Zubmarines and Mid Game Crisis

So i have been playing FL for a while now and while i have loved every story leading up to becoming a POSI i seem to have hit a wall. The lower areas i rarely use except for grinding lower level items and the middle levels i have completed all the stories so their nothing to do. The only new stories are in the higher POSI areas which most of my abilities are too low level to actually complete. I also have decided to commit to building a zubmarine and currently after 1 month I have 1 bejeweled lens and are out of magnificent diamonds/ 1 whirring contraption/ 1 strong back labour ( which i got from Wilmots End NOT with materials). Their seems nothing new for me to do except for Cave of Nadir ( which I’m pretty sure is taking away most of my levels) and wait for me to get more things to sell to get more items. I don’t know what to do most stories lead me to increase menaces and trying to get all the materials i need is so long and frustrating. I have seriously thought about quitting but i have to ask is t worth it? i mean everything like the slow level gains and stories at the beginning of POSI, is the higher levels and areas that great I’m wasting a lot of time trying to achieve them?[li]

Yeah, I remember hitting that wall. Really, I wish I could offer you advice, but my way of getting over it was… singular. I was an Exceptional Friend at the time, and I decided to come up with an in-character social action (inviting people into the House of Chimes in order to set every clock in London wrong), and that got me so many confidents smiles, I was able to handle the high-level Persuasive content. Also, it was just plain funny to me.

But yeah, Zubmarine is a grindy thing. You should get 4 Strong back labor at a time, though, from Wilmonts, unless it recently changed.

44 actions for one strong backed labour would be completely absurd, timewise, so I hope they haven’t changed it.

I still haven’t bothered getting a zubmarine yet because it’s so grindy, and i’ve done most everything else by this point.

Labor isn’t tough to get, the contraptions are far worse. I got my Zub fairly recently and it was a long grind. Honestly you may want to reconsider your ship. The yacht is better for her (2 respectable to the zub’s 1 bizarre) the zub gives safe options but the fast ship will get you around faster. I haven’t experienced zailing with any other ship but I would say that overall the zub isn’t worth it unless you REALLY want it for character reasons more than anything.

If you real y want a submarino, a los metros to get the rarest jewels for the lens would be the. Thieves Chache for the expeditions in the forbidden quarter, why do. I say this? Simple, if you don’t get the diamonds for the lens, you get materials that can be sold for a decent price, now I used this price to fund further expeditions but you can also use it to fund other items such as. Labor or maybe to help you get the contraptions. Note, this is a slow process but -in my opinion-is a reliable one. Hope this helps you

This came up in the IRC room recently; besides the expeditions suggestion, another very effective way to get the diamonds you need, as a POSI with mediocre stats, is:

[ul][li]Use the Carnival to get Connected: Criminals to 11. (Optional: Boost it to 15 using the Bazaar connected item.)[/li][li]Use the failure-free POSI casing boost in the Flit.[/li][li]Use the failure-free option to sell information to Criminals in the Flit, to grind Connected: Criminals to 30. This is an effective Shadowy boost, too.[/li][li]Grab the (thankfully, fairly common) &quotImplausible Penance&quot card when it comes up. Pick the diamonds option (Pugilism and Politics). Choose &quotbeating the minister&quot. This will absolutely tank your Connected Criminals (in my case from 31 to zero, though you need only 30 to unlock this option), but it’s a very worthwhile exchange, because you get 2(!!) Magnificent Diamonds. (2 Ostentatious Diamonds as a bonus, though those are much easier to come by, of course.)
[/li][/ul]I’ve been using this on my zub-grinding alt and it’s very effective. (Thank you to NiteBrite for laying out this strategy! I’m only relaying it.)

[quote=hyperion122]I have seriously thought about quitting but i have to ask is t worth it?[/quote]A zubmarine is certainly not worth all the efforts that goes into building it. And hanging around in Fallen London is not worth it if you’re not enjoying it. The way I play this game is not to follow/pursue storylines, but to soak in the atmosphere, and keep my thoughts in the Neath. Is there anything in Fallen London you enjoy doing? If so, you should probably do more of that and less of other stuff. Let the numbers progress and grow while you have fun. It’s not supposed to be a second job. (It’s supposed to be your primary job. Draw cards all day, click all night. A game worth playing is worth playing right.)

i strongly suggest any new POSI to just get the vanillia steamboat or the swiftclipper for their first ship and explore unterzee. the zee is fun. grinding for those 2 OTHER ships are a pain, espcially if your stats are relatively low.

Yeah I’d definitely recommend that too.

What’s the best way to grind Whirring Contraptions? I got the lense materials from just going pickpocketing while I was trying to find enough eyeless skulls.

Regardless of how you get them, it’s not a good way to get them. I suggest Wilmot’s End.

Regardless of how you get them, it’s not a good way to get them. I suggest Wilmot’s End.[/quote]

I prefer building the Dramatic Tension through the War of Assassins and then getting the Whirring Contraption in WE, but I think it ultimately depends on which challenges you feel like running. Either way is better than buying them outright–those damn beetles.

[quote=&quotMany&quot Chin]i strongly suggest any new POSI to just get the vanillia steamboat …[/quote]Doing so should unlock the Sunless Sea-connected card Aspiring Zee-Captains, where one could spend lots and lots of Prisoner’s Honey to get Whirring Contraptions and Phosphorescent Scarabs. Which might be a good way to get those if one has tons of Bohemian connections to spare on trading favours with them in the Shuttered Palace. (40 levels per 2000 x A Drop of Prisoner’s Honey)

Otherwise one could grind Doing the decent thing in Veilgarden to get 2000 drops of honey in 40 Actions, plus a few extra Actions for the Stolen Kiss rare successes. Though sponsoring the trading voyage takes both extra time and costs 10 Echoes beyond the hard-to-get honey, so not really worth the hassle I guess. An ‘opportunity’ to become less wealthy. Yeah, definitely only worthwhile if one has no better use for Bohemian connections from public lectures in the Forgotten Quarter or something like that.