Sleuth Home - Message Boards - Sleuth Talk

Apr-11-2026 00:52

Hello fellow detectives!

I've been playing this game, on and off, for a gazillion years and, as far as clothes go, I don't know if I've been doing it right. My reasoning forever ago when I got my gear, was to try to balance out the archetype and go through cases without needing to swap clothes all day every day.

So, with a Tough and Smart archetype, I went ahead and got gear with Smarts and Charm for a balanced build. With T7, S14, C14, I feel like things could get better (yes, yes, I'll get a pet, too).

What has your approach been? Would I be better off swapping to Tough gear? Is having a Smart gear set worth the annoyance?

Apr-11-2026 05:25

In my experience, the archetype doesn't make a difference once you've got all the skills and have the strongest equipment, either tough or charming. A pet doesn't improve things much if you already have around +32 or more tough/charm adjustment. I'm not sure where is the limit after which you can't get any "stronger", but such a limit definitely exists. Maybe after you get the strongest AVH equipment possible, or even below that. You can be a very tough detective, have a pet with +9 tough points and 40 tough in total, and a suspect or a townie can still clam up on you on the first question. I personally don't care much for the tough/charming and smart balance, I always go for strength. Well, not always, because I have many detectives of different archetypes and I like each of them to be different from others and have a style of their own. :)

Having a strong smart gear set in the agency is very important to me and I always change before going to the crime scene, especially on Nemesis cases. If I'm in another city, I go for the strongest tough or charming equipment minus the travel kit, and I can usually "read" three out of four pieces of evidence, but of course not always. In such cases a very smart pet can help.

Apr-11-2026 07:29

I also keep a "smart outfit" in both my agency locker and my apartment so that I can use them for crime scenes. I will also use that smart outfit If I need to perform surveillance on a suspect to get them to answer more questions. Other than that, I don't worry about charming and go for tough gear. I never saw a benefit of trying to balance between tough and charming

Apr-11-2026 08:53

I only wear smart gear when I visit the crime scene. I try to wear gear that balances tough and charm as much as possible. You may try to maximize tough skills but there will still be suspects with a very low basic score towards intimidation.

I think it's within the game's philosophy also to eventually make your detective balanced. While in the beginning you may be better off picking an archetype. Trying to be tough and charming from the get go will make for a very slow process. But then at some point when you have skill points to burn you're better off with a balanced approach.