How to make credits

[Mortus]

If you don't like your character being a gimp you will need a steady flow of creds while you level. Of course you could camp all the stuff you need, but not only does it require insame amounts of time, but also sometimes a pocket raidforce. You might even already have levelled your main high and still haven't found any way that fits you to make credits. On the AO forums there's of course the "Making LOTS of money as a new player"-thread, with great tips for beginners on what to blitz and where to sell, but still that will only make you the million you need starting out, and not the tens or hundreds of millions needed later on. Try paying for SL nanos blitzing QL10 Concrete Cushions... it's not realistic.

So what is needed is some real ways to get credits. I'll start with the the ways I know and have used to get creds with my upcoming new main, and I'm hoping you will post in the thread with some of your ways. The ways I know can be done in the mid lvls. I have barely been to any RK raids and haven't been higher then Adonis with any char ever so I'm hoping you will fill in the higher SL and RK areas' possibilities that I can't cover.

I aware that if everyone would know about the good creditmaking ways they would loose in value - give away where you camp this and that more people will come to camp it and you can't do it yourself anylonger. That's why I'm putting the thread in a AP-only section of the forums (please don't move it to a public area). This thread is to help other APs, it is not something to be posted on the public AO forums.

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Ways I've tried:

Camping Predator armor
Where: 2 camps with 4 mobs each in elysium, look at spheremap.
How: kill the named predators, respawn time is 20 mins. I camped my full set with a lvl 76 fixer. At that level you will get aggro from the normal predators (lvl 75ish afaik), but if you can kill them it's all good - I got 2 lvls off them while camping. Only problem was other higher players ODing me, but I usually asked them nicely not to and 4 in 5 accepted that I was there first. Droprate is about 1-1½ piece / hour, sometimes 2. Sell parts to players: facemask sells for 10M, sleeves for 10M+, other parts sells for about 5M (I've sold 4 parts for 12M each one time). Might take days/weeks to sell since lots of people are camping it. Full sets sell for 40-45M in forums and quite fast from what I've seen. However, if you want to make creds do not undercut prices! In my opinion it's better sell one item in one week and get 10M then sell five of the same item in one day and only get 2M each (numbers are just examples). There's always people that will undercut your prices.

Blitzing QL200 items for playersale
Where: Rubi-Ka QL200 single missions
How: Use clicksaver to roll QL200 items and then sell in your shop/forums. QL200 boosted-grafts with roots sell well, also any buffing items sell sort of well (put them in a shop and they will slowly sell away). I sell grafts for 4-5M and buffing weapons for 3M. Does take a few days or weeks to sell in shop. [LINK TO BLITZ LIST]

Blitzing QL200 items for shopsale
Where: Rubi-Ka QL200 single missions
How: Use clicksaver to roll Animas and battlesuits, and have a friendly trader sell them for you. Will give you about 500k-700k per item + mission reward. It's hard to give a profit/time estimate because it can vary greatly with what character and playstyle you have.

Collecting monster parts
Where: anywhere you hunt mobs that drops mps
How: Stock up on empty backpacks and while you are killing e.g. hecklers pick up the monster parts they drop (about ql150ish and up converts into ql200 blood plasm with enough pharma tec skill). If you have a char with enough pharma tec use it to convert to Blood Plasm, else ask one of the friendly paladins to convert a few packs for you (don't overload them with work though!). Have a trader sell the packs and cash in ~2M per backpack. Good way since it will get you creds while you are levelling of the hecklers.

Making Perennium weapons and selling
Where: Spirit tech-Apparatus from elysium mortiigs (named ones have best dropchance), perennium sheets and bolts from hecklers everywhere, weapons from RK mission rewards (clicksave)
How: Collect all the parts, hack the rifle (or ask a friendly fixer), and have a tradeskiller put them toghether for you. Sell in shop or on forums, goes relatively fast. You can even skip camping the Spirit Tech-Apparatus for yourself and just buy it off GMS - there are always people selling it for 500k-1M. A weapon sells for 3-5M depending on QL. I price the up to QL100s ~4M and the QL>130 ~5M. You will only be able to make up to ql170ish with the STAs from ely mortiigs, for Superior weapons you need ql160+ which drops elsewhere.

CRU missions
Where: RK team missions
How: Get a full team (for highest chance), roll some missions and blitz away. Team missions may be big, but the level switch is placed in a predictable pattern - it's always at the far corner from the entrance to the level. With some practice you can do this fast. I can make my way through a mission and sometimes need to wait for the 10sec cooldown before changing floors again. Droprate averages at 1 in 3 missions. With my L165 fixer I can do 9x ql165 missions in just under one hour with zero risk of dying. CRUs sell for 1M per 10%. A ql140 mission yields about 20% crus, a ql220 one gives 50-60%.

Ways I can imagine would work but haven't tried - please fill in the where and how on theese if you have tried them or are using them:
Camp various SL dynas
Camp various RK dynas
Spawn and kill various RK unique mobs
Blitzing and/or missioning for QL250 or QL275 clusters/implants/scopes/tower parts
Farm medusas for Soul fragments, high ql ingots/meltable items and Cold Stones
Kill Jack the legchopper's clones over and over - Mophro fill us in on the profits of this!
Farm Tier 1 parts
Farm Tier 2 parts
Farm Tier 3 parts
Farm token-guns
AI raids for lead bots
Farm pb patterns - which ones/where?
Kill pbs for symbiants
All the things I've forgotten or don't even know about!

[docksider]

I can add one thing, token guns. I can't add the location for farming atm since my highest active toon is lvl40ish. But just bring plenty of bags and go killing. Sells for decent ammounts of creds i think. CRU i feel is faster money tho and same for pred camping.

[Mophro]

Jack is a non-profit organisation

[Levantine]

yep token guns are an easy way for money...droprate is descent seeing how you need 2/3 guns that drop anyhow...make a neut char, i usually sell 1 bag for 3m to clan/neut/omni

[Chrisax]

Thanks for starting this nice guide Mortus.

I'll just add a few things just right now:

- Pick up cash making activities where you are NOT in competition with higher levels that can outdamage you. If you see you are outdamaged, or that (for example) all the dyanacamps are killed, then drop and try something else. Missions are of course the best choice in this case, as you can't be outdamaged in this "private" area.

-For froobs accounts and relatively low levels, CRUs is the best way to go: CRUs drop from regular RK team missions bosses so you can get them even without AI and you can blitz them if you can run to the boss. Also their QL has nothing to do with the level of the mission. You can get a 80% CRU in a level 50 mission. (Unfortunately you can get a QL 7 as well... but it will sell too, just not as fast)

-Monster parts are the other best way to go, not for making a fortune but to have an everyday income while you get xp. You can hunt outside and you won't be ODed while killing random mobs. You can also run "monsters" mission (full Chaos setting) sio each kill has a good chance of giving you a monster part. Monsters are tougher than human enemies, but you'll get the monster part, and sometimes better loot (not always, by far).

-If you do missions (not blitz).......... LOOT EVERYTHING! yes I mean EVERYTHING. Every credit counts. A level 170ish SOLO mission on RK gives you around 400k credits if you sell all the loot to a store and if you have a green comp lit skill and you have raised comp lit. If not, you'll still get good money (maybe 350k) and you can ask a trader to sell the loot (don't harass our traders all the time though, or start a little trader yourself and level him to 30ish, it will help unless you have a huge comp lit yourself at 200+)

-Concrete cushions: in the past the roll rate and the demand were good enough to make a decent business out of them, and you just had to have an level 10ish alt for that, as only low reqs cushions are interesting. Did that change? Although there are much more cushions around now, I often hear requests for a pair... and a pair is 200k to 400k, sometimes more.

[Side]

great thread!!!

my only suggestion and the one that i use the most is a technique i like to call "the cheap bastard". when starting this you often have to begin on a small scale until you have 10-20m saved up.

then you play the market and buy low and sell high. im most cases this means holding on to an item for far longer than you woudl want to. but never fear.. eventually someone will come thru with more credits then patience and buy your item.

i also tend to target medium - fast moving items and i keep an eye on global prices as well as niche markets. it involves more of a knowledge of the game and nfity items then a knowledge of the overall market (if you have ai) becuase you can add global search, shopping channels, and the foum.

the real money makers are when you have enough credits to buy an "elite" item that is going for bargain prices. then you turn it over and sell it.

secondary to this is the art of haggling. yes, i am the guy my friends take to car dealerships and music instrument stores because i simply refuse to pay the sticker price and i will attempt to talk the seller down to a better price.

a key point in being the "cheap bastard" is to use a froob account and a toon not in an org.

[elmurfud]

Great Topic...i will only say what gives u cash in RK becouse i'm on fr00b account atm...besides what has been said of course(monster parts/all the loot from miss/cru/dynas)

First of all...if u do miss get everything and sell it,but...also keep all the gems u can find and cut them or make them into rings...have a look here http://www.anarchyarcanum.com/crafting_jewelry.html ....but u'll have to find an engi free and also keep in mind that silver(ql50+(i think ) and ql190+ gold are very usefull for VTE and aruls making...that's why i only cut the gems and sell them...the gold and silver is also kept but i give it to the org for funding operations(I wish I could(and I want to) contribute more but my opions are very limited due to fr00b account )
Also u can camp cenobites(if u can see them...i can couse i have 1.2k perception but i don't really know what the lowest perception skill needed to see them) in CoH for weapons (panters/chiros/blackborns)...u will have the best chance to sell them on shoping channels due to all the fr00bs...this is kinda boring and takes a while becouse the drop rate on the weapons is not 100%
The best way IMO is to hunt dynas to get those nice nanos...the higher the dyna the better..BUT i don't know which are the rare and expensive nanos..PLS SOMEONE POST THEM HERE IF U KNOW
You can also try and learn the spawn time of Kaehler(those sleeves are worth a lot but i don't know how well they sell) and Mick 'Nugget' McMullet (he drops shades of lucrubation...but same as kaehler sleeves dunno how much they are worth(a lot probably) and i don't know how good they sell)


This is all i done so far and trust me it works

P.S. Pls post the rare and expensive dyna nanos(besides GA,NS,Clip Junky)....and about the prices just say "x mil "+ couse that "x" can chance from one week to an othe but can give a clue

[Alphacenta]

Elmur: http://arpa3.net/ao/ is your biggest friend!

Only from keep/shade nanos there is no info...

//Alpha

[elmurfud]

Those prices aren't acurate Alpha..most of them anyways

[Alphacenta]

Those prices aren't acurate Alpha..most of them anyways

Its a guideline... If people complain it's too much you direct em to that site, say something like well ok 500k less then? or 100k? you decide... And usually they think they've got a discount and you sell your nano But usually its just the accurate price!!!

//Alpha

[Xortus]

I think CRU is fast only if you are lucky I have done plenty CRU blitzing but not doing good.. but I have took all possible from bosses and I get like 500k from one back of crap

Only thing that is usefull is to have high lvl char Im still only 178 but In future I will make even more money..

[Hyde]

If you're selling shopfood and you want to make a definite amount more, go to any omni general store and sell to Map terminal.

You can't use any other Omni terms, but you can use the maps.

Comparison:

Complit 757

Item for sale: Anima of Pure Malevolence

Clan or Neut vendor: 199K

Omni Map vendor: 299K

That's 33% more. Not enough to run through Omni-1 if you're selling a single item, but if you're farming credits, it is the difference between 6.7M and 10M.

[Valkyrieval]

Any of you who were at our raid at The One may recall all that crap tech armor that dropped, right? Well, I happened to have a bunch of empty packs, so I picked everything up, knowing that QL290 armor is worth a lot in shops, even if not to players.

Well, with my level 42 trader, that stuff was worth 2M a bag.

Now, I logged there, so when I came back, I tried soloing them, which was possible, but difficult, with Valk at level 200 (and fairly well-equipped except for her armor). A 205+ should have a fairly easy time of it, but below 200 would require a small team or being very uber.

And yes, most of the proceeds were donated to the org.

It may not be the highest $$$ for the time spent, but I like the fact that it's very reliable and simple:

1. Easy pulls, constant spawn

2. 100% average drop rate - for every one that didn't drop a piece, there was at least one more that dropped two (granted, a QL290 body is worth MUCH more than a QL210 sleeve, but it's still very consistent)

3. Don't have to tradeskill it with an alt or another player

4. Don't have to wait to sell it via shopping channel or player shop

5. Don't have to compete with high-levels for the camp

[Hyde]

Any of you who were at our raid at The One may recall all that crap tech armor that dropped, right? Well, I happened to have a bunch of empty packs, so I picked everything up, knowing that QL290 armor is worth a lot in shops, even if not to players.

Well, with my level 42 trader, that stuff was worth 2M a bag.

Now, I logged there, so when I came back, I tried soloing them, which was possible, but difficult, with Valk at level 200 (and fairly well-equipped except for her armor). A 205+ should have a fairly easy time of it, but below 200 would require a small team or being very uber.

And yes, most of the proceeds were donated to the org.

It may not be the highest $$$ for the time spent, but I like the fact that it's very reliable and simple:

1. Easy pulls, constant spawn

2. 100% average drop rate - for every one that didn't drop a piece, there was at least one more that dropped two (granted, a QL290 body is worth MUCH more than a QL210 sleeve, but it's still very consistent)

3. Don't have to tradeskill it with an alt or another player

4. Don't have to wait to sell it via shopping channel or player shop

5. Don't have to compete with high-levels for the camp

Most of the above goes for QL200 missions, too, and you have a chance of getting something rare. You might get more per bag of the junk armor than of mission loot, but unless the spawn isn't just constant but is instant, mission loot is going to be a better source.

[Valkyrieval]

...unless the spawn isn't just constant but is instant, mission loot is going to be a better source.

We had to do some waiting when we had two teams there just obliterating them. I think doing it solo, or even with 2-3 people, they'd spawn as fast as you kill them, i.e., the first one would be re-spawned by the time you kill the fourth one.