Shrunken Head - WTF?

[MerlinCross]

So I'm shooting for achivements now out of psudo boredom. And I have to ask, no really; Who came up with this idea?

So if the guides are right, you need to move to a node, that has no markings, and when you arrive there you need 7 supplies. Not more than 7, exactly 7. And I don't even think you can crtl+alt+del this node as I saw one blank node pop up with Status when I did so(For a different reason).

Erhm...., what. Just, wat. I'm going to get the Yeti photos before getting this thing. And I have YET to see the Yeti over what... 100 hours? Wow really, been that long?

I'd put this in suggestions(Fix this) but I don't think it's a HUGE enough problem or issue that it should go there. That and I'm using this as a stunned disbelief more than anything. It's not even a super strong treasure looking at what bonuses it's supposed to get. It seems so Arbitrary to have a small treasure locked away behind this level of RNG.

[Reiga]

On release there was a competition to be the first player to find one of the five Rank X treasures in the game and post it to the forum - the Shrunken Head was one of these treasures which is why it has such a weird unlock requirement.

When More to Explore was released, Rank X was retired as an option and the existing five treasures were converted to one of the other ranks, in this case Shrunken Head was changed into a Rank C treasure and got the pools you see today.

Considering the requirements to obtain it and what it did *before* MtE it's a treasure that got 100% screwed on the conversion.

[MerlinCross]

Now see I didn't know the history of it. I suppose it makes sense or some sort of competition. I suppose making a suggestion to fix or alter it is in order(I mean they shifted Carved Ace away from the Sunken Cathedral so it's possible to do something to it)

Also out of curiousty, what were the other 4 Treasures?

[Reiga]

Wooly Feather
Ra/Thoth Statues (counted as 1.)
Baba Yaga's Mortar and Pestle
Yeti photos (counted as 1.)

[MerlinCross]

Oddly enough, I have all but the Yeti Photos from that set.(Seriously, how do you get enough supplies to do Yeti, get the Keys, and still have stats to beat the Rivaleux)

[papaya]

so what did it do as a Rank X treasure? anything notable?

[Reiga]

Originally posted by papaya:

so what did it do as a Rank X treasure? anything notable?

On release it was +2 Campaign whenever you enter a Wits challenge for the first time.

In patch #8 it was changed to
+25% Renown from Gold.
You gain 1 Supplies capacity

and it kept that effect until MtE came long. Like I said, it *really* got screwed.

[Maniafig]

Given how powerful Transylvania and Anagogic Archipelago are I'm all for changing Shrunken Head's to not be one of the dumbest treasures in the game to get.

Changing Woolly Feather to not just be blind luck but a skill check would also be great, these two treasures just don't at all jive with how the rest of the game is designed and I don't see a compelling reason against changing them. Make them require a skill check or something, Naturalist (Biology) for the Woolly Feather and Archaeology (Legends) for the Shrunken Head.

[The BlackVision]

Well, I'll also add that the Shrunken Head used to be a damn sight more reliable. Now it's glitchy and bugged out to high hell, not to mention spawns anywhere (and sometimes twice, of which only one will work while the other doesn't trigger EVEN on exactly 7 supplies!).

It used to be much more straight-forwards - it would always be an empty node with at least 5 routes accessing it and never on the beach. Now? It's pot-luck since the Crab and the Dutchman was added (not complaining about those, mind you, but seriously, the Head needs a fix!):P

[Noctua Spell]

It's a good thing you don't need the shrunken head for the emperor's collection achievement. Because I've never had the shrunken head xD

[dman11235]

The best way to get it is to plan to hit the middle of an Emerged with enough supplies that you can maneuver yourself to hit an empty node with 7 supplies. Also helps if you start with a lot of supplies AND have Anthropology up to the +1 supply per encounter, and a character who can grab the supply nodes there. Make use of the 0 supply routes to help maneuver the location.

Don't be afraid to backtrack on already explored nodes/routes to manage your supply count either. And note that this is definitely not the best way to take Emerged so i advise not doing it on a run that seeks maximum score.

[Maniafig]

The way I got Shrunken Head in my collection was to just save scum it on Discovery mode. Save, find the node the event is on and then load and try to wind up on that node with enough resources,

[SirKingJof]

I got the shrunken head by blind luck, didn't know it was special when I got it.
I think they're fine, you don't need every treasure for the achievements and I enjoy the little secrets.

[ibn fuzzayd]

Glad to know it's not just me - going crazy trying to get it

[MerlinCross]

Originally posted by dman11235:

The best way to get it is to plan to hit the middle of an Emerged with enough supplies that you can maneuver yourself to hit an empty node with 7 supplies. Also helps if you start with a lot of supplies AND have Anthropology up to the +1 supply per encounter, and a character who can grab the supply nodes there. Make use of the 0 supply routes to help maneuver the location.

Don't be afraid to backtrack on already explored nodes/routes to manage your supply count either. And note that this is definitely not the best way to take Emerged so i advise not doing it on a run that seeks maximum score.

My usual way of getting treasures just to fill out the collection is to just keep playing. With a boosted team, most encounters/skill rolls become very easy to deal with and then it's just FINDING the areas. It's what I'm going to do for Yeti whenever I get around to it.

Originally posted by SirKingJof:

I got the shrunken head by blind luck, didn't know it was special when I got it.
I think they're fine, you don't need every treasure for the achievements and I enjoy the little secrets.

There's a difference between secret and blind luck that's not hinted about anywhere in the game at all.

Also if you got it, how do you know it's not required?