A question for those who've been here a while....

[JnEricsonx]

Ok, I'm at a loss-what's the best way to honestly earn money now?  One of my characters just hit 22, and the only reason they could buy anything is because I sold a piece of salvage for 750K.  This isn't like where we all had tons of alts, but tons of money and lots of people making it easier.  I really would like to know some kind of game plan, to help me get one character up to 50, and then participate in stuff that'll help me build a war chest for a few alts at a time.  Because that's the one thing that's sadly going to cool my happiness in coming back-the fact that I can't just make a alt and get them up to kick-butt mode in a week or so, and yes, continue to use them.

[Zep]

I played from issue 1 to the night it was turned off - took some breaks and dont claim to be the best player or market manipulator.

 

Now: As you get to higher levels more money will come in. Leveling up pre market it could be painful each time you out grew a set of SO's.

 

Sell salvage and recipes, take a few min to check what it is selling for before listing it and you should do well enough. Some recopies can sell for quite a lot so check the price before posting.

 

Other's I am sure will have more specific advise.

[OmegaX123]

Between what the other guy said, and the fact that, if you're using an XP rate enhancer, it also reduces Inf earned (for example, I want to level Girl Gadgeteer fast as suits a)her SG leader status and b)her being inspired by Iron Man by way of Ironheart and the Toni Ho version of Rescue, so I'm using a double XP rate but I'm not getting any Inf at all).

[Clave Dark 5]

Far as I can tell, and I'm not even paying half-a-mind to anything, it's about the same thing, but it's being tempered by merits, which these days allow you to buy any recipe, which can then also be converted to other recipes.  That, plus some market seeding by the devs, is supposedly going to keep the market from overheating the way it sort of did in the old days, so you won't need billions of INF to get stuff.  It might mean having to grind a bit more for your stuff (ala those merits), but you can more easily make them yourself too. 

 

And of course there's always the random drops.  I've had a few good rare recipes drop for me, and one purple, and I'm not having any trouble at all keeping my leveling toons slotted with SOs. 

 

Maybe once I  hit 50 on one I may try and trick them out with sets and so on (or maybe not), but they'll still be quite playable.

[Pixie_Knight]

It's not hard to get Inf overall. In fact, it's possible to create most of the level 15 generic IOs you'll need before you even reach level 12, and every level 25 IO for your planned leveling build long before you reach level 22. And after you have those crafted, well, there's not much need to spend any Inf overall. You can buy Set IO enhancements. Or you can upgrade your generic IOs to stronger versions if desired. But neither are exactly required to do. Incarnate abilities can be expensive to make, as I recall. But that paled to how long it took to get the materials required. So in general, I'd say it's not worth stressing over the best way to get influence or infamy. You'll get more then you actually need, most likely.

 

There's a very good reason why the various Real Market Trader gold sellers abandoned trying to create a market for their services in CoH. In-game money is so easy to get, that even the most impatient of players felt no need to buy it with real money.

[Myrmidon]

Build the IOs that you find and use the Enhancement Converters to get what you want.

[Adeon Hawkwood]

If you'd asked me a week ago I would have advised trading reward merits for enhancement converters and selling those on the market but the price on those has crashed so it might not be a good idea now. Enhancement Converters are three per merit and sell for 120K-150K each so you're getting about 360k-450k per merit. That's still a better ratio than rare salvage or most recipes but it's probably worth checking the prices on enhancement boosters or catalysts to see if those are better (sorry I don't really keep an eye on those prices).

[Dr. Gemini]

Converters were still the best bet as of last weekend simply because even though they are dropping the prices are fairly stable, while unslotters, catalysts, and boosters tend to range all over the place, but average slightly below the ratio of converters. Now, if converters drop below 100k (which might happen soon the way they are going), or the others ever stabilize, that may change.

[Pixie_Knight]

IMO, just selling the salvage you don't need and running missions is more then enough Inf while leveling. Heck, even with doing double xp no inf I was able to fully prep for level 22 before I even hit level 12 just by selling salvage and generic recipes. It's not amazing inf gain, but more then enough.

[JnEricsonx]

Can you move merits between characters?  If not, it's gonna be fun on whatever my first 50 trying to track what to get for a alt, heh.

[n00baka]

My leveling system is, and always has been since IOs, to use what ever drops until level 22, then craft as many Acc IOs as needed. From then on, any drops get sold (except for the salvage I need for what IOS I’m planning on crafting) and only build lvl25 IOS until the mid 40s. Then I start crafting and saving lvl50s and set IOs to replace my 25s. Once I’m ready to replace the lvl25s, I preform a respec to fix / polish up my build and remove all the IOs and save them in the SG storage for future characters to use.

 

It’s tough to get that initial character to 50 and crafter because I had been so used to bank rolling. But by running TFs (hitting as many different ones as possible each day for the merits) I managed to get both full sets of the Kheldisn’s Set IOs, either through purchase in the market or flat out buying from merits. So I’d say that running TFs of every level you can for merits is the best option, then either using that to buy what you want flat out, or converting them to a marketable currency.

 

Worst case scenario, halt your Exp gain and run missions on teams or TFs or do Ouroboros stuff.

[Pixie_Knight]

Ever since the Invention system went live my system has been to ignore TO, DO, and SO entirely. I'll craft level 15 IO instead for the powers/slots I expect to have from 12 to 21, and build level 25 IOs for once I hit level 22. As I level I might craft stronger IO if I get the recipe for one I can use as a drop, otherwise I wont bother updating again till level 50. I'll also start considering IO sets at around 35. Any earlier, and it's not worth it IMO due to losing too much damage and accuracy. But around 32 is when I seriously start thinking about what sets I'll be slotting, and where I'll be slotting them. This will guide where I put slots beyond the 3 to 4 I normally put in a given power.

[Adeon Hawkwood]

Can you move merits between characters?  If not, it's gonna be fun on whatever my first 50 trying to track what to get for a alt, heh.

I don't think so, but if you're just using the merits to get stuff to sell then you can sell the stuff and send the inf to an alt.

[Sakai]

Offhand can you use a booster on an attuned enhancement?

[Sakai]

Can you move merits between characters?  If not, it's gonna be fun on whatever my first 50 trying to track what to get for a alt, heh.

I don't think so, but if you're just using the merits to get stuff to sell then you can sell the stuff and send the inf to an alt.

 

Seems you can.  My understanding is you covert into a Hero Merit so you can send 50 at a time.

[Impish Kat]

It's a little tricky getting started from zero, especially if you want to use the Auction House.  After all, you can't list that sweet recipe drop for millions if you don't have the cash to pay the fee. 

 

So, you start with the small stuff, large inspies and rare salvage.  Then, when you have a bit to play with, list that awesome rare recipe you got when you did that Posi.  ;)

 

That being said... once you get a little comfortable, converters are the way to join the ranks of the wealthy;  craft the yellows and convert to procs or other highly desired set pieces - profit! 

 

Crafting the rares can be expensive and cut into your profit margin.  I recommend AH if it's a good one, vender the rest. 

 

Some folks like to craft the "common" or regular IOs for the badges, then they put them up for a reasonable price  (usually at a loss or breaking even). 

 

[Erydanus]

Ok, I'm at a loss-what's the best way to honestly earn money now?  One of my characters just hit 22, and the only reason they could buy anything is because I sold a piece of salvage for 750K.

That's actually a good way to go though orange-rarity salvage normally sells for 1 million though maybe you hit the posting fee cap.

 

Make level 25 generic IOs instead of buying SOs. They won't expire and all the money you'd waste getting SOs will be saved and you'll be flush later. Even if you don't have enough money for full IOs start with accuracy in your attacks and fill out from there.

[_NOPE_]

Run lots and LOTS of story arcs.

 

• Story Arcs = Reward Merits
  
• Reward Merits = Rare Salvage Rolls
  
• Rare Salvage Rolls = 750K-1M on the market
  
• ???
  
• PROFIT!
  

 

I rant through all of Faultline's stories last night within about two hours, and got something like 46 merits... turned them in for salvage and converters, sold them all, and was sitting on like 16 million EASY after just one night's worth of fun mission playing!

[Healix]

When you are starting out, there is a very cool AE mission you can run called 'The Fastest Farm in the West'. It's short, and there is a 'helper' at the back of the map. (The creator said he had no choice about that placing.) When you enter the mish, stay close to the wall and run all the way to the fire in the back...you will spot a kneeling figure (sometimes left side, sometimes right.) Approach him, and he will buff and aid you. Work your way to the front, and 'arrest' all 24 bad guys. You can go for standard rewards but if you go for tickets only, you can buy rare salvage and sell for big bucks in the Auction House. Either way, it's a nice way to level rather quickly and make some inf.

[DSorrow]

Use the marketplace to your advantage. I did that, started with 5million at lvl 30 two weeks ago and I'm at level 50 with 1-1.5 billion influence right now without farming. Here's the basics:

 

[*]Find an enhancement where the recipe + crafting cost is cheaper than the enhancement and turnover is pretty quick (most uncommon damage, defensive and healing sets qualify)

[*]Put low'ish bids on said recipe and required salvage, wait overnight if you have to

[*]Craft said recipe, put it for sale and get your profits

[*]Keep repeating the process and increase your volume as needed until you have enough influence

 

It can be a bit tedious, but it's not rocket science and with pretty much any set IO you can make at least 500k inf a piece. At 5 million I started with stuff I could craft for <500k and sell for 1mil+, more than doubled my influence overnight. Then it was just a matter of increasing volume and starting to bid on some slightly more expensive things with better profit margins. If this sounds like something you can't bother with, you can always do any content that gets you reward merits and just sell rare recipes.

[Myrmidon]

Can you move merits between characters?  If not, it's gonna be fun on whatever my first 50 trying to track what to get for a alt, heh.

I don't think so, but if you're just using the merits to get stuff to sell then you can sell the stuff and send the inf to an alt.

 

Seems you can.  My understanding is you covert into a Hero Merit so you can send 50 at a time.

 

You can and you will want to convert them into Hero/Villain merits to mail to yourself. Mailing one at a time will drive you crazy.