Am I stuck? Endgame advice needed.

[Jigsawn]

Calling Sunless Sea veterans! I need your help! Spoilers ahoy! Apologies for the length of the post but without specifics I can't really outline my problem.

Let me set the scene for you:
I have been playing Sunless Sea for a few weeks now, I bought it not long after release. I am on about my 7th captain, most of the others dying through carelessness with monsters. I must have racked up at least 50 hours playtime during this and have already explored the map and done a good chunk of the mid-level quests in my previous runs, although I have never managed to reach an end-game point. I currently have a scion, I passed around 8 heirlooms and the townhouse to this captain in a long run in my previous life. My captain's "stats" are around 50>70 for most of them (highest being Iron). In this run I have already built most of the Study items.

So I have got the furthest yet with this run, having a pretty good idea what to do and by keeping almost a full sea chart from my predecessor. I have the Father's Bones quest and I am trying to fufill that and try to do as many of the major quests as possible. The map is fully explored (as far as I know - no blackness left in there anyway and all islands and landmarks found to my knowledge).

I have very recently traded in my corvette for the cargo ship, without noticing that it doesn't have a forward weapon slot. Damn. It is kitted out with decent, quite expensive weapons but I cannot equip the big gun I made from the Cannoneers quest as it is a Forward weapon. I am suffering from Storm's Curse which I cannot find out how to remove (no option in Whither's House of Questions that I can see). I am hanging onto survival in the game by a thread - my fuel and supplies are consumed so rapidly that I barely make any money doing big runs around the map, and I often limp into port on zero supplies or zero fuel. I thought that this was because of Storm's curse but reading some of the other threads here it could just be that the cargo ship eats fuel and supplies like an obese elephant. I have the engine that is 2000 power, I think. I don't have the magicians engine as he came back as a doppelganger which I killed this run, and I can't afford to resurrect him at the Fatholm king.

I have finished the majority of quests in the game (another reason that I am finding it hard to make money - there's hardly any rewards left to get) - and have only got a few end-game quests left to do, that I know about. I want to try and finish them but my situation sucks and I want to know what your advice is before I get my captain killed again or put myself into an economic grave. I can't face another run as I have seen most of the game's content now. By travelling around the map doing quests like Tomb Colonist tour and occasionally delving into Mangrove swamps etc I am scraping just enough to survive, but its boring and I can't see a way to progress.

These are the quests/story threads that I have left to complete - that I know exist, anyway, maybe I am missing other ones. I will also explain what's stopping me from getting further for each one:

- Father's Bones:
I only need to give the Fathom King a heart of a monster and a piece of ship equipment. I have the big gun that the Canonneer makes which I can give him for the latter, but I want to hold onto it as I will probably need it to kill a monster and get the heart. At the moment I stand no chance against Tree of Ages, Gant thingy, or the Spidery things in my cargo ship, but I have no money and no way of getting enough money to afford a better ship which I can kit out with nice weapons and goodies to survive one of these "bosses". I could downgrade to the Corvette again but having spent so much time saving up for the Cargo Ship I am reluctant too, and I am scared that the Corvette will get sunk in a few seconds (I have not been brave enough to face one of the bosses in battle yet, but as the sea monsters with 500ish health can kill me I don't fancy my chances!).

- Tireless Mechanic's Quest:
I am up to the part where you need to rescue the sage, go into Frostfound and then take it all to KingEater's Castle. Frostfound I can probably survive, I did this bit on the previous run. But the sage - I don't have anywhere near the crazy amount of stats you need to attempt to rescue/buy him. I did try in desperation to sneak into Wisdom despite the high risk, and failed.

- Politics:
I am close to converting Port Carnelian to London rule (which is the path I have chosen). I have stayed fairly loyal to London and not given much away to the Khanate. The Dawn Machine I have helped quite a bit (inadvertently) through the Diplomat and other bits and bobs. I have only done one quest for the Calendar Council on the Surface. Politics is the only thing fresh that is keeping me travelling around the map at the moment.

- The Surface:
I have only visited once and visited everywhere, I did go back to London for the Calendar Council, I can't afford to go up again really, although I would like to see what happens if you keep working for the Calendar Council. I made the coffee contact and sold a bunch to him.

- The Carnelian Exile:
I am stuck with taking her West - I now need the "name thingy" and Song of Salt. Don't know how to get it.

- Old Guy in Venderbight:
If I remember rightly, I only need to give a Figurehead of Eater of Names to the old guy to finish his colour book requests. But I can't get that as my ship isn't good enough to take on the Gant thing near the Chelonate. I did try and nearly got fried already in the Cargo Ship.

- Deliver Salt to Rooftops in London
I chose this option but my stats are not high enough to attempt it, and I can't find a way to boost my stats enough to reach this, I don't have enough secrets to spend on stats and I have a hard time getting new Secrets as I have done most of the quests and explored all of the map.

- Adam's Way
I don't know if you can drive your ship down the passage somehow (that requires a living ship), but I haven't found a way to get a living ship yet)

- Blemmingans
I have tried to populate Blemmigans on every island (yes and the Light Ships). I have picked up a few rewards including the mushroom spore thing but I can't find out what to do with it.

- Aestival
I cannot protect Aestival without being able to afford the stuff from the Grand Geode, plus I don't know if I want to spend my only Dread Surmise on it. I don't have the stats to do it the Irem dream way.

- Song of the Zee
I nearly have all of the components for this (I only need to build one more stat boosting thingy), but I need a lot more Zee Stories, Secrets and Memories of Distant shores. Note that I have done the Isle of Cats quests so I can get them slowly. I don't know if I should eventually spend my Dread Surmise on this.

- Hunters Keep
It burnt down, I rescued Phoebie and gave her to Abbey Rock. I assume this is finished now.

- Visage
I have been into the ear and tried other roles, my Visage stats are quite high now, I don't know if there is anything else to do.

- Scholar
I had around 9 academic favour before I got bored and got rid of him to create the Dread Surmise, which I have done nothing with yet, as I have a number of quests I can use it for and I dunno which one to go for.

- Gun at Iron Republic

Phew, I think that's it. I have done all other quests that I have found. I have ended all other crew member quests. I have "finished" all of the island quests to my knowledge, including:
sided with the rats on Pigmote isle and stole the gem, finished spider quests with the ship in Nativity, reached the end of Nuncio, completed Isle of Cats quests (afaik), Varchas is closed with boy camped outside, Adams way I did the shapechanger quests, reached the end of Mangrove swamps multiple times, reached the end of Godfall with the ambiguous eolith, took the Venturer to Avid Horizon but didn't go with him, finished the tomb of Empire of Hands but killed the cannibals before getting the treasure map, Sent the Zeppelin East. Dissolved the Principles of Coral and the rubber man. Magician quest done and killed the "doppelganger", all other crew member quests done except mechanic and carnelian exile. Deviless quest is done, although I don't know how you report to the Brass Embassy from the Iron Republic (Dawn Machine politics?).

Ok, I think that is all worth mentioning. So, I am stuck in a fat cargo ship, sucking up fuel and food, I have no money but 11 heirlooms and a townhouse, a scion. My stats are 50>70. I have storms curse. I can barely make it around the map. I cannot complete any more quests due to either lack of stats or because my ship cannot beat the "boss monsters". The only quest I think I can still do is converting Port Carnelian to London's cause. Otherwise I am just treading water in the game, I can't make any more progress. What should I do and do I have any chance of completing any of the other quests? Have I missed any major quests that I should try out? If possible I would like to avoid big spoilers of quests but a nudge in the right direction would be appreciated. Any financial or boat buying strategy I will consider, I will sell the cargo ship if required but I don't want to grind to buy it again - I will need the 50 cargo space to get a Dawn Element and finish the Mechanics quest.

Thanks for any tips! And kudos if you read all of that!

[Boink]

Finishing the major goal quests (father's legacy, zong of zea, forming island colony etc) is usually not a meta-goal until you've unlocked legacies.

So, how many legacy items have you unlocked? If it is less than four, aim to get four by the end of this run.

And, yes, upgrading to the merchant too quickly is a recipe for disaster. I'd suggest selling some hierlooms (all of them), gettting 50 mirror boxes and doing the sunlight > London quest (assuming you've unlocked the blind bruiser).

[ks]

Ransoming from Wisdom stat check isn't a big deal. You'll get the guy even if you fail, you'll just have to pay more.

The Venderbight guy and the figurehead... There is something else you can give to him instead.

The Uttershroom reward you have can be used in the quest for your father's bones.

Brass Embassy and Iron Republic thing - I think it's just picking up a port report, and delivering it back to the Embassy.

The way I got all the tales and stories needed for the Zong of the Zee was from Godfall.

For money, I would suggest selling everything, and just grindi... um... farming red honey for a bit.

[Jigsawn]

Thanks guys.

It seems a shame that I can't "complete" the game without having legacies. I only have Scion and I have no wish to play through the game any more times as I have already played a big chunk of it 5 times, its just that I never managed to unlock any of the legacies yet. Oh well. It is hard to aim for legacy items when I don't know how to unlock them - I assume 2 of them are going off with the zeppelin and going into Avid Horizon, which I both declined because I wanted to continue with the game and try and get my Father's Bones.

Yes I have the blind bruiser, I may do as you suggest.

Do I stand any chance of beating the "boss" enemies for the Father's Bones without having the next tier of ship above cargo? That is so expensive!

The Uttershroom thing, I guess you can use that instead of the Apple from Irem then.

For selling red honey, do you mean to the Brass Embassy? They only pay 300 more than your bought it for, plus how can I sneak through.

Wisdom, good news, I just need to make enough money then...

Do you get rewards of tales and stories in Godfall? I only did it once and I can't recall getting any.

Wish there was some warning about the cargo ship, in terms of aims for this game you are merrily working up the ship ladder, the cargo ship is really expensive and you need the cargo space for those later quests, so it seems logical to buy it. But there is nothing to tell you that it will suck up your food and probably make you bankrupt. And saving up for the more expensive ships is not feasible at that stage of the game, in my position it wasn't, anyway.

[SDSkinner2011]

Give Godfall hunting trophy's for tales.

Also food is eaten by crew so reducing their number reduces your need for supplies- Polythreme has WE ARE CLAY which reduces crew requirements by 3.

[ks]

Originally posted by Jigsawn:

Do I stand any chance of beating the "boss" enemies for the Father's Bones without having the next tier of ship above cargo? That is so expensive!

With just a deck weapon, I wouldn't attempt it. Even if it was doable, it would take days...

For selling red honey, do you mean to the Brass Embassy? They only pay 300 more than your bought it for, plus how can I sneak through.

Dock in Port Stanton, buy red honey, leave Port Stanton, but stay in the same place, and just wait for your next SAY (one minute), repeat.
Assuming you get around 8000 echoes by selling the heirlooms, you can purchase 13 firkins in 12 minutes, and have a profit of 5200 echoes when you get back.
The customs people show up when you have SAY, so just spend it at Mutton Island and dock in Fallen London within a minute.

Do you get rewards of tales and stories in Godfall? I only did it once and I can't recall getting any.

Yes, hunting trophies for tales and stories forever.

Wish there was some warning about the cargo ship, in terms of aims for this game you are merrily working up the ship ladder, the cargo ship is really expensive and you need the cargo space for those later quests, so it seems logical to buy it. But there is nothing to tell you that it will suck up your food and probably make you bankrupt. And saving up for the more expensive ships is not feasible at that stage of the game, in my position it wasn't, anyway.

I don't think supplies are different for different ships. It's just the number of crew you have. Ships with more crew will require more supplies.

[Wlerin]

How much crew do you have? Optimal crew for the Merchant Cruiser is between 15 and 17[pastebin.com], regardless of whether you have WE ARE CLAY or not (though CLAY gives you more breathing room).

You can definitely complete the game without Legacies, it's just easier if you have them, and since several of them end your game, it's better to work on those before working on Ambitions.


Have you finished the Port Cecil quest chain? And what happened to Varchas?


Also, successfully completing the Mechanics quest chain will significantly reduce your fuel and supply costs.

[Jigsawn]

Thanks guys. I have max crew so that explains the supply drain. I'll reduce it, try to do the honey farming as suggested and hopefully progress from there, I will try to get the stuff I need with 50 cargo space and then upgrade to the next ship so I can try to kill the bosses. I don't really want to end the game to get a legacy, I would rather try and complete Father's Bones and see as much story content as possible as I don't want to go through everything again (I must have spent 50>100 hours on the game).

I have finished Port Cecil quest and killed off the rubbery man, of course I can ressurect him, and the magician, but I can't afford to at the moment.

I can try and complete the Mechanic's quest once I have done some honey/sunlight farming I guess, then I can afford to get the sage out of prison and dare to enter frostfound. Question: am I in danger of dying at Frostfound? Last "life" I went in there for the Mechanic but nearly went insane after doing it, and I don't have the magician to reduce terror afterwards either. Also, can anyone tell me what fighting your shadow in the heart of frostfound does - is it worth going back in again to do that?

I am locked out of Varchas, haing seen the pilgramage and I gave up the rebel boy to the guards, now there is a camp outside Varchas but there don't seem to be any quests out of it - just the boy saying that they will go out into the Zee or whatever.

[ks]

You can reduce terror (and, incidentaly, get fuel and supplies) in Frostfound by chatting to the people with SAY.

If I recall correctly, there is no way to die directly by entering Frostfound. You can potentially lose stats, or get wounded. Terror is the only thing to worry about (for the trip back, had a few hairy adventures there), but is manageable with SAY.

[Jigsawn]

Thanks. I think that is how I survived the trip into there last time, I remember my terror being in the high 90s and I was worried about getting home without going mad. I will attempt this soon. Good news too, the Chelonate new quest is out, going to have to go check that out!

[Wlerin]

Originally posted by Jigsawn:

I have finished Port Cecil quest and killed off the rubbery man, of course I can ressurect him, and the magician, but I can't afford to at the moment.

I am locked out of Varchas, haing seen the pilgramage and I gave up the rebel boy to the guards, now there is a camp outside Varchas but there don't seem to be any quests out of it - just the boy saying that they will go out into the Zee or whatever.

On your next captain, if you avoid locking yourself out of Varchas, you can convert 1 Scintillack into 2 Outlandish Artefacts at the Temple there. As long as your Pages isn't capped, you can then convert the artefacts into almanacs in your study, and sell the almanacs in Venderbight, for about 285 echoes per scintillack. Once your Pages is capped I think you can still make Almanacs but it's no longer worth it, since you're also spending 7 Secrets to do so. Doing this is a bit tedious as the conversion advances the knells of the towers, but it's massively more profitable than selling Scintillack to London directly.

This is a rather large source of income just from the Chess quest, not to mention gathering scintillack directly.

At least, that was true a month or so ago, I've been doing other things in the meanwhile and haven't kept up with updates.