Combining Elements

Inventory-different-beginning — Your combining elements are found in the 'Different' tab of your inventory, along with non collection items won in the game, and special items needed to play certain pictures

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.

There are many ways to obtain combining elements. Combining elements are rewarded to players for successful investigations of certain pictures and puzzles. Combining elements may also be found inside some chests. Combining elements can be gifted to you by your friends; these gifts do not come out of their inventory. Many 'Gratitude from a friend' gifts that you receive as a Thank-you after you send a gift are combining elements. The Seafarer's Globe desktop award gives a random combining element every 12 hours.

Combining elements that you gift to your friends 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 (6th tab when you open the inventory). This will bring up a list of locations where 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 where they can be found.

Note: the special items required to play certain pictures (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 Wish list 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.

Element	Icon	Can Be Found
Winding Key		Blocks; Japanese House; Venice; Joy Café
Silver Winding Key		Pipes; Blocks; Japanese House; Venice; Joy Café
Gold Winding Key		Pipes; Blocks; Japanese House; Venice; Joy Café
Spring		Memory Match; Pipes; Blocks; Buddhas Square; Mayan Temple; Polar Station; Bungalow
Steel Spring		Memory Match; Pipes; Blocks; Buddhas Square; Mayan Temple; Polar Station; Bungalow
Spiral Spring		Memory Match; Pipes; Buddhas Square; Mayan Temple; Polar Station; Bungalow
Gear		Memory Match; Ghost Town; Crashed Plane; Amusement Park; Throne Room; Misty Shed
Bronze Gear		Memory Match; Ghost Town; Crashed Plane; Amusement Park; Throne Room; Misty Shed
Antikythera Mechanism		Ghost Town; Crashed Plane; Amusement Park; Throne Room; Misty Shed
Photo Paper		Ancient Library
Developing Agent		Ancient Library
Wooden Pin		Ancient Library
Red Lamp		Ancient Library
Lens		Ancient Library
Second Hand		Reward for combining collections
Minute Hand		Reward for combining collections
Hour Hand		Reward for combining collections
Clock Face		Reward for combining collections
"Drink Me" Bottle		Venice; Eastern Bazaar
"Eat Me" Cake		Buddhas Square; Eastern Bazaar
Rabbit's Waistcoat		Throne Room; Eastern Bazaar
Mad Hat		Japanese House; Eastern Bazaar
Small Key		Blocks; Eastern Bazaar
Painted Rose		Pipes; Eastern Bazaar
Teapot		Memory Match; Eastern Bazaar
Imitation Leather		Mill
Buckram		Mill
Gold Foil		Mill
Parchment		Mill
Decorative Corners		Mill
Satin Ribbons		Mill
Treble Clef		Gem Match; Night Garden; Palatial Office; Illusionist's Room
Bass Clef		Gem Match; Night Garden; Palatial Office; Illusionist's Room
Alto clef		Gem Match; Night Garden; Palatial Office; Illusionist's Room
Sharp		Gem Match; Night Garden; Palatial Office; Illusionist's Room
Flat		Gem Match; Night Garden; Palatial Office; Illusionist's Room
Fireflies		Palatial Office
Ladybug		Ancient Library
Carrot		Misty Shed; Night Garden; Mill; Eastern bazaar
Dragon's Claw		Witch's Hut
Mermaid Scale		Witch's Hut
Basilisk fang		Witch's Hut
Salamander tail		Witch's Hut
Griffin feather		Witch's Hut
Unicorn Blood		Witch's Hut
Screw Nut		Christmas Eve
Small Screw		Christmas Eve
Washer		Christmas Eve
Split Washer		Christmas Eve
Snowflake		Christmas Eve
Christmas Stocking		Christmas Eve
Streamer		Christmas Eve
Tinsel		Christmas Eve
Thread		Tree of Dates
Needle		Tree of Dates
Pin		Tree of Dates
Thimble		Tree of Dates
Heart		Tree of Dates
Cupid's Arrow		Venice; Throne Room
Postcard		Tree of Dates
Rose		Tree of Dates
Candle		Tree of Dates
Token		Mayan Temple; Crashed Plane

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 the majority of pictures in the game 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.

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 open the Shop 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 of the Collections window, 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 this box with the name 'Shop'. It shows your current inventory, which is the number to the left of the slash (/). It also shows the price in crystals for one unit of the combining element. Press the 'Buy' button to buy one unit, which will also deduct the crystals from your crystal count.

In the Artefacts tab of the Collections window, 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 this box with the name 'Shop'. It shows your current inventory, which is the number to the left of the slash (/). It also shows the price in crystals for one unit of the clock part. Press the 'Buy' button to buy one unit, which will also deduct the crystals from your crystal count.

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.

Placing Combining Elements on your Wishlist

If you are playing with friends, place combining elements on your Wishlist to build your inventory. You do this from the Combining Element section of the Collections window (Collections and Artefacts tabs). Press the image of the combining elements for one collection. You will then see how many of these combining elements you have in inventory. Press the green plus sign (+) to add an item to your Wishlist. If the item has a red X, it is already on your Wishlist. You can remove it from the Wishlist by pressing the red X. You may also remove items from the Wishlist directly.

Viewing Your Inventory of Combining Elements

View your inventory of combining elements by pressing the Inventory icon on your home desktop. Go to the 'Different' tab (6th tab along the top). Pressing the image of a combining element will show which pictures and/or puzzles may reward this element.

Note that the 'Different' tab also includes Special Items (Fireflies, Carrots, Ladybug, Cupid's Arrow, Tokens, and possibly others); Anomaly Banishers (Hand Fan, Mystic Mirror, Holy Water, Magical Lantern); pieces of the Magic Crystal; picture fragments; and other 'different' items. Of these, only combining elements may be placed on your Wishlist. Of the items on the 'Different' tab, you may give and receive only combining elements and the five permanent special items (Fireflies, Carrots, Ladybugs, Tokens, Cupid's arrows.)

You may also view the inventory in the combining element section of the Collections window (Collections and Artefacts tabs). The number to the left of the slash (/) is your inventory. If you have more than 99, this will be displayed as '99+'. Press the image of the combining element to open the 'Shop' window, which displays exactly how many you have.

Using Combining Elements

Combining elements are used and automatically deducted from your inventory when you combine a collection or an artefact.

The combining element section of the Collections window (Collections and Artefacts tabs) displays how many of each combining element are required to make a collection or artefact. This is the number to the right of the slash (/). If you have enough of each required combining element to combine the collection, the 'Combine' button will be green. Press the green 'Combine' button to make the collection. The combining elements will automatically leave your inventory. The quantity of each collection item will also be reduced by 1.

If the 'Combine' button is brown, you do not have enough of at least one of the combining elements to combine this particular collection. You may buy more from here, as explained in the section above 'Buying Combining Elements'. You may also put the combining element on your Wishlist, as explained in the section above 'Placing Combining Elements on Your Wishlist'.

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 wish list, 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 Wish list or from the 'Send a Gift' tab in the Gifting Window.