I’ve recently gained access to the Cave of Nadir, and after going through it twice and taking a few long looks at the guide on the wiki, I can’t really see why anyone would bother going without intending to get a specific item, and yet I often hear people mention their "weekly trip" to the Cave. What am I missing?[li]
I presume said weekly trip is exactly about that, getting a specific item. I am currently in the process of acquiring enough Fecund Amber to gain a Fluke Core. But with a bit of luck the Nadir can also be an excellent place to gather Bottles of Airag (e.g. if seeking Master’s Blood) or Searing Enigmas (e.g. if working towards an Impossible Theorem), I once got three in a single trip, that’s pretty much 185 echoes for nine actions, if you don’t have a problem grinding your stats back up again after a trip.
edited by Akernis on 1/16/2017
It’s rather profitable if you can deal with the stat losses. Many cards are > 10 EPA and End of Battles is 62.5 EPA.
Excepting Christmas where I go every week, I go as often as my regular stat gain allows. It’s not really worth it to specifically grind back up my stats after a trip, so I get them back up over time with opportunity cards that I’d be using anyway and then head to the Nadir when everything’s back up to >= 199.
edited by Kaijyuu on 1/16/2017
Not to mention that short trips are an option, and can cost as little as one stat point in each per irrigo. If you don’t hit irrigo 5.
Some of the items have other inherent values, too. If you’re after an impossible theorem, you’ll always want another searing enigma, and if you’re after the noman tatoo, master’s blood, or crimson book, your demand for airag is similarly endless.
I go every week but I am a stat capped player (no trouble taking them back to cap after the visit even if I get a card that takes me over 9 Irrigo and thus the double hit to my stats)
It can be profitable (not guaranteed) and I like that unpredictability. Also taking that stat loss means that I will do different things during the week to rebuild them and not stick to a particular grind.
To get in the Firebrand’s pants…oh wait, that doesn’t actually happen. Nevermind :P
It does in your heart… and your roleplay.
…though he really isn’t my type :P
Once you’ve hit the stat cap, the stat loss isn’t a huge deal unless you’ve over-capped (ie, used Notablity to bring your stat pass 200 to a max of 215 with a specialization).
One thing is that you do need time for your deck to refresh: you’ll want to see as many cards as you can, and certainly the 6 you have as a free player are too few. You’ll get more used to it - and the strange things which happen when you’ve got a higher level of nightmares too!
The items you can obtain in the Cave of the Nadir are remarkably valuable, in terms of rarity, usefulness, and resale value.
I recommend not letting Irrigo rise above 5. Dawdle further if you find something worthwhile, but keep in mind that Irrigo of 6 and up will yield a massive spike in stat losses, albeit a swallowable one. [color=#ff0000]Do not let Irrigo reach 10.[/color] Trust me on that. It is not pretty.[li]
edited by Saklad5 on 1/18/2017
If you can use many of your daily AP, even 11 isn’t an issue. It drains 50 + irrigo * 5 CP from skills. I did two visits last week just before TtH and right after, TtH visited me yesterday and I’m almost back to 200.
Remember that Nadir doubles you cards so try to leave when you have 3 (or 5 if you’re an EF). But if you exceed irrigo 10 an event will autofire which will take 50 CP from skills! Now, when doing your last action try to remember the number of cards you have in your hand and after how much time you’ll have the required amount. Trying to go back from the autofire event will damage your stats with another 50 CP and you still won’t be able to see your deck!
Or, who knows, if you want to lower all your skills by an insane amount just repeat that step! :D
If you have the time, I recommend going in there with no nightmares and an empty opportunity deck, and drawing cards one at a time. Leave them if they’re bad, play them immediately if they’re one of the good cards. That way, you maximise the chance that you’ll draw good cards (possibly drawing the same one more than once) before your hand is filled.
Seems like as good a time as any to link to an_Ocelot’s Nadir EPA calculation spreadsheet.
edited by Wiwo on 1/18/2017
I’ve run nadir to 11 when there was one last thing I wanted. I’ve left when it was less then 5 when it wasn’t even worth it to take the cards that I’d already flipped.
I’ve always gotten the stats back, eventually. Even lazy progress will undo the 5 points loss.
The larger home you have, the more cards you can leave sitting there and not having to take, the better experience you have. Without a 3 card, I wouldn’t go in too often.
4 card, very nice. 5 card, that’s the sweet spot.
One at a time, going through the possible cards:
These are for items that don’t exist anywhere else:
http://fallenlondon.wikia.com/wiki/A_Familiar_Face%3F
Strange shore garments.
http://fallenlondon.wikia.com/wiki/A_pause_for_refreshment
Zoup (trade at a rare event for money)
http://fallenlondon.wikia.com/wiki/A_Weakness_in_the_Air
Zea Goggles do nothing (Yet.)
http://fallenlondon.wikia.com/wiki/An_Altarful_of_Strangers
Slippers. (best in position, shadowy footwear)
Also Violet amber. Another item to cash in on at a certain rare event.
http://fallenlondon.wikia.com/wiki/Do_you_recall_how_they_came_to_that_place%3F
Fluke Core (VERY valuable, rare, and 7 of them are a “goal”)
http://fallenlondon.wikia.com/wiki/Old_Sins
Henchman upgraded
http://fallenlondon.wikia.com/wiki/The_Catafalquerie
Frost moth
Course, all but one of those, in the end, are just collectibles. On the other hand, they are all slightly better then you’d get elsewhere for quite a bit of the game.
So, those are all things you’d go in once to get, or maybe to collect 7 fluke cores.
What else?
Come back to me to this:
http://fallenlondon.wikia.com/wiki/A_Weakness_in_the_Air
Dream progress, 1 CP, this, sadly, is the fastest progress across a number of dreams at some times. In turn, you can also come in with nightmares to consume some of dreams and turn them into valuable items. Some would say this is the only GOOD use of the dreams, to spend them.
For raw echoes and rare items:
http://fallenlondon.wikia.com/wiki/An_Unlikely_Garden
Searing Enigma
http://fallenlondon.wikia.com/wiki/Losing
Uncanny Inocalbulrum
http://fallenlondon.wikia.com/wiki/The_End_of_Battles
Enigmas, Aragag, Collectables
And some things, just won’t count until LATTER.
One is fate locked:
http://fallenlondon.wikia.com/wiki/Old_Bones
Another is either rare, or requires this coming event to unlock the good result
http://fallenlondon.wikia.com/wiki/Woods_in_winter
A single action in the nadir can save you 33 turns of a carousel.
Right NOW is the season that you turn towards:
http://fallenlondon.wikia.com/wiki/The_Catafalquerie
While you might not get 7 from huffing tears by themselves, this can turn buckets of “snow” INTO bottles for next year.