Skulduggery

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Skulduggery is one of several gameplay mechanics within the game. It is one of five Main Skills the player can use.

A wide array of options open up upon increasing it - some events have a more favourable outcome, and in some cases this skill is necessary to access some locations otherwise unreachable without this skill.

It otherwise serves as an efficient, although risky, way of making money. When going this route, be aware of its potential consequences it may have on the player! Remain cautious, and be sure to follow the walkthrough section below to make sure things are still on the right track.

Overview

There are many ways of getting money in game. Staying on the good side of the law, trying to help people whenever possible is an option, but as Bailey's demands grow larger, this becomes harder and harder. The player must search for alternative methods of earning money... and this could lead into the player delving into criminal activity, defying the law and partaking in thefts around the town.

It is an alternative to the player otherwise selling their body (and/or fluids), as well as a direct counterpart to treasure-hunting for antiques around the town.

In addition, there is a small chance that the player can steal a charge for their pepper spray, if they have at least an empty one.

Prerequisites

None required. Skulduggery is not locked behind a toggle, meaning there are no requirements within Settings. Specific locations house machines, in which one will have to be repaired first. No additional stats are required to access machines.

Locations

The player can generally adapt their Skulduggery skill anywhere within the game, but it is most prevalent within the town. Please note that this skill will generally tend to only work with human NPCs, although there may be some exceptions here and there for non-human (beast) NPCs.

  • The player can steal in combat anywhere around the town.
  • The player can break into buildings after closing hours. This allows them to loot cash registers, and/or steal items (such as clothing).
  • Using their "smarts" to fool people, potentially getting them out of tight situations, and/or somehow gaining an advantage.

Quick Walkthrough

Early Game

  • F-D+: Dive in the forest lake and open locked boxes in the ruins.

Alternatively:

  • F: Unlock school lockers
  • F+: Break into Domus houses
  • D: Look for marks on Connudatus street
  • D+: Break into Danube mansions

Late Game

  • C-S: Generally, the best way to increase it after this point is to steal during encounters. Use one hand to start off with, switch to using both hands once the Skulduggery skill is higher. The player can simply opt to just wait until the NPC is very aroused to make stealing with both hands much easier.

These other noteworthy methods can be attempted before reaching their respective Skulduggery level, and will still give experience even if the checks are failed:

  • C: Heavy chests in the Smuggler's cave
  • C+: Steal from tired clients at the Spa
  • B+: Stealing nun's habits in the temple gardens when exposed
  • S: Cheating on A and A* exams in school

Detailed Walkthrough

At first the player has limited options for using their Skulduggery. The player can begin by lockpicking lockers at the School. This can be done when school is in session (between 7:00 and 17:00). This does not net a lot of money and nothing to fence and while considered to be a quick way to make a bit of needed cash, it is not advisable to maintain long-term.

The player can also steal water for Robin's lemonade stand (at the beach on weekends), but they will probably fail and get punished.

The Temple Lichen event, a part of the Science Fair quest, is also one of the first attempts a player can make at Skulduggery. It can be safely attempted and failed.

Leaving through the Bus Station's backdoor during the day also counts as Skulduggery but does not give a skill up.

Lastly, the player can pick the locks on boxes found when searching through pots underwater in the Forest Lake ruins. This is tied to the Museum and is a very good way to level up skulduggery, as except for the swarms of little fish, it is almost completely safe.

Increasing Skulduggery

When performing Skulduggery, the player may get the prompt "You learned a thing or two about Skulduggery." This signifies that their action increased their Skulduggery level. Conversely, the prompt "There's nothing more you can learn from locks this simple/such an easy target" means that the task the player has performed is too easy to increase their Skulduggery level.

At first, searching through pots underwater in the Forest Lake ruins is one of the best ways to level up skulduggery. At least a C in swimming is recommended. In addition to being able to level up Skulduggery up to rank C without attracting the attention of the police, it also nets a reasonable amount of antiques the player can sell at the Museum for a rather large profit.

Another good way is stealing water for Robin's lemonade stand, as mentioned above.

Milestones

There are several milestones involved with Skulduggery. This represents the typical, natural and intended Skulduggery path of progression (route) during an average playthrough. One can go from a petty criminal into a professional thief, given enough time - and if the player follows the intended route.

If feeling stuck on what to do, refer to the notes below.

Stolen Goods

The first milestone. Reaching rank F+ allows the player to break into houses on Domus Street at night. This provides small amounts of cash and, more importantly, goods to fence. At night, the Shopping Centre - along with all the shops within - and the Bus station can all be opened too. But it is more for traveling at this point because they do not provide any skill ups.

Stolen goods can be fenced in the Pub at any time, with its Landry being the fence. "Ask for Landry" at any time. Note that they cannot be sold one by one, the only option is to sell everything that the player is carrying. The total worth of all the stolen goods the player is carrying can be checked in the Journal tab on the sidebar.

Looking for Marks

The second milestone. At Rank D, the player can "look for marks" on Connudatus Street. This allows them to steal directly from NPCs. Other than being slightly more profitable than robbing houses, this is important, because there is an event where the player is given the option to "hide in a car", which will take them to the hidden Elk Street Compound.

The monetary value of each card the player can get from Connudatus Street marks depends on the color of the card. They are listed below.

  • Black: £8
  • Silver: £15
  • Gold: £25
  • Platinum: £50

In addition, the player may now attempt to steal from people during sexual encounters. This can be quite profitable if the player does it while prostituting at the strip club - but failing will have consequences.

Breaking In

The player can now break into the Dance Studio, Strip Club, Cafe and School. Doing so does not rank up Skulduggery, however all of the buildings except the School contain a cash register, which can contain a large amount of cash (once per week per register) and more importantly, raise the player's Skulduggery rank. Note that accessing separate areas inside the buildings may require several Skulduggery checks. Stealing water for Robin is still effective.

At rank D, one of the easiest ways to progress Skulduggery rank is to search pots in the Forest Lake Ruins.

  • A moderate swimming skill plus swimming clothing is recommended.
    • "Search for pots" in the Ruins is also one of the few money-making events that is limited by Stress rather than Fatigue.

At rank D+, progress slows down. The player can break into Mansions on Danube Street (at night) and the Central Building of the Elk Street Compound. Stealing water for Robin no longer ranks the player's Skulduggery up.

Further Progress

Crime Method

Inside the houses on Domus street, the player can find a House Safe, which requires Skulduggery rank C. There is a similar safe in the mansions on Danube street, called the Fancy Safe, which requires rank B to open. These are, however, impractical for grinding Skulduggery due to their rarity.

From C, stealing from the Docks becomes available, and can easily get you to C+.

At rank C+, you can steal more easily with both hands, and you can gain experience by lying when you get caught stealing in the mansions. After you get to rank B, you can attempt to grind the Fancy Safes mentioned above, even if impractical. The Sepulchre in the Forest also opens up to you.

Up to B, you can steal the jewelry of clients at the spa. Look for clients that pull off their towel immediately, and choose to either act cute or sophisticated.

The only way to get up to skulduggery S is to steal from people during combat. Alternatively, player can try to steal stimulants from drug dealer on Oxford Street during Maths Competition.

Lewd Method

A more lewd method of increasing Skulduggery without incurring crime is to go to the Park, remove all the player's clothing, and then walk out of the bathroom (Exhibitionism 3 required). The player then needs Exhibitionism 5 to actually progress. So long as the player has the Exhibitionism requirements, they can use this method to go from F to S if they so choose. It should be said that this method is far more likely to result in massive Exhibitionism fame, to the point it is possible to max it out. Wearing a mask negates this risk, so it is very much advised if the player will be using this method and doesn't want Exhibitionism fame. This method is also only available during the day and is filled with potential for nonconsensual encounters. Depending on how the player handles them, this does carry the risk of Crime. Regardless, this method overall will result in less crime gain than the Crime Method unless the player uses Pepper Spray in most encounters.

Once out of the Park bathroom, the player can then choose to Cross the Flyover (Exhibitionism 5 needed the first time every day the player uses this method) and then Wait for a good moment to cross. Success sees the player make it to the next location without issue. Failure has a 50% chance of doing the same. Otherwise, the player is caught by a classmate (+ Arousal) who attempts to blackmail the player by showing the picture they took of of the player to the school unless they do as the classmate says. The player can run (+ 10 Exhibitionism fame, negated if the player is wearing a mask)(+ Arousal, more if the player is not wearing a mask) or comply (+ Insecurity if the player is female with small breasts or smaller, + Arousal, more if the player has breasts that are pert or higher, + Stress). If the player runs without a mask, they will get an event where they are recognized if they go to school. If they are wearing a mask, the pictures will still be shared, but the students won't figure out it's the player in said photos.

All options lead the player to the Industrial Alleys where they can make their way to the Park to try again via 1 of 3 paths unless they get lucky and get a random event that allows them to run back to the park (Athletics C+ required to guarantee success if the player gets this event).

  • It is not advised to go through the back entrance of the bus station. It will drop the player back off in the Industrial Alleyway, so it is encouraged not to choose this path.
  • If the player has History C or higher, they can choose to Climb the fence into the school, then take a secret tunnel back into the park. Since the player is by the school, they can also choose to go to Gym class and get a towel or a new pair of clothes if they don't want to make their way back to the Park. The clothes the player has in the Park will stay there until the player picks them up, however, so it's advised to pick the towel.
  • Otherwise, the player's only option is to Climb the ladder and then Climb down a chute. After going down the chute, if the player fails an allure check, they will run into a Cement Mixer and have to choose to dodge or hit the mixer. Dodging the mixer leads to a nonconsensual encounter where the person spanks the player. Hitting the mixer will allow the player to move on without consequence since they aren't wearing clothes. This method takes the least amount of time, so is the one most recommended.

Once the player is back in the Park, they can repeat the process until satisfied or until night falls.

Events

There are several events made easier by or even requiring Skulduggery. Some are detailed below:

  • Escaping the Elk Street Compound after being caught requires rank S.
  • There are also some minor events tied to the wolf pack - distracting a bear and deer, but they are quite rare.
  • When asking for work on Domus street, the player can be given the option to deliver a letter to Danube Street. It contains "a note in a foreign language", sometimes with a wad of cash. The player can steal £10, £30 or £100 with increasing difficulty. Note that the recipient may discover that the letter has been opened, higher Skulduggery helps.
  • The player may attempt to steal the Keycard from Dr. Harper at the Asylum. This is one of few ways to escape. Skulduggery rank S is practically necessary, as this is very difficult. The difficulty is calculated as "Suspicion * 6 + 700", meaning it is impossible with high suspicion. To increase the chances of success, keep the Suspicion stat as low as possible (it goes from 0 to 100) - getting the prompt The staff ignore you is a good indication of low enough suspicion (less than 20). Stealing the key card is only possible once per day. Additionally, the player may try to get their fellow inmates to distract the orderlies.

Effects

Skulduggery can have positive, and negative, effects on the player. See below.

Thief's Eye

If the player has the appropriate skulduggery level (C), there is a chance they will receive a special prompt:

"With a thief's eye you see what others miss."

This allows the player to use their Skulduggery to discover possibilities they would not have access to otherwise, such as a side door to the police station on Barb Street, to name one example. It should be noted that things may have to be rediscovered each time the player leaves the area, and then re-enters - see more information on the example below in the "Unlockables" section.

Consequences

As the player commits crimes, the police start to take note of them. How much the police want to capture the player and how severe their punishment will be depends on the Crime stat. If the player's Crime stat is high enough and they come across a police patrol on the street, should they fail to escape or seduce them, the player will be put into Pillory and publicly shamed. The player can check how high their Crime stat is in the Social tab, which will display one of these messages near the bottom:

  • <1000 [...] but lack enough evidence for an arrest.
  • <5000 [...] and have enough evidence for an arrest.
  • ≥5000 [...] and have more than enough evidence for an arrest.

Not to be confused with the Crime History stat, which can be checked in the same way, with different messages depending on how high it is. The Crime History stat has no impact on the game, it's only used for these particular messages in the Social tab, and in the stat tab:

  • <1000 The police aren't concerned with you.
  • <2000 The police have you on their records.
  • <3000 The police consider you a person of interest.
  • <5000 The police consider you a troublemaker.
  • <10000 The police consider you a criminal.
  • <30000 The police have a binder devoted to you.
  • ≥30000 The police have a filing cabinet devoted to you.

Criminal activity is tightly tied to and limited by the Skulduggery skill.

Crime stat can be reduced when completing Landry's Request, but players should keep in mind that their Crime will increase again when they steal any valuables. Using stealthy clothing like the Skulduggery Mask limits its increase, but does not prevent it. For more information on Crime stat and how to manage the fame resulting from it, please consult the Fame page.

Note: The Crime stat shouldn't be confused with Crime History, the latter one has no consequences and is only how high your Crime stat would be without the different decreases to it (when you complete Landry's Request for example).

Types of Crime

Crime is tracked under several categories: Assault, Coercion, Destruction of property, Indecent Exposure, Obstruction of Justice, Prostitution, Resisting Arrest, Thievery, Petty Thievery, and Trespassing. Each of these are tracked separately (when you commit a crime it will tell you the category) and are worth different amounts, EX. petty thievery is worth less than Thievery.

Unlockables

The main reward of Skulduggery will always be money at the end of the day, but there are also several more unlockables tied to Skulduggery:

The first to note is the ability to access several hidden areas, containing hefty amounts of loot to obtain.

  • The option to discover, and subsequently infiltrate, the Elk Street Compound. Requires a C in Skulduggery.
  • The docks can be infiltrated at night. Also requires a C in Skulduggery.

The second is unlockable quests that can be obtained:

  • A personal request from Landry, in the form of Landry's Request. The player must obtain a lost black box.
  • Accessing the Police Station side-door, unlocking the lengthy Police Infiltration questline. Requires a B in Skulduggery.
    • Visit Barb Street at any given time, where the Police Station is located. Here, if the player has the appropriate skulduggery level, there is a chance they will discover a side door to the police station, getting the prompt: "With a thief's eye you see what others miss." Note that it must be rediscovered every time the player leaves, unless they have a police access card, which can be found inside on a desk next to the computer at random (3% chance).
    • Note that the door has a 25% chance of appearing during the day and a 20% chance during the night (though it is easily discovered by repeatedly going to and from Barb Street).

The third (and last) are obtainable feats:

  • Skulduggery is tied to the feat "Thief", which requires the player to reach maximum Skulduggery. This feat unlocks the feat boost "Starting skulduggery grade", which allows the player to start a new game with a higher than normal grade in skulduggery (up to C).

Trivia

  • The option to infiltrate the docks at night was added in Version 0.2.21.
  • Unlike most other skill checks in the game, Skulduggery checks do not smoothly change in difficulty as the skill improves. Instead, based on your skill level and the difficulty of the check, the game will choose one of 7 different difficulty levels, each of which has a fixed success rate:
    • Very Easy - 100% Success Rate
    • Easy - 90% Success Rate
    • Medium - 70% Success Rate
    • Challenging - 50% Success Rate
    • Hard - 30% Success Rate
    • Very Hard - 10% Success Rate
    • Impossible - 0% Success Rate