NTE 1.3: How to Increase House Collection Level & Tycoon Incentive Fund

There is, in the French patch notes for version 1.3 of NTE: Neverness to Everness, a line that almost no one will read to the end and that is nonetheless worth more than half of the rest. Here it is, in full:

"Adjustment to the Tycoon Incentive Fund earning rules: the 1,000,000 Fons reward fund distributed each cycle in 'Pink Paw Heist' is now called the Tycoon Incentive Fund. Earnings from the Weekly Match mode in 'Volleyball Star' and passive income from Collectibles Warehouse display cases in 'Going Once, Going Twice... Sold!' also come from the Tycoon Incentive Fund."

In other words: three income sources that each used to operate independently now draw from the same pool of one million Fons per cycle. It's a quiet overhaul of the game's economy, and it changes the way you earn a living in Hethereau.

What the Tycoon Incentive Fund actually changes

Before 1.3, "Pink Paw Heist" distributed a reward fund of one million Fons each cycle. That fund had a generic name, and it only applied to that activity. Since August 19, it has been named and now also feeds two other taps:

• the Weekly Match mode of the new activity "Volleyball Star";
• what the display cases passively earn in "Going Once, Going Twice... Sold!".

Hotta Studio does not state anywhere that the fund's amount was raised to absorb these two new inputs. The studio writes that this is an "adjustment to the earning rules" and that one million Fons is distributed "each cycle". As long as no note mentions an increase, one must therefore assume the same pool is being used for three purposes — not three separate pools.

The consequence is simple to state: collectible display cases are no longer a separate source of income. They are now competing with your "Pink Paw Heist" runs.

Scratch tickets just lost their main appeal

The second blow dealt to the economy also fits in one line, and it's harsher. New scratch tickets are available at the "Le Minuit" Chat Café, but:

"Fons won from the new scratch tickets are no longer counted toward Tycoon level or the Paw Wealth Ranking."

This is a clean cutoff. Scratch tickets used to be a quick way to boost your city Tycoon level; they no longer are. The Fons reward remains, but it no longer counts toward the two progression meters that actually grant access to anything.

At the same time, five tickets are being pulled from sale: "Beyond the Screen", "Everyday Hethereau", "What Do Cats Dream Of?", "The Art of Ramen", and "Beyond the Book". If you already had some in stock, nothing invalidates them — but they will no longer be restocked.

Villa Calmepré: 6,900,000 Fons, and level 13 required

The new property in this version is called the Villa Calmepré. Its conditions are strict:

It's not decorative. The notes specify that "the crops you grow on this property can be sold for Fons by spending Urban Stamina," and an adjustment line confirms the mechanic on the farm side: "farm produce can now be sold by spending Urban Stamina. You can plant seeds at Calmepré House."

Calmepré House is therefore a productive property. It converts Urban Stamina into Fons — at the cost of 6.9 million Fons in initial investment.

The calculation that decides your purchase priority

Two major purchases present themselves at the same time, and budgets don't stretch that far:

• Calmepré House at 6,900,000 Fons, which produces;
• the Sirocco vehicle at 4,000,000 Fons from the TerraX dealership, which produces nothing.

Both are permanently available in the shop: there's no urgency on either. If your goal is progression, the house comes first, provided you have Tycoon Level 13. If you don't, the money put into the Sirocco isn't wasted — but it isn't working for you either.

A third milestone is worth aiming for along the way: at City Tycoon Level 16, the Urban Stamina consumption rate goes from 100% to 200%. Since selling harvests consumes precisely Urban Stamina, this milestone doubles Calmepré House's throughput. The two complement each other.

Two bonus windows not to be confused

Version 1.3 opens two yield events, and they don't cover the same thing:

The two windows follow one another without overlapping: the second starts at the exact hour the first ends. It's a fairly clear invitation to devote the week of August 24 to 31 to urban activities, then the following fortnight to pure Fons farming.

Note: both events are dated in "server time," while the rest of the patch notes reason in UTC+8. The studio makes the distinction, and it should be respected.

The "Luminous Tides" Mystery Box: 15 boxes, rising price

The last mechanism with economic impact, open since August 19 at 5:00 PM (UTC+8), i.e. 11:00 AM Paris time, and running until September 30: the "Luminous Tides" Mystery Box.

The mechanic is explicit: you spend Fons or Annuliths to open boxes, the price increases with each box opened, there are 15 in total, and opening them all grants the entire pool of rewards.

What the pool contains, according to the studio: the limited "Tide" boat, Nanally's limited "Sunny Surf" outfit, Menthe's "Soft Sea Salt Caramel" outfit, Esper Zero's "Cloudless Summer" outfit, the limited "Endless Summer" avatar frame, Crafted Dice, A Handwritten Letter, the Anomaly Pilgrimage Material Selection Box, "and much more."

Hotta hasn't published either the price of the first box or the rate of increase. It's therefore impossible to calculate the total cost of all fifteen in advance. The only certainty is structural: since the price rises with every opening, stopping midway is the worst-case scenario — you end up paying for the most expensive boxes without ever reaching the final prize. Either you aim for all fifteen, or you open none.

The 1.3 cash-flow plan

Summary for the next three weeks: stop relying on scratch tickets to level up your Tycoon rank, aim for level 13 then level 16, save your Fons for the Calmepré Estate rather than the Sirocco, spend down your Urban Stamina between August 24 and 31, then switch over to "Pink Paws Heist" starting August 31.

And before opening the first Mystery Box, work out exactly how much you're willing to commit. A jackpot with rising prices shows no mercy for half-measures.