The Everyvamp's Arsenal: Powering Gude [ft. nitenurse]

[Liander]

Please familiarize yourself with powers before continuing. The process in which to obtains powers is often discussed among clans, lineages, and warriors, but those discussions rarely if ever reach the ones they truly need to. I recently sat down with nitenurse, leader of the Republic of Ravenblack, to discuss the questing order and the efficient (or not so) methods to its completion. The difficulty in creating a guide, we agreed, was that the process is not a rigid thing, there is no black-and-white method to it.

Yes, I do believe powering is flexible. Shocker? a clan leader saying that? I want it to be as quick and efficient as possible for the student and sometimes you have to be flexible to maximize that.

In keeping with flexibility, understand that the below guide is not series of steps to be taken in an ordered way, but rather a rough outline that can and will change as you progress.

THIEVERY (SHADOWS)

First thing you need is coin, and a way to earn coin.

It really is that simple. No matter who you are or where you come from, each of us begins the same. As the saying goes: you've got to spend coin to earn coin. All three levels of Thievery should be obtained before moving elsewhere. Once done, this is the juncture where disagreement on how to proceed occurs. Thievery is obtained, logically, at the Thieves' Guild, but so is Shadows. There are two conventional wisdoms at odds here: convenience and cost efficiency. Convenience teaches that because the powers are bought at the same guild, one should buy both powers at once and avoid having to go back. The concept of cost management teaches otherwise -

Thievery 1 and Shadows 1 together cost 3K but when you get to Thievery 3/ Shadows3 that is 14K. When someone is young and poor, that extra 4K is a lot. When you think about what shadows does, if you are moving every day, which a student should be, you aren't going to drop to shadows.

SUCTION & STAMINA & CELERITY (OH MY)

Here is where I would assess a student's resources. That means money v. blood. Do they have the money for suction v. blood for stamina

The option here depends on how your path has gone thus far. Is it blood you possess, whether from a lucky series of hunters or from humans who drop little, or is it a padded bank account from - again - lucky hunters or large robs? In either case, energy becomes a priority now. Being able to move longer and in doing so, gaining more resources. Suction, a vastly underrated power, allows you to gain blood more quickly. As discussed in the powers page linked to earlier, increasing blood rank leads to increasing AP. In the latter case of Stamina, however, the purchasing equates to more energy outright.

nitenurse: I prefer Stamina 1 because then most of the time, your blood is so low that you can buzz through Stamina.
Liander: Which certainly makes Suction easier once done.

Take into consideration that Stamina also causes a blood loss, lowering the Suction requirement if done in that order.

Another intersection comes next - either the completion of all the levels of Stamina or, as some teach, interchanging the levels of Stamina and Celerity.

Liander: Now there's another methodology which suggests interchanging Stamina and Celerity levels. Stam1/Cel1, then Stam2/Cel2, etc.
Liander: Why your way? Why not that way?
nitenurse: Of all the quests, the one that people have the most difficulty completing is Celerity 2. Most of the time if you are doing it right, it is not a problem but if you get two shitty pubs, having the extra energy can make a difference
nitenurse: I've done it both ways.

Universally despised, Celerity is a tedious quest. The quest is simple enough in walking from point to point, but the issue arises in having enough AP to reach each subsequent pub. It requires an attention to detail and constant alertness.

nitenurse: When you get to the next pub, regain energy before ordering your drink, which is always beer unless you are running out of time.
nitenurse: This is where I help students the most. Figuring out how much energy they need to get from point A to Point B.
nitenurse: And then strategizing whether they have time to gain energy.

This process is not a difficult one to figure out, but it is often neglected due to lack of training. By waiting until you have full energy until ordering your drink, you can calculate the time required to get to the next location and how much energy you can save until the quest expires. The former option, obtaining Stamina 3 before proceeding to Celerity, allows more 'wiggle room' in getting from pub to pub for Celerity. Keep in mind though, the blood requirements for Stamina 3 can be difficult to obtain for impatient beginners. On average, one should expect to gain at least 75 - 100 pints of blood per day from biting humans.

PERCEPTION / CHARISMA

And this is one of my nods to convenience.

Both located at the Allurists' Guild, Perception and Charisma can be completed in tandem. Purchase both quests at the same time and allow Charisma to be finished over the time it takes you to locate and kill a hunter. At this point, a building of the bank is necessary. Charisma is relatively low-cost and takes time to complete, providing a moment of pause as resources are regained.

(SURPRISE) / LOCATE

nitenurse: For those who do the shadows with thievery for convenience, why do they not do Surprise with Locate?
nitenurse: It's the same concept.

Surprise is an expensive power and sometimes taught to be taken last due to its high cost and relatively low (immediate) return. As it requires no quest, however, there is an argument to be made for simply saving the coin and purchasing the powers in dual. It needs to be done either way. The question now is, with the powering process nearing completion, would you rather do it now or double back to the guild at the end of the process?

(SHADOWS) / TELEPATHY

If you did not purchase Shadows at the beginning, now is the time to make a return trip to the Thieves' Guild to do so. Now is where a breather can be taken, if so chosen this way, as you move to purchase each level of Shadows before moving to Telepathy. Telepathy likewise requires no quest but does drain you of 10 AP once bought, and so is advised to be taken nearest to last because it provides no vital function towards the completion of other powers and is draining on time spent regaining energy.

In closing, remember that we each walk a different path in the city. We may cross similar roads in our journeys, but no two travel the same footsteps. Powering is no different. Be flexible. Adapt. Overcome.

As soon as you close your mind, you will miss something good.