hold onto your balls it's a new thing in SMEN

Hmm, I guess no one knows if parting a certain hat from glory does terrible, terrible things?

edited by Stygota on 6/21/2016

Congratulations/Condolences, delicious bjorntfh. You will forever be an inspiration/warning to all of us who follow in your footsteps.

Farewell. You will not be the only one for long.

While I greatly discourage spoilers on all the lore, I salivate at the thought of what the new item will be. To seek, all the way to the end, only to give up at the last moment?

What could be more SMEN than that? To lose everything, without even the catharsis of an ending.

Well, given what that certain &quothat&quot is… Probably would be unwise to do so.

They say you can level your SMEN with patience. I created an alt that I only play rarely, but once a week I can use marsh mired to progress. Obviously I’ll have to go through some amount of grinding (I hear one of the candles requires access to the cave of the nadir) but if you have to destroy the account anyway, there’s not really any point in acquiring more than the bare minimum requirements for the candles.

I am seriously considering creating another Alt to take that final step though I will still continue Seeking as Ciel. I’m not sure I can take her through the Gate.

I don’t know if taking the knock will actually free you of the name, though, or if triggering a bad end will take it away, if it won’t, and you can cure the last candle’s side effects, then a true BDR maniac has one more mad quest. If you can’t… well. sure, it’s 4 bdr, but that’s less what you could get at the rose-feast.
edited by Grenem on 6/21/2016[/quote]
The Knock is best BDR in slot, definitely. It’s either a Glove or Weapon, and the best glove is 1 BDR from the Bazaar while the best Weapon is 3 BDR from the Feast.[li]

So, congratulations to Bjornfth (for a certain value of “congratulations”) for speeding to the end of SMEN. I’m curious to know if she spent much Fate doing it.

– Mal

They say you can level your SMEN with patience. I created an alt that I only play rarely, but once a week I can use marsh mired to progress. Obviously I’ll have to go through some amount of grinding (I hear one of the candles requires access to the cave of the nadir) but if you have to destroy the account anyway, there’s not really any point in acquiring more than the bare minimum requirements for the candles.[/quote]

How long does it take to complete SMEN, assuming you’re starting from scratch, and focusing just on progressing SMEN? The players that are getting close are those who have been in FL for years. I wonder how long it’ll take all the SMEN alts people just created.

I don’t know if taking the knock will actually free you of the name, though, or if triggering a bad end will take it away, if it won’t, and you can cure the last candle’s side effects, then a true BDR maniac has one more mad quest. If you can’t… well. sure, it’s 4 bdr, but that’s less what you could get at the rose-feast.
edited by Grenem on 6/21/2016[/quote]
The Knock is best BDR in slot, definitely. It’s either a Glove or Weapon, and the best glove is 1 BDR from the Bazaar while the best Weapon is 3 BDR from the Feast.[li][/quote]
Yes, but if you’re locked out of the hats slot, it’s a net loss, which is what i mean.
[/li]

They say you can level your SMEN with patience. I created an alt that I only play rarely, but once a week I can use marsh mired to progress. Obviously I’ll have to go through some amount of grinding (I hear one of the candles requires access to the cave of the nadir) but if you have to destroy the account anyway, there’s not really any point in acquiring more than the bare minimum requirements for the candles.[/quote]

How long does it take to complete SMEN, assuming you’re starting from scratch, and focusing just on progressing SMEN? The players that are getting close are those who have been in FL for years. I wonder how long it’ll take all the SMEN alts people just created.[/quote]
assuming patience is a viable route, it will take 1 week per level up to ~27 (though you also get one from getting candles, and there’s two of those before cerise). Then you need to hit 28- best done by getting cerise’s candle. Once you’ve done that, getting 29 from 28 is 7 uncanny incubatulum, and you can buy the calling card. Alternatively, if you get to SMEN 21, and can convince someone to give you eaten’s calling card, you can wink from there, too.

[winking isle is the best way to get SMEN for those who have nothing. Past that point, there are less raw resource consumption options, i believe. you could ask someone further along to verify, though.]

So, from 3, at one level a week and never taking an appalling secrets challenge, getting to winking isle will take 24 TTHs of weekly marsh-mired if you’re going all on your own (22 after candles) and 18 TTHs if you can con someone into giving you a calling card from eaten (still 18, as the first candle is at 21.).

The candles should have options to use raw cash, or cheaper options that require obscure stuff. Your easiest route to cerise will be either a noman at christmas or the ultimate type of short story- which requires two trade secrets to even try to write. Arthur costs quite a tidy sum. Done maximally efficiently, beau’s costs at least 150 memories of light [75 echoes] and 3300 moon pearls [33 echoes]. Done less-so for the other options, and, well… costs go up.

But you’re going to be spending 18 weeks minimum setting up before you can get the first candle, unless you manage to skip a level with appalling secrets, so… Play dilligently, and you’ll probably be more-than-capable of affording the candles as they manifest. I mean, you’ve got 4 months to become POSI before destin’s is even a possible concern, if the notability 12 is even the proper way to get the candle.
edited by Grenem on 6/21/2016

Luckily, if you are already patient enough to undertake this plan, you can get at least 6 or so trade secrets after 27 TtHs.
More than enough to write a Classic Short Story.

Wasn’t Winking available at SMEN 12 if receiving a card? Is it 21? Was it changed or am I just wrong?

Wait, is Space not wearing his head?

[quote=Gonen]
Wasn’t Winking available at SMEN 12 if receiving a card? Is it 21? Was it changed or am I just wrong?[/quote]

You can technically get there at SMEN 12, but you can’t really do anything until 21 at the earliest; you can increase Fasting and Meditating, alright, but you can’t increase SMEN there unless you have SMEN 21 at least (the 60k FaM spend option unlocks at SMEN 21, the 10k one at 29. the 60k one is actually probably better anyway though)

[quote=Bertrand Leonidas Poole]Luckily, if you are already patient enough to undertake this plan, you can get at least 6 or so trade secrets after 27 TtHs.
More than enough to write a Classic Short Story.[/quote]
It’s not 27, it’s 24 at max. More likely, you’ll be grabbing the candles as you get them, and it’ll be 22 TtHs. (also note that i’m overestimating by 1 if you’ve gotten the alt to the forgotten quarter or can get someone on arthur to send you a betrayal- you get the point SMEN then need to wait for TTH)

[quote=Spacemarine9][quote=Gonen]
Wasn’t Winking available at SMEN 12 if receiving a card? Is it 21? Was it changed or am I just wrong?[/quote]

You can technically get there at SMEN 12, but you can’t really do anything until 21 at the earliest; you can increase Fasting and Meditating, alright, but you can’t increase SMEN there unless you have SMEN 21 at least (the 60k FaM spend option unlocks at SMEN 21, the 10k one at 29. the 60k one is actually probably better anyway though)[/quote]
Yes, unless there’s hidden options exclusive to those before SMEN 21, you can go there- and even prepare- but can’t actually seek until SMEN 21. If there are hidden options, it could be available as low as 2 or 3.
edited by Grenem on 6/21/2016

Whoa. Go on vacation and see I miss.

Well, I’ll get Arthur tomorrow so I still have plenty of time to decide whether to save this as endgame or just go for it and start a fresh character.

Congratulations.

[quote=malthaussen]So, congratulations to Bjornfth (for a certain value of &quotcongratulations&quot) for speeding to the end of SMEN. I’m curious to know if she spent much Fate doing it.

– Mal[/quote]

Bjorntfh reported spending $100 for grinding SMEN after getting Gawain’s to go NORTH sooner. There was also some other instance of using action refreshes, I think on the initial visit to Winking Isle. After finishing Seeking they estimated having spent about $1000 on the character overall, so some significant fraction was for SMEN.

I don’t know if taking the knock will actually free you of the name, though, or if triggering a bad end will take it away, if it won’t, and you can cure the last candle’s side effects, then a true BDR maniac has one more mad quest. If you can’t… well. sure, it’s 4 bdr, but that’s less what you could get at the rose-feast.
edited by Grenem on 6/21/2016[/quote]
The Knock is best BDR in slot, definitely. It’s either a Glove or Weapon, and the best glove is 1 BDR from the Bazaar while the best Weapon is 3 BDR from the Feast.[li][/quote]
Yes, but if you’re locked out of the hats slot, it’s a net loss, which is what i mean.
[/li][/quote]
Only a net loss (for BDR) if it’s a weapon AND you’ve spent Fate for both Feast BDR best in slot items. If you only got one of the Rosary or Tanned/Amber Mask it’s equivalent, and if you have the best non-Fate items you go from 3 to 4 BDR.

And if it’s a glove, it’s a gain of 1 BDR if you have one of the Masks and a gain of 2 BDR otherwise.
edited by Optimatum on 6/22/2016

[quote=Grenem][quote=Harlocke][quote=Grenem]

EDIT: anything prior to this point is fair game and available, should you find someone willing to speak. (including all 7 candles and the journey north). this is the end of seeking for those unwilling to destroy an account. The dev’s polite suggestion is on the other side of the link [Spoilers]: Imgur: The magic of the Internet
edited by Grenem on 6/20/2016[/quote]

I haven’t followed the full costs of seeking. If you did choose to &quotsurvive&quot, what would be left for you? Could you still play the game fairly normally? Regain what you lost over time?[/quote]
Some of it yes, some of it no. If you choose to take obscurity, there’s currently no cure. To get the last candle you need to get a certain hat, and you’re told to never take it off… so there is that, though i don’t know what happens when you do. Stains, chains and scars may be removable, but not easily. There’s probably other stuff, but i don’t know what it is off the top of my head.[/quote]
This is…actually a good question. I mean, the last candle is &quotunique&quot to say the least. Because the issue is quite spoilerific, I’ll hide it in a spoiler tag. From a story perspective, after obtaining the last candle by becoming the candle, your body is essentially a wax dummy covered in skin with your severed head to go on top. From a mechanical perspective, you obtain 1x Your Own Severed Head as a hat that gives you the quality of Saint Gawain’s Candle +1 and you supposedly can never unequip or replace it with another hat lest ominous consequences occur (probably death of some sort, since you’re literally taking off your head). Not only would this be an issue from a story perspective since becoming Free of the Name would essentially snuff out the dark magic willing your wax golem body and severed head to life, but the mechanics of being forced to keep your severed head and dead body as punishment for Seeking would also be a benefit since you get to keep a free candle after quitting. You’d have to somehow fix that issue by getting rid of the item, but how would that work in the story? Do the cultists of The Chapel of Lights just send your organs and ligaments in a box with a note &quotSorry for gutting you like a fish and turning you into an abomination&quot expecting you to empty out the wax filling and to piece yourself back together? …actually, now that I think about it, that wouldn’t be the weirdest thing this game as done.Basically, I think they’d have to get rid of the hat, but I’m not entirely sure how that would come about. Oh well, I guess we’ll figure out what happens eventually.

Hey, yeah! When did you suddenly become headless, Space? And how the heck are you still alive?
edited by Sir Joseph Marlen on 6/22/2016

I went to the Chapel to get St Fortigan’s Candle but they told me it was Gawain time and chopped off my head. I was confused so I went back again to make sure, and they chopped my head off again, but I still only have one head. The third time I showed up, they had calmed down, and they let me get St Fortigan’s Candle in peace. I replaced my head with an egg, so I’m fine.

edited by Spacemarine9 on 6/22/2016