Grinding Stats at High Levels

Hi there! I’m a higher level Fallen London Player and I’m not entirely sure how to start working on boosting my natural stats. I feel strong changes coming to London, and grinding has gotten extremely slow. My current NATURAL (without equipment) stats are:[li]
Watchful:140
Shadowy:140
Dangerous:128
Persuasive: 145

What even is the natural level cap currently? If you could tell me how you’re grinding, it would be much obliged. Thank you!

180 is the current cap! I head off to Hunter’s Keep for Watchful, play the Affair of the Box for Shadowy, work with the Velocipede Squad for Dangerous, and hang out in the Foreign Office for Persuasive. It’s slow, but I like the items I get.

I’m around the same range.

For Dangerous, you probably want to get into the Labyrinth of the Tigers if you haven’t already. The Hunt a ROUS (Not the real name) > Explore Its Lair option will let you build up both Dangerous and Rats on Strings, but quite slowly.

To increase Shadowy, I like to Prepare for a Big Score > The Decoy - again, slow, but I like the Bag of Oddities.

For Persuasive, seducing the Wit and/or the Beauty at the Court is DEFINITELY a good way to go.

Watchful, the University is nice.

I think I’ll grind in London until Christmas. At that point I will take a sailing trip of the unterzee. I will breed more beasts, I will visit Hunter’s Keep, and then, return to the Foreign Office, and once again, rise to the level cap. I really feel we need some more high level content…once you hit about 120, with the right items, you can beat almost any challenge in game.

I’m at Watchful 143 and I’ve got 300+ Sudden Insights just waiting to boost Watchful by 1-60 CP for every five. That’d be about one level of Watchful for 10 Sudden Insights. Sure seems like the best way to grind stats to me if that’s a concern. I think I can stand spending 60 Actions without profit. Well, maybe… Maybe I won’t, and I’ll just end up with 500+ Sudden Insights because I always need money and goods more than I need higher Watchful?

Not doing so well with Hastily Scrawled Warning Notes or Hard-Earned Lessons though. Only got 100+ of those. But Confident Smiles are ridiculously easy to get. Almost up to 400 there.

Some of the faction cards also have some affordable training offers when you have 71+ in a main quality. &quotSpar with a Black Ribbon Duellist&quot on the Tomb-Colonies card gives you Dangerous +14 CP at the small cost of Connected: The Tomb-Colonies -6 CP. The other cards that require 71+ and Connected: Faction 3 give +10 CP. Not sure about the cards that require much higher Connected: Faction. &quotTake port with the Veteran Privy Counsellor&quot requires Connected: Society 40. I dare not click on an option like that, because it could mean Connected: Society -820 CP for Persuasive +10 CP. That wouldn’t make sense, but this game doesn’t always make sense. Some options just seem to be there to teach players to not click on everything.

As POSI I like Seeking Curios in the Forgotten Quarter for sts grinding. Mainly for watchful, but there are some options that raise Shadowy, Dangerous and Persuasive as well. The Nightmares can be tricky but I am quite fond of the Mirror Marches or taking a Zee trip.

After that Affair of the Box for Shadowy, don’t forget to do the courier exchange a pouch of secrets option - the only stat boosting Living Story that works for POSI; probably Velocipede Squad or Labyrinth for Dangerous. It’s harder to find a Persuasive story that is not straightforward but I tend to do Unfinished Business in Veilgarden for honey (rare success of a Stolen Kiss) and grind connected Society or Bohemian at the Palace as I have a salon. Using second chances for stat raising is good as three stats are raised but I don’t think the confident smiles persuasive option gives a big boost.

[quote=Gillsing]I’m at Watchful 143 and I’ve got 300+ Sudden Insights just waiting to boost Watchful by 1-60 CP for every five. That’d be about one level of Watchful for 10 Sudden Insights.
[/quote]

I think you mean 2 sudden insights per level? (a level at that level is 50 or 60 cp)

[quote]
Take port with the Veteran Privy Counsellor&quot requires Connected: Society 40. I dare not click on an option like that, because it could mean Connected: Society -820 CP for Persuasive +10 CP.[/quote]

I think I “only” lost 5 or 10 levels of connected:society. It’s still not worth it.

I just successfully started the watchful one (study secrets/decipher graffitti). I don’t know if this will overwrite the shadowy one that I already had triggered.
I think the persuasive one also works, but triggers only on a rare success. It’s just the dangerous one that is no longer available.

It doesn’t help that living stories are fickle creatures and sometimes refuse to come for a way too long time.

[quote=lady ciel ]Using second chances for stat raising is good as three stats are raised but I don’t think the confident smiles persuasive option gives a big boost.[/quote]Raising Persuasive with 5 x Confident Smiles was the first one I found, because all the others were hidden behind &quotinvite a friend&quot headlines, and I didn’t want to invite any friends at the time. First try I got ~45 CP and was amazed. Second try I got ~46 CP and thought my calculations were off by a point. Third time I got ~6 CP and had to revalue Confident Smiles from ~9 CP each to ~6 CP each. Still good though. So until Persuasive is capped I sure consider it worth an Action to get a single Second Chance.

Recently I needed a couple of extra levels in Shadowy and decided that it was time to cash in a few Hastily Scrawled Warning Notes. I got ~15 CP and ~50 CP or something like that. Just what I needed to get to the Straightforward 100% I wanted.

I’m harvesting the Church/Great Game conflict card, where siding with the Church gives one of each Second Chance. It’s like +24 CP in one card if I want it to be. Well, ~24 CP 2/3 of the time, since I maintain Connected: The Great game with the same card. &quotEveryone deserves a second chance&quot – and I get four? :)

But my Connected: The Church is also just barely maintained, because I usually side with both Bohemian and Hell when they’re in conflict with the Church, since that gives me Hedonist +1 CP which is almost one Second Chance when I spend 5 CP of Hedonist to give myself a gift with the &quotGive a gift!&quot card. And then I spend a lot of Connected: Bohemian on &quotA rather decadent evening&quot to get those 3 x Confident Smile. Consequence: My Connected: Hell is rising and there’s nothing worthwhile to spend it on. Cashing it in for Nevercold Brass Slivers seems like a poor option. (And off topic, but on the other side of the Church-Hell-Urchins ‘connection bridge’ the Docks have to maintain the Urchins who have to rebuild the Widow after &quotThe Acacia and the Butterfly&quot.)

Oh right - I confused 2 insights with 2 actions

What is this Hunter’s Keep you speak of?

On an island out to zee, there is a house, wherein reside three sisters. It’s all quite mysterious, and gives some tantalizing hints about something or other. I don’t think it has any special requirements to unlock, if you’re thinking of going there.

[quote=dragonridingsorceress]I’m around the same range.

For Dangerous, you probably want to get into the Labyrinth of the Tigers if you haven’t already. The Hunt a ROUS (Not the real name) > Explore Its Lair option will let you build up both Dangerous and Rats on Strings, but quite slowly.

To increase Shadowy, I like to Prepare for a Big Score > The Decoy - again, slow, but I like the Bag of Oddities.

For Persuasive, seducing the Wit and/or the Beauty at the Court is DEFINITELY a good way to go.

Watchful, the University is nice.[/quote]

Most folks get banned from the court and university by the time they hit those stats…

Social actions for 2nd chances and the exchange for stat points is by far the quickest way to grind. Downsides: you need a dummy account/dedicated friend and don’t get any immediate monetary reward.

As for each individual stat: (the highest echo reward action for grinding in each attribute)

Persuasive: Grind in Mahogany hall, instructing a Louche Devil

Shadowy: Grind in the Spite with the Affair of the Box

Watchful: The University; one end-game option gives higher $ in cryptic clues, the other raises Connected: Benthic & Summerset if you’re looking for that.

Dangerous: Either Velocipede Squad or Labyrinth of Tigers 2nd coil.

Really, the 2nd chances thing is WAY faster, but you have to put up with no cash flow for a while.

Would I be right in thinking a ship is a requirement? I haven’t got around to doing that yet. I haven’t got around to most of the POSI stuff yet, really.

Yes, you’ll need to get a ship. Hunter’s Keep is an excellent place to raise stats since you don’t have to worry about Wounds/Nightmares. Good for echoes as well. ^^

Thanks for the advice! I’m having trouble with Dangerous specifically. It always seems to be the hardest one to find storylets for. My stats are all around 150-160, but dangerous is running last. I might have to wander back to the Labyrinth and visit the tigers again.

There really does need to be some new high-level content soon though so there isn’t as much grinding. The new Forgotten Quarter things are nice.

[quote=Fallen London]You’ve been Loitering Suspiciously with —REDACTED—! Hastily Scrawled Warning Note hasn’t changed, because it’s higher than 22 Making Waves is dropping… Connected: Society is dropping…[/quote]I guess I’m done loitering then? ::

Is this a new thing, or is it something that can happen that just never happened to me before?

Seems to be new: http://community.failbettergames.com/topic5838-calling-cards-and-acquaintances.aspx

[quote=dragonridingsorceress]
For Dangerous, you probably want to get into the Labyrinth of the Tigers if you haven’t already. The Hunt a ROUS (Not the real name) > Explore Its Lair option will let you build up both Dangerous and Rats on Strings, but quite slowly.[/quote]

Anyone know what coil and/or the conditions required for this storylet to be available? I have 160 dangerous before items and don’t see anything in the fourth coil, beyond the usual breeding stories.

[li]

Hunting a ROUS is in the Department of Menace Eradication, useful source of rats if you haven’t opened the Labyrinth.

I think my favourite Labyrinth Coil is the second as you can get different items.