FourSpeed

I'm in a 2 person SG. We don't have anywhere near the earning power of
a large group, and never will but, because we always run in SG mode, we
have a decently equipped base with storage, med bay, a couple tp's...

I listed a mere 8 items in that table. If I look at the cost via conversion,
at the current rate, that's 3.5 Million inf for just those 8 pieces. That's not
Walmart pricing, that's more than the most expensive furniture boutique
you've ever heard of pricing.

I'd love to dabble with some decorative design, but seriously, I can fund my
next alt at least into the L20's (or better) for that kind of cash.

Simply put, there's no sane way to justify that in a small SG.

Maybe that's the way the devs want it, but I can guarantee that I, for one,
am *never* using the conversion at those rates and prices.

I bet, I'm not alone in that thinking...

Now, at a 100-1 rate? That's 700K which is still pretty expensive, but it
starts to look much more appealing... <shrug> YMMV.


Regards,
4

lol - well it's not a lot of inf (a few 100K iirc), so ya I hear you...

Still, it could probably fill up an inspiration bin with mediums for the group, or
pick up some common salvage solely for use with Empowerment stations or
something along those lines that might help the S/VG's a little, which would
be better than leaving it idle on my toons.


Regards,
4


PS> Pie is good - you could get some pie...

Fair enough, we're mostly in agreement, but I'm going to add one more quibble.

Frankenslotting is (often) better than *full* sets...

All too frequently, full sets won't max the key attributes of the power you
put them in (Acc & Dmg in an attack, for instance) unless you 6-slot (and
sometimes, not even then).

One of the key points of Frankenslotting is to max the core attributes of
the power in fewer total slots, while still providing some useful bonuses.

For the sake of this particular thread, it's historically cheaper than SO's (over
the duration of the build), which is a big help if you're strapped for cash.


Regards,
4

Frankenslotting is better than that. An L25 duo IO gives 20% bonus to each
of its attributes... So, 2 L25 Acc/Dmg IO's (from different sets) would give
you 40% Acc and 40% Dmg for those two slots... Two +3 SO's would only give
38.3%, and L30 Common IO's would only give 34.8%, and, of course, once
you get set bonuses in there, they'll exemplar down to L22.

Without maligning je_saist per se, I agree, he is. Marketing > Farming.

That's not to say farming is a bad idea and of course, combining both is
even better, but if you can only do one - Marketing will have the larger effect.

Some ideas that may make this even smoother and more profitable:

1> SG Base - with storage bins... Fill 'em with drops (2-3 of any item) as
you play... More often than not, I don't even have to buy more than one
piece of salvage for a recipe - the rest was a free byproduct of normal play

2> Depending on your AT/Build use can use AE tix to get the rare salvage.
This is especially helpful if you're starting with low funds, or you have a
farm type build that can run AE easily (see combining Market + Farm above ).
Random rolls with tix is more profitable in the long run, but I can see cases
where sacrificing some tix for specific items can be worthwhile - at least,
it was for me...

3> Grab the Marketing Day Job AND the Smuggler (villain) or Shopkeeper (hero)
Day Jobs. Those will get you free tp's to markets everywhere, AND discount
coupons for crafting. ALL of my toons get these Jobs. It adds up.

Those coupons take 100K+ off the crafting fee for L50 IO's - in Fulmen's scenario,
that's the same as getting the recipe for Free.

Finally, there is no trick. Making inf in the game is extremely easy with nothing
more than a little knowledge and a little effort.

Read some marketing guides along with the advice in this thread, and put
that info to use and I'm pretty sure the inf issues will be solved fairly quickly.

Good Luck.

Regards,
4

For a while, I was keeping tabs on that, but the turnover was more frequent
than I was able to log in with those toons to sort out (which reminds me to
check my notes - I owe the group some escrow funds from sell-offs, which
I'll forward to Fulmens)

I'm not sure how likely it is that I'd get the time to get back to that as I
have several other "project" toons that I'm putting a bunch of time to currently.


Regards,
4

My criteria are simple - when I can 1-shot guys, I'm playing a damage dealer

I'm a solo player, so the teaming element of your survey doesn't apply for me.


Regards,
4

Yep - just ran across that myself a minute ago and was coming back to post it in here.

Thanks FW,
4

When Villains first came out, and cross-faction PvP was foisted upon us,
I rolled a single toon intended for PvP in the lowest level zone and intentionally
level-capped him there.

While I've since added a few more PvP toons over the years, I still have
that first toon, and I still play it. For a *long* time it was the only toon
I'd PvP with...

What is it? An L28 Stalker.

Why? Several reasons:

1> I'm mostly a solo player, and it's an excellent solo toon (PvE & PvP) that I
enjoy playing (He has 1200+ hours on him).

2> Its stealthy nature means that I determine when (or even if) I get involved
in a PvP fight.

3> Its stealthy nature means that when I'm not actively PvP'ing myself,
I can observe (and learn) what other PvP'ers are doing to get a good sense
of what works and what doesn't. I tend to watch fights a LOT more than
participate in them.

4> Played "properly" (your definition may vary from mine), it's a great toon
to learn PvP with - your fate is entirely in your own hands. You shouldn't die
unless you screw up, and on the flip-side, you should be able to get kills
by taking advantage of the mistakes other players make.

5> It's an AT that you can build on the cheap and still be successful
with. That particular toon is frankenslotted now, but it was a straight
SO build for quite awhile - short of a Stealth IO, you really don't need
a lot of shinies for it to be useful.

For me, that turned out to be an ideal approach to PvP, and were it not for
that toon, I'd have very probably avoided PvP entirely. Instead, I've made more
PvP toons that I enjoy and I typically pop into zones a few times a week.


Regards,
4

Some interesting points.

I don't AE much, so I have no idea at all what fotm stuff is run there, but I
will try out the early bosses on the next Stalker I make. I always waited
until L12 (for Placate), but your point makes enough sense to try it.

Of course, getting to L12 is typically just 1 or 2 gaming sessions, so it's not
a big deal either way (imho).

I do run at +2 once frankenslotted - why wait till then? In certain missions,
with certain factions, you can occassionally get Purple con mobs - which
may or may not be a concern, but good slotting helps if/when that occurs.

Also, for me personally, I'm never in a rush to get to L50, and I *hate* dying
much more than I like killing, so backing it down in those cases isn't a concern
to me. In fact, many of my toons are arbitrarily level-capped (for specific
purpose / thematic choices) so "gimping my exp" isn't an issue I'd even
think about normally.

As always, whatever you find fun and suitable for your playstyle is probably best.


Regards,
4

I would agree with this approach...

Pre SO-scale enhancements, I typically run 0/0 difficulty. I set No Bosses
until L12 when I take Placate.

At L22+ I start running at +1/0, and once core powers are nicely frankenslotted
(L25-L27 or so), I switch to +2/0...

These are pretty conservative (and fairly safe) settings for the solo
stalker.

If you don't mind the occasional death and/or you enjoy chewing candy
a lot, you can set the difficulty higher if you like.

For slotting attacks, I set 60/90 (Acc/Dam) as minimums (which are easily
achieved). That gives me 95% chance to hit most PvE targets unless they
are purple con and/or have resist/+def bonuses against your primary.

Apart from Elec/* stalkers, you don't get much AoE capability, so I personally,
never raise the teammate/spawn difficulty number on my stalkers... YMMV


Regards,
4

A Robin Hood Do-Gooder type ... marketeer ???


FULMENS!!!!! ()




Cheers,
4

(in best oily merchant voice)

Excellent, Sir!

For a customer of discerning tastes such as yourself, clearly quality and
timeliness are of paramount importance.

Why indeed should you be made to suffer in long lines of patient, low-ball
bids posted by the masses of poor, under-financed players?

A player of your calibre, influence and wealth deserves only the best!

At FourSpeed Warez, PLLC, we specialize in the finest quality of enhancements
for the elite buyer. Our premier pricing strategies ensure that stock is always
available for our favorite customers, such as yourself, and we'll do our very best
to accomodate any specialty enhancement needs you might have.

By all means, browse the catalog, and if there's anything you need at all,
don't hesitate to ask - FourSpeed Warez exists to serve your needs and we
welcome your business.


Cheers,
4


PS> While that's totally tongue-in-cheek of course, (and hopefully understood
as humour), it is the sentence I quoted that makes you my favorite customer (truly).
That's not sarcasm or a knock whatsoever at your approach. You are the guys that
allow us marketeers to achieve fine profit margins, and I'm ecstatic to sell to you
(and 500 or more of your favorite like-minded friends).

Because I typically list below top 5 prices (to get the sale), patient bid-creepers,
who end-up buying near my list price kill my margins. Guys who simply look at the
last 5 sales and bid that are exactly the players I *want* to sell to... So, Thanks!
You *are* my favorite type of customer.

That's the spirit!

4