Watchful Gains, Hellworm, etc

Seems there’s no official thread forthcoming, so might as well make one.

Watchful gains are here, personally I’m about halfway through the starting research project (good thing I prepared at least 2 of every available light-box in advance), waiting on actions to continue. We’ll see what comes next.

As far as this Hellworm thing goes, is anyone anywhere even remotely near to being able to get one?

For myself, I only have a few thousand scrip left (thank goodness I didn’t liquidate it into echoes yet), so this is definitely going to take a while. Especially since I still plan to prioritize the cider grind until I finish that one.

I wish to start a petition to have the Hellworm to the Spouse slot. That is all.
edited by radicalace on 8/10/2021

Naturally, that needs the two box colours that I don’t have on hand.
Hellworm spouse is an entertaining possibility, though I like the idea of it as Transport, too - you’d just have to persuade it to get you to places without eating the road en route :)
As for buying one… there are people around who’ve had both Cider and Goat for years now, so quite possibly some of them have enough pocket change to acquire a Hellworm straight off.
As someone who already has Cider, but is only about half-way to a Heptagoat, I’m wondering about prioritising the Worm over the Goat; I guess I should wait and see whether the Worm’s card is actually any use to me (no RP reason either way, and the HG, as I understand it, offers no mechanical benefit over a simple UG).

Oh, I have one of those colours, though I forget where I got it. Just have to figure out how to get the other…

Oh, I just remembered where I got it, and also why I forgot. Same reason.

200000 scrip. Oh jeez. I am inching my way closer to finally getting a Cider, and now there is another goal of similar scale. Insane.

Quite. I’ve not been there in ages (in the old days, because of the overcapping issue, but more recently just because I never remembered to); slightly frustrating to have getting a box dependant on card draw in a place where you can’t discard cards or stay more than a handful of actions.
The other one I think was the one that people couldn’t get for ages, and then arrived with Zeafarer, so presumably boxes can be filled with Violant somewhere at Zea - most likely the Khanate, which I’ve not yet visited.

Guess I’ll try that while I wait for Time, the Healer…
edited by Tigerfort on 8/10/2021

[quote=Tigerfort]As for buying one… there are people around who’ve had both Cider and Goat for years now, so quite possibly some of them have enough pocket change to acquire a Hellworm straight off.[/quote]There’s still the matter of actually getting your hands on 200k scrip. Or is there some convenient way to quickly convert huge amounts of echoes into scrip now? That was always a bit of a challenge before.

I had largely avoided that place for years for the same reason. But ever since the new stat gains came out and it suddenly became easy to rectify any stat loss, I’ve been going there again. Luckily got the mirrorcatch box a few weeks ago without even knowing the thing existed until then. I believe you may be right about the other one being where you said it was. Haven’t seen it yet, I’ve pursued many of the options there, but not every single one. We’ll see soon enough.

You get the violant by[spoiler]breaking down a corresponding sounder, which you get from one of the Khanate intrigues.

You also get the gant box by doing the power plant raid there.[/spoiler]
It’s interesting. I think apocyan is the only one we’re still missing. And cosmogone, the first to become available and the only one to offer an option to fill boxes in bulk, has yet to be required for anything.

Some of the boxes have had scattered uses here and there, but the overall picture of what we’re collecting these for is still far from clear.

I have 8 Irrigo-filled boxes, precisely because getting them is so unreliable; I never miss a chance to pick one up

[quote=radicalace]I wish to start a petition to have the Hellworm to the Spouse slot. That is all.
edited by radicalace on 8/10/2021[/quote]

It makes sense when you think about it. You’re going above and beyond the call of any other marriage’s resource cost, might as well forge a special bond. Plus if you do somehow get past the insurmountable hurdle of siring your Londoner-Hellworm children the Bazaar will ply you with piles of cider and goats to get hold of your love story.

[quote=Tsar Koschei]There’s still the matter of actually getting your hands on 200k scrip. Or is there some convenient way to quickly convert huge amounts of echoes into scrip now? That was always a bit of a challenge before.[/quote] If you had 300,000 echoes on hand you could do it in one wildly expensive train trip, but I think the more feasible answer is ~80,000 echoes laundered through Skeletons over… 6000 actions? Shed hefty chunks of that if you have a heap of skeleton parts and Scrip already on hand, of course. I haven’t properly run the numbers because of how many moving parts the Skeleton Factory has, but… hmm. If one is going to theorycraft anything, surely it’s the 100,000 Echo purchase.

Hmm.

[spoiler]&quotBut the Bazaar… I would not put my child in his service. I would not chain anyone to his decay.&quot

Isn’t the Bazaar typically always referred to as female?[/spoiler]

From the sidebars…
&quotThe Bazaar - does it need a gender?

The Bazaar is traditionally spoken of as if it’s a single living thing. Women call it ‘he’; men call it ‘she’. The Masters of the Bazaar style themselves ‘Mr’, but no one seems to think they’re actually men.&quot

Ah, I’d forgotten all about that little detail. I guess I’ve mostly seen it referred to by characters who use the female pronouns, like Penstock or the Masters.

I’m working on the second research project now, and I once again find myself torn between two desires, wishing I could somehow betray both Hell and Mr Spices in equal measure.

edited by Tsar Koschei on 8/11/2021

[quote=elderfleur]~80,000 echoes laundered through Skeletons over… 6000 actions?[/quote] Actual math reveals the numbers to be 80,687.5 Echoes and 6458 actions creating 1291 &quotBrass Lolipops&quot (Brass Skull + Headless Skeleton) and selling them off for 40,021 Biscuits worth 200,105 Scrip. You’ll need to supply your own 258,200 Nevercold Brass (or set aside an extra 7746 Echoes). It’s 3-5 times quicker than grinding Scrip from scratch, but obviously quite a bit more costly. I think there are better solutions, but it’s an interesting baseline!

As someone who DOES have 300,000 echoes and an increasing disenchantment with goat attainment, what exactly do I need to buy to get my worm?

[quote=Captain Blood Storm]As someone who DOES have 300,000 echoes and an increasing disenchantment with goat attainment, what exactly do I need to buy to get my worm?[/quote] Back in Ealing’s launch any conversion too convenient or efficient was quietly dropped from the Upper River Exchange without warning, so I’ll just caution that you make a practice trip out to make sure everything’s still in place. However, last I checked, if you spend 300,000 echoes on 200,000 Nikolas & Sons Instant Ablution Absolutions, they presently sell for 1 Scrip a piece. 6:1 conversion if we’re talking about Sale Value, but one assumes the Worm isn’t for selling.

Well, having checked and noticed that I have overestimated my supply of echoes by one 0, I am now tormented by the knowledge that the horrible skeleton grind may actually be the more reasonable prospect for me here despite my willingness to just liquidate E V E R Y T H I N G to acquire a worm friend.

D_mn.