Hey everyone,
I am an assassin lvl21, and I have been facing a couple of issues in levelling I would like to have advice on.
Well shure ask away!
Basically, I'm not building up cash fast enough to keep the pace with my levelling. In other words, if I keep this pace, I will not be able to buy grade-D equipment by the time I reach the ability to use grade-C.
Common enough problem, mainly because the money drops in game are designed so that they alone are not enough to gear you up much less allow you to spam consumables.
One of the issues is that I spend so much cash on soulshots to be able to level at a decent speed that I am not break-even anymore when I grind for an hour (i.e. the cash I use in my soulshots for an hour is superior to the cash I get from mobs and resales in the same time).
Shots in all forms are the number 1 money sink in this game. I believe the original intent was to "encourage" people to group together and level without them, and use them only for emergencies or pvp/raids. What has happened however, is once the oldest playerbase bought all their gear and reached top levels, they started using shots nonstop because they can now afford to do so. As well nukers can spam shots and still make a fair amount of cash. Moreso even at higher levels.
This shot use has pretty much become the 'status quo' in part due to the rampant ebayers/botters/cheaters and NC's slow response times to ban them. (Getting much better, but still needs work.)
It doesn't help any either, that the game stats/equip are setup in such a way that melee get the short end of the leveling stick versus the stats of the mobs. Even with top equipment for your grade, mobs start to 'outlevel and outgear' you around level 30. Some hefty stacked buffs can help, but by the time you hit the 60's it is more a matter of just keeping your head above water is what it feels like. Shot spam just happens to be the easiest way to 'even the bar' with mobs so to speak.
I really don't know what to do to make this work.
1- Is it abnormal to be using soulshots ALL the time?
Only at this point in the games life. And only then because it has become such an accepted practice such that people have trouble remembering (if they played back then) when NOT spamming shots was the norm! Shot spam is such an accepted standard, that in a party people will [censored] and complain that you are A)Stealing money from them by not spamming as well or B)Slowing down *their* XP rate, if you do not spam shots exactly like they are. Sad, but true.
I still level my manor/farming chars mostly without, but they are mostly in the 20-30 range or still under 50. I use the money they bring in to fund a certain amount of shots, that I use on the main when I am not soloing.
2- Are there other ways to extract cash from mobs (I've tried seeds, but it doesn't make me break-even)?
The manor is still a good way to make money once you understand the system and know when is a good time to buy and sell. Because it is such a good way however, it can be hard to get into these days. Both due to competition from other seed users, but as well from the manor lords themselves. In fact, one of the manor lords on my server admitted they setup certain seeds prices and buybacks not in response to players use but to that of botters *abuse*!
You can still make money under these conditions, but it takes more work at picking and turning in the good crops, or knowing when a lesser seed can turn a profit as well. I've even made some decent money with stems this way, although it takes a bit more time selling those.
3- Even if I was able to break-even while grinding my lvl up, how do I gather cash to buy equipment? Should I really on drops (they seem very rare)?
DON'T rely on drops. They are so low it's an exercise in futility. Best thing you can do outside the manor is grind the available quests HARD and know which ones are worth doing and which are not. One of the easiest things to do is just hand down your NG/D gear to an alt, then level it up spamming the free shots and newbie buffs. Hand the cash it makes over to your main, the gear to a new alt, then delete the old and redo the process. (You could delevel, but dying off those kinds of levels can take lots of time.) If you do the quests at the same time you can build up a good amount of cash for D grade and eventually C grade. With some starter gear in D/C grade you will then be setup to expand your money making operations even farther, giving you options at higher levels or more/easier options in the lower ones. Combine this with a good clan to farm rep points and the effort required isn't all that much, and still lets you hunt on your main more than you grind the alts.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Also, I'm still looking for a clan... I'm a mature, casual, hassle-free player and won't be a nuisance to anyone!
Thanks in advance,
Moment - Assassin 21 - Hindermith
Sound like you have a good start already, Good Luck!