COMMUNITY CONSULTATION: Hard-to-Find items

As you’ve probably noticed from our recent announcement we’re revamping some of Echo Bazaar’s economy.

We’re looking for feedback on what items you find hard to acquire in the game so we can tie this back into the revamp.

If you can think of some, let us know here along with the rough levels of your Dangerous, Persuasive, Shadowy and Watchful qualities so we can see where you are in the game.

Two items that immediately spring to mind are Prisoner’s Honey and Stolen Correspondence. Prisoner’s Honey is especially noticable, as a large quantity of this is required to obtain rooms at the Royal Bethlehem, and of the three Lodgings at this level, this one is by far the hardest to acquire. I have no particular use for Stolen Correspondence at the moment, but as with honey, I believe that it’s easier to simply buy it from the Bazaar than to find it in the world.
As for my qualities - They are at the cap, with all equipment capable of increasing (and decreasing) them.
edited by travellersside on 1/13/2012

I’ve not sat down and done the numbers, but, at the present stat caps and off the top of my head, Secluded Addresses, Stolen Correspondence and Silk Scraps.

Surface Currency, Lamplighter Beeswax, Drops of Prisoner’s Honey and Souls are the ones the come to mind.

The ones that seem easiest to obtain is Rostygold, Moon-Pearls, Deep Amber and Cryptic Clues (I’ve seemed to aquire more than 30000 of each before I became a Person of Some Importance).
edited by NotThisBrain on 1/13/2012

Currently I feel the need for a Glim-grinding storylet* (I need 500 for the Keen-Eyed lapidary, and I wanted to stash a little more for the eventual, future opening of Wolfstack Docks). I could buy it at the Bazaar, but at 3 cents apiece it seems too costly, and I can’t rely on the Panning the Unterzee card.

Of the original items, I wept trying to work up Infernal Contracts and books before the uni, but the books were easier to find at those higher watchful. Surface Currency I pretty much always had to buy though - I can’t think where to find it at all, except for random police cards.

That’s tricky, because once you’re very dangerous or shadowy, you can get OODLES of glim either at the Labyrinth or Mahogany Hall. In fact, it’s generally the item people in the higher stats use to sell for echoes for other things, as far as I know, when you’re getting about 100 of them each time.

I’m at ~110 Watchful and Dangerous and ~65 Persuasive and Shadowy.

The item that really stands out to me as being hard to acquire is Prisoner’s Honey. Just coming up with the amount needed for my Nemesis Ambition was challenging, I dread having to lay hands on enough to get the reservation at the Royal Bethlehem.

On the other hand, I typically have a surplus of Glim, Rostygold and Cryptic Clues.
edited by T.W.O. Chandler on 1/13/2012

I’m at the cap for all stats.

Prisoner’s Honey is a definite one. This is made worse by the fact it’s required for a high-level Lodgings, and the reminiscence storylet only gives 35 instead of 50.

I also find myself with a dearth of Foxfire Candles. There seem to be a lot of things that use them, but I haven’t found a good source in a while.

In the mid-levels, I’d point to Greyfields '79 and Beeswax. Once you’ve outlevelled the very early Docks content, there’s a positive drought of cheap wine.

Honey seems to have a demand much higher than supply, especially at higher levels. Souls can be ground easily enough, and Whispered Secrets allows a surprisingly pleasant cycle through the Second Coil, but there is no good way to make the Coffee-Sipping Cat eat her words.

While not necessarily “hard to find”, something that has concerned me a few times is how some items just dry up in sources once certain storylets are levelled past. Items that one used to be able to get plenty of, will have no storylet that offers them. For instance, at my current level of persuasive, I can get bushels of cryptic clues. Whispered secrets… notsomuch, at least until a bit further down the line.

That’s tricky, because once you’re very dangerous or shadowy, you can get OODLES of glim either at the Labyrinth or Mahogany Hall. In fact, it’s generally the item people in the higher stats use to sell for echoes for other things, as far as I know, when you’re getting about 100 of them each time.[/quote]

Main problem with that, I don’t plan to become much Dangerous or Shadowy anytime soon ^^ My main Qualities are Persuasive and Watchful; I’m currently increasing Dangerous and Shadowy, but not more about 25 each for now - to unlock all of the Lodgings contacts (I only need the Urchin now), and to unlock the Opportunity card to acquire a Salt Weasel (it’s cute, and I like the +2 Persuasive ^^ ).

As every one else noted, Prisoner’s Honey can be a great bother when you need large amounts of it, especially if you don’t have access to the Empress’ Court.
Concerning Stolen Correspondence, I don’t find that particularly hard to come by. There are small amounts to collect in a lot of places along the way, there is one Lodgings-related opportunity card providing it; and there’s the &quotRob the Chambers of the Duchess&quot option in the Flit.
Before unlocking the &quotUnfinished Business in…&quot storylets there were times when Beeswax, Greyfields 1882, Surface Currency, Silk Scraps, Foxfire Candles and Whispered Secrets were very hard to find; but never all of them at the same time.
People who choose not to align themselves too much with Hell might have trouble finding a lot of Souls in the game, but that’s rather the point, is it not? ;-)

Well, I guess there’s a price you have to pay for concentrating on one or two qualities… it wouldn’t be fair to those players who go to great lengths to raise all four main qualities to the highest levels, if the game could just as easily be played with just one or two of them.
Good luck with the Salt Weasel! Definitely one of the rarest pets in the game… I’ve been hoping to find one since forever.
edited by Rupho Schartenhauer on 3/24/2015

I’m finding it near impossible to get the Starvling Cat without having a bunch of friends to send me boxed cats…

That’s basically the idea. If you want I could send you mine. It seems like every time I open a box I get the starvling cat. >_>

I’m at level cap; souls and honey were the most annoying to get, as they were needed for buying Lodgings (kinda important with the relickers). Although souls can be got by grinding, that requires Connected:Hell, which clashes with the other major reason to collect them - I’m a Shepherd. A goodguy way to recover souls would be appreciated.

Um get connected hell high enough then use the prince of… option in spite. Pretend your infiltrating the infernal league to return souls then use them to buy a suite.

[quote=Wieland Burandt]Good luck with the Salt Weasel! Definitely one of the rarest pets in the game… I’ve been hoping to find one since forever.
edited by Wieland Burandt on 1/13/2012[/quote]

That’s why as soon as I put my eye on it, I started building up Dangerous - I just peaked at 25, now I’ll raise Shadowy too and then I’ll start dealing Opportunity cards ONLY in Ladybones ^^ The sooner I start, the more chances I get. Well, after all, it says in the description itself that they’re very rare…

As has been said there’s no good source of silk or honey at higher levels. The yields for the respective storylets for them in Unfinished Business in Spite and Veilgarden are much worse than the ones for the other items. The lack of silk is especially unfortunate considering it’s used to make Strong-backed Labour, one of the most commonly demanded Side-street items; Labour is demanded for more Importance gear than any other Side-street item, and in extremely high numbers.
What I’m trying to say is that of all the side-street items, it’s the one that needs to be a reward from the new item system the most.