Keep or Sell?

[li]Greetings all,
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[li]Im a very new player (4 days, though I have done a fair bit of sunless sea so have a bit of knowledge background).
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[li]Ive somehow stumbled into a fairly rare item: Diary of the Dead (cant remember exactly where but think it was at the end of the current exceptional story) also came across another unusual item (an Antique Mystery). Looking into wikis it seems these are very late game items, should I sell them now for an early echo boost with the expectation of regaining them later or should I hang onto them (esp the diary) for good? If I do sell, are there any suggestions for extremely useful early/mid items/gear (im going watchful with a mix of the others maybe a bit more P than D or S.
[li]Hope its ok to ask these sorts of questions here, if there is a better place please let me know. Ive tried looking around for early/mid guides but apart from the extreme basics cant find much, and am having trouble searching this forum.
[li]Thanks again for your time and help.

The Diary of the Dead isn’t rare at all, you can buy at the Bazaar, so it is safe to sell I think.
I wouldn’t sell the antique mystery, though. You can’t buy it at the Bazaar, they’re not that easy to acquire, and you might want to have a good pile of them much later in the game. And the selling price isn’t that great anyway.

I can’t really think of any useful item to buy… Maybe just get a 3-card lodgings as soon as you can. Having 3 cards instead of 2 is quite handy and the first 3-card lodgings are really cheap so there is really no point in waiting.
edited by Lemexis on 1/3/2016

Personally, I hoarded everything after I started. You don’t really need a lot of money early on, and if you sell expensive stuff like the diary, it will come back later to bite you in the posterior. Reasoning as follows:
That region of stats between 70 and 100 is a good point to start getting some (proper) gear, and also to stock up for things you will need to become a PoSI. At this point, the nice area of no menaces on failure is pretty much behind you, but you don’t have the really efficient menace control options yet. Every bit of potentially useful equipment you keep now will perhaps save you one or two days of grinding and subsequent menace reduction later on.

TLDR: You will probably find a good use later on, and if you sell it now, you will get half its buying price and have to collect the rest later.

Edit: About the 3-Card Lodgings, unless you want them for roleplaying purposes, don’t get any but the Handsome Townhouse. Trust me, once the cards are far below your average Echo gain, you will curse the day you bought them (and the fact that you can’t sell them).
edited by Thorbimorbi on 1/3/2016

They’re both easy to reacquire when you’re good enough to do some work at The Flit (Mystery) or have a decent source of echoes to pay the Bazaar (Diary). But as the other posters have said, hoard them. Sell common items like Moonpearls and rostygold instead if you really need echoes.

I find that the 12.80 and 28.80 items from the Bazaar give the best bang for your early game buck. The Pets in the Zooligicals and Redemptions can wait though since they clog your deck with lots of cards. If you’re going to get pets, get the sulky bat.

Also try to get the Key to a Handsome Townhouse (500 romantic notions) as one of your early goals. It’s a superb lodgings that you will use until end-game.

Check this thread out as well:

http://community.failbettergames.com/topic20877-proposal-for-new-players-the-young-turks-club.aspx

[li]Thanks Lem and Thor for your replies.
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[li]Firstly Lem - heh yeah I thought id researched decently myself but didn’t see the diary up on the market heh whoops. Good call on the Mystery Ill def hold onto it, I was doing the newb thing and comparing rarity via Echo value. Now that I can see it on the Bazaar Ill prob sell the diary since buy and sell prices are so close 60 v 62.5. As for the lodgings, yeah I love the 3 card options, I currently actually have a the keys to a couple of them since they were so cheap.
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[li]Thor - thanks for your reply. Yeah I am definitely trying to hoard a lot of stuff but im already sneaking up their on my primary stat (53 watchful unbuffed) so the temptation to min/max with gear is getting strong. Even at my level some of these menaces are annoying (esp nightmares) so I cant only imagine how bad it gets later (well don’t exactly have to imagine since I had a lot of experiences with terror out on the zee). I think I will prob sell the diary since as I mentioned with Lem the sell buy disparity is so low.
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As for the Diary of the Dead, it is one of those items that sells for almost as much as it costs. It can be useful (you can use it to improve your relations with the Tomb Colonies), but you don’t really need it now. If you come across a Book of Dead Bodies, though, hang onto it, as it sells for only a fraction of its cost to assemble. I’ll echo Robin Mask in advising you not to sell anything that can’t be picked up at the Bazaar. Except for the Head Full of Picaresque Tales, if you are lucky enough to get it (it is from a rare card): that you should sell, as you cannot draw the card again while it is in your possession, but can use it for a quick 12.50. It has no other use, AFAIK.
Another exception for a new character would probably be Searing Enigmas, as you will not be needing them for a long time, if ever, and you can equip yourself quite nicely from the proceeds of a sale.
I’d hang on to the Antique Mystery, you may be grinding them in a month or so, any head start is useful. You’ll get them from Trade Secrets, too, which should NOT be cashed for stats, but for the 120 Echoes worth of goodies you can get from them. Save your Professional Perks to combine into Trade Secrets every four weeks.
If you check the Young Turks thread and the Beginner’s thread, there is a lot more information to orient the new player. Welcome to the Neath… delicious friend.

– Mal
edited by malthaussen on 1/3/2016
edited by malthaussen on 1/3/2016

I just checked : The Diary of the Dead costs 62.50 to buy and sells at 60, as Alfred Bloodwine just said. It does not seem to be such a bad trade. (and the bad trade award already goes to the Scuterring Squad).

As other people say, getting too many 3-card lodgings isn’t such a good idea. If you already have 3-cards in your deck, you’re probably fine. Maybe just get the Elegant Townhouse.
edited by Lemexis on 1/3/2016

[li]Thanks to all the other people who have replied, its really helpful to get some insight.
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[li]Specifically to Pyro, awesome yeah ill definitely have to check out that townhouse, im about 1/10th the way there so ill see if i can max the romantic notion collection. Thanks for the comment about the 12 and 28 gear, i was worried about buying some and it going obsolete too quickly but also thought that slight % boost on checks could save me on actions in the long run. I didnt know pets affected the card draw thanks, i hadnt actually thought about them too much since my card sharp monkey was helping out watchful. Thanks a lot for the forum link ill def check it out.
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[li]Cheers guys.

AFAIK, human “pets” from Redemptions don’t have any associated cards, so they’re safe to acquire. As for gear, you can see that the law of diminishing returns cuts in quite quickly: you could get +4 for 28.80, but may have to spend twice as much to get one or two more points, so unless you have a compelling reason to get a certain expensive item, the 28.80 ones give the most bang for the buck. Items are quite useful, you can stack up to 40-50 in them, but it is an expensive proposition, and you can get +25 for half the expenditure on a single +10 item. Also, if you’re concentrating on Watchful, there is a really nice rare pet you can get from the Opportunity Deck in Veilgarden. Or, if you would like a Persuasive boost, there is a nice pet available in Ladybones. It would also be useful, if you have any pails of so-called snow, to get a Remote lodging, but as you’ve been playing only 4 days, you may not have any. Or they can be sold in a few days for a cool 50 echoes each.

– Mal

[li]Lol thats painful to hear about the snow, i threw my one and only pail of it into the river on day one of playing the game : (
[li]Oh well Im sure thatll make a good story in years to come of playing the game

Human “pets” do have cards - the Winsome Orphan is quite useful as you can get Laudanum from it.

A couple of the others have an option that lets you buy a Criminal Favour.

Other companions (a better term than &quotpets&quot) have associated conflict cards which appear if you have a specific companion pair (e.g. Scuttering Squad and Midnight Matriarch).


edited by dov on 1/3/2016

Well now, I never knew this… Looks like a good excuse to go all out and start buying new companions!

edited by Sestina Valdis on 1/3/2016

@Dov: well, that’s a point. I already had the Midnight Matriarch/Scuttling Squad card.

– Mal

Well now, I never knew this… Looks like a good excuse to go all out and start buying new companions![/quote]
That might actually be a good reason not to own those specific pairs. You generally want to avoid such conflict cards, though your tastes may vary.

Well now, I never knew this… Looks like a good excuse to go all out and start buying new companions![/quote]
That might actually be a good reason not to own those specific pairs. You generally want to avoid such conflict cards, though your tastes may vary.[/quote]

I will need more interesting things to do after I get my overgoat! I suppose this qualifies as one potential option. My opp card deck is cluttered to hell as it is, anyway… I made the mistake of buying all the 3-card lodgings early on… =(

Yet another companion conflict card I’ve forgotten:
http://fallenlondon.wikia.com/wiki/The_Urchin_and_the_Monkey


edited by dov on 1/3/2016

Also, I’M afraid you missed December 7th, but that particular advent gift, a Rat of Glory, is particularly good for a new player.

Even after throwing your pail out, you might accumulate the 3 ToL for a Three Card Remote Address this season, which is well worth looking into.

I have a 5 card address and have moved into it. If I get a remote address and move into that, will I still have access to 5 cards at a time? Or just 3 cards at a time?

Also, if I move out of the remote address, can I move back in later?

If you move into a 3-card lodging you’ll only be able to hold 3 cards at a time, but you can move back and forth as you see fit. No need to worry about losing your lodgings, remote or otherwise.