Gillsing, can you tell me where I can go to get 150 whispered secrets per action? The grind I use at the moment is getting amber at Mahogany Hall, which I convert with the Tiger Keeper, but that’s about 111 whispered secrets per action.
I think it’s card based. The Parthenaeum and Respectable Landau cards give that many in a single action.
Ah - that would explain it, thanks. I’m afraid I go on expeditions pretty often and I don’t have time to turn cards reliably, so I’ll have to stick to teaching rubbery men to enjoy music.
Yeah, it only works if you’re not going on expeditions particularly often. I used to take advantage of the porters at the university back when I went on expeditions. Only 108 x Whispered Secrets per action, but the Investigating… to raid message drops in the Flit made up for that. Or at least it made up for the 25 x Cryptic Clue it cost to bribe the porters every time. At least the Sudden Insights could be used to buccaneer my way to the shrines.
[quote=Sara Hysaro]I think it’s card based. The Parthenaeum and Respectable Landau cards give that many in a single action.[/quote]It is card-based, but I’m not a member of the Parthenaeum, nor have I bothered to invest in a Respectable Landau. And I’m afraid that I might not be at liberty to discuss the exact card in public.
Fate-locked? Gotcha. I just listed the two sources I knew offhand.
To talk quickly about the Empress’ Court, what should I do/grind before I get kicked out? I’ve always been reluctant to finish the area due to vaguely remembering people saying things only doable pre-kick.
You should do all of the epic poems and novels before leaving for sure. I regret not doing that before getting kicked out on my main. You should probably get a Memento of Passion there too if you haven’t already.
[quote=Gillsing][quote=empirimancer]What’s the PPA on this? Compared to just straight cashing in the connections by calling in favors?[/quote]It also depends on if you’re siding with the dockers to save 50 Echoes on 4 x Strong-Backed Labour, or if you’ve already got all the Strong-Backed Labour you’re going to need, in which case they’re only worth 2.50 Echoes each. And then it also depends on if you need the Someone Is Coming +1 CP to get to level 4 to qualify for getting a gift from the Capering Relicker. The 24 x Vision of the Surface for a PoSI is 12 Echoes, and you need 10 CPs to qualify, and you lose 21 CPs when you accept the gift. After they changed the card from Very Infrequent to just Infrequent I managed to reduce my Someone Is Coming from 25+ to zero, so for me those CPs are actually worth 102 p now. Before the change they just kept building up. Though to be fair, I’ve also stopped clicking on a lot of faction conflict cards, so that reduced them further. Once I have Someone Is Coming level 4, I only side with the Revolutionaries on "Amber in the well" until the Capering Relicker has caught up to me. All other conflicts are saved for when I’ve received the gift that is rightfully mine.
Without needing either the Strong-Backed Labour or Someone Is Coming, I doubt that The Acacia and the Butterfly is worth all the actions it takes to build up one or both of the connections to qualify again. But compared to cashing in connections through the usual 240 ppa actions it’s quite good since you save actions by cashing in more connections in a single action. But which option is the best when cashing in those connections? Once again it depends. The widow offers 40 x Jade Fragment plus a Favour in High Places that might be worth more than the Echoes to someone with a salon. And sure, let’s go with 50 p for Someone Is Coming.
(40 p + 1250 p + 50 p - 150 ppa) / (500 CP - 30 CP) = 2.53 pence per connected CP
The dockers offer 4 x Strong-Backed Labour, plus a Bundle of Oddities (80, might be random now) which is worth less than the Widow’s 1290 p. But if you’re doing expeditions you can buy supplies with Strong-Backed Labour, and that saves quite a few actions. Let’s say that you can get 150 x Whispered Secret in a single action, and every third time you trade them for rumours of treasure you get an extra supply. That’s 4 actions to get 600 x Whispered Secret to use on 3 rumours of treasure, for a total of 7 actions for 4 supplies, or 14 actions to get 8 supplies. With Strong-Backed Labour you’d get two supplies every time, so the 4 x Strong-Backed Labour the dockers offer can save you 14 - 4 = 10 actions when buying 8 supplies. If you value your actions at 150 ppa, suddenly the dockers’ reward is worth (10 - 1) x 150 = 1350 p. And more still if your sources of Whispered Secrets give you less than 150 at a time. But this doesn’t account for all the actions spent qualifying for The Acacia and the Butterfly, so when I first considered this approach to expeditions I didn’t see it as better than going with the Whispered Secrets. But now things have changed on all fronts, so I may have to check again. (Though expeditions still look like less than 150 ppa, so I’m not in a hurry to go back to archaeology. The loss of starting with "A sign?" also removed some of the fun, since it took the ‘seeking curios’ out of the picture. Though with the Liberation of Night advanced by selling those eyeless skulls, perhaps that is for the best.)[/quote]
Thanks, Gillsing. I now see that it’s rather situational and there isn’t a straightforward answer to what I should do with all my Dockers and Widow connections. What is clear, though, is that there really isn’t much else to spend them on.
The Correspondence symphony there is probably also the cheapest way to get scholar up to Correspondent levels. Better than waiting for Watchful to get high enough to start burning plaques, at least.
Oh, yes. If your Scholar of the Correspondence quality isn’t already 10 it’s a good idea to take advantage of that. Light Arrow is already there, but it’s a good thing to note.
edited by Sara Hysaro on 5/31/2014
Do you mean getting a "copy" of each of the different works? And for the Memento, I’ve raised both potentials to 4. However, I’m somewhat reluctant now to go for the both at once option, reading up on the +30 Scandal and the high required Hedonist quirk for the action. Thoughts?
[quote=Light Arrow]However, I’m somewhat reluctant now to go for the both at once option, reading up on the +30 Scandal and the high required Hedonist quirk for the action. Thoughts?[/quote]I raised my Hedonist quirk by enjoying the decadence at the pleasure garden during the Feast of the Rose, but apparently laudanum works too. The scandal might send you straight to the Tomb-Colonies, where you could pick up a Tomb-Lion if you don’t already have one. But if you finished the Labyrinth of Tigers I suppose you might be done with breeding those beasts?
Yep, pick up all 6 copies before leaving. They aren’t used for much (thanks for the reminder RandomWalker!), but you can’t get them after you’ve kicked yourself out.
I think the both at once option is worth it. Make sure you have a Tincture of Vigour on hand to pick up a Tomb-Lion while you’re in the colonies (you automatically get sent there regardless of your Scandal), and Hedonist isn’t too difficult to raise.
edited by Sara Hysaro on 6/2/2014
Epic novels are useful in a couple of instances: the future tech one makes getting a zub a little easier and the other novels make getting into God’s Editors easier. Not neath-shattering, but handy.