I too have become a scarlet saint.
The austerity grind in IR is still there. The most difficult thing for me was getting Hedonist above 10. Did this by continuing to increase Renown Hell after level 40.
I too have just today become a Scarlet Saint!
For me the easiest way to do it was getting renown Church to 40, then Hell, which gave up to 15 hedonist, then the IR Austerity grind.
Thank you all for the tips!
I made the ‘mistake’ of grinding Hell first (really wanted to get the Iron Republic Journal but didn’t want to go to the IR without something else) so Hedonist will be a pain but I have plenty of heads to kiss.
Only realized that Scarlet Saint is pretty much perfect for my character - A literal Bishop Spirifer who is allied with Hell.