Sleuth Home - Message Boards - Newbie Questions

Aug-26-2009 04:46

I was in the Top of The World Tea shop looking through the postings on the message board and found out that I can not get both the negotiation and trap detection skills because when I choose a faction, it's 4 life!

I need to know what they have to offer besides those skills, and which one is better. When under seige by pirates, what happens when I press the negotiation button and actually have that skill? What do the Cairo pyramids hold other than some books, secret #2, and sepia colored AVHish shoes? Is it fun and profitable to continually go spelunking in them with/without trap detection?

And which one are the good guys?

Aug-26-2009 08:05

great questions.
I"m waiting with baited breath and a credit card to subscribe.

Aug-26-2009 09:16


There are differing opinions as to which faction is better, myself, I prefer the Tea Steepers as I feel Hostage Negotiation is better than trap detection. The pyramids can still be navigated without trap detection whereas without hostage negotiation, there is no way around hte pirates. Once you have hostage negotiation, the negotiate button will not be there, the message will change and you will reach your destination.

As far as the other questions, the answers to thos can be considered spoilers. Perhaps taking a look at some agency websites can provide those answers.

Aug-26-2009 10:21

I'd think about it this way: Am I a hunter or a collector?

Negotiation allow you to travel from city to city without time delay, so i think it is important to have if you plan to participate in time-constrained agency Treasure Hunt (TH) and / or Arch Villain Hunt (AVH) tournaments.

Trap detection allows you to get what you mentioned above much easier, (plus fraction plans). It helps with personal collections such as books, fraction standing, certificate of merits (which you can trade for sepia shoes) and other nifty goods.

(I'm not sure if my above analysis is totally correct or not, veterans please let me know if you have additional knowledge and/or opinions.)

Most people (like myself) chose the steepers to get rid of the annoying pirates once and for all, and i never regret it. However, i have heard many cases which people chose the tigers and loved trap detection and never regret it either. So, in the end, think of what is more appealing to you according to how you find 'happiness' in this game.


As to your last question, Clint, in life there is no such thing as the good guy [evil grin].

Aug-26-2009 12:21

it is very simple and clear
Do you want to have access in all the game and take advantage of the Cairo (not to mention the ship) part of the game ...then Tigers is a must
Are you afraid of the pirates that will only bather you rearly then you can either use the safe through SL road ( equipped with the kit) or go with the steepers. The prince will punish you for good ! but you will be part of the revolution !(lol)

Aug-27-2009 20:22

Hostage Negotiation did have some of its bite taken out of it, so to speak, when the system changed the rules as to what could and could not be taken from people when the Pirates hit. So far, there's been no modification to Trap Detection.

There's been talk that there may be further modifications made to Hostage Negotiation, or that there may be an 'equalization' of some kind to make both skills equally valuable again. So far, though, nothing's come down 'From Above'. ;-)

Basically, Hostage Negotiation allows you to proceed through a voyage if you get pirated without having to go back to your destination city and pay a fee to retry your journey (or lose cases). Trap detection, as some here have alluded to, allow you to proceed through various places and find 'traps' before you come to them. That simple for both. Both skills DO have more complicated and interesting parts to them, but like Ctown said, they're s'pposed to be kept hidden, so I ain't goin' there. ;-)

So. The choice is yours. Do you want to be able to travel unhindered, or do you want to be able to search stuff unhindered (boiled down version there ;-) ?? Each has benefits, each has disadvantages. NEITHER is bad.

(And long live the revolution. ;-)

Breit