What exactly does it mean to be "Closest To" a faction, in practice?
From what I can gather, your "Closest To" is irrelevant to your "Connected", And it gives access to certain specific cards if I understand it correctly.
Is there anything more to it?
Does "Closest To" provide anything unique?
Mechanically speaking, Closest To allows you more options in grinding the Counting the Days carousel. (Certain factions, mostly the Great Game, allow you to do the whole thing without waiting for opportunity cards at all, other than the final turn-in).
Other than Spending Secrets/Counting the Days, no, there is no benefit to being Closest To a particular faction.
(edited for formatting because I am bad at forums)
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edited by Jeremy Avalon on 3/23/2015
[quote=Jeremy Avalon]Mechanically speaking, Closest To allows you more options in grinding the Counting the Days carousel. (Certain factions, mostly the Great Game, allow you to do the whole thing without waiting for opportunity cards at all, other than the final turn-in).
Other than Spending Secrets/Counting the Days, no, there is no benefit to being Closest To a particular faction.
(edited for formatting because I am bad at forums)
edited by Jeremy Avalon on 3/23/2015[/quote]
In what way does "The Great Game" allow you to do it almost without cards?
And how good or bad for that would you say the Hell option is?
edited by Arcalyte on 3/23/2015
Both Great Game and Bohemians are used for Dicing for Secrets and Coins on Wolfstack Docks (counting the days 1-5) and on Speak to an Aristocratic Academic in the Forgotten Quarter (counting the days 6-10). Some but not all the other factions might be used for those two options. After that you need to have a soul to visit the Shuttered Palace (10-12) and then be welcome at the University (12-14).
So if you have access to all the areas and are closest to Great Game or Bohemians you don’t need any cards apart from the one to cash in Counting the Days.
[quote=Arcalyte]In what way does "The Great Game" allow you to do it almost without cards?
And how good or bad for that would you say the Hell option is?
edited by Arcalyte on 3/23/2015[/quote]
The details are here on the Fallen London Wiki, but the short version is that there are certain permanent storylets in Wolfstack Docks, the University (even while banished), the Shuttered Palace, and the Forgotten Quarter that allow you to advance Counting the Days without the use of opportunity cards.
However, each such action has specific requirements; Wolfstack takes you up to CtD 6 if you’re Closest To a "disreputable" faction like the Docks, the Great Game, Hell, etc., for instance, while going from 6-9 in the Forgotten Quarter requires a more "respectable" faction. The only two which fulfill both of those are Great Game and Bohemians.
(You also need to be a Master Thief and in possession of your soul to do the rest.)
EDIT: What Ciel said. Beat me to it.
edited by Jeremy Avalon on 3/23/2015
[quote=Arcalyte][quote=Jeremy Avalon]Mechanically speaking, Closest To allows you more options in grinding the Counting the Days carousel. (Certain factions, mostly the Great Game, allow you to do the whole thing without waiting for opportunity cards at all, other than the final turn-in).
Other than Spending Secrets/Counting the Days, no, there is no benefit to being Closest To a particular faction.
(edited for formatting because I am bad at forums)
edited by Jeremy Avalon on 3/23/2015[/quote]
In what way does "The Great Game" allow you to do it almost without cards?
And how good or bad for that would you say the Hell option is?
edited by Arcalyte on 3/23/2015[/quote]
there are, in addition to the usual closest to oppurtunity on each connected card, other alignment based closest to options. if you’re closer to the more… underworld sort, some opurtunities will appear, and if you’re closer to the more accepted sort, others will be availible.
in addition, some of these are simply located in a location. all of these require counting the days within a certain range. for instance, in the flit, under fun with the fisher kings urchins can tell you their tales if you have closest to urchins and counting the days below 5. the great game, along with one- i believe- other faction, has enough of these that if you’re willing to spend the actions, you can go through the carrousel without ever drawing a card, until- as the person you’re replying to noted- the final turn in. i don’t know the exact logistics of it though.
if you don’t care who you are allied with, closest to the great game is a good choice, therefore- but counting the days isn’t that important- just take the oppurtunities on the menace cards and you’ll get there long before you really need any of the things it can get you- or at least, the things you can’t get by other methods. (specifically, the consonant violin, which is not that useful for non-completionists until they decide to cap repectable, and the iron-republic safe conduct, which is for accessing the iron republic)