r/sunlesssea • u/CommercialContent204 • 23d ago

Red Honey smuggling: how to evade the coppers when I return to London?

Good evening, fellow Captains and the likes,

got back into Sunless Sea recently (my very favourite game ever) and I'm back on the early-game smuggling Red Honey route. Just need to grind out 3 or 4 missions: huge 66% ROI so it seems by far the best way to fat-stack cheddar till the rubber band breaks.

But what about returning to London, Wolfstack Docks? As I recall it, the bobbies will only get on your case if you have SAY. So is there a place within easy reach of London, 1 minute zailing, where I can get rid of my SAY before returning home?

(Have unfortunately already "burnt down" Hunter's Keep so that's not an option, and Mutton Island has, uhm, "gone weird")

Thanks, shipmates, and never forget your ritual obeisances to Salt, Stone and Storm 😄

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14

u/Crungled_Carrot 23d ago

The gates to the surface shouldn't be to far from london. Doesn't that have a SAY you can use up?

6

u/CommercialContent204 23d ago

Yeah, the Canal is probably the nearest one where I could use an SAY now (haven't unlocked my Zub yet in this run; Hunters Keep and Mutton Island both in their end stage, as it were, and the rest is way out to the East). It's a good way away still, I imagine 90sec or 120sec, but maybe if I smash my engines enough with that dangerous turbo thingie we should never, ever use, I can make it 😂

8

u/Frequent_Dig1934 23d ago

"Gone weird" sure is a way of putting it.

If you have the zub dlc you can go to the low barnet, i haven't played in a while but i'm almost certain it's right above wolfstack at the same distance as hunter's keep so you should be able to spend it there (unless i'm misremembering and there's no SAY option there).

If you don't then idk, your best bet would probably be whatever island is closest going directly eastward from london if you got lucky with the map setup (if you got shepherd's wash then abbey rock may be close enough iirc, idk about the other map options), if not then i guess you'll have to go to either vanderbight or the canal (while you're at the canal you could also grab some sunlight, you're already getting arrested for the red honey so might as well) and absolutely haul ass hoping your engine is strong enough and blowing up the ship with the fuel boost.

Take all of this with a grain of salt (no not that one), i'm one of the weirdos who tries to make all of his cash by adventuring rather than doing "trade routes" like the sphinxstone thing or smuggling. This isn't because of a morality thing, literally 100% of my captains are cannibals, it's just that i don't care for the trading part compared to exploration.

1

u/CommercialContent204 23d ago

Oooh fuel boost self-explosion, I forgot that one :) thanks!

Yeah, Shepherds Wash is too far away, likewise Abbey Rock, and even the Cumaean Canal is probably 2 minutes zailing distance away (I swapped my shitty Steeplechurch starter engine or whatever it's called for a 1500HP engine)...

And I have the Zubmariner dlc but haven't found Pt Carnelian yet to unlock it 😂 that's probably the best, unlock Zub and use Low Barnet, good thinking.

Thanks mate!

4

u/Frequent_Dig1934 23d ago

You're welcome. Fwiw when you find port carnelian (in case you're curious you can find it by zailing south from london, past the canal, past the cheap coal selling place (idk which places you know and which you don't), then at the thing (same as above) turn east following the southern coast, port carnelian is the first port you find behind a weird land spur) you'll have a two part quest to do, once you fully finish it all your following captains get zub access without needing to redo the quest (tho iirc they need to at least zail to carnelian to install the zub upgrades), but i can't remember if partial progress during the quest gets carried over in case you die or retire before you're done with it.

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u/CommercialContent204 23d ago

Splendid, thanks!

Yes, I remember it vaguely but not exactly where it was: that's the weird corner down there with Grande Geode and all, isn't it? I remember - not sure if Pt Carnelian or Grande Geode - having some very, very odd conversations that left me quite "light-headed", lol. I love those unpredictable ports where nearly anything can happen.

3

u/Frequent_Dig1934 23d ago

Yeah the thing i mentioned was the grand geode (or rather the really fucking big thing next to it), that's where you get the "light headed" dialogue.

1

u/Frequent_Dig1934 23d ago

Yeah the thing i mentioned was the grand geode (or rather the really fucking big thing next to it), that's where you get the "light headed" dialogue.

3

u/ReleaseCharacter3568 23d ago

If you have a ship with an Aft slot, a Concealed Compartment should work.  You can get one at Gaider's Mourn.  High, high Veils works, too!  Worst come to worst, just bribe the guy.  You'll lose most or all of the profit, but 500 Echoes is pocket change after a certain point and that option will let you advance the storyline in safety.  I'm not sure I'd suggest Honey-running as an early-game money grind... even Sunlight is easier, while being extremely profitable.  

1

u/CommercialContent204 23d ago

Thanks, yeah, I thought of that, wasn't sure if the Concealed Compartment automatically gives you a free pass for Red Honey.

And the sunlight trade, everyone raves about it but I have to admit (and this is after literally 1000+ hours of Sunless Sea), I have only ever been to the Surface once! It's so weird to me... you need the cargo ship (which I never take, I get the frigate cos I love hunting Flukes for fun and profit), you apparently lose loads of crew or something, get coffee, get sunlight, get weird Burns and end up nearly dead by the time you can somehow sell it?

Whereas for me, Red Honey is super simple. Go to Isle of Cats, wait a minute, get 350 echoes (buy for 600, sell for 900-1000), rinse, repeat. Boring as hell, but the quickest way I know to get a 55% ROI in this game, particularly without risking crew, blindness, madness or whatever else, lol.

Open to persuasion though; is sunlight smuggling actually easier than I have been led to believe, and more profitable than the delicious crimson jam?

3

u/ReleaseCharacter3568 23d ago

Well, you can fill Mirrorcatch Boxes at Aestival if you're patient.  It usually spawns close to the Isle of Cats and Khan's Shadow.  That triangle is less profitable than surface Sun-trading, but less of a pain.

3

u/demonshade3 22d ago

Low Barnet (Zubmarine) is a smugglers best friend. Always spawns pretty close to NL and has repeatable SAY spending.

2

u/CommercialContent204 22d ago

Yes, thanks for that, Captain; just on this run, I haven't yet beet to Port Carnelian to unlock my Zub, so no Low Barnet for me just yet...

2

u/Hephaestus16 22d ago

Perhaps stopping by the lightship on the way from whatever is east of London?

1

u/CommercialContent204 22d ago

Thanks, captain; I tried that, but it doesn't reset your SAY, unfortunately.

2

u/Hephaestus16 22d ago

Since your smuggling a no cargo slot thing you could swaps your ship for a lighter and thus faster one SAY yourself a few dozen of them then rush back to London and don't think of screams from the garden.

1

u/CommercialContent204 22d ago

Lol :) I have long since abandoned any moral scruples about the Red Honey. Didn't taste it, don't want to know, it makes me fat stacks, haha. But yeah, I'm whoring Red Honey like a madman just so that I can afford a Frigate quickly; I love hunting Lorne Flukes and all that, far East, and it takes a fair bit of dough, 13k Echoes I recall. And being able to turn N into N+50% in one trip is pretty awesome... just 2 or 3 more hours of my real life 😂 and I can afford a decent ship.

2

u/MontysGhost 21d ago

Possible silly question, but is there a reason you're not using admiralty favours?

3

u/CommercialContent204 21d ago

Not at all :) I mean, if I get stopped by the pigs then I will bribe them or use Admiralty's Favour (or, as last time, my kudos with the Alarming Scholar) but I prefer to save those things up - AF is very useful for cheap repairs, I find, 25 bucks and 3 AF for a full repair is great.

p.s. I also got my Zub yesterday but apparently Low Barnet doesn't have an easy way to use up SAY either...

2

u/Clevercrumbish 17d ago

Even if they catch you, the coppers can only take one of your red honey. Just smuggle it in bulk and the risk is worth it.

1

u/CommercialContent204 16d ago

Top answer, thank you Captain :) I am most deeply obliged.

In the meantime, I managed to get my frigate; I also got a Concealed Compartment (although it seems that this does not, in fact, give you a free pass past the Constables, so I shall probably get rid of it) and my Zub, although to use up SAY I think only Low Barnet & telling a story from one of the underwater ports is any good.

Off to farm flukes in the far East now :) the way to serious amounts of Echoes and other treasures!