Overview
This Guide is intended to be a compendium of lore and hints for players on all stages, but especially newcomers. Please note that I have a similar guide to Sunless Skies and you can also find me in Fallen London. Rate this guide if you like it!
Introduction
Hi, I made this guide for players who are stuck or just want to have a clear picture of the game and its mechanics. I hope it serves as a quick and reliable in-game resource for everyone. And I’m using it myself too ^_^
Please note that I’m playing with Zubmariner DLC.
This guide is divided into
– “introduction” part about your character, ship and how things work
– game ports (locations) and some quests
– officers and their quests/promotions
– achievement-related information
– trade routes and miscellaneous lore
There will be spoilers, so beware 🙂
Also, I am still adding content to certain sections.
I arranged the contents in a convenient way: quests, ambitions, trade routes followed by beginner’s guide and miscellaneous lore.
Officer Quests
Some of the officer quests are worth mentioning. Others are probably too easy.
Magician
His story takes you to Khan’s Heart where you find help with echoes, 2 watchful curios and 2 bales of parabola-linen. OR a pewter horsehead which you get on a random event in Gaider’s Mourn siding with the Khanate.
For the next part, have some prisoner honey and scintillack ready. He will travel to Parabola and try to lure and imprison some snakes. You can either help him or talk him out of the plan. I suppose if you help him, you either get a Satisfied Magician (+6 Veils +5 Mirrors +1 Hearts) or a fingerking wearing his body (Urbane Magician -2Hearts +8 Veils +5 Mirrors +3 Pages), He becomes Prudent Magician (+6 Veils +4 Mirrors) if you talk him out of his plan.
When he’s back, he can construct the Serpentine for you (1200 echo in the drydock).
As @Sintonir pointed out, if the Magician is going to be the Legacy officer, your next captain gets instant access to the Serpentine, for 1200 echo, of course. Note that this Legacy also transfers 50% of base Hearts skill, so maybe boost it a little before dying.
Mechanic
Gives a repeatable quest of his own allowing you to get a Mirrorcatch Box full of Angry Snakes.
First, collect some zee-ztories and other items, plus a clay man and a mirrorcatch box from Khan’s Shadow. Take that to Hunter’s Keep (+foxfire candles if it’s destroyed).
If you want to progress his story and find a recipe for a great Engine, first let him sleep and then talk to him about the stone pigs. Rescue his pal from khanate prison at Wisdom (and better do it with a Hearts check and 3000 echoes). The Element of Dawn can be either made (50 supplies, vital intelligence, 7 crew, etc) or received from selling Memento Mori at Grand Geode. Next step is to deliver an enormous cargo of stygian ivory with the Sage and Mechanic’s Secret (from Frostfound) to Kingeater’s Castle.
Don’t even think about it when you’re early game. This engine (+5000 Engine power and 50% Fuel Efficiency) is very powerful and while your ship is going to be very fast, it also makes kiting enemies and docking in port quite difficult.
Navigator
You can have this story 2 ways: either be a cannibal or be normal.
If you want to do the story nice way, bring 2 live specimen to Chapel of Lights. Then take the Navigator to Frostfound with some supplies and an outlandish artefact. Then to Avid Horizon with a piece of strategic information. When he learns his past, drop him off at Codex or Empire of Hands.
If you already got Unaccountably Peckish from somewhere, give up and go ahead eat your crew. Do that at Chapel of Lights to begin Navigator’s story and do same steps as mentioned above. In the end (spoiler) eat him too. However, there is a trick if you kind of “understand” him or just want a better reward than a searing enigma, have U.P. at 3+ and go to Kingeater’s Castle. I wouldn’t exactly call it humane, but at least the thing’s going to be useful.
After his quest is complete, you can go back to the Chapel, reject what you’ve learned and remove your Unaccountably Peckish with a bonus of +4 Hearts.
Cannoneer
….and his Memento Mori. No matter if you picked him at London or Iron Republic, first gain his respect at the cost of some torpedoes, supplies and hull. Then take him to Aestival for the first item: the seal. The seal will then be upgraded at Iron Republic for a Judgement’s Egg (reward for Last Tour Operator quest). This next item can be equipped on your ship as a lamp. Next, go to Station III and voila! the Memento Mori.
When the cannoneer has completed his quest, you can get rid of him at the Isle of Cats if you sided with Zaira. You have to be evil (or desperate for supplies) enough to do that.
Doctor
You can pity him or hate him, but once you pick him up things are going to stir. Dine with him, wine with him, and he asks to take him to Saviour’s Rocks where spiders once whispered secrets to him and took his eye as a payment. Next stop will be Khan’s Shadow.
While you’re at it, strange things will happen: stolen papers, lost intelligence… and then…
Pass the Pages check to end this nightmare.
It’s him, of course. Kick him out or guard him, he’s going to stop anyway.
The only thing left to do is to promote him further, either by working to increase Supremacy:London or insane amount of Pages or Hearts, plus moves in the great game or terror 75.
Exile
Even if you’re not going to complete this secret ambition, you can get some benefits. Dine with the Exile (a Searing Enigma is required) and you can increase your skills 3 times choosing the following dialogue options:
Mirrors: ask her to remove her glasses, then accept, then talk about the horizon.
Veils: ask her to keep the glasses on, then say that zee is your only home.
Iron: when prompted, throw her out of the cabin
Hearts: say that journey is the destination, then talk about returning home.
Another vital part is going beyond the edge of the map, and I am going to tell you how.
Zail east at any location on the map, zail west beyond the Dawn Machine (its lower part), zail north at any location where ice cracks are wide enough, zail south near Adam’s Way. Note: Mountain’s blood will damage your hull. After each voyage your ship is “teleported” to nearest port where you can (hopefully) buy fuel an supplies and go merrily on.
Here are the details:
– Mark of the East (-3 fuel,-3 supplies, return to port)
– Scars of the North (-12 crew -1 fuel -15 supplies +20 terror +6 fragments, return to port)
– Western Stigma (+50 terror, hunger=0, Supremacy:Dawn Machine +1, return to port)
– Touch of the South (NOTE: there is a Veils challenge of 125, if you fail you DIE. If you pass, your hull =1, crew =1, -10 supplies, +1 outlandish artefact, return to port)
To-buy list for the Campaigner:
4 mutersalts, a strange catch, 2 solacefruit, zzoup, 7 drowning pearls, 5 secrets, 1 scintillack and a judgement’s egg. Solacefruits can be traded in Gaider’s Mourn with SAY and a drowning-pearl.
Note: if you missed the first opportunity to dine with the Campaigner, an event pops up and you lose 1 secret, but her story continues.
Modiste
Recruit the Modiste and talk to her. When she makes 2 sets of clothes for you, go to Polythreme and watch her talk to the king. Then talk to her in her cabin and go to London to retrieve the ushabti. Go far into the zee and summon the Alcaeus Corvette, destroy it and capture the Pirate-Poet. A zubmarine surfaces. You can either give the Modiste or the Poet, or both. Note that if you give both, the Poet escapes.
If the Poet is dead, she no longer appears when looting the wreck of a corvette, which is a shame.
Quests (major)
Here I will list major quests that require a lot of time and effort: Neathbow, Principles and their connected quests.
Neathbow is also a Venderbight quest given by the First Curator. It involves collecting the 7 colours of unterzee “rainbow”: gant, viric, irrigo, peligin, cosmogone, violant, apocyan. There are sometimes more than one way to get the colour, and some are easier than others. All colours except Gant yield a captivating treasure.
Apocyan (blue-ish): bring a lump of blue scintillack or an apocyan chess-piece.
Blue scintillack is valuable in battle, because it makes your firing solutions fire instantly when used.
There are 4 ways to get it, and 1 way to get the alternative chess piece.
– go to Pigmote Isle and follow the story either to weaken the vermin and steal their lump of blue scintillack OR make them independent and get it anyway.
– take a lot of foxfire candles and go to Mangrove College, then to the Wisp-Ways and try to progress as far as you can. There is a chance you find the scintillack.
– progress the Wistful Deviless’ quest until Brass Embassy appears in London, then go to Iron Republic and get a Port report for London.
– win the final chess match at Principles of Coral and get 4 lumps of blue scintillack
– the chess-piece is given at the end of the Principles quest, no matter win or lose.
Cosmogone (yellow-ish): bring a ray-drenched cinder. Ray-drenched cinder is given in the Uttershroom at the end of Propagation quest (there are two options, take the “gift” one).
In the Empire of Hands you can trade your soul for 1 Cinder if your influence is high at the Court (3 if you complete the Zeppelin)
Gant (brown-ish?): bring your weeping scar, a figurehead of Eater-of-Names or a Star-Shell. Weeping scar is acquired in the Chapel of Lights by sacrificing 1 point of Nightmares. A Figurehead of EoN is a trophy given after killing the ship (see the Weapons and Monsters part).
A Star-Shell is found deep in the Gant Pole (with candles) or Frostfound.
Irrigo (pink-ish): bring an eyeless skull or a fluke-core. An eyeless skull is either given in the Magician’s quest in London (which is worse) or acquired by pure chance in Venderbight when you have Something Awaits You (a better option). A fluke-core is a trophy from killing any fluke.
Peligin (black-ish): bring a hunter’s eye. It can be either found in Avid Horizon (exchanged for some fragments) or after a brawl in Gaider’s Mourn.
Violant (red-ish): bring a pot of violant ink. It can be acquired at random by bouncing into a shop when walking the Khan’s Heart, exchanged for red honey in the Empire of Hands or found while treasure hunting at Treasure Island in the same Empire of Hands.
The treasure hunt can happen after finishing the Delightful Adventuress’ quest (talk to the Mayor, find a message at your Lodging and attend a lecture in London, take the lady to the Empire of Hands, buy a stick of dynamite from the lost hunter, go to the Vault and blow up the door, attempt to solve the riddle, agree to complete the Zeppelin, trade fuel and supplies until your status is 15, talk to the Senechal and ask for help, go back to the Vault and use red honey, get a hint. Press yellow (Icterine), blue (Cerulean) and red (Amaranth) buttons, fight the Adventuress, escape, finish the story, buy the map for a searing enigma from a lost hunter on Hearthsake Island. Then go to Fountainhead and begin. There is a clue:
North for each City the bats have brought down (London is the 5th city)
Then east to the river where no man fears to drown (a dry river)
Venture south for each island the Empire can claim (count all the islands with ports on your map)
And west for each bearer of the Emperor’s name (emperor’s name is Crispin IV)
Head straight for the Horizon, then take a step more (meaning the Avid Horizon)
Letting west end your search, with a one, two, three… (…four)
In the shape of an X. find a seeker misled
Nothing but eternity belongs to the dead
If you want to skip the riddles, your starting location is X=3 and Y=7. The treasure is at X=1 and Y=4.
Viric (green-ish): bring a mirror-charm, a mirrorbox filled with angry snakes or a phantasmal encounter. Mirror-Charm is given at the temple in Varchas after you have some smoke-nightmares. A Mirrorbox is stupid easy to get via Mechanic’s quest (an empty box and a clay man to Hunter’s Keep). Phantasmal encounter is a random event at Venderbight.
When all 7 pages disappear from your inventory, the quest is over and has 4 outcomes:
– get a ship (a yacht)
– get a mascot (a moth)
– get 9 secrets
– get 7 captivating treasures
[bPulse of the Principlesl[/b]
Go to Principles of Coral, battle locals (Pages challenge) and defeat them at chess. When there is no one left to play with, another opportunity presents itself. It’s called “Extra Move”.
Apparently, the fluke (aka the Voice) wants to dissolve (die) by losing a game of chess and asks you to bring it material for new chess-pieces for the game.
It also gives a companion that dies with its master if you win the game.
The Nacreous Outcast will ask you to take it to Salt Lions where it finds the first piece.
Return to Principles and find 5 more pieces:
Here are the items needed for the Principles’ End quest
– Ambiguous Eolith (bought at Anthe/Mt.Palmerston)
– Wakeful Idol (Converted from a Watchful Curio in Polythreme. Trade a Lamentable Relic for 3 Curios at Khan’s Shadow with SAY)
– Monster Tooth (a Hunting-Trophy, kill a crab/eel/shark)
– Fluke-Core (kill any fluke and harvest the core)
– Heatmetal Ingot (exchange 2 Strange Catches for a Soothe-Cooper box at Demeaux Island, then exchange the box for an Ingot at Station III (do not sell the box).
Each item is worth 7 scintillack, keep that in mind and have cargo space for it.
When you’re done, there is a choice:
– win and “kill” the creature and its servant (get a Mascot, 21 Secrets, 12 Scintillack, 4 lump of Blue Scintillack)
– or lose and keep the servant (as well as 1 searing enigma and some minor loot)
You get the Apocyan chess piece in any case. Also, you can ask the Fathomking to give you the Nacreous Survivor back “from the dead” for 1 fluke-core, a searing enigma, 7 scintillack, 7 captivating treasure.
In my opinion, it is better to win of you are endgame with a frigate/dreadnought and a house full of heirlooms. You can buy captivating treasures from Khan’s Shadow or get them in the Neathbow quest.
Quests (minor)
I arranged major quests based on their difficulty and availability.
Tomb-Colonists and the Last Tour Operator: there are few minor quests from tomb-colonists depending on your captain’s past. Being a poet also yields a Soothe&Cooper Long-Box. These quests begin in London, and take you to the Tomb-Colonies.
The Last Tour Operator is a repeatable midgame quest that starts with 12 supplies (+10 wine for a poet). It is a voyage to 3 random ports (Gaider’s Mourn, Shepherd Isles, Khan’s Glory, Chelonate, Irem, Polythreme).
Each time you get to a destination, there are 2 options: a safer option and more dangerous one. Sometimes a safer option costs a bottle of wine, supplies or good relations with the Khanate. Note that here you can easily get a god’s curse if colonists misbehave.
In the end this quest awards you 1500 echoes for 12 tourists and a judgement’s egg. This quest is repeatable.
Wistful Deviless is an exile on Mt.Palmerston. Deliver a crate of souls, and she starts a quest involving the Brass Embassy in London. After few runs, deliver the Deviless herself. Later she visits you (outlandish artefact or a secret when you don’t feel sorry for her).
Isle of Cats gives a choice of two paths: either with Isery or Zaira.
Isery will ask you to smuggle honey to the Scholar in London. She will give you rewards for successful delivery, then ask to give her a crewmember for experiments.
Zaira smuggles honey to the Venturer. She gives a bigger reward, but asks for a sacrifice later (a crewmember, a prisoner, or an officer: Irrepressible Cannoneer or Gall-Eyed Engineer). She’d give you 20 supplies extra for the officers.
The last part is same for Zaira/Isery patronage and it requires a gift for the Pirate-King (a surfacer from Cumaean Canal, veils challenge). Note that you can lose the “gift” in London, because it is contraband. When delivered, your patron gives a key to the gardens, a captivating treasure, and some other items.
Mr Sacks is a nasty quest not good for early game.It appears once you have surveyed Avid Horizon. One of the Masters is going to travel with you, giving items to deliver to certain ports. Each time there are 2 alternative ports, and rewards will be different for each (Khan’s Heart: drowning-pearls and a point of Menace, Pigmote Isle: scintillack, Isle of Cats: Red Honey, Mutton island: 49 echo). Then, the beast goes with you to Avid Horizon and makes a snow child with your blood (or not, depending on your choices). If you substitute blood, Mr.Sacks leaves a package for you in London with some trinkets, if not, then the story goes on:
The child is going to melt slowly, unless you help it. Go straight to London and then to Iron Republic with some scintillack. There you get a Soothe&Cooper long-box, which has to be exchanged for a Heartmetal Ingot unless you already have one. It’s best to approach Station III with a SAY.
They make a heart for the kid and it decides to go to Irem and then zail East.
Pigmote Isle
Pigmote Isle is a spit of land where shipwrecked rattus faber fight with cavies. As an outsider, you have to choose a side and either promote peace or fight. Their treasure is a lump of Blue Scintillack. Cavies will allow purchase of regular scintillack and rats allow hull repairs. Each nation gives a mascot. Every time you dock with SAY, a Dilemma event pops up, getting the rodents closer to the end of story (defeat, annexation or independence). You can destroy them and/or steal their Blue Scintillack if your character is evil.
To make Murinia/Cavia independent, you need the Might+Spirit+Civilization be more than 17. Every time you visit and face a Dilemma, you can check the current stage by moving cursor over corresponding icon. Better to make choices that either give +2 or take -1 point if you aim for independency.
Here are the Dilemma event keys:
1. Conscription (+1M -1S) or Accept (-2C) or Attack with a Might challenge (+1M)
2. Mercy (-1C +1S) or Example (+2M -1S)
3. Release (+1C) or Arrest (+1M)
4. Tolerate (+1S -1M) or Stern (-2S +1M)
5. Housing (+1C) Defences (+1M) Enjoy (+1S)
6. Patriotism (-2C +1S) Force (+2C +1M -1S) Opportunity (-2C)
7. Donate supplies (+2C +1S)
8. Raise woods (+1M -2C) Fears (-1C+2S)
9. Burn (+1M -1S) Quarantine (+2S -1C)
10. Prohibition (-1S +1C) Blind Eye (+2S -1M)
Blemmigan Propagation
There are total 29 “safe” ports to drop the blemmigan ashore. 30, including Iron Republic.
7 propagation points are needed for a reward at Uttershroom. Here’s the list:
Abbey Rock, Aestival, Chapel of Lights, Fathomking’s Hold, Gaider’s Mourn, Godfall, Hunter’s Keep, Irem, Isle of Cats, Khan’s Heart, Khan’s Shadow, Mutton Island, Nuncio, Polythreme, Port Carnelian, Salt Lions, Saviour’s Rocks, Shepherd Isles, Station III, Varchas, Venderbight, Visage
Anthe, Dahut, Hideaway, Nook, Rosegate, Undercrow, Wrack.
Scrimshaw Chronicler
In Chelonate, there is a bone-carving man who would like to know if their ancestors really killed the tortoise or not. Go to Irem, bring coffee and SAY, go to the Waswood and retrieve the story in 4 steps, each giving a Wound. You can heal one wound by resting in Irem, but 3 wounds will kill you. When you retrieve the secret, return to Chelonate and either lie to him or tell the truth.
Quests (Zubmariner)
Zubmarine is available with the Zubmriner DLC.
First, go to Port Carnelian and find the Fierce Philantropist and their secret workshop.
Then steal the zonar schematics from Khan’s Shadow or Station III and go back for the final step.
Trade zee-ztories, outlandish artefacts, stygian ivory and extraordinary implications for experimental progress until it reaches 99.
Zubmariner “passengers”:
– Incomparable Aurelian (Port Carnelian/Venedrbight) to Undercrow
– Doggy Apprentice (Venderbight/Empire of Hands) to Rosegate
– Truth-Hunting Chelonite (Chelonate) to Scrimshander
– Impolite Investigator (Mangrove College) to Hideaway
– A Monastic Drownie (Codex) to Scrimshander
– Wandering Parson (Quaker’s Heaven/Visage) to Low Barnet
– Scholar of lost causes (Scrumshander) to Hideaway
Prisoner of Dahut: also begins in Wrack where the composer tells you of another prisoner in Dahut, and continues in Dahut where you ask around first, and then do the same thing you did for the drownie songs, only this time you need Clarity above 20 and Length of stay 4 to 9 to get to the Prison and there, sing the Song of the Broken Hulls (you lose the song) to free the composer. Take her to Rosegate and report to Wrack to finish the story.
Rosina’s illness quest has a nice advantage: if she gets better, you can go to Anthe to heal wounds because she’s a healer. Well, to get to Rosina (who comes from the Presbyterate and is immortal) first you have to get a sharpness in your spleen through another storyline (you will have to do it every time if you cut away your sharpness in Polythreme). There are few options for Rosina, some will make her better, others get her closer to death. To help her recover you have to increase your “sharpness”: not just the spleen, but also tongue and maybe some other part. I remember using the Visage report and some other options, she recovered after 3-4 attempts.
Here is the working treatment
It’s better to approach her with Lorenzo’s letter from Undercrow after she recovers.
Flavour of a Cigar begins in Rosegate, you are asked to deliver a lost apprentice. He can be found either in Venderbight or Empore of Hands, ubless you already picked him and his quest. It starts a long and bizarre quest to make an underwater cigar. You are asked to bring 2 Ambiguous Eoliths for the robust flavour, 3 Unread Logs and Lamentable Relics for the bitter flavour, 3 Romantic Literature for the luscious flavour and then aid the tobacconist. However, this is hardly ethical what he does, especially the last part where you (spoiler) wrap the cigar in the poor apprentice’s flesh. When the cigar is done (and it works) there is a final journey to Iron Republic where you get a favour from the Anarchists for delivering that mad scientist.
Wrack is one of my favourite storylines in the unterzee. Trade 1 scintillack for the audience with its king. Then lure captains from other ports to Wrack and raise the city’s current state to Prospering. It opens some new shops. Also, remember to go and taste some tether, which induces memories from past lives(?) where you and the king were either family or friends or lovers. When you decide which one you’d prefer, return to him and from that moment on you get a nice terror reduction and your own sapphire tree in Dahut.
Undercrow has a courier quest to deliver 3 letters to underwater settlements: Hideaway, Nook and Anthe. These quests are given by a dying man Lorenzo who is a moth-host.
The main trick is to let him die in grace, telling lies sometimes to sweeten the moment, sharing coffee, wine, zee-ztories, relics. In the end, a reward of 1000 echoes is given if successful.
Gant Pole has a quest with the Fading Haruspex who is an ancient lady who tells fortunes from the intestines of dead beasts. She is fighting with hungry old zailors who came down from the Chelonate. Haruspex will ask you to kill some beasts and lead them to her. After 5 or so events she will either fade or ask you to take her home, if you were talking to her about her past (a lot). Take her to Whither and get a Searing Enigma for your troubles.
If you got deep into the Gant Pole with your foxfire candles, eventually you reach the “home” of old zailors and one of them is going to give you a letter to deliver to Gaider’s Mourn.
Hideaway is a battleground for truth. The sides involved are the Sprightly Visionary and the Impolite Investigator. The Investigator wants to tell the truth to people, therefore it is considered a “good” deed to aid him and get +1 Hearts and +1 Pages. The Visionary opposes him, but he is delusional because there is no way to avoid the future. Aiding him gives +1 Iron and +1 Veils. The fight involves lots of supplies/fuel donations and other items on various stages of conflict.
Legacy Items
Horizon Codex (Pages +25)
– Venturer’s storyline: bring him his goods, then agree to go North, take supplies and be brave. In the Avid Horizon, go all the way to the end.
– Dawn Supremacy: raise the Dawn Machine Supremacy to 7 (crafting Element of Dawn, selling them Memento Mori, submitting vital intelligence to Voracious Diplomat, etc)
A Travelling Light (Mirrors +25)
– Zeppelin: at the Empire of Hands, fully equip the Zep and steal it. Go East.
– It is possible to get the item at your Colony
Manual of Miracles (Veils +25)
– Shrouded in shadows: make a final sphinxstone delivery to Penstock without choosing a past for your character (don’t deliver to Dawn Machine)
– It is possible to get the item at your Colony
Boke of Sharps (Iron +25)
– Anarchists Supremacy: raise the Anarchists Supremacy to 7 (delivering packages from Vienna)
A Dream of Red (Hearts +25)
– Get to know the sisters at Hunter’s Keep, and as their story concludes in fires, rescue Phoebe and take her to the Surface.
– Finish the Austere Acolyte’s story at Station III. You are going to need SAY every time you dock to progress her story. At some point she’s going to do an autopsy, talk her out of it and her story will end in a nicer way.
An Adumbration of Her Heart (Pages +10) (Zubmariner)
– When you approach a black ripple (abyss), submerge and dive. To get the item, you need to complete 4 rituals and embrace the Lady in Black, which also means your end. Note that you have to “dive deeper” with a Hearts challenge first, then do the ritual and see the counter change from 0 to 3.
Here is the correct order:
– Abyss of Scriptures (Rite of Greeting). The Rite itself grants + 20 Hearts which helps pass the challenge.
– Abyss of Pyres (Rite of Hearth)
– Abyss of Pomegranates (Rite of Feasting)
– Abyss of Graves (Rite of Solace)
There are 15 or so rifts scattered in the unter-unterzee.
Ambitions in detail
Your Father’s Bones
It is a nice ambition to start with, different for each captain’s background:
Street-Urchin (Hand over the Stolen Bone) involves the Chelonate
Poet (Speak the address) involves Nuncio
Soldier (Match the knife to its twin) involves the Kingeater’s Castle
Priest (An interview with the Smiling Priest) involves Chapel of Lights. I personally do not recommend this one because..you know..the Mr.Eaten and all…
Natural Philosopher (A Crimson Lion-Mask) involves Visage
At some point you’ll have to go to Fathomking and he’s going to ask you for 6 items: a Legend’s Heart, a Miracle of Science, a Willing Guest, an Eldest’s End, Fruit of the Eternal Tree and a Sky-Light. Impressive, huh? Now, to business.
– the End. Easy to witness if you have been involved with the Curator at Venderbight or Principles at Port Cecil. Just finish one of the quests and there you go.
– the Heart. Easy to get if you have a Merciless Modiste and progressed her quest to the bitter end. You will have either her heart or Pirate Poet’s or both. Another choice of hearts can be trophies from Mt.Nomad (Stone’s curse as a compliment) or Tree of Ages.
– the Miracle. You will have to surrender one of your crafted items: Memento Mori (from the Cannoneer), Serpentine (From the Magician), Fulgent Impeller (from the Mechanic) or the Icarus in Black (but he’s not going to like it). Better give him the Serpentine or a MM if you have more than one.
– the Sky-Light. A Mirrorcatch box is the easiest option. Another one is a Mountain-Sherd, or if you are particularly generous, an Element of Dawn (also increases Supremacy:Dawn Machine).
– the Fruit. A Hesperidean Apple from Irem could be the one. Uttershroom Sporule could be another.
– finally, the Guest. Make your choice: Nacreous Survivor or Chef-Paramount. That’s it.
For each item the Fathomking gives a reward. +1 to each skill, sometimes a secret and a captivating treasure for Tree of Ages’ heart. Principles and Mt.Nomad are his relatives by marriage, so he’s going to be sorry but rewards you anyway.
Here is the reward for Soldier’s past
Zong of the Zee
An interesting quest that involves crafting 5 items. Crafting option is only available when your lodgings are upgraded. It uses a lot of rare items.
To make it you are going to need 5 port reports (Mt. Palmerston, Port Cecil, Irem, Khan’s Heart, Kingeater’s Castle) as well as 40 Secrets, 77 Zee-ztories, Memories of Distant Shores and Tales of Terror, a Dread Surmise (=7 Searing Enigmas) and those 5 items I mentioned:
Anatomical Cabinet (= 7 Secret + 7 Lamentable Relic + 1 Supplies)Monstrous Almanac (= 7 Secret + 7 Outlndish Artefact)
Serene Aquarium (= 7 Secret + 1 Live Specimen + 1 Supplies)
Shrine to Stone (= 7 Secret + Captivting Treasure)
Whispering Trophy-Case (= 7 Secret + 7 Strange Catch)
You can craft the Zong even without the Ambition. It’s going to cost dearly, but worth a try.
Wealth
Recommended for experienced captains. It requires 30000 gold and a Zeeside Mansion (upgrade from a Townhouse for 10000 echo). Making 40000 at zee (plus ship/fuel/equipment costs) is not exactly the easiest thing to do. Once you have it all, simply retire your captain at the Lodgings.
Your Kingdom
It is a serious ambition that requires a lot of hauling, and ideally a merchant ship. Finding protection from sunlight is a tiny drop compared to everything else. You will have to bring crew, supplies, treasures, leave one of your officers to look after it, set political powers in motion, and some other things.
Zubmariner Ambition (Immortality)
It is a lengthy quest that involves 7 people and endgame assault of a city of Nidah in the deep south. The quest itself is about stealing the secret of immortality from the capital of the Elder Continent and either becoming immortal yourself or allowing all living things in the Neath to experience death, because Presbyterians are immortal and protected by the energies of the Mountain of Light, being monopolists on immortality.
The quest begins in Port Carnelian, same place you acquire your zub. The Fierce Philantropist gives a quest to locate her husband Lytton, and you go looking for him in underwater settlements. He points to another person of interest, Mariam, who used to be a Presbyterate Princess. Pieces of her story are told by the Fading Haruspex in Gant Pole and Rosina in Anthe.
When you embark on this quest, you’ll notice that all underwater settlements and their prominent figures are connected.
Mariam sends you out on a quest to seek the 6 original members of a group that once failed their quest for immortality. You will have to find and recruit the 6. If one of them won’t join, there is always a replacement. Here they are:
– the Guide (Lorenzo or Isery) you find Lorenzo at Undercrow, out of shape, Isery joins instead
– the Financier (Fierce Philantropist) joins as replacement of her husband
– the Propagandist (Bourdain or Voracious Diplomat) Bourdain is trapped in Wrack, you can either trade with the Fair King for his mirror or persuade him if you have a relationship. If Bourdain is not available, talk to Voracious Diplomat in London.
– the Healer (Rosina or Banded Prince) resides in Anthe, ill with Animescence. If you fail to cure her, the other option is to recruit a Banded Prince from Port Carnelian.
– the Soldier (Batuk) lives in upper parts of Nook
– the Captain (Arik) is none other than a Sprightly Visionary from Hideaway.
… and you
When you collect the 7 anew, the crucial part begins. You will plan your quest and it is very costly. It has few steps:
– defeat the armies (spy network in Port Carnelian or money+searing enigma)
– secure the route (2 fluke-cores or primordial shrieks+2 sunlight boxes+captivating treasure)
– breach the walls (either sided with Arik at Hideaway or 100 torpedoes+vital intel+searing enigma)
That is the final step, which leads to the conclusion of the quest when you are presented with 3 options.
East
A secret ambition to zail east, done at great cost with help from the Carnelian Exile. Note that in the end all your stats will drop to 0 with nothing left for your scion to have except Legacy items and their own skin.
Emergency Aid
Here is some advice for those who want to make it safely to London in extreme conditions, provided that you haven’t got the Desperate Measures card yet.
Also, keep this in mind if you’re going to zail off the map edge (driven by the Exile’s quest or curiosity). It’s not going to be much help if you zailed South though…..
Hull Repair
There aren’t many options to repair your ship out in the zee, but you might be just lucky enough.
– The most obvious, while your hull is above 50% and you have extra supplies, hit R and get some of that hull repaired at the cost of 1 supplies. Won’t work at critical damage below 50%.
– Kill a shark and use its cage for a 1-3 points of hull repaired
– Fathomking’s Hold provides an option to repair hull, but first you’ll need a live specimen to do it.
– Rattus Faber at Pigmote Isle can help, but only if you sided with them (the rat-engineer) for the main quest
– Aestival Colony has an option to repair hull, but I have never really tried it.
Crew
Unfortunately, your crew becomes the main currency for negative events that happen at zee. And the most frustrating you can get is crawling at gear-1 speed when crew is below 50%. But, occasionally, you can improve a bit without visiting London.
– Demeaux Island has an event when “Something Awaits You” when a volunteer wants to join
– Port Cecil and Venderbight might trigger a “Raggedy Fellow” event when a zailor joins in, however, that might have mild consequences
– At Fathomking’s trade a zailor for 1 scintillack, but you have to give him a zee-ztory to descend first
– You can hire crew at Khan’s Heart.
– At Codex, after retrieving strategic information for the admiralty, an event might pop up to take aboard a mute exile
Also, installing We are Clay docking at some port might help if you need just 1 crewmember.
Supplies
Getting food is an easy job when you are a monster-hunter. And what if you’re not?
– at Demeaux Island taking tea with the factor (requires SAY) yields 1 supplies
– in Frostfound taking tea with the squatters (requires SAY) yields 1 supplies and a fuel
– compiling a report at Mangrove College also gives 1 supplies
– Vengeance of Jonah in Venderbight trades strange catch for 3 Supplies, but you have to unlock it first
– Uttershroom will trade prisoner’s honey for 1 Supplies and a blemmigan for your propagation quest
– again, Fathomking comes to our aid when you ask him for a boon (requires SAY) and get 5 Supplies, but again, there is a small price to descend there
– at the Empite of Hands, hunting for supplies at Ash Isthmus, doing raid at Hearthsake Village (Iron check) and shore leave at Port Stanton (with SAY) will get you some supplies
Fuel
Unfortunately, there are no major opportunities to get free fuel other than the Admiralty in London. Sometimes Fathomking’s boon yields supplies, but mostly it’s killing monsters (like lifebergs or behemoustache) and defeating all kinds of ships.
Easiest option is to buy fuel/supplies in port. I prepared a map where supplies- and fuel-selling ports are marked.
But there are clearly some places that overprice: Empire of Hands, Irem, Gaider’s Mourn, Venderbight, Rosegate when you can have fuel at 8 echo from Iron Republic or Wrack (after luring enough ships).
Note that some opportunities are not available when your ship is submerged. You will not be able to call for help from the gods of the zee. This quality is called “Below”. Basically, it’ s easier to die in the unter-unterzee.
Trade routes
Trading occupies a lot of space on forums and in player guides. For some players it is the ultimate goal to have as much echoes as possible. Depending on your playstyle you may or may not agree, but in any case trade as part of the game can’t be avoided. Please note that you can find more about profitable storylines in the Making Money in the Neath section of this guide.
I included maps of most popular routes in 2 most common map variations (short vs long).
Taking into consideration Zubmriner DLC, here are most popular trade routes:
– Wine trade (wine from London straight to Godfall) buy at 21, sell at 30, but it’s limited. You can sell for 24 at Adam’s Way and Aigul.
– Aigul also buys coffee from Port Carnelian making it a short but low-profit run.
– Honey to Coffee trade (coffee from Port Carnelian to Irem, Parabola-Linen back to London/Dahut) buy at 38, sell at 66 (Dahut) or 60 (London)
– Wine to Coffee trade (wine to Empire of Hands, Coffee to Irem, Parabola-Linen back to London/Dahut) buy at 21, sell at 66 (Dahut) or 60 (London)
– Coffee to Surface trade (coffee from Port Carnelian to Cumaean Canal and Vienna) buy at 38, sell at 80. The option dries out after few visits (I traded 150 sacks before the shop closed). Strongly recommend using a trader ship for this route.
– Foxfire Candle trade (shrieks to mutersalt at Scrimshnder, mutersalt to candles at Aigul, candles to devilbone at Khan’s Shadow, cargo doubled with each conversion, 15 shrieks turn into 60 devilbone, 32 echo profit)
– Sunlight trade (Empty boxes from Khan’s Shadow to Surface/Aestival, then London or Isle of Cats). It’s risky and I tried it once or twice only.
– Sunlight to Sapphires trade (Empty boxes to Surface/Aestival, Filled boxes to Nook, Sapphires to Chelonate) buy at 250 sell at 693 (=7 Sapphires per box)
– Prisoner’s Honey to Sapphire trade (Prisoner’s Honey to Gant Pole, Shrieks to Scrimshander, Mutersalt to Anthe, Scintillack to Wrack (prospering), Sapphires to Chelonate or Anthe) buy at 25 sell at 99. I use this route, especially when ports are close to each other.
This route can be repeated when Sapphires are sold at Hideaway each for 2 Mutersalt, then repeat the leg from Anthe to Hideaway again.
As you can see, some maps are more suitable for trade than others. Note the difference between sapphire trade route length for map 1 and map 2.
Notes:
I like the sapphire trade route, even when combined with sunlight trade. When Wrack is prosperous, you can buy 80 firkin of prisoner honey and turn them into 80 sapphires, sell 40 sapphires at Anthe, go to Hideaway and make 80 mutersalt, go back to Anthe and Wrack, get 80 sapphires again, repeat as many times as you want, and buy fuel/supplies at Anthe/Wrack as well. Perfect, and there is no danger. Lots of echoes.
Also, there are three “hidden” shops: one at Hideaway, where you just click the “Where do they store the goods” option. The other two require some work: a shop in Wrack needs 6-7 “wrecking runs” and the one in Khan’s Heart needs some work, too:
– to get the Nephrite Ring you need 5 Leopard favours, each bought for 5 sacks of coffee or 2 for 4 Taimen favours (5 drowning-pearls each).
– you get Taimen’s favours by delivering reports from Anthe.
– the total price for 25 coffee sacks is 950 echo
– 60 drowning-pearls cost 1800 echo (from Dahut), or 14 scintillack if you trade with Fathomking
– 14 scintillack can be acquired through honey-trade (25×14 = 350 echo)
Here are the inventories of Khan’s Heart and Wrack shops
Making Money in the Neath
There is a lot of variety here. You can choose how you make money and what inventory you use. Trade is the simplest thing that comes to mind, but there are other ways too.
– Early on, you will probably rely on clay men and sphinxstone. However, I would recommend starting the sphinxstone quest with a trade ship, because it’s the number of visits not the cargo you carry that counts towards the end of story. It matters not whether you carry 20 or 60 x4 times cargo, but the profit is going to be 3 times bigger.
– Neathbow and Last Tour Operator are very profitable, but they require a lot of zailing. With the Curator’s quest you can instantly get 7 captivating treasures and turn them into Heirlooms for your next captain. Last Tour operator is tricky, but gets 1500 echo and a judgement’s egg. And it’s repeatable!
– The Admiralty is going to provide a steady supply of fuel, cash and repairs as long as you don’t play for the anarchists or dawn machine. Note that later in game Admiralty won’t give favours for port reports, only for strategic information/vital intelligence. No hard feelings if you intend to betray them.
– the Venturer is going to pay 500 to 1500 echoes for various items (9 or 10 times), some of them you can get for free or through sale/conversion.
-The University is not as good, because you’re going to need most items, unless you are endgame and have nowhere else to sell your wakeful idols.
Here are the rewards you get from the Scholar at the University:
1 echo: ambiguous eolith (on a rare event it gives 50 echo) (bought for 30 at Anthe)
5 echo: lamentable relic (usually bought for 10 at Scrimshander)
10 echo: zee-ztory, memory, strange catch (bought for 25 at the Chelonate)
20 echo: unread log, watchful curio (3 pieces for a lamentable relic at Codex/Khan’s Shadow= 3.3 echo per piece)
50 echo: intriguing snippet
100 echo: outlandish artefact, live specimen, wakeful idol (wakeful idol is upgraded from curio for free at Polythreme, live specimen is upgraded from a strange catch at Uttershroom)
120 echo: brimstone buzzings
250 echo: extraordinary implication (1 piece for 3 eoliths at Chapel of Lights = 90 echo per piece) and it’s a better price than Irem (222 echo)
500 echo: judgement’s egg, fluke-core (fluke-core is almost free if you kill the fluke)
800 echo: lump of blue scintillack, ray-drenched cinder
1000 echo: captivating treasure, element of dawn, searing enigma, also red honey if you choose to betray Isery
Note that the Scholar is the only place to drop off Wakeful Idols.
7 enigmas yield a dread surmise and scholar’s gone.
– Blind Bruiser is going to pay 200 echo per smuggling run as well as some fuel and supplies. He is not going to be in the docks every time you visit, but always there to collect the cargo you carry. This story has no end, unless you choose to withdraw.
– Monster-Killing is easy with good weaponry and high Veils/Iron. You can sell hunting trophies, trade them for supplies and outlandish artefacts in Abbey Rock or Chelonate. Sell stygian ivory and Lamentable relics, and other occasional items you get from wrecking ships. It’s a good living, and a steady flow of free fuel and supplies. While you’re at it, you can complete side quests that don’t need much thinking. In this case, you can convert Hunting trophies into Outlandish artefacts and make those Heirlooms at your lodgings.
– Hunting the Alcaeus-Class Corvette yields 100-500 echoes for rescuing the Pirate-Poet, and it can spawn very quickly at the same spot. Note that if the Pirate-Poet is dead, you are not going to be paid.
– Foxfire Candles. Trade shrieks for mutersalt at Scrimshander, trade each mutersalt for 2 foxfire candles at Aigul. They’d cost 13 echo a piece this way (not 40). Candles can be used to navigate Godfall/Nocturne/Wisp-Ways/Gant Pole. If you have a lot of free supplies from somewhere, a Lost Treasure-Hunter will trade for foxfire candles 1:1, until you trade a map off him.
Wisp-Ways. A treasure trove provided you have a lot of foxfire candles.
There you can find a lot of items, the better items the higher your “Another Day: Navigating the swamps” count.
Elegiac Cockatoo (81-90), Solacefruits (101-117), Blue Scintillack (118-120), Searing Enigma (121-127), Long-Boxes (128-130), Captivating Treasure (131+)
In Chelonate, there is a brief opportunity to sell meat from Gant Pole to a fleshmerchant for 200 echo (9 or 10 runs, then he leaves)
One-time deals and other opportunities
Now, there are certain deals that only appear when you have a certain item or SAY. It is extremely good for time when you need to get items for a quest:
– trade 1 lamentable relic for 3 unread logs at Codex
– trade 1 hunting-trophy for 3 watchful curios at Khan’s Shadow
– trade a hunting-trophy, zee-ztory and supplies for an outlandish artefact in the Chelonate (no supplies if you completed the Chronicler’s quest and lied to him)
– trade scintillack for 2 solace-fruits at Gaiders Mourn
– trade 1 strange catch for a live specimen at Uttershroom
– trade 1 live specimen for 7 strange catch in Chelonate (shops tab)
Items that are not recommended for sale. You might need those!
– pewter horse-head (from Gaider’s Mourn) needed for the Magician’s Story
– soothe&cooper long-boxes (better put them to good use at station III)
– any items from the Neathbow quest, unless used already
– live specimen (very rare, also do not buy at Labyrinth of Tigers unless really needed)
– drowning-pearls (don’t use cargo space) used as gifts in Khan’s Glory
mutersalt, scintillack, solacefruit: have1-2 items ready for Officer quests and other stories. Parabola-linen, wine and honey can be used in some quests, too.
Now…. Soothe&Cooper Long-Boxes…
– get one at Demeaux with SAY and 2 Strange Catches
– get one wandering Khan’s Heart for 77 echo
– get one for a hunting-trophy and a SAY at Shepherd’s Isles
– get one by chance exploring Venderbight
Achievements
Some of the achievements are pretty straightforward and story-related, meaning you can’t miss them when you explore the zee and visit ports. Others are tricky, and I based my list on steam’s global stats:
– Come Closer (Lady in Lilac). Lady in Lilac will come aboard when your terror is above 75, provided that you received a tattoo either from Pirate-Poet or in London. She is actually a “good” character, of the Clathermont family of tattooists. She is also Maybe’s Daughter’s mother. In Fallen London she is the one behind the Feast of the Rose festivals.
– Storm’s Curse. Easily caught doing the final piece of the Last Tour quest at the Chelonate if your Tomb-Colonists run wild during a ritual.
– Roaring Rise (The Eye). It appears in the southern waters.
– What lies Beneath (Constant Companion). Just submerge with terror above 65 and wait.
– Stone’s Curse is caught in Frostfound, in the Dark Room.
– The Lady’s Parlour (Lady in Black) is a simple riddle when you know where to look. Complete 4 rituals in the following order:
1. the ritual of Greeting (Abyss of Scriptures)
2. the Ritual of Hearth (Abyss of Pyres)
3. the Ritual of Feasting (Abyss of Pomegranates)
4. the Ritual of Solace (Abyss of Graves)
Note that in order for this to work you have to choose “Dive Deeper” option, NOT the Perform the Ritual one. When you do it right, the “ritual” counter will increase from 1 to 3.
Every abyss in the unterzee has two names: geographical/nautical and fictional, and there are only 4 types, one for each ritual.
– Salt’s Curse caught easily in interactions with the Raggedy Fellow, Mute Exile in Codex or by shooting a white zee-bat. Careful, as it removes your Child/Scion from London.
– Romans 6:9 (Immortality) explained in the “Ambitions in Detail”
– A Drownie Devotee: story begins in Wrack, where a composer gives you a drownie-song, then you can get other songs from Dahut: achieve certain levels of Enthralment/Clarity/Length of stay.
Note that you need a SAY each time you do a piece of this quest.
– First, a Drownie Love-Song. You need Clarity less than 3, Length of stay 4 to 9 Spring Rites. Choose to Linger and pass Enthralment challenge (at 17) to proceed.
– Then, Drownie Song in Counterpoint. You need Enthralment more than 15, Length of stay 4 to 9 to go to the Midsummer Festival, and a Clarity challenge (at 13) to get the song.
– Finally, Drownie Hymn. For the final piece, first trade 1 scintillack for a fish from the Fathomking in his hold. (White Mollyflower sets Enthralment to 0) In Dahut, you’ll need Enthralment less than 3 and Length of stay 4 to 9 to attend the Liturgy of Souls and Clarity challenge (at 25) to get the song itself.
Now, the math. You’ll need to pass various skill checks to get points in either Enthralment or Clarity, each event also adds 1 point of Length of Stay.
Enthralment events: Blemmigan, Bonfire & Meal (on success), Clothes, Secret Places, Crypt and Calendar, reading an Unread Log (on failure)
Clarity events: Port report, Bonfire&Meal (on failure), asking about the prisoner, looking for other visitors and secret places, crypt and calendar (on success)
Note: all curses are remove in Whither by making offerings.
*****
For returning captains
If you haven’t played in a long time an came back only to see your save files corrupted (like me), the only option is to start over and the thought of it could be very unpleasant.
Say, you lost all the money, and your ship, your lodgings, legacy items… What’s left is your knowledge and vague memories of how things were before. Where to begin?
– better not overestimate yourself and work humbly without taking any risks: don’t go too far, don’t engage powerful monsters, don’t spend all your money on stuff
– set a course for your Ambition and keep in mind the Legacy items you wish to get on the way
– die few times to improve Legacy of your scion, plan each death meticulously
– don’t rush to get a frigate or trading vessel early on
– concentrate on collecting captivating treasures/outlandish artefacts and making Heirlooms
– don’t upgrade lodgings just yet unless you have a Wealth ambition
Also, check the “Wealth”, “Trade”, “Quests” sections of this guide to remind yourself of your goals.
Good luck!
Character creation
In Sunless Sea character creation is a simple process, taking much inspiration from Fallen London. There are 5 main attributes and 5 paths to choose from, each provides a boost and a background. You make the choices that fit your general style of playing. There is no good or evil, only your perception of it.
It is also possible to remain without a past (at least for some time), being shrouded in shadows, and there are at least two good reasons to do that: a legacy item and an achievement.
Please read further to know more.
Skills
Your character’s skills are their only attribute and have one purpose: higher skill is needed to pass skill checks on various occasions, a skill check is called “a challenge” and with a probability of 0 to 100% you either pass (get a reward or progress a story) or fail. These challenges increase in difficulty as you complete more quests and storylines. This is the very meaning of the game: take risks.
The main skills are:
Iron,
the ability to force your way through life, to fight enemies, tied to monster hunting, as well as revolutionaries, it is considered harder to raise or train;
Mirrors,
the skill of observation, tied to sight, luminosity and the ability to spot monsters and “see” further at zee, also how fast your weapons can fire, easy to raise;
Veils,
the key skill for sneaky and deceiving actions, often a quality of villains and spies, smugglers, street-urchins, diplomats, also determines your stealth at zee;
Hearts,
or general charisma and courage, influence and generosity and therefore “goodness” of your character, related to love and romance storylines, obviously;
Pages
is often tied to Journalists, Investigators/Reearchers and general knowledge of things. Pages also determines the speed of “levelling up” and overall progress through the game. It is the most sought after skill, however, it is considered passive. Other skills are used more frequently.
If you have a zubmarine, you can perform an abyssal rite and increase your skill to +20 at the -10 cost of another skill:
Greeting: Hearts +20 Iron -10
Hearth: +20 Mirrors -10 Veils
Feasting: +20 Iron -10 Mirrors
Solace: +20 Veils -10 Hearts
You can only do one rite at a time, and first you have to find the correct place: there are many rifts, but they are all different, and also they change places for each captain in line. I suggest going along the north coast, there should be plenty rifts there.
Your Past
You can choose your past at the very beginning or later by speaking to one of your Officers, doesn’t matter which one.
There are 4 careers your captain could have prior to catching zee-fever.
Street-Urchin.
In Fallen London, urchins live above the city and provide their eyes and ears for hire. This past gives a gunnery officer and a 25 boost to Veils.
Poet.
In Fallen London poets are struggling, addicted to honey-dreams and often affiliated with aristocrats. This past gives you a navigator and a 25 boost to Pages.
Soldier.
There are no ongoing wars in Fallen London, last was the battle for Hell (Campaign of 68). This past gives a 25 boost to Iron and a cook.
Ordained Priest.
It seems there is more than one religion in the Neath, plus the supernatural setting. It’s easy to start questioning your beliefs. This past gives a 25 boost to Hearts and an engineer.
Natural Philosopher.
These are probably the lost causes, best possible reason to go to zee. Curiosity. This past gives a 25 boost to Mirrors and a surgeon.
A you progress the story, you’ll notice that certain skill checks and quests are linked to certain lifestyles that may be also called zee-professions.
A monster-hunter may be an ex-soldier, with a starting bonus to Iron we have it around 50, plus the officer bonus which should give another 20 or so points. For mid-game fine equipment and a decent ship also give 20 points or more. An abyssal rite can give another boost (not to mention spending secrets on skills). A monster-hunter will have lots of trophies, stygian ivory, lamentable relics, a supply of fuel and food, and will rely on getting money from battle.
A trader’s main purpose is to zail far and wide, avoid battle and complete side quests on the way. A trading vessel will cost 7000 echoes, with 120 cargo space and a deck weapon slot to shoot off bats and miserable pirate ships. With Avid Suppressor and a good engine your main problem is fuel, supplies quite less so. You will also be limited to certain ports that sell goods you need, making half of the zee unused and unexplored. There will be a steady flow of echoes, depending on your trade routes. Money comes from long-distance zailing.
As an explorer/scholar your captain will rely on a light ship and little cargo, making good profit from courier jobs and completing most questlines. It will be a problem, however, for the Mechanic’s quest and the final part of the Venturer’s Desire (you’ll need a bigger ship). An explorer can hardly make much money, but on the other hand they can evolve to trader or even a monster-hunter. Their cargo hold is usually a mess of items, passengers and ship equipment.
You can also be a spy or smuggler. It’s going to be harder, but if you have high hearts and veils, you can avoid combat easily, get a fancy ship like Cladery Heart, zail around and conspire with all kinds of factions as you please.
The other important decision you are going to make about your character is their ambition, which is also a Victory condition.
Here’s an example of what you get after choosing your past
Ambitions
There are 4 ambitions available after you choose your past.
– Wealth
– Your Father’s Bones
– Fulfilment (Zong of the Zee)
– Your Kingdom (not available until you progress the story at Aestival)
– Immortality (zubmariner)
For early game I suggest Zong of the Zee or Your Father’s Bones. These are mostly about exploring and collecting items. Wealth requires 50000 echoes or more to complete, which can only be done by trading extensively. Not the best option for novice captains in my opinion.
When you complete an Ambition, it’s game over. Game will also end when you die, either of “natural” causes or by doing a certain quest which is not an Ambition.
I put a detailed guide later, under “Ambitions in Detail”.
Death and Terror
High terror ultimately leads to madness and death, same as 0 crew or 0 hull. But there are other more elegant ways to die. These will be mentioned in the Quests section of this guide.
Terror is the main constraint of the game, supplies and fuel not as much… they can be easily replenished in ports.
Terror bar can be found next to a skull icon at the top left corner of UI, and there are 3 types of surroundings: serene, scary and very scary, each marked with green, orange or red dots, when they reach full circle your Terror increases by +1. Your ship will also signal terror increase by lighting its port and starboard sides with ghostly green lights.
Here the green dots indicate a safe location.
The level of terror is tied to luminosity and proximity to land, being lowest near light sources (buoy or lighthouse) and the shoreline with prow lamp on, and the highest in the open zee with prow lamp off. When you reach well lit areas, the “terror dots” will change to green and start to decrease, eventually reaching 0, although not beyond that, so your terror level will not be lowered.
The only way to effectively lower terror is to dock at certain ports and use certain opportunities, either by paying echoes or some other favour.
There are certain levels to terror that will lead to frequent encounters on your ship.
0-30 is considered low, your crew will be spooked or scared, but nothing a pass of Hearts skill check can’t handle.
30-50 will make you very nervous, there will be more events and more losses if you fail
50-90 at this level docking in London will give you 1 point of Nightmares and decrease terror to 50. You can get a whooshing 50-70 points of terror after certain events at Frostfound or by sailing beyond the edge of the map, getting you right to this stage of terror if not beyond. At this point you will have events that will kill your crew, raise terror, and a Constant Companion will appear underwater, being a spider of 750 HP that follows you everywhere once you submerge until terror is lowered.
90-100 is basically suicide, but there is a brighter side: a phantasmal Officer will appear on your ship by the name of Lady in Lilac.
I include reliable locations to lower terror in the Emergency section of this guide.
Legacy
When playing the game you have to keep in mind that your captain will eventually die or complete an ambition. Sunless Sea has opportunities to pass your accumulated wealth on to your next in line.
Firstly, there is an Ironclad Will (allows to pass on Lodgings and Heirlooms), available for purchase in your Lodgings in London for 100 echoes.
Secondly, there is a romantic storyline in London which results in having a child who later goes to zee and becomes your Scion (allowing 2 Legacies instead of 1). This storyline also requires the purchase of an Elegant Townhouse to progress. In the house, there are options to create Heirlooms either from Captivating Treasures or Outlandish Artefacts, each Heirloom can be traded for 900 echoes and is a reliable source of income for your next captain.
Your next captain will have 5 Legacies to choose 1 (without a Scion) or 2 (with a Scion):
-Rival (50% of Iron and a weapon)
-Pupil (50% of Mirrors and 50% of money)
-Salvager (50% of Veils and 50% of money)
-Shipmate (50% of hearts and one officer or mascot)
-Correspondent (50% of Pages and the chart/map of the Neath)
Here is the Legacy menu.
If your captain died at zee, their heir will have no money unless there were heirlooms or a legacy of a pupil or salvager.
As you can see, it is possible to pass on 100% of your captain’s money, but there will be no weapon, no chart, no officer. Note that none of your items or ship will be passed on. You’ll have to buy a new ship and all the equipment for it.
You can lose your scion if you suffer Salt’s curse or have a relationship with one of your officers.
There is a way to get a permanent boost to starting skills for all captains by getting the following items:
Horizon Codex (Pages +25)
A Travelling Light (Mirrors +25)
Manual of Miracles (Veils +25)
Boke of Sharps (Iron +25)
A Dream of Red (Hearts +25)
An Adumbration of Her Heart (Pages +10)
Here is the Legacy Items menu.
Please see Quests section for detailed information.
Your Ship
Every captain gets a starting ship, a simple one with a cargo hold of 40, 10 quarters and hull of 70 HP. You can only change equipment in ports.
Your ship can be equipped with and a total of 6 items: Forward, Deck, Aft, Bridge, Auxiliary, Engine. Some ships will have restrictions and only 4 or 5 slots available. There are 2 ships you receive from quests: a Steam-Yacht and Cladery Heart. Both provide +10 bonus to all skills (CH : +5/+15 for Iron/Hearts). The Heart is a fine ship, but it has no forward weapon and therefore can only be used for trading and exploration.
Here is the overview of starting ship.
Please note that the selling price for most items is 50% lower than purchasing price, plan accordingly.
Note that endgame ships require very good engines, and if you got a Fulgent Impeller, this engine makes your ship too fast for effective combat and is only good for trade. Have 2 engines: one for battle and another for long-distance travel.
Hull
Your hull is your “health” and it works same way for any other ship you encounter at zee. Better ships have more hull. Here’s a comparison:
Lampad-class: 50 hull, Ligeia-class (starting ship): 75 hull, Phorcyd-class: 200 hull, Caligo-class: 300 hull, Maenad-class: 450 hull, Eschatologue-class: 600 hull. Most enemy attacks will deal 5-15 damage, 40-60 damage if it’s a Mt. Nomad or Tree of Ages. So.. well… don’t go east on a Lampad-class cutter.
Hull can be repaired by leaving your ship in drydock in London. It’s going to cost echoes, less if you have Admiralty favours. More if it’s a standard shipyard. Usually the hull is fully repaired. Not if rattus-faber are involved, though…
Quarters
It is the number of crew your ship needs to keep it going. 50% of crew can only run at 50% speed (gear 1). Here’s a comparison:
Lampad-class: 5 crew, Ligeia-class (starting ship): 10 crew, Phorcyd-class: 15 crew, Caligo-class: 30 crew, Maenad-class: 25 crew, Eschatologue-class: 40 crew.
Crew consumes supplies, so when you’re not planning going to scary places or dealing with scary people, or fighting monsters, better keep it at half +2-3 crew just in case. You don’t need 30 crew on caligo-class, you only need 18-20.
How do you lose crew?
– in fights when enemies launch special powerful attacks
– going to forests, castles, Surface, shore leaves, hunting, etc
– sacrificing crew for items and favours
– eating crew at certain places or when hunger is at 100
– losing crew to terror/mutiny/killers on board (unfinished men, spiders, assassins)
Hold
Determines your ship’s capacity to store goods, passengers, equipment. Usually ships have 40 or 70 hold, merchant class has 120 and Eschatologue-class has 100. Some of your hold will be reserved for fuel and supplies at all times. Also, there are sealed containers to contain dangerous species and concealed compartments for smuggled goods. Buy those in London or Gaider’s Mourn.
Note that you can jettison items anytime by pressing the arrow button near the cargo counter.
You can convert your ship to a Zubmarine via a short quest in Port Carnelian.
A Zubmarine allows you to dive and does not require any special equipment.
Early advice and how things work
The best way to start the game is to be an explorer with higher Pages to quickly progress through stories and hopefully earn some money by doing quests. Once you have settled and acquired a weapon and a better ship, you can pass your legacy to next character who can be either a trader or a monster-hunter.
You can read more about this in the Quests and Legacy sections.
Note: SAY = Something Awaits You, an opportunity that appears after 1 minute at zee and can be used in ports.
The main currency of this game is not echoes, it’s TIME. Each minute spent at zee is a currency that takes away supplies and fuel, increases terror, but also rewards you with unique opportunities.
Here is the log book icon with SAY (lantern)
You start in London, the area known as Wolfstack Docks. There are more areas where you can trade and progress your story. London is the main hub with the biggest market and it also provides ship repairs, new equipment, crew and officers.
Gazette
The Gazette is your “assistant”. Every time you dock, a Gazette interface is displayed with Ship, Journal, Officers, Hold, Shop tabs available.
Story – takes you to the streets of the city. For some cities there will be “transitions” to other areas where the Gazette becomes unavailable.
Hold – displays your current vessel with all its equipment and your items. Allows to equip items while in port.
Journal – displays icons with all the information you collected so far. Note that your quests are scattered in the journal. It is sorted by port/location. When you need to find what you’re supposed to do, check icons under the “Objectives” and “Learning About”. If you didn’t find anything, check under port you’re going to.
Officers – displays your officers and mascots, allows to assign and interact with them.
Shops – displays available shops. In each location there are typically 1-2 sellers.
See the Trade section of this guide for details.
Shipyard – used for buying new ships (in London)
Here is the Shops tab.
When you first arrive at Fallen London, make sure to write an Ironclad Will to pass something to an heir. Because you never know when and where you’re going to meet your end. Right?
Zailing
To zail you need supplies and fuel, and to have them you need either to buy them for echoes, trade for items/favours or loot defeated enemies.
Fuel and supplies bars are displayed in the upper left corner of the UI. Fuel and supplies are consumed at some rate while at zee and have their own mechanics.
– fuel burns twice faster at gear 2 (increasing the speed) and Full power (F) burns even more fuel
– fuel burns faster with more efficient engines (more engine power)
– fuel burns faster with prow-lamp (L) on (lights burn 1% of fuel every second)
– fuel burns faster on heavier ships (either full cargo or ship’s own weight)
– supplies are consumed faster with more crew on board, which is crew count divided by 2 for every minute spent at zee
Tip: you need less supplies with claymen onboard as they reduce crew capacity by -3
If you feel especially nerdy, there are player-made spreadsheets on different gaming forums that calculate speed/distance and fuel consumption ratio.
Here’s an example for your Ligeia-class corvette with weight of 1000 and engine power 800:
speed = (4.5*800+2000*8-1000)/2000 = 9.3 distance units/second (for gear 1)
fuel consumption = ((800*0.0005)*1)*1+ 1 = 1.4 % per second with lights on (for gear 1) meaning that a barrel of fuel lasts a minute and a half at zee, and about 40 seconds at gear 2.
Advanced ships, engines and officers will make some difference.
Here’s an example for Phorcyd-class corvette with Boadicea engine and Maybe’s Daughter/Tireless Mechanic as officer
speed = (4.5*1600+2000*8-2000)/2000 = 10.6 distance units/second which is 10.375 without Maybe’s Daughter.
fuel consumption = ((1500*0.0005)*(1-0.05)*1)+1= 1,7125 % per second with lights on (for gear 1) and 1,75 % without Tireless Mechanic. Meaning that at gear 2 a barrel of fuel lasts for 28 seconds or so.
In general, it is more efficient to use Gear 2, unless you have the combo of Fulgent Impeller/Avid Suppressor equipped, which gives higher efficiency at Full Power (F)
Zee is vast, and sometimes a good fuel planning can save not only echoes, but also your quest or your life.
When you run out of fuel (0 barrels) a Desperate Measures card will appear allowing you either to convert supplies to fuel or make sacrifice to gods. The last option is abandon ship with 20% chance of staying alive.
Hunger
One of the biggest terrors at zee is to die of hunger, or worse (the Sigil-Ridden Navigator quest is very illuminating here).
The hunger bar is located under the fuel bar in the upper left corner. Once hunger reaches 50 one point of supplies is consumed by crew. If there are no supplies, an event will trigger for every 10 points of hunger allowing to lower it if you are lucky.
Tip: lower hunger when hunting monsters, using their meat to save yourself a crate or two of supplies per voyage.
When you run out of supplies (0 crates) and hunger is above 50, a Mouth to Feed card will pop up allowing to convert zzoup, strange catches and live specimen to supplies or reduce hunger.
Map
The map in Sunless Sea is generated once per captain, unless you choose Correspondent as Legacy and get the old chart. Which is recommended if your map has shorter trade distances. See the “Trade routes” for details.
Map is divided into regions where some locations are fixed, and others shift for every new captain. Fixed locations are: Fallen London and Lower Barnet, Mutton Island, Venderbight, Whither and Codex, Irem, Cumaean Canal, the Iron Republic and Grand Geode, Port Carnelian, Adam’s Way and Varchas, Kingeater’s Castle. These ports are on the coastline and will be found exactly on the same spot where they previously were (not sure about Autumn Islands though).
Some ports will be shuffled. They either “travel” together or alone, but usually keep their regional boundaries. Chelonate, Empire of Hands and Aestival will always be in the East, between Kingeater’s castle and Irem. Isle of cats, Fathomking’s hold, Mangrove College, Visage occupy southern waters, while Chapel of Lights, Avid Horizon and Frostfound sit in the north.
Blue circles mark underwater settlements that are tied to certain zee ports. I framed clusters of ports and marked permanent locations in red.
Cargo and Curiosities
As you zail and make progress you gather a variety of resources that take space in your hold (or they don’t). Cargo is a category for resources that are involved in trade or big quests and take space (goods, passengers, quest items).
The ones that don’t need cargo space are called curiosities, and all your fragments/secrets, port reports, books, trinkets go in that category.
Here’s a view of starting cargo and curiosities.
Fragments and Secrets
Fragments are snippets of knowledge you collect on various occasions. Your progress is marked with a golden bar in the lower left section of the UI, above the captain’s log. When you collect enough you get a Secret which is a valuable item that has many uses. Secrets are spent to increase skills by talking to your Officers on the Journal page.
They are also a key component for serious quests and crafting powerful items like the Monstrous Almanac, Serene Aquarium, etc.
First Steps
When all around you is dark, and all you have is a ship and 50 echoes, it’s really hard to make those first steps in the right direction. How do you earn money? Where do you go?
Here’s a proposition. You don’t have to follow my plan, but that’s what I do every time I die.
1. Sell the tutorial and get 50 echo for it.
2. Pick the tomb-colonist quest and the Student/Gallivanter quest, go to your Lodgings and read the papers.
3. Your starting 9 fuel should be enough for this journey. Zail north along the coastline, avoid zee-beasts until you get to Venderbight, finish the quest, talk to the Curator, explore, whatever. You can sell 1 supplies for 1 tale of terror if you like. Zail north and follow the coastline to Whither (don’t approach the lady in viric and don’t defy the gods), then zail east to Codex. From there, zail straight south until you reach the Hunter’s Keep. There aren’t supposed to be other ports in your way. In Hunter’s Keep, talk to the sisters (once), then go back to London and visit a light-ship on the way. Exchange recent news for a zee-ztory. Before you dock, zail into a smaller channel until you get to a bridge. The discovery will yield 100 fragments. You should now have 200 echo.
4. In London, go to Admiralty and submit reports, go to the University and talk to the scholar. Agree to work for the Blind Bruiser. He gives you some fuel and you should have 15 fuel now. If the tattoo parlour is available, get a tattoo if you like. If there are recruits available, look for Officers and hire one (not the Haunted Doctor). Go to Lodgings and read newspapers. If you have upgraded Lodgings, write a Will in your Study for 100 echo. Carouse in Wolfstack docks and choose a sweetheart. When the locket event pops up, keep the locket.
5. Now, zail south along the coastline. Visit Mutton Island and pick the Wretched Mog. Zail some more until you get to Cumaean Canal, dock and pick the latest news. Follow the coastline and pay a visit to the Iron Republic. Pick the Cannoneer if he’s available. Buy some cheap fuel, 2-3 barrels should be enough. Don’t try the port report option yet.
6. If you feel like zailing some more, go south along the coastline until you reach the Dawn Machine. Don’t go there, just explore and take east, along the Carnelian coast to Port Carnelian. Visit the sapphire-factory and get your zub or start the quest for building one. Make a port report, pick some passengers, now zail north and back to London. If you see other ports on the way, dock, make a port report, explore. Near London find the light-ship and exchange your recent news for a zee-ztory.
Here is the first voyage map
8. Now you should be out of fuel and supplies, time to visit the Admiralty and talk to the Venturer about his deal. The Blind Bruiser will probably give you the delivery to Mt.Palmerston quest. You need 10-15 fuel and 4-5 supplies, depending on the port location. Don’t worry, you can buy some more when you get there. Read the papers, carouse in the docks, pick a new Officer.
9. To get to Mt. Palmerston you have to go back to Codex and continue along the northern rim until you hear the drums and a message about brimstone pops up in your log. Send a bat (Z) and find the port. Collect the Bruiser’s cargo and buy fuel/supplies. If you feel like going back, zail a straight line back to London. Take your money, do the usual routine.
10. If not, continue along the coast until you reach Frostfound. Take tea with squatters. If you pass Avid Horizon, dock and get the Hunter’s Eye for 70 fragments. Use your Beginner’s Luck and search the area to get 3 sapphires, fuel and supplies. There are no shops in the north except Irem and Mt.Palmerston. There is Anthe, but you need a zub. To get to London you need 10 fuel and 2-3 supplies. You can visit ports on the way: Chapel of Lights, Khanate or Polythreme. In Polythreme, pick the clay men. Go back to London. Receive the reward from the Bruiser (200 echo) and the clay men (120 echo). Sell the sapphires for 90 echo each.
11. Now you can make sphinxstone deliveries from Salt Lions. One delivery makes you 300 echo richer (200 echo deposit – 500 echo payout).
12. Another option is the Last Tour Operator. if you’re confident. Payout is 1500 echo and a Judgement’s egg.
That routine should get you going, continue doing runs for the Blind Bruiser, deliver sphinxstone and clay men. Explore the zee, be careful. Fighting enemies is not worth the risk.
Keep outlandish artefacts and captivating treasures, progress your family story until you get a scion. Upgrade lodgings, make heirlooms. Then you can start taking risks.
Officers
A great addition to ship’s crew and your skills are the officers, recruited either in London or in other ports. There are 10 officers and 4 mascots available.
Some officers are a temporary addition to our crew and will disappear once their quest is over.
Each Officer has a quest promoting them to a better self which can be either difficult or not, however, with each new captain all officers return to their pristine qualities. Note that it is possible to recruit every officer, and if you haven’t found one, just take your time, that’s game mechanics for you.
It is possible to lose at least 9 officers through their storylines or other quests. You can’t lose the Mechanic, the Daughter, and the Magician. Or at least you’d have to try very hard.
Here is the list of default Officers for each background and a Mascot.
Shady Cook +1 Hearts (Veteran of the 68 Campaign background) – he is a cook and gives a reward for taking him to Wisdom
Gall-Eyed Engineer +1 Veils (An Ordained Priest background) a chief engineer who gives a reward for taking them to Kingeater’s Castle or giving them to Lady of the Cages on Isle of Cats as part of her quest.
Sly Navigator +1 Mirrors (Poet background) is a first officer who gives a reward for taking him to Frotfound
Longshanks Gunner +1 Iron (A street urchin background) is a gunnery officer who gives a reward for taking her to Khan’s Shadow
Plausible Surgeon +1 Hearts +1 Pages A natural Philosopher background) is a doctor who gives a reward for taking him to Chelonate
Comatose Ferret +1 Hearts it seems the ferret has to die anyway either when your crew get too hungry or you want a nice outfit from the Modiste.
Here are the permanent Officers:
Cook
Bandaged Poisonnier +6 Hearts +3 Pages can be recruited in Venderbight after visiting Demeaux Island and having tea with the Factor. He aids greatly with hunger if you have a strange catch: this option gets supplies or at least reduces hunger. Can be sacrificed at Fathomking’s when going after Your Father’s Bones.
Nacreous Outcast +4 Hearts +2 Pages +2 Mirrors can be recruited in Principles of Coral. Will disappear if you play the Principles’ game and win. Also, can be sacrificed same as Poisonnier.
Chief Engineer
Genial Magician -1 Hearts +6 Veils +3 Mirrors is usually available in London. He apparently has trouble with Fingerkings in Parabola, which allows him to make the Serpentine engine later in game.
Maybe’s Daughter +6 Veils +3 Iron +100 Engine Power can be found in London. She is an offspring of a Parabolan tiger and Lady in Lilac.
Tireless Mechanic +8 Veils Fuel Efficiency +5% is available from London on random, or Frostfound. He also has trouble with some greater power, but his engine is a lot better than Magician’s.
First Officer
Carnelian Exile +6 Mirrors +3 Pages she is touched by the Dawn Machine, and her dangerous quest ultimately leads you to your end. Not to mention zailing 4 times beyond the map. But you were warned, right?
Merciless Modiste +8 Iron +3 Veils +1 Hearts can be recruited at Mt.Palmerston for 6 Parabola-Linen. She and the Pirate-Poet were one part of the Set, a group of artists that zailed the Irrepressible zubmarine. Modiste can make you garment to permanently increase skills (Hearts, Pages or Iron). You can lose the Modiste if you progress her quest and deliver her to the Irrepressible.
Sigil-Ridden Navigator +6 Mirrors +3 Veils is a man who lost his memories, and his story ends very badly, although you get a searing enigma for your troubles. Actually, it’s much harder to keep him alive than let him go.
Gunnery Officer
Irrepressible Cannoneer +8 Iron can be picked from London or Iron Republic. gives a quest to craft a powerful weapon that can be either used or sold to interested parties (see Opposing Forces section for details). He has no promotion and not much use when his project is done. Can be sacrificed at Port Cavendish.
Presbyterate Adventuress +6 Iron +3 Veils is from Adam’s Way. There is no way to promote her. Dine with her 3 times for 3 supplies and 3 sacks of coffee, then fight off some assassins. She is actually looking for a way to die. Her storyline is quite short (take her to the Sisterhood). She dies anyway.
Surgeon
Brisk Campaigner +6 Hearts +3 Iron is actually sick with Animescence and her quest will take you places to find ingredients for a cure. She has nothing to offer but may be of use in Adam’s Way. She can be kicked off the boat if you don’t feel like collecting all the items for her cure.
Cladery Heir +6 Hearts +6 Iron thinks that Mr.Iron is her father, she is rather cynical and has a temper. Her quest is not very demanding, just do a few surgeries, give her something to practice on… at some point she starts looking for the Cladery Heart, a ship (which is the only reason to pursue this story).
Haunted Doctor +6 Hearts +3 Pages has no purpose, the only thing he knows is that the Bazaar is evil and it devours London. He will work hard against it, and while he has no allegiance he might be a big trouble (at least until caught).
Here are the storyline-related Officers
Scrimshaw Chronicler -1 Hearts +3 Iron +3 Pages +3 Mirrors (Glory’s Bones Quest in Chelonate and Irem)
Your Father +1 Hearts +1 Veils (Ambition: Your Father’s Bones quest)
Wistful Deviless +1 Iron (her quest on Mt. Palmerston where at some point she asks to take her to London)
Lady in Lilac +6 Hearts +6 Pages +6 Mirrors (Nightmares 70 and above)
The Scarred Sister (is the youngest sister from Hunter’s Keep and her quest ends when you take her to Abbey Rock, Station III or Naples)
Here is the officers tab in the Gazette.
Mascots
Mascots:
Comatose Ferret +1 Hearts (starting mascot)
Blemmigan Gallavanter +3 Mirrors +2 Pages (joins in London)
Wretched Mog +2 Iron (adopted at Mutton Island)
Monkey Foundling +5 Hearts (steals your clothes at the Empire of Hands. Just be polite. Joins later.)
Albino Tinkerer +2 Veils (Pigmote Isle, siding with rats)
Guinea Page +2 Pages (Pigmote Isle, siding with cavies)
Elegiac Cockatoo +2 Mirrors (Wisp-Ways in Mangrove College)
Eyeless Skull -2 Mirrors +4 Veils (Genial Magicial storyline or Frosfound)
Keeper-Moth -2 Hearts +3 Mirrors +3 Veils +3 Pages (end of Curator’s story)
Vigilant Idol +4 Mirrors (end of Principles story on winning the game)
Fragments & Secrets
Fragments
These tiny bits of information may seem unimportant, but they make a huge difference for early game when your skills are at 25-50 as well as endgame, when your skills are above 150.
Note that the excess fragments are not carried over when you get a secret. Watch the progress bar and don’t engage in big stories when you are about to get a secret.
Exploration
For a fresh captain (provided that the chart is blank) exploration is the main source of fragments. Discovering new enemies also yields fragments.
Here’s the exploration tip: in London, zail below the Wolfstack docks until you reach the bridge and the Bazaar for 55 fragments. In Whither, zail to the upper left corner for another 50. In Irem, circle it for 150 fragments. In Kingeater’s zail below the structure to the lower right corner of the map for 50 fragments. Finally, zail close to the Dawn Machine if you haven’t already for 100 fragments.
Interactions
In general, exploring mysterious places like Whither, Avid Horizon or Venderbight yields more fragments. I’m not going to mention locations where the fragment yield is below 20.
In Godfall, ask the pirate-monks to talk of blood.
In Naples, carry cargo in the Mediterranean for some fragments
Convert 77 fragments and 7 zee-ztories/memories to a secret in Mangrove College.
Secrets
Secrets are a rare find, usually awarded for big quests and big kills.
Quests
Haruspex – one secret for delivering her to Codex
Lorenzo – a secret for witnessing his death and another for taking the husk to Demeaux Islan
Sister – one for delivering a Regret from her brother
Polythreme Exile – one for delivering him from Anthe to Polythreme
Scarred Sister – one for taking her to the final destination
Neathbow (Gant) – one for each page, also 9 secrets may be chosen as reward
Principles – one for each piece, also 21 secrets if you choose to win the game
Curses – one for each curse you get (from the colonists’ activities)
Chapel of Lights – one for each ritual, and 7 for the last one
Station III – for progress with the Acolyte
Wistful Deviless – few times while doing the quests
Hunting
Lorn-Fluke – on occasion
Lornest Fluke – on occasion
Ports: from London to Polythreme
London is the central port, and home of your captain.
Here you can buy a house, fix your ship, hire crew, buy supplies and equipment. You can visit some of the areas of Fallen London: the Admiralty, the University, the Roser Wharf, the Brass Embassy, the Labyrinth of Tigers.
Hunter’s Keep is a small island usually sitting northwest of London. Three sisters live in the cottage: Lucy, Phoebe and Cynthia. Each sister has her own dealings with gods of the zee. After 4-5 visits the house will burn, and you can save one of the sisters and complete her story for a legacy item. Also, there is a cellar where Mechanic can do part of his quest. When the house is gone, there is no point returning there.
Mutton Island is a fishing village. There is a well and when there’s a well you know who lives there…. (there is another well at Chapel of Lights). At Mutton island you can pick up a mascot (+2 iron) or drink at the tavern and increase Iron and Veils by +1 at a random event. If the island is locked out, it’s forever.
Once you dock, its fate is sealed and takes one of 3 paths:
– seized by the Khanate, after a blockade when you can rescue a few refugees
– controlled by the Admiralty, after a certain eerie *cough*cannibalistic*cough* event
– Fruits of the Zee festival
Venderbight is the port of the Tomb-Colonies which were part of the Third City. Here you will find the Vengeance of Jonah restaurant, an Officer, few profitable quests and opportunities. Tomb-Colonies are the “retirement” place: when someone gets too old, too scandalous, maybe ugly or ill, they go to one of the Colonies to live there (in bandages), no wonder they go a bit crazy and want some entertainment.
Whither is a place of endless questions and no answers. Do not defy the gods.
Codex is a small colony directly opposite Whither. It has all the answers, but its exiles are mute, because they dared to answer questions.
Frostfound/Brite is a castle of ice presumably built by Salt before it went to the East. Salt left there its memories. Tea with squatters is good thing, but don’t go inside Frostfound unless you know exactly what you’re looking for.
Avid Horizon is the gateway to High Wilderness and this is where people (supposedly) leave the Neath and go on to the Reach, a region featured in Sunless Skies. Not much to do here. Zailing North off the map edge can bring you here.
Chapel of Lights is connected to a very disturbing story from Fallen London about a Master who was eaten by the rulers of the Third city, and therefore gives a cannibalistic vibe. This story is also connected to Mutton Island where Master’s remains were dropped in a well, and Whither where he is called a Drowned Man.
Mt. Palmerston is a colony of Hell where high-ranking devils were exiled after an uprising, that community is called Brimstone Convention, watched by the Wistful Deviless. It sells cheap fuel, zzoup and devilbone dice.
Salt Lions (Station IV) have come from the desert, probably when the First City fell. It is a quiet place, its only benefit – the sphinxstone and quest to carry it to London for money. It is limited and becomes unavailable later in game.
Gaider’s Mourn is a shady place for shady characters. Drink in a bar, join a fight, have a tryst with a Pirate-Poet, sell contraband and buy illegal stuff.
Pigmote Island is a fungal wilderness where two colonies of vermin are engaged in a civil war: cavies vs rattus-faber. You will have to support the island and decide its fate.
Abbey Rocks is a monastery ruled by the Sister who was a prominent figure in the Second city. Here you can reduce terror and trade supplies, trophies and strange catches.
Shepherd Isles is a quiet place also tied to the gods of the zee. It can add some zee-ztories, tales of terror and memories of distant shores to your portfolio.
Station III is a base of Soothe & Cooper. As the name suggests, this is where Soothe & Cooper Long-Boxes go to. It is a secret weapon facility that extracts heartmetal from dead bodies. Austere Acolyte and Heartmetal Smith are the only inhabitants.
Cumaean Canal is the gateway to the Surface (Vienna and Naples). It was once dug by the Stone Pigs. To get to the surface you need 24 fuel and 2 supplies. Visits to Surface also reduce terror a lot. Supplies are cheaper, but not the fuel. First you go to Avernus, then Naples, then Vienna. Vienna is a hub for revolutionaries and coffee trade. To get back, repeat same steps in reverse. Note that you’re going to need fuel/supplies to get back to the Neath.
Demeaux Island or the “Funging station” where you can have tea with the local “manager”, gather supplies and get information about the Vengeance of Jonah.
Polythreme is home to Clay Men and also Unfinished Men who seem to be very good at rowing a boat. They are born of the king’s dreams, each with a piece of Stone (Mountain of Light) that gives them life. The King himself is an ancient creature with a mountain-sherd for a heart.
Iron Republic is a colony of Hell south of London where no human or natural law is present, therefore it is very dangerous and always changing. Iron Republic has 4 markets that also change depending on the day. The place is affiliated with devils and revolutionaries.
Grand Geode is the base of operations for a splinter cell of Admiralty officers who got under the influence of the false-Judgement (false-star) called the Dawn Machine. Their eyes glow with amber light. The Machine itself lies to the south, it is possible to zail “west” beyond the edge.
Port Carnelian lies on the Elder Continent (also named the Presbyterate). It is the diplomatic hub where local folk and tigers deal with londoners and Khanate. People of the continent are dark and some of them live in underwater settlements. Mountain-of-Light could give immortality to everyone, but only few have it, others are forbidden to live long lives and have to seek death.
Mangrove College is famous for its jungle (the Wisp-Ways) where you can find interesting things.
Adam’s Way is a city where each visitor is only allowed to stay for one day, and the day is measured by a lifecycle of a tree that grows, fruits and dies in 24 hours. There isn’t much to do here.
Varchas is the city of mirrors. It has its course of history that you can be a part of.
Ports: Khanate and beyond
Khan’s Glory is the administrative hub of the Khanate where one can influence affairs same way it’s done in London: by making gifts, finding intel, doing favours and placing spies. The problem here is not to raise too much Suspicion. Collect 5 Leopard’s favours to get access to the market in Khan’s Heart.
Khan’s Heart is the trading hub of the Khanate where you can buy romantic literature. It is usually the main destination for quests (Wrack, Magician, etc). It has its own quest for Anthe.
Khan’s Shadow is a small port of exiles, pirates and warriors from the Khanate. It is a good place to buy fuel on the way east and the only place to buy Mirrorcatch boxes.
Wisdom/Sea of Lilies is a prison originally used by the Khanate, now independent. You can rescue prisoners from there if you have high Hearts or money. You can also drop off prisoners if you happen to arrest someone sabotaging your ship.
Principles of Coral is a small port with a cave where (supposedly) a lorn-fluke is hiding and playing chess for a hobby. The whole place is littered with scintillack, and you can gather some, the Principles’ chess game quest yields 7 scintillack per piece.
Nuncio is a postal hub where you can pick a few minor quests.
Uttershroom is an overgrown fungus, not much to do here except pick some docile Blemmigan and start the Propagation quest. Also, trade strange catches for Live specimen.
Fathomking’s Hold is the throne room of the Drownie king, married to a Lorn-Fluke who is famous for his unpredictable character. His hold has an antechamber and throne room, accessible with a SAY and a zee-ztory. He is the guy who can bring back crew members and 3 of your dead Officers who died of accidents, not their own volition (and now you’re paying a great price).
Isle of Cats/Port Cavendish is the smuggling heaven ruled by Pirate-King Leopold. His daughters Isery and Zaira run the red honey trade. Red honey (unlike prisoner’s honey) is hardly innocent: its harvesting includes caged victims whose memories are used in painful process. Therefore Zaira as Lady-of-Cages is most likely a vile creature.
Visage is home to a strange face-shaped carving called The Flourishing of Years which is strangely connected to Jillyfleur and Jillyfish. It is a rule to wear masks here and play the role assigned. If you do things right, you get a captivating treasure as a reward.
Irem is the great immortal city where time flows as it wishes, without restriction. It also exists in the dimension of Parabola. The shops here are very expensive. Bring some coffee each time you dock.
Chelonate is a rotting tortoise carcass where monster-hunters, pirates and other exiles fight for a living. Naturally, it is a good place for anyone who is a good monster-hunter. Here you can trade trophies for outlandish artefacts.
Empire of Hands is a group of islands under the rule of pentecost apes, who dream to become human. Apparently, they eat human souls (unlike devils). The one with most souls is their emperor. The Empire’s most prized possession is the Zeppelin. You can either help them or sabotage.
There are 3 other islands, each with its own opportunities.
Aestival is a sunlit oasis at the edge of the zee. It is the place to start a colony, and if you’re not going to get involved, just gather supplies and fill your mirrorcatch boxes.
Saviour’s Rocks are home to sentient spiders that plot to have a piece of political power and are associated with anarchists.
Kingeater’s Castle is akin to Frostfound, a desire left behind when Salt ventured East. A destructive place where crazy things are possible. If you are desperate, you can make a sacrifice and see what happens. Sometimes it brings you to Irem or London at the cost of all your zee-ztories. Sometimes it reduces terror. But don’t do that.
Ports (Zubmariner)
Low Barnet
A small community of storytellers just outside of London. I recommend bringing your unter-unterzee port reports here, for 7 reports you get a reward. If you wish to progress the Wandering Parson quest and gain access to the Bell, you need progress in Gant Pole (old zailors), Aigul (first mate’s question) or a Drownie Hymn from Dahut.
Wrack
Wrack is a community or wreckers east of Salt Lions ruled by the Fair King. They are the ones responsible for wreckships that ambush you rising from the zee-bed. Their most prized possession is the tether, a weed growing on hulls of sunken ships. Wrack is in decline, but you can change that. Here you can start a composer’s quest (Song of the Broken Hulls).
Anthe
Anthe is a crystal cave at the bottom of the zee near Mt.Palmerston. Here you can get sharpness of your organs, if you have high Hearts. The options are: spleen, liver, lungs, tongue, skin, bone, groin. The purpose of this is to make the said organ crystal, making it immune to poison or damage. Hence, Anthe is a place for those who would do extreme experiments with their own bodies.
Rosina is a presbyterian who escaped to Anthe in hope to find a cure for Animescence, a disease that burns those who have intense emotions. Rosina’s spleen is crystal and you should do the same before visiting her. You can agree to treat her, and either calm her down (to cure) or enrage her (to kill).
Combos:
bone+skin+6 clay men = a soothe&cooper long-box
lungs+1 crew = fuel and captivating treasure on rare success
liver+lungs+prisoner’s honey = fuel+supplies
liver+tongue+skin+lamentable relic = strange catch or strategic information on rare success
liver+tongue gets information for Khan’s Glory quest
Nook
The settlement can be found north of Polythreme. Nook is a giant dragon, probably same species as space dragon Storm, only this one is trapped and its maw wide open and supported with heartmetal to prevent it from closing. Its teeth have been drilled and locals live there now. Nook’s water is filthy but breathable, and the settlement is considered a place of freedom, most locals swimming around naked. If you spend too much time there, you get somewhat addicted. A man named Batuk lives in the upper maw of the beast.
Nook has a shop where you can buy ivory and sell sunlight-filled mirrorcatch-boxes.
Dahut
It is a drownie town at the bottom of the Sea of Voices, near Polythreme. Drownies have their own culture with festivals and songs. But the life here is not as nice as it seems, and things can get clearer once you have more Clarity and less Enthralment.
Scrimshander
Scrimshander is an ivory structure under the Sea of Lilies, near Khanate. It’s easy to get in, but you have to pay a price to get out. There you can reduce terror or do some digging in the archives for rewards. It has connections to the Chelonate and Dahut, and a presbyterian woman Miriam lives deep in the archives.
Undercrow
Undercrow is a place under a large lighthouse (the Ragged Crow), not exactly a settlement. A man lives there who once was one of the Seven, those who wanted liberty, equality and immortality. Now his body will hatch a moth very soon, and he is preparing for the end. He had affairs with Arik from Hideaway, Batuk from Nook and Rosina from Anthe. This man, Lorenzo, ties many stories together in a knot.
Hideaway
As its name suggests, it is a place for exiles and outcasts on a back of a giant crab. The crab can apparently move around the zee, but it is now staying near Aestival in the East. A man named Arik, a former Khanate captain, lives in Hideaway. He wants to hide the unpleasant truth about the future of the settlement. Hideaway has a hidden shop.
Aigul
Aigul or Station VI is a ship pierced by a fluke, trapped forever on the zee-bed and its crew unwilling to leave. The Fortas Kettle was a research vessel for the Admiralty. Now its crew are under the fluke’s influence: they suffer but they don’t understand it. Perhaps you can do something.
Rosegate
It is not a settlement, but a tobbacconist shop paired with a lab. The idea of an underwater cigar is crazy, and so is the man who asks for your aid in his experiment. But how much cruelty exactly can you stand in the name of science?
Gant Pole
A heart of a dead creature (probably a Messenger) inhabited by crazy old zailors from the Chelonate, it is a place where all things come to die. There lives a woman who can read the future, but she is fading, and has to pass her knowledge to a scion: you. The old zailors will fight with her for the meat of dead monsters. You can join them instead.
If you make friends with the zailors, at some point you will get access to the gant chamber where you can find a star-shell in a pool.
Increasing your Skills
Read this if you want to preserve most of your Secrets and increase skills by other means.
Note that I’m not going to mention the major ambition quest rewards and the Iron Republic events on purpose, because they are highly variable.
Iron
Temporary
– officers can provide up to +29 points (Merciless Modiste + Maybe’s Rival + Cannoneer + Indominable Campaigner + Blemmigan).
– equipment another +18 (Memento Mori + Anatomical Cabinet + Fulgent Impeller).
– ship +5 frigate/corvette. A Dreadnought adds +25 and a -25 Veils if you can afford it.
Stories/Quests
– A view from Above (Gaider’s Mourn/Mt.Palmerston) with Storm’s Attention adds +2 if you pray.
– an intriguing smell event at Gaider’s Mourn/Whither gives a +1 Iron if you want something robust (*cough*cannibal*cough*)
– same event gives+2 (with Hearts challenge) when you want something mysterious (a piece of tyrant-moth)
– At Varchas, having the Doctor/Campaigner aid at the Hospital gives bonuses, including +1 Iron.
– Train with the guards in Varchas for a +2 boost.
– Joining the Sprightly Visionary in the final battle at Hideway results in +1 Iron.
– In Anthe, getting every possible sharpness and choosing “muscles” gives +5 to Iron.
– In Principles of Coral quest, in the cave, move a Night and get +2 Iron and a wound.
– In Wrack, doing the King’s story and recalling the Knife vision gives a +1 boost. If you shake his hand in the final encounter, it’s another +1.
– Defying the Gods gives +5 Iron and locks you out of all interactions with gods.
– Scrimshaw Chronicler’s quest ending (and a good lie) give +1 to Iron.
– in Carnelian Exile quest when dining with her, throw her out for +1 Iron.
– Presbyterate Adventuress’ gives +1 if you spar with her the night before her death
– Merciless Modiste can sew a suit (twice) out of sapphires, parabola-silk and stygian ivory.
Hunting
– Mt Nomad can give +1 to Iron whether you harvest it or not.
– wreckship + send a boarding party.
Mirrors
Temporary
– officer boost is +22 (Navigator + Magician + Nacreous Survivor + Blemmigan)
– equipment bonus is +18 (judgement resonator + serene aquarium + fulgent impeller),
– ships give another +5 bonus.
Stories/Quests
– A view from Above (Gaider’s Mourn/Mt.Palmerston) with Salt’s and/or Stone’s Attention adds +2 if you pray.
– intriguing smell at Gaider’s Mourn/Whither gives a +2 (with H. challenge) when you want something mysterious.
– At Varchas, having the Doctor/Campaigner aid at the Hospital gives +1 Mirrors.
– in Adam’s Way being U.Peckish might trigger an event where you attend a funeral and get +1 Mirrors
– In Anthe, getting every possible sharpness and choosing “eyes” gives +5 to Mirrors.
– In Wrack, at the end of King’s quest if you say that you don’t know who you are to him, there’s another +1 to Mirrors.
– Final Sphinxstone delivery to Grand Geode (sided with the Sequencer) gives +1 Mirrors
– in Carnelian Exile quest when dining with her, ask her to remove her glasses, then accept, then talk about the horizon for a total of +3 bonus
– Presbyterate Adventuress’ gives +1 if you record memories the night before her death
Hunting
– Boarding the Irrepressible
– Killing a Lornest-Fluke and watching from a distance yield +1 Mirrors.
Hearts
Temporary
– officers give +25 (Indominable Campaigner/Determined Doctor + Satisfied Magician + Monkey Foundling + Chef-Paramount + Merciless Modiste),
– equipment +12 (Shrine to Stone and Serpentine)
– ship gives +5 if it’s a trader ship and +15 for Cladery Heart.
Stories/Quests
– A view from Above (Gaider’s Mourn/Mt.Palmerston) with Stone’s Attention adds +2 if you pray.
– At Varchas, having the Doctor/Campaigner aid at the Hospital gives +1 Hearts.
– In Anthe, getting every possible sharpness and choosing “heart” gives +5 to Hearts.
– Tryst with the Pirate-Poet and exchange tattoos for +1 Hearts.
– In Wrack, at the end of King’s quest recall the bone for +1 then say you were lovers for another +1.
– Defying the Gods gives +5 Hearts and locks you out of all interactions with gods.
– The Snow Child storyline ends with a +2 boost
– The Acolyte storyline in Station III gives a +2 then another +5 to Hearts.
– Joining the Impolite Investigator in the final battle at Hideaway results in +1 Hearts.
– There is a major opportunity to boost Hearts in Chapel of Lights up to +6, same as the number of Chapel’s Lessons you have to first collect (with SAY and U.Peckish boost and then reject at the price of a searing enigma and hearts challenge.
– in Carnelian Exile quest when dining with her, say that journey is the destination, then talk about returning home for a total of +2 bonus.
– Presbyterate Adventuress’ gives +1 if you spend the night together (note that Brisk Campaigner on board locks you out of this option)
– Merciless Modiste can sew a suit (twice) out of spider silk, scintillack and strange catch.
Hunting
– Killing a Thalatte
– Killing a Dawn-Fluke will all boost Hearts by +1.
Veils
Temporary
– officers give up to +18 (Tireless Mechanic/Urbane Magician, Sigil-Eaten Navigator, Presbyterate Adventuress, Albino Tinkerer (if sided with Rats on Pigmote Isle).
– equipment gives a +12 bonus (Serpentine+Whispering Case).
– only ships giving boost to Veils are lampad-class and steam-yacht, but they are not exactly popular.
Stories/Quests
– A view from Above (Gaider’s Mourn/Mt.Palmerston) with Storm’s Attention adds +2 if you pray.
– at Gaider’s Mourn there is a “partiotic dispute” event which gives +1 Veils when avoided
– Raggedy Fellow event (Venderbight/Port Cecil) on rare event gives +1 if you take him.
– Mutton Island where you can have drinks at ♥♥♥♥ and Magpie (if it’s available) for a random event that gives a boost to Veils
– The Agnihotri at Varchas (Temple of Mihir) gives +1 on success.
– In Wrack, at the end of King’s quest recall the cup for +1 then say you are yet to decide for another +1.
– Joining the Visionary in the final battle at Hideaway results in +1 Veils.
– You can’t boost Veils in Anthe, unfortunately.
– Somehow when you get the Urbane Magician, you can boost your Veils by killing it.
-Merciless Modiste can sew a suit (twice) out of spider silk, scintillack and strange catch.
Hunting
– Killing the Irrepressible and sending a boarding party gives a boost on FAILURE.
– Dissect a thalatte gives a bonus on success
Pages
Temporary
– officer bonus can give up to +19 (Exile + Chef-Paramount + Blemmigan Gallivanter + Urbane Magician+Disillusioned Doctor). Urbane Magician and Disillusioned Doctor are hard to get.
– Monstrous Almanac gives a +7 boost
Note that it is not possible to increase Pages via talking to Officers.
Stories/Quests
– A view from Above (Gaider’s Mourn/Mt.Palmerston) with Salt’s Attention adds +2 if you pray.
– the Principles of Coral and its +1 boost for every chess game. Up to +5 if you get to the cave and then move a paw
– in Anthe, getting every possible sharpness and choosing “wit” gives +5 to Pages
– The Snow Child storyline ends with a +2 boost
– Asking the Presbyterate Adventuress about her assassins gives +1, another +1 for recording her memories of home.
– Merciless Modiste can sew a suit (twice) out of blue feather, parabola-linen and a ferret
Hunting
– Defeat a lornest-fluke and harvest its core,
– dissect a thalatte and fail.
– cut a piece of a dawn fluke and fail
All skills:
– Completing the Lady in Black sequence and retreating in the end gives a 1-5 random bonus to all skills.
– Killing Constant Companions gives a bonus to all skills.
With Your Past (Soldier, Priest, Philosopher, Poet, Urchin):
– Sphinxstone delivery, sided with Penstock, +1 to main skill
– A view from Above (Gaider’s Mourn/Mt.Palmerston), +5 to main skill when you choose “think about your past”.
Weapons
Weapons
I already mentioned weaponry in the section about your ship’s equipment.
However, there is more to it than just fancy names.
There are shops in London where you can buy weapons and 2 craftable weapons that require some effort to make.
Weapons can be divided by damage type and ammunition. There are universal, life-damaging and hull-damaging weapons. These types are “cannons”, “flensing guns” and “torpedo-launchers”.
Cannons are universal and do same damage to ships and monsters. They can be mounted to deck, forward and aft. It’s pretty clear if you look at the shop description: most powerful deck cannons are sold at Caminus Yards. Your starting cannon is Frigate-Surplus and it does 8 damage. Memento Mori is probably the best forward cannon, because it does 28 hull damage and 32 life damage, gives a bonus to iron and mirrors, and staggers enemies for few seconds.
Flensing guns are forward weapons harpoon-like in nature and shoot spikes or similar projectiles at zee-monsters and enemy crew. Most powerful is a forward Heart-Ender from Caminus Yards.
Torpedo-launchers can only be forward weapons. They have longer range and narrow firing arc, and require ammunition. Their advantage is the ability to stagger enemy ships, slowing their fire rate. Torpedoes are bought for 4-5 echoes or found at zee-bed while exploring the unter-unterzee.
Bandersnatch is the most powerful here with absolute record of 34 base damage and 8 second stagger.
Note that your Iron skill count affects damage dealt to enemies, and Mirrors affects the warm-up speed of firing solutions.
WeaponDamageBonus = round( Iron * 0.16 ). At Iron 100 your weapons do 16 more dmg. A Memento Mori will do 48 damage to beasts and 40 damage to ships.
WeaponSpeedBonus = WeaponSpeed * Mirrors / 333 At Mirrors 100 a Memento Mori will be able to fire every 2.8 seconds (4 sec-1.2 sec)
Blue scintillack allows you to instantly fire your weapons with a 20 sec cooldown and infinite use.
Flash allows to light up enemies while staying in the shadows with lights off, invisible.
Strange catch will force monsters to surface, but they don’t spend much time underwater anyway.
Element of Dawn will summon the Tree of Ages, but it can be found at Savior’s Rocks for free.
Zee-beasts and enemy ships
Monsters
There are very few monster types in the Neath. There are ships, zee-beasts and unterzee-beasts as well as very strong opponents like Tree of Ages and Mt.Nomad. The fighting strategy is mostly kiting: keeping your distance, advancing when enemy attack is on cooldown. This is very evident with Mt. Nomad, because it has its own movement pattern: two steps forward, one step back.
Most enemies leave behind treasures or scientific opportunities. However, some high-tier opponents are not worth the fight, like Jillyfish or Blue Prophets. 400 HP and a tiny reward.
Monsters often have ram attacks and therefore easy to kite, ships do ranged attacks, and using stagger weapons is a good strategy. The bigger your ship, the bolder your fighting style: there is simply not enough agility to kite. Same goes for better engines, more speed is sadly less effective in a fight, because your speed goes up against your weapon warmup time. Unless you have high Mirrors, of course.
At endgame (with a Frigate and Fulgent Impeller) it is important to balance Mirrors and Iron with Officers or equipment if you really want to fight efficiently.
1. Easy Level
Auroral Megalops (20 HP) not really worth the trouble. Often spawns in waters around London. Yields some fragments and hunger loss/supplies with a small terror loss. Ram attack.
Bat Swarm (20 HP) often seen near Venderbight. Primarily used to reduce terror by few points. Killing them reduces 10 more points.
Jillyfleur (40 HP) Yields strange catch and fragments, after visiting Visage. Ram attack. Good source of strange catch.
Antler Crab (150 HP) Not a big deal if you keep it at distance. Butcher it for supplies or knowledge. Ram attack.
Albino Moray (210 HP) Spawns at Coral reef near Port Cecil or Demeaux Island or Wisdom. Yields relics and other curiosities (Lamentable relics, Tomb-Colonists). Ram attack.
Bound-Shark (140 HP) Can be found in Sea of Lilies. Dissecting it might repair your hull by 2-3 points. Ram attack.
Particularly Tormented Bound-Shark (210 HP) Same type as above, only tougher. Ram attack.
Lifeberg (400 HP) often found near Whither-Codex. Not too hard to kill when kept at distance. Good source of supplies/fuel. Ram attack.
Usually, the strategy for zee-monsters is to keep them at range and use a powerful Forward weapon. Some monsters are slower and take time to rotate and launch an attack. Good Veils and a turned off prow-light mean you won’t be spotted. You can kill those even with a starter ship and a decent weapon. Harpoon-type weapons usually do more life damage.
Zee-beasts are a good source of hunting trophies. They can be sold for 65 echoes, but better yet, in some cases exchanged for more valuable items (Chelonate, Khan’s Heart, Shepherd Isles, Abbey Rock).
Pirate Steam-Pinnacle (30 HP) easy to sneak attack. Has a cache of curiosities to loot. Ranged attack (4 dmg).
Crack Pirate Steam-Pinnacle (80 HP)
Pirate Frigate (90 HP)
Alcaeus-Class Corvette (180 HP) is a Pirate-Poet’s boat. It usually starts the pirate-poet quest, an when you’re finished just gives 200-500 echo each time you rescue the Pirate-Poet. Fires ranged weapons and flares.
Unfinished Pirates (75 HP) Spawns near Polythreme.
Unfinished Revolutionaries (210 HP) Spawns near Iron Republic.
Rat-Barge (150 HP) Spawns near Nuncio. Usually gets sucked into a vortex. Easy prey.
There are also non-hostile steamers carrying cargo and passengers, they do not show a ? when approached.
The strategy for ships is a bit different: keep at its aft so it won’t attack and repeat its movements. This strategy works for deck weapons. Forward weapon does not have enough range for tailing. A recommended setup here will be a torpedo weapon.
Note: when your ship is a frigate or dreadnought, it becomes much harder to use this type of hunt.
Ships are not as profitable as zee-beasts when it comes to loot. You can spend a lot of effort and get a random reward equal to 60 echoes.
Unter-unterzee:
Corsair Undergalley (30 HP) underwater vessel, easy prey.
Putterpony (120 HP) Underwater Khanate vessel. Not hostile. Often seen sniffing around Fallen London.
Boundling (220 HP) Underwater version of a Bound-Shark. Ram attack.
Beloved (180 HP) Actually easy to kill. Spawns near Wrack, or (underwater) Port Carnelian. Can be sent to Gant Pole. Ram attack.
2. Mid Level
Faustic Corsair (300 HP) usually seen near Mt. Palmerston. Easy to defeat by tailing it. Ranged attack (15 dmg)
Western Antler-Crab (300 HP) Spawns near Uttershroom. 20 dmg. Ram and ranged attack.
Elder Crab (600 HP) Spawns near Aestival. 40 dmg. Ram and ranged attack.
Blue Prophets (400 HP) Bird swarm similar to bat-swarm. Yield some royal-blue feathers (50 or so). Deal quick damage by ram attack (15 dmg).
Jillyfish (400 HP) Absolutely useless, gives same options as jillyfleur. Ram attack.
Behemoustache (210 HP) Spawns near Elder Continent. Yields fuel and supplies (unless you send it to Gant Pole). Ram attack.
Khanate War Trimaran (210 HP) Patrol waters around the Khanate. 2 Ranged attacks. 5-15 dmg and crew dmg.
Tyrant Moth (400 HP) Spawns near Ragged Crow. Easy to kill when you keep the distance.
Lorn-Fluke (600 HP) Spawns near Empire of Hands. Has a ram attack (40-45 dmg) and shoots correspondence for 2-4 dmg and terror increase. Overall, not a big challenge.
Savage Lorn-Fluke (750 HP) a bit harder to kill, but anyway same variety.
Eater-of-Names (1000 HP) Spawns near Chelonate. Not too hard to kill, especially with good hull. Yields cargo or a figurehead (if you really need it).
Glorious Dreadnought (800 HP) and Glorious Frigate (500 HP) can be found near Dawn Machine or Kingeater’s Castle.
Unter-unterzee:
Wreckship (360 HP) can be discovered as curiosity on zee-bed, where it lies in wait. What works above water also works here: tail it if you can.
Tri/skele/gant (260 HP) a tri-skeleton fish? really? i don’t know what it is, but it’s not hard to kill.
Dawn Fluke (500 HP) is a machine and has no fluke-core. It yields a bonus to Pages. Can be found near Grand Geode.
3. Hard Level
Republican Dreadnought (400 HP) has all kinds of attacks, even aft weapon.
Tree of Ages (900 HP) Spawns near Saviour Rocks. Most powerful ship.
Mt.Nomad (1000 HP) Spawns near Chapel of Lights. It is a child of the goddess Stone, or Mountain-of-Light. Nasty beast. It has a peculiar movement pattern. With a fast enough ship you can sneak away and attack from safe distance. Deals 60 dmg.
Unter-unterzee:
Thalatte (420 HP) has a ranged attack (acid, 30 dmg) and a ram attack (16 dmg). Nasty beast. To loot the corpse you have to pass a Hearts challenge. Can be sent to Gant Pole.
Irrepressible (400 HP) never actually engaged it in combat..yet
Gods
There are three gods of the zee: Salt, Stone and Storm.
Storm is probably the most powerful of the three. It is a space dragon, very angry and very violent. It is the force of law and punishment.
Stone is an offspring of the Sun and the Bazaar that lives in the Mountain of Light far to the south. It is the source of life and protection, and probably responsible for the immortality and the weird game of life and death in the Neath.
Salt is said to be the “traveller” (but probably another Judgement like the Sun) who went east, leaving behind Frostfound where it left its memories and Kingeater’s Castle where it left its hunger. It generally takes interest in the flow of time, memories and can take you places.
When you run out of fuel at zee, there are 3 options available: make sacrifice to Storm, Salt or Stone. Storm will take your crew, mess with your hull and give some fuel with 50% chance and raise your terror.
Salt will take you to Kingeater’s castle or spawn a tyrant-moth. Without any fuel, sadly.
Stone might give you fuel with 50% chance, but don’t be too optimistic about it. It will most likely wound you.
Attention
Gods of the zee sometimes turn their eyes to your little ship. The easiest way to get all three gods’ attention early game is to dine at Hunter’s Keep and talk to each sister. Usually a god’s attention is a good thing, valuable for spy networks and other events.
You can get gods’ attention at Whither anytime by making a sacrifice.
– Get Stone’s attention at Abbey Rock, also reduce terror for 1 trophy
– Get Salt’s attention by taking an Exile or a Raggedy Fellow with you
Curse
I already mentioned curses in the “Achievements” section of this guide, and the easiest way to get those seems to be with little help from the Tomb-Colonist tourists.
I got Storm’s curse in Chelonate that way. I got quickly to Whither only to find that I need a lot of items from London markets to lift the curse. I did that, but there seem to be a lot more fog banks than before anyway.
Salt’s curse went easy on me (I did not lose family/scion in London). I got it by rejecting the Mute Exile because my crew list was full.
I know that you can get Stone’s curse by giving Fathomking the Mt.Nomad’s heart, but I was careful and don’t think any captains from my current lineage got it.
The Opposing Forces
In Sunless Sea the “Great Game” is full of spies, politics and revolution. The status quo of each party involved is also called “Supremacy”.
You are the only force that can shift the balance and give victory to a certain faction. For doing that there is a reward – a Legacy item, but only if you take the side of Anarchists or Dawn Machine and raise them to victory, or have your colony with Khanate or Presbyterate (Elder Continent) embassy open. That, and roleplaying itself, are the main reasons for digging into politics.
Supremacy: London
The Neath is ruled by Traitor Empress, referred to as Her Enduring Majesty. Interests of London are represented by the Admiralty.
There are, however, other agents fighting for power, and you as a captain can offset the balance by doing favours for those agents. Firstly, there are the Revolutionaries, exiled to the Surface. This faction is commonly associated with explosives, and there are hints that some of the characters in Sunless Sea were or are, in fact, working towards the revolution.
Supremacy: the Dawn Machine
Another prominent faction resides in Grand Geode, near the Dawn Machine. The machine itself is an artificial god, or “a Judgement” similar to the Sun. Its creators meant some good, but their creation got so powerful that it now has a will of its own, and its own goals. Carnelian Exile was once part of it. And the thing is said to be constructed by one of the revolutionaries/anarchists.
This is a reward from Dawn Machine faction for making it triumphant
Supremacy: the Anarchists
This faction is represented by the Calendar Council, a group of revolutionaries who took names from January to December and plan to extinguish all light in the Neath. If you played Sunless Skies, you might have seen what they did to Eleutheria. A large faction is hiding in Vienna, and getting to the Surface will allow you to aid them by delivering explosives to London (to blow up the Bazaar, no less). Or you can refuse and report them. If you dislike such revolution, here’s a roleplaying tip: don’t make deals with the Jovial Contrarian in the market. The University (and probably the Scholar) are also involved. The Haunted Doctor was an anarchist, ended up killing one of the top revolutionaries.
Your reward for siding with Anarchists (Calendar Council)
Supremacy:The Khanate
The exiles of the Fourth City have a lot of reasons to hate London, the Bazaar, the Masters, and everyone else. After all, they stole their home and then destroyed it, forcing its people to flee and found a new society for themselves. They are mostly fighting for influence in Port Carnelian and Mutton Island, but they’d take Pigmote Isle as well. The primary qualities that describe your relations would be Khaganian Suspicion, as well as your standing with Leopard’s clan and Taimen’s clan. Earn favours by giving them moon-pearls or coffee.
Supremacy: Affairs in Port Carnelian
This colony is a major battlefield where interests of three factions collide: London, Khanate and the Elder Continent’s tigers. You can choose one side and progress the story, create spy networks and such.
Spider Council
The Spider Council lives on Saviour’s Rocks. These creatures capture prominent travellers who pass by and feed on their secrets for centuries. Spiders have eyeless slaves who feed them. There is a storyline for those with high Veils that leads either to triumph or destruction of the Council. Haunted Doctor lived with the spiders for some time and gave his eye for the secrets.
Empire of Hands
The pentecost apes have their own agenda. They are considered evil by Londoners, Khanate and Drownies, because they consume souls. Once ordinary primates, they were affected by the Ray-Drenched Cinders and became hungry for evolution. Now they are building a zeppelin to fly east (or south), and for that reason they are ready to work with Anarchists from Iron Republic. Their ultimate goal is to consume all available souls and prevail in the Neath.
Drownies
The Fathomking’s children are almost free of any ambition to conquer and dominate. Only once, with Pigmote Isle, they would interfere with their emissaries. Drownies are quite dead, but they (like pentecost apes) want to be more human. Dahut is their Happy Place, but quite dangerous for outsiders who get seduced with its songs and festivals, and end up in prison waiting to be drowned.
End notes
I hope you found this guide helpful and somewhat enlightening.
Please share your thoughts in comments, I’d be happy to add something I missed.