Sleuth Home - Message Boards - Newbie Questions

Oct-23-2025 07:51

Hey everyone, I could use some guidance on which skill to take next. Right now my detective has:

Lock Picking; Research; Advanced Sweet Talking; Advanced Rule Bending; Advanced Thread Analysis; Advanced Hair Analysis; Handwriting Analysis; Flirting.

Questions:

1. Should I be prioritizing the Tough skillset now, or save for something else?

2. I don’t have Footprint Analysis yet, but my contact is the Shoemaker — is Footprint Analysis still worth investing in?

Any recommendations are appreciated.

Oct-23-2025 20:23

1) I would not go for tough skills yet. Hypnotism was my next pick when I was in a similar circumstance as you. One of your NY factions can help you out there.

2) It depends on if/when you feel like subscribing. When you travel to a new city, you won’t have your shoemaker contact and so it would be helpful to have footprint analysis eventually.

Others may chime in, but those are my two cents!

Oct-23-2025 23:25

Lockpicking isnt useful to you unless you plan on subscribing and joining an agency that does treasure hunts. I also agree fooprint analysis, and stress detection are good to have as well.

Oct-24-2025 02:39

Lady Jas, are you referencing Safe Cracking?

Oct-24-2025 05:04

Thanks for your feedback!

I hadn't considered how traveling to different cities would affect my cases. I'm thinking about subscribing, so I'll grab Footprint Analysis next to be safe.

Hypnotism would be great also, but (sadly) I already built up my contact with the faction for Pickpocketing. Maybe I'll grab that one and then try to work towards the contact for Hypnotism.

Stress Detection also sounds like a good one to have and isn't too expensive. I'll focus on these before I go after the Tough skills. Thanks again!

Oct-24-2025 06:47

I have definitely started straying away from the Brotherhood and started trying to gain favor with the Order so that I can gain that Hypnotism. Also, I think there's some items you can buy from Shanghai that might help you gain immediate favor with the factions... Don't want to say too much so that I don't spoil it. ;)

Oct-24-2025 19:11

If you’re thinking about subscribing, you may also consider grabbing the Brotherhood Theme and book while your faction points with them are high. These are not essential things to collect by any means, but if you start exploring other cities and other factions it adds to the fun :)

Oct-24-2025 23:09

Cassie, yes! My bad, it was late for me and I just typed without proofreading!

Oct-25-2025 01:34

Ooh, interesting! Thanks for the hint, Charli.

Appreciate all the feedback. There are so many hidden secrets to the game, I'm looking forward to exploring more.