crafting by far. Here are the total CE costs to craft from scratch up to that level. The CR costs are converted to CE at the current market price (71cr/ce) (excluding only the costs of mats, which doesn't equate to much overall)
2* = 70CE
3* = 340CE
4* = 916CE
5* = 2138CE
These are the supply depot costs that I know off hand
2* = 150CE
3* = 500CE
5* = 3500CE
As you can see, you are going to pay from 1.5-2x the price of crafting the item yourself.
The ONLY reason to buy weapons from the supply depot is if you are too lazy to heat them.
EDIT: for a little clarification and to add this little note, if you have 3 friends you can heat a 5* item from 1 to 10 in a single FSC mission run.
crafting by far. Here are the total CE costs to craft from scratch up to that level. The CR costs are converted to CE at the current market price (71cr/ce) (excluding only the costs of mats, which doesn't equate to much overall)
2* = 70CE
3* = 340CE
4* = 916CE
5* = 2138CE
These are the supply depot costs that I know off hand
2* = 150CE
3* = 500CE
5* = 3500CE
As you can see, you are going to pay from 1.5-2x the price of crafting the item yourself.
The ONLY reason to buy weapons from the supply depot is if you are too lazy to heat them.
EDIT: for a little clarification and to add this little note, if you have 3 friends you can heat a 5* item from 1 to 10 in a single FSC mission run.