Star Wars: The Old Republic has a lot of things going for it, but there is one complaint I’ve heard from quite a few people; “The economy is in need of some work.” I’ve constantly seen and heard players saying things like “You’re going to want to not buy anything for a few levels if you want to get that” or “New abilities are way over priced in later levels”. With The Old Republic being so new it still constantly having things patched and changed to try and meet the demands of the players so maybe we will see some changes to the credit system over time, but for now I have a few tips on how to make your credits grow.
First off, one of the most important things you can do is always sell those gray items you loot off of NPCs. It’s a really simple tip that many players already know, yet it can make a big difference in the end. Here’s a secondary tip to make this chore a little easier. If you’re currently avoiding looting gray items off of NPCs, then you should really consider going to “Preferences” and turning on “Auto Loot” even though you think they may be a waste of space in your bag. You will be surprised at how much money you can get from some of these grey items for such a small slice of your time and bagspace. Finding yourself with a bug full of grey items? Don’t forget that you can send your current companion away to sell all of your grey items. This is something you should constantly be doing, especially when your questing. It’s quick, easy and it helps clear up bag space and generate a steady stream of credits in the process.
Hit the jump for additional tips and tricks.
Don’t feel like going out and doing missions to earn some credits? You can always do some space combat missions or test your skills in PvP to earn some extra credits on the side (even earn some easy experience too!). If you haven’t tried space combat in The Old Republic yet, you should. Space combat is an easy way gain substantial credits and experience with little time invested. The money gains are not as optimal as missions, but it’s a great fix if you’re a time slicer.
Like a mount, buying ship upgrades is worth the investment. Get the easy upgrades through your space commendations you earn through space combat missions as quickly as possible. Warzones are another source of credits and experience. Like space combat, Warzones will not earn you as much credits as you would from doing missions, but it’s still something you can do if you’re feeling the urge to jump into some player vs. player action to break up the monotony.
Crafting, or as it’s known in The Old Republic as “Crew Skills”, is more about spending less credits and using your resources to their peak. Other than your gathering skill, crew skills require spending credits to get materials you need to improve your crafting skill. You’re not effectively gaining money, but paying attention to the numbers can allow you to save monstrous amounts of credits as you skill up. Try and make crafts that require the least amount of materials, or least expensive overall, to make leveling up your crafting skill cheap. After you’ve created these items you can “reverse engineer” many of these crafted items to get back some of the materials you used to make it to help make more of the same item. In the end, you can be more material efficient and not have to keep sending your crew to get more materials. Saving time, thus money.
Another money saver: commendations. Every planet you quest on has commendation tokens you can receive through questing. You can use commendations to buy equipment – usually different on every planet – or you can use your tokens to buy modifications for your armor. Buying equipment can range from getting blue items, which have a set stats that can’t be changed through modifications, or you can get armor that can be improved through modifications. Sometimes you can buy armor just to rip the mods out and use them on the current armor you’re wearing. Saving money on buying mod improvements on your armor and weapons. If you don’t feel like changing the style of your armor, you can always use commendations to buy modifications that will help improve the current state of your armor or weapons. Again, you gain commendations through normal activities. You’re not sinking additional time, just be sure to use them to reap the rewards and save the coin in your pocket.
Last, and certainly not least, there is the Galactic Market, which is the equivalent to many other MMOG’s auction houses. I’m not to certain on how other servers are doing on the state of their Galactic Market, but my server’s market is still trying to get off the ground. Using it depends all upon what you’re trying to sell. First off, greens should be sold to vendors due to market saturation. When so many people are just buying modifications at cheaper prices or using commendations to get them, greens usually don’t last that long and don’t pay well. On the topic of modifications, I would strongly suggest selling any modifications you are not going to use because it’s likely somebody else will really want it to improve their weapons/armor. Especially if the mod is a perfect combination.
Crafting supplies are also a hot selling item currently since many people need some specific materials for more intricate designs. This area is a huge money maker. An effective strategy is just to be a commodity trade; purchasing the sought after materials at low prices and selling them for a higher amount moments later. If you do have crafting designs that you can’t use, sell those on the market too. If you come across any gear that uses modification you should also sell it on the market. Items of this nature can constantly be improved through modifications, so many people just buy it because they like the way it looks or just want to change their style up a bit.
Pricing is a bit more difficult, to figure out and even relate. The economy is changing so fast and is so different on many servers that the suggestions could become useless in a moment’s notice. Rule of thumb: the easiest strategy is try and see if someone is selling the same item that you are, then try and sell it for a little less. However, if you are selling something that isn’t currently being sold on the market then, you should look for similar items and see what some other people are selling it for to get an idea. Remember, if there’s no supply and it’s a solid item, then you can likely get a high price.
That’s all we have for the early going in the game. Those tips and general frugality should help you save up your credits to be able to afford getting new abilities, speeder pilot training, or even to get that mouse droid you have been dying to get. If any of you have any tips or suggestions on how to help your credit go further, feel free to comment.
May the Force be with you.