Spiral Knights - Auction house vs crafting in lower levels

Auction house vs crafting in lower levels - a comparison

8 replies [Last post]

Mon, 10/03/2011 - 21:03

Arctic-Fern

We'll cover 0-3* because after that, it's not hard to see that buying unbound gear is way more expensive than crafting.

Auction house and energy prices as of October 4, 2011

Assumptions:
1. Time is ignored. Assume player has unlimited time.
1a. To make #1 not very complicated, the cost savings of using Mist Energy instead of CE is ignored. All costs listed will be assumed as CE.
2. Boss token items are ignored... for now. Which means no freebies, and ALSO no buying of Pulsars or Sealed Swords.
3. Cost of 100 CE is pegged at 6,000cr. (60cr/CE)
4. Cost of materials is ignored.
5. 2-star gear: trying to go as fast to Tier 2 as possible, so only 1 weapon will be upgraded.
6. 3-star gear: 2 weapons, armor set and shield will be upgraded.

Using the auction house: 2* (skipping 1*)
Brandish or Calibur (1,800 cr)
Cheapest 2* armors and shields available (average of 2,000cr each)
Total: 7,800 cr (without upgrading second weapon)
...About 4 Snarbo runs. Meaning posible to use tokens for a shield or sword to save even more money! Tier 2 in 2 days or less... it's possible.

Through crafting 2* (again, skipping 1*)
Recipes: 1000cr x4
Energy used in crafting: 50CE x4
Crowns used in crafting: 400cr x4
Total: 5600 cr + 200 CE = 17,600 cr (!)
Note 1: Mist Energy can be used for crafting. Save up to 200CE or 12,000cr this way, making total cost only 5,600cr and 2,200cr less than buying.
Note 2: You'd rather run the clockworks with your Mist Energy right?

Verdict: Don't end up on the streets begging, buy !@#$ from the Auction House.

***

Using the auction house: 3*
Average weapons, armor and shield: 16,000 x 5
Total: 80,000cr
Note: Some 3* items sell for less than 16k sometimes. Shop around to find a better deal.

Through crafting: 2* to 3*
Recipes: 4000cr x5
Energy used in crafting: 200 CE x5
Crowns used in crafting: 1000cr x5
Total: 25,000cr + 1000 CE... convert that CE to cr, that's 60,000. = 85,000cr
Note 1: Mist Energy can be used for crafting. Save up to 500CE or 30,000cr this way, making total cost only 55,000cr.
Note 2: A daily player can't afford to wait like this, however. People starting out would most likely play using their Mist over waiting.

Verdict: Buying can be better by at least 5,000cr.

***

EDIT:
(October 7, 2011) Added the non-trivial alchemy crown costs which I have mistakenly omitted. Changed layout.

Thu, 10/06/2011 - 06:28

Stavrosg

Well...

You should reall y factor in the material cost, because you'll need a lot more runs to obtain them or make the money to buy them.

Therefore, up to 3* it's cheaper to buy from the AH. Period.

And, by the way, since I've been crafting Brandishes for about a week now looking for a specific UV, I can assure you that the price is most of the times closer to, or lower then 1500cr, not 1800. The same with the Wolver Coat, thus reducing significantly the buy-out cost.

Thu, 10/06/2011 - 07:22

Khamsin

The problem is that if you

The problem is that if you buy from the AH, you don't have a chance to get UV. Also, if you ever want another item in that series, you don't have any of the recipes learned so you have to drop some more money.

Thu, 10/06/2011 - 09:25

Stavrosg

Gambling for a good UV in one

Gambling for a good UV in one or two crafts has very few odds of happening, but yes, that's about the only reason you would choose craft over buy if you are low on funds. Otherwise, buying at 3* and upgrading to 5 is the sensible way. IMHO at least.

Thu, 10/06/2011 - 20:17

Arctic-Fern

Stuff

Well that makes buying at 2* even more dominant than crafting for a new player. I put up 1.8k as it seems reasonable to expect this price even at peak hours. Lower than that is even better of course.

Note that Guns tend to be more expensive because of (seemingly) lower amounts of people crafting them. Bombs have too much supply from rage crafters and not enough demand so they tend to be really cheap. Bombs aren't recommended over swords as the first 2* weapon of course...

Regarding materials cost for 3*, it usually only matters with wolver upgrades and maybe Chroma.
Materials tend to be dirt cheap anyway (slime stuff, scraps and gizmos) and sometimes you can use your own spark tokens to get what you need.

Also, it can be slightly alleviated by running strata with the items you need (T2 beast areas for wolver upgrades?)... or with cr/CE is closer to 5k it may be better to craft.

Finally, UV gambling and rage crafting can't be counted on as a source of income for the new player--UV's are rare and great UV's even more so--so unless they've got a paid account and knows to use an alt for daily crafting, it's likely off-limits. (<--- Hint)

Thu, 10/06/2011 - 22:25

Arctic-Fern

Uh-oh...

I forgot the crowns cost of alchemy!

I added it and suddenly 3* crafting becomes worse! :D

So yes, unless 3* equips become more expensive suddenly, buying 2* and 3* equips is way better than crafting for a new player.

Thu, 10/06/2011 - 23:17

Broxaim

Another thing you forgot for

Another thing you forgot for 3* crafting, is the cost of the 2* items to make into 3*

Also you do have to add in the material costs. ex. 5 green shards 2 monster bones 2 sharp fangs will cost 600cr on a good day (wolver coat of course)

Thu, 10/06/2011 - 23:46

Arctic-Fern

Cost of 2* items

I have excluded the cost of 2* gear since they're either making new ones (e.g. gunslinger armor) or upgrading some 2* they already have from their T1 days.

I excluded materials costs (see assumptions) because it's far less predictable. A lucky player may have picked up what they needed in the clockworks, notwithstanding keeping track of the prices of individual items in the auction house.

Regardless, 3* crafting is still generally worse, we don't need to inflate it any further. :D

Fri, 10/07/2011 - 16:30

Crystalwyte

A note from a crafter.

Personally, I just craft anything anyway. Materials I wait until they're cheap for, and I'm terribly patient when it comes to waiting on ME for an item. Mainly, because I don't have time to go into the depths daily, but crafting can take less than five minutes in a day, and I've got what I need. Put a day or two a week aside for a skirmish through tier one (Snarbolax, of course, since I'm working for the Bristling Buckler and the like), and I'm good to go.

For now.

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Auction house vs crafting in lower levels - a comparison