About managing risks: what can kill you in one go?

Sunless Sea
1

Hello to everyone. I’m new here.

I’m really enjoying SS and I have already spent a great deal of time playing it. I’m actually warmly suggesting it to all gamers that I know that are even remotely interested in rogue-likes and/or GREAT storytelling (and I think everyone here knows how great it really is).

I was actually going to write a really long rant out of frustration but, after thinking about it, I did reconsider.

Truth is, when I was finally able to upgrade my ship for the first time since I began playing, I went for the Lampad Cutter. Her stats were already telling me that doing so would have probably been a really bad idea, but I still wanted to try her at least once. In the end, her absurdly low crew cap got me killed in one fell swoop after a failed Iron challenge in the &quotA Blemmigan Colony&quot event. (I would like to stress out that I had &quotfull crew&quot).

So, after assessing that buying the Cutter is a really bad idea if you are not going to be really discriminate about what you’re going to do with her, and after gaining further knowledge regarding the game mechanics (in this case, that the number of crewmen that can get killed by an event isn’t a percentage based upon the maximum crew capacity of your current ship but instead an arbitrary number) I decided that it was finally time to ask more game-savyy zee-captains about something that is really bugging me. That is, the question that is the title of this topic.

I was firmly set on never going to switch to Merciful Mode even once but after this last playthrough (the best one I ever had going on, at least for now) got destroyed in an instant by the RNG, I may have to reconsider my approach. I still don’t want to switch to Merciful (the thrill I got after winning two high-risk gambles in a row so to recover from having maxed out Terror while at zee, with almost no supplies nor fuel left to spare, is something I really don’t want to give up) but I think I really need to know in what circumstances you can get killed in one fell swoop without any forewarning of sort, even if you are in the best condition possibile (for me that probably would be: Terror <20, Fuel >15, Supplies >10, Crew >10, Hull >50).

I know that I could just begin to read some spoiler-free guides, but I really don’t want to. I think it should be up to me to imagine the best trade routes, the best set-ups before starting a new journey out at zee, etc. etc. I am already doing that and I think that getting that spoiled would be, at least for me, almost as bad as having some bits of the story content spoiled.

So, if you are going to help me, please don’t spoil me anything of the game that actually suggests you (even if in a really subtle way) that you can die by doing something even if you are in pretty good conditions. What I would like to know about are those events that don’t actually suggest something like that. Either way, thanks for reading.

EDIT: Maybe I wrote too much.

So, tl;dr:
What is the maximum amount of hull damage, terror and number of crewmen killed that a single event can inflict upon you?
Obviously, events in which you are going to get the terror maxed out, your hull destroyed or your whole crew killed regardless of their level prior to the event itself are not to be considered.
edited by Blacklight on 2/21/2016

2

Well… sailing off the south end of the map is a really bad idea, unless you have very high stats. And there is no real warning that it is a bad idea.

3

Thanks for your reply. Actually I was sure, until what happened to me earlier, that what you’re talking about was pretty much the only instance of something killing you without previous notice. But, as someone already pointed out in a related discussion, there are some sort of hints in the event log when you sail south that doing that is a bad idea.
edited by Blacklight on 2/21/2016

4

Making the Blind Bruiser angry can wipe out your crew on the starting ship, even with a full complement. Criminals in general, actually, don’t much like it when you don’t have their promised payments.
Going into the Wisp-Ways or Shattered Citadel without ludicrous over-preparation (including high stats) can easily kill you.

Most other Bad Ideas won’t kill you outright but will drastically worsen your odds of surviving the normal wear and tear of the zee, such as eating your crew at Kingeater’s, or going into Frostfound without a plan.

Also, without a high crew cap, you may not want to risk crew in the first place, even if it won’t kill you – limping along at half speed can suddenly double the Supplies you needed to get home.

Finally, alt-tabbing to check the wiki when you’re at 1 Hull is The Worst Idea. ahem >_>

5

As a rule of thumb, I always like to sail around with at least 3 extra crew above the halfway point. That way I can lose one or two without it being a problem. If I’m planning challenges that risk crew then I may carry even more than that. I am at the moment using the merchant ship though, so I have plenty of money and can afford the high supply costs.

One encounter that killed several crew was (spoiler alert) on Mutton Island, where you encounter a sea monster and try to battle it. That brought me well below the halfway crew point and forced me to quickly limp back to London. I did get a live specimen out of the battle though, so it ended up being worthwhile.

6

Thank you all for your replies. These are really good suggestions and useful pieces of information. And also by discussing this with someone instead of relying on a guide it doesn’t really feel like I’m spoiling anything for myself. xD
Regarding the Blind Bruiser, I didn’t ever make him angry until now so I had no idea of the consequences. I usually never accept his &quotgentle offer&quot until I know where Mt. Palmerston is.
I was actually planning to stock on Candles during my next play-through to venture in the Wisp-Ways AND the Shattered Citadel. Now I will think twice before doing that.
I am really surprised that there are Bad Ideas that are actually WORSE than Eating Your Crew.

Regarding the limping about at half-speed… it happened to me many times already. Usually I manage to get through it. Sometimes I don’t. But, that’s how it is supposed to be, after all.

Regarding the number of crewmen I sail with… as I said, I usually sail around with virtually a full complement. I perfectly aware that’s really inefficient but I like to usually play it safe, moreover so because I like to try my hand at… just about everything.
Well… I’m going to start a new play-through right now. Let’s just this captain will be more lucky than the rest. xD

7

The wisp ways aren’t anything to worry about. You only lose 1 crew at a time, or gain 1 wound, and that’s only if you fail a challenge. And you have the option of quitting your exploration whenever you want.

8

The Shattered Citadel isn’t all that bad. There are some moderate stat challenges but it’s pretty easy with about 10 candles if you have all your stats around 50 and bring some spare crew (And are not wounded), the rewards are also substantial.

As for possible instant deaths, There’s a possibility after dining with the Presbytereate Adveturess twice, a tough iron challenge that will take a lot of your crew if you fail and just one if you win. Ditto for betraying Zaira in the Isle of Cats
edited by NotaWalrus on 2/28/2016

9

I guess I’ve had significantly different experiences in the Wisp-Ways and Shattered Citadel; I usually find that Wounds come too fast and easy to make it a worthwhile venture without keeping everything at Straightforward. Last time I did the Citadel I went in at full health and crew and died of Wounds before I even hit the halfway point.

10

Don’t turn in ANY intelligence to the Voracious Diplomat.
Seriously, don’t. Don’t do it. There’s no warning if you do it many times. There’s no way-back. Just don’t.

For the rest, the posts above are pretty spot on.

11

[quote=Loscil]Don’t turn in ANY intelligence to the Voracious Diplomat.
Seriously, don’t. Don’t do it. There’s no warning if you do it many times. There’s no way-back. Just don’t.

For the rest, the posts above are pretty spot on.[/quote]

Would I be right in supposing their name comes with certain… implications?

12

[quote=Kittenpox][quote=Loscil]Don’t turn in ANY intelligence to the Voracious Diplomat.
Seriously, don’t. Don’t do it. There’s no warning if you do it many times. There’s no way-back. Just don’t.

For the rest, the posts above are pretty spot on.[/quote]

Would I be right in supposing their name comes with certain… implications?[/quote]

Giving certain amounts of intel to her is fine. It gives you a clear warning that a non-london supremacy is rising and if you see that a couple times you know it’s time to stop.

She gives an extra 150 echo’s and it’s worth bringing her to supremacy at least once if you don’t do another game-ending quest to get a certain item.
edited by JGPS on 3/4/2016

13

[quote=JGPS][quote=Kittenpox][quote=Loscil]Don’t turn in ANY intelligence to the Voracious Diplomat.
Seriously, don’t. Don’t do it. There’s no warning if you do it many times. There’s no way-back. Just don’t.

For the rest, the posts above are pretty spot on.[/quote]

Would I be right in supposing their name comes with certain… implications?[/quote]

Giving certain amounts of intel to her is fine. It gives you a clear warning that a non-london supremacy is rising and if you see that a couple times you know it’s time to stop.

She gives an extra 150 echo’s and it’s worth bringing her to supremacy at least once if you don’t do another game-ending quest to get a certain item.
edited by JGPS on 3/4/2016[/quote]

Yeah, I would do the same if there was a way to reduce Dawn’s supremacy, so I could purchase one or two Element of Dawn and a Dawn’s Law. But doing so makes me afraid of locking my precious Admiral forever, so imo restraining from turning any intelligence to her is advisable.

14

Fortunately the increase in Supremacy: Dawn Machine is linked with an increase in Supremacy: London, and there’s only a 50% each time that they’ll increase above 2. So if you can manage to get Supremacy: London at least 1 higher, using the Diplomat becomes slightly safer as Supremacy: London will hit 7 first so only its victory storylet will happen. The Admiral would still lock if you ever aid the Dawn Machine past that though.

15

That’s only +3 isn’t it? (I forget if Dawns law is a +1 or more). You can still sell the first for a guaranteed +1 and keep selling though two more increases. That’s a minimum of 450 extra echos which isn’t too shabby.

16

I recently encountered a Zee monster called Mt Nomad whose ramming attack does 80 damage. That’s enough to kill your starting ship in one hit.

17

unless you’re purpose is to kill mt. nomad, the tree of ages or a lorn-fluke, run on the opposite direction wherenever you see one of them.

18

Lorn-Flukes are surprisingly easy to kill. I do my best to avoid Mt Nomad and the Tree of Ages, but I kill every fluke I see. Three free secrets for a little hull damage is fine by me, since with a decent engine you can stay out of ramming range easily.