Various currencies and what to do with them

Fallen London
1

Hello everyone,
I myself am slowly but surely reaching a point where I have to convert or get rid of a whole bunch of accumulated stuff, and as a more general benefit for everyone else, I figured I’d ask for people’s tips on what to do with the various lowest-tier currency items that tend to be used in bulk. For me, I seem to accumulate some, need others a lot and found some ways to convert some into others, but it is all rather patchy and I’m sure others might have some good advice what to do with various things.

I figured that while the wiki is a great source of information about uses and sources of most items, these extremely common currencies are hard to get good information on as a high-end player, as they occur in various lower-end events in small quantity. This is supposed to be a collection of sources and uses for them for the high-end characters who are EPA-conscious and are assumed to have access to any non-fate locked content. It is not meant to be comprehensive, but rather to curate the most profitable sources and uses for all of these. If this idea is deemed worthwhile, I will try to collect the advice people give in this post.

So, to start at the top of the &quotchain&quot:

Cryptic clues
There is a profitable grind at the university by exchanging &quotInvestigating…&quot in the flit, but it gets locked if one progresses the university story.
they can be exchanged for diamonds at empire adornments, and thanks to the rare success have a pretty good EPA (above 2, iirc). No idea what to do with the diamonds, then, but hey, at least they are shiny.

converted from:
Nevercold Brass - this card 1000:500 with an extra 1.2E in appalling secrets and a great game favour. solid choice, sadly opportunity card based.

Whispered hints: 500:200 standard conversion, no extra successes. -1 EPA, seems terrible.

Nevercold Brass
Gained from writing futurist novels, Bazaarine novels, historical plays, and infernal ballets at court. Can be farmed consistently at mahogany hall, but at unimpressive EPA. A decent source is this card, but consumes a favour. Can be profitably exchanged to cryptic clues.

Whispered Hints
One of the currency I have loads of, and no idea what to do with. Upconverting seems bad, I guess I could buy premises at the bazaar for 80k after throwing mine down a well, but that’s hardly a sustainable use. Some of those get used up when grinding in port carnelian, but a few thousand at best, not nearly enough.

converted from: Jade, Amber or Rostygold 1100:1000 by the tiger keeper. which would be nice enough if I had any clue what to do with them.

Rostygold
Produced by zeefaring poetry and drinking songs of the Poet Laureate works, also dueling the black ribbon and other players (to death) and probably a bunch of other grind sources I am missing. Has lots of uses in small quantities, but tends to add up as well (at least for me). Can be exchanged 500 for 2 society and 1 bohemian favours for those who are members of the stags… but as a parthenaeum clubber, I am unsure what to do with my pile. It can be used for hiring strong-backed labour in the clay quarters along with moon-pearls, but there are some other, more expensive items one needs to burn along with it.

converted from:

Foxfire candles using this card, at 2000:2000 along with a churg favour and .5E. Not amazing, but a favour is a favour.

Foxfire candle stub
can be gained from Nocturnal poetry, operas of far-off lands, and religious songs at court, and breeding a tomb-lion in the labyrinth. Useful for exchanging to rostygold (see above) and for those recent POSI who need lots of inklings of identity for diaries of the dead, for exchanging on the Palace Cellar opportunity card. Not a great deal on its own, but one of the better inkling sources I have found. They can also be used for scheming at one’s orphanage, along with some coin and other items.

Jade
can be gained from espionage novels, folk-tale ballet, and sleek fashion of the Poet Laureate works. Useful for getting wounds down in the first coil of the labyrinth, at 1EPA profit. can be exchanged to whispered hints.

Moon-Pearls
Most common currency from Poet Laureate grinding, Can be used along with rostygold and some higher-tier items to recruit strong-backed labour, also 1k of them are needed for grinding a bejewelled lens, along with a whole bunch of other, more expensive stuff. Can also be exchanged 200:10 for inklings of identity at mahogany hall, but that is a -1EPA exchange.

Glim
Can be gained from operas of morality and innocent fictional films at the palace, pygmalion in Mahogany Hall for mediocre EPA, a variety of other endeavours like robberies, treasure, even zailing. Can be exchanged for no loss and some MW with the soft-hearted widow, but in my opinion the other option is better.

Amber
gained from writing rubbery symphonies at court.
Can be exchanged for whispered hints, and at least 5k are needed to get the yacht. [u]

Primordial Shrieks[/u]
Gained from breeding the somnolent Hyena at the fourth coil. Not great EPA-wise, but there don’t seem to be any better sources.

Silk Scraps
gained from documentary films and fashion of yore at the palace.

Lamplighter Beeswax
Lamplighter Beeswax comes from poems of the elder continent and revolutionary songs at the palace.

Proscribed Material
Can be gained from the foreign office carousel at 1.2 EPA, also there is this location-based opportunity card in the flit to exchange 3 rrevolutionary favours for 720 proscribed material. Note that buying proscribed material at the bazaar is extremely expensive.
edited by Achanei on 11/23/2017

2

Nevercold brass is best spent through: http://fallenlondon.wikia.com/wiki/1000_Nevercold_Brass_wanted!_Will_pay_handsomely!
Will net you ~5 echos, making it a very profitable card. Only drawn in ladybones road though, so I go there when I have a Calling in Favours in the Flit in my hand and not enough revolutionary favors. For those that don’t want to advance the liberation of the night, I’d suggest staying in ladybones road all the time specifically for this card.

As for where to get nevercold brass, I get a godawful amount of it just from the hell favor cycle.

3

For Cryptic Clues the best source is at a halted Investigations of the University. Investigating the staff gets you 53 and builds up Investigating. Then you can spend the Investigating in the Flit for a 70% chance at 270 more clues. I use them for a seasonal grind to build up a pile of Storm Threnodies for a Noman tattoo - Cryptic Clues -> Appalling Secrets -> Journals of Infamy -> Correspondence Plaques. The other use at this particular stage of the University is to talk to the Porters for Sudden Insights, best Watchful grind.

I actually convert the Whispered Hints to Cryptic Clues as well, although I don’t go out of my way to get Whispered Hints.

Nevercold Brass as Kaijyuu mentioned, always trade it in Ladybones Road. And I actually keep Hell favours for the A consideration for services rendered card, since it’s more profitable than exchanging the favour.

Rostygold… yep, use it pretty much exclusively for favours from the Stags card. Or sell it when I have way too much. Lethal bouts are an excellent source, though that’s if you win, of course.

Moon Pearls… I don’t thik I use them much really, aside from grinding bejeweled lenses for MW at the Royal Bethlehem. I mostly got them from an Implausible Penance, for whan I really want Urchin favours.

Glim I also get mostly from the Implausible Penance card. I really get too many Criminal favours these days. Glim goes exclusively to the Soft-Hearted Widow, Stolen Kisses go towards a salon, better than using the Box carousel to get them.

Amber… yeah, the yacht. Can’t say there’s too much aside from that either. Rubbery favours were my main source, although Flute Street, should one have access to it, is probably another good source.

Jade… uugh, I think my main usage has indeed been healing in the labyrinth. Gets rid of Unaccountably Peckish as well. Though I do use it at parties from time to time, for some Broken Giant (mostly seasonal again, for making Cellars → Airag → Tears of the Bazaar.
edited by alekth on 11/23/2017

4

[quote=Kaijyuu]Nevercold brass is best spent through: http://fallenlondon.wikia.com/wiki/1000_Nevercold_Brass_wanted!_Will_pay_handsomely!
Will net you ~5 echos, making it a very profitable card. Only drawn in ladybones road though, so I go there when I have a Calling in Favours in the Flit in my hand and not enough revolutionary favors. For those that don’t want to advance the liberation of the night, I’d suggest staying in ladybones road all the time specifically for this card.

As for where to get nevercold brass, I get a godawful amount of it just from the hell favor cycle.[/quote]

yeah, I already mentioned the brass exchange card in the cryptic clue section and the hell favour opportunity card as a brass source.

5

[quote=Kaijyuu]Nevercold brass is best spent through: http://fallenlondon.wikia.com/wiki/1000_Nevercold_Brass_wanted!_Will_pay_handsomely!
Will net you ~5 echos, making it a very profitable card.[/quote]
How 5 echoes?

From what I can tell, this card gives you 1.5 echoes in Appalling Secrets, plus 1 x Favours: The Great Game.

You can exchange the Favour for 4.2 echoes, but that costs another action.

So, unless I’m missing something, the EPA would be 2.85.

Certainly not bad, but much better to draw cards at one’s lodgings for The Neath’s Mysteries (4 EPA).

6

1.5 echoes in appalling secrets (slightly more since the upconversion is good but it’s like 1 pence)
~75 pence from the cryptic clues being strictly more valuable than the brass due to their conversion to diamonds (this is dependent on your standard grind epa)
As for the favor, (4.2*1.075) - 1.76 = ~2.75 echoes from the cryptic clues. 1.76 is my standard grind, 1.075 is the multiplier for cryptic clue value due to the conversion.

1.50 + 0.75 + 2.75 = ~5.00 echoes

Actually worth more than that to someone using affair of the box, due to cryptic clues then being more valuable.
edited by Kaijyuu on 11/23/2017

7

Of the low-tier commodities, I most often run out of primordial shrieks. I haven’t been spending them directly; rather, increasing renown often calls for large quantities of maniac’s prayers, which afaik aren’t readily available in London. The best source of shrieks is breeding through discipline with the somnolent hyaena, which takes 15 actions if you’ve already got nightmares 5. The payout is 1050 shrieks on a successful 70% luck challenge, or 700 on a failure. A single run will be 70 or 46.67 shrieks per action, averaging to 63 shrieks (£1.26) per action across multiple runs.

Poet-Laureate works come out to roughly £1.40pa, which means they’re probably the best sources for the items they provide.

Nevercold Brass comes from futurist novels, Bazaarine novels, historical plays, and infernal ballet.

Rostygold comes from zeefaring poetry and drinking songs.

Foxfire candles come from Nocturnal poetry, operas of far-off lands, and religious songs.

Jade comes from espionage novels, folk-tale ballet, and sleek fashion.

Glim comes from operas of morality and innocent fictional films.

Amber comes from rubbery symphonies.

Silk scraps come from documentary films and fashions of yore.

Lamplighter Beeswax comes from poems of the elder continent and revolutionary songs.

Another item which players may want in large quantities is proscribed material. The best source for that is the Foreign Office carousel. “The Ministry run” provides 900 proscribed material per 15-action loop, for a consistent £1.20pa.

8

[quote=Kaijyuu]1.5 echoes in appalling secrets (slightly more since the upconversion is good but it’s like 1 pence)
~75 pence from the cryptic clues being strictly more valuable than the brass due to their conversion to diamonds (this is dependent on your standard grind epa)
As for the favor, (4.2*1.075) - 1.76 = ~2.75 echoes from the cryptic clues. 1.76 is my standard grind, 1.075 is the multiplier for cryptic clue value due to the conversion.

1.50 + 0.75 + 2.75 = ~5.00 echoes[/quote]
Ah, you’re taking into account the Clues-to-Diamonds conversions. Let’s see:

  • Using the card + converting the Favour into Clues: 2 actions, +710 x Cryptic Clues, +10 x Appalling Secrets, -1000 x Brass

Let’s multiply, so we’re working with whole numbers:

  • 20 x the above: 40 actions, +14,200 CC, +200 AS, -20,000 Brass[/li][li]Converting Clues into diamonds gives 2.019 EPA (assuming 5% rare success)[/li][li]71 conversions of 200 x CC into Diamonds: 71 actions, -14,200 CC, +427.349 Echoes (in diamonds)[/li][li]Total gain: -200 echoes (in Brass), +30 echoes (in AS), +427.349 Echoes (in diamonds) = 257.349 echoes[/li][li]Total EPA (average): 257.349 / 111 ~= 2.318

edited by dov on 11/23/2017

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[quote=Anchovies]
Another item which players may want in large quantities is proscribed material. The best source for that is the Foreign Office carousel. &quotThe Ministry run&quot provides 900 proscribed material per 15-action loop, for a consistent £1.20pa.[/quote]

I added it, and also the opportunity card from the flit, 3 revolutionary favours for 720 material is not bad, especially with the mayor card giving rev favours, too.
Added the other currency information you provided about poet-laureate stuff, thanks! If I remember the other thread correctly, the EPA of the grind was sort of variable depending on having access to &quotthe lead&quot or not, right? If anyone has good numbers, I’ll add that at the top, since that grind seems to be the best source for most currencies right now.

10

@dov’s calculations:

Which is pretty nice. 2.318 EPA over 5.55 actions (on average) is better than ~3 EPA over 2 actions (which is neath’s mysteries).

EDIT: Oh, let’s not forget that neath’s mysteries profits someone else too. For the especially altruistic among us that may be more valuable than another half an echo or so.
edited by Kaijyuu on 11/23/2017

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I think Neath’s Mysteries is one action only? Unless you are counting both players’ actions, but then both get the reward as well. With the 200 cryptic clues it is 4 echoes.

12

I was counting the turning clues -> diamonds action as well.