It’s also hilarious when you finally do draw Motley’s cards (Which is a pain with that many accomplices) and have enough prep to use the advanced options. In two rounds I drew one of each of his cards. One took progress from 1 to 8 and the other 4 to 10.
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I just finished a run 7/9 that earned me both the Distinction of Embalming and the Distinction of Kings.
Team:
King of Tallow
Priest of Briars
Fool of Audacities
Modified stats:
Kataleptic Toxicology 17 (90% chance of success on Tallow’s advanced checks) (Nemesis PC)
Persuasive 259 (used a total of about 15-20 Confident Smiles)
Mark of Embalming: On
Strategy: Get the ace of Kings from Briars and build up preparations for Tallow’s crazy 7 and 8 prep moves. Use second chances every chance you get for Briars’ 2 prep persuasive-checking move. Then hit them hard with Tallow only. Gaining direct progress with any of the other team members when a Tallow card is accessible is a waste of actions and endangers your chance of getting progress to 8 before elusiveness. Only use other team members’ progress actions to get to a Tallow card when Briars’s hand-clearing option is also unavailable.
1 round lost due to equipment issues: I was initially looking to do this with a different King so the first round was bound to be a loss.
1 round lost due to making use of progress-making moves from team members other than Tallow.
NB: It might have been possible using fewer confident smiles had I been willing to risk a closer win. It is hard to gauge whether a round will end successfully before time runs out in the early stages of the round, when one gathers Poisonous Preparations.
Side-note: for me this run sealed Tallow’s redemption arc from least useful team member in the Season of Nascency to King in the Game of Poison and Delight.
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I drew a not-ideal-but-decent-seeming 3-knight team of ribs, skin and flames, and decided to try the embalmer’s challenge in conjunction with the knights one, just to see the impact. 3 for 3 wins so far, so seems workable, fingers crossed.
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I just can’t seem to get this pages distinction. It’s hard enough to actually get the required cards since recruitment is luck, and I keep getting saddled with the page of teeth who drastically loses steam. Plus, a couple of times I’ve been hit with two counterplay cards, even though the first one drains all of the buildup. Any advice from people who’ve gotten the pages distinction?
I managed to muscle through it entirely on the strength of having drawn Gambits, that alone is basically enough. But I had a couple of failed teams before that, which I just ditched after suffering through the obligatory first round.
I got it on my first try quite easily I thought
with Gambit, cod (if my memory serves) and the Fool.
I did it with the mark of embalming, powering through with second chances.
The first challenge really is to draw a good enough team…
Good luck
Thanks for the advice, all! Gambit is really the way to go, and I was forced to pick the page of teeth but luckily grabbed the fool for the poison prep. Now to wait for the next season…
I was able to do it with Roots, but that requires high KT. I also had the Fool and I believe an off brand priest.
Just discovered the Overplayed Hand. Oh, I don’t like this. I don’t like this at all.
On the plus side, after embracing hyper-aggressiveness and scrambling for progress above all else I’m pleased to say the game “merely” looks tricky rather than outright unwinnable. Haven’t come across Motley yet but he sounds fun.
“Wow, you’ll seem really desatesfied with this” I say looking up from the mid-game Beach onto the late game mountain, martini in one hand
And a pool noodle in the other as i Chase some guys without a single Clue what your talking about
(This is not a compliant, I just wanted to get alerts on this thread and thought this was funny)
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Success, 7 for 8 in the end. Dropped my 7th round because of repeated failed rolls at 70-80% and failure to draw enough ribs, compounded by a counterplay spiral. But anyway, definitely workable.
Now I just need kings and motley…
Oh, he is. Motley ranges from having rounds that are completed in ten actions with ease to nail-biting drawn-out exchanges that just barely scrape out a win or loss. But the added randomness is extremely fun, and Motley himself hits like a lorry. I would highly recommend going with him when you can, and I myself am probably going to be using him for my regular grinding rounds from now on, just because of how fun he is.
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Oh, I do understand. I remember a time when I saw all those ascetic mad zealots with both Hesperidean Cider AND a Heptagoat among the forums, and thought I never had a hope of gaining either. And well…somehow, I’ve bumbled amongst their ranks even though I still think of myself as a casual player at heart. I mean, I don’t even play the game with spreadsheets or anything.
Just a…really stubborn one?
Anyway, currently I need to kill this absolutely braindead Pages team why was I stupid enough to try a team that can’t build Poisonous Preparation but despite having wasted many of my actions today, I’m somehow more optimistic now I understanding things a bit bitter even amidst a losing streak.
(The Overplayed Hand is STILL really, really unfair however)
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Min-maxing Fallen London (a game that literally consists of nothing but grinds) is a bit like being the first student in class to finish your assignment. Your only possible rewards are, in order:
Another assignment.
Or nothing.
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Not true. If you are not at absolute endgame and still have content to unlock and stories to experience for the first time, then optimization is about pacing. Better EpA directly converts into more content per unit of time.
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Got the distinction of kings with a team of spines, roses and briars. Pretty nice setup, no losses though counterplay spam caused a couple of fairly close shaves. So now I just need to draw motley and grind exploits.
TFW you realize Hearts’ Game is just Licentiate work with extra steps…
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Okay but why are you not wrong??? Smh
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You sound like me. That’s why it took me over 11 years to obtain the Cider. (I REFUSE to try for a Heptagoat, though I know that I could manage it now. But that’s me.) 
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I assume Hearts’ initial plan was to just co-opt all Licentiates since they’re one of the more Bazaar-entangled professions already, but Iron stepped in to thwart him because Iron is jealously hoarding his position as the super secret mastermind behind the entire Licentiate profession now that Knife-and-Candle has been banned.
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