I remember once hearing someone say this plant will one day be a good source of income if I help it grow large enough, but I’ve done a bit of research, and it seems that the main use of it is that it eventually produces counterfeit heads of John the Baptist which are useful in Knife and Candle, but not much help otherwise. I’ve never played K&C, and I don’t see it becoming a large part of my routine in the near future.
So is this worth the trouble? Or should I sell the plant at my earliest convenience? (I’ve seen the rewards for selling it at the different stages; none of them seemed very interesting, except as things to sell.)
Well as a plant-grower which has gotten it to level 11, nothing to reall write home about but still just above the required level, I can say that the plant is also good for a tournament between yours and your friends’, the winner getting quite the rewards for it. In the end it’s not too expensive to grow it either, but if you feel like the constantly appearing cards will be of annoyance to you, you may as well just get rid of it. You’re not missing out on anything too big!
As Siegron notes, the plant does allow participation in the Tournament of Lilies. The prize isn’t worth much though so it’s not worth doing more than once. If you do choose to sell your plant, you’ll start getting cards to obtain a new one. Keep in mind that the only way to remove all plant-related cards from your deck is to raise your plant to the maximum level of 19.
I’m not sure who said the plant is a good source of income; whoever it was was wrong, it’s a long slow process to grow it and you don’t really get much out of it by echo value. If you sell it I don’t think you recoup the value of all the items and time that went into growing it.
Getting it to high level is the only way to get a Cryptobotanical Rosette (an item with no use other than bragging rights/completionism). I don’t know if there are other ways of getting the Counterfeit Head of St John the Baptist; there may be.
I personally didn’t play in the tournament until I maxed out my plant level at 19; I heard that you do a little better at high levels, and the last few levels of growth for it have cards that can grow it with no cost, so when you lose battles and have to heal a few CP of the plant it only costs cards.
The only way to stop getting cards about it is to get it to level 19, so if you’re in this game for the long haul you might as well play the plant-growth cards as you get them and eventually (after a long, long time) you’ll stop getting them. (Selling your plant just puts you back to level 0, you’ll keep getting the card to restart your plant.) edited by Amalgamate on 7/23/2018
Here I thought I’d be able to sell those stupid heads once it started producing them. Ridiculous. Glad I did my homework. I’ll be getting rid of this wretched thing at the earliest opportunity. I’m sure the single occasional card saying I can start over will be a minor annoyance by comparison. I’m only at level 7, and it’s taken far too long just to get here.
If you’re focused on income and highest EPAs, the plant will not likely be for you. If you’re interested in seeing all storylets and options, than you might want to play it. I remember cards being ubiquitous, so they will take up a large percentage of your opportunity deck. But the rewards vary over time and the text is fun as the plant grows. Once you get to level 19 the cards stop, as indicated.
I ended up keeping it once I realized I could get Phosphorescent Scarabs from it. Which can be hard to get when you’re avoiding Advancing the Liberation of Night…
It’s not been mentioned yet, but the plant also has a secondary function as part of the “Light Fingers!” ambition. Without saying too much, it can help you out if you’re in a really bad situation, though if I recall it needs to be at least level 5 to do so.
[quote=asinineFlatfoot]I remember once hearing someone say this plant will one day be a good source of income if I help it grow large enough, but I’ve done a bit of research, and it seems that the main use of it is that it eventually produces counterfeit heads of John the Baptist which are useful in Knife and Candle, but not much help otherwise. I’ve never played K&C, and I don’t see it becoming a large part of my routine in the near future.
So is this worth the trouble? Or should I sell the plant at my earliest convenience? (I’ve seen the rewards for selling it at the different stages; none of them seemed very interesting, except as things to sell.)[/quote]
Every time you win, you get more than a Cryptobotanical Rosette. You can choose to get either a Personal Recommendation and 2 Extraordinary Implications (total value 11 Echoes at the Bazaar) or a Book of Hidden Bodies and 2 London Street signs (total value 11 Echoes at the Bazaar). http://fallenlondon.wikia.com/wiki/A_Cryptobotanical_Champion!
Whether these rewards are "worth the trouble" depends on what your game objectives are and how many actions and how much time you are willing to spend to fulfill them. I would not make the Plant your sole source of any of those resources, but Personal Recommendations are expensive to make in the Bazaar SideStreets, and an additional source of them might be useful to you.
On the other hand, not so many players play the Tournament of Lilies any more. edited by cathyr19355 on 7/30/2018
[quote=Catherine Raymond]
On the other hand, not so many players play the Tournament of Lilies any more.[/quote]
Well, I gave up after an extremely disheartening, long string of losses that forced me to feed the da** thing back up. If it wants to eat people, it can jolly well go out and hunt them.
It was an opportunity card that shows up when you’re in that specific place. I got it at level 6… Maybe I was just lucky? edited by Arcengal on 7/30/2018
[quote=Jermaine Vendredi][quote=Catherine Raymond]
On the other hand, not so many players play the Tournament of Lilies any more.[/quote]
Well, I gave up after an extremely disheartening, long string of losses that forced me to feed the da** thing back up. If it wants to eat people, it can jolly well go out and hunt them.[/quote]
That certainly is annoying. Unfortunately, your plant can’t hunt people on it’s own, because it is a plant, and as such must be rooted in soil in order to continue to live. On the other hand, if some enterprising biologist could figure out a way for St. John’s Lilies to move about as people do…