Ah! Polythreme! I feel more alive every moment I spend here! Unfortunately, so did my cravat. I no longer wear cravats.
I am currently Investigating the local colour - anyone had much success at this? The 13-point options seem consistently out of my reach…
I’ve wasted a lot of time and money trying to get anywhere at all. I’m still not certain that I’ve quite gotten the hang of it. It’s jolly interesting, though.
I’ve finally managed to get the 13 points of investigating–I made about 4 runs without accomplishing anything at all. Seems like the way to go is apply many bribes early on.
I’ve been trying to do the Investigating route as well, but since I typically have bad luck rolls, I am struggling. In addition, since I can’t convert Items while there, I am totally locked out of the last (most expensive) Investigating purchase – I arrived with just four compromising documents (although in fairness, I’m not sure I’d spend them if I had them…).
edited by Woogawoman on 3/18/2012
I was lucky in that I’d already heard that I’d need Collated Research. I was at sea at the time but I could still convert there, so I scrabbled together a pile of them, swearing because they were the very next item on my list to stock up on, but I’d set that list aside to come here…
So, assuming that you’ve got convertible items, you can take a single trip out and back rather than go all the way back home. (Incendiary Gossip goes sideways, if that’s any help)
I’m working on the Fascinating options first. Mostly because they were at the top of the page. It costs a lot of Mysteries of the Elder Country, which is odd, because those are Tier 3 items, but the Research is Tier 4.
I would not recommend using bribes past the second stage. Romantic Notions and Surface-Silk are both easily grindable at Polythreme itself. Other items are much more difficult to recover, especially due to the block on item creation. You should generally be pretty good by that point, anyway – a bit of luck with opportunity cards after that should be more than enough to get a proper ending (or, if you’re only focused on one stat, you could always trade).
Edit: Oh, and by the way, has anyone done the maths? I have just recently taken the Investigating 13 option and the reward was tremendous (25.50 echoes). That can theoretically be accomplished in 12 actions, though of course that’s very unlikely. If one takes the bribery route, but stops after the Romantic Notions stage, what is the chance that one will get the required level of progress? (And how many actions, on average, will they need to grind to replace their stock?)
Edit 2: Oho, what’s this? I recently discovered a new opportunity card unlocked with the quality obtained from completing the Investigating 13 quest. Unlike the other cards, it’s a skill-based test. At my level, it’s straightforward – a 100% chance for progress points! Very interesting. So it appears that managing to complete a quest in Polythreme gives you a foothold that makes subsequent trips easier…how interesting.
edited by Little The on 3/18/2012
Except the skill-based card for the Spying on Polythreme card increases Fascinating, when what you’re looking for is Investigating. I take it that’s not intentional.
Except the skill-based card for the Spying on Polythreme card increases Fascinating, when what you’re looking for is Investigating. I take it that’s not intentional.[/quote]
It claims to increase Fascinating, but actually it increases Investigating as you’d expect. (I’ve reported this to Failbetter already)
edited by SeanH on 3/19/2012
Except the skill-based card for the Spying on Polythreme card increases Fascinating, when what you’re looking for is Investigating. I take it that’s not intentional.[/quote]
It claims to increase Fascinating, but actually it increases Investigating as you’d expect. (I’ve reported this to Failbetter already)
edited by SeanH on 3/19/2012[/quote]
I just came on here to report the same thing! Beaten to the punch.
My first pass was a spectacular failure. My second I thought was going to work out, but no…1 change point shy of 12 Investigation. Sigh.
Except the skill-based card for the Spying on Polythreme card increases Fascinating, when what you’re looking for is Investigating. I take it that’s not intentional.[/quote]
It claims to increase Fascinating, but actually it increases Investigating as you’d expect. (I’ve reported this to Failbetter already)
edited by SeanH on 3/19/2012[/quote]
I just came on here to report the same thing! Beaten to the punch.[/quote]
I don’t think it’s permanent. I used to get that card, and now no longer do. I think it resets after ‘reporting to’.
Which is grump making, as I can’t get back that high again.
No. Hovering over one of them, the text states that it’s unlocked by the Spying/Guidebook quality. Finish that line off and you lose the quality and thus lose access to the cards. Without them, or large quantities of non-local goods, it’s very, very difficult to reach the highest levels again and thus regain access.
It’s more the kind of thing that you should do just before leaving.
I’ve been grinding Surface-Silk and Romantic Notions in the ‘One might profit…’ storylet, then bribing heavily with those. After that, I exchange the Progress quality I don’t want (I’ve only had one pass where I was unlucky with every bribe) for the quality I do, and use the Masked Man card and the skill-based card to run out the clock. Slow with all that grinding, but effective. That gets me to 13 with a bit of luck - if it doesn’t, there are options in ‘Spending your time’ for 12 Investigating/Fascinating.
Currently I’ve just started Writing of my Polythreme Travels and I’m hoping there’s a skill-based card for that too. Apart from the Masked Man, all the luck-based cards seem to end in me tearing my hair out.
“Begin your Polythremic Promenade” gives you 11 Unnatural Exuberance, which is a sort of timer - when you do certain stuff it drops by 1, and when it hits 1 you have to cash in your Fascinating and/or Investigating. So you’ve got 10 actions to get one or both of those high enough.
edit: this was in answer to a request for help that has since disappeared.
edited by SeanH on 3/23/2012
Does anyone else feel this timer works kinda backwards?
Seems to me “Unnatural Exuberance” ought to be a Menace that increases, and when it maxes, it resets the other attributes. That is, you have to get done what it is you’re doing before your clothing runs off with you.
As it is, I’d think once I’ve reached “Obedience”, I should be able to keep trying things, working on Fascinating and Investigating until I’m done.
Mechanically, the two methods work the same. But as it is, I’m feeling a bit of cognitive dissonance with the game.
I’m loving Polythreme conceptually, but the gameplay is kicking my terrifying, lethal, midnight and sinister arse. I got so tired of having my qualities disappear that I coughed up 15 Fate to ratchet them up again, and now, despite having 13 of both, everything in “Spending Your Time in Polythreme” is locked. I can grind the Masked Man for both qualities, but it’d be nice to have something to do with em, innit?
I guess what I need to know is: are Investigating and Fascinating good for anything in themselves. Do they unlock more story? Or are they mainly good to trade in for Surface Silk and Romantic Notions? Right now it seems more of a crapshoot to me, and not knowing, I play until my Unnatural Exhuberance runs out, then they reset and it’s all for naught.
Have you tried the Spycraft and Tourism options that unlock when you have Exuberance 1 and Investigating or Fascinating 12+?
You can’t actually use these qualities until you bring Unnatural Exuberance back down to 1. And once you do, you have to build them up all over again.
Thanks Patrick and Sir Fred. It’s all beginning to make a strange sort of sense now.