With fish week here I thought it would be a good chance to do a quick review of Helicon House and (Fin)d out what all the fuss is about!

What is Helicon House?

Helicon house is where Bohemians and Rubbery Men gather to practice their arts! Like art itself almost all the stuff in there is garbage however there are 4 of 5 actions that are true masterpieces

Where is Helicon House?

It's in Ealing Gardens, you can discover it from a card. You might need to have a certain renown or have some rubbery favours or something but I had whatever it was before I ever got there so you probably will too. Alternatively, you can check the wiki.

Why is Helicon House?

That question makes no sense, are you bone headed or something?!? You are? Well my friend you have come to the right possibly orgiastic interspecies hangout. Hentai can tell you all about it(and I, did that work? Might need to be said aloud). Helicon House is the only source of some fantastic bones! The only useful fin: Amber Encrusted Fin and the Godzimothazord of all ribcages the Ribcage with a Bouquet of 8 Spines.

When is Helicon House?

Right, I'm ignoring the silly questions now. It's 7 action cycles. Seek Admittance, Choose a companion (0 actions), Use up 5 time remaining, leave. Aside from things you do once, like increasing your shapeling arts cap almost every single action in there sucks, I bought the pendant of helicon amber and unlocked the secret zone, the secret zone sucks! However, there are 2 actions in there that make the whole place magical.

Who is Helicon House?

That, almost makes sense for the first action and the free one, so I will let you off.

Gaining Entry to Helicon House!

The first action gets you through the door. It costs you 2.5 echos worth of stuff but only until you qualify for the good stuff. We don't do the bad stuff so lets cover the good stuff. All the options give you 2 fitting in so I won't mention those, you need them but they all give the same.

With the Pendant of Helicon Amber(40 Fate, so not worth it! one of my least worth it purchases, and I spend a lot)

They give you 3 Intriguing Snippets! or 0.6 Echos, not spotted a use for theses as opposed to

With the Oneiric Key (Bohemians 40 item)

They give you 5 Romantic Notions(0.5 echos) but the one for bone men comes with

With The Location of an Underground Organ (Rubbery 40 item)

They give you 5 nodules of warm amber (0.5 echos but it's useful!)

Choosing a companion for the evening!

Almost all companions do the same +1 fitting in in helicon house, you need 3 in order to make an 8 spines but if you are just making Fins you can use the only honourable mention:

With Fabulous Accomplice (20 Fate, Hallowmas)

You gain no Fitting in but you do gain 5 CP facinating, Since there is a card in Burgundy that lets you cash out facinating at just over 1 echo a pop… that would be 5 echos! For a 0 action cost action, so infinite EPA! but not really, but sort of.

Whithertoo Helicon House?

…You don't even know what that means, do you? You just thought it sounded clever.

So you have 5 actions to spend your 5 fitting in. The only two worth doing are below stairs, so go there first, you have to unlock that area if it's your first time, but if it's your first time, have a look around and see everything, you don't have to rush all the time, enjoy the story!

Turn your finbones into something more impressive

cost 10 fin bones, collected (5 echos)

check Shapeling Arts 3 (8 for 100%)

Payout Amber Crusted Fin 15 echos, 1 Amalgamy, 1 Menace, on failure, 15 echos 1 Amalgamy, 2 implausibility(on a skeleton, not on this check, don't do this check if you can't 100%!)

Failure: 1 wound, still counts as one of your 5 actions! (Fine, it's probably still worth it at 90%, with no SA gear)

10 EPA!

Create a ribcage with a bouquet of eight spines

Cost:

1 Skeleton with 7 necks(Balmoral) (62.5 E)

1 Thorned Ribcage(Hell Favours, Jericho) (12.5 E)

3 Searing Enigma(City of the Tracklayers, The serpent muralist(10 fate to unlock the card), Trade Secret, Sell a Secret College to the Bazaar(for 25), Hunting Laws(but that is really really bad now)) (185.5 E)

3 Nodule of Trembling Amber(Give him a lot of amber, rubbery card, turns 10 echos into 12.5 echos and a favour too!, really can't think of anywhere else except oneiropomping with a festival item that costs fate…)(37.5E)

Check: Shapeling Arts 7 (12 to 100%)

Payout: 1 Ribcage with 8 Spines (312.5E, Ribcage, 1 Amalgamy, 2 Menace, 8 head slots, 4 limb slots, 1 tail slot)

12.5 EPA!

Wh…. Wh…. Whitsun Helicon House?

Topical, and festive, I like...

So on the way out there are a few options, one is the best for bones, the mushroom vol-au-vents, but I shall cover all 3 because I am a gentle lady, probably, that's your best guess at least. Also you might need things for, and I am loathe to mention this… non bone activities!

The three good exit actions are in the entrance hall, there used to be a good way to cash out facinating if you turned up without a companion but that has been blown out of the water by Burgundy! The firmament scum! :)

Nab a supply of Incorruptible Biscuits on the way out

4 Incorruptible Biscuits(10 Echos)

1-10 Pot of Venison Marrow(average 2.75 echos)

12.75 EPA (Makes up for the -2.5 or 0.5 on the way in, right?)

Forget the biscuits! Take the solacefruit!

Requires 4 Train Luxuries

20 Solacefruit (10 Echos)

Fitting in * Hand Picked Peppercaps (1-1.5 echos)

11-11.5 EPA (Yeah, you would need 6 fitting in to match the other one, I told you, this place is super random)

Never Mind the Solacefruit! Take the Mushroom Vol-au-vents!

Needs 10 Bizarre

15 + Fitting in * Hand Picked Peppercaps (8.5 or 9 echos)

1 Thirsty Bombazine (2.5 Echos)

11-11.5 EPA (What do you mean it's not the best option!?! Peppercaps can be used to put a Counterfeit Head of John the Baptist on your skeleton and Thirsty Bombazine is needed to farm Mammoths in Balmoral! You are going to take the extra 1.5 echos in pure scrip? The bonetrayal!

So, the optimal 6 action rotations are:

Any entry 0.5e, Fabulous Accomplice 5E, Make fins 5 times 50E, Take the Biscuit 12.75E

11.375 EPA

Getting fins efficiently is why you don't do this and nothing else ever! Also you can only liquidate in a fish week. If someone tells you hunting sharks is efficient, call them a liar and slap their face! And I'm a monster hunter!

Any entry 0.5e, probably your spouse, Make 5 * 8 spines 62.5e, Take the biscuit 12.75E

12.625 EPA

bear in mind that most 312.5 ribcages are farmed at slightly worse than 5 epa, we do it anyway because they are so fantastically profitable. This thing is a monster!

That's your lot but I popped a couple of notes related to it as an appendix, or I guess appendices below

Wait, I messed up my fitting in! I got 2 and I need 3

Don't worry, there are 2 actions below stairs to get one fitting in for 1 action and others in other areas or you could just do 5 fins and then go again. :)

Helicon Paid Area Breakdown

going with wiki rules so no story, just the facts!

Warning: This is copy pasted from the note I put on the wiki after buying the amulet and testing the zone, it is rather ranty! I have been back after hitting 40 renown with both factions to see if the rewards scale… They do not

Helicon Sculpture Garden No-Narrative Map

Action 1 - With 27 Bohemian Renown - 6 Inspired CP - 1 Fitting in - 

Bad for both

Action 2 - Needs 5 fitting in - 100 bone fragments - 10 Warm Amber - 2 EPA - bad - 

Action 3 - Scholar of the Correspondence 10 60% - Renown Rubbery men 22 52% - 

1 Extraordinary implication - 2.5 EPA - 

Action 4 Persuasive - Renown Bohemians 28 56% - +1 Fitting in - MW +4 - Hard to rate, Bad for fitting in, 4 making waves for 1 action is good but entrance and exit actions need to be taken into account.

Action 5 - ends your trip - Needs 5 fitting in - Skeleton 8550 2 implaus 2 amal FAIL needs 3 and 3 - Skeleton 11350 4 implaus 4 amal - 

Added 100 value to skeleton - 100 Nodules of Warm Amber - Waste 1 time remaining - 

Terrible, worse value than almost any of the free options and it costs you one of your, in the house actions, which are the most valuable. Converting fin-bones, 10 EPA, converting Skeleton with 8 spines 12 EPA. 

Arriving fashionably late is also terrible for the same reason. So the amulet is only good to save you 2.5 echos per trip and give you 1 extra fitting in, if you are not 40 renown with Bohemians or Rubbery men. Many of the actions in the garden also have checks based on your renown which clashes with this. It is possible that the rewards also scale by renown but that would be unusual and take some time to test alone.

Hunting Sharks, Monster Hunter with sick stats:

Also copy pasted from my bone document, I don't think I had the stats to do it in that few actions back then, I don't think I do now and I have 335 Dangerous, 20 monstrous anatomy and 21 Glasswork!

Hunting

 

Shark – Actions need checked

1 start 1 Glass 2 Pursue 1 taunt 1 wound 1 kill

7 Actions

2 x Fin Bones, Collected 1

1 x Remains of a Pinewood Shark 12.5

1 x Favours: The Docks (up to 7) 7.5

6 x An Estimable Trophy Priceless

21 Echos

 

Lab the Corpse

 

4-5 actions

2 Incisive Observation 1

38 Fin Bones Collected 19

500 Bone Fragments 5

Usually 1 Collated Research 2.5

27.5

 

Total Actions 11

Total Value = 36 Echos

3.272727 EPA

Told you it sucks, get them at zee, or anywhere but here!