Money-Making/Lategame
Late PoSI Content |
Requirements to list a grind or weekly activity:
- 4.0+ EPA
- Fate-locked grinds should be marked as such.
- Requirements above 300 in main attributes and above 10 in advanced skills should be mentioned.
This list is not meant to be exhaustive, but should list the best grinds and weekly activities that are relevant in the end-game. See the Sources page for an exhaustive list of all grinds.
Optimal EPA Strategy[edit]
This section of the guide describes strategies that are primarily relevant to an overall maximum-EPA play strategy. As such, the information given in this section assumes certain behaviour, particularly making weekly trips between London and the Upper River (London for A Professional Reward, the Upper River to Accept a gift from Balmoral's Castellan). EPA calculations in this section do not separately count the action cost of making this trip, and therefore these calculations may not be applicable outside this overall strategy.
Note for editors: For clarity, when indicating EPA for actions elsewhere in this guide, please note if the EPA calculation assumes optimisation strategies such as Tinned Ham or the Rat Market.
Three Main Currencies and Their Interconversion[edit]
There're three main currencies, Penny (or Echo), Hinterland Scrip and Stuiver. The metrics for how much each action gets are called EPA, SPA and StPA, respectively. This guide pursues EPA, so if you are pursuing SPA or StPA, please see Hinterland Scrip-Making or Stuiver Grinding (Guide).
1 SPA → 0.508 EPA[edit]
Tinned Ham can be purchased for 125 Hinterland Scrip (the equivalent of 62.50) at the Upper River Exchange, and then sold in London at the Bazaar for 63.50.
As part of an optimal EPA strategy, items obtained from any grind should be sold for Scrip if possible, and the resulting Scrip used to purchase Ham to be sold back in London for a profit. This slightly raises the EPA for many grinds, as it results in a conversion factor of 0.508 per Scrip instead of the usual 0.5. Note that some items sell for more in the Bazaar directly, like Preserved Surface Blooms. They do not need to be sold for Scrip.
This conversion itself doesn't cost any action, but travel costs. Therefore it should be done in bulk, or on the way between London and Upper River.
1 StPA may be 0.05 EPA[edit]
There's still no good way to convert Stuiver to Penny. Some items can be sold for Stuiver only, like Memory of a Much Stranger Self and Tempestuous Tale.
This guide views 1 StPA as 0.05 EPA, and points it out whenever doing so.
Rat Market[edit]
Selling items in the rat market receives a great markup. It's always recommended to sell items in the rat market as long as you don't sell too much in one week. See this guide for more information.
In practical, let's say, sell 10 T6 items like Captivating Ballad sourcing from the city of the tracklayers in one week, which costs 136 actions and reaches 6.0 EPA. A good weekly activity. More sellable items are listed below.
Demand | Status[1] | Sellable Items ( Nominal Sale Value) | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
1,250[2] | 6,250[3] | 31,250[4] | ||
Inscrutable | Possible next week | Uncanny Incunabulum | Chimerical Archive | Cartographer's Hoard |
Intricate | Possible next week | Unlawful Device | Crackling Device | |
Maudlin | Active (week 2/2) | Captivating Ballad | Parabolan Parable | |
Saintly | Possible next week | Ratty Reliquary | False Hagiotoponym | |
Soft | Active (week 1/2) | Parabola-Linen Scrap | Scrap of Ivory Organza | |
Tempestuous | Active (week 2/2) | Storm-Threnody | Night-Whisper | |
Calculating | Cooldown (2–3 weeks) | Vital Intelligence | Paired Mates ( 5,000[5]) | Corresponding Sounder |
Ruinous | Cooldown (1–2 weeks) | Mortification of a Great Power |
- ↑ See above for a detailed description of Ratly Demand mechanics.
- ↑
Increases Saturation by 1,250.
Sells for:- 165 Shillings when 0 ≤ Saturation < 65,000
- 140 Shillings when 65,000 ≤ Saturation < 180,000
- 125 Shillings otherwise
- ↑
Increases Saturation by 6,250.
Sells for:- 825 Shillings when 0 ≤ Saturation < 65,000
- 700 Shillings when 65,000 ≤ Saturation < 180,000
- 625 Shillings otherwise
- ↑
Increases Saturation by 31,250.
Sells for:- 4,125 Shillings when 0 ≤ Saturation < 65,000
- 3,500 Shillings when 65,000 ≤ Saturation < 180,000
- 3,125 Shillings otherwise
- ↑
Must be sold in pairs of 1 Queen Mate and 1 Epaulette Mate.
Each pair increases Saturation by 5,000.
Each pair sells for:- 660 Shillings when 0 ≤ Saturation < 65,000
- 560 Shillings when 65,000 ≤ Saturation < 180,000
- 500 Shillings otherwise
The rat market has been changed a lot since May 15th, 2024, see this news. Some old guides are useless and confusing now. A simple way to judge is to see History on their wiki page. Guides with rat market before that time is unreliable.
London Grinds[edit]
Can be done without leaving London.
Professional Activities[edit]
Wiki note: Can this part be removed? Its EPA is low while its difficulty is high. For item grinding, it may be useful. But for money-making, it's useless.
- Requires a tier 3 Profession
- Stat requirements depend on Profession and player progression
- Expected EPA: At least 3.2-4.1, more for certain Professions and Specializations
See Professional Activities (Guide) for details. As the player progresses through the game and unlocks more content, more options will unlock in this wheel, causing it to grow in value over time. Certain rewards can also be exchanged for Rat-Shilling or Hinterland Scrip, improving profitability.
Hearts' Game[edit]
- Minimal stat requirements
- Best with Shadowy Gains 20+ and at least one of Complete Account of Croaking Beasts or Unexpurgated Accounting of Aquatic Life-Forms
- Expected EPA: up to 4.73-4.87 directly, or up to 5.31 using the Bone Market
See Hearts' Game (Guide) for details. Stats have little effect on this grind, as the player earns Hearts' Game: Exploits regardless of their performance in Hearts' Game. Exploits can be cashed out for various T7 items. Of particular note are the Leviathan Frame, which can be profitably used in the Bone Market, and the Scrap of Ivory Organza, which can be offloaded profitably at the Rat-Market.
With access to the Bone Market and the ability to create Reptile and/or Fish skeletons, the strategy for Hinterland Scrip grinding detailed here can be used to generate up to 744 over 74 actions, or 10.05 SPA. Using Tinned Ham Arbitrage this becomes 393.13 E over 74 actions, or 5.31 EPA.
Newspaper and Slight[edit]
- Expected EPA: 4.82
- It's combined with Hearts' Game, see this.
Upper River Grinds[edit]
Can be done with rarely leaving Upper River.
Card in the City of the Tracklayers[edit]
- Min EPA: 4.63
- see The City of the Tracklayers (Guide)
Communing in the City of the Tracklayers[edit]
- Max EPA: 5.23
- see The City of the Tracklayers (Guide)#Communing
Moulin Expeditions (and monographs)[edit]
Wiki note: Moulin Expeditions is more profitable now, as it gives extra 10% Hinterland Prosperity, see Sort through the loot.
- Expected EPA: 3.97 to 4.71
Requirements
- Access to Moulin
- Kataleptic Toxicology 8 and Transfixing Squirrel is an advantage
- Shapeling Arts 10 is an advantage.
Take the Bandaged Navigator and Renegade Claw with you, equipping a Kataleptic Toxicology item, up to 3 Shapeling Arts items and as much Persuasive-reducing stuff as possible if you have a Transfixing Squirrel. If you don't have a Transfixing Squirrel, instead equip up to 3 Shapeling Arts items and as much Shadowy stuff as you can. While on the expedition, play any A Lesser Find cards you get, use obstacle cards to get out to Distance 8 before digging and heading back, making up any shortfall in supplies with Convince your team to keep going. For a list of which obstacle cards to play, and the order of preference for them (as well as a more detailed explanation of the grind more generally) see Moulin Expeditions (Guide).
This gives an EPA of between 4.18 and 4.43 depending on what equipment you have. If combined with writing Exceptional Monographs, which for 9 actions and 75 echoes worth of expedition materials give 119.5 echoes worth of various resources, EPA rises. If you can 100% relevant challenges (require Mithridacy 10/12, Glasswork 10 or Artisan of the Red Science 10 depending on challenge), it gives an EPA of between 4.59 and 4.70. For a more detailed explanation of writing Monographs more generally see Writing a Monograph (Guide).
Larcenies with Parabolan Casing[edit]
- Expected EPA: 4.10
Requirements
- Access to Balmoral
- Shadowy 300
- A Marauder of the Clay Highwayman
- One of
- Glasswork 12
- Kataleptic Toxicology 12 and Acicular Squirrel (WHITSUN)
The cycle
- In your Parabolan Base-Camp, repeat the following sequence 9 times:
- Find the weakness in an opponent's defences
- Apply your own knowledge (Glasswork) or Allow your Acicular Squirrel to lead you (Kataleptic Toxicology)
- Sneak forward
- Case the place
Each subcycle yields 28 CP Casing..., so repeating 9 times is 252 CP Casing... for 36 actions.
- Enter A hidden camp nestled in the woods of Balmoral.
- Do seven second-tier larcenies.
- The option on the Larceny at Balmoral card (Ambush a courier) is the most profitable, yielding 25.4 from the 2 x Vital Intelligence after Tinned Ham Arbitrage.
- The next best choices are on the Larceny at Jericho Locks card (Seize a jewel smuggler's boat) and the Larceny at the Magistracy card (Break into the offices of Baseborn & Fowlingpiece), both yielding 25 of items.
- Ignore the cards for larcenies in Ealing Gardens ( 24.4) and/or Burrow-Infra-Mump ( 22).
Total payout depends on how often can you draw Larceny at Balmoral. Without Burrow, this happens 1/2 of the time: the average payout is 25.2 per larceny, or 176.4 for 43 actions, a total of 4.10 EPA.
With Burrow, this happens 1/3 of the time: the average payout is 25.13 per larceny, or 175.93 for 43 actions, a total of 4.09 EPA.
Upper River Opportunity Cards[edit]
- The Urchins' Games EPA: 5.31
- A Disillusioned Fungiculturalist EPA: 5.5
- Both cards are often drawn in Upper River and have good EPA.
Hellworm[edit]
- Probable EPA: 10
- First you need 200000 Hinterland Scrip to begin. Then you need to draw cards in Upper River moment by moment. See Hellworm (Guide).
Options at Zee[edit]
Khaganian Intrigue[edit]
Wiki note: No more Rat Market in Khaganian Business. Need more work.
- Expected EPA: 4.1 (5.10 with Rat Market)
- Requires access to Khan's Heart
By setting up a Cover Identity and zailing across the zee, you can play a number of Intrigues at Khan's Heart - however, you need to ensure that your Cover Identity and your chosen outfit permits you to 100% the challenges to increase you Intrigue in all hours in the Khanate day cycle. See the guide for details on such outfits. The main intrigues for earning money are:
- Sabotage a power plant: This requires Colour at the Chessboard 1-2, costs 5 x Intercepted Cablegram, takes 77 actions (1 to start, 75 to progress, 1 to finish), and yields 5 x Night-Whisper (312.5 ) + 10 CP Advancing the Liberation of Night:.
- Plant a mirror: This requires Connected: Fingerkings 4, costs 2 x Intercepted Cablegram, takes 15 actions (1 to start, 13 to progress, 1 to finish), and yields 1 x Oneiromantic Revelation (62.5 ) + 1 x Favours: Fingerkings.
- Expand your network: This costs 2 x Intercepted Cablegram, takes 15 actions (1 to start, 13 to progress, 1 to finish), and yields a T6 item - which one depends on a specific agent/ Airs of the Khanate range. Academic, Thief and Diplomat give Searing Enigma, Crackling Device and Bottle of Fourth City Airag: Year of the Tortoise respectively, each worth 62.5 . Dissident gives Stalemate worth 125 125 x Hinterland Scrip (63.5 ). Tailor and Engineer give Much-Needed Gap, and Physician gives Oneiric Pearl, each worth 125 x Assortment of Khaganian Coinage. Since you can buy Crackling Device for 130 coinage, 125 can be abstracted as 60.096 . Aristocrat, Officer and Soldier give Mortification of a Great Power. Currently, it can only be cashed out though Cover Identities, spending to gain 26 x Cover Identity: Backstory with Embed your cover identity in the story of a terrible humiliation option. Simplest way is to just Fence this identity, which gives 1 x Magnificent Diamond per 5 backstory points (essentially 2.5 per 1 point). Since there’s no cap on backstory, the actions/additional rewards for raising Elaboration/fencing can be removed from calculation, and cashout can be abstracted as 1 action/65 per Mortification. Therefore, on average you spend additional 3 actions and gain 626.288 per 10 agents/0.3 actions and 62.6288 per 1 agent. Also, any recruited agent raises Strength of your Khaganian Network by 1.
All of these intrigues cost Intercepted Cablegrams, and there are two ways to get those:
- Intercept a cablegram: This takes 4 actions (1 to start, 2 to progress, 1 to finish) and yields 5 x Intercepted Cablegram + 1 x Vital Intelligence worth 25 Hinterland Scrip (12.7 ).
- Tap a telegraph cable: This requires Strength of your Khaganian Network 10, takes 15 actions (1 to start, 13 to progress, 1 to finish), and yields 50 x Intercepted Cablegram + 1 x Vital Intelligence worth 25 Hinterland Scrip (12.7 ) + either 1 x Queen Mate or 1 x Epaulette Mate, both worth 50 Hinterland Scrip (25.4 ).
Possible combinations include:
- Intercept a cablegram - 4 actions yielding 5 x Intercepted Cablegram + 12.7 . Sabotage a power plant - costs 5 x Intercepted Cablegram, takes 77 actions, and yields 312.5 . In total - 81 actions, yielding 325.2 , which is 4.015 EPA.
- Tap a telegraph cable - 15 actions yielding 50 x Intercepted Cablegram + 38.1 . Sabotage a power plant 10 times - costs 50 x Intercepted Cablegram, takes 770 actions, and yields 3125 . In total - 785 actions, yielding 3163.1 , which is 4.029 EPA.
- Intercept a cablegram twice - 8 actions yielding 10 x Intercepted Cablegram + 25.4 . Plant a mirror 5 times - costs 10 x Intercepted Cablegram, takes 75 actions, and yields 312.5 . In total: 83 actions, yielding 337.9 , which is 4.071 EPA.
- Tap a telegraph cable - 15 actions yielding 50 x Intercepted Cablegram + 38.1 . Plant a mirror 25 times - costs 50 x Intercepted Cablegram, takes 375 actions, and yields 1562.5 . In total: 390 actions, yielding 1600.6 , which is 4.104 EPA.
- Intercept a cablegram twice - 8 actions yielding 10 x Intercepted Cablegram + 25.4 . Expand your network 5 times - costs 10 x Intercepted Cablegram, takes 76.5 actions, and yields 313.144 . In total: 84.5 actions, yielding 338.544 , which is 4.006 EPA.
- Tap a telegraph cable - 15 actions yielding 50 x Intercepted Cablegram + 38.1 . Expand your network 25 times - costs 50 x Intercepted Cablegram, takes 382.5 actions, and yields 1565.72 . In total: 397.5 actions, yielding 1 603.82 , which is 4.034 EPA.
With Strength of your Khaganian Network 20, An opportunity: (Opportunity) becomes available, which takes 1 x Emetic Revelation (12.5 ) and can yield 62.5 worth of items for 12 actions for ideally 4.17 EPA. The upside of this method is that the sequence of Opportunities is deterministic and good cycles exist which only give you sellable items. The downside is that you need Emetic Revelations to do this. If you grind them by using options which yield Khanite currency, convert that into light bulbs and sell these in London, one Revelation will take about 3.66 actions. This will lower the efficiency of that grind to just about 4 EPA.
Favour-based Tribute[edit]
- Min EPA: 4.23
- See this guide and this comment
The Maze-Garden[edit]
- Located in Polythreme
- Screaming Map and ship recommended, but the tramp steamer also works.
- Modified Shadowy and Dangerous 200 is an advantage
- 1 Prisoner's Mask recommended per cycle.
Expected EPA: 4.36-5.08 See The Maze-Garden (Guide) for full information on the carousel.
Options above[edit]
The Stacks[edit]
- Min EPA: 5.27 (Stuiver concluded)
- See The Stacks (Guide)
Options in Parabola[edit]
Forcing Stalemates[edit]
Expected EPA: 4.27 for midnighters and 4.05 for others
Requirements
- Route: The Chessboard
- Parabolan Dominance exactly 4
Recommended
- The Midnighter profession
- A Player of Chess 16
- The Boatman's Opponent 40
- Chess: Mastery of the Game 100
- Colour at the Chessboard 2-3.
Gathering cycle:
- Remain current Colour
- Recognise an opening because of your professional affiliations
- Open with a familiar move
- Play a move you learned from the Boatman 5 times
- Choose an epaulette mate or Choose a queen mate
9 actions for a Vienna Opening (5 Hinterland Scrip), mate (50 Hinterland Scrip) and 138 Well-Placed Pawns. Per 60 cycles you spend 540 actions for 3300 Hinterland Scrip and 8280 Well-Placed Pawns.
Spending cycle:
- Remain current Colour
- Recognise an opening because of your professional affiliations
- Open with a familiar move
- Sabotage your side
- Play a move you learned from the Boatman 4 times
- Force a Stalemate (+125 scrip, -360 pawns)
9 actions and 360 Well-Placed Pawns for a Vienna Opening (5 Hinterland Scrip) and a Stalemate (125 Hinterland Scrip). Per 23 cycles you spend 207 actions and 8280 Well-Placed Pawns for 2990 scrip.
With 60 gathering and 23 spending cycles you have no leftover pawns, spending 747 actions for 6290 Scrip/3195.32 echoes - 4.277 EPA.
If you are NOT a Midnighter, the value is lessened somewhat at A Player of Chess 13: you lose the Vienna Opening and gain 10 (for a total of 148) Well-Placed Pawns. At 90 cycles (810 actions), get 4500 Hinterland Scrip (in Queen and Epaulette mates) and 13320 Well-Placed Pawns. Spending cycles (37 of them) are 333 actions and 37 Stalemates worth 4625 scrip. 1143 actions for 9125 Scrip/4635.5 echoes yields 4.055 EPA (7.983 SPA). This decreases with less aPoC; 12 aPoC gives 4.026 EPA (7.925 SPA). [NOTE: If you find the loss (or gain) of Advancing the Liberation of Night distasteful, you can use the Endgame 'Betray' action to switch to the opposite side. You can stay on those pieces as long as you want--the AtLoN check won't apply.]
Parabolan War[edit]
- Raw EPA: 5.00
- See Parabolan War (Guide)
Options across the Neath[edit]
Heists of the Wellspring[edit]
- Expected EPA: 4.48
- See this comment
The New Mammoth Ranching / A New Pope[edit]
Wiki note: Due to changes on 23/02/2024, this grind is now much less profitable. Current EPA is unknown. Since this document has not been updated for a long time, this section will be deleted soon.
A multi-faceted grind with highest efficiency (overall EPA above 6.0) and steep requirements: A New Pope Guide
Brass Bird[edit]
- Expected EPA: 6.0
- Conbine the City of the Tracklayers, Moulin Expeditions, Moonlit Woods, Mr Heart and Bone Market. The recipe is 1 x Skeleton with Seven Necks, 5 x Bright Brass Skull, 1 x Plated Skull, 1 x Sabre-toothed Skull and 2 x Wing of a Young Terror Bird. And then declare it a bird and sell it to An Author of Gothic Tales in a good week.
Spider Pope[edit]
Wiki note: Due to changes on 06/09/2024, it's not available to grind Holy Relic of the Thigh of Saint Fiacre by calling in bohe favour in Jericho Locks. However we all love spider pope!
- Expected EPA: 6.3
- Conbine the Stacks, Jericho calling and Bone Market. The recipe is 1 x Glim-Encrusted Carapace, 1 x Carved Ball of Stygian Ivory and 8 x Holy Relic of the Thigh of Saint Fiacre. And then declare it a spider and sell it to A Familiar Bohemian Sculptress. See this comment.
Weekly Actions[edit]
A Professional Reward[edit]
With a tier one profession, over 8.125EPA. With a tier three profession, 15EPA.
Every four weeks, you can assemble four Professional Perks to get one Trade Secret, which yields 125 for 11 actions, for a total of 11.36EPA.
The Rewards of Ambition (easy)[edit]
This gives at least 62.5 every four weeks after you have finished your ambition.
- Owners of A Vast Network of Connections, A Winged and Taloned Steed, or A Palatial Holiday Home receive items which can be sold at the Rat Market for 85, an additional 22.5 at the cost of another action.
- A Vast Network of Connections additionally gives 5, for a total of roughly 87.5.
- Owners of A Kitten-Sized Diamond will receive a Magnificent Diamond if they have an Ostentatious Diamond (which is consumed), for a total of 74.5.
Accept a gift from Balmoral's Castellan (easy)[edit]
Requirements
All Castellans give you a gift worth 63.5 after Tinned Ham Arbitrage. If you fail the checks for the 2 actions traveling to/from Balmoral, 15.875 EPA. Succeeding those is worth 5, raising EPA to 18 EPA.
Receive the latest 'reports' from your 'agent' (easy)[edit]
- 107.5 over 28 actions at 3.83 EPA EPA Improved through Piracy to 6.41-6.59 EPA
Somewhat low yield compared to other weekly actions. Note that challenges in the Snares and the Salt Steppes can have very high requirements.
Requirements
- An Agent of No Consequence, the current end of Khaganian Intrigue (Guide)
- Sufficient stats to 100% challenges in the Snares and the Salt Steppes. With piracy, 14+ Zeefaring is needed for the snares to be worth considering. Having a Zubmersible or Obstinate-class Cruiser is an advantage due to safety.
- A source of Fistful of Surface Currency or Assortment of Khaganian Coinage.
The Cycle
- Gain 510 x Fistful of Surface Currency or 30 x Assortment of Khaganian Coinage (worth ~15E)
- Travel to the Khanate from London via Trace a route through the Snares (at least 9 actions, approx. 10, 9 of which have Zee-EPA (Using 4EPA as Zee-EPA))
- Pay for cargo in Surface money or Pay for cargo in Khaganian money (3 actions)
- Enter Khan's Heart
- Receive the latest 'reports' from your 'agent'
- Return to London via Trace a route through the Snares (at least 9 actions, approx. 10, 9 of which have Zee-EPA)
- Deliver the crate to the Widow 3 times
This results in 107.5 for 28 actions, for a total of 3.83 EPA plus whatever you happen to pick up at zee. This assumes you're able to get either Surface Currency or Khaganian Coinage at sell value. This can be done by selling the occasional skeleton to The Trifling Diplomat while passing by or by selling skeletons to A Dreary Midnighter in London when he is the Occasional Buyer. Buying with Fistful of Surface Currency is slightly preferable, since Assortment of Khaganian Coinage can be used to buy Crackling Device and cashed out in the Rat-Market during its appropriate seasons. In fact, additional profit can be made by assembling a skeleton to sell to the Diplomat for Coinage for this purpose on your way to pick up the report.
Zailing around through Shepherd's Wash and The Sea of Voices with a Clipper would make the challenges more manageable, but would add 3 zailing actions both ways for a total of 12 one-way. Assuming a Zee-EPA of 3.5, this gives an EPA of 5.76. Using a zub would give around 5.57, though this could be increased by taking the route through the Snares on the way back. If you're doing other things on your journey and can discount parts of the trip, this will increase further. Discounting the distance from London to Shepherd's Wash both ways (e.g. when doing tribute runs) would give the EPAs 6.29 and 6.09 respectively.
Board Meeting Dividends (moderate)[edit]
If you have a Pro-Labour Railway Charter, you can use Furnace or Cornelius in lieu of The Vicountess's Persuasive 200 check. However, this will lower the final payout by 10 and lower EPA by 0.52.
Requirements
Recommended
- Charter of the Great Hellbound Railway not 4: Worker Ownership
- Train Luxuries 6
- Board Member: Jovial Contrarian and Portable Fingerking Moot (Replaces One of in Requirements)
The cycle
- Boomerang the Tentacled Entrepreneur
- Invite the Tentacled Entrepreneur to the Board
- Vote the Tentacled Entrepreneur off the Board
- 5 actions to convince your board members and declare victory
- Voting for dividends 2 times
- Vote a dividend to the shareholders
- 5 actions to convince your board members and declare victory
In the absolute worst case scenario (Ealing, no Luxuries, Pro-Labour Charter), this yields 100.08 for 19 actions (after Tinned Ham Arbitrage), a total of 5.26 EPA. Note that using Help from the Board Secretary will allow you to repeat this but lowers efficiency slightly to 5.13 EPA. With the Recommended qualities, this yields 156.08 for 19 actions, for a total of 8.21 EPA.
Board Meeting Charity (complex)[edit]
- 2-3x Bottle of Fourth City Airag: Year of the Tortoise per Board Meeting.
Requirements
- Board Member: Sinning Jenny
- Board Member: the Gracious Widow
- Involved in a Railway Venture 60 (Have build the station at Jericho Locks)
Additionally at the start of the Board Meeting have:
Recommended
The cycle
- Propose special consideration to certain charitable groups
- Propose paying a dividend to the poor of the Hinterlands
- Propose special consideration to certain charitable groups
- Propose paying a dividend to the poor of the Hinterlands
- Propose special consideration to certain charitable groups
- Vote the Gracious Widow off the board
- Close the meeting
- Gain another 10CP Banditry to raise it to 8 (e.g. 5 x Feed information to the gang, net gain 17.5 ).
- When Rising Reports of Banditry autofires, select Ticket sales are going down.
- Invite the Gracious Widow to the Board
- If debt remains, get rid of it (via e.g. Raise funds for the railway, -12.5 )
In total, you have six items on the board agenda, each of which should take six actions. Combined with the rest of the actions this should take in total 42.66 actions.
Your net gain will be 196.66 Echoes, on average for 4.6EPA. If the Bottle of Fourth City Airag: Year of the Tortoise are sold at the Khaganian Markets for Crackling Devices according to Money-Making/Lategame#Crackling Trade, the net gain increases to 254.35 at the cost of 2.88 actions, increasing to 5.6EPA.
Board Meeting Assistance to Parabolan War (moderate-complex)[edit]
If you're engaged in a Parabolan War campaign, you can use your weekly board meeting to fully advance one stage in the war. It also causes 8 x Ravages of Parabolan Warfare, but the weekly Time, the Healer is enough to remove those.
The following is slow: advancing one stage of the war per week, for a cash-out only after 5 weeks. So you'll only spend on average 8 actions per week, but those few actions end up being very profitable.
Requirements
- Board Member: The Viscountess of the Viric Jungle
- 3 other Board Members who are OK with Parabolan Warfare (e.g. The Drummer, September, or the Gracious Widow)
The cycle
Assume we start already at the end of one of the stages of the Cats campaign (i.e. Advance! is already 24), with no Ravages:
- Move into Parabola. Costs 100 x Drop of Prisoner's Honey (only 50 for Silverers)
- Progress your campaign to the next stage.
- If you've just completed stage 4 (Along the Smoking Shore), ensure to Encourage the Prince to reject the King's offer.
- If you've just completed stage 5, collect your reward and start a new Cats campaign (no general).
- Return to London (0 actions)
- Assemble a board meeting:
- Propose you deploy your train in the Parabolan War on behalf of Cats
- The Viscountess automatically agrees.
- 4 extra actions to convince the other board members and declare victory.
- Wait for Time, The Healer to remove Ravages of the war.
This involves 5 board meetings (costing just 5 actions each), 5 entries into Parabola (costing 500 x Drops of Honey, which can be bought from the Bazaar for 20 Echoes), and 10 extra actions in Parabola to start a campaign, progress between the stages, and to collect the reward. The reward is a Parabolan Parable, worth 312.5 Echoes. So we have (312.5 - 20) Echoes / 40 Actions = 7.3125 EPA (or 7.5625 for Silverers).
The Rat Market
If you wait for The Rat-Season: Kifer-Caitiff, Skitter-Scatter or Dimmest-Dark, you can Sell a Parabolan Parable for 4000 Rat-Shillings (at the cost of an additional action). This means: (400 - 20 ) Echoes / 41 Actions = 9.268 EPA (or 9.512 for Silverers).
The Waters of the Wellspring (complex)[edit]
Somewhere between 4.55 and 4.8EPA, but only for Crooked-Crosses.
Requirements
- One of
Recommended
- The Crooked-Cross profession
- Jericho Library 2
- A Submerged Rector
The basic cycle
- Travel to Moulin
- Pay off your Assistants with Hinterland Scrip if necessary
- Recruit a Miniature Major-General
- Recruit a Bandaged Navigator
- Set off
- Move away from Moulin and deeper into the Waste (5 actions)
- The Wellspring, at Last
- Bathe in the waters
- Collect some Wellspring water
- Cross the Threshold
- Look for the fingerking
- At some point, Sell your Wellspring water to a honey-den 4 times
You should always be able to make it to the Wellspring without incurring menaces. The basic cycle yields 48.20 and 1 x Memory of a Much Lesser Self for 19 actions, for a floor of 2.53EPA. This is much lower yield than other weekly actions, but playing A Lesser Find and Something Nacreous will raise EPA to something around 2.8EPA.
If you keep track of when Viric Fades is going to trigger (by e.g. adding Bathe in the waters to your list of plans and adding a note stating the last time you did it), then you can arrive at the Wellspring shortly before Viric Fades, Collect some Wellspring water, and wait for Viric Fades so you can Bathe in the waters as normal. This allows you to gain an extra four flasks of Wellspring water, gaining 50 at the cost of 5 additional actions, raising the basic cycle to 4.09EPA.
Recommended
- Instead of Bathe in the waters, Dip your Cross in the Waters
Eventually
- Lend inventively to exchange 1 x Revisionist Historical Narrative for
- Noisily subvert the entire process to exchange 1 x Verse of Counter-Creed for
This cycle yields after THA 95.63 for 21 actions, for a floor of 4.55EPA. Again, the true EPA will be slightly higher at around 4.8EPA.
The Heists of the Wellspring (complex)[edit]
About 6.0 EPA, more for some professions.
Requirements
- A willingness to risk imprisonment
- An outfit that grants 12 Monstrous Anatomy
Recommended
- An Alliance with the Big Rat
- Being either a Silverer or a Crooked-Cross
- An outfit that gets you to both 12 Glasswork and 12 Monstrous Anatomy (Monstrous Anatomy is more important)
- Max level Parabolan Defences or a willingness to use social actions.
There are two basic components to this grind: Getting Flasks of Waswood Wellspring Water and turning them into Hiding Places of Peculiar Items, then stealing those items.
Step one: The Expedition
The basic cycle for a Wellspring expedition is as follows:
- Travel to Moulin
- Pay off your Assistants with Hinterland Scrip if necessary
- Recruit a Miniature Major-General
- Recruit a Bandaged Navigator
- Set off
- Move away from Moulin and deeper into the Waste (5 actions)
- The Wellspring, at Last
- Bathe in the waters
- Collect some Wellspring water
- Cross the Threshold
- Look for the fingerking
Once there, mark the time you made the 'Bathe in the Waters' action. On the following week, arrive just before this time elapses and collect 4 Flasks of Waswood Wellspring Water. Then when Viric Fades triggers, you'll be able to collect 4 more flasks in a single visit.
As soon as you are in Parabola, turn all you flasks into Hiding Places of Peculiar Items via Search Parabola for a Place in the Neath, and perform Find the weakness in an opponent's defences once.
When you leave Parabola, you will be afflicted with That Which Was Taken. Choose the nightmares option and lower it with Hide in your Base-Camp, or choose either wounds or nightmares and lower the menace with social actions.
Step two: The Heist
The goal is to begin the heist with 2 pieces of Inside Information using as few actions as possible. To do that you need Casing... and the best ways to get that are:
Including transportation costs, Purchase some assistance with casing... is the superior choice, even for Silverers. Ignoring them, Find the weakness in an opponent's defences is slightly better. So get your Casing... from Parabola if you're there already or don't have access to the Big Rat, get it from the Big Rat otherwise.
Once you have your Casing... go ahead and start the heist from The shaded estate on Hemlock Row, buy 2 pieces of inside information, and put on your outfit that gives both a Monstrous Anatomy and a Glasswork of 12. Note that passing the Monstrous Anatomy check is more important, so if getting it up to 12 requires replacing some Glasswork items you should still do it.
Once you reach A Prize Achieved, select the Captivating Ballad and sell it at the Rat Market. Repeat the above until you are out of Hiding Places.
Professional Improvements
Monster-Hunters will find it easier to obtain the required outfit.
Silverers will find it easier to obtain the desired outfit and take less damage from The Mirror's Hunger. This raises EPA to about 6.1. They also pay less to enter Parabola, useful for characters without access to the Big Rat.
Crooked-Crosses may Dip their Cross in the Waters for additional resources. With Jericho Library 2 and a Submerged Rector this brings EPA to about 6.3.
Folly
Using Purchase some assistance with casing... only twice and purchasing no Inside Information will net about 7 EPA. While this looks tempting, performing the most difficult heist 8 times a week with no Inside Information will certainly land you in prison eventually. But perhaps you really are the best thief in the Neath.
Using up Bone Market Exhaustion (easy - complex)[edit]
See Assembling a Skeleton (Guide). Your Bone Market Exhaustion drops by four every week, which corresponds to 200E worth of bonus items.
Playing the bone market is rather intricate. Also note that exhaustion can lock you out of profitable non-exhausting use of the bone market for weeks (or years).
Using up Exhaustion is hard in the mid-game, but still profitable. Exhaustion in itself is around 200 per week. If you have A Custom-Engraved Skull from FEAST OF THE ROSE, you can use those, leading to a net gain of 160 for 2 skulls. The exception to the rule is when the Phantasist is around - then you'll be able to spend all your exhaustion through other means.
If you're a lategame player, you could use the least number of actions to use up Bone Market Exhaustion as efficiently as possible, see Assembling a Skeleton (Guide)/Recipes#Amalgamy Bomb.
The Nadir (complex)[edit]
Highly random, but in the long-term, 8.13EPA.
Requirements
The Nadir can be entered once a week without spending Fate. Players are forcibly ejected from the cave when reaching 10 x Irrigo whereupon it is not possible to return until the next visit from Time, the Healer (unless they wish to pay 50 Fate). Optimal play yields approximately 8.13EPA — see Cave of the Nadir (Guide)#Analysis for details
The High Sancta[edit]
- Raw EPA: 10.21
- See The High Sancta (Guide)