Sleuth Home - Message Boards - Newbie Questions

Aug-17-2007 05:47

During a case the Shady Guy "approached me" and told me not to work on my present case or he would fix it so that I wouldn't work on another (or something to that effect).

Anyway, true to my nature, I solved it regardless of his threat and he wasn't too happy with me afterwards. My question is this: Does this matter or make a difference in my game at all? I understand the faction stuff to a point, however, does Shady matter? Does anyone have suggestions for me about factions and their favoritism toward me? Which ones are best not to tick off? I hate to quit a case, however, I would for a good cause. Please, help me with some pointers here before I get too far along. Thanks.

Aug-17-2007 06:00

This early in the game it won't really make a difference to you.
They have different things to sell you and if you get a lot of points with one faction their stuff will be fairly cheap.

A lot later on you might want to get Hypnotism from The Order of Socrates or Pick Pocketing from Dies Arcanum Brotherhood but wait with that until after you've stocked up on Tough or Charm skills since those are more important.

You might want to try having the most points with one faction. Not as useful as one might want, but fun nonetheless

Aug-17-2007 06:15

Right now, this is where I stand:

Order o Socrates: Poor(-2)
Arcanum Brthrhd: Poor(-2)
Cosa Nostra: Fair(4)

and the rest are neutral.

In your opinion, should I quit cases that are not favorable to the Order o Socrates and Arcanum Brthrhd then? It is good to know ahead of time.

Thank you for your help :)

Aug-17-2007 06:40

I hate to double post, however, there isn't an "edit" option...

I was also wondering if archtype characters should be favorable to certain factions. For example, my type is Very Smart, should I try to be more favorable with the The Order of Socrates?

Aug-17-2007 06:44

I hate to double post, however, there isn't an "edit" option...

I was also wondering if archtype characters should be favorable to certain factions. For example, my type is Very Smart, should I try to be more favorable with the The Order of Socrates?

Aug-17-2007 07:42

For the early part of your detective career you can mostly ignore the faction standings. If you want to get in really well with the one you have the positive rating for now, do the little jobs each day. It can be a nice challenge to reach the top of the faction standings.

You will need to pay attention to where you are with which faction later on when you want to learn the special skills. But that comes after all your interview (charm or tough) and invistigating (smart) skills.

Aug-17-2007 07:53

You want to worry about faction standings for a few reasons, and only a few.

First, if you want to be the 'top dog' in the faction, (by having the highest standings with them at server changeover) you will get something special. And no I can't tell you what, it is something that has always been kept off the message boards.

Second, they all sell gear that is better than you can find in the detective store. It is expensive, but good. You have to be above +30 with them to get the best price. The each also sell books that when read will give you a small amount of experience.

Third, they each have a special skill. You must be +25 to learn the skill. The skills from the factions are not as important as the skills you can buy, and one skill, Safecracking, is not useful to unsubbed members at all.

Check out this site to see the equipment and the skills you can earn. (You can find this site by checking out Sleuth Community Sites from City Hall. Reapers)

http://pachome2.pacific.net.sg/~simbp76/site/city.htm

Your standings with any faction does not effect your cases or ability to solve the case at all.

Aug-17-2007 13:49

As far as the "Shady Guy" stuff, no, that particular twist has no bearing on anything you do or anything that can help you. Sorry.

There is a similar twist that many people tend to get confused with Shady that may be of interest, however. Once in a while, you may get a mid-case twist talking about a 'rat-faced, sleazy' schmuck of a character who goes around in a greasy raincoat. His name is Larry the Toe (aka-Larry the Twerp, Larry the Chump, etc.). His only mission in life is to advertise the whereabouts of a certain 'underground' nightclub called Big Lucy's Cabaret. While Shady doesn't want your money at the end of the case, Larry will tell you the location of the Cabaret in exchange for crossing his palm with $500 of your hard-earned money. Is it worth it? If you're tight on money, no, it's not. But it IS a place where you can find interesting items for sale (including some rather cheap reading material), leave a message on the Cabaret's message board, and generally encounter some rather colorful characters....;-)