Ok, so I’m sure at this point I’m beating a familiar drum. So I’ll start with why I like playing Sunless Sea, the exploration, the setting and the stories, gosh I love the stories. Why I don’t like playing, the grinding, grinding for income is not fun.
I have to grind for income so I can find ways to manage my terror, because it’s on 50 and it’s to high and it’s so damn expensive (or time consuming) to get it down. I need a lower terror so I can explore further and further out from London, London which seems about the only place to effectively control my terror. Shore leave is by no means guaranteed on any island, neither are other methods by which to lower terror. The income given from port reports, exploring new areas, discovering new stories is so paltry, so small that I am left to grind, just so I can try and help the magician mechanic seek out his revenge.
I don’t mind the perma death, I just feel the economy of income and terror is so imbalanced at the moment. Please just don’t make me grind much longer, give me options to control my nightmares at sea.
The best tip for Terror management is to remember the shortest paths between land masses and lights - take note of the markers indicating islands and buoys on your map, and minimise time spent away from them! Also, if you’re in the vicinity of London and you want some serious Terror reduction, then load up on Fuel and head for the Cumaean Canal. A trip to the Surface can zero your Terror very quickly, and give you an opportunity to pick up some half-price Supplies. I haven’t run the numbers on Fuel costs versus rewards, but you do get to listen to harbour gossip twice - once going up, once coming down.
I’ll quote a guide over on steam, alongside many posters here:
"The best way to limit terror is to prevent it."
Use short explorative runs to find islands and areas, I spent most of my 2 first captains lives just charging into the unknown myself.
After that, you develop a better and better idea of how to travel - Using beaches, small islands and bouys to ensure your people that "The zee will not swallow us just yet!"
Sure, events pop up and add turmoil, but if I start out from Fallen London and do my harbor-visit round Mutton-Canal-Mutton-Abbey-Fieldhaven-Fungus-Cecil-Fungus-Venderbright - I do not end up having gained more than 5-10 terror, depending simply on how much I have to dodge enemies. The only things collecting noteable terror is visiting the outer islands, like the Khans and Palmerton.
But yeah, money grind… It’s kinda nice the game does not give you an easy way out, but there’s little alternatives offered if you seek what is offered by plenty of echos. I am yet to be bothered, because I’m farming while doing other stuff… leaving my ship without the lights on with a skeleton crew so that only 2 hunger tick up per in-game day and no fuel is burning away, just waiting for enemies to come to me so I can fill her up with hundreds of echos worth of cargo. All while I do laundry, clean my apartment or read a book, etc etc…
There’s other, riskier ways to gain quick cash, but most require some equipment to get you started to.
The best thing is not to let your terror get too high in the first place. Route Planning is vital, stay in the light as much as possible. After that when you are in London carouse when you need to (and can afford it) until you get a Sweetheart, this opens up an option on one of the random storylets in other ports that gives -10 terror.
Alternatively load up on a lot of fuel and some extra supplies the coast hug down to the Cumaean Canal and take a trip to the surface.
Once you are strong enough to hunt Bound Sharks you get Hunting Trophies - take them to the nuns at Abbey Rock for between -4 and -8 terror reduction.
The best thing to do imo is following:
Just use your first 2-3 captains to stock up on fuel and supplies. You dont really need the supplies and just explore the Whole map. As soon as you die choose your Heritage, which will be the Map. The first option of the three choices. Then you continue exploring. After you got most of the map explored you can start your real game and dont have to worry about not being able to find stuff and looking for good routes. This also gave me the idea about being able to buy map parts for some money in different harbors randomly.
Kajiya, that’s what I did as well, but there IS the big downside that, by taking the chart, you no longer earn fragments for discovering the map, and it means one of the big sources of secrets is locked for your captain. So yes, it’s useful, but it does come with a pretty big cost. edited by Inky Petrel on 7/9/2014
[quote=Inky Petrel]Kajiya, that’s what I did as well, but there IS the big downside that, by taking the chart, you no longer earn fragments for discovering the map, and it means one of the big sources of secrets is locked for your captain. So yes, it’s useful, but it does come with a pretty big cost. edited by Inky Petrel on 7/9/2014[/quote]
Get the map cleared, screenshot it. Tadaaa! Don’t need to inherit the map but you still have it in another window. edited by MidnightVoyager on 7/9/2014
[li]I felt exactly like you at the beginning, OP: frustrated by how fast terror rises and by how it impacts my gameplay by forcing me to grind. Frankly, after a bit more experience with the game, I’m starting to manage it and I can get to the same destination with the "right" route, keeping terror relatively under control. In short: the system still needs work, but it’s less daunting than it appears at first.
I also manage my terror and money ok now, but still… It’s just, myabe if there was an autocombat, look I’ve clearly killed 50 bats and 50 life bergs, I’m sure I can kill this one, just give me an auto kill. You know? Idk, I’m hoping later on they will balance and give more options to things like trading, smuggling, exploring.[/li]
[quote=lady ciel ]The best thing is not to let your terror get too high in the first place. Route Planning is vital, stay in the light as much as possible. After that when you are in London carouse when you need to (and can afford it) until you get a Sweetheart, this opens up an option on one of the random storylets in other ports that gives -10 terror.
Alternatively load up on a lot of fuel and some extra supplies the coast hug down to the Cumaean Canal and take a trip to the surface.
Once you are strong enough to hunt Bound Sharks you get Hunting Trophies - take them to the nuns at Abbey Rock for between -4 and -8 terror reduction.[/quote]
I actually get Hunting Trophies quite easily… and that is a significant terror reduction, but again grinding… My whole complaint is about grinding.
For now I love the game enough to give it a little grind, but I don’t know how long that will last. I may resort to using a savegame editor in the future.