Hello all. I’ve been knocking around in Fallen London for about a month, having fun noodling along. I discovered it after getting and playing Sunless Sea, which is also solid. I think I’ve hit something that I can’t find: I went into an expedition, didn’t have enough supplies, and it is now mathematically impossible for me to reach the goal (20) given what I have (11 supplies, 7 progress). I know how to get the supplies once I get out - is there any way short of burning a bunch of actions to abandon it? Or do I have to run out of supplies first and then restock?
You’ll have to run out first. You can do it expediently by trying the 2- and 3-supply actions.
However, it’s worth noting that you may still be able to make it – occasionally, the Airs of the Forgotten Quarter may deign to lead you closer to your goal at no cost in Supplies.
To clarify, with Airs of the Forgotten Quarter 96-100 an option appears to gain four Progress at no cost. As such there’s a 1/20 chance after every expedition action.
Note that if you want to try to finish using Airs of the Forgotten Quarter, you’ll want to use one supply at a time, as this will refresh the airs more times and give you a better chance of rolling the free progress option.
Thanks for the answer - live and learn, I guess. Might as well stack the supplies to the rafters next go - docks + pewter mug to rejuvenate it is most efficient, correct?
Using Docks connections is most efficient from an endgame point of view but I’m not sure about earlier in the game. If you already have the item costs, buying with Whispered Hints is very good as the option averages 1.5 supplies and .5 Map Scraps each action. But yeah, with access to good grinds the Pewter Mug is most efficient from an EPA (echo per action) point of view - though I’ve heard for the highly-profitable Gallery of Serpents fate expedition, profits are high enough that the average best EPA is actually spending echoes directly.
Can you poke around in the Forgotten Quarter to change the Airs, or does that lock during Expeditions?
It locks.
Well, then your only options are paying fate for extra supplies, or praying to the almighty RNG to get lucky with the Airs.
Also worth noting that poking around in the Quarter when not on an Expedition caps your possible Airs at 95, to avoid the obvious exploit.
Absolute nonsense. Even if paying through the nose is best, 10 echoes and 4 actions for 4 supplies is easily trumped by 13.5 echoes and 2 actions for 5 supplies, which is strong-backed labors.
I wouldn’t give up hope unless your odds are truly terrible. I recently went on an expedition with 45 supplies and came out of it with 53. Granted, it was an extraordinary case, but the chance certainly exists.
And you can get Strong-Backed Labours even more cheaply if you wait for cards, via the Acacia and the Butterfly! I’ve found that it takes weeks to stock up for one expedition that way, but it’s nice and cheap if you only want the occasional Forgotten Quarter foray.
Whispered hints isn’t quite as good as that.
I recorded ~300 attempts and came up with a ~66% chance for 1 supply, 1 map scrap, 33% chance for 2 supplies. (And I only started recording attempts after feeling like the first option came up much more than the other.) I think there’s a spreadsheet with a much larger dataset that puts the odds at roughly 60/40.
While we’re on the subject of expeditions, I have some fate I wanted to spend on one either the Temple of the Uttermost Wind or the Gallery of Serpents (since I don’t have enough for both). I wanted ask for guidance from people who have played through either or both storylets. Which one did you prefer, story-wise?
edited by fadi_efendi on 2/19/2016
@Fadi_efendi: Presumably you mean Temple of Uttermost Wind, not Temple of Blue Heaven. The Gallery of Serpents is said to have the richest rewards, but as I have yet to do it, I cannot say. I was certainly underwhelmed by the Temple of Uttermost Wind from a story standpoint.
– Mal
Let me edit that out - serves me well for not checking. Thank you for your insight!
edited by fadi_efendi on 2/19/2016
[quote=fadi_efendi]While we’re on the subject of expeditions, I have some fate I wanted to spend on one either the Temple of the Uttermost Wind or the Gallery of Serpents (since I don’t have enough for both). I wanted ask for guidance from people who have played through either or both storylets. Which one did you prefer, story-wise?
edited by fadi_efendi on 2/19/2016[/quote]
The gallery of serpents is the most interesting, story wise. Although i was disappointed with the ending, i feel like more was promised than what eventually happened.
The Temple of Uttermost Wind is interesting, if you pick the betrayal option at the end you can get a unique item which, afaik, is not available anywhere else (although it doesn’t do anything). i don’t know if you also get the usual treasure when doing that
Those are Fate locked - please either spoiler them or put them in that thread! I hadn’t done those two expeditions either and was saving up some of my free fate for them.
[quote=fadi_efendi]While we’re on the subject of expeditions, I have some fate I wanted to spend on one either the Temple of the Uttermost Wind or the Gallery of Serpents (since I don’t have enough for both). I wanted ask for guidance from people who have played through either or both storylets. Which one did you prefer, story-wise?
edited by fadi_efendi on 2/19/2016[/quote]
Having done both, even if you only have a small amount of Fate to spend, if you want story I would save it for other opportunities.