Couple of Market Newbie Questions

[Golden Azrael]

16 hours ago, Yomo Kimyata said:

 

I've been buying a *lot* lately.  This whole "cannot open superpacks or claim items from Character Items" has been really grating on me lately.

 

As a casual player and student of the market...

 

I usually buy in lots of 100 or sometimes 200.  That usually covers what I craft daily.  I pay no more than 70k.  I'm patient.  It normally resolves immediately at certain times, or a few hours, sometimes it's over night of late due to market demand.  The supply and demand seemed to be 6:1.  I remember it  being more even than that even relatively recently.

 

I did convert a Hero Merit to Converters for the 1st time yesterday when the market was slow.  3 Convs x 1 Merit x 50 Merits = 150.  I'm on the climb with Hero Merits at 37 and counting.  Just converted the merits I had on an alt to Hero Merits and then sent them to my Market Trader Main.

 

Put to 'good' use from the 'casual' farming which earned Yellow Recipes to craft and two 'lucky' Purple recipe drops.

 

Azrael.

Edited June 12, 2022 by Golden Azrael

[UltraAlt]

1 hour ago, Golden Azrael said:

Do HC put a limit on accounts?  It's one email address per account?

 

as far as I know it is one account per email address.

I have 2. one is my mask with only 1 character.

My main account ... well, I don't see why you need more than one to do significant marketing. I have 128 characters and I could be making like 1000 per server? so I'm a bit confused why I would need a second account. it might be easier to do some shuffling, but I seem to be doing okay without a second account interacting with my main account.

 

[Sakai]

8 hours ago, UltraAlt said:

 one is my mask with only 1 character.

 

 

Your mask?

[Ironblade]

10 hours ago, Golden Azrael said:

Just as an aside.  Do HC put a limit on accounts?  It's one email address per account?

1.  I am not aware of any limit on how many accounts you can HAVE.  You can only have 3 accounts logged in at the same time.

2.  Each account needs a different email address.  My email provider allows me to have 20 'aliases' per email address so I could have 21 accounts if I wanted.

[UltraAlt]

16 hours ago, Sakai said:

Your mask?

 

Superheroes wear masks.

 

/e thumbsup

[Ukase]

On 6/12/2022 at 6:20 AM, Golden Azrael said:

 

Just as an aside.  Do HC put a limit on accounts?  It's one email address per account?

 

Azrael.

First - here's the policy, cut and pasted from the Code of Conduct: 
*****************************

We allow a basic level of multiboxing on the Homecoming servers outside of peak times. These rules apply on a shard-by-shard basis (by ‘shard’ we mean Torchbearer, Excelsior, etc).

• If there are less than 1500 people logged in to a shard you may play with up to three accounts at once.
• If there are more than 1500 people logged into a shard you may only play with a single account.
• If you are caught multiboxing when there are between 1500 and 1600 players logged in to a shard, you will be warned and expected to log off immediately. If you ignore requests to do so your accounts will receive a 24h ban.
• If you are caught multiboxing repeatedly with more than 1600 players logged in to a shard, all of your accounts will receive immediate permanent bans.

It is your responsibility to monitor server status and current player count if you wish to multibox. You can do this both on our website and in the #live-shards channel on our Discord.

An exception to this rule is Hamidon raid zones (The Hive, The Abyss) which have a limited population cap. No multiboxing is allowed in these zones. Breaking this rule may result in all of your characters being removed from the zone and short-term suspensions being issued for repeat offenders

Please note that this policy does not apply to groups of players simply playing from the same home/network. It only applies to individuals playing multiple accounts on their own.

******************************************
Yep. The rules are fairly clear. You can have multiple accounts. Not even sure if there's an actual limit, but you can only have 3 accounts on a given shard/server at one time, unless the population on that server exceeds 1500. If that is the case, you can only have one. So, if you're crazy/greedy enough, I suppose you could have 3 afk farmers going on each server. 
Now, if you are trying my method of crafting all your drops, converting and selling - then I promise you, you will get tired of crafting and converting very quickly. Particularly if you forgo the actual playing of other content outside of AE. At least, that's the way my brain thinks. There were days when I crafted and converted 210 IOs, and I wish I could tell you it was fairly quick. 

I would try to craft and convert a good portion of them while I was just monitoring the afk farm character. Literally, just converting away while burn remains on auto. Finish that farmer's IOs, then tab out to the next farmer. You do that enough times, and then suddenly you realize it's really not that much fun. It IS nice to see the sales and collect the influence, but after a time, it's just not worth the effort anymore. The only thing I use the 4th account for now is to hold the inf that the other three accounts cannot hold in their email - until I make more characters. I wasn't going to make "inf-holder 12345" just to hold the inf. I'm not terribly creative, but I do want to make characters to play them. 

[Andreah]

I have two accounts. My main account with all my serious characters including my marketeers; and a second account which I solely use to keep emails containing Inf.

[Golden Azrael]

10 hours ago, Ukase said:

First - here's the policy, cut and pasted from the Code of Conduct: 
*****************************

We allow a basic level of multiboxing on the Homecoming servers outside of peak times. These rules apply on a shard-by-shard basis (by ‘shard’ we mean Torchbearer, Excelsior, etc).

• If there are less than 1500 people logged in to a shard you may play with up to three accounts at once.
• If there are more than 1500 people logged into a shard you may only play with a single account.
• If you are caught multiboxing when there are between 1500 and 1600 players logged in to a shard, you will be warned and expected to log off immediately. If you ignore requests to do so your accounts will receive a 24h ban.
• If you are caught multiboxing repeatedly with more than 1600 players logged in to a shard, all of your accounts will receive immediate permanent bans.

It is your responsibility to monitor server status and current player count if you wish to multibox. You can do this both on our website and in the #live-shards channel on our Discord.

An exception to this rule is Hamidon raid zones (The Hive, The Abyss) which have a limited population cap. No multiboxing is allowed in these zones. Breaking this rule may result in all of your characters being removed from the zone and short-term suspensions being issued for repeat offenders

Please note that this policy does not apply to groups of players simply playing from the same home/network. It only applies to individuals playing multiple accounts on their own.

******************************************
Yep. The rules are fairly clear. You can have multiple accounts. Not even sure if there's an actual limit, but you can only have 3 accounts on a given shard/server at one time, unless the population on that server exceeds 1500. If that is the case, you can only have one. So, if you're crazy/greedy enough, I suppose you could have 3 afk farmers going on each server. 
Now, if you are trying my method of crafting all your drops, converting and selling - then I promise you, you will get tired of crafting and converting very quickly. Particularly if you forgo the actual playing of other content outside of AE. At least, that's the way my brain thinks. There were days when I crafted and converted 210 IOs, and I wish I could tell you it was fairly quick. 

I would try to craft and convert a good portion of them while I was just monitoring the afk farm character. Literally, just converting away while burn remains on auto. Finish that farmer's IOs, then tab out to the next farmer. You do that enough times, and then suddenly you realize it's really not that much fun. It IS nice to see the sales and collect the influence, but after a time, it's just not worth the effort anymore. The only thing I use the 4th account for now is to hold the inf that the other three accounts cannot hold in their email - until I make more characters. I wasn't going to make "inf-holder 12345" just to hold the inf. I'm not terribly creative, but I do want to make characters to play them. 

 

Thank you for the authoritative reply.  I think HC's position is decently discretionary while prioritising demand (which is good for the overall community.)

 

Fair enough, as they say.

 

Your advice is well noted.  I'm not sure I have the appetite for 1 Zillion.

 

Most of the approximate 20 billion I have is locked up in characters I played with 'some' farming inbetween to give characters pushes during the 'slow' curves on the way to L50.  I was crazy enough to try farming with a Fire/Fire/Fire blaster and probably died about 100+ times getting 'her' up to standard where 'she' could farm.  It was a fellow player that introduced me to farming.  It was a great 'leg up' but didn't replace playing the 'main' game so to speak.  (Some do farming to 'relax', I hear.)  I've only asset stripped one Tank (willpower) for parts for another Tank to play in game.

 

Learning the market (as such, I'm just a 'student' of the market, I've never really used it beyond over paying for ATs and the earlier builds I made (fire blaster, 1.2 billion?) is something I want to do just to be less wasteful and more efficient.  

 

After 40+ level 50s.  Most of the ATs, rerolls from live, and new stuff I didn't get the chance to do on live has been done.  Though, a friend suggested a Sonic/Sonic Blaster and I've been pleasantly surprised by it.  I call it a 'Junior' Tank.

 

Re: Converters and Crafting.  I can Echo your's and Flea's comments on this.  (*index finger in ice water.)

 

I've mainly used Tanking on farms to supplement the Alts I play 'in game' as just recently learned to 'just make and sell' my stuff as I go along.  Reading yours and others 'marketing' info' has been a revelation just in terms of exploiting even a mainstream feature of CoH.

 

Relatively recently I've taken to 'making bids' and 'flipping them.'  I'd say this is the 1st time ever during my play over live/HC that I've done this.

 

Marketing, for me, doesn't replace playing the game.  But as an annex it adds some quality of life through knowledge and efficiency.

 

I'd say to any new player.  Roll a Tank/Brute.  Get it to L50.  Play it enough to fund your next alt (or give it a head start.)  Form an SG for all your alts to contribute to (drop off their 'junk.')  Have storage for salvage and enhancements (which can contribute to your next alt.)  Craft as you go along.  (Unless you want a sore index.)  etc.  Etc.

 

Regards,

 

Azrael.

Edited June 14, 2022 by Golden Azrael

[Golden Azrael]

9 hours ago, Andreah said:

I have two accounts. My main account with all my serious characters including my marketeers; and a second account which I solely use to keep emails containing Inf.

 

Following your post (and Flea's) about buying and selling each day.  I've, for the 1st time, taking to making some bids, crafting and selling, 'flipping' as they say.

 

It's working.  I'm certainly pushing my 2nd main to 2 billion.  Currently at just over 1.5 billion.

 

The combination of #playing the game, 'some' Tanking and 'Crafting and Marketing' certainly puts you on the curve for that 2 billion.

 

I'm not sure I'm slick enough for '3.5 billion' a week.  But as a 'rookie' I'm 'getting ahead' so to speak.

 

Azrael.

[Bionic_Flea]

Buying and selling the same thing is flipping.   Buying a recipe to craft isn't flipping; it is value added -- you are spending time and resources to make a thing a better thing.  Same with using converters -- you are turning junk into good stuff.

[Golden Azrael]

22 hours ago, Bionic_Flea said:

Buying and selling the same thing is flipping.   Buying a recipe to craft isn't flipping; it is value added -- you are spending time and resources to make a thing a better thing.  Same with using converters -- you are turning junk into good stuff.

 

Yes.  There is an art to 'flipping.'  aka.  Buying low.  Selling high.  Getting familiar with the 'stuff that sells' and the 'stuff that doesn't.' 

 

Supply and demand.  Patience (ie.  As you've said previously.  Go and play the game whilst it's on the market.  It could sell straight away, later, much later, over night, in a few days.)  

 

My 2nd main is now on 1.9 billion.  A combination of 'some' Tanking, crafting stuff and flipping.

 

Azrael.

[Golden Azrael]

Update.

 

I've reforged my Spines/Fire Brute.  Much better.  Fire defence capped now.  Less dependent on Hospital.  Currently following Ukase's advice on asset stripping one alt and re-levelling it for mule profit purposes.

 

I think I've got the hang of bidding for crafting purposes.  And converting.  (Note to self.  Buying a stack of 10 or 20 is more efficient by volume in time and profit with the right recipe.)

 

I haven't got the hang of 'flipping' yet.  Anyone got a practical example (whilst ofc not plundering all your trade secrets...)

 

Getting more efficient overall.  Bought a shed load of a yellow recipe (200 of them...my 1st high volume experiment) and I've still got loads of the things to craft, convert and sell.  But it's made me a tidy coin.

 

Azrael.

[Yomo Kimyata]

2 hours ago, Golden Azrael said:

 

 

I haven't got the hang of 'flipping' yet.  Anyone got a practical example (whilst ofc not plundering all your trade secrets...)

 

 

I think you will get a different definition of flipping depending on who you talk to.  To me, it means buying something (usually passively) and selling the same item at a higher price.  Some people consider it to be actively buying all of an item and then relisting at a higher price (which I would probably term a pump and dump or something similar).

 

An example that I used to use was yellow salvage on new characters.  You could buy lots of it at under 1,000 and then I would list it at a few thousand and would usually at least triple my admittedly small stake (hey, they started with zero!) when someone wanted to buy it nao.  Right now, there doesn't seem to be a profit in it.

 

For the most part, with converters you are generally better off buying (or making) something that isn't in high demand and transforming it into something that is.  Pure flipping is rarely going to make you 100% profits, but there are spots.  But I doubt you are going to make 1bn a day (or even a week) on pure flipping.

[Troo]

4 hours ago, Golden Azrael said:

I haven't got the hang of 'flipping' yet.  Anyone got a practical example (whilst ofc not plundering all your trade secrets...)

 

The below, from you, is all there is to it. Craft, convert and sell.

 

4 hours ago, Golden Azrael said:

Bought a shed load of a yellow recipe (200 of them...my 1st high volume experiment) and I've still got loads of the things to craft, convert and sell. 

 

I earned my first 2B crafting and converting over a couple weeks. Flipping yellow recipes into orange enhancements.

Average sale price of just over 2,5M, mostly at ~2M though.

 

~50 recipes a day over ~2 weeks (50 x 14days =700 x avg sale 2.8M = 2 Billion)

 

Learning prices just a bit will help recognize if things are overpriced.

 

Getting inexpensive yellow recipes that convert quickly to high demand orange enhancements is the technique. (convert no more than 2-3x)

 

Then putting on the market and seeing what they are going for. Pretty quickly we get better at identifying what's needed and turns a decent profit.

 

I listed most everything a 1.8m and would get 2M-2.5M for them. Priced too high.. they will just sit.

Things like Luck of the Gambler, I would price higher, but lower than the going price by a bit.

If inventory sits and sales are happening without ours moving, we're priced too high.

 

not a lot of sales happening on these

 

a good number of sales potentially happening here (LotG Def/End)

 

How to get Convertors? Merits from playing. (Hami, TFs, etc.). You can buy convertors, but if they are over 65-68k, it is expensive.

 

Edited June 26, 2022 by Troo

[Troo]

1 hour ago, Yomo Kimyata said:

You could buy lots of it at under 1,000 and then I would list it at a few thousand and would usually at least triple

 

Earning a couple thousand (minus market fees and effort). That's 50,000 transactions to get to 100M.. whoopie

 

A player could be better off vendoring items received playing the game.

[Ukase]

4 hours ago, Golden Azrael said:

I haven't got the hang of 'flipping' yet.  Anyone got a practical example (whilst ofc not plundering all your trade secrets...)

As Yomo states, flipping may have different meanings for different folks. 

I sometimes regard flipping as a desperate, lazy man move. I look upon such acts with disdain because they add nothing to the equation. They merely take advantage of fellow players who were in a hurry, or had no concern about the inf they would get in return, but worse, they take advantage of the player who knows no better and they pay more than they otherwise should. 

I strongly suspect if it weren't for flippers pretty much all the IOs we see in the AH would sell for about 15-20% less. 

Those superior winter-os you may see that sell for 20M are likely relisted for somewhere between 25-30M. 

On the other hand, these rascals that list items for 1 inf and claim to have all they need should be taken advantage of; they do know better but are not concerned about the time and effort other marketers put into crafting, converting and selling. So, an argument can be made for either side. By them listing low, they allow other players to profit from their disdain of market tactics. And often, the folks that make that profit pay it forward, thus making it a win for the community, at least in some fashion. 

So, a practical example, not to be confused with a realistic one, but it certainly could happen. 

Luck of the Gambler 7.5% recharge IOs - these gems are fairly stable in supply. There was a time when they would sell for 8M fairly routinely. Now, market pressures have reduced this price to 7M typically. But, lately, they've been selling for under 6M. Not sure why. 

But, suppose I also sell these? And I look in the AH and notice that instead of these selling for my usual asking price, they aren't selling at all. I click "Find" to see that they've been selling for less than 6M. 

I shrug my shoulders and have several choices:

 

I can buy as many as the market will allow me for this cheap price, only the attuned kind, and stash them in my base for future alts. 

Thus, I grab the bargains off the shelf, leaving my "normally priced" items that are slightly higher.  (and this is what I did. I bought about 70 of them and they are stashed in my base.)

OR
I can just wait. Someone will buy the bargains and eventually mine will get sold. 

OR 
I can buy all of them. I think the count was at 1500 or so. I'd have to check again to remind my feeble memory. I mean it, I could buy all of them, regardless of price and relist them at what I believe they should cost - 7M, not 6M. 


But that's risky, because several savvy marketers are in that space. Someone like Yomo catches wind of that - he'll suffer through the character email lag as best he can and accumulate hundreds, if not thousands of those IOs and dump them at a price less than mine. Or, he may go one step further and buy all of them at my price, and relist them for even more. No telling with that rascal.  Odds are though, he would have more fun undercutting my price, taking a temporary loss and eventually gaining it back over time by squeezing other folks out by paying more than what others might for the recipes that would convert into LotG, pinching the level 25 defensive IO recipes that aren't lotg, and the ones that are, and further, quite possibly gobbling up every level 25 recipe in game if they're not priced entirely too high for his margin comfort. 

And, well regardless of what the response would be to what I might do, or what he might do, or anyone else might do, there are enough ways to get the lotg that it would be temporary. Still, that's my idea of a flip. Buy all of one IO at a price only to relist them at a higher price. 

[Golden Azrael]

Thank you in triplicate to 3 robust replies.  Each with a different insight and some sound examples.

 

It's given me alot to think about (as I craft my way through a mound of stuff I farmed, bought.)

 

I take your point about flipping.  I've tried it a bit but the margins seem somewhat low relative to farming stuff (or just buying yellow recipes) and converting.  (As long as Converters have their price elasticity of 70k-100k a pop.  And you have to consider how many dice rolls plus market cut as you 'make' something that is more valuable.)

 

eg. The example of 2-3 flips to get something better on average.  Selling for 2 million ish on average.  Sometimes I've eaten through ten or more to get something I want.  So I have been efficient with Converters and sometimes I've just chomped through them like Bart at the Simpson's dinner table.  Forcing me to buy more.  ie.  I'm not super efficient yet as I go through that learning curve.  I guess I'll steamline as the penny 'falls' on my head.

 

My favourite method is just crafting the stuff I earn through playing the game, if I'm honest.  But 'playing' the market 'somewhat' is helping me to learn the sets, how to annex into something 'Rare' or Convert that 'Rare' into something more valuable.  Some 'paths' are shorter than others to reach that 'value' item.  And if you want something at the top end, it seems to be far more 'flips' of the coin (converter.)

 

I'm redoing my Rad/Fire brute to be fire capped.  Less dependent on the heal.

 

I've managed to 'cap out' two of my mains (my 'main' and my 'market' main.)  Made enough to pass over 750 million to my Fire/Spines farmer.  So, modest by some standards but enough progress to suggest I'm making progress in my understanding.

 

And yes.  I've stopped selling things for '1.'  *red faced.

 

Azrael. 

Edited June 26, 2022 by Golden Azrael

[Yomo Kimyata]

34 minutes ago, Troo said:

 

Earning a couple thousand (minus market fees and effort). That's 50,000 transactions to get to 100M.. whoopie

 

A player could be better off vendoring items received playing the game.

 

Well, it's a couple of hundred thousand in short order, then plow that into converters, get to 100mm in a few tens of minutes.  No one's getting rich from 50k transactions to get to 100mm.  At least I'm not!

[Troo]

Just now, Yomo Kimyata said:

Well, it's a couple of hundred thousand in short order, then plow that into converters, get to 100mm in a few tens of minutes.  No one's getting rich from 50k transactions to get to 100mm.  At least I'm not!

 

I believe the best advice I've ever seen is:

• Do the tutorial at the beginning and sell the inspiration earned on the Black Market/Auction House for 1.
• This nets ~50K to start a character off.

[Andreah]

Flipping, I believe, came out of real estate, and it was the practice of buying a property and immediately relisting it to resell at a slightly higher price, with little or no improvement to the property. There's another meaning also out of real estate, and that is when one buys a property, puts in some property improvement, and then relists for sale.

 

In the latter case, someone with some understanding of the housing needs in the area has used their knowledge and  available capital to improve a property - I think we can all agree that's a positive.

 

In the first case, I think there is a real service which is done here as well. The flipper came in and bought a property earlier for the seller than they otherwise would have sold it at. And then, carried that inventory until a willing buyer arrived, and then sold it to them at a price lower than they otherwise would have paid. Everyone wins.

 

If people believe that a flipper is someone who buys a controlling share of the inventory of something and then only sells it at a much higher price, well, we can't stop them, but that's not flipping. That's cornering. I don't think anyone can corner any significant market in CoH Homecoming without losing influence. Unless the person uses bots or other automation, the tools just aren't there to do this on any significant scale.

 

If there was a class of players who act to increase market prices *at all* I would say it is the farmer/hoarders -- those who do a lot of gameplay or farming, and then vendor the trivial drops and hoard their useful drops for themselves, especially if they build up a large and increasing stock they'll likely never use. They're adding influence to the economy and not correspondingly increasing the supply of goods. In the context of the recent rise in uncommon salvage prices, it could well be conjectured that once many people saw the price rise, they stopped selling as much of it to save for their own use, making the price rise accelerate, and then possibly even causing more people to hoard it. Like toilet paper in 2020.

 

I play a fair amount. I hardly ever vendor anything, and I don't save anything. I put it all on the market. And I don't spend most of the influence I get, I sock it away for my self-actualization "Marketeer Score" Add goods, remove money, decrease prices.

[tidge]

The one thing I will always vendor: level 50 common IO recipes. They vendor for an average of 100K inf; this pays for the crafting fees of everything else. Once I have the badge for selling recipes, I typically vendor Rare recipes too... despite rejecting them, I still get them as arc rewards and they are only occasionally worth crafting. Occasionally I will vendor a PVP recipe that is below level 50... I no longer have a need for the lower level pieces, as my stable has enough catalyzed versions for new characters, and my lvl 50s typically want level 50 pieces to boost.

[Golden Azrael]

I was thinking (it happens) over the 40 alts I have at L50 (let's say an average of 500 million build per alt, I used to just pay it 'now' prices with a slight under bid and not being the most efficient builder because I wasn't crafting...so the cost was probably a lot more than half a billion...) that's 20 billion largely from brute force player L1-50 supplemented by farming.  20 billion locked up in alts as build assets.

 

I must have given away billions using the '1' method over the last couple of years.  Certainly contributed to proliferating 'loot' booty to the masses.  (And probably making one or two people rich off my nonchalance.)

 

I agree with Tidge.  I think some of the best bank for buck from playing your L50s?  Common L50 recipes.  Average of 100k a pop.  Great bang for buck just from playing your L50.  I've certainly earned millions upon millions just from the Commons. 

 

And a Cat' usually drops in that play session.  

 

The consolidation from setting up an SG, storing the good stuff that drops across the range of alts being on the same 'team' has seen a real upswing in the rewards of play.  It's more focused and deliberate.

 

Azrael.

[Andreah]

I had a look at the level 50 accuracy common recipe.

 

It sells at the vendor for 113,650. 

It can be bought from the invention worktable for 454,600 (exactly four times the vendor price. If you memorize the recipe, the worktable cost is halved to 227,300.)

It's being bought on the Auction for 87,011. That's probably the low-ball mass-buyer/crafter price. If you post them for "1" you'll likely get a price like this. 

 

Is that relative loss worth skipping the vendor? I think so. 

 

Other common recipes have much lower auction sell points.  Recharge reduction was around 30k. There's probably good potential competition in there for beginning marketeers to bid to buy to vendor or craft.

 

 

[Ukase]

5 hours ago, Golden Azrael said:

I take your point about flipping.  I've tried it a bit but the margins seem somewhat low relative to farming stuff (or just buying yellow recipes) and converting.  (As long as Converters have their price elasticity of 70k-100k a pop.  And you have to consider how many dice rolls plus market cut as you 'make' something that is more valuable.)

I've mentioned this before, and it's not marketing, it's farming. 

But, converters are essentially free if you are willing to blow through emp merits. I have multiple accounts. Two on Indomitable now because of the low population there. One farmer will PL the alt to vet level 48. (and, I recycle the farmer - at vet level 48, I respec twice, stashing the IOs in a bin, and then the other account will PL the new brute to 50. ) 

As I read that, it probably sounds confusing. 

Account 1 - generic alt created just for emp accumulation
Account 2 - Farmer acct 1
Account 3 - Farmer Acct 2. 

At night, when I'm not playing, The farmer with the lowest vet level will PL the alt on account 1. 
The other farmer remains idle. (it didn't use to do so, but now, there's no need) 

When I am playing, Farmer 1 will PL the next alt for when Farmer 2 gets too many vet levels. 

So, in case you're not aware, every 3 vet levels you get a number of emp merits, that diminish as you get more levels. 
My afk farm timer suggests it's about a wash for emps/run through a map I use, so stopping at vet level 48 is about as efficient for me as stopping at vet level 24. The reason is because the respec and slotting of the new brute takes a little bit of time. May as well go to vet level 48. 

I convert the emp merits to reward merits, and ultimately to converters - so they are free. But they do cost time. 

 

[Golden Azrael]

Sage advice.

 

I think the use of Emp' Merits in ways other than Levelling up your Tier Incarnates is a revelation.  ie.  Getting Converters for 'free.'

 

Certainly time is the ultimate currency of CoH (and life in general.)

 

But boxing smart with your time gives you efficient returns.

 

Sound post, Ukase on a fluid farming process to gain returns.  (It's all just 'time' so why not make the best use of it?)

 

*(Makes notes.  Commits to memory.)

 

I've been levelling up a Brute Rad/Fire (but he has Elec' Mu Patron for the build I'm following.)  I had the levels stored for L50 but needed to 'level up' with Liberty.  So.  Levels up.  Got to L41 ('Do-OH...need to go to CoV to get patron...')  Still, I can do the Scorpion arc so far and get the badge.  Then I can continue to farm the iXP for the Inc' Tiers. 

 

A detour on path, but such is life.

 

Azrael.

Edited June 27, 2022 by Golden Azrael