Sleuth Home - Message Boards - Newbie Questions

Feb-28-2021 10:24

Is there any reason to get all skills? Even ones that your detective don't need? Maybe something that gets unlocked?

Thank you!

Mar-1-2021 08:29

Thanks guys! I didn't know if I should bother with Tough skills or not. I wouldn't use them, but didn't know if they unlocked anything.

Mar-2-2021 14:46

I got tough skills to start and got stress detection (and judge of character) before getting any charm skills. I use stress detection to make sure I leave all suspects with one question left. If I fail to solve the case with physical evidence I know I can eliminate one more suspect with witness testimony. It’s EXTREMELY rare that I can’t find all suspects and puzzle out their alibis without driving suspects to clam (if I still need suspects or alibis I’ll make a round of the townies looking for the suspects that don’t know anything and use their last question).

Now that I have all the skills I use Judge of Character ALL THE TIME. Most AI cases have 1-2 folk who respond better to charm even with +33 tough.

For me, hypnotism is meh. It rarely turns up anything new, but my charm is in the negatives.

I would say that those who switch from tough to charm or vice-versa, wait until you have enough points to get all levels of a skill tree at once. It’s very frustrating to accidentally click on a skill that’s basic level and watch a suspect clam. Better to see “you don’t have that skill”.

Mar-5-2021 10:48

I like stress detection - I've never found it unreliable, so I'd be interested to know more about that. I also do use judge of character sometimes - if I'm still trying to get suspect names and I've got a choice of who to ask (assuming they're all members of my own gender and therefore I can't flirt with them to boost my chances), I generally look to see which has the best chance of giving me both suspect names and an alibi. It is a probability thing rather than a certainty, so no guarantees, but I figure it's worth a shot. Reading what Jesse said above, I should probably pay a bit more attention to what the intimidation chances are as well as charm.

I picked up the unnecessary tough skills just because I could. :)

Mar-5-2021 14:28

Once you build you up your experience you can definitely get by without all the extra skills, but getting them can give you a slight edge here and there. I'm heavy on charming, but every so often a witness has higher stats in tough, so because i have tough skills now too (after i got the other available ones first) i use tough instead for them. it's pretty rare, and not necessary to use tough to get your answers if your charming is already quite high based on equipment, but i like the extra edge.

i do like stress detection as well, but it was one of the last ones i got. i find it useful when i'm asking townies questions. i know how many answers they'll give, so i can decide which alibis i want to confirm in those instances where one townie has several. for example, if a townie has three alibis to confirm, but i know they're only going to answer 2 questions (including me paying them for one of those answers), then if i have a suspect with no PE at all, i won't bother with that one because i know it's not them since they have no PE. i ONLY use this reasoning when i know that i can't get all the alibis verified - so i use it to weigh my options and pick the one that will give me the most insight.

and also when i'm asking for WE, it kinda gives me peace of mind to know how many questions i can get out of someone. i don't often make a "judgement call" like i do with the townies in this case, as my WE style is to systematically work through each person in order, but i like knowing what i'm up against.

Mar-5-2021 15:23

I'm feeling a bit awkward now. Everyone seems to make good use of stress detection. What am I missing here?

Mar-5-2021 15:27

i really don't think you need it at all - it's just a nice to have that gives you a bit of extra insight into how you use your questions. but i don't think it would make much difference without it - i think it's really a preference, depending on your style of solving cases!

Mar-7-2021 05:08

I use it for PE townies as well. It helps me play the odds. Sometimes it can be a better bet to ask about a suspect with a real alibi, if you know you've only got one question left. But as Shelby says, it depends on your style of case solving! And probabilities are just that: doesn't mean that bad luck won't bite you on the posterior...