First off, this post will probably have a lot of SPOILERS for those who are not yet Persons of Some Importance or are not embedded in the Scholarship of the Correspondence. This is my first post so I’m erring on the side of caution and yelling BEWARE SPOILERS.
My current goal is to become a Correspondent. I have notability 4 (I am aware I need 5) and am currently an Author. My biggest hurdle is looking to be getting A Scholar of the Correspondence (SotC) from where it is now - 7.2 ish - to 10. I have done a little research and it looks like there are two main grindable ways to raise SotC to 10. One is to do the "The Last Alphabet" task in the University (the Shadowy Dealings one), which even with all my watchful gear is around a 72% chance to succeed and is somewhat item-intensive to boot. The other option is to complete a "Challenging" symphony over and over in the Empress’ court, which awards 1 CP of SotC each. The problem is I am already working on the opera that will lead to me being banished from the court, and am not aware of a way either to work on something else in the meantime OR to get un-banished (I believe that is future content).
Do I have any alternatives? Some of the research I did indicated that a lot of players got their SotC up to 10 by having their dreams ravaged, which is a now-retired opportunity card. I am not opposed to grinding to get to the end-game content, but I want to make sure I’m not doing something wasteful or unnecessarily difficult. Any help is greatly appreciated! Thanks :) edited by Hokum on 11/23/2014
If your Watchful is sufficiently high you can raise it in the University through Shadowy Dealings. The retired card was effectively replaced with that option.
Funnily enough I’m currently in a similar situation, trying to get my SotC up to 10, though for a different reason. Assuming your watchful must be fairly high (I assume, as you have a 72% chance on The Last Alphabet), I think that card is the best option. Yes it uses up quite a lot of items, but considering there aren’t too many CPs involved it doesn’t feel too bad to me. Though I may have been fortunate as I had quite a few Screams and Plaques available to me shortly before starting my grind.
If you’re willing to spend Fate for the continuation of Theological Husbandry, a Corresponding Ocelot or (if you’ve also purchased the Flute Street storylets) Bifurcated Owl both have an Opportunity Card which can increase SotC.
It’s random, as they are Opportunity Cards, but the Fate is well-spent (in my opinion) for good storylines and basically free SotC gains.
Occasionally, there is a rare success in that storylet, too, that gives CP without consuming items, though I only ever encountered it once.
If you can get into an exchange program for Unexpected Packages with the Square of Lofty words card, there’s also a chance for Correspondence Plaques to be in it, which will also grant some increase to SOTC upon reception.