Guide is a work in progress.
Early on in Yog-Sothoth's Yard you'll unlock the ability known as Divination. A bonus that calls upon the powers of the Eldritch Gods, Divination is well worth your time... if you're willing to pay a bit of a price. Nothing comes for free when you look to the Elder Gods for advice.
This guide will lead you through the ins and outs of Divination in Yog-Sothoth's Yard. You don't need to use this mechanic, and can get through the game just fine by ignoring it completely - but you'll be missing out on a useful set of bonuses that you can maximize with a bit of patience.
What is Divination?
Divination is a daily mechanic that will unlock itself during your first week in Yog-Sothoth's Yard. Each day (assuming you haven't deactivated daily Divinations) a window will pop up, offering to give you a prophecy. One of two things will happen:
- If the green bar on the Divination window is not full, you will receive a small, cryptic message, and occasionally a small bonus as well. That's it for the day.
- If the green Worship bar on the Divination window is full, you'll be allowed to choose between one of three Oracles. The Worship bar fills based on how much money your hotel made the previous day. In order to keep getting Oracles on a regular basis you'll need to keep upgrading your hotel.
Oracles are a temporary bonus that applies to a specific aspect of your hotel. They tend to fall into one of a few categories:
- A boost to your gold output
- A boost to the number of Guests who can fit in your rooms
- A boost to your daily Cleaning
You can have as many Oracles at one time as you like. The only penalty is the loss of SAN when you pay for the Oracle in the first place.
When choosing between Oracles you'll notice one or more red stars beneath the description of the Oracle. These stars determine the power of the Oracle. A Phantom of R'lyeh with one red star only provides 5 Clean per day, for example, while a Phantom of R'lyeh with four red stars provides 20 Clean per day. You can increase the star level of your current Oracle by selecting it again, should you get the opportunity.
As mentioned above, Oracles are temporary. They will disappear when the game triggers a Blood Moon, which happens at the end of each month. That said, if you manage to acquire ten or more Oracles during a month they will merge into a Supreme Oracle. These creatures have superior powers, and will stick around until the end of the game. You can choose between one of three Supreme Oracles on a Blood Moon.
Special Guests
Although you'll get most of your Oracles via daily Divination, there's one other method: Special Guests. Soulless Bubbles, Green God's Advocates, and other NPCs may show up randomly in the Yard and offer you a choice of Oracle. The Oracles you receive from the NPC vary depending on the nature of the NPC. The Oracles offered by Green God's Advocates, for example, all have an effect on your Restaurant.
During the first few weeks Special Guests will give you Oracles for free (aside from the SAN hit). As the game progresses their will usually be some sort of fee or condition for accepting an Oracle.
Oracle List - Normal
Below is a list of all of the 'standard' Oracles you'll receive. If you choose the same Oracle enough times it will become a 'special' version of itself, with greater power than normal.
- Alchemist's Blood - Receive extra random level Guests each day
- Alchemist's Bones - Refine extra materials when using Random Alchemy
- Blessing of the Lord - Receive a random reward at the start of each new day
- Call of Mountains - Forest Exploration time is reduced
- Compound Eyes - Receive extra Soul Fragments for using the Slaughter command
- Consciousness - Restores SAN each day
- Cranium Spore Streak - Number of Guests visiting the Restaurant increases each day
- Dagon's Gold - Boosts any gold received
- Dagon's Jewelry - Increases daily earnings
- Dagon's Sand - Immediately receive gold
- Dagon's Tears - Receive an extra lump sum of gold at the start of each new day
- Easter Island's Statues - Increases gold earned from the Restaurant
- Golden Dragon's Pressure - Bidding reduces the chances that someone else will bid on an item during the Carnival
- Golden Dragon's Greed - Starting price of a bid is reduced during the Carnival
- Golden Dragon's Lie - Your bidding price during the Carnival is lowered by a percentage, allowing you to bid more Souls than you own
- Golden Dragon's Roar - Reduces the chances that someone else will bid on an item during the Carnival
- Immersion Aroma - Increases the chances of receiving Guests who want a meal
- Mighty Power - Increases Stamina for Forest Exploration
- Misty Sea Gel Bead - Soul Alchemy efficiency increased
- Mountains' Gift - Shadow returns with extra Wood after Forest Exploration
- Multiplicity - Increases room capacity for Guests
- Phantom of R'lyeh - Restore extra Clean every day
- Pharoah's Nobility - An extra high-level Guest appears at the hotel
- Pharoah's Prosperity - Extra random Guests appear at the hotel each day
- Red Dragon's - Get a discount when purchasing items
- Red Dragon's Splendor - Sold items are worth a percentage more
- Struggling Crevice - Number of Pollution patches decreased when Mine Excavating
- The Black Gift - Receive extra Stone from Mine Excavation
- [Superme] - Five extra high-level Guests come to the hotel when Summoned
- [Supreme] Complexity - You can choose from one extra Oracle whenever undergoing Divination
- [Supreme] - Prevents Game Over by SAN loss one time by restoring SAN to full
- [Supreme] - Increases the chance of check-ins by Guests who love meals by 10%
- [Supreme] Rabbit's - One more menu item available in the Restaurant
- Blessing of Star - Can reset the available Oracles once when undergoing Divination
- Brutal - Pay the base price of an item to win the auction during the Carnival
- Earth Crack - Excavation Progress is boosted with each Excavation
- Deep Cave - May find Oracles and / or alchemical items when Excavating
- Green - Reduces the cost of Testing while researching Cookbooks
- Mercy - Select one Oracle at the end of each week
- Multiplicity - Rooms gain +2 Capacity for Guests
- Productive - Adds a fifth floor to the hotel
- Star Gate - Pay 1 Soul for a lot at the Carnival
- Survival Desire - Lose 1 less SAN when choosing an Oracle
- The Stone - Exploration time is reduced by 2 days
- The Supreme - Minimum bid is set to 1 Soul during the Carnival
- Whispers of Old - Receive +1 AP during the day round
- Whispers of - Receive +1 AP during the night round