500+ dollars paid per sword that translates into an actual price of 60K CE or about 120-150 dollars for a single new item when the community is starved for new items is kind of... the scummiest thing that you guys being "the developers" have done since probably shadow keys coming from lockboxes 1% of the time. The mixmaster, though much more common, is still no better than this.

Maybe it's just a single item, but it just isn't becoming of a game that people would actually want to invest time into, especially in a world where collecting equipment is quite literally the big finisher. That the sword is 100% an upgrade from an existing line of gear really makes it obvious just how much paying to win is the only out for players of the game and not strictly the economy.

The fix is easy-
0. Announce that you will be creating free variants of these new items at some point, and make a promise that there will be no permanently 3+ million crown weapons released in prize boxes. This way, we all know exactly what to expect, and don't all just assume your actions to be terrible like I am doing now out of fear that I'm right. We don't need to know how or what will be changed, but we do need to know that there eventually be a new weapon that is the same as the prize-box only one.

1. Create a new line that branches off of the 4* calibur and deals stun in exactly the same fashion as does celestial sabre.

2. Make the stun stat more apparent on the sabre but reduce the damage and knockback dealt on the charge, to balance it with the existing leviathan blade. Having it be a straight upgrade from another weapon is a bad idea, as it removes 100% of the incentive to use that other weapon. Having it be 100% the same as another weapon but with less damage and being too chance dependent at a low chance of being better is a bad idea all around.

3. When the wallhacks etcetera are fixed on the mixmaster and the weapon is made to trigger shielding/dodging mobs, release a "free" variant of that as well. It can be event only, or lockdown related, or even a rare but plausible drop on a specific new shock level.

4. As an optional bonus that would benefit you- change scissor blades to have stun as well (leaving them in the auction house, they're just now a "new weapon" again), to renew their value and make players anxious to get them again, if just briefly.

This isn't a matter of determining the right course of action, this is a matter of taking it.

The biggest difference between the game now and when it came out, is that when it came out there was a since of dignity and innovation about it, as though the game was actively being developed and created, and had a chance of becoming something worth playing. THAT aspect of the game is what won Spiral Knights an award, and THAT is what you should seek to fulfill. Cashing out in smart, positive, ways is fine, but cashing out completely and putting such a tremendous strain on the game and it's community is only going to come back to hurt you.