Investigating (Guide)

Spoiler warning!
This page contains details about Fallen London Actions.

Investigating... is a progress quality that can be gained and spent in a variety of endeavours, most of which are interchangeable.

The best early-game sources of Investigating are part of the Making Your Name storylines:

Intrigue: The Curate and His Sister, Persuasive ~40
The Tricks of the Courier's Trade, Shadowy ~90
Featuring in the Tales of the University, Watchful ~100 (see the Guides for Featuring and Term Passing... for a more comprehensive walkthrough of these storylines)

In the late game, you can continue to use the early-game sources as long as you haven't concluded the storylines that lock (i.e. the Curate, and the University). Additional sources open up at Helicon House in Ealing Gardens and when Captured by the Clay Highwayman! after building to Balmoral, both part of the Railway storyline.

Most uses for Investigating are related to the same storylines in which you gain it. Once you've finished these stories (i.e., you've opened all the areas in Helicon House, followed up rumours of Cornelius, and played through the Clay Highwayman story), there aren't many uses for Investigating. If you've kept the Curate and University stories open, you can conclude those at this point and use Tricks of the Courier's Trade to both gain and spend Investigating (mainly useful for grinding Cryptic Clues).

Gaining Investigating...[edit]

Opportunity Cards and Storylets[edit]

Investigation: investigating the Correspondence Stones in Base-Camp. Locked once you have A Scholar of the Correspondence.
- 1 CP when you begin Investigating the Stones
- 2 CP: The Correspondence; Watchful 75
Upper River cards (part of the Railway storyline)
- 36–46 CP: Ply them with lager and see what they'll share; costs 2 x Magisterial Lager
- 2 CP: Cells outside the City; costs 1 x Magisterial Lager; Shadowy 300
- 2 CP: Listen to Rumours of Smuggling; costs 1 x Magisterial Lager or a Shadowy 200 check
- 2 CP: Keep an eye on the Devilish activities from Jericho Locks onwards; Watchful 200
Other Opportunity Cards
- 15 CP: Ask for help with your case on Tea with the Inspector; requires Watchful 81–118, Renown: Constables 5, and ≥ 1
- 4 CP: Have her help out with your current job on A new piece in the Game; requires Shadowy 81–118 and ≥ 1
- 5 CP (up to level 10): Feed a vicar to your plant with A Singular Plant 16–18. Requires ≥ 1 and Renown: The Church 5, and costs 1 Favours: The Church.

Other Storylets
- 20 CP and up (scaled): Learn from the Detective's investigation when attending the dream of the Honey-Addled Detective; Watchful 100. The formula is 20 CP x Intensity.
- 2 CP (Rare: 5 CP): Ask for advice on your investigations in Mrs Plenty's Carnival
- 1–44 CP (scaled): Read a bundle of investigation notes, as long as you have ≥ 1 already. The CP gain is 0.2 times your base Watchful.

Featuring in the Tales of the University[edit]

Unlocked with Featuring in the Tales of the University 9–24 in The University (see Guide and Carousel).

In addition to being a good Investigating grind at mid-level Watchful, the Talk to the Porters option gives a Sudden Insight for a cost of only 25 x Cryptic Clue (about half as many as you receive from each of the other options below!) Since 5 Sudden Insights can be spent on Every stone for 1–50 CP of Watchful, keeping this grind open by not completing the University storyline can continue to be useful into late-game.

4 CP: Interview students and staff; 52 x Cryptic Clue; Watchful 104
4 CP: Interview the Department of _______ staff; 53 x Cryptic Clue; Watchful 106
4 CP: Talk to the Porters; 108 x Whispered Hint and 1 x Sudden Insight; Watchful 108
3 CP: Head to the library; 49 x Cryptic Clue; Watchful 98
3 CP: Interview the suspects; 50 x Cryptic Clue; Watchful 100
3 CP: Conduct forensic analyses; 55 x Cryptic Clue; Watchful 102

Intrigue: The Curate and His Sister[edit]

Can only be started with A Name Signed with a Flourish exactly 3 in Veilgarden

Once started, this storyline can be completed at any time, but cannot be restarted once the Flourish storyline is advanced past 3. Meaning that, as long as you want to use these options to grind Investigating, do not play the Complete your acquaintance storylet! (Doing so is not necessary to advance Flourish.) Once you have Watchful around 100, the University grind above is a better source of Investigating, and this storyline can be safely completed.

3 CP (Rare: 5 CP): A tale of woe with 10–20; Persuasive 39
3 CP (Rare: 5 CP): Up the back stairs... with 10–20; Shadowy 30
3 CP (Rare: 5 CP): Propose the reading of something stimulating with 14; Persuasive 42
3 CP: Attend a service at the Melancholy Curate's church with 3–8; Persuasive 38
3 CP: Present your compliments to the Curate and his sister… with 8–14; Persuasive 37
2 CP (Rare: 3 CP): Gossip with the Melancholy Curate's servants with < 7; Persuasive 37
2 CP (Rare: 3 CP): Propose the reading of something improving with 14; Persuasive 39
2 CP: Does the Melancholy Curate have a connection with St Dunstan's? with 7–20; Persuasive 42

A Name Whispered in Darkness[edit]

The Tricks of the Courier's Trade: Unlocked with A Name Whispered in Darkness 6 in The Flit
- 3 CP: Spy on the Topsy King's court; Shadowy 95
- 3 CP: Spy on those who supply them; Shadowy 90
- 2 CP: Spy on the couriers; Shadowy 85
- 2 CP: Deploy your Suspicious Iguana; Luck 70; requires Suspicious Iguana (Whitsun)

The Clay Highwayman[edit]

While Captured by the Clay Highwayman!, you can draw Opportunity Cards with options that gain Investigating...

5 CP: Search the camp; Watchful 210
5 CP: Play a hand of cards; Watchful 220 (unless you've finished Ambition: Heart's Desire!)
5 CP: Chat to the Burly Lieutenant
The Clay Beast
- 5 CP: Examine the Beast, Carefully, which afterward changes to A closer look at her eyes; you can only do this up to 3 times (due to a hidden tracking quality).
- 5 CP: Read the inscriptions as long as you don't have any Steward of the Discordance

Following up Rumours of Cornelius[edit]

25 CP: Discover whether a certain particular Tomb-Colonist has been riding the rails; Shadowy 200

Helicon House[edit]

5 CP: Keep a close eye on everyone present in the Entrance Hall; Watchful 150 (Failure: Nightmares +2)
5 CP: Enter with Your Esoteric Accomplice
2 CP: Enter with Just the right person or The Roguish Semiotician
Fate-locked:
- Enter with Your spouse, the Academic Intriguer or Your spouse, the Devout Intriguer
- Slip a few snacks to your Rubbery Hound