Advice on Preparing for Hallowmas (spoilers, obvs)

Fallen London
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Salutations! Before I begin, may I take a moment to introduce myself: in our dear Neathy London I am often called Charlotte Tisserand, a silly little sausage who by all rights should have been done up like kippers and booked on a voyage to Venderblight by now, except for a positively scrummy run of luck. Since that luck might run out any day now, I thought I’d wiggle a little advice from my esteemed betters on how to get by down here.

More specifically, about the upcoming holiday, Hallowmas (is that a tautology? I honestly can’t tell).

Firstly, I understand that at one time it might have been possible to get a replica of that very charming chap Feducci’s Lance, which I hear is just about the best possible thing to have in hand for poking some L.B.s (please correct me if I happen to be wrong). Now, obviously I’d love to snaffle one up for myself this year (the lance, not the L.B.), but I’m worried I might not be able to since Feducci seems a little short on mayoral colors just about now. Has there been any mention at all if the lance might make a return this year, or if it’s been permanently retired, or if our rather argumentative and Jovial mayor might have a replacement?

Secondly, because I am, as mentioned, relatively new (am expecting enough Professional Perks for my third Trade Secret next week), I’m concerned about missing out on some super brilliant loot just because I might simply not qualify for it. I think, for instance, that I need a jolly pile of stuff ready for Sackmas before it arrives, so I’m wondering if there’s anything I need to have or done for Hallowmas.

To give an idea of where I happen to be right now: I’ve taken a lovely holiday to Port Carnelian, thrown a party there and got myself Restored to the Court of Her Enduring Majesty, juuuust finished a thrilling investigation at the University (I’m pretty sure that Consumptive bloke was the one, but I’m kind of a scatterbrain) but not quite started yet on any scientific voyages, become acquainted with Bats and Cats in London’s roofy bits, and am just about to begin helping some dashing gentlemen with Acquiring Exhibits for the Labyrinth of Tigers (which, on reflection, sounds horribly dangerous and not at all suited to my delicate constitution). I’m also a proud member of God’s Editors and the Parthanaeum, and by a twist of Fate found myself in the possession of a lovely yacht.

edited by The_False_Ingenue on 10/5/2018

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Hallowmas has changed year to year, so it’s not entirely predictable, but last year the only thing that really made a difference was having 8 Notability to burn and easy access to that much Notability again.

The best preparation therefore is maximizing BDR as best you can and ensuring that you have efficient means of acquiring Making Waves. One obvious one is having ready stockpiles of tier 3 items of the right type, such as Visions of the Surface. A Salon or Orphanage with plenty of work put in is a generally good source of Making Waves on demand, but pricey.

You mentioned preparing for Christmas as well. There are a handful of things that are nice to have for the 12 Days of Sackmas, but heavy preparations are only important if you find personal meaning in the pursuit of a Noman tattoo.

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Feducci’s lance may return, but if it does, it will almost certainly cost Fate.

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[quote=Tyrconnell]Hallowmas has changed year to year, so it’s not entirely predictable, but last year the only thing that really made a difference was having 8 Notability to burn and easy access to that much Notability again.

The best preparation therefore is maximizing BDR as best you can and ensuring that you have efficient means of acquiring Making Waves. One obvious one is having ready stockpiles of tier 3 items of the right type, such as Visions of the Surface. A Salon or Orphanage with plenty of work put in is a generally good source of Making Waves on demand, but pricey.

You mentioned preparing for Christmas as well. There are a handful of things that are nice to have for the 12 Days of Sackmas, but heavy preparations are only important if you find personal meaning in the pursuit of a Noman tattoo.[/quote]

As I have mentioned, I am still pretty new, so I have managed to scrounge up only around 20 BDR, and haven’t yet renovated my Magnificent Townhouse, let alone Schemed enough to become sufficiently Notable. I do think, however, that I might go around trading Tales of Terror until the festival. Is the second trade-in of 8 notability important enough to deny me access to a Lance if omitted?

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The likelihood is that if the Lance is available, it costs Fate. I don’t remember for sure, but I think last year rewards that cost Fate did not also cost Confessions, just the Fate.

If it does take Confessions, then… it’s complicated. The Lance cost 60 Feducci’s Favor, and each confession could be traded for either 4 or 6 favor, depending on which confession it was, so it took between 10 and 15 confessions. Originally FBG planned to give players 8 free Confessions, but this was raised to 13 during the holiday based on player feedback and is one of the parts of the holiday most likely to be revised in upcoming iterations. The confessions worth more Favor were only available during the second week of the festival and were overall less common and more coveted.

Note that 8 Notability got you one (1) Confession. Most players who were trading Notability were doing it repeatedly. Based on the rewards I got, I must have done the Notability trade 8 times in two weeks.

The year before, trade-ins cost 5 Notability rather than 8. The trading of Notability is the aspect of the festival likely to receive the most scrutiny from FBG for updates to this year’s format.

So yeah… lots of unknowns. But if I were to bet, I would bet on it costing Fate but no Confessions.