I haven’t been to Polythreme yet… any tips?
Well, with an update the common knowledge can always get upended. But the blog post makes it sound like the updates will be mostly addressing underlying mechanics, so some suggestions will probably still hold.
- Stock up on Romantic Notions and Surface Silk beforehand.[/li][li]Definitely acquire an Exceptional Hat and a Battered Grey Overcoat before visiting. These are both Bazaar purchases.[/li][li]Reach the content boundary for Jack of Smiles.[/li][li]If your Ambition is Heart’s Desire, get to that point and bring a bottle of Airag.
I suspect the new intro storylets will give a tutorial. Each "round" you will generally want to focus on either one quality or the other. There are some things you can do with an even split, but most stories are advanced by just maxing out one.
Have a five card lodging, or at least four. They did say they’re making it more forgiving, but the thought of Polythreme with only three cards still makes me shudder.
I’m one of the few people who actually liked the Polythreme carousel (only with a 5-card hand though!), but these changes sound sensible. Infinite draw was desperately needed, of course. Still glad the update seems to be more of a workover instead of a complete revamp. Also glad I just happened to spend some time there a few days ago, giving the old carousel one last run.
Looking forward to the new activity! :)
I just set off for a tribute run and figured I might as well stop over at Polythreme on the way to the Khanate, but it looks as though the update isn’t live just yet. Hopefully it’ll launch before my actions fill up.
Edit: Heads up, it’s live now.
edited by Tsar Koschei on 1/27/2022
I will now post my thoughts on this update. They are better thoughts then my thoughts on the 1899 stuff.
The Good: The flavor text is pretty good for this one, and if you need low level silks the maze could be good.
The Bad: There needs to be a Bazzar tab to buy the various kinds of clothes you may need. People may zail from London to Poly without knowing to bring a shabby Opera Cloak or 5. Not that I think it matters, since as far as I can tell you can just pick the version of the challenge that does NOT require a item and all it does is you don’t lose the item you brought with you. Unless i missed something. I may have.
Also the lack of ties ins for HD Brass Buttons, any Ambition Clothing Item, and The Marvelous item (Mainly because a talking set of fortune telling cards sounds funny rather then sense) is quite frankly a traversity. Same with there being no tie for any Manager related stuff, be it doing that ONE thing in the Railway after HD, or from various actions in HD proper
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edited by Kylestien on 1/27/2022
It’s not exciting. At all. Unless I am missing something
The mechanical update to the streets is what was expected, not a huge change. Infinite deck is certainly a big deal.
The new activity is interesting and worth a visit to see all the writing. I probably won’t be coming back to it on the regular, but the Ozymandias-wannabes are hilarious.
For those who care, rough estimate is that EPA is around 3.5. Fairly reliable to increase at 7 CP per action, cash out is consistently 50 pence per CP.
If wiki value given for glass gazettes (2.9e) is taken to be correct, I just made over 80 echoes off a cravat quest with about 15 actions. I’ll double check, but I think it was roughly along those lines.
Edit: When I estimated 15 actions, I didn’t realize I still had to grab some silk scraps before leaving. Did it again and it was 26 gazettes, 120 surface silk, and 100 silk scraps for 18 actions. So would that be 88,4 / 18 = 4,91 EPA? Maybe not exactly a goldmine, but not a bad way to get gazettes if you’re in the neighbourhood.
At any rate, it was fun exploring the flavour text, even if it’s mechanically still nowhere near as interesting as the Khanate.
edited by Tsar Koschei on 1/28/2022
Cash out varies from about half an echo per CP of awakening to one echo per. And I think the cash out actions are free.
I’ll be interested to see the EPA analysis, as I’m far too lazy to do it myself today.
[quote=Kylestien]I will now post my thoughts on this update. They are better thoughts then my thoughts on the 1899 stuff.
The Good: The flavor text is pretty good for this one, and if you need low level silks the maze could be good.
The Bad: There needs to be a Bazzar tab to buy the various kinds of clothes you may need. People may zail from London to Poly without knowing to bring a shabby Opera Cloak or 5. Not that I think it matters, since as far as I can tell you can just pick the version of the challenge that does NOT require a item and all it does is you don’t lose the item you brought with you. Unless i missed something. I may have.
Also the lack of ties ins for HD Brass Buttons, any Ambition Clothing Item, and The Marvelous item (Mainly because a talking set of fortune telling cards sounds funny rather then sense) is quite frankly a traversity. Same with there being no tie for any Manager related stuff, be it doing that ONE thing in the Railway after HD, or from various actions in HD proper
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edited by Kylestien on 1/27/2022[/quote]
I did one prisoners mask, as I had six and needed none, but mostly I’ve been playing with that jerk of a cravat.
As for why you’ve got in your spoiler tag…. I wouldn’t want to lose most of those because they became self aware and ran off to elope with some dumb belt. Once I realized you don’t get an animate version of your item back at the end I was no longer interested in using my possessions. But maybe I’m missing an option as I already have a clothes colony trying to get off with the rest of my wardrobe.
An aside, really.
Just been to Polythreme and come back via Irem and the Pillared Sea, which I’d not seen before. I loved the backdrop – FB really has some very talented artists working for the company. Great stuff, thank you.
edited by Meradine Heidenreich on 1/30/2022
I mean, I was rather picturing we got to keep them myself. Maybe the self posession does not stick for them?
edited by Kylestien on 1/30/2022
At a rough calculation a few "flubs" (either a Bad Card, or a Good Card one has failed) still makes ok money: 1 flub drops you to ~4.50 EPA, 2 flubs drops you to ~4.10 EPA, 3 flubs to ~3.70 EPA (increasingly rough estimates, I’m not accounting for flubs that keep you in the Maze longer). Anecdotally I think 1-2 is pretty common, but it’s all chance and it’s all outside London. So very good if you want Whisper-Satin, Surface-Silk, Glass Gazettes, or maybe even Correspondence Plaques, but otherwise probably not a fantastic grind once you’ve read the text (which is reason enough for a few laps regardless of profitability, it’s pretty fun).
[quote=Meradine Heidenreich]Just been to Polythreme and come back via Irem and the Pillared Sea, which I’d not seen before. I loved the backdrop – FB really has some very talented artists working for the company. Great stuff, thank you.[/quote] Oh, definitely, the new Zailing headers are all a delight: the Snares, the Salt Steppes, and the Pillared Sea are all incredibly evocative. It’s older art, but I’m still partial to the Chapel of Lights.
[quote=elderfleur]
Oh, definitely, the new Zailing headers are all a delight: the Snares, the Salt Steppes, and the Pillared Sea are all incredibly evocative. It’s older art, but I’m still partial to the Chapel of Lights.[/quote]
I’ve never seen the Chapel of Lights. Is it Ambition-related?
[quote=Meradine Heidenreich]I’ve never seen the Chapel of Lights. Is it Ambition-related?[/quote] Seeking Mr Eaten’s Name, unfortunately, although that does mean it’s open to anyone. The art was also used for the matching Sunless Sea location.
Am I the only one to think that the new maze content highlights a major gap in Fallen London: WHY ARE THERE NO CRAVATS ON SALE AT THE BAZAAR?