The Best Shop Items

[Panpiper]

By midgame I usually have some cash burning a hole in my pocket and I am sure some purchases would be useful. What in your experience are the most useful items to purchase, bang for buck (and from which shop do you get them)?

[ShiningCity]

By midgame I usually have some cash burning a hole in my pocket and I am sure some purchases would be useful. What in your experience are the most useful items to purchase, bang for buck (and from which shop do you get them)?

 

I almost never buy anything. The item portion of the game is really lacking. And the forge/enchant system even more so.

[Panpiper]

I almost never buy anything. The item portion of the game is really lacking. And the forge/enchant system even more so.

Well, there are some items that reduce your chances of getting caught. There are several which increase stats and such. Surely purchasing one or two of those things is more efficient than letting cash go to waste.

[ShiningCity]

Well, there are some items that reduce your chances of getting caught. There are several which increase stats and such. Surely purchasing one or two of those things is more efficient than letting cash go to waste.

 

i rarely have cash or use actions which generate cash, but every once in a while i may buy an item if i got cash somehow. mostly i use glorieux to get me cash for brisbane and thats all i do with money. items are mostly unhelpful though and the interface for them sucks. plus what good are super rare wands and crap when you don't really have combat and they can get you expelled?

[Schwarzbart]

I buy and sell 3-4 times (sometimes even more) trough one game.

Because Catalogs have waiting times that increase with each item you buy (they are buged) and I can't sell to them I usual only use a catalog to get music instruments.

For the Mercants I usual look trough them and see who have interesting things for the char I play right now (yea its a loot of reload).

[Mikka]

I go after rings. You're going to almost inevitably pick up a necklace somewhere in game: the odds of the event with the blood walls or grits necklace not triggering seem really low (not to mention the one you get by taking Music, or the one you can get from Ambush/Explore 5 adventure). But rings, you can wear, what, five of them? Woo!

 

The more random events, the more chances I get for skill increases. It is so easy to buff up your Vit to ridiculous levels (I mean, at least 20 for a Fitness 1 n00b character, and if you're like, playing someone from Godina, you can get yourself in the 30's and never worry about resting). Stress is the issue, but stress is easy to remove.

 

So usually, my first merchant stop is Garibaldi's House of the Seven Colors (given by the lovely Oan), and thus the Doppleganger Band (-3% detection chance) and the Astrologer's Eye (+2% random event chance). If you're doing Revision, and it's early in the year, AND you have a ton of money (you started with a rich/wealthy background, are hanging out with Flore and... who else is it that gives parental approvial, is it Emilia S?, and/or a Vernin student) the Revision Wand isn't a bad choice. You'll pick up a lot of hand items throughout the year, but though you can get the Sword and it's +1STR in the first two weeks, it can take four or so months to get another, so the +1 Luck doesn't hurt.

 

I did a duel focused character once, who wandered around with Noimea's Spear from one of the House of History shop for a while- it's 80% success at combat actions. But then I realized duels are so easy that it's not really needed. The Wedding Band from that place isn't bad, but it's not *good*, and with only visiting one shop per step, I'm not sure it's worth it.

 

I've been known to buy the Ring of Deciet from Shivek Rendithal to unlock either Lie, Deceit, or Acting. There are also passes to get you in to other places common rooms, there- with the new Test-Taking, it's useless (buying the Morv ones for a Zoology character if I had super Intelligence and thus had long maxed Research skills before then used to be useful, but now...).

 

There was one weird game where I couldn't get Planning and didn't feel like boosting Zoology to 3, yet I had still managed to get Plot high enough that the Plotter's Cap was useful. That is such a small range of games that I wouldn't recomend it.

 

Cap of Illusion from the shop unlocked through Espionge is another Discovery Chance reducer that I usually pick up, as you don't find many caps/hats in events.

 

And then there's the place that has the object that informs you of all Mastery skills, but darned if I can remember where that is.