What have been your favourite stories in Sunless Sea so far?
(I’m about mid game, but I keep coming up against quests that get difficult quite quickly, and need stats of 100+ or items that are really difficult to get - anyone else have that problem?)
I’ve just bought myself a Maenad-Class Frigate, with the profits from smuggling sunlight and red honey - the Isle of Cats so far has been quite fun. The Saviour’s Rocks storyline with the Wreck of the Nocturne was great (really creepy though!) Also loved the Sigil-Ridden Navigator’s story - and it has a very helpful ending!
Ah, the Sigil-Ridden Navigator creeps me out every time… and so does his storyline… And the Chapel of Lights… and the ending shudders
My favourite Officer story has to be Maybe’s Daughter’s. When I go around searching for her mother, I always hope to fail as many times as possible before advancing the quest to the next step. Those moments when you search with her are -mostly- sweet and light-hearted (a very welcome change of mood in this bleak bleak world), and they feel like adventure!
Speaking of light-hearted: there is also the hilarious Quest for Dignity at the Empire of Hands, and the adorable little souvenir you get to bring back.
And in a darker, oniric mood: I am utterly in love with the stories of the Mirror-Marches (Irem). Every word is poetry.
(Hey, when you do your long routes to smuggle red honey and sunlight – consider filling your available cargo with caskets of sapphires from Port Carnelian, then selling them to the Chelonate. +14 echo per unit ! Also, from the Chelonate, you can fill up on Stygian Ivory and sell it at Polythreme. The profit is much lesser (+4 echo per unit) but small streams make big rivers, and -depending on your map layout- it’s generally easy to combine with the sunlight/red honey routes. But perhaps you already knew that…)
I think it’s pretty normal, the game is meant to be hard. Just Perhaps Not out of stories that you feel you can’t pursue just yet, I guess? They’ll still be there when your stats are up to the challenge.
Depending on what you use as an Auxiliary equipment, you might want to craft some of the items at Your Study (+7 to the relevant stat when crafting, and equipping the item is worth another +7). It can make a pretty big difference!
The Empire of Hands I found very weird (also slightly worried about mis-clicking and losing my soul!), but I might try going back. I’ve temporarily retired from the smuggling game (suspicion was getting quite high so I’m laying low for a bit), but I’ve just finished making myself a spreadsheet-map of all of the ports with notes about what’s good to trade from each, so I can take advantage of my routes (having a bigger ship really helps!).
I’ve just got around to finishing the Nuncio storyline, and that was good (and fairly easy to do), but it really feels like a teaser for something more.
I liked…candles…No, but the Chapel of Lights was one of my favorites even before the update, and I could sit there clicking at the chess games at Port Cecil for eternity – I’m always happy to start a new captain to replay that bit, and sorry to progress to the point where I can crush everyone else. I also like dragging blemmigans North and hearing them go "eeeeeeeee".
And I love everything with Irem, Frostfound, and Kingeater’s Castle, so you can imagine what Exaltation does to me.
For the officers, I forgave the Poissonier all his quasi-poisonous dishes for the last feast he cooked, and my poor Magician certainly made an impact [spoiler] when his body hit the water :/
The storylet begins in Fallen London and then continues with each successive captain in Sunless Sea, but the affair of the whisper-locked zee-chest is magnificent.
The storyline of the Presbyterate Adventuress is also heartbreaking.