Appalling Secrets?

What is the most effective grind for Appalling Secrets? I need lots for &quotDrown your Secrets&quot to advance SMEN, which sound much more appealing than halving my Watchful to advance instead.

Trade with the Tiger in the Labyrinth for Hints and convert upward. You’ll even make a slight profit.

– Mal

By the way, does anyone know the significance of the number 3 with regards to Appalling Secrets? Note that exchanges are either with 33x or 333x.

Most tier 2 items (e.g. Morelways 1872, Amanita Sherry, etc.) cost 0.10 echoes each, and convert up in batches of 50 (worth 5 echoes) or 500 (worth 50 echoes).

However, Appalling Secrets are worth 0.15 echoes each and not 0.10. So to maintain a comparable conversion rate, they convert up in batches of 33 (worth 4.95 echoes) or 333 (worth 49.95 echoes).

Another such exception is Intriguing Snippets. These cost 0.20 echoes each, so they convert up in batches of 25 or 250, for the same reasons.

This isn’t the first time I’ve heard people mention trading with the Tiger Keeper for Hints and up converting in answer to this question and I must be missing something, because if you don’t already have a ton of stuff to trade it seems extremely inefficient. Eavesdropping for Cryptic Clues through Unfinished Business in the Flit seems significantly more efficient.

If you have a large number of Extraordinary Implications already, it could be worth exchanging them for Cryptic Clues on Mutton Island.

Also, don’t overlook the Orthographic Infection card. I’m not sure the wiki is right on this as, iirc, the successful luck check gives a number of Appalling Secrets based on your Nightmares level. So it’s a nice bonus at high levels, although if you fail the check it’s probably off to the Mirror Marches for you.

An alternative approach to Drown your Secrets is simply to plod along getting the standard 1 SMEN per week through the Unaccountably Peckish cards. I failed the check on Drown about eight times in succession when it was ~35%ish, losing something like 1k Appalling Secrets each time. However I think Seeking calmly and sensibly takes all the fun out of it…

As for the slow climb of one SMEN a week, I think there’s a different kind of horror between throwing yourself into the pyre, being consumed utterly & holding your arm in an open flame, shaking & knowing that you’re being consumed slowly.

different kinds of horror