If you are like me as a new player, you have found this game both interesting and adventurous which are good qualities to be sure, but you also find it ultimately frustrating when one of three things happens:

1. You die repeatedly when game starts getting interesting because you don't have enough money to manage your fuel and supplies properly.

2. You start eking out a small profit doing things close to London, which feels great -- until you watch that small profit get sunk back into fuel and supplies because you haven't yet learned the most efficient zailing habits or routes, which inevitably leads your poor Captain to an almost penniless demise, and/or:

3. You find a great trade route like the Salt Lions that brings in loads of echoes, but after three to five runs the supply dries up or your contact disappears. At least you now have a way to leave a few hundred echoes to your next of kin, but there has to be a better way... right?

Well, yes. Yes there is.

Well, there are plenty of guides out there to get you started, and there are at least a handful that will show you how to grind out many tens of thousands of echoes... if you're willing to sit at port and grind SAY (Something Awaits You) events for a couple dozen hours. With all respect to those who have gone before me over the Great Dark Zee... that isn't playing the game, my friend.

That is the game playing you.

When considering the options set before me, I became frustrated with what seemed to be a lack of persistent income options that didn't require me to spend all of my free time waiting for stuff to happen instead of, y'know... playing the actual game. Or dying penniless because I couldn't afford to stay alive and leave a legacy for posterity in the same game.

The first thing to do as a new zee captain is generate a small amount of income, usually with the following methods:

• making runs to Hunter's Keep and having lunch with the occupants there
  
• doing port reports to offset the costs of fuel and supplies
  
• generally exploring the section of map surrounding the Fallen London proper

You'll probably want to take a load of Mushroom Wine and a Tomb Colonist north to Venderblight and follow the coast north and east until you find Mount Palmerston for the Blind Bruiser's delivery request... if you deign to do business with such riffraff.

If you find the Salt Lions during these explorations, feel free to go ahead and haul the cargo until it dries up. This will give you a decent amount of start up capital.

The next thing you may want to do is explore the map South and East of London, as that is where most of this guide will take you. In particular, you need to know where to find:

• Port Carnelian
  
  
• The Mangrove College (if you need to lose some terror or get some free supplies you can use a SAY event here and it should be on your route)
  
  
• Polythreme
  
  
• The Chelonate

These fall roughly in order from West to East on my current map. Your mileage may vary.

That's it for the most part. If you know where these are or know how to find them, then you've got what you need to get started. If you feel the need to make several expeditions or explore story options in the process, go right ahead. A whole zee awaits you! Just... don't die, ok?

About the time you start getting frustrated due to the fact that all your decent income sources have dried up, you will likely find the following method useful for continuing:

Purchase enough fuel and supplies for a run south to the Carnelian Coast. You may find it helpful to tank up on fuel at the Iron Republic since it's extremely cheap there and it's on the way there. You only need enough supplies to make it to Port Carnelian; supplies are cheap there and you can restock. I generally find that 12 fuel and 6 supplies will get the job done nicely, though you may need to resupply at Khan's Shadow on the way back depending on map layout, chance, and fortunes.

• Starting in Fallen London, load up on as much Mushroom Wine as you can carry after allowing for fuel and run it south to Port Carnelian. Sell off your cargo and grab some supplies. Either tank back up on fuel or leave enough room to collect it later and buy as many Caskets of Sapphires as you can hold/afford.
  
  
• Sail east to The Chelonate and sell off your Sapphires. Use the proceeds to buy Stygian Ivory.
  
  
• Go to Polythreme and sell off the Stygian Ivory. Do the Clay Men event to transport 6 Clay Men back to London.
  
  
• Make your way back to Fallen London, doing anything else that suits your fancy along the way (terror management, visiting ports, maintaining your spy network, whatever). Complete the Clay Men event for 120 echoes.

Enjoy your profits. Rinse and repeat as desired.

• Abbey Rock -- you can trade a Strange Catch for Scintillack via a SAY event whenever you pass through **
  
  
• Frostfound for emergency terror management in the Northern half of the map
  
  
• Gant Pole (unterzee port, requires Zubmariner DLC) -- trade Live Specimen for Strange Catch x 7
  
  
• Khan's Shadow -- trade a hunting trophy here to receive 4 watchful curios. ** Also extremely useful later on in the game, after you discover absolutely Nothing of Consequence to be done with Certain Things.
  
  
• Lorkin's Port in The FathomKing's Hold -- trade a zee story for a few supplies if you happen to be running short, or other things if you aren't. It could be worth bringing a Live Specimen here to get some hull work done if you need repairs.
  
  
• Port Cecil -- For gathering Scintillacks via a SAY event when you're in the area.
  
  
• The Uttershroom -- you can stop here to trade a Strange Catch for a Live Specimen **

Knowing these locations isn't necessary for the Sapphire Run, but can be useful if you have extra items to trade off.

** Please note that some of these options will require your Another Day: Time, the Healer quality to be greater than 49.

Inevitably, you will find yourself with an assortment of odd objects to spare and a desire to make as many echoes as possible while you're making the Sapphire Run. Simply incorporate the following actions as you go, and you will be well on your way.

• If you have a Live Specimen you wish to trade, visit Gant Pole whenever you're out near The Chelonate. You get seven Strange Catches in trade for one, and you can trade the Strange Catches for Scintillacks in Abbey Rock whenever you wander up that way. Remember to save a couple of them to take back to The Uttershroom if you find yourself wanting more of these items.
  
  
• Sell your Scintillacks off whenever you visit the Iron Republic. If they stop taking them, just sell them in London. No sense hassling with fickle markets -- there's zailing to be done!
  
  
• If you have a hunting trophy you don't desperately need to keep, trade it in Khan's Shadow for four Watchful Curios. Convert the Watchful Curios into Wakeful Idols when you get to Polythreme, and sell them to the Alarming Scholar for 100 echoes each when you get back to Fallen London.

If you're wondering where to get the Strange Catch in the first place, I usually pick up a few killing Jillyfleur along the way, but you can also buy one in Irem at the Northeast corner of the map if you're truly desperate for one. I recommend not bothering; they are easy to come by without going out of your way, and you shouldn't need a lot of them.

If you're wondering where to get hunting trophies, killing zee monsters may be the most reliable way to get them, but you'll probably want to wait until you've made enough to at least upgrade your weapon. Preferably your ship as well. Combat should be carefully and enthusiastically avoided until you:

• have an ironclad will and a scion
  
• have upgraded your weapon
  
• can kite at least the basic enemies without taking more than one hit or blowing your engine to Kingdom Come and back

However, when avoiding it isn't an option, at least get a few supplies or a hunting trophy for your trouble. Or failing that, leave something of value to your next of kin as prescribed above.

Instead of simply looping back to Fallen London, you may find it preferable to return to The Chelonate for more ivory and simply shuttle between there and Polythreme. If you do this, you can resupply at Khan's Shadow and simply pick up the Clay Men when your terror level finally forces you to go back to London.

There are, as they zay, plenty of fish in the zee. As such, there are also plenty of ways to earn your echoes in Sunless Sea. I present this method as the best compromise I've found so far between persistent reliability and reward for time invested in the enterprise. I realize there are a lot of nuances I have left out of this guide; as I said before, I tried to make this as spoiler-free as I could while still making it helpful.

It is my hope that this information will help you earn your echoes while still leaving you with enough of your free time to enjoy the game in other ways. Thank you for reading.

Stay tasty, my friends.