So what is a lot of money these days?

When I costed out Catwhoorgs build a few weeks ago, it was approx 12.5 billion inf, at the market pricing of that time.

I added a couple of extra IOs based on some feedback, which didn't change that approximation (it was 20 million or so).

I note that some of his PVP sets are more expensive again now, so to recreate that build would be pushing maybe 15 billion or so.

That is a data point for a 'lot of money' build.

Every set in a power* is either a purple or PVP-IO. He some single special IO (LOTG) and 15 or so HO scattered around.



*except fly, as there are no purple or PVP travel sets.

For me, the biggest problem is not how much influence my characters have, but how much inf a new player perceives they need to be any good.

I'm an experienced player of the game - I know mostly what I need and can get an "okay" build for not very much game time. But to an inexperienced player who doesn't know how the market works who sees numbers like "100 million" bandied about, it must be off putting. If a piece of "common" salvage is costing double what they have on their new, low level character, I'd be quite surprised if they didn't feel at least a wee bit crest-fallen.

I don't necessarily have a problem with the inflationary pressures of the market per se, but I do worry how it affects new players and a sense of "unobtainium" (to misquote a mission.) That sense of "I'll never be able to earn that kind of dough" can be severely off-putting and like it or not many people believe (not always correctly I agree) that they need that stuff to compete with their peers.

If one person leaves because of that, they will never return and that's revenue gone from the game forever.

"You got to dig it to dig it, you dig?"
Thelonious Monk

I spent maybe 5 billion putting that build together over time, that is the re-create it under current market conditions price tag.


Most of my characters that look into sets, have reliable stand buys (Crushing impacts, Thunderstrikes, doctored wounds, red fortunes), and put them together patiently.

The bulk of my characters get common IOs and a bit of Frankenslotting.

Otherwise, I have one near ranged def capped blaster who breaks that mold, and I'm slowly gather assets for my Crabs build and a perma mind dom.

Even the +ranged def blaster wasn't that expensive, under 100 million for what he has.

Depends what you're after. If you want to use the most expensive stuff - purples and PvP IOs - the infamy cap is not enough by itself. Some purples regularly sell for 200-400M these days, and some PvP IOs sell for more than a billion. If you want a high-performing build that uses some expensive stuff - the kind of build that would have been top-of-the-line before Purples were added to the game - you can achieve it for a whole lot less. I find that I can afford the bulk of my character builds for less than 100M, and it's just a few particular IOs that push that price tag higher.

The difference in performance between a purpled-out, no expense spared character build and a pretty good build with a unique or two is not proportionate to the price, in my experience.

What was optimal pre-purples is still pretty darned good today. Most of my character builds cost around 200-300M, and apart from my rule of 'stay away from the most expensive loot in the game unless this is a character I intend to keep playing again and again after 50,' I don't make many compromises on price. There are some exceptions to this - if I want to use a lot of LotG: +recharge enhancements, for example, I know I can expect to pay a lot even if I avoid purples.

1M might be chump change these days, and prices for IOs might have gone up, but one noteworthy consideration is that prices for rare salvage have gone way down since I14.

I have in-game friends who are perfectly happy with 20M at level 50. They buy SOs, the occasional -kb or stealth IO and are completely happy just with that. They have zero desire to slot inventions, not because they don't understand them, but because they're team oriented and IO set bonuses help their builds far less in those types of situations. They actually tend to be more generous than I am since they giveaway any purples or high value recipes that drop to people that need/want them.

Meanwhile I'm like Catwhoorg in that I have characters which have IOs that exceed 10B+ inf if you count their market value. For some of my builds, 20M is merely the difference in the variation of the current market price and not a significant amount. I tend to solo a lot so I prize what inventions can bring.

watching a 30m HO fail upgrading to 52+ was meh

Bit of an update The character im using which made me start this topic is an elec/fire armour scrapper. Currently level 37 and between the levels 35 - 35 [35 when i made the thread] i have made 10 million in selling my unwanted items on the character.

Went to WW and the influence raised from 2 levels worth was enough to buy me 2 IOs only that i wanted Mainly being PbAoE ones which by the way are going to cost me a BOMB

To me i like to get the "basic" set up ready for by the time im level 50 which i can then start going around to raising the stats/bonuses of my character to the point which i feel comfortable. I know that it'll cost me 100 million easy to do the basic but im now even more shocked at the 12/15 billion influence being thrown around here I wouldnt know what to do with that kind of money!

[wow thats a lot of 's!]

Hmm a lot to me is probably one 1 billion .I don't play the market very much ,just sell what i don't need for a reasonable price. It's taken me a while to get that much on any one toon and i'm not quite there yet. I have spent that much and more on a few builds but getting and keeping that much liquid cash without spending it somehow is the difficult part that makes 1 billion for me a big number. 100mil or so i can get almost by accident in a good play session with a lucky drop or two and running around with that much on a character isn't terribly uncommon.