Talk:Ambush a few couriers for old times' sake/@comment-5494781-20160312200638/@comment-32875425-20170917161656

To elaborate a little (or a lot):


 * The A Boxful of Intrigue carousel gives 1.64 EPA, and is grindable even in the narrowest sense (i.e., it takes place in London, can be done interspersed freely with other actions, can be done for all of your actions if you're so inclined, requires no inputs, etc.).


 * The Collection of Curiosities branch of the Dramatic Tension carousel effectively gives 1.77 EPA, after taking into account the two actions you aren't taking to cash in a pair of Favours: Tomb-Colonies, and the 8.4 echoes worth of Primordial Shrieks you're not getting from doing so. Since it requires one draw of Bandages and Dust: The Tomb-Colonies and one additional draw of any card granting Favours: Tomb-Colonies per 34 non-drawing actions, it's not possible to grind it for all of your actions, but in practice, it's possible to grind it for more actions than you're likely to have left after playing Opportunity cards that offer a higher EPA.


 * Speaking of which, I'm working on calculating a maximally efficient (end-game) echo-grinding algorithm that takes cards into account. It's not finished yet, and it's already at a hair over 2.6 EPA. That's assuming maximized stats, optimal equipment, and not having made any choices that unnecessarily put worthless cards in your deck, so performance that good is unlikely unless you are optimizing for it from early in the game. But still, even taking somewhat lower stats and a worse deck into account, you should be able to get well over 2 EPA when all is said and done. This is pretty clearly the best option, albeit also the most complicated and the highest-variance (because it's heavily based on card draws).


 * For a simpler grind, albeit one that requires spending long periods outside of London, the Matters of State carousel in Port Carnelian gives 2.1+ EPA if done correctly (I still need to write that up properly). Done reasonably sensibly, but imperfectly, it should still give 1.8+ EPA. Even done in a totally brainless fashion (see below), it still gives 1.43 EPA, as long as your equipment-modified Persuasive is at least 225:
 * Brainless approach to grinding Port Carnelian: Alternate the following two cycles:
 * Cycle 1, starting with 16 Striped Delights from cycle 2:
 * Sign on for another term
 * 22 x Attend the Daily Assembly of Tigers
 * 2 x the pair:
 * Negotiating the rights of the Earth
 * Balancing the desires of the locals
 * An audience with the Banded Prince, giving 2 Antique Mysterys and 6 Presbyterate Passphrases
 * Cycle 2, starting with 16 Silver Horseheads from cycle 1:
 * Sign on for another term
 * 22 x A day in Murgatroyd's Imperial Tea Shop
 * 2 x the pair:
 * Balancing the desires of the locals
 * Negotiating the rights of the Earth
 * An equine festival, giving 2 Puzzling Maps and 6 Partial Maps

Moreover, all of these grinds yield at least a portion of their EPA in the form of items that are Tier 3 and higher, as opposed to Tier 1 Stolen Correspondence. Having to up-convert reduces EPA, so that makes them even better if you actually need items for some purpose other than selling them.

Finally, even as Unfinished Business grinds go, this one is not the best (although it is one of the better ones, due to the Rare Success result): Shake down your agent gives 1.44 EPA based on the observed range, and probably actually 1.5 EPA, assuming the real range caps out at 500, not 474.