Sleuth Home - Message Boards - Newbie Questions

Jan-23-2005 12:01

Here are some tips for Newbies like myself:

1. Get the Research Skill as early as possible. It will help eliminate one suspect. This will also mean that instead of asking for an alibi which will obviously not be verified, you can ask the suspect more details about the real killer instead.

2. Always make sure you have extra cash on hand. Three failure will mean the end of your detective. So by the time you have 2 failures, make sure you have some cash to pay off the Shady Character to clean your record. The fee increases as your experience grows. Sell equipment if you need cash.

3. Most of the Special Equipment that organizations sell may be had for free whenever you complete favours. Buy equipment only when you have lots of spare cash or when you have no false accusations.

4. Dies Arcanum Brotherhood or The Order of Socrates or La Cosa Nostra? Each will teach you one and only one skill. Go for La Cosa Nostra and its Safe Cracking Skill only IF YOU ARE SUBSCRIBED; otherwise, it is a totally useless skill. The other two organizations can provide skills that subscribers and non-subscribers alike can benefit from.

5. Choose Sweet Talking or Interrogation first then Rule Bending or Intimidation. Get the smarts, advanced & lockpicking skills a little later. Unlike CSI, the evidence alone can NOT nab a killer. Here, the best way to be sure is by getting at least two witnesses to name the killer (regardless of what the evidence says). Sweet Talking or Interrogation will help you weed out names, motives, and the identity of the actual killer. Rule Bending or Intimidation is to be used for townsfolk so you can verify alibis and check on evidence.
Of course if you cannot get 2 witnesses, you'll have to take your chances with the evidence.

6. Don't take Larry /Lucy unless you have lots of extra cash and have no false accusations.

7. If you only have 1 or 2 suspects at the start, ask first if they know of others who have a motive.

Jan-24-2005 14:22

Moonshh: I might have made an error. I know the difference between a false alibi and just not knowing the alibi due to clamming, but I thought it was definitely a false ... ?? Anyway, I'm a tyro so I think I probably made a mistake : o )

Jan-24-2005 16:44

Saxon, if you ever have this experience again, let Ben know the name of the case and the time and date you played it, and he might be able to check it for you. All the posts I've ever seen asking him to check have ended up to be player errors, but on the other hand, there was a time I couldn't log in, and it turned out to be a bug in a case, so I acknowledge that bugs happen!

Jan-25-2005 07:01

well, another good tip is ... QUIT THE CASE if you are not absolutely sure about whodunnit. this will save money in the long run, because shady's prices increase exponentially (or just a heck of a lot) as one's experience goes up.

on equipment, you don't really have to buy at all, only if you want to. besides, doing favors as often as possible will get you contacts quicker, and cash too.

Jan-26-2005 03:14

Rai- having evidence against 2 of the 3 false alibis is not possible! unless you mean witness evidence? witness evidence can be misleading, unless you have 2 witnesses then you are ok. With PE's u cant have more than one pointing to suspects with a false.
I think it all depends on your startegy. Some people like to rely more on PE and some more on witness evidence. There is always more than one way to solve a case.

Mar-2-2007 05:57

*BUMP*
OK this is baiscally welcome newbies in a nutshell. Read this if you don't have the time or can't be bothered to read the whole of welcome newbies.

Mar-2-2007 12:15

Just to clarify (yeah, some more)

#3: the equipment that the factions sell cannot be gotten from favors or AI cases. Sometimes, *comparable* equipment can be found in favor and AI cases rewards, but not the same equipment

#4: Safe cracking is only useful if you are subscribed AND in an agency AND treasure hunting. And even then, it is only necessary for 2 or 3 people in an agency to have it. So check with directors, etc before you buy this skill since it simply might not be needed.