Cedric Appleby
Posts: 121
6/6/2012
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/EDIT: Much of the information here is obsolete after a few changes to basic game mechanics. I will try to update it as time permits. Everything above the line below should be seen as information that is of historical interest at best.
I am currently working my way through this little checklist and, as my personal singular accomplishment, I thought about making friends in the Cause. Unfortunately, I have no main quality below 130, and the university is closed off as well. All in all, I could only identify five storylets that still increase my connections:
- Doing 'political work' in the Flit
- Making donations while in disgraced exile
- Writing excitingly Radical poetry for the Duchess (rare success)
- Donating a Mark of Credit (of course I have Aligned with a Faction: Revolutionaries)
- Siding with the Revolutionaries in the one conflict card they appear in
The first one seems to work best - I spent the last few weeks bombing my way through a significant portion of the City's financial sector, but is very slow going. Thus, to my shame, I have Connected: Revolutionaries at a mere 56. Did I miss something, or am I going to be murdering bankiers for the next months?
- Amber in the Well: An excellent option, of course. It's not grindable, being an opportunity card, but I'll always play it when it shows up. When comparing Fallen London options with those taking place outside the Fifth City proper, the chance of drawing this card has to be accounted for, increasing the choice's CPA a little. Its value is difficult to quantify, though, so I'd rather not dig into it until it becomes relevant.
- The Flit - Melting Statues: Takes 19 actions all in all - 18 to grind Casing (Gang x 3, PoSI option x 1) and 1 to get the reward, so that gives 2.63 CPA - slightly less if you account for the challenge being low-risk rather than straightforward, slightly more if you account for Fast Hetty's husband.
- The Flit - Bombing: Using Urthdigger's data, this one is 100 CP for 37 actions, which is 2.7 CPA - indeed slightly better than the above option, even if you do not account for the difference between a Straightforward and a Low-Risk challenge. Also enjoys the Fast Hetty's husband bonus.
- Mark of Credit: This one was disappointing. The Unusual Home gives a boost of roughly 10-11 CP to each of Connected: Revolutionairies, Connected: Tomb Colonies and Connected: Hell. Assuming 14 actions to complete a cycle (it'll likely be more, using Acquaintances), you get 11 CP per 28 actions, which works out to less than around 0.4 CPA.
- Shroom-Hopping: This one nets 5 CPA for a Persuasive challenge that's straightforward somewhere in the double digits and there's no apparant cap either. Worth 8 Proscribed Material (32 pence) an action, too. You can't really do anything else while stuck in the Shroom-Hopping area, though, as it has its own set of opportunity cards.
- Polythreme: According to Urthdigger, this one gives 10 CP. Assuming 64 actions to complete the whole cycle (which is in the ballpark, at least), this one nets a hilariously awful 0.156 CPA. The material rewards are quite nice, though.
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After the updates of the game mechanics, the following new option is now available (again):
- Holding a lecture in the Forgotten Quarter
The values of the options have changed in parts, mostly for the worse.
- The Flit - Melting Statues: Less attractive. Limited data suggests that the optimum is around Casing 9, which takes 15 actions to grind (with the Gang) and nets 50 CP at 70% odds, for an expected 2.33 CPA. Note that this is something of a gamble because of the 30% failure chance (which will waste actions and gain you Suspicion). For another 5 actions, you can increase your odds to 90% for a slight loss (2.25 CPA), which may be the safer option. The actual gain is a bit higher, as you don't lose all your casing. Assuming you lose 5 actions' worth and that you succeed the next time, and disregarding the Suspicion gain, the approximation becomes (0.7 * (50/15) + 0.3 * (50/20)) = 3.08 CPA (which is still too low, but not by much).
- The Flit - Bombing: Less attractive. Here the optimum seems to be Casing 11 - 20 actions, 100 CP, 50% chance for a total expected 2.5 CPA or, under the same assumptions as above, (0.5 * (100/20) + 0.5 * (100/25)) = 4.5 CPA. Note that this is definitely a gamble - you are flipping a coin, essentially. Spending another 5 actions on grinding bumps the odds to 60%, but expected CPA decreases to 2.4.
- Holding a lecture: This one is... interesting. It nets you 15 CP, which makes it clearly the best option of the above - but it also nets you 1 CP of Suspicion. Assuming you take the most obvious option (i. e. alternating between using an Ablution Solution and holding a public lecture) and that you can grind for money at the PoSI baseline of 1.2 Echoes/action, you would end up repeating a pattern of "hold 4 lectures, spend 6 actions earning money, use 4 solutions" for a money-neutral net gain of 60 CP over 14 actions which works out to *deep breath* 4.29 CPA. If you use social actions to clear Suspicion, the story changes. The storylet that unlocks at Suspicion 4 reduces your Suspicion by 4 CP. It also gives the recipient +1 CP, so if you want to account for that, the pattern becomes LLLLSLLLLSLLLLSLLLLSRLLLS (L being the Lecture, S being sending, R receiving that offer). You gain 285 CP over 25 actions for a total of a ridiculous 11.4 CP which is the best option by far. (Special thanks to Flyte!)
Oh, by the way, I am now up to Connected: Revolutionaries 350. There has not been a new title. A shame - I was hoping they'd make room for me on the calendar. No 13th month for me.
edited by Cedric Appleby on 7/22/2013
--
That is, in fact, a beak. Tea is difficult.
@21stCenturyBird on Twitter. -- In-game profile.
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Curses
Posts: 32
6/30/2012
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Nigel Overstreet wrote:
Curses wrote:
Let me note that I am, indeed, loyal to the Masters. Sorry mates, but I've always liked them.
The pig is loyal to the farmer until he's led to slaughter.
Led to slaughter, possibly. But with The Masters, I can be sure to be led to slaughter with style. And possibly by bats. Or mauled by everyone's favorite some-what tyrannical police force, the Raggedy Men. Or beaten to death by Jasper and Frank. Or maybe even by being eaten alive by the beloved Mr Hearts. Really the surprise is half of the appeal 
I've simply always found them intriguing. I knew it was a terrible idea to bring up politics when trying to help. Bleh.
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"Before a desire is sated, it is everything. Afterward, it is nothing." ~Mr Wines
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Flyte
Administrator
Posts: 671
7/22/2013
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Updating this is a good thing. My comments:
- To get the maths right for the options in the Flit, we really need to know the failure penalties -- how much Suspicion is gained and, especially, how much Casing is lost. We can't just half the change points where the challenge has a 50% chance of success, because you don't lose all your progress when you fail. I checked the numbers for a lot of stuff like this when I was writing my Connections guide, but didn't bother with these because lectures are so much better.
- Ablution Solutions are a terrible way to reduce Suspicion. I think it would be better to assume the use of social actions, which reduce Suspicion by 1.5 per action if you take it in turns. That allows you to alternate between three lectures and two social actions, for 45cp in five actions -- 9cp per action. It's probably even better to put on some Suspicion-reducing clothing, raise your Suspicion all the way to nine, and then escape New Newgate, which gets rid of all your Suspicion in a random but usually small number of card draws.
- For completeness, there's a card in the Cave of the Nadir which gives 10cp or so.
edited by Flyte on 7/22/2013
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