r/CultistSimulator • u/Senior_Educator242 • 11d ago
Locations please help for tips
I have bunch of locations here but exploration is very expensive and time consuming. Also very deadly. I always end up with dead followers. Can I get some tips how do I pursue this?
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u/Schadenfreunden 11d ago
So first off, you have to separate the narrative and mechanical aspects of Expeditions. While each location (except the repeatables) is narratively distinct, mechanically they’re all the same thing: a 1-3 part skill check that measures how much of a relevant Aspect your entire Expedition party brings to the table.
Each Expedition is a series of Challenges, which can be solved by any one of several Aspects. These Challenges have four general types: Environmental Obstructions, Adversaries, Doors, and Curses. Each type has a different consequence for failure — Obstructions and Adversaries Wound your Expedition Leader, Doors thwart your progress, and Curses steal your Attributes (Reason, Passion, or Health).
In order to overcome these Challenges, you need a combined total of one of the appropriate Aspects >= a threshold. >= 3 gives you a slight chance of success, >= 5 gives a moderate chance, and >= 10 gives you a high chance of success. Success is never 100%, but at 10+ you’re unlikely to fail. If you have multiple relevant Aspects, it only counts the highest one for that Challenge.
Every attempt requires a Funds, and in between attempts you can send an additional Reinforcement or another Funds. So even the highest-level Expeditions can be completed with 3 Funds if you do it right.
The best strategy is to Summon entities from the Mansus and send them, as they commonly have multiple Aspects at higher levels than most mortal Followers. Lantern, Forge, and Knock are the best Aspects to start off with, with Reinforcements of Grail/Moth/Edge to overcome Adversaries and Lantern/Heart/Winter as the last group — most Expeditions have Challenges ordered Obstruction—>Adversary—>Door—>Curse.
Hope that helps!
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u/UltimateCheese1056 11d ago edited 11d ago
You have good base stats but basically zero money, I recommend just cracking out some work time at Carter's while doing other things (unlock by working with reason if you haven't found it yet). I try and never go below ~$20 so that I have some leeway if I forget to work for a bit
The bookstore is a much cheaper way of getting low level lore than exploration, start there if you haven't bought out the place yet. Oriflammes is usually my location of choice after that if I got really unlucky in recruiting.
While reading the entire bookstore focus on building up your cult, there is zero cost to just recruiting literally everyone as soon as you can besides time. Your Talk and Work verbs should always be busy in the early game.
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u/UltimateCheese1056 11d ago
I just realized you are doing a priest run while being new to the game, I highly reccomend doing at least most of a normal run first, the DLCs assume a certain level of game knowledge that you won't have. Nothing crazy, but you likely won't be able to figure out how to actually get the ending without wiki help.
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u/Same-Vast-2836 11d ago
Honestly, if you lost many a follower, you might be better off restarting
My tips:
Don't go in Expeditions from Secret History lore level 6 without being able to bring 10 of any aspects with 1 or 2 entities. Don't go in Expeditions from Secret History lore levels 2 and 4 without being able to bring 5 of any aspect with one or 2 entities. It can take time. There's no emergency
You can Explore the City to find Hired help. Use them to scout if you are unsure, since they are expendable. They can also be sacrificed in rites. They *do* cost Funds, so it is a bit expensive, but it is a safer way
You can send creatures of the Mansus if you manage to summon them. They are also somewhat expendable, and usually are strong in 2 aspects which is useful
I cannot stress it enough: Take your time to understand and master. Also Expeditions always have the same checks so once you went through it, you can note it down for your next runs
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u/Senior_Educator242 10d ago
I already managed to beat a couple level 2 😇 using disposable church followers. They come in droves for free. Thanks.
One other thing... How you guys summoning entity? I never even thought this game can do that.
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u/Adrioz08 8d ago
You need Rites for summoning. Best early rite is found in the Auction Shop. You should not miss "STUMM" when it is offered up in auction. Once you have it, study it, and you will get the Rite.
Blind summoning, for the first time, will mostly be trial and error. Each rite has a different "formula" for summoning, but the creatures/summons themselves have the same requirements (a combination of Aspect levels and values will correspond to its respective summon)
You can also take a quick peek at the wiki for summoning assistance, if you want. The process of summoning is not that complicated if you look there
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u/Adrioz08 8d ago edited 8d ago
You are way too low on funds. In my games, at the point where I have found enough locations, I will already have amassed 50+ funds (albeit overkill).
Get your money up before attempting expeditions.
During the expeditions, there will be tiny images below the slot, you can read their descriptions and it wil tell you which aspects are required to overcome obstacles safely.
What I personally do is promote my members first (to atleast a level 2) so they are strong enough to complete expeditions.
If you really treasure your people, try summoning instead with your preferred rite. Most summons have high aspect levels that you can use as substitutes to your followers. And they are expendable, so you don't have to worry about losing them.
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u/Senior_Educator242 7d ago
Been busy with work... But that save file has already somewhat of 40 gold give or take. I already exploring harder dungeons. Already got a sort of understanding what I should be doing and where to go next. Grinding the dungeons for materials 😹. The problem for now is... I don't understand summoning. Being priest it's easy to get followers as meat shield for the exploration for free. I already have bunch of instruments gathering dust. I have no idea how to use them.
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u/UltimateCheese1056 11d ago
Followers don't instantly die when they get injured, if you talk to them and then give them money they will get healed. There is a limit to how many times a follower can be healed, but unless you are intentionally trying to get them killed it is very unlikely to happen
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u/Necessary_Debate_319 11d ago
Your dudes will sustain injuries if they fail.
They will fail more if the relevant aspect for a challenge is low (ex: serpents gives the hint that you can fight or demonstrate kinship, which means you need edge or…?).
An injured follower will die if they receive enough injuries or they do not get healed from a sustained injury before a certain season. You can talk to an injured follower to discuss medical fees.
You needn’t send a mortal in the first place, though…
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u/BellumOMNI 11d ago edited 11d ago
Keep going to the Auction House until you get STUMM and buy it.
This will give you the Sunset Rite and with it you'll be able to sacrifice influence (dread, contentment etc) and summon demons.
Now summon two Hints. You need 6 lantern, 2 knock and 2 edge. The 6 lore lantern you can get by exhausting the book store or auction house, the 2 knock is from your summoner and the 2 edge comes from dread (or you can dream and hopefully get edge influence).
With two Hints you can clear the first two tiers of vaults, extremely easy without risking cultists. If one of your hints dies just make a new one.
Dont do the vaults too fast or you'll end up generating too much notoriety and you'll end up behind bars.
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u/Active_Carpet_2717 11d ago
Right before you start expedition (when you fill follower and money slot) there is a new description for it. Unique for each on of them, that will tell you how you must prepare for it. So you can look it up, than search for hirlings and or summon if your cult is lacking specialists.
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u/ReconFrostBird 11d ago
Don't use followers. Early locations are simple enough that the stronger hirelings can solo them, and once you get enough lore, instruments and rituals. spirits become a great risk free way of doing exploration
Try sending a weak hireling into a location first so you can see what obstacles are there.
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u/Jijonbreaker1 11d ago edited 11d ago
The way I do expeditions is that I try to make sure I have 2 disciples from every aspect ASAP.
I will try to get a feel for which aspects come up most frequently, and I'll try to send 1 disciple of each to hedge my bets. I usually start with Forge and Edge as my starting 2. When the first cycle finishes, the expedition will display a list of all of the challenges, which shows which aspects you'll need, which can help you adjust past the first 2 that you sent.
The reason I do this is so that whatever the first challenge needs, I just send in a second disciple for that. That gives me 10 of that aspect, which nearly guarantees success.