Wealth (Ambition)

Wealth is a seemingly impossible thing to acquire in the Unterzee, but once you explore you will find more than enough opportunities to make you rich. You are here because want the ambition of wealth, which requires 10k echoes for the Zeeside Mansion. Here is a quick guide on some of the money schemes you can attempt.

Basic Zee Moneymaking Getting Money from the Admiral
Ok, so you have started your grand adventure! Not much in the way of money, but we can make it work. To start, just start going to Admiral and start the Strategic Information mission. You know how it works, sail to port, collect the info, and head on back for those sweet, sweet 150 echoes. Well...that's not that much, but lets make it work. Instead of just giving him the information, we can increase our profit a bit. Wait until you get 2 Strategic Information. Now, make sure you have Tales from Distant Shores or a Zee Story. Click the Strategic Information icon and USE it. You can now make it into Vital Information. This can be given to him for 350 echoes and even open your opportunities with a special Diplomat who will offer even more cash, a whopping 500-600 echoes (be a wee bit careful around this...things can happen.)!

Combine these with port reports and you get some pretty decent cash. This can also open up the chance for Spy Networks, but this requires some high level Veils to pull off. Spies can also be a decent income if you wish to pull it off. This is some good starting cash, but this isn't enough for the ambition, we need some big investment!

Disregard Authority, Acquire Currency
Isn't this nice, you are making some nice, honest money, but honesty is for nerds and you are making pennies compared to other Zee Captains. Lets do some...less than honest work to boost income.

Smuggling for the Cheery Man
Now I am sure after a few runs you have met a certain one-eyed and cheery SOB who asks you to do some smuggling. While he may be annoying, keep him on your good side for reasons I'll get into later. He almost always asks you to go to either Gaider's Mourn, Khan's Heart, or Polythreme to smuggle souls. This can be annoying, as he always asks randomly, but you should be able to incorporate this into your search for new ports and adventure. Getting the goods are easy enough, getting them in is the hard part. By now you should have collected a bit of Admiral's Favors and can use a few of these to get passed the Customs. Stealthy captains might be able to sneak by them as well and have no problems getting the goods to the Cheery Man. This will net you 200 echoes, plus some fuel and supplies. A word of caution, don't come back to London without the stuff, and by the Zee gods don't lose it if you get them. Also remember that he gives you 1000 echoes to buy the goods, be wary of spending that cash.

Red Honey, we Getting Illegal Now!
The Isle of Cats is a expensive port, but its story line provides some very good smuggling opportunities. By getting favor with the Pirate King, which requires some errand work, use of a prostitute, and a casual Kidnapping (I didn't say this would be clean work) You will eventually get a key to a special garden. You can now buy Red Honey, which sells for 900-1000 echoes at Fallen London (varies of who you sell it to, you just need a down payment of 600 echoes!) Like the Cheery Man, what you are doing is bad, and Customs will take the goods if you get caught. You can use Admiral's Favors, Antiquarian levels, or stealth to get it by. This will get you 400 echoes a run, like the Cheery man boost income with Port Reports. You also will require a "Something Awaits You..." Event to get to the honey, so don't bother if you don't have one.

THE SUN!!! THE SUN!!! THE SUN!!!
Ok now you are gonna get to the REALLY dangerous method, selling sunlight. Now before you go on and do this be advised, this is a risky and temporary method. If you overdo this, YOU WILL DIE. Do you hear me? YOU WILL LOSE EVERYTHING YOU WORKED FOR AND BE SAD!!! Are we clear? Good. Now your gonna need a few things...

1. Mirrorcatch boxes, lots of them. You can buy them at Khan's Shadow for 250 echoes a piece. I know, you cheapskate, it's pricey but please bear with me. It's worth it.

2. Have good relations with the Cheery Man (this is where it becomes worth the random trips) or know the location of the Isle of Cats.

3. Have the guts to sail up to the surface. You will need at least 20 or so fuel and some supplies.

4. You also would like to have no prior wounds, for reasons I'll get into later.

Alright so take your empty boxes and take them to the Surface (via the canal). Right off the bat you might lose a crew or two, don't worry, they are expendable. Spam click the collect sunlight button and fill your boxes with sweet, warm light. Now each time you do this a modifier will rise. You will begin to notice the messages getting worse and worse, you are slowly becoming addicted to sunlight. After filling these boxes up head back down and now you have 2 options.

A. Sell the boxes to the Cheery Man in Fallen London. You may have to dodge the Customs, or worse, get sent on another damn smuggling mission. But he will buy each full box for 400 echoes, and even return the empty boxes! He really is a nice, albeit dangerous, employer!

B. Head off to the Isle of Cats to sell the light. Depending on your Veils, you may lose a box to dishonest people, but get 500 echoes and not have to go on any stupid errands. This is a good option for stealthy players, but it's slower and the loss of a box will cut into profits.

Now this seems perfect, and it was before a patch. Now, if you reach a certain point, crew will open the box and die. Reach around 175 and you yourself will lose self control and open boxes at the cost of wounds. hit 190 and well...you just go mad and open boxes constantly. If you let this happen 3 times YOU WILL DIE. If the worst occurs throw all full boxes away. You can reduce this addiction by resting, but only by a bit and its costs aren't worth it. This is a short, but insanely lucrative route that will flood you with dirty money (12 full boxes to the cheery man is a whopping 4800 echo profit!) You can fill about 30 or so boxes safely before becoming a raging sunlight addict. You can sell any leftover boxes for 200 echoes back at Khan's Shadow (or save them for other adventures as you find them).

Honest Surface Work
You're too good for dishonest work? OK, I understand... Well I got another method that is pretty decent method, a trade run to the surface. Now we are gonna need a few things...

1.Ship with a good cargo, by now you should have enough echoes to afford a ship with a large cargo carrier or frigate.

2. 21+ fuel and 6 supply (I always carry a bit more than normal more to be safe)

3. Cash to buy 20-59 coffee crates (at least carry enough to make it profitable.

Ok so we got a few possible routes for this one. You can buy coffee straight from Fallen London for 50 echoes, I recommend this as it is close to the surface and fast. If you want to invest 25 sacks of coffee for a licence, Khan's Heart sells coffee for a bit less. You now head up to the surface, head to Naples, and catch the next train to Vienna. You can then invest a bit of coffee to start a deal with a local shop to trade coffee for 80 Echoes, a 30 echo profit! Now you might be wondering why I said 59 coffee sacks are the max, well lets just say the owner of our little shop is a bit depressed. If you give him too much coffee you ruin the deal by stressing him out enough to burn his damn shop down. Since apparently he is the only coffee shop who wants the fine brand of the Zee, you lose out. Don't get greedy, 59 sacks still nets you over 1000 echoes a run. If you want to cut costs on supplies and Fuel Naples has the cheapest supplies in the game, with only 5 echoes per crate. Get your fuel either at London or the Iron Republic. This is a slower, yet safe method. The only risk is the occasional loss of crew members.

(A more roundabout way to cheap coffee is through buying Casks of Mushroom Wine in London, at 21 echoes each, then trading with Monkeys in A Civilised Exchange of Gifts in the Empire of Hands before the Zeppelin is completed, which comes out to a 59 echo profit. Closer to home, Carnelian sells Darkdrop Coffee in its store for 38 echoes.)

Triangle Trade: Turning Wine to Silk
Trade was given little forethought in the game, at least for now. There are 1 or 2 routes, but this one specific method is both profitable and decent when you get a big ship. This route has a few requirements. Most of these can be done all at once if you want to risk it.

1.Know where Empire of Hands and Irem are. Irem is always in the top right, never see it move. Empire of Hands can move around, but is pretty much directly opposite of London in the Far East.

2.Explore Empire of Hands, and make sure that Delightful Archaeologist gets to her site (her story is for another page, just get access to the Court of the Monkey Emperor)

3. I would strongly recommend a large ship, at least hull space to carry 30+ of our goods plus some fuel and supplies to cross the Zee. I recommend the Cargo Ship with its 120 cargo and lighter crew requirements, but frigates and Dreadnoughts can get the job done.

Ok so now we start at Fallen London. Go to the shops and buy Mushroom Wine (about 21 echoes), as much as you can without sacrificing the proper fuel and supplies needed (can very based on your engine, crew, and modifications to the map that randomly generates). Now you need to sail to the Empire of Hands, pick up any port reports you can to balance out some the fuel costs. Head on over to the Court and go to the trader section. You can now trade your Wine for Coffee (40 echoes)! Be advised, you can only trade it one at a time so it will take time. But if you want cash, take it like a man and fill your cargo! Now head north, you should run into Irem. At Irem's Shop you have the opportunity to trade all that sweet coffee for Parabola Silk (60 echoes!!!!) By this time you should be low on fuel/supplies. If your lucky Mt. Palmerson shouldn't be too far away so you can get cheap fuel and slightly pricey supplies. If not, Port Cecil shouldn't be too far, but the costs are more. Sail back to London and sell your silk. You jus turned 20 echo wine into 60 echo silk! 40 net profit per cask of wine, plus the port report awards, will net 1000-3000 echoes, depending on how much you loaded up with. This is a tedious, but efficient, route to quickly build your supply up.

Money in the Bank
Combine and adjust these methods to your liking. Follow these guidelines and plan carefully and many of these methods will net you thousands of echoes in a fairly short amount of time. Use the money to upgrade your ship, get fancy new weapons and lights, or use it to fund your adventures on the Zee. These are by no means the only way to get cash. Quests often end with giving you anything from Outlandish Artifacts (100 echoes) to Captivating Treasures (1000 echoes) I won't spoil the quests, you can do SOMETHING by yourself I hope. But no matter what, make sure fun comes before money, this isn't a trade game by any means. have patience and a cool head and retiring in a swanky mansion will be as east as pie.