I just heard about Spiral Knights from another website where someone was asking about F2P MMORPGs, so I thought I'd try it out. It seems like fun although the servers just went down for maintenance. But I guess that's a good thing, right?
Anyway, I'm just curious as to how free-to-play Spiral Knights really is, at what point will I stop being able to progress through the game until I spend real money for... things and stuff?
I have spent a little bit of money on the game but that was after I had already obtained a full set of 5 star gear. This took quite a while to achieve and was very rewarding because I knew I had worked hard for it. Spending money just speeds things up and is a good way to show your support for the game if you really love it but it is absolutely not necessary. The exception is at this point it isn't possible to obtain the DLC without spending real money if you aren't a steam user but the devs have said recently that they are making progress on a way to trade it in game without steam (and it would be a loooong time before you run out of things to keep you busy if you're just starting so the dlc isn't something that you'd need at all).
The most important thing to do as an f2p is not waste money on things you'll regret later. Do some research on the wiki so you don't invest time and crowns in gear that deadends at 3* or is useless in the endgame. Don't buy gear from NPCs, it's always overpriced compared to what you can get at the auction house or from other players. Don't energy revive too much, if you still have someone alive in your party wait for them to res you and if you're dying too much and you're clearly over your head give up and go back to haven instead of spending a bunch of energy on revives. You can always come back later.
Anyways sk is a great game and very possible to do as f2p
hardest changes(money-wise) -> 2* to 3* and 4* to 5* so thats when you will probably start to spend money (or start being very patient too...)
I've spent $10 on the game, and I have 80 hours in it thus far. $5 for the elevator pass, and $5 for energy, since I felt like supporting OOO.
Most of my energy has come from steam trading; trading tf2 keys or games that are on sale.
I'll most definitely buy a ton of energy if OOO ever decides to release a top hat.
Really, you don't need to spend any money because you can always buy from other players.
However, I suggest spending like $20 when you've gotten full 4* just to get everything to 5*. The transition from 4* -> 5* IMO is the longest period of the game (short of sitting at endgame with nothing to do).
Well, as i would say to everyone, never. I personally did it with normal hours a day (1-2) and it wasnt that difficult. It can be challenging if you get scammed as much as i have (800 CE and 25k crs) without buying CE, but you just have to be persistent. We need people to buy CE to keep the CE market down but technically, there is no need to buy CE (or anything) with real money
I'd say the best thing a new player could do would be to buy an elevator pass.
Thanks for your replies everyone. Just FYI, I'm a lot more likely to spend money knowing that I don't *have* to, because it feels more like a choice than an obligation. :-)
1) Are you a good merchant in other games? If you are, you're set.
2) Are you going to go crazy over rare cosmetic items and extra-powerful (UVed) gear? If you are, you'll need dramatically more CE resources than you would otherwise, and will either have to merch a lot or end up spending quite a bit of real money.
I'm almost full 5* and I have NEVER spent $$$ on this game for CE (only to buy OCH, its fun)
Oh yeah, there are several things that are meant to be bought with real $$$, instead of grinding. You'll learn to identify them in time, and as long as you don't set your heart on getting them, you'll be fine. For example, the Featured Auctions are meant for people who spend $$$ on the game. At the same time, Shadow Lairs, despite being expensive, are not that hard for F2P players to pay for (Its 450 CE per person, which is about 30,000 crowns when the market is normal, and I make about 10,000 crowns a day via inefficient arcade runs. Devoted players can easily make 16,000 per day on Mist energy alone).
Technically you don't need to spend any money at all, but it might take a while.
I spent a grand total of $6 back in December (great holiday sale essentially got you a free 2kCE with a 1-month elevator pass). I'm full T3 and can take on pretty much any content, bought the DLC with CE (steam trade) and I'm currently sitting on ~12kCE (in CE & CR combined). I also funded my brother with quite a few k's worth of CE.
So, if you know someone who doesn't mind funding you through the 4-5* transition, then you can spend no money and do it in a reasonable amount of time. Otherwise, you may want to spend $6 on an elevator pass to speed things up a bit. It'll give you a free 100ME a day you can use to craft things (either to sell or for transitioning from 4* to 5*).
Once you are full 5* equipment and can beat Firestorm Citadel, you can earn enough CE for a Shadow Lairs run (assuming you split the cost 4 ways) in 200ME worth of playing.
That is the joy. I am totally free to play, and my character is worth 2 million crowns and I also have tons of equips. It just is more easy with paying. And DLC is going to be tradeable soon.
I've been playing a year. I've spent absolutely no real money on it. But i've invested a lot of time. I now have a 5* shield, a 4* shield, two 5* helms, two 5* armors, 8 5* bombs, 6 4* bombs (3 will become 5* very very soon here), a 5* sword, and 3 4* swords. It did take me a while to get my 4* gear and my first 5* was a major milestone. But once you get some solid 5* gear it speeds up a bit (especially when energy prices go on a downswing).
You decide when you spend your money on the game.
The wall in continuing the game play comes about midway through the first part of game, depending on your skill. This will be about the time you've got a few items, and are in the middle of doing missions. It won't feel very nice, and it should take you a few days to get set up. Yes, you can play forever for free. No, it will not be easy to get to that point without any initial investment.
I spent about £9.
that was on a energy sale £6
and a DLC which at that time was £2.50
After that i never spent any money on the game. I am a full 5* player, some call me a pro, some call me a leader, however that all depends on how you see me. Even though when i was 2* i spent a lot of time planing what 5* items i will get, i didn't get them all because i realised some were not worth getting. After wasting 3000ce ± (aprox) I got the armour which I could always used, it was awesome, majority its the worst armour you could get in the game, however i believe its one of the best, if not the best. After that I started to get Costume armour, i spent a lot of money on that, because I saw no point buying accessories, although i did use about 4 accessories, the only 2 i liked which i could afford (afford for me is- if its not too much money to spend on it) were the mecha wings which at that time were 40k-60k and a mohawk which was also 40-60k. To me they looked really cool. After getting the accessories i got couple of other 5* armour / helms because like everyone else I wanted my knight to look cool and to look like a pro.
I only completed one (the only one i did) shadow lair and that was against dark fire vanduko because i didn't want to waste money on the maidens tear so instead I spent money on the nightmare mane so I can craft the Snarl box armour.
After that I QUIT playing the game and instead buy other games using my crowns and ce.
I spent nearly all I had, All I have left now is Prism Dragon Wings which i bought for 670k crowns and now I just want the money so i can buy more items (not sk items) on steam trade but i need to SELL ME PRISM DRAGON WINGS.
Another thing about me, I don't think I ever did tier 1, well the only time i did do tier 1 was so i can get to tier 2.
I spent a reasonable amount of time on tier 2, even though i got access to tier 3, because i was only 4*. After getting the first 5* which for me was a divine mantel (big mistake) which was quite useful in some missions, but not in all, but i had to use it because it was my only 5* armour. After getting one 5* armour it was quite easy to get my other 5* items.
To BEGINNERS I recommend to get 5* Armour first rather anything else.
I spent about £9.
that was on a energy sale £6
and a DLC which at that time was £2.50
After that i never spent any money on the game. I am a full 5* player, some call me a pro, some call me a leader, however that all depends on how you see me. Even though when i was 2* i spent a lot of time planing what 5* items i will get, i didn't get them all because i realised some were not worth getting. After wasting 3000ce ± (aprox) I got the armour which I could always use, it was awesome, majority SAY its the worst armour you could get in the game, however i believe its one of the best, if not the best. After that I started to get Costume armours, i spent a lot of money on that, because I saw no point buying accessories, although i did use about 4 accessories, the only 2 i liked which i could afford (afford for me is- if its not too much money to spend on it) were the mecha wings which at that time were 40k-60k and a mohawk which was also 40-60k. To me they looked really cool. After getting the accessories i got couple of other 5* armour / helms because like everyone else I wanted my knight to look cool and to be and to look like a Divine Saint.
I only completed one (the only one i did) shadow lair and that was against dark fire vanduko because i didn't want to waste money on the maidens tear so instead I spent money on the nightmare mane so I can craft the Snarl box armour.
After that I QUIT playing the game and instead bought other games using my crowns and ce.
I spent nearly all I had, All I have left now is Prism Dragon Wings which i bought for 670k crowns and now I just want the money so i can buy more items (not sk items) on steam trade but i need to SELL ME PRISM DRAGON WINGS.
Another thing about me, I don't think I ever did tier 1, well the only time i did do tier 1 was so i can get clearance to tier 2.
I spent a reasonable amount of time on tier 2, even though i got access to tier 3 and got decent amount of crowns and ce, because i was only 4*. After getting the first 5* which for me was a divine mantel (big mistake) which was quite useful in some missions, but not in all, but i had to use it because it was my only 5* armour. After getting one 5* armour it was quite easy to get my other 5* items.
To BEGINNERS I recommend to get 5* Armour first rather anything else.
It was much harder without missions, because they give you tons of crowns, need less energy and have nice recipes. If you're really cheap, really good, really skilled or have friends, you shouldn't have to spend money unless you're in a rush to get somewhere. Once you have everything, Spiral Knights becomes dead until the next update. Most people shouldn't really need to EVER. The game was meant to be casual, meaning you progress at your own pace. IF you choose to pay, you benefit from it, but that's your choice. Keep up with CE prices on the market and you should be fine.
Ive never spent any money on this game but I do want to spend mmoney on och butim 14 and its hard for me to get money so if any1 wants to trade I will have ce for it plz I really wnt it
I only have 100 crystal energy and barely any mist,the missions are'nt helping at all and my guild just likes to do tier 3 missions and lockdown so if anyone can help by adding me and helping me through some missions and stuff I'd be very grateful.
I'm not asking for handouts I just want some assistance,to be clear.
I didnt use any real money on SK.After I became 5* I created another account.Now I keep doing FSC(i earn 8000crowns a day)and I just send the money to my new account.So like 2days after i created the new account it was 3star.Now im going for FF from my old account :D I go 9.7k damage from DA in LD so if i get an FF ill go like20-30k dmg in LD :D
I didnt use any real money on SK.After I became 5* I created another account.Now I keep doing FSC(i earn 8000crowns a day)and I just send the money to my new account.So like 2days after i created the new account it was 3star.Now im going for FF from my old account :D I go 9.7k damage from DA in LD so if i get an FF ill go like20-30k dmg in LD :D
@Rsingh BTW arent you Indian?
It IS possible to get through the game on your own without spending money but it takes much longer.
F2P players have a much harder time going from 2* gear to 3* and so forth.
This is because once you get past 2* the missions will give recipes as rewards and not actual armor.