What to buy from the store?

[Lily Barclay]

I just went gold this month and I was wondering if there is anything I should really be saving my zen for, or can I just blow it on hideouts and costume slots or a vehicle? I don't do chests, so I won't be spending it on keys. I just want to make sure I didn't miss seeing something in the store that is a must have because I'm still a noob.

[Tenzhi]

I can't think of anything from the store that's a *must* have.  In my opinion, the most important thing to have is the Freeform AT, and in that regard if you're Gold you're golden.

[Kaiser Tarantula]

Must-buys?

Well, If you're already a gold player, much of the important stuff is already unlocked for you.  All ATs, several of the largest and most versatile costume sets, all your characters are freeform, and you get a choice of basic hideouts for your character.

I guess the next most important thing would either be buying a vehicle outright, or enough Vehicle lockbox keys to get a vehicle, either through getting lucky at the box, or turning in Drifter Salvage.

Next on the list would likely be things like bank slots and other permanent account services.  Keep in mind, that so long as you remain a Gold player, you get a new character slot every time an existing character hits 40, which ain't particularly hard to pull off.

Finally, prioritize any costumes or permanent devices that fit your character concept.

[Tenzhi]

Out of curiosity: what makes the vehicles such a priority? 

(Man, I hate those lockboxes.  They drop with excessive frequency and 100 points per single use key is ridiculous. ::discards several stacks:: )

[General Idiot]

They're not, really. Vehicles are only really useful in the one SHIELDUNTIL skycarrier mission, and to be honest a good freeform build with the hover disc you get in said mission for free with outperform any vehicle anyway with the possible exception of the two 8-slot tanks if you put really high rank mods in them. (Read: stupidly expensive mods, moreso than the vehicle itself)

I have the Nightwing Razor jet from the Drifter store on one character and to be honest I only ever use it for the speed boost. (All vehicles get a speed boost power on the shift button instead of a block, the one on the jets is REALLY fast)


Personally, I save my Zen and just buy costume packs or travel powers when I need one or the other to fit a concept.

[Lily Barclay]

Yeah I throw out lock boxes, too. I don't want to encourage that kind of monetization by buying keys. I'd thought of a vehicle, but it didn't seem terribly necessary in a game with travel powers. I probably will blow some zen on another hideout or some account wide costume slots, then. The one I wanted wasn't one of the free ones. I'll be able to get a vehicle in a few months, I don't care if I get the cheap one, and right now I have altitis like whoa, trying to remake all my CoH toons.

[dwturducken]

Am I the only one who would be more interested in a vehicle if cars were an option?

[Lily Barclay]

Am I the only one who would be more interested in a vehicle if cars were an option?

Nope. That's what I went looking for when I looked at that section of the store.

[Thunder Glove]

I thought the hoverbike looked interesting, so naturally that's the one that they didn't release (and haven't even mentioned).

I'm saving my points for... something.  I don't know what yet.  (In CoH, I was saving my PP for Sorcery and the other Specialized Power Pools, but there's no new powersets on the horizon here to save up for)

[Kaiser Tarantula]

with the possible exception of the two 8-slot tanks if you put really high rank mods in them. (Read: stupidly expensive mods, moreso than the vehicle itself

To be fair, those 8-slot tanks are the ones I was mainly referring to.  Your average vehicle is pretty meh.  Those tanks though kick unforgiving amounts of rear end.

Although you can't use vehicles indoors, simply having a fully-armed 4-gun vehicle makes you the king of all outdoor fights.  Vehicles tend to top the charts against outdoor Legendary/Cosmic enemies, like the Mega-Destroid, Clarence, and the like, and they also tend to beat the pants off outdoor zone events too, unless the event requires you to interact with an object.

Be aware of two things: 1). Don't buy vehicles from other players.  Usually they strip the guns out, leaving the vehicle useless except as a means of transport.  2). Practice good vehicle etiquette.  A well-equipped vehicle is worth about 2-3 ordinary players in terms of tanking ability about 1.5 players in terms of offensive power.  Don't abuse this to killsteal field mobs from those who don't have vehicles.  Many people are already becoming resentful of vehicle owners because of behavior like this.  In addition, keep vehicles out of open-field PvP, unless both you and your opponent agree to a vehicle match.

[General Idiot]

Something else to note: A lot of the stuff you can buy from the store is tradeable. Become devices, vehicles, grab bags, lockbox keys can all be found on the auction house for ingame resources, you don't need to spend zen on them at all if you're patient.

And yeah, I wanted a hoverbike too.

[Hyperstrike]

I just went gold this month and I was wondering if there is anything I should really be saving my zen for, or can I just blow it on hideouts and costume slots or a vehicle? I don't do chests, so I won't be spending it on keys. I just want to make sure I didn't miss seeing something in the store that is a must have because I'm still a noob.

For some of the boss lairs, if you're going to solo, buy yourself some Healing Device 10-packs.  (Under Items).

After that, QOL things like Bank slots, SG Storage/Bank slots, costume slots, etc.

Also, if you're nearing 40, maybe take a look at the Questionite Exchange and see about picking up some of the purple Questionite gear.

I guess the next most important thing would either be buying a vehicle outright, or enough Vehicle lockbox keys to get a vehicle, either through getting lucky at the box, or turning in Drifter Salvage.

I'm just going to disagree the **** out of this one.  While YES, vehicles are RIDICULOUSLY OP, they're naught but a money sink.  A buck a key and no free way to open them?  And having them drop as 50% of our total salvage?

Fuck that noise.

[Kaiser Tarantula]

I'm just going to disagree the **** out of this one.  While YES, vehicles are RIDICULOUSLY OP, they're naught but a money sink.  A buck a key and no free way to open them?  And having them drop as 50% of our total salvage?

Let me clarify a few things.

1). Lockboxes are, from everyone I've spoken to, handed out in addition to normal loot, not instead of normal loot.  This is a good thing, though it honestly makes me question CO's loot drop system, and why their execs thought it would be a good idea to make lockboxes the single most common item in the game.

I will admit they are obnoxiously common to the point of obscenity, and Perfect World honestly needs to take a clue from Nexon and Dungeon Fighter Online; lockboxes requiring cash shop keys are about as rare as most other purple-rarity items, and there is a form of 'lockbox' that can in theory produce almost any piece of gear in the game that anyone can open with a right-click.

2).  Let me bold the relevant part of the quote you used:

I guess the next most important thing would either be buying a vehicle outright, or enough Vehicle lockbox keys to get a vehicle, either through getting lucky at the box, or turning in Drifter Salvage.

There is a reason I mention this first and foremost.  The hovertank arsenal lockboxes are a crapshoot and honestly not worth it unless you have God's own luck.  Neither is Drifter Salvage, really, since the only way you can get it is from the lockboxes.  If you want a vehicle, it'll generally be cheaper to fork over 1,800 or so ZEN to buy one straight-out, than to buy 1,800 ZEN worth of keys and hope you get lucky.

[General Idiot]

You know, if there were two variants of each box - one that doesn't take a key but doesn't have the really good stuff in it AND has lower chances for the sort of good stuff, and another that has better chances and loot but takes a key - then I'd like the system much more.

Though, I've got one drifter salvage vehicle, almost got another, and got two manta tanks without spending any zen whatsoever on keys. They're tradeable so you can buy them on the auction house, as I think I've already said. They're about 100-150g lately, so even silver players can get them.

[Kaiser Tarantula]

Though, I've got one drifter salvage vehicle, almost got another, and got two manta tanks without spending any zen whatsoever on keys. They're tradeable so you can buy them on the auction house, as I think I've already said. They're about 100-150g lately, so even silver players can get them.

Still, someone had to spend that ZEN on keys.  Further, the OP's question is what to buy from the store, so I was weighing buying a vehicle straight from the store, versus buying keys from the store and hoping for a lucky box with a vehicle in it.

[dwturducken]

Just to throw my 2 Zen/Inf/cp in...

Half the lock boxes that I've received have been the only drop from a mob.

[Hyperstrike]

Let me clarify a few things.

1). Lockboxes are, from everyone I've spoken to, handed out in addition to normal loot, not instead of normal loot.  This is a good thing, though it honestly makes me question CO's loot drop system, and why their execs thought it would be a good idea to make lockboxes the single most common item in the game.

This is why I said total.  Our overall drops would be much lower without them.  Still, it is SEVERELY annoying that there's no way to simply IGNORE these drops if one wishes not to participate.  You can ignore certain qualities of regular drops.  But not the vehicle crap.

I will admit they are obnoxiously common to the point of obscenity, and Perfect World honestly needs to take a clue from Nexon and Dungeon Fighter Online; lockboxes requiring cash shop keys are about as rare as most other purple-rarity items, and there is a form of 'lockbox' that can in theory produce almost any piece of gear in the game that anyone can open with a right-click.

Now, to be PERFECTLY fair, if you want to play in the Questionite exchange (something that's NOT really open to newbies unless they get really lucky during a Questionite hour (like the last mission of Resistance where you're in the Mega Destroids nuking the crap out of stuff with little to no danger), you can convert Q to Zen.  So spending money isn't *mandatory*.   But for a lot of people, if you want to open them, you pay money.

[General Idiot]

You know, suddenly I'm tempted to park an alt in the last part of Resistance just to hop in and mow down a million guys with a giant robot whenever it's questionite hour. So long as you don't kill the boss dudes at the end of that section you should be good, right?

[Kaiser Tarantula]

Meh.  Stomping around in the Mega-D in Resistance might work, but I'm not sure if enemies beaten in the Mega-Ds even give rewards.  As an alternative,  find a fairly unpopulated instance of the Southwest Desert, go to the Atomic Wasteland, and hang out near the ginormous nuke in the center of it.  Eventually, a bunch of irradiates will start worshipping the bomb, and they will keep respawning infinitely and rapidly until the nuke eventually blows.

If it's questionite hour, start AoEing like a madman.  If you got maintained AoEs (snowstorm, rain of fire, avalanche, etc.) you can kill two or three dozen irradiates with each attack, if you place it well.  In addition to all the questionite and resources, you'll also scoop up lots of lockboxes, PRIMUS recognition, and Irradiate costume parts.

[Hyperstrike]

I can state, unequivocally, that all the faceless mooks getting mowed down by the Mega-Ds DO in fact, pop Questionite for you.

I was getting lag from the near constant messages "You received 5 Questionite!"