Best way to generate good Amalgamy skeletons?

I need a huge quantity of Final Breaths for Backstory 500 in my Cabinet Noir. As best I can tell, the sequence I need to follow is:

  1. Need 1350 Final Breaths (which will likely need to be converted into Mortifications of a Great Power).
  2. Need to generate those Final Breaths through skeletons at the Bone Market.
  3. The ideal skeleton for FBs is a 14 Amalgamy Skeleton or something close to that, since that gives me 196 FBs and only 1 Bone Market Exhaustion, which can then be repeated 4x a week and my exhaustion will be wiped out by TTH.
  4. That means either a skeleton using 7 heads and Skulls in Coral (grindable through Jericho Locks since I’m maxed in the guild there), or something with Flourishing Ribcages.

Is this correct? Which type of skeleton will be an easier repeatable grind, since I’d need two weeks of pumping out 14 amalgamy skeletons to get the FBs I need?

(If the answer is ‘do the skulls in coral route’, what’s the easiest way to grind favor with the guild to keep visiting the Persephone repeatedly?)

Notes if relevant: I have no warm amber. I have a couple of flourishing ribcages, skulls in coral, and warbler skeletons, but they’ll all run out soon so whichever grind I choose, I’m going to be grinding all of it from scratch. I have skills of 10-11 in Monstrous Anatomy, Shapeling Arts, Mithridacy, and Toxicology in case that matters.
edited by Televangelist on 10/20/2020

Technically, you could also go for a 9 amalgy skeleton (like a curator with a flourished rib cage, knotted arms, heli legs and alabtros/bat wings depending on the success of the leg), which gives no market exhaustion at all. or you just get the final breaths from selling surveys.

Getting the FBs from selling surveys = 25 surveys per ~5 actions = 5 surveys per action = 2 FBs per action = 1 EPA grind through 1350 actions to hit 1350 FBs… there’s gotta be a better way than that.

For Flourishing Ribcages, I get the impression that the Thorned Ribcage is going to be a major barrier there?
edited by Televangelist on 10/20/2020

25 surveys for 6 actions (you cant do it in 5 AFAIK). 5 actions to cash in. 50 final breaths. 50 / 11 = 4.54 FB per action, And some overhead for travel.

Skeletons might be better, but its hard to calculate.
Not sure about coral skulls. You probably have to change profession to CC.
edited by Waterpls on 10/20/2020

the coral skulls shoudnt be so difficult: if you go for the 14 amalgy birds (7-necked base + 5 coral skulls + 2 caps + 2 albatros wings), the 5 skulls need 5/1.5 = 3 1/3 trips at 3 respect each = 250 memories of distant shores & 10 sworn statements. And just from selling the skeleton you should get the memories covered (380/skel, if I counted correctly). Not sure about the best way to farm the sworn statemens, but Balmormal looks good: do the huntinggrounds to get the 7 necked base and spend the moonlight with painting to get the statements. As a benefit you get also 5 Viennese Openings for the painting, which are another 5 backstories.

Edit: Just realized that only the huntinggrounds do not give enough moonlight (and hence sworn statements) for a sustainable carousel, so e.g. some additional source of statements such as fencing identies (with a urchin background) in Balmoral will be needed. Or you could trade them for attar at the palace in far arbor.

[quote=Waterpls]25 surveys for 6 actions (you cant do it in 5 AFAIK). 5 actions to cash in. 50 final breaths. 50 / 11 = 4.54 FB per action, And some overhead for travel.

Skeletons might be better, but its hard to calculate.
Not sure about coral skulls. You probably have to change profession to CC.
edited by Waterpls on 10/20/2020[/quote]
edited by Scona on 10/20/2020
edited by Scona on 10/21/2020

What do you mean by &quotcaps&quot? Is that a specific type of skull? And do I need a castellan to access the hunting grounds?
edited by Televangelist on 10/20/2020

Stygian Ivory Balls. They “cap off” a neck slot for no qualities but they’re much easier to obtain.

The hunting grounds in Balmoral require appointing a Castellan.

Amber Fins+Flourishing Skeleton+Stygian Ball is probably the easiest way to get a fair amount of Amalgamy. However, I am yet to be convinced of the value of Final Breaths over a number of other options to gain the resources that Final Breaths produce (unless you’re grinding for a Prince of Hell Location, in which case grind away).