what is the best cryptic-clues-per-action action?

Fallen London
1

I need a lot of them to do a statistic on a certain action, what is the best way to get a lot of them? Possibly without spending connections
edited by ganjalf91 on 12/20/2015

2

I don’t know how useful any of these will be, but:

  • The best (profitable) &quotCryptic Clues per action&quot type of Action I know of is A strange sort of prank on The Neaths Mysteries card, drawn in your Lodgings. It’s a social action which gives both of you about 200 Cryptic Clues (the best option on that card for profit-making, I think) - but requires that you draw the card first, which means you can’t spend all your Actions to grind with it.
  • Similarly, if you have a Voluminous Library, one of the options there has a 50/50 chance of providing 75 Cryptic Clues (on a ‘failure’), but again - opportunity card.
  • If you have 1000 Nevercold Brass you can convert the brass into 500 Cryptic Clues (equal sale value, for one action) using a card drawn only in Ladybones Road. Though I think you’d be better off with the social action from the card in your lodgings, as it benefits two of you (and the person you send it to might be inclined to return the favour if they draw the card themselves.)
  • If you do use that card and/or increase Connected: The Great Game to at least 15, you can Call In Favours in the Wolfstack Docks for 120 Cryptic Clues.
  • If you’re still progressing through the Labyrinth of Tigers, Scout out the Fourth Coil provides 55. You’ll want to buy a Sneak-Thief’s Mask for the occasion, though.

But it sounds like you’ll be wanting ways to reliably grind the stuff. Hopefully someone else has more useful suggestions.
edited by Kittenpox on 12/20/2015

3

Adding on to what people are saying, the card &quotThe mechanics of progress&quot gives you anywhere from 1 to your modified watchful level in cryptic clues. You can’t grind it per se, but it’s useful nonetheless.
edited by yang573 on 12/21/2015

4

Actually, Unfinished Business in Spite offers the option “Eavesdropping” to gain 1-120 cryptic clues per action. That’s probably your best option, save opportunity cards.

5

Most of the ‘Unfinished Business in <Location>’ options are pretty great for their respective bottom-tier items, imo. :-)

6

Talking to Cynthia at Hunter’s Keep also gives Cryptic Clues (2-3 less than investigating the well, but that’s still more than you can reliably get in London), so you can actually grind throughout the entire loop. Alternately, you can get Tales of Terror! if you keep talking to Cynthia instead of investigating, which can save you some effort if you were going to convert Clues to them, anyway.
edited by MrUnderhill89 on 12/21/2015

7

If you raise Investigating… to 5 via &quotInterview the Department of ____ staff&quot and then immediately attempt to cash out your Investigating via &quotRaid a message drop&quot in the Flit, you will get an average of 535 Cryptic Clues and 1 point of Suspicion in an average of 6 actions. (Someone can check my math, but I’m pretty sure that’s close if not spot on.)

It’s one of the most profitable grinds in the game (~1.7-1.8 echoes per action on average, depending on how you get rid of suspicion) and it gives you only Cryptic Clues, so it’s very nice for that purpose if you’re at the right stage of the University storyline. It does depend a bit on luck, but not brutally so.

If you have Shadowy between 81 and 118, another really useful card is &quotA new piece in the game…&quot since it gives you 4 points of both Seeking and Investigating. With that card you can spend 2 actions to start both Seeking and Investigating, wait to draw the card four times, and then cash those qualities in for 536 Cryptic clues. This takes 7 actions, but there’s no chance of failure like there is with the above method – instead, you just have to wait for the card to show up four times, and keep your Shadowy in the right range.
edited by metasynthie on 12/21/2015

8

[quote=metasynthie]If you raise Investigating… to 5 via &quotInterview the Department of ____ staff&quot and then immediately attempt to cash out your Investigating via &quotRaid a message drop&quot in the Flit, you will get an average of 535 Cryptic Clues and 1 point of Suspicion in an average of 6 actions. (Someone can check my math, but I’m pretty sure that’s close if not spot on.)

It’s one of the most profitable grinds in the game (~1.7-1.8 echoes per action on average, depending on how you get rid of suspicion) and it gives you only Cryptic Clues, so it’s very nice for that purpose if you’re at the right stage of the University storyline. It does depend a bit on luck, but not brutally so.[/quote]

Combined with one of the suggestions in http://community.failbettergames.com/topic21306-best-use-of-cryptic-clues.aspx (buying low-quality diamonds from Empire Adornments for the rare success), this seems particularly profitable. A pity it requires Featuring in the Tales of the University 9, as I’m well past that point now.

9

What other items have a more profitable conversion than outright selling? I’m thinking things like jade and silk scraps.

10

Trading Jade, Rostygold, or Amber to the Tiger-Keeper for Whispered Hints isn’t strictly profitable, only giving 11 echoes of Hints for 10 echoes of goods. However if you have a surplus of any of the above it’s quite good for getting expedition supplies, and grinding one of those items and trading may be more efficient than getting Hints directly another way.

11

Collections of Curiosities, Strong-Backed Labour