Hello, delicious friends,
I’m new to the game and, even though I know this is not a min-max sort of game, a question still bothers me - is it better to stick to one (or two) qualities or raise them all equally? I’m currently going down the watchful/persuasive path, but I want to see what the other parts of the city have to offer. I’m worried that I might miss out on content if I try to do everything at once!
edited by Ed Schultz on 6/19/2014
I don’t think there’s anything that’s locked out because you have too high in a combination of the four major stats, so I wouldn’t worry about it–do as you like.
I found that I pursued one path, then eventually decided to explore/needed to go elsewhere, and had to raise others. Generally they even out over time, but with a weighting in one direction. (Which doesn’t matter.)
Just do what you enjoy most, you will eventually max them all anyways.
If you stay in one area and only do things in that area while also playing the opportunity cards, you may end up raising your other basic qualities while raising your main quality. And then when you go to the other areas you may have too high qualities for the very first storylets. When I realised that’s how it was, I could still use a Talkative Rattus Faber to lower my qualities enough, but it sure was a hassle, as it created a ‘blind spot’ where my regular basic quality was too high, and with the -25 from the rat it was too low, even when adding bonuses from other equipment.
Then again, they may have changed a lot of stuff since I started.
You won’t get locked out of any stories because you focus on one stat, but there might be storylets that you miss, because you’re too busy in one area. In the very early stages of the game, levelling is super fast. This means you’re going to out-level content quicker as well. Therefore it might be worth getting all your stats to 15-20 or so, even if you plan on using only a few of them, just to slow down the rate at which they level. Finally, there are stories that require more than one stat, but you’ll get to those as you level.
In general, being skill-locked out of content is an early-game issue, by leveling too quickly in a stat before visiting that area, which is possible if you don’t play often and use the training profession rewards.
Being choice-locked out of content is a more mid-game issue when you enter locations like university and court. That’s when you need to play conservatively and be careful about what you do, like pursuing all the romances before you start your artist career etc.
Oh, I’d forgotten about the training profession rewards! Yes, that could be a thing, couldn’t it–I’m used to the mode where you raise stats by, you know, playing the content. =>
ultimately I think that it’s not so worth having a training profession… yes, you increase qualities easily (a bit too much for my taste) but you really risk missing storylets.
I’m one of those compulsive people who needs everything more or less the same. A few levels difference is no big deal. I’m finding a few levels doesn’t necessarily make a huge difference to success chance. But if it’s like, more than five levels different, I feel compelled to grind the stat that’s lagging. Currently, it’s Shadowy, since completing the "Tattooed Courier" storyline gave me a boost to Persuasive, plus my Watchful boost from profession. I like getting the professional perks and payment, but I think I’m just going to resign/adopt professions as needed to train stats that are far behind.
I feel like if everything’s around the same level, the opportunity cards are easier to play, too. I don’t like taking insane risks for fear of acquiring menace points, so having levels close together makes the playing field feel more level.[li]
edited by Taleria on 7/12/2014
Well, you will need to have all your qualities at 100 (with the help of equipment) at some point, so you will need to raise them all to that level. Afterwards, it’s up to you.