Helicon House (Guide)
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Early Railroad Content and Onwards |
| Helicon House Summary | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| Locked Semi-Fixed-Length Activity | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Setup | Progress | End | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1 A | 2-5 A | 1 A | ||||||||||||||||||
| Progress
Details |
Make strides towards  Fitting in.
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| Raw EPA | 3.14 | Raw SPA | 6.19 | |||||||||||||||||
Helicon House is a location in 
. It is unlocked by acquiring an 
.
With 
or a 
, this can be done with opportunity cards in Ealing.
If you don't have these, you need to build up 
to 5, then "Track the rumours you've been hearing" under the Tour the Neighbourhood storylet. The best sources of investigating before 
are either in 
, 
or from other sources. See Investigating (Guide) for more info on these.
With access to Jericho Locks, Ply them with lager and see what they'll share will give you all the progress you need in a single action.
Entering the House[edit]
To enter the house, you must pay with either a single 
Surface Bloom or 
, or have either the 
(
Bohemian renown 40 item), or the 
(
Rubbery renown 40 item). In addition to not removing your renown items, the renown options give 5 
s and 
respectively, and 2 (see below).
After this, you can choose which (if any) companion to bring with you. It is recommended within the game, and this guide, to enter with a companion, though the benefits vary greatly. Many of the options are FATE-locked, and both Fate-locked and not can give an increase to Fitting in, , 
, 
, or 
; the only notable exception are those who took a particular ending of Nemesis, which gives -3CP of both Nightmares and one of Suspicion or Scandal.
Helicon House Qualities[edit]
Visits to Helicon House use two qualities to determine which actions are available: , and (hereafter "Time Remaining" and "Fitting In"). Both of these are reset every visit. In addition there are progress qualities which are not reset.
Time Remaining[edit]
Time Remaining in Helicon House tracks the progression of the evening, and has a slight resemblance to the 
quality from Veilgarden Parties, but is not as rigid. Time Remaining starts at 5 (or 4 if entering with the Pendant), and is lowered by 1 every action you take in Helicon House.
Many actions are restricted by Time Remaining, but generally to ranges rather than specific values. Roughly speaking, Time Remaining 4-5 is early in the evening, Time Remaining 3-2 is later in the evening, and Time Remaining 1 is when things are winding down and guests are leaving.
Fitting In[edit]
Fitting In represents your acceptance among the counterculture of Helicon House. Successful actions generally raise it by 1 or 2 points, a handful of options with exclusive requirements raise it by 3 points, and some failures decrease it by 1. Entering Helicon House with any of the Free Entrance methods will start your evening with two free points, and your choice of Companion may give you a free point.
A few actions are gated by Fitting In, sometimes requiring you to take less-profitable actions first to Fit In enough. The profitable options for exiting Helicon House require Fitting In, and several of those options have rewards which scale with Fitting In, although the scaling rewards are not worth being excited about.
In practice, Fitting In is not usually a significant obstacle. A few optimized grinds must fiddle with it to shave an action off of a loop, but most core actions do not require high values. The actions that require values which are difficult to obtain are the ones that will make you 
Rubbery Men or Bohemians.
Progress Qualities[edit]
Helicon House makes use of four Progress qualities that are used elsewhere in Fallen London: , , , and . Helicon House does not reset these qualities, and can freely mix with other sources or uses of them in the broader game.
All four qualities can be raised in Helicon House, and the first three can be cashed in profitably. Helicon House uses to unlock certain areas, but has no repeatable use for that quality. Casing can be exchanged in the Upstairs Honey Den with Lay claim to any left-behind items, and Fascinating and Inspired can be exchanged in the Prussian Salon with Attract a companion for the rest of the evening and Accept a commission, respectively. Note that all three of those exchanges end your visit in Helicon House.
Several Ambition rewards unlock an option in Helicon House. Many of these are unique ways to raise one of the Progress qualities. Likewise, many of the Companion choices give free Progress on entrance.
Overview of Storylets[edit]
The storylets are ordered into different rooms, which have different focuses. You can mix and match rooms as much as you want to.
The Entrance Hall[edit]
- Gain (faster at the beginning of the evening)
- Gain
- Spend to unlock various locations (all of them also require Fitting In 3 to unlock):
- requires level 7
- requires level 7 and 
- requires level 10- The Sculpture Garden - Requires level 7 and (fate-locked) .
- At Time Remaining 0-1, end your visit for either
and 
; 
and 
; or and a 
.
The South Parlour[edit]
- Options to increase Fitting In that are easier with high and/or Rubbery Men.
- Gain
- Buy .
The Yellow Salon[edit]
- Options to increase Fitting In that are easier with high .
- Different option depending on
. - Gain
- Display your
for 
and, depending on painting qualities, /Fitting In.
The Prussian Salon[edit]
- Options to increase Fitting In that are easier with high .
- Gain
- At Time Remaining 2, end your visit for
and . - At Fitting In 5, end your visit by cashing in for
reduction and 
, 
, 
, 
. - At Fitting In 5, end your visit by cashing in for and .
The Supper Room[edit]
- Gain
- Gain
- Serve up a Culinary Tribute to the Sea of Spines for and
The Upstairs Honey Den[edit]
Must be discovered.
- Gain
- Become Bohemians.
- Get
. - At Fitting In 3, end your visit by cashing in for , ,
. - At Fitting In 5, if you have
, end your visit by cashing in for 
, , 
, 
, 
.
The Mirrored Salon[edit]
Must be discovered.
- Gain
- Sell
for . - Gain
(Astonish the company with an illusion) - If you have
, spend for 
and 
.
Below-Stairs[edit]
Must be discovered.
- Become Rubbery Men.
- Spend for
. - Upgrade various bones.
- Gain
. - Obtain the if one does not have access to Flute Street.
FATE The Sculpture Garden[edit]
Must be discovered, requires .
- Gain
- Gain
- At Fitting In 5, get an
- At Fitting In 5, get an
, or a bit of 
and some - At Time Remaining 2 or lower, end your visit by presenting an amalgamous and implausible skeleton for a good amount of and a slight increase in the skeleton's value, based on Fitting In (the skeleton is not consumed)
Tables[edit]
Table of Fitting In Sources[edit]
Tables of Progress Quality Sources[edit]
| Action | Location | Gain | Time Remaining | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Just the right person | Alone, or with a companion? | +2 | Also gives Fascinating and Investigating | |
| Your Platonic Partner in Crime | Alone, or with a companion? | +2 | ||
| Your Platonic Eminence Grise | Alone, or with a companion? | +2 | FATE | |
| Keep a close eye on everyone present | The Entrance Hall | +5-1 | 2+ | Gives more Casing earlier Also gives Investigating |
| Deploy your Morally and Physically Flexible Rubbery Cat | The Entrance Hall | +6 | 4+ | Costs
|
| Action | Location | Gain | Time Remaining | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Just the right person | Alone, or with a companion? | +2 | Also gives Casing and Investigating | |
| No one! | Alone, or with a companion? | +2 | No Companion | |
| Your Fabulous Accomplice | Alone, or with a companion? | +5 | ||
| Your spouse, the Comfortable Intriguer Your spouse, September Captain Amelia Whitlock |
Alone, or with a companion? | +5 | FATE | |
| The Infamous Mathematician | Alone, or with a companion? | +2 | ||
| Flirt with the most interesting person in the room | The Supper Room | +6 | 2+ | No Companion |
| Brood, ostentatiously | The Supper Room | +5 | 4+ | 
|
| Bask in Admiration | The Supper Room | +5 | 2+ | 
|
| Action | Location | Gain | Time Remaining | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Just the right person | Alone, or with a companion? | +2 | Also gives Casing and Fascinating | |
| The Roguish Semiotician | Alone, or with a companion? | +2 | ||
| Your Esoteric Accomplice | Alone, or with a companion? | +5 | ||
| Your spouse, the Academic Intriguer Your spouse, the Devout Intriguer |
Alone, or with a companion? | +5 | FATE | |
| Keep a close eye on everyone present | The Entrance Hall | +5 | 2+ | Also gives Casing |
| Slip a few snacks to your Rubbery Hound | The Entrance Hall | +20 | 2+ | Costs FATE |
