Multiple questions for Fallen London players at this point

[eternalexhilaration]

Hello.

At the moment one of my favourite things in this game is interacting with the same characters in both Sunless Sea and Fallen London.

Some of my favourite encounters were ones like the mission about tracking down the Last Constable or selling items to notable people in the Roser's Wharf or some of the things involving Penstock.

To be fair, i am still fairly new to both of the games and there may have been more characters crossing over that I simply did not recognise.

I am currently wavering in my motivation to play this game, and i have not found any discussions or threads talking about the characters who crossover.

If anyone knows of any other significant characters from Fallen London also being in Sunless Sea that would be most helpful and would likely motivate me to keep playing in order to encounter such characters.

Thank you for your time.

[eternalexhilaration]

Thanks, that is a relief. That was what I originally assumed but I began doubting myself.

Is Flint worth the high price? Snuffers are pretty interesting but good lord is it expensive.

[Ellixer]

Nguyên văn bởi eternalexhilaration:

Thanks, that is a relief. That was what I originally assumed but I began doubting myself.

Is Flint worth the high price? Snuffers are pretty interesting but good lord is it expensive.

I personally do not think Flint is worth the high price. It is an old favourite along with Lost in Reflections. It provides vital lore for snuffers and is a fun Elder Continent adventurous romp. It's just not worth the price of two Exceptional Stories in my opinion. It is as long as two ES though so in term of volume of text it probably earned its stay.

[eternalexhilaration]

And which Exceptional Stories give the best benefits outside of the lore added being, well, if I may be allowed, exceptional? I heard that A Trade In Souls lets the character become a spirifer. Are there other stories with worthwhile and permanent additions to your character?

[Wlerin]

The reddit link provided earlier includes a survey of which story rewards are worth getting, which more or less answers your question without getting into specifics.

There's a discounted story pack available right now for The Court of Cats, Go Tell the King of Cats, and Lost in Reflections if you don't already have any of the three. I haven't played the first one but the other two were quite good.

[eternalexhilaration]

Nguyên văn bởi Wlerin:

The reddit link provided earlier includes a survey of which story rewards are worth getting, which more or less answers your question without getting into specifics.

There's a discounted story pack available right now for The Court of Cats, Go Tell the King of Cats, and Lost in Reflections if you don't already have any of the three. I haven't played the first one but the other two were quite good.

Unfortunately, Reddit links do not seem to work for me.

[Ellixer]

Nguyên văn bởi eternalexhilaration:

And which Exceptional Stories give the best benefits outside of the lore added being, well, if I may be allowed, exceptional? I heard that A Trade In Souls lets the character become a spirifer. Are there other stories with worthwhile and permanent additions to your character?

The reddit lists Theological Husbandry, Flute Street, Inconvenienced by Your Aunt, Trade in Souls and Upwards as the most "worth it for the mechanical rewards alone".

I've always disagreed with the surveys about this section to be honest.

I will say that Inconvenienced by Your Aunt (if you choose the ending where she works for Mr Wines) is mechanically excellent, possibly the best. It adds an opportunity card to your deck that has 70% chance of wounding you by 1 cp and 30% chance of restoring ten whole actions. The story is unimpressive however, if rather comedic.

Theological Husbandry and Flute Street always rank highly here, and it is baffling to me. The latter primarily unlock an entire new area for you to mess about and see Rubbery Men stuffs, but there's no reason to do any of it other than to see text. It is necessary to "complete" Theological Husbandry however, which adds four animal companions you can acquire for yourself (one of which is a transport ). Acquiring four allow you to combine them into the Bifurcated Owl, which is significant as it is an alternative companion that has 4 BDR in stats (the only other option is the Ubergoat, which cost around 20k in echoes). Other than the cheaper 4 BDR however (which I would argue isn't even that important), none of the items you can acquire from this story are all that beneficial, and having them add opportunity cards that aren't very good, diluting your deck. Both stories are interesting if you're into that sort of thing but not super remarkable otherwise.

Trade in Souls allow you to become a spirifer or a shepherd. Contrary to what one might expect, the former is the less profitable path. It used to be among the best money-makers, but the meta as it is now gives you much better sources of money elsewhere. Becoming a Shepherd (finding and returning souls) adds a card that allow you to gain Constable, Society and Church favours simultaneously, which makes it rather versatile, even if it's not big money.

Upwards is unremarkable. I don't know why it ranks so highly on that list. Its utility are purely for late game players so it'll be very confusing for me to explain, but I will say that I do not think there's anything unique it gives that you can't get elsewhere with roughly equivalent amount of work.

Now other ones I would recommend: HOJOTOHO! is a good one, assuming you choose the ending where the Valkyrie returns to her gang. This will make it so that the generic Urchins card will permanently get one additional option that allows you to gain a favour for free while reducing your Nightmares by 2 cp. It's not super super useful, but it saves you some money and manages your menace. On top of that, it's one of the few stories that are both worthwhile for narrative and mechanics. It takes third place this survey and had taken first place before Cricket Anyone came along sat on the first place and refused to leave.

The Blemmigan Affair gives a similar reward (though it depends on the ending). The best outcome changes the Bohemian Cards so that it costs nothing, has a 50% chancce of giving you a favour and gives scaling rewards based on your Persuasive. I think it's somewhere above 3.6 epa. Not vital, but could save you money. Decent mid-tier story too.

Caveat Emptor gives you a Remote Lodging. This is a three-cards lodging that helpfully get rid of every City Vices card from your deck, helpfully trimming it for you. It's not the only source of Remote Lodging though you can just wait for Christmas and get one there. It is however a very good story so if you don't already have a Remote Lodging and want one it's a nice bonus.

The Spinning of the Wheels gives a 4 BDR Transport. Unlike Theological Husbandry, there is no other 4 BDR item in this slot, which in my opinion flat out make this item better, and adds to my bewilderment that this story is ranked below Theological Husbandry. It is not a very good story though, and BDR isn't as important as it once was. But if Theological Husbandry gets a mention, this one gets a mention.

Mysteries of the Foreign Office is criminally underrated in this area. The story is fine. Kind of nice if you like spy stuffs. But what it does is it adds a number of spouses you can marry. If you are interested in marrying any of these people, they add 5 epa cards to your deck. This remains excellent money to this day, and this story being ranked so low is why I don't trust the survey in this area at all but nevermind that.

The Gift is a very good story. It also adds one of two opportunity cards to your deck upon completion. One of those card gives Society Favours. The other gives Docks Favours. After some balancing done in recent months, Docks Favours are no longer the big money maker, so this one isn't as worth it these days, and I don't like clogging up my deck with unhelpful cards. Still, it's there.

There are many others, but I think I listed all the popular choices + my own personal recommendations, if we're talking 100% utility rather than story enjoyment.

[Wlerin]

Nguyên văn bởi Ellixer:

Upwards is unremarkable. I don't know why it ranks so highly on that list. Its utility are purely for late game players so it'll be very confusing for me to explain, but I will say that I do not think there's anything unique it gives that you can't get elsewhere with roughly equivalent amount of work.

Technically neither of the items it gives can be gotten anywhere else (apart from a one-time balancing update that won't ever happen again). But there are alternative items that do mostly the same thing, unless you were desperately in need of Nightsoil and Rubbery Pies I guess. Still I'm fairly sure the skulls are significantly less work to grind than the 3 Esteem of the Guild that the alternative requires.

The other item requires a cartographer's hoard and ain't no one got time for that.

The lore is also worthwhile, imho, even if it didn't reveal as much as I was hoping. Covers an area of the Neath that could have made it into Sunless Sea if the kickstarter had done better.

[Ellixer]

Yeah that's what I meant. The bone items that the story gives are replaceable. You might be right though that the skull is still useful I forgot they nerfed Docks Favours at Jericho.

I'm fond of Rubbery stuffs and I found the story rather dull to be honest. I didn't think it reveal much. It posed an interesting mystery and just ended on a disappointing well they're gone now probably nothing good happened. If you want Starved Men portrayal I think either Sunless Sea, the Light Fingers ambition or the Written in the Glim Exceptional Story would be a better choicce.

[eternalexhilaration]

Also, which Exceptional Stories involve the players of the Marvellous? Obviously the Shallows includes the Boatman, and Flint has the Bishop of St Fiacres, but what about Virginia or the Merry Gentleman?

[eternalexhilaration]

Also, when does Furnace Ancona come into play? The character seems intriguing.

[Wlerin]

Furnace comes in with the Railroad (i.e. endgame Persuasive content, though I'm not 100% sure what you need to reach to unlock it).

Virginia sort of features in the Brass Grail, though I don't believe it contains any major revelations about her (maybe if you make choices I didn't). As for the Manager... if he features in any Fate stories it must be ones I haven't played. But HD gives you enough backstory on all the characters that you don't really need anything else.

[Ellixer]

You already mentioned the Boatman, but the Shallows also features October heavily.

The Calendar Code features several players of the Marvellous, though they have pretty minor roles.

Not actually an Exceptional Story, but as I understand it Virginia is featured in the Marriage of Feducci. Haven't played it though and it does not seem particularly remarkable.

The Web of Motherlings has a cameo from His Amused Lordship. Very minor though.

The current story, the Thing That Came In From The Fog, optionally involves the boatman, though his presence seems minor.

The finale to the Season of Family Ties involves the Boatman as a major character, but obviously that's a rather expensive proposition.

Likewise with the Season of Ruins and the Merry Gentleman.

The Sinking Synod features Fiacre's.

Furnace comes into play during the end game Railway plotline. If I recall correctly you need Tier 2 Person of Some Importance + at least 175 Persuasive to begin that.

[eternalexhilaration]

Wow, alright, I suppose I am not going to encounter Furnace for a long while then.

The Brass Grail does seem like an interesting premise, I may get it as well. I will also consider The Sinking Synod.

Also, what are your strategies for Archaeological Expeditions? I barely squeaked out a win in the Shrine of the Deep Blue Heaven by wasting some fate for extra supplies. As I am now on the expedition for the Tomb of the Seven, is the strategy just to keep doing cautious and bold approaches while hindering Rival Progress when possible?

[Ellixer]

Oh that's right I forgot about Brass Grail. Virginia is in that too.

For Expeditions, my opinion is always prepare at least 10 more supplies than you need. When your rival catches up to you, you can expend 10 supplies to remove them from the picture entirely (only for the current expedition though). If you do not end up needing that 10 supplies, no problem since that's leftover for you to use in the next expedition. It is still not ideal for them to catch up with you most of the time but some expeditions might end up taking long enough that you might be better off tanking that loss once and be done with it rather than occasionally spending action and items to hinder them slowly. This is usually the case with the Cave of Nadir expedition.

Avoid taking any action where you do not have 100% odds of success.

[Wlerin]

Nguyên văn bởi eternalexhilaration:

Also, what are your strategies for Archaeological Expeditions? I barely squeaked out a win in the Shrine of the Deep Blue Heaven by wasting some fate for extra supplies. As I am now on the expedition for the Tomb of the Seven, is the strategy just to keep doing cautious and bold approaches while hindering Rival Progress when possible?

My strategy is having 288 Watchful

Otherwise I dunno it was so long ago I've forgotten. Just bring lots of extra supplies and use the safest options (it's not going to be profitable unless you can safely buccaneer.)