A Question of Credits...

[______________Aelist]

I admit, I am fairly new to AO, but I am not completely green. I have been playing for 6 weeks or more, have a L129 Soldier (Main) - as well as a low-level alt to team with some friends of mine. And I am a Unit Commander within a respected Guild (The Order of Chaos). Yet, for the life on me, there is one aspect of the game that continues to evade me, a seemingly basic feature who's system I simply cannot understand: Credits. What do I mean? I scrounged and saved forever-and-a-day, won Guild Events and even accepted *unsolicited* donations from good friends to gain what I thought was a respectable amount, but apparently 10 Million Credit is child's play. Heck, I didn't have a Yalm until I was L110. Now, to flame the wealthy population of RK1 because they possess nigh-limitless amounts of liquid assets would be a waste of the your time and mine - not to mention irritating. Thus, I pose a legitimate question: How does a Soldier actually acquire enough money to buy high-end items? I asked this of one of my Generals and the response, after some in-depth conversation and class comparison, came down to a few realities:

1. Soldiers can't Calm...So Soldiers cannot Calm missions.
2. Soldiers don't have Grid Armor or any comperable faxsimile...So Soldiers cannot Run missions.
3. Soldiers are not viable solo artists until, at least, L150...So Soldiers cannot Blitz missions.

While a general and cursory analysis - granted - the point remains, there is, to my limited knowledge, no *consistent* means for a Soldier to accrue large amounts of High-QL, High-demand items (for sale on the open markets) and, thusly, no way for members of the class to achieve significant financial standing...period. Please do not misunderstand however; I am aware that there are play-balance issues with a number of classes within AO. I also would not even begin to suggest that Soldiers should be able to calm, cast run buffs, be given access to pseudo-Grid Armor, or any combination or extension of the above - If I did, that would be a subject for the Soldier forums. I just ask again: How does a Soldier acquire wealth of the sort needed to advance his character into the high-level range? Praying to stumble upon -a- QL190+ Soul Fragment cannot be the answer and waiting for a Grid Armor or Nullity Sphere ID to drop is akin to some twisted form of the lottery... Therefore, I leave it to you, the people of the forums, once again. Your input is greatly appreciated. Thanx.

- Aelist

[Jynne]

Blitz missions non-smurf fixer style.

Step 1: Roll three single missions of high QL to areas that yield primarily 'factory,' 'office,' 'subway,' or 'gray cave' mission areas. Southern Clon**** is very popular for this. So is Home.
Step 2: Get the biggest fixer run buff you can find.
Step 3: Get all the hitpoint buffs you can, set your agg/def to 0% (all defensive).
Step 4: Go to your mission.
Step 5: Cast short-term buffs then run through like a bat out of hell ignoring the mobs trying to attack you. Use furniture, corners, doors, and everything else to confuse their pathing and stay ahead of them so you don't get hit. Do this until you find the mission goal item and take it/repair it to complete the mission.
Step 6: Rinse and repeat.

[Getwrangled]

What high end item are you trying to get?


You said yourself there is no GA or NS in your soldier line.

You should be getting QL 200 boss loot in your team missions,
so you must be seeking a uber rare.

[frakk2k]

Total mirror sheild. Runbuff. Uber.

[charleyd]

Money sources:
---

There is always the standard alternative - do solo missions at your level (or slightly below), where killing all the mobs is easy. Do it for money rewards. Bag the loot and sell it in a store. The loot usually found in missions, or as rewards, is rarely (relatively speaking) worth alot of money - team mission boss loot is.

As a soldier you can probably solo missions higher than any Agent can (if an agent can solo missions at 50% or better, they are Uber - and I mean uber as in wearing a gun and set of armour they wasted hours/weeks sneaking to afford). It is your advantage, and can be a source for money.

[______________Cayana]

Everyone can blitz missions, I do it with my doc all the time (she is just over 100). The only exception would be someone who has like 6 runspeed at level 100 or something similar. And that person would have far bigger problems than money.

Think of your strengths, not your weaknesses. So you can't wear grid armor, you can use your mirror shield and your nice damage shields. Anybody who can run can blitz a mission.

Make sure you are setting the sliders to full bad, full money and taking "find item" or "use item on strange machine" missions. "Kill person" missions are just way too hard to blitz. Get a fixer to runbuff you before you start out, and don't use the keyboard to turn, use your mouse, if you don't do that already. Put in runspeed implants (wrists) when you want to blitz, and go for the 1,000 token board if you don't have it already, it adds +210 runspeed or so.

[muffinhunter]

Originally posted by Aelist
Yet, for the life on me, there is one aspect of the game that continues to evade me, a seemingly basic feature who's system I simply cannot understand: Credits. What do I mean? I scrounged and saved forever-and-a-day, won Guild Events and even accepted *unsolicited* donations from good friends to gain what I thought was a respectable amount, but apparently 10 Million Credit is child's play. Now, to flame the wealthy population of RK1 because they possess nigh-limitless amounts of liquid assets would be a waste of the your time and mine - not to mention irritating.

dude, my lvl 161 fixer has 2mil in the bank not everyone is filthy rich.

i also had a soldier friend...he was 112 at the time, and we tag-teamed ql 200 solo missions, blitzing. pull from newland to home, get a HP buff, a runbuff, TMS up, and run like hell....soldiers can blitz almost as well as GA fixers.

[______________Vanity]

You said you had 10 million? That's not exactly peanuts, and if this is your only 'strong' character, I think thats pretty good.

[Stratah]

One thing that you aren't taking into consideration is *playtime*.

My main (Fixer) is level 112 and has been able to make (and spend) the creds for GA II & III, buy a Yalm (at level 73) and donate nearly 100 million to my guild...just to name a few.

Wow! I sound rich eh? What's my secret? How do I make all that cash?

It wasn't overnight. It wasn't in 6 weeks.

I've had this character from day 2 release. That's over a year. Many of the people you consider "rich" have been playing much, much, MUCH longer than you and have. They also may have focused more on making money and trading, rather than levelling.

Just things to consider.

[Czarina]

Originally posted by Aelist
I admit, I am fairly new to AO, but I am not completely green. I have been playing for 6 weeks or more, have a L129 Soldier (Main) - as well as a low-level alt to team with some friends of mine. And I am a Unit Commander within a respected Guild (The Order of Chaos). Yet, for the life on me, there is one aspect of the game that continues to evade me, a seemingly basic feature who's system I simply cannot understand: Credits. What do I mean? I scrounged and saved forever-and-a-day, won Guild Events and even accepted *unsolicited* donations from good friends to gain what I thought was a respectable amount, but apparently 10 Million Credit is child's play. Heck, I didn't have a Yalm until I was L110. Now, to flame the wealthy population of RK1 because they possess nigh-limitless amounts of liquid assets would be a waste of the your time and mine - not to mention irritating. Thus, I pose a legitimate question: How does a Soldier actually acquire enough money to buy high-end items? I asked this of one of my Generals and the response, after some in-depth conversation and class comparison, came down to a few realities:

1. Soldiers can't Calm...So Soldiers cannot Calm missions.
2. Soldiers don't have Grid Armor or any comperable faxsimile...So Soldiers cannot Run missions.
3. Soldiers are not viable solo artists until, at least, L150...So Soldiers cannot Blitz missions.

While a general and cursory analysis - granted - the point remains, there is, to my limited knowledge, no *consistent* means for a Soldier to accrue large amounts of High-QL, High-demand items (for sale on the open markets) and, thusly, no way for members of the class to achieve significant financial standing...period. Please do not understand however; I am aware that there are play-balance issues with a number of classes within AO. I also would not even begin to suggest that Soldiers should be able to calm, cast run buffs, be given access to pseudo-Grid Armor, or any combination or extension of the above - If I did, that would be a subject for the Soldier forums. I just ask again: How does a Soldier acquire wealth of the sort needed to advance his character into the high-level range? Praying to stumble upon -a- QL190+ Soul Fragment cannot be the answer and waiting for a Grid Armor or Nullity Sphere ID to drop is akin to some twisted form of the lottery... Therefore, I leave it to you, the people of the forums, once again. Your input is greatly appreciated. Thanx.

- Aelist

Get someone to Roll QL60ish team missions for you.. run them nonstop til you find GA MKI or a Shape Armor PPPE... there's an instant 40mil+ for ya!

[_______________Kwerk]

Another strategy is not to buy anything that you can get for yourself.
I periodically blitz a new full set of armor every 10-15 levels. It takes some time but then you can sell the old set. A full set of Primus or Flowers can bring a couple milliion, plus you didnt spend any money on the new armor.
The same with nano crystals and NCUs. Don't buy, go get.

[______________Aelist]

I just wanted to thank you all for replying. Your comments, collectively, have been taken to heart. Perhaps it was exasperation that prompted the initial post, but I do feel that I have a much better handle on the general scheme of things and the state of my character. If you have anything further though, I am always willing to listen. Thanks again.

- Aelist