What now? (stats 101-156)

Fallen London
1

Hi, I’m really struggling to work out what to do next in the game and wondered if anyone had any suggestions for what might be fun?

I’m a Person of Some Importance with stats at 101-156 (much more Persuasive than Dangerous) and I can’t work out what to do next that isn’t just &quotlots of grinding with no clear payoff&quot. I could keep clicking at Wilmot’s End or the University or Mahogany Hall but tbh I’m getting bored of replaying storylets over and over just to get an item as payoff and can’t work out where to go to advance in the plot…?

Context: just finished the Boxful of Intrigue storyline, been kicked out of Court and been governor of Port Carnelian a couple of times, got my own newpaper, robbed the Bazaar in the Flit, stalled on Ambition: Heart’s Desire because my stats aren’t high enough to get through Old Downey, I love the Cave of the Nadir but it’s obviously not playable often. (Opportunity cards still bring up really enjoyable content from time to time but it’s pretty random - I’m getting tired of clicking through the same Connected cards over and over in the hope of some more Dreams.)

Grateful for any suggestions!

2

Wilmot’s end has no plot, so that’s just resource grinding.

Mohogany hall was the least interesting shadowy content i had the displeasure of experiencing, but its side-stories are neat- and the teaching one was fun for me despite being a carosel grind.

have you zailed the seven Zees? That’s what I’d do next, if you haven’t explored all the islands. If you’ve explored some, go on, look at the rest. if you’ve seen it all- well, there you go.

The university grind is, admittedly, a grind every step of the way, but i enjoyed it despite that, and the revelations were big enough to make up for the grind length. All the payoffs felt big enough for the work, assuming you’ve hit the investigating and not time passing at this point. time passing is a neat carousel, and you should see all it has to offer, but it’s not… not a storyline you can progress through.

Have you got through the &quotwhat the thunder said&quot loop once? Go to mutton island and grind so you can go to the elusive sixth menace area- it’s a really neat place, if you don’t mind not seeing absolutely everything, and a tiny bit frustrating if you do.

Maybe backtrack? check you’ve done all the stories? it sounds like you haven’t done any of these:

-Hunted Jack, and either discovered his origins or destroyed him.
-Finished the affair of the box, which is the only reason to even bother with mahogany hall IMO.

Nevertheless, there’s far less feeling of tangible progress past this point. less storylines that are clearly demarkated as done for free players, and more routine, doing the job, changing the world but only slowly, at this point.
edited by Grenem on 8/6/2016

3

Thank you very much! I don’t think I’ve played all through Mutton Island, or at least I don’t remember it - I might give that a try next :)

I’ve done the Box and I’m not Dangerous enough to investigate Jack yet. Does the University actually have some sort of payoff if you keep going through it? I’ve played through all the content I can see a few times and it doesn’t seem to lead anywhere.

I suppose I could just spend some Fate to get the paid storylines, but it’s a little frustrating because I feel like there’s all this stuff I should be able to work towards - like, I noticed while zailing that there were more islands I could get to if I had an Iron Republic Safe Conduct, or some sort of Scientific Expedition thing, but I can’t work out how to unlock it. Oh well :)

4

The Safe Conduct you can get by raising Counting the Days and buying it with Marks of Credit, and the Scientific Expedition can be embarked upon once you’ve finished the University storyline: there is indeed more for you to do there if that isn’t available to you yet.
edited by Barselaar on 8/6/2016

5

What are your four Making Your Name quality trackers currently? From the sounds of it you should have A Name Signed with a Flourish if you’ve been banished from Court; 7 is the endpoint of all four. A Name in Seven Secret Alphabets is for Watchful and the endpoint there is the University content, which leads into the Scientific Expedition and another case. A Name Whispered in Darkness ends with the Wars of Illusion story, mostly in Mahogany Hall; I don’t recall how to begin it now that the trackers exist, but make sure you did the special heist. A Name Scrawled in Blood has several stories you may not have done; have you dueled the Black Ribbon, captured beasts for Mr Inch, bred beasts for the Bishop of Southwark?

NOTE: if you haven’t done much in the University, this is your best chance to cheaply and quickly raise your Scholar of the Correspondence quality, as it’s needed for one high-tier profession and some winter content among things. If you don’t have that quality yet, do an expedition to the Tomb of the Seven in the Forgotten Quarter. After that, you can go Beneath the Neath at the Carnival up to level 3. After that, an airs-dependent option under Seeking Curios and Secrets in the Forgotten Quarter or a rare success from Do some actual research in the University can get you as far as level 7. After that, wagering at The end of the match in the University will get you to level 10. You don’t have to do any of this now of course, but be warned if you do the University content first you’ll have to pay a scaling (and quite hefty) cost whenever you do choose to raise Scholar of the Correspondence that high.

6

  1. I wish I’d known all this.

  2. Regardless, it turns out the best way to learn the language of heat and light is by petting a cat whenever possible.

7

Oooh, thank you! The Correspondence is really intriguing, so I’d been wondering if there was a way to do more with the Scholar quality. I’ve done the Forgotten Quarter content through to the Cave of the Nadir so looks like it’s off to the Carnival next :D

8

After the heist, it’s the same old: rare successes on raising seeking/investigating (curiers/spies in heights of chicanery) until you unlock the one-off storylet that sets it to 6, then seeking+investigating+bats+cats (all at 5, iirc, or maybe 6) for the next step, then you can work with bats or cats a little (I forgot what you need for that step), you also have to open mahogany hall by going to your lodgings and paying (it’s the only remaining location unlock that has to be done from your lodging), … then whatever happens at mahogany hall (choose your entry stat, raise tales of mahogany hall high enough to unlock options, …).

9

Old Downy may be my favorite bit of the Ambition, but take that minimum seriously - it’s hard even then! It’s worth working towards it.