Thanks a lot for the reply, but most of the things you listed are things that aren't realistic with a Nerd start where I'm pressed to pump out a couple low quality slaves fast enough to not go bankrupt (or am I supposed to train up my first few slaves in the slum apartment? - never actually tried that)
With the first slave, every spark counts. For everything you're doing that costs sparks, ask yourself if you can live without it. Spa for you? Optional. Spa for slave? Optional, but if you have no other way to keep her mood up, maybe necessary. Casting lots of spells? If you've done the math and you have enough spare sparks to cover training costs plus cast the spells, OK, otherwise maybe wait until your second slave before delving into magic.
Taking a loan should be delayed as long as possible, if not avoided completely. You can take a loan any time. The later you take a loan, the longer you have before you have to repay it.
It's cheaper living in the slums. Harder to keep mood up, though, and you can't get good food, which means you have to work harder to stay fit... but, you can just accept being weak and manage your actions accordingly. Nothing says you need to get your strength above D- before you sell your first slave.
On the balance, you're usually better off not living in the slums. But, it's definitely possible to train slaves while living there. Even without an assistant. If you start without any reputation with the factions, you have no alternative.
You can also earn some sparks before selling the first slave, by having her compete in the arena. Don't expect to win races, but gladiatrix contests are definitely possible. Of course, a trained gladiatrix is likely to fight back if you try to physically punish her, so ... maybe don't pick fights you can't win? You can verbally punish her (ineffectually) safely enough to dispose of any guilt, but you can also try not to give her reasons to feel guilty if you aren't able to punish her...
I usually go for the sundress and give it to them even before I can gift it via reward just to manage mood a little, is that wrong?
Not
wrong. But, you could alternatively put them in a uniform, which would remove the "naked" mood penalty, and a pair of slippers, which gives the same "comfort" mood boost as the sun dress. A uniform can improve the quality of a lesson of the corresponding type. School uniform is good for all classes.
Getting them to a point where I can actually try to teach them something isn't completly impossible, but doing it a way that is even remotely fast enough is...
Should I just go with 2 rules to avoid the guilty pts every morning? The only ones I can use are no masturbating and deny orgasm - behave: humility/silence never works at least for the first few days and those are the ones with the lowest requirements or am I wrong there?
Behave humility/silence rules require some obedience to be followed willingly.
Why use any rules with a resistant slave? A slave without rules will only become spoiled if they're unafraid. Guilt from rules is usually because the slave is breaking the rules, which means you're not enforcing them. As
HeadsExplode explained, if you enforce rules (which costs sparks for the necessary items), that can lead to despair. In general, rules will lower the mood of a resistant slave. Therefore, rules are best used sparingly at the beginning of training, especially by a slaver who lacks the experience to enforce them or to compensate for their negative effects. Rules are powerful in the hands of an experienced slaver because they can rapidly build obedience, but as an F- slaver in the Slums, you lack tools to optimally manage the side effects.
The "no masturbation" and "deny orgasm" rules are unlikely to be tested by a resistant slave, of course, which makes them the "default choice" on normal difficulty. Hardcore difficulty expects you to set three rules on a fearless slave to avoid spoiling. So instill some fear, or pick a third rule
and enforce it.
I highly doubt Mind breaking is a good idea early on either.
Mind breaking the first slave isn't ideal, no. But, you can still earn some sparks (before mind breaking them) by having them compete in the arena. Between that, delaying when you take a loan, and the fact that the guild will give you a free contract slave, you should be able to get away with mind breaking one slave to build up some skills, storing or otherwise disposing of her, and then applying your newfound skills to a second slave. Again, this isn't necessarily the best way to start a new game, but it's not a game-over strategy.
I reread the tutorial and replayed it as well and I somewhat managed (not yet with the amazon though) but the PC already has a lot of training and aura.
I'll try the tutorial amazon a few more times but I'm not sure if it will even help me when I start in slums with a normal playthrough afterwards.
Tutorial is easy difficulty, so it's not really good practice for hardcore, no. Lectures are where you'll find good advice.
A rough description of how I start my game would be:
First day I buy a lash + aketon, get a massage and fight in coliseum.
Unnecessary spending.
Next few days I repeat that, sometimes going to Serpentine for a meal, sometimes getting massages, while looking for a doable guild contract.
Unnecessary spending.
Once I find a guild contract that looks doable I accept that and immediately get an apartment, pick up Isabella and take a loan before I run out of money.
Isabella is effectively a less expensive tutor (you still have to pay for her upkeep). She's not as good as a tutor, but you'll spend less, so getting her is the "easy" mode for hardcore difficulty. You can also train your slaver's sex skills with her.
Then I try to get the slave trained, which simply takes me way too long (even if I sell Isabella to take care of the loan repayment - I was even able to finish a contract once by picking up the next loan but it took me so long that starting on the 2nd slave contract wasnt even worth it at that point...
Needing to sell Isabella to cover expenses is definitely a budgeting failure.
I also experimented a little, using Isabella as training material to get a bit of dominance and sex skills trained up but didn't succeed training up a slave without an assistant in time, stamina is way too brutal early on it feels like...
Do you have any tips that are a little more specific to the slum start?
Living in the Slums is meant to be difficult. Accept being impoverished and weak and dirty and miserable. Your depressed slaver won't commit suicide. Develop skills that don't require spending sparks (housework whenever there's a mess, sparring unarmed slaves until it's no longer doing anything for him). Don't exhaust energy. Hire tutors ($$$) or send the slave to classes ($$) or have Isabella teach ($). Tutors come to you, but someone needs to escort to classes, which costs energy. Don't pick fights you can't win (physical punishment vs. a slave who fights back). Keep the slave's mood up, including with spa visits if needed. A collar is a good idea, overnight, to instill obedience and in case she runs away. Earn sparks from arena each decade if you can.
You can succeed in the Slums
without minimizing your expenses to this extent, but you need to remember that training the
slave is necessary, training the
slaver is a bonus.
thanks.