Here's me getting into the Cave of No'ere

Fallen London
1

No, no that’s Na-DIR, not No’ere although perhaps it might seem for some it’s not there it really IS there.

FINALLY I got my fifth Skull after much much Seeking of Curios. My heart raced, and I could feel the veins of anticipation pounding in my temples. A nervous trickle of sweat creeps its way down my spine. In my haste I even forget to jot down the story particulars in my Journal.

Relieved I no longer see 3 effigies of Eyeless Skulls in the place where Opportunities used to be I decide to clear my cards deck before I enter. I feel just a tad lighter, somehow cleaner that way. Perhaps I just want to postpone that feeling of anticipation just a bit longer…

And I step inside.

Hmmm… there seems only one thing to do now that I’m here… Try to make sense of things? Hmmm…well let’s try that.

(tries about ten times…)

This getting me nowhere, I must be missing something… Let’s go back for now and check…

(Leaves the Cave)

What? Ouch, that hurts my head! I feel less than I was before…

Hmmm…nope nothing else to do at the expedition site, no new options. Let’s go back inside…

(Re-enters Cave)

Oh dear, getting back in sure does take a lot of time!

Huh…so weird there must be something to DO here. Let’s try to make sense of this one last time.

(Tries to make sense of things again)

Yay! I got something FINALLY! It’s a wonderful thing called an Irrigo and it must be worth a fortune to be hidden so well. Lucky me, let’s see how much it’s worth!

Er… It doesn’t seem so good after all… It seems to be a special kind of Nadir menace, in fact. How mean! Well, I got tons to catch up on so I’ll leave for now and come back later today after I’ve done some proper resting and my nightmares are getting out of control as well.

(Leaves Cave)

Ouch! Darn it, that DOES hurt. Forgot about that.

(Glances back at the entrance)

What? What do you mean I can’t go back?
Because I have this Irrigo thing?
Well, bloody un-Irrigo me somehow then!
What? Wait for how long? A whole week?! You’ve got to be joking…

Admittedly I had hoped my first encounter with the Cave would have been somewhat less anticlimactic. I feel a bit sad all of a sudden.
I think I’m going to have a lie down in my private chambers. Bolt all doors and close all shutters as I won’t be taking visitors. Let’s skip lunch and dinner as well.

In fact, just wake me up when it’s next week.

2

Hey! I’ve felt all those feelings too! As a matter of fact, I avoided the Cave for a loooong time after my initial disappointment with it, until much later when I was working toward my Impossible Theorem and it was a handy source for an extra Searing Enigma here and there. (Plus I wanted all the Nadir-transformed items, just to have them. This is what you do when you’re stat capped.) When I went back with a much-improved attitude, I viewed it like a once-a-week scavenger hunt. I gleaned from experience (and the wiki) which cards were useful and which were duds. I learned to leave before my Irrigo maxed out at 10 (another careful balance of knowing which cards do what). The Cave and I made peace with each other. With some time and effort, maybe you can do the same. Good luck!

3

Thanks for the encouragement :) Of course I’ll get over it!

My post is mostly exaggerations, self-mockery accompanied by a bit of snark for good measure. Not everyone appreciates this kind of venting, but if right here is not the place for venting on FL, then where is?

Of course, I could have read all details on the FL Wiki but I decided to find out things for myself. Am I happy I did so? Yes. Am I satisfied with Nadir? No, I’m upset with Nadir because I expected something different, like a big treasure chest or something. My feelings of WTF are fading already.

4

It’s valuable but the cost of getting in is probably going to offset any value for a long time. :P

I made a table of what I’ve gotten from it and what I’ve spent and I have not broken even yet after a couple months, soooo. (Close, though! Two more searing enigmas~)

5

Ah yes. It was much easier to offset the initial investment when The Catafalquerie gave away free Tears of the Bazaar to anyone who drew that card.

6

o_O

Though i mean the End of Battles is still ridiculously good
edited by WormApotheote on 10/11/2014

7

End of Battles is still pretty good, though that card came after they nerfed the Catafalquerie.

8

Well, the possible rewards can be pretty good. Personally I prefer Storylets i/o random Cards driven progress (I never ever play Heist or Pickpocket Promenade after my initial try).

Also, if I read it right all cards drawn there are non-discardable and, depending on the amount of Irrigo amassed the stat-hot can be quite significant. If you draw crappy cards and don;t have any Irrigo yet I suppose you could just bail and come right back…

9

You get 1 Irrigo when you return to the Cave of the Nadir in order to prevent players from gaming it in that manner.

10

Ah, so that’s the trap I unwittingly sprung. I guess it was considered an exploit then.

Well, I’ll have a go next week. Any more general advice on Nadir, apart from not letting Irrigo reach 10?
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edited by dharthoorn on 10/11/2014

11

Make sure to use any cards you have that are worthwhile before going in, since entering clears your deck. Mood cards can be handy if activated before going in. There are some really high (as in one is 1000+ difficulty) stat challenges in the Nadir cards.

Make sure that you have some card draws available before entering, so you don’t have to sit and wait immediately upon entering.

Read the guide on the wiki for some help in prepping, such as some items to bring along.

Better lodgings to allow you to hold more cards in hand is very valuable in the Nadir, since you can set a greater number of less enticing cards to the side while looking for good ones.

12

You also have to be in london to clear your irrigo after time the healer so you can’t go in, raise irrigo to 10, then wait for time the healer to wipe it and perhaps not out of the drowning in violet storylet and leave without cost.

If you’re not using the wiki i’d take notes of which options on cards give what, so you know how to get rid of bad cards with minimal irrigo cost. If you are using the wiki, um, use that as your guide there :P

You can trade some dream qualities for valuable items there, if you want to do that make sure you enter with some nightmares. It’ll also reset your nightmares to 2 when you leave so it’s worth using as a nightmares cure.

You might find a card where it is worthwhile to spend confident smiles for a second chance and perhaps not out if you fail. It’ll be fairly obvious which it is when you do find it. :P

13

[quote=Mordaine Barimen]Make sure that you have some card draws available before entering, so you don’t have to sit and wait immediately upon entering.[/quote]Once you have 4-5 card lodgings it might be worth the wait to go in with 0-1 cards in the deck, and then draw each new card one by one. That way you don’t end up with End of Battles as your first card, and then the deck (with several cards to draw) automatically fills the rest of your hand with cards that have 0% chance of being End of Battles. Usually it doesn’t matter, but sometimes it does.

14

Also if you’re going to be using Confident smiles to repeatedly try the 1000 persuasive check on the Unlikely Garden you’ll end up with a lot of spare cards. (i mean, if you get lucky and draw the unlikely garden, but still.)

15

I know that the Cave can be extremely frustrating as it really does depend on the cards you draw. But I still go in every week and hope for the best, even taking the double hit after going above Irrigo 10 if I have one of the cards that will give me a 62.50 echo reward. But I am a stat capped player and easily get capped again before I go back in.

16

Sound advice all around again, thank you.

It’s good to learn from the experienced.