So, hey.
I’ve been playing this game for a month or so now. I love it. I love everything about it. I even bought Sunless Sea, and while the gameplay tired me out fairly quickly, I loved that as well – not the least because I got to learn way more about the setting than I previously had in Fallen London (granted, there were still a ton of questions that were just left unanswered – like what is going in Wisdom? Why does the cook want to go there? What’s the deal with the sigils? What’s the connection between snakes and dreams? etc.)
My base stats at the moment are Watchful 59/Shadowy 56/Dangerous 41/Persuasive 62. The only reason Persuasive is so high is because of the Melancholy Curate’s story – and honestly speaking, I didn’t really learn a whole lot of juicy info by doing that. I’d prefer to have raised Watchful first, but as with all of the starting areas, I ran out of storylines at around 40-50. I recently unlocked The Flit, The Forgotten Quarter, and The Shuttered Palace. I’m waiting till all my skills are at 60 before visiting them in earnest.
So, I guess, having said that, I’ve got two questions:
When do I start to actually discover things? All I’ve got so far is things that leave me with more questions.
Is there a way to further raise my skills without endless grinding? As near as I can tell, I’ve run out of storylines in all of the starting areas so it’s getting pretty boring.
The further out you go from the starting areas the more you’ll start to learn about the world. Your stats will improve, more information will be given to you, and little fragments will come together in your mind to form a more complete picture. It’s hard to say precisely when you’ll actually start to discover things, but the Forgotten Quarter is definitely a good place to head to next. I recall that being the place where things started to get really interesting for me personally.
If you want a good way to improve your stats you can always utilize social actions in your Lodgings. Second chance items can be spent for a variable amount of CP in the associated stat, and generally it’s the fastest way to go. Shadowy might be a bit more difficult to improve this way since the social action has some negative effects. Spending Casing in the Flit by selling information to fellow criminals is the best way to level Shadowy.
Well, to raise stats that are below 70, you can switch between starting professions - that gives you a nice boost to one of the four every week. (Bear in mind that - unless it’s changed since I did it - the 70 is with gear, so judicious use of a particular garrulous rodent can extend the opportunity to benefit from this.)
Patronage can also help; not reliably - just as in real life, you are subject to the whims of your patron and their remembering to help you - but it’s worth it for the occasional stat boost at the cost of a free evening. (I can help you out if you’d like a Watchful patron, although my husband will keep taking up my free evenings. Again, just like real life…)
edited by Lady Eris on 5/26/2015
edited by Lady Eris on 5/26/2015
I believe the boosts are based on your actual stat now, so the Talkative Rattus Faber won’t help to get more out of your early professions.
Echoing what Sara Hyaso said above, the Forgotten Quarter (and other new locations, but especially the Quarter) are places where the plot begins to pick up. Once your stats are a bit higher, the archaeological quest leads to quite a bit more lore (and stories with even more). There are seasonal events with more lore (like Halloween, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, and an end-of-the-summer festival), and there’s plenty more in the Ambitions. If you’re curious about specific things, feel free to message me.
And it will stay that way. The basic scheme is turning each answer into the very next question. A more interesting one, of course.
Seriously, don’t bother. You do not really need to actually grind skills, They perfectly grind themselves on their own all alone, without your attention being necessary. Just keep doing anything :)
And of course, the solution to getting bored with the starting area storylines is most naturally countered by leaving the starting Areas and finding the other storylines.
You have just started this book. Go for the next chapter.
[li]