Sleuth Home - Message Boards - Newbie Questions

Aug-15-2025 03:06

Is it just me or do suspects and witnesses clam up far too quickly? Sometimes I can only ask 2 questions and they clam up. Is this normal?

Not only that, but my interrogate skill barely ever works on them (feels like a 25%, success rate at best). I have almost all of the smarts skills, but even with all the clues I'm pulling from the crime scene, It doesn't help when the experts keep clamming up on me.

Any advice on how to counter/avoid this would be appreciated. Because I'm not sure how I'd ever be able to pull off any case above intermediate at this rate unless I create a new character and hard focus on charming skills.

P.S. I'm earning between 0-1 skill points per case. What determines how many skill points I get from completing a case? It seems random to me.

Aug-15-2025 10:32

A quick look on your detective page tells me your gear is still not really up to par. As your experience points grow you'll get favor cases that will get you better gear and thus better stats.

Your interview skills will also increase when you can afford more skill points. For instance if you purchased basic interrogation then intermediate interrogation will become available (if you have enough skill points). And after that advanced interrogation. Same with sweet talking.

SO no need to despair. Just keep improving your detective and you'll get there.

Aug-15-2025 11:05

Thank you Cro, for helping the newbies.

Aug-15-2025 14:47

If I may add .... focus first on your basic skill set such as interview skills and smart skills. The different factions can also give you skills that will benefit you. If you want more info you can always PM me.

Aug-15-2025 20:29

Thanks for the tips. With gear, does +1-2% directly translate to a +1-2% chance of success with the associated skills? If so, that hardly seems like a lot?

And with earning skill points, sometimes I'm awarded none. In the beginning I was getting up to 2 per case, but now I only get 1 if I'm lucky? Is it because I'm supposed to be moving onto the higher level cases or is it tied to how much experience I have?

Right now I feel like I'm in a loop of needing certain skills to take on higher level cases, but not earning enough skill points to unlock them.

Aug-16-2025 08:37

It doesn't seem like a lot but it does add to skills you already possess. There are items that can even boost up to 7 or 8%. You have to look at the totality of all the percentages of your combined items.

Let's say each item you have increases interrogation chances by 5%. You are allowed to wear 5 items so that'll be an increase of 25%. And that on top of improved interrogation skills if you can afford them.

Aug-16-2025 18:21

All good advice here. If you haven't already, read through the help file:

https://noir.playsleuth.com/help/index.html

The game starts off easy enough to progress, but then you hit a point where skill points don't come as often, which is why it's important to choose the proper skills to spend them on at the beginning. Interrogation skills are very important as if they clam up before you get all the suspects, your killer may not ever make it to your suspect list.

The game is not nearly as active as it once was, but if you find an agency that will take you in, they can help to get those skill points easier and help with cases you are unable to solve. Of course you have to subscribe to join an agency