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You've been down too long in the Sunless Sea

16781012

Posts

  • JacobkoshJacobkosh Gamble a stamp. I can show you how to be a real man!Moderator mod
    I feel like I'm kind of at a weird place in this game right now. My second captain is over the starting hump: he's run the Sphinxstone quest to completion and now he's dipped his toe into sun-running. He's upgraded his engines and deck gun, has a townhouse, a will, and has crafted a couple of artifacts in his study.

    And still, none of it's near enough to get him out of the starting ship.

    I feel like I don't know what I should be doing now. It's clear that they've closed off a lot of the obvious ways to make money early on, and they want me to explore further into the map, but it takes so much fuel to get to places like Khan's Heart or Isle of Cats, much less Aestival, and once I get to these places... then what? I don't have room in my hold to bring anything back to Fallen London.

    it's nice to not be in a position where I'm only one bad run away from bankruptcy, but I feel like I'm puttering around and watching my supply of echoes slowly deplete as I look for things to do or trade.

    rRwz9.gif
    Caulk Bite 6
  • Indie WinterIndie Winter die Krähe Rudi Hurzlmeier (German, b. 1952)Registered User regular
    edited March 2015
    That's the reason for the quests - venderbight, port cecil and the empire of hands all offer sizable rewards when you finish them. You should also develop your spy networks, since those give you vital intelligence on evety visit with SAY, provides you succeed in a stat check

    Indie Winter on
    wY6K6Jb.gif
    Jacobkosh
  • ShenShen Registered User regular
    Jacobkosh wrote: »
    I feel like I'm kind of at a weird place in this game right now. My second captain is over the starting hump: he's run the Sphinxstone quest to completion and now he's dipped his toe into sun-running. He's upgraded his engines and deck gun, has a townhouse, a will, and has crafted a couple of artifacts in his study.

    And still, none of it's near enough to get him out of the starting ship.

    I feel like I don't know what I should be doing now. It's clear that they've closed off a lot of the obvious ways to make money early on, and they want me to explore further into the map, but it takes so much fuel to get to places like Khan's Heart or Isle of Cats, much less Aestival, and once I get to these places... then what? I don't have room in my hold to bring anything back to Fallen London.

    it's nice to not be in a position where I'm only one bad run away from bankruptcy, but I feel like I'm puttering around and watching my supply of echoes slowly deplete as I look for things to do or trade.

    It's actually not too bad an idea to retire once you've secured a town house and a scion, as you can do all the lucrative early game stuff over and probably have a better idea of where to head for officer quests. That said, there are lots of ways to get a fair bit of cash still open to you:
    Completing the pages of the Neathbow for the curator in Venderbight is always lucrative, you can kick that off by sailing to the Avid Horizon with 30 mirrors and around 80 fragments.
    The Tomb Colony tour is a good way to get 1-1.5k, but takes up 12 hold so can be a little dicey in the starting ship. You never need more than 10 supplies to circumnavigate the world though, and you can always refuel at Mt Palmerston.
    Completing Visage is a simple way to get a captivating treasure, and Nuncio is good for a Searing Enigma.
    Admiralty commissions get you strategic information, two of which can be turned into Vital Intelligence (350-600 echoes) and opens up spies
    There's a lot of profit to be had in the Empire of Hands; 500 for your first port report and two pages of the Neathbow by the time you're done
    Playing chess in Port Cecil has some serious dividends if you stick at it.

    3DS: 2234-8122-8398 | Battle.net (EU): Ladi#2485
    ladi.png
    JacobkoshDracomicron
  • JacobkoshJacobkosh Gamble a stamp. I can show you how to be a real man!Moderator mod
    That's the reason for the quests - venderbight, port cecil and the empire of hands all offer sizable rewards when you finish them. You should also develop your spy networks, since those give you vital intelligence on evety visit with SAY, provides you succeed in a stat check

    how do you start a network? I've always had the option grayed out.

    rRwz9.gif
  • Indie WinterIndie Winter die Krähe Rudi Hurzlmeier (German, b. 1952)Registered User regular
    edited March 2015
    Jacobkosh wrote: »
    That's the reason for the quests - venderbight, port cecil and the empire of hands all offer sizable rewards when you finish them. You should also develop your spy networks, since those give you vital intelligence on evety visit with SAY, provides you succeed in a stat check

    how do you start a network? I've always had the option grayed out.

    gather two strategic informations (you can get another request from the admirality without submitting the first one) then open your hold and combine them to create one piece of vital intelligence. submitting this will open up a new person in London to talk to who'll provide you with an agent that'll help you start your network. you develop a network through various requests the agent makes - which can be stat checks, special pieces of cargo, more agents, etc. currently the two places I've found where you can start spy network are Khan's Heart and Port Carnelian

    Indie Winter on
    wY6K6Jb.gif
    JacobkoshDracomicronEdith Upwards
  • PoorochondriacPoorochondriac Ah, man Ah, jeezRegistered User regular
    Jacobkosh wrote: »
    That's the reason for the quests - venderbight, port cecil and the empire of hands all offer sizable rewards when you finish them. You should also develop your spy networks, since those give you vital intelligence on evety visit with SAY, provides you succeed in a stat check

    how do you start a network? I've always had the option grayed out.

    gather two strategic informations (you can get another request from the admirality without submitting the first one) then open your hold and combine them to create one piece of vital intelligence. submitting this will open up a new person in London to talk to who'll provide you with an agent that'll help you start your network. you develop a network through various requests the agent makes - which can be stat checks, special pieces of cargo, more agents, etc. currently the two places I've found where you can start spy network are Khan's Heart and Port Carnelian

    A beefy spy network in Carnelian also leads to some pretty fun story options

    Edith Upwards
  • AnzekayAnzekay Registered User regular
    Running sunlight with a few boxes is decent money, but the real money comes when you start running with more than that. I think I was running about 20 boxes at one point, even though I would have to buy more supplies or fuel at the canal or surface to make up for the increased cargo space, but the cost was negligible when I was making money hand over fist from every run.

  • FyndirFyndir Registered User regular
    Anzekay wrote: »
    Running sunlight with a few boxes is decent money, but the real money comes when you start running with more than that. I think I was running about 20 boxes at one point, even though I would have to buy more supplies or fuel at the canal or surface to make up for the increased cargo space, but the cost was negligible when I was making money hand over fist from every run.

    What kind of ship did you use for that? I'm pretty sure I literally couldn't do that big a run because I wouldn't have the space to meet the requirements to get to the surface at all.

  • AnzekayAnzekay Registered User regular
    Fyndir wrote: »
    Anzekay wrote: »
    Running sunlight with a few boxes is decent money, but the real money comes when you start running with more than that. I think I was running about 20 boxes at one point, even though I would have to buy more supplies or fuel at the canal or surface to make up for the increased cargo space, but the cost was negligible when I was making money hand over fist from every run.

    What kind of ship did you use for that? I'm pretty sure I literally couldn't do that big a run because I wouldn't have the space to meet the requirements to get to the surface at all.

    One of the larger, but not too expensive, ships.

    I actually went 4 boxes, to 8 boxes, to 20 boxes, getting a bigger ship for the 20 boxes route.

  • AbbalahAbbalah Registered User regular
    Shen wrote: »
    Jacobkosh wrote: »
    I feel like I'm kind of at a weird place in this game right now. My second captain is over the starting hump: he's run the Sphinxstone quest to completion and now he's dipped his toe into sun-running. He's upgraded his engines and deck gun, has a townhouse, a will, and has crafted a couple of artifacts in his study.

    And still, none of it's near enough to get him out of the starting ship.

    I feel like I don't know what I should be doing now. It's clear that they've closed off a lot of the obvious ways to make money early on, and they want me to explore further into the map, but it takes so much fuel to get to places like Khan's Heart or Isle of Cats, much less Aestival, and once I get to these places... then what? I don't have room in my hold to bring anything back to Fallen London.

    it's nice to not be in a position where I'm only one bad run away from bankruptcy, but I feel like I'm puttering around and watching my supply of echoes slowly deplete as I look for things to do or trade.

    It's actually not too bad an idea to retire once you've secured a town house and a scion, as you can do all the lucrative early game stuff over and probably have a better idea of where to head for officer quests. That said, there are lots of ways to get a fair bit of cash still open to you:
    Completing the pages of the Neathbow for the curator in Venderbight is always lucrative, you can kick that off by sailing to the Avid Horizon with 30 mirrors and around 80 fragments.
    The Tomb Colony tour is a good way to get 1-1.5k, but takes up 12 hold so can be a little dicey in the starting ship. You never need more than 10 supplies to circumnavigate the world though, and you can always refuel at Mt Palmerston.
    Completing Visage is a simple way to get a captivating treasure, and Nuncio is good for a Searing Enigma.
    Admiralty commissions get you strategic information, two of which can be turned into Vital Intelligence (350-600 echoes) and opens up spies
    There's a lot of profit to be had in the Empire of Hands; 500 for your first port report and two pages of the Neathbow by the time you're done
    Playing chess in Port Cecil has some serious dividends if you stick at it.
    Speaking of Port Cecil, don't get rid of blue scintillack anywhere but Varchas - there are a few other ways you can use it, but selling it off in varchas is worth twice the next-best price (and comes in convenient heirloom form). You can use it to get a Neathbow page, but Port Cecil gives you another much-less-valuable item useable for the same page, so...don't.

  • DracomicronDracomicron Registered User regular
    Abbalah wrote: »
    Shen wrote: »
    Jacobkosh wrote: »
    I feel like I'm kind of at a weird place in this game right now. My second captain is over the starting hump: he's run the Sphinxstone quest to completion and now he's dipped his toe into sun-running. He's upgraded his engines and deck gun, has a townhouse, a will, and has crafted a couple of artifacts in his study.

    And still, none of it's near enough to get him out of the starting ship.

    I feel like I don't know what I should be doing now. It's clear that they've closed off a lot of the obvious ways to make money early on, and they want me to explore further into the map, but it takes so much fuel to get to places like Khan's Heart or Isle of Cats, much less Aestival, and once I get to these places... then what? I don't have room in my hold to bring anything back to Fallen London.

    it's nice to not be in a position where I'm only one bad run away from bankruptcy, but I feel like I'm puttering around and watching my supply of echoes slowly deplete as I look for things to do or trade.

    It's actually not too bad an idea to retire once you've secured a town house and a scion, as you can do all the lucrative early game stuff over and probably have a better idea of where to head for officer quests. That said, there are lots of ways to get a fair bit of cash still open to you:
    Completing the pages of the Neathbow for the curator in Venderbight is always lucrative, you can kick that off by sailing to the Avid Horizon with 30 mirrors and around 80 fragments.
    The Tomb Colony tour is a good way to get 1-1.5k, but takes up 12 hold so can be a little dicey in the starting ship. You never need more than 10 supplies to circumnavigate the world though, and you can always refuel at Mt Palmerston.
    Completing Visage is a simple way to get a captivating treasure, and Nuncio is good for a Searing Enigma.
    Admiralty commissions get you strategic information, two of which can be turned into Vital Intelligence (350-600 echoes) and opens up spies
    There's a lot of profit to be had in the Empire of Hands; 500 for your first port report and two pages of the Neathbow by the time you're done
    Playing chess in Port Cecil has some serious dividends if you stick at it.
    Speaking of Port Cecil, don't get rid of blue scintillack anywhere but Varchas - there are a few other ways you can use it, but selling it off in varchas is worth twice the next-best price (and comes in convenient heirloom form). You can use it to get a Neathbow page, but Port Cecil gives you another much-less-valuable item useable for the same page, so...don't.

    The Port Cecil Principles quests (unlocked after you finish the chess games and a couple of other errands) also each result in 7 units of normal scintillack. Now, these sell for 70 echoes each in London, but you can also trade them to the Fathomking for a significant pile of Drowning Pearls; between these quests and the Empire of Hands turn-ins, you can get enough pearls (which take no hold space) to grind your Khanate reputations enough to buy access to the Khan's Heart markets, and have enough left over to buy down your threat level there, if needed.

    The most important ship to save up for early is probably the corvette (4K echoes, minus trade-in). It has a forward gun slot and more than double the hit points of the starter ship. You can kill anything in the game with the corvette and two decent guns. The only drawback is that the hold space is the same as the starter ship. Monster hunting in the corvette is quite satisfying and it's quite difficult to run out of fuel if you're sinking every bastard that comes near you and taking their stuff.

    As an aside regarding ships, my game has a weird bug where I can buy a new ship if I have enough money (minus the trade-in), but my remaining funds is always set at exactly the trade-in value of my old ship. It's weird, and wrong, but since I can use it to my advantage if I take my echoes to the minimum necessary to buy the new ship. Like, I trade my starter ship (1K) for a Frigate (15K) and I have 14,273 echoes on me, after the sale, I will have 1,000 echoes, even, meaning I earned 727 echoes from somewhere. If I'd had 30,458 echoes at the time of sale, I'd still have 1,000 echoes after the trade, and probably be tearing my hair out.

    Not sure if this affects anyone else, but be aware that it has happened.

    Etiowsa
  • The Cow KingThe Cow King a island Registered User regular
    Its kind of annoying how the game can only have one enemy "targetted" and it has a delay before switching

    Flensing weapons do a lot of hull damage as well I haven't been able to steak any ships yet. However I'm not using the lowest flesing cannon so that might be it.

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  • Caulk Bite 6Caulk Bite 6 One of the multitude of Dans infesting this place Registered User regular
    After about a week off, set sail again. Though I forgot that zee critters pathing had been tweaked and thus got killed by a bound shark.

    Good thing I had a scion.

    jnij103vqi2i.png
  • PoorochondriacPoorochondriac Ah, man Ah, jeezRegistered User regular
    I have sailed off every edge of the map

    I'm not sure I would recommend sailing off every edge of the map

  • PaladinPaladin Registered User regular
    I wouldn't go for the massively expensive ships until you've got full heirlooms now that sunlight trading abuse is out. Merchant ship seems like a good idea, but unless you know a lot of good high volume trading lines and quests your supply usage will catch up to you.

    There are plenty of abusable money gainers out there; just less and less of them are permanent. Running sunlight was absolutely ridiculous. I was running up to 80 boxes at a time before I realized I was kind of breaking the game for myself.

    Marty: The future, it's where you're going?
    Doc: That's right, twenty five years into the future. I've always dreamed on seeing the future, looking beyond my years, seeing the progress of mankind. I'll also be able to see who wins the next twenty-five world series.
  • Indie WinterIndie Winter die Krähe Rudi Hurzlmeier (German, b. 1952)Registered User regular
    edited March 2015
    now complete the merchant venturer's requests and sail off the edge of physical space

    Indie Winter on
    wY6K6Jb.gif
  • TubeTube Registered User admin
    I always roll in the merchant ship. You don't need a full 30 man crew, supplies aren't a huge issue. I've managed to sell 70 boxes of sunlight, which is plenty to be getting on with.

  • AnzekayAnzekay Registered User regular
    Just what did they change with Sunlight Trading?

  • EtiowsaEtiowsa Registered User regular
    Filling catch boxes increases a menace that I assume kills you if it goes too high. It stacks to like 200 and you get I think 4-7 per box, so you can still make some good money.

  • JacobkoshJacobkosh Gamble a stamp. I can show you how to be a real man!Moderator mod
    Anzekay wrote: »
    Just what did they change with Sunlight Trading?

    Every time you fill a Mirrorcatch Box you add 4-7 to a new Menace rating called Yearning, Burning. If it gets high enough you start giving in to the compulsion to open the boxes.

    Apparently getting that rating to 200 is no bueno.

    rRwz9.gif
  • AnzekayAnzekay Registered User regular
    Just looked it up, yeah. Seems like you can get rid of some of the menace from resting in your townhouse, but it wont be an affordable amount.

  • PoorochondriacPoorochondriac Ah, man Ah, jeezRegistered User regular
    Getting enough Zee Ztories for the Song of the Zee is suuuuch a pain. I think I've figured out a system to get em, but it's reeeeal tedious.

  • Caulk Bite 6Caulk Bite 6 One of the multitude of Dans infesting this place Registered User regular
    finally managed to upgrade to the first real gunship and have a shiny new forward gun, the Majesty.

    jnij103vqi2i.png
  • ShenShen Registered User regular
    Getting enough Zee Ztories for the Song of the Zee is suuuuch a pain. I think I've figured out a system to get em, but it's reeeeal tedious.

    There's one species of angler crab that drops two hunting trophies, the 300 hp one I think? Trading those at Godfall was the easiest way I found to get zee ztories (aside from just going back and forth from London and the first lightboat swapping recent news).

    NB that once you create Zong of the Zee it consumes all your remaining secrets, so spend 'em down to 40 first.

    3DS: 2234-8122-8398 | Battle.net (EU): Ladi#2485
    ladi.png
  • AnzekayAnzekay Registered User regular
    Jillyfish also give Zee Ztories if you choose the second option

  • DracomicronDracomicron Registered User regular
    Zee Stories:

    Jillyfleur/fish + Having Done Visage = Fragments + Zee Stories. It's a solid method.

    I think you can convert Tales of Terror into Zee Stories at Irem, at a 2:1 ratio. I always have shitloads of Tales of Terror, as it seems to be one of the consolation prizes when you screw up challenges.

    As mentioned, Hunting Trophies are farmable, and give a Zee Story and a couple others, each.

    Shepard's Isles, at least two of the three places to use your SAY give Zee Stories; I suggest Three Graves, as you get a Zee Story and another tale.

    Geth
  • PoorochondriacPoorochondriac Ah, man Ah, jeezRegistered User regular
    edited March 2015
    Zee Stories:

    Jillyfleur/fish + Having Done Visage = Fragments + Zee Stories. It's a solid method.

    I think you can convert Tales of Terror into Zee Stories at Irem, at a 2:1 ratio. I always have shitloads of Tales of Terror, as it seems to be one of the consolation prizes when you screw up challenges.

    As mentioned, Hunting Trophies are farmable, and give a Zee Story and a couple others, each.

    Shepard's Isles, at least two of the three places to use your SAY give Zee Stories; I suggest Three Graves, as you get a Zee Story and another tale.

    Yeah, Irem is how I did it. Completing the Isle of Cats story gives you a repeatable action that either gives you 10 Tales of Terror or 10 Memories of a Distant Shore.

    You can also just buy a shitload of Stygian Ivory at the Chenolate and convert those into Tales of Terror up at Whither, but that's not particularly sporting.

    Poorochondriac on
  • PoorochondriacPoorochondriac Ah, man Ah, jeezRegistered User regular
    edited March 2015
    So, I accidentally stumbled upon how you get the new ending. I didn't quite have the requirements for it, but I found it.

    I'd talked a bunch to the First Officer whose name escapes me, the one with the glasses and the pointed teeth. She was cryptic as fuck, even for this game, and said something about a room with a burning name.
    It's at the heart of Frostfound. I'd ventured in to try and find the Alarming Scholar, curious if she (he?) was capable of being saved. Instead, I found an option that required a Dread Surmise, 100 in the Yearning for Sunlight menace, and a scar from each edge of the map. I had all the necessary scars, and the yearning, but I was saving my Dread Surmise for the Zong of the Zee.

    Curious and curiouser.

    I'm gonna bang out the Venturer's ending with this captain, but the captain after this? Oh yeah, I'm going for it.

    Poorochondriac on
    GethCaulk Bite 6
  • DracomicronDracomicron Registered User regular
    Sigh. Particularly heartbreaking loss. The Irreverent Debutante met a savage end at the business end of a mutiny after completing the Principalities of Coral quest. I left port with 93 Terror after the scary stuff that happens in that quest chain, then my crew had bad dreams, so, by instinct, I asked them to describe them (hey, that's Fragments right there). I wasn't thinking clearly, because that's a +10 Terror action. I couldn't make the 42% chance to cut down the mutineers, and that's all she wrote.

    I had 4 Heirlooms worth of treasure in my hold.

    Caulk Bite 6
  • LibrarianLibrarian The face of liberal fascism Registered User regular
    Jacobkosh wrote: »
    Anzekay wrote: »
    Just what did they change with Sunlight Trading?

    Every time you fill a Mirrorcatch Box you add 4-7 to a new Menace rating called Yearning, Burning. If it gets high enough you start giving in to the compulsion to open the boxes.

    Apparently getting that rating to 200 is no bueno.

    On my last Sunlight trade run my captain decided to stay on the surface and burn in the sun. That was unexpected and a bit of a downer, since I was finally making enough money to be able to get a bigger ship.
    Well, Scion and half the money and the Memento Mori plus 2 heirlooms means that the next captain will fare a bit better I hope(I expect to be smashed to bits by a gang of lifebergs upon first coming close to Whither).

  • TubeTube Registered User admin
    I can't find mt palmerston on this run for the fucking life of me

  • Caulk Bite 6Caulk Bite 6 One of the multitude of Dans infesting this place Registered User regular
    It should be pretty much directly west of Frostfound

    jnij103vqi2i.png
  • EncEnc A Fool with Compassion Pronouns: He, Him, HisRegistered User regular
    So after the deaths of my first few captains, I have a solid thing going on here. I've explored the whole top half of my map, been to the surface, done a tomb vacation run, bought a townhouse, have a son, and generally am saving up for a better ship.

    Also I have no idea how to start a bigger questline or where one would even be.

  • DracomicronDracomicron Registered User regular
    Tube wrote: »
    I can't find mt palmerston on this run for the fucking life of me

    Always the top row (well, under the icebergs blocking the end of the world). If you found Whither or Codex, and it's tough not to if you just keep going north, make a hard right and just keep going. If you hit Irem, you've gone too far. Use your zee-bat, it's, like, your best friend and stuff.

  • HobnailHobnail Registered User regular
    edited March 2015
    Not Sunless Sea, but in Fallen London I just had an audience with a person I'm pretty sure was Mandukhai, who told me about her attempt to overthrow the Masters after Karakorum fell.

    I really fucking love this fiction.

    Hobnail on
  • Indie WinterIndie Winter die Krähe Rudi Hurzlmeier (German, b. 1952)Registered User regular
    unfortunately, the Widow is known to be of chinese descent, and Manukhai is not
    no, seriously, this is a spoiler about her, be warned
    given that the fourth city is definitely Karakorum, it makes more sense for her to be one of the wives of Kublai Khan. Which also fits in with sunless sea:

    "In Xanadu did Kubla Khan,
    A stately pleasure-dome decree:
    Where Alph, the sacred river, ran,
    Through caverns measureless to man,
    Down to a sunless sea."

    wY6K6Jb.gif
  • HobnailHobnail Registered User regular
    edited March 2015
    Mmmmm, I was just guessing with Mandukhai. I also suddenly have a pressing need to buy a newspaper print as a result of this conversation, neat

    God geeking out with this stuff is fun, so, general lore spoilers,
    It goes in receding order London, Karakorum, Tenochitlan???, Memphis??? and ???

    Hobnail on
  • HobnailHobnail Registered User regular
    Bottom line the Masters are a bunch of dicks

    Indie WinterCaulk Bite 6
  • Indie WinterIndie Winter die Krähe Rudi Hurzlmeier (German, b. 1952)Registered User regular
    the Fallen London lore goes deep, man

    if you ever want to dabble in something a little more britain-centric, I cannot recommend the nex locked story of The Gift enough

    it's really creepy and really satisfying

    wY6K6Jb.gif
  • HobnailHobnail Registered User regular
    I....spent all my nex on Rubbery Men shenanigans....

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