Combining Elements

Combining elements are required to combine collections in the Secret Society: Hidden Mystery game.

Once you have collected all 5 items belonging to a collection, you can combine the collection in the collections tab to receive your rewards.

In order to combine any collection you will need a set amount of 4 different combining elements. Combining elements are rewarded to players for successful investigations of pictures and puzzles. Combining elements may also be found inside some chests. Combining elements can be gifted to your friends as free gifts that do not come out of your inventory.

See the List of Combining Element Requirements for exactly which combining elements, and in what quantities are needed to combine each collection currently in the game.

Finding Combining Elements
Combining elements are rewarded for successful investigations of pictures or puzzles. Once you successfully investigate a picture, or win a puzzle game, the rewards window that appears at the end of the game will show you what you have won. The items you win are randomly generated from the items available to win. Using luck talismans or artefacts or hiring sleuth friends will increase the number of items you win for each successful picture investigation or puzzle game won. As will playing a picture of puzzle that has been charged by a visiting sleuth. This will increase your odds of getting the combining elements you require.

Each combining element can only be won in certain pictures or puzzles. In order to find a particular combining element, use the 'can be found' list in the research window of a picture or puzzle to see if it is available to win. Alternatively, if you already have one of that combining element in your inventory, you can press the icon for that element in the 'Different' tab of your inventory (5th tab when you open the inventory). This will bring up a list of places the element can be found. You can also access this information by pressing the icon for a combining element in the collections tab.

Some combining elements may only be won for successful picture investigations and puzzle games  once you have advanced that picture or puzzle's scene progress to a certain Picture/Puzzle Level.

Combining Element Locations
Below is a list of combining elements in the game and the pictures and puzzles they can be found in.

Note: the special items required to play certain pictures (i.e. Fireflies, Ladybugs, Carrots Cupid's Arrows, and Tokens) are included in the list because they are found in the 'Different' tab of your inventory and because they can be sent as free gifts just like a combining element (are found in the 'Send a Gift' tab of the Gifting Window along with all of the combining elements).

All of the items in the list below are classified as Free Gifts in the game. This means that they can be given to your Friends as gifts, but do not come out of your Inventory when you send them. Players can only send 1 free gift to each Friend each day (up to a maximum of 50 Friends per day). It is not possible to send any Free Gift items as gifts from your Inventory, which means you are restricted to only being able to send one single item from the list below each day to each Friend, even if you have many to spare and wish to send more out of your Inventory. You can send Free gifts either from your Friend's Wishlist or from the 'Send a Gift' tab in the Gifting Window.

Important: None of these items come out of your Inventory when you send them as Gifts to your Friends.

Some items may only be found in the locations listed above once you have advanced that picture to a certain Picture Level.

Pictures that Do Not reward Combining Elements
Since the Tavern Update, new pictures introduced into the game have not included any combining elements in their list of potential rewards. This means there are now 7 pictures in the game that do not give any combining elements for successfully investigating them. Additionally, these pictures often reward collection items belonging to collections that require a very large number of combining elements to combine. This means that playing these pictures alone is a bad tactic for combining collections, as older pictures must also be played at a high ratio to these newer pictures to avoid running out of combining elements.

For example, although the Tavern picture itself does not reward any combining elements, some of the collections that can be gathered by playing Tavern need up to 20 each of 4 different combining elements.

The Megalopolises collection, whose items can be found frequently while playing Tavern, is the best case scenario of these collections because even though it requires 20 Spiral Springs, 20 Gears, 20 Bronze Gears and 20 Antikythera Mechanisms to combine, those combining elements can be found in multiple locations. To combine each Megalopolises collection, a player would need to play pictures/puzzles such as Ghost Town, Crashed Plane, Amusement Park, Throne Room, Misty Shed at least 20 times to get Gears, Bronze Gears and Antikythera Mechanisms, and also play pictures puzzles such as Memory Match (also rewards Gears and Bronze Gears), Pipes, Buddha's Square, Mayan Temple, Polar Station and Bungalow at least 20 times to get Spiral Springs.

The vast majority of the collections offered by these new pictures often ask for much more specific combining element types, that can only be found in one location, and often that one location is a picture that requires special items (such as Ladybugs and Cupid's Arrows) to play. For example, the Elegant Hats collection, whose items also can be found frequently while playing Tavern, requires 12 each of: Thread, Needle, Pin and Thimble combining elements. These combining elements can only be found in Tree of Dates, which requires cupid arrow special items to play. So to combine any one Elegant Hats collection, players would need to play Tree of Dates at least 12 times, which will require at least 60-480 Cupid's Arrows (depending on the level of the Tree of Dates picture), potentially requiring 30-240 plays of Venice/Throne Room to win.

The following pictures do not reward any combining elements for playing them:
 * 1) Tavern
 * 2) Treasure Island
 * 3) Theater
 * 4) Forest House
 * 5) Excavations
 * 6) Winter Street
 * 7) Flower Shop

Buying Combining Elements
Some combining elements are available to buy in the shop for crystals. You may buy them from the shop section by pressing the shop icon on your Home Desktop, selecting the 'Different' tab and then pressing buy under the symbol of the combining element you wish to buy. Some elements are sold in sets of 1 or 10, with discounts being offered for buying more at one time.

It is also possible to buy combining elements directly from the Collections Section of the game. You may buy all combining elements in the collections section, not just the ones listed in the Different tab of the Shop. To buy a combining element from the Collections Section, open it by pressing the Collections icon on your Home Desktop.

In the collections tab, scroll to any collection that requires the combining element you need to buy. Above the 'Combine' button (which is green if you have all collection items and combining elements required or brown if you are missing any) there is a box that contains 4 slots for combining elements. Pressing this box will bring up a larger version of it. In this box you can see the price of each combining element required for that collection, and beneath the picture of the element will be 'Buy' button. Pressing the 'Buy' button will buy one of that element.

In the artefacts tab, scroll to any artefact that requires the combining element you need to buy. Above the 'Combine' button (which is green if you have all collections and combining elements required or brown if you are missing any) there is a box that contains 4 slots for clock part combining elements. Pressing this box will bring up a larger version of it. In this box you can see the price of each clock part combining element required for that Artefact, and beneath the picture of the element will be 'Buy' button. Pressing the 'Buy' button will buy one of that element.

Special Note: Be sure to check the price of the combining element you require in both the shop and the collections tab under multiple collections that require it. Occasionally, the price of the same element will differ between the shop and the collections section or between different collections in the collections section. Check all the places where you can buy that element to make sure you are getting the best price before making your purchase.

Using Combining Elements
Combining elements are stored in your inventory. To access them open your inventory by using the inventory icon on your home desktop. Go to the 'Different' tab (5th tab along the top). Note: you cannot use combining elements from your inventory, only view how many of each you have and the information about where to find them.

To use combining elements to combine collections you must open the collections tab. Find the collection you wish to combine. If you have all of the items needed for that collection, and the right amount of each combining element needed to combine the collection, the 'combine' button on the left hand side of that collection will be green. Pressing the green combine button will use 1 of each of the items needed for that collection and the amount of combining elements listed to combine the collection. The combining elements (and 1 of each of the items needed for that collection) will automatically leave your inventory.

Gifting Combining Elements
Combining elements can be given to your friends  as gifts. Combining elements count as 'free gifts'. This means that any combining element you give to your friends, either by selecting the element from their wishlist, or by selecting the element in the 'Send a gift' tab, will not come out of your inventory.

You are restricted to sending one free gift to each friend each day, up to a maximum of 50 friends. This means you are restricted to sending one combining element to each friend each day, up to a maximum of 50 friends. You may not send combining elements to friends outside of the free gift system, even if you have hundreds of that element in your inventory.

In order to be able to send certain combining elements to your friends you must first reach a certain level in the game to unlock it. When you start the game on level 1, the only combining element available to send to your friends is the Winding key. Every other combining element is unlocked as you progress through the game levels.

You may unlock a combining element earlier by paying to unlock it with crystals. To do this, open the Friends Section of the game by pressing the icon on your home desktop. Go to a friend in your friends list, press 'send a gift' to open their gifting box. Go to the 'send a gift' tab (default open tab) and scroll through until you find the combining element you want to unlock. You will be shown what level is needed to unlock the combining gift in the top right hand corner of the picture of the element. Under the picture of the combining element, in the place where the green 'send' button is normally is, will be a turquoise 'open for x crystals' button. Pressing this will deduct the crystals from your inventory and unlock that combining element so that is available to send as a free gift from then on. The number of crystals needed to unlock each combining element is the same as the level required to unlock it through normal game play.

Levels required to unlock combining elements as gifts
Below is a list of all the combining elements you are able to send as free gifts to your Friends, and the level in the game you are required to reach in order to unlock them. Note the special items required to play certain pictures (i.e. Fireflies, Ladybugs, Carrots and Cupid's Arrow) are included in the list because they are found in the 'Different' tab of your inventory and because they can be sent as free gifts just like a combining element.

All of the items in the list below are classified as Free Gifts in the game. This means that they can be given to your Friends as gifts, but do not come out of your Inventory when you send them. Players can only send 1 free gift to each Friend each day (up to a maximum of 50 Friends per day). It is not possible to send any Free Gift items as gifts from your Inventory, which means you are restricted to only being able to send one single item from the list below each day to each Friend, even if you have many to spare and wish to send more out of your Inventory. You can send Free gifts either from your Friend's Wishlist or from the 'Send a Gift' tab in the Gifting Window.

Important: None of these items come out of your Inventory when you send them as Gifts to your Friends.

Related

 * SS Home
 * List of Combining Element Requirements
 * Collections
 * List of Collections
 * List of Collection Items (with Pictures)
 * List of Collection Item Locations
 * Friends
 * Gifting
 * Chests
 * Shop