Help In Exile?

[Handy]

I've given the mode a couple runs and I'm hitting a wall.

I don't think any of this is spoilers, it's just a discussion of the game mode but.... SPOILERS?!

As I understand it, one way to win is to gather some amount of obscurity. From what I can tell, you can gain obscurity by successfully leaving before someone shows up to find you in earnest and eats the card for breakfast -- they eat my victory points... for breakfast. Do I misunderstand this?

Most ways I can find to make money require that I buy a house of some kind. I think at one point I did some pit fighting and went "OH MY GOD RICH" at my $6. Many of the places that provide space cost that much or more. And then someone will show up and your $6 is gone before you can properly use it once or even twice.

This brings me to the main issue, I think. Every single time I take an action, I have a pretty high chance of generating Trace, which makes it more likely for bad guys to show up.

If I able to leave a city with more than $1, it's amazing. Getting money usually costs money and given that in order to find a way to make money, you have to grind away at Recon, which generates trace. I can turn a year into a $... which generates trace. Heck, even if I do nothing, they end up finding me.

I look at, for example, a trade permit... the card carosel looks like this, I think...

1. Get an opportunity to get one via Recon
2. Get an opportunity to get a way to pay for said trade permit
3. Get the actual permit
4. Buy a house of at least size 2 (not even going to get into how to pay for it)
4a. At this point, there is usually a guy in the city looking for me
5. Find the sea???
6. Profit, I would assume, but I've never gotten to this part
6a. I assume this counts as a caper and requires that you have a ton of very specific aspects at increasingly preposterous levels that will allow you to succeed...?

I feel as thought I'm missing some basic mechanic here that would allow you to gather funds and then somehow leave before they show up...? I've got multiple finishes on the base, but Exile has warped my mind.

Alright, shaking off the salt...

How are you supposed to play this mode? Any pointers?

[Nespin]

The trade permit is perhaps the worst way to make money, since it requires so many things to come together.

A medical license is a bit better since it can be carried with you. If you can turn up any non-warehouse housing you can make some money there (and maybe even generate some obscurity if you do it with three subtlty!). Counterfitting operations have also been good in my experience.

It also might help to know that you can Relinquish property you own just before starting the trip to the next city. You'll sell it and get your money back.

Obscurity is *one* of the victory conditions, but there are others. It might also help to know that, while it takes considerable work to set up, it is possible to generate 9 obscurity at once if you can get your hands on the right cards (and you only need 7 to win an obscurity victory). So it is possible to wander around the map being obvious as hell and then, when you're ready, just vanish.

[Handy]

Ok, keeping the value of the property... that's a huge lift, major tip, thanks! Need time to convert it and leave, but it's definitely something that allows you to carry wealth with you.

It seems like this mode has more to do with rolling with the punches on RNG whereas the main game is about biding your time and managing resources prudently.

[READ PALE]

You can gather allies and curios that help with the stats requirement while not being houses.

[NC31]

Re-posting this to help you out. Wrote it up in the thread on keeping as many years as possible, but should generally be helpful all around.

Originally posted by Yours Most Truly:

The game plan typically should consist of:
1) Sell years directly to scrounge up enough cash to survive/flee.

2) Do whatever jobs Connections/Locations allow. Underworld Connections (which some cities give for free upon arrival) can be used with years to earn a bit of cash, but you'll take a beating (wounds) if you're not effective. Likewise, free Radical connections in a city filled with Unrest can be used to stage/betray a revolution. City becomes useless, but you'll get some money out of it.

3) Acquire an Underworld Connection, a reusable mid-level Forge source, and a Warehouse or better to make counterfeit money. Only Operation that returns the full Connection (without having to spend another year) and produces a good bit of money. Can generate Traces easily and blow the whole thing if you're not careful, however.
OR
Buy a Secluded Villa and get yourself a Medical License to run a Sanatorium. Costs years, a bit of capital Funds, and produces roughly the same amount of money as counterfeiting, but the challenges are easier in regards to not creating Traces.

4) Money out the wazoo to the point where it takes you 3 minutes to pack it all and Reckoner Operatives have a minuscule chance of stealing irreplaceable item Assests.

I actually just finished achieving a Victory without dropping below 70 years. Got very lucky with my city and Recon draws, but it is possible and, in terms of the canon, desirable (more years for me!).

In regards to the Traces: Once you get past the intial "selling years directly" bit (otherwise known as the "get the money and run before you're mugged/murdered"), traces will really only be generated by Recon (30% chance each time. Brutal but manageable) and Operations performed without Subtlety. I typically try to accrue a couple of Discreet Offices (or, if I feel I need to be really safe, Warehouses) as they're cheap, and can be used to destroy a Trace using only 1 Connection (and thus only 1 Stolen Year). There's about 30ish cities in Exile, and unless you're planning on visiting them all you can spend a Years wantonly to get yourself secure. Also, if you're lucky enough to be in a city that you can draw Night from the Recon deck, hold it in your Employ verb. The timer won't tick down as long as it's in there, and you can use it in place of a Connection to destroy a Trace. Using them in turn with property means you can, in these rare instances, destroy a Trace without spending a single Year.

Honestly, you really won't ever need more than 20-30 Cash. As long as you sell property before you leave (which earns you the entire price of it back), you'll be good. Once you're done with a city, use up whatever Connections remain to make a few bucks to regain whatever you spent on Assests with Influences, and you're golden.

Remember the teachings of the Edge Hours: cunning, and thus wit, is one of the three roots of Victory.