Materials, Primordial Shrieks, Rostygold, Greyfields 1882 and a few options for Stolen Correspondence and Whispered Secrets. Dunno what’s more likely be handy in large quantities, out of those. Well, certainly not the Rostygold, but other than that… (if only because I intend to move on to the Black Ribbon Duelists after I’m done with the university, so I’ll be swimming in the stuff at that point.)

Although… a closer read of the Wiki’s (recently-updated) list shows me that I DO know what I’ll be doing from 8 ‘Term Passing…’ and upwards: ‘Learned Discourse’ from under ‘Do some actual research’. Rare success gives points in Scholar, which there isn’t very many options for. So that just gives me 7 levels to ‘occupy’ myself on… and I might be able to expend a fair quantity of that grinding Summerset-connection.

Things are looking up! But any advice is still welcome. ^_^[/quote]
well… hmm… do you want any of the 4 card lodgings? the cheap way to buy them is 50 bazaar permits (must be POSI), 50 antique mysteries, or a variety of infernal items.

If you want to go for the bazaar premises, then primordial shrieks are ideal for that. upcraft to correspondence plaques when you get enough, than transfer the items to visions of the surface through sidecrafts, then upcraft to bazaar permits (though to do the tree from this alone, you would need ~12500 shrieks for 20 permits- 31250 for 50, i think.). they are also one of the items with a functional upcraft tree.

Greyfeilds are occasionally useful, but not that much, and i remember you finished the court. don’t worry about them too much, but they may be worth picking up.

stolen correspondence are useful when you become POSI, as they give you a method to store making waves in nights on the town. (well, their upcrafts do.) if you want to use them before then, they also have a complete and functional upcraft tree.

whispered secrets generally wind up as vendor trash, though they do definitely have their uses, such as buying expedition funds. upcrafting is not worthwhile unless the alternative is straight-up buying cryptic clues from the bazaar, since all their upcrafts are operating at a loss before you factor in the action.
edited by Grenem on 4/5/2015

I just tested it myself, and failing a stroll around the quad does indeed give half CP (1 vs 2) on failure.