Blind alleyways and ambushes

So somewhere along the line I seem to have missed that to improve SOTC past 7 I needed to have watchful 170. So having now left the term passing carousel with no way to go back I want to ask the question. How many steps ahead do I need to read in the wiki so that I stop making horrific mistakes because of things it looks like I’ll be able to achieve by sacrificing one thing and instead I walk down a labyrinthine tunnel that actually once you get inside goes &quothey, you’re locked out until you go up 80 stat levels&quot? Just incredibly frustrated that I spent two hours reading this morning trying to make sure I didn’t do something stupid only to find out that I did something stupid by not going one more step down the rabbit hole of reading.

There are only two really bad ones. that one, which isn’t well labled, and the empress’ court, which is. If you still have the court, you can in fact improve SOTC further, though it’s slow.

Well, and quirks. Those are completely messed up above 10. it’s a huge struggle to get to 12 so you can spend small fortunes to maintain them, and there’s no ways to grind some of them. but they don’t lock you out of much, so don’t worry.

Ouch. I can’t answer your question, but at least your sacrifice has helped others in the same position, who will now know to leave well enough alone after 7 SotC.
Please announce this in the Janissaries so we can all benefit from your experience.

@Grenem: do you mean to say that the Symphony still can increase SotC? Because it would be useful to have 10 in it this season, and not risk missing any Taste of Lacre checks with the Monocle.

Answered below, thanks, Master.

– Mal
edited by malthaussen on 12/8/2015

[quote=malthaussen]Ouch. I can’t answer your question, but at least your sacrifice has helped others in the same position, who will now know to leave well enough alone after 7 SotC.
Please announce this in the Janissaries so we can all benefit from your experience.

@Grenem: do you mean to say that the Symphony still can increase SotC? Because it would be useful to have 10 in it this season, and not risk missing any Taste of Lacre checks with the Monocle.

– Mal
edited by malthaussen on 12/8/2015
edited by malthaussen on 12/8/2015[/quote]

Yes, it can increase it to 10, that is how I got it to 10 a few weeks ago so I can confirm.

[quote=The Master][quote=malthaussen]Ouch. I can’t answer your question, but at least your sacrifice has helped others in the same position, who will now know to leave well enough alone after 7 SotC.
Please announce this in the Janissaries so we can all benefit from your experience.

@Grenem: do you mean to say that the Symphony still can increase SotC? Because it would be useful to have 10 in it this season, and not risk missing any Taste of Lacre checks with the Monocle.

– Mal
edited by malthaussen on 12/8/2015
edited by malthaussen on 12/8/2015[/quote]

Yes, it can increase it to 10, that is how I got it to 10 a few weeks ago so I can confirm.[/quote]
yes. It’s slow, (1 point per symphony) and still caps at 10, i believe, but it doesn’t cap at 7 like most sources. ofc, if you have the stats for it, that means the university is far faster and likely more effective- but lots of people don’t.

Have you done the Glim sculpter yet? I can’t remember the order, but I know he unlocked post-University. You can use his card, when you’re complete with his story, to increase SOTC to 7 itself, if you haven’t gotten that far. If you’re talking about using Plaques, it’s also worth mentioning that it’s pretty expensive as well and still had a fairly high fail rate for me at 167 + 40 equipment.

Can’t one return to the University through scientific expeditions sponsored by the Dilmun Club? I’ve actually been meaning to find out how exactly, because I have been accepted into their ranks and entrusted with this undertaking, though I have yet to begin the necessary preparations (and remain unsure whether to do so in December, especially with the uncertainty surrounding the unseasonable &quotweather&quot we are experiencing).
edited by The Duke of Waltham on 12/8/2015

[quote=The Duke of Waltham]Can’t one return to the University through scientific expeditions sponsored by the Dilmun Club?[/quote]You can return but you never regain all of the options at the University. By returning, you only get access to four storylets: Shadowy Dealings at the University, Growing Pains, The Committee on Semiotic Safety, and A colleague with a problem. You lose all of the storylets that rely on the Term Passing… quality.
edited by Travers on 12/8/2015

Surprise Packages (and other Bundles of Oddities with high enough value) that give Correspondence Plaques also give a point of SotC above 7. You can also flip cards in the Bazaar Sidestreets and hope to draw the Skin of the Bazaar card, but that’s rare, so it may take a while.

There is also the fatelocked companions with rewards that are relivent, but not to be discussed.

I was afraid of that. Still, I suppose it’s all I need before I can do certain things again (or for the first time). Would I be able to increase connections with Benthic and Summerset? They are needed for certain other actions, like upgrading items (though I don’t recall details at the moment).

The Committee on Semiotic Safety increases Benthic and Summerst connections. Such connections can also be increased by donating archaeological finds from Fallen Quarter expeditions to the respective College.

Loosing the University carrousel has been one of the very very few disappointments I’ve had with game mechanics and structure … gone, all gone … even after I went out of my way to cover for that murdering b------! Hmph![li]
edited by Lady Sapho Byron on 12/13/2015

The Endowment of a University Fellowship can also be used to increase connections. There are two options for increasing Benthic or Summerset regularly, and two others that trade in a large amount of one connected for one point of the other in case you accidentally lost all of it so couldn’t use the first action.

[quote=Lady Sapho Byron]The Committee on Semiotic Safety increases Benthic and Summerst connections. Such connections can also be increased by donating archaeological finds from Fallen Quarter expeditions to the respective College.

Loosing the University carrousel has been one of the very very few disappointments I’ve had with game mechanics and structure … gone, all gone … even after I went out of my way to cover for that murdering b------! Hmph![/quote]
I believe I cannot donate archaeological finds until I am re-admitted, so I suppose there’s that as well. As to the carousel, I didn’t know it would be lost even if I were to betray my principles. It makes sense in terms of game mechanics and story progression—after all, the Glim Sculptor appears afterwards no matter what you choose—but for some reason the thought had never till now crossed my mind that staying in the University would change something. I feel a little better about my choice now. That was possibly the first time I made a major decision based on character at the expense of shorter-term gain.

It is definitely disappointing that while being honest gets you banned for a while, being discreet still ends up taking away your teaching position. Hopefully future updates will eventually bring it back.