Planning on buying 3-5000 Zen after C-Point Conversion. Good long-term buys?

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  victorstella Member Posts: 101 Arc User

  July 2012 edited July 2012

  I'd look into the bundles. I bought the DS9 bundle and am pretty happy with it. Will get the TOS bundle after I get my next stipend of C-points/Zen. What's nice about those two bundles is you can claim them for any characters you create, and they come with weapons that level up when that character does. Another purchase that was worthwhile for me was character slots. I wanted to try out each class and now I'm going through the KDF stuff. I've bought a few ships but some of them aren't really much better than the non-premium ones. I did have a good time with the Advanced Heavy Cruiser and the Long Range Science Vessel Refit though.

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  reginamala78 Member Posts: 4,593 Arc User

  July 2012 edited July 2012

  An extra pair or 4-pack of character slots is good, both as an investment and as a way to mix things up by trying all the different styles. The 100-slot DOFF bulk buy is a much better investment than 25-at-a-time if you intend to do serious doffing (you can fill up 100 slots so quickly without thinking about it). The EC Cap increase is a great buy. Keys, do NOT flush them on regular lockboxes. Using them on gold boxes 'might' be worth it (and even then its mostly junk), but on regular boxes you may as well go outside and set your money on fire, so at least you get some warmth out of the deal.
  
  For extra bank space, a much better investment is to wait until all your characters are max level, then hit Amazon.com for the Collectors Edition. Just a few bucks ($12 when I got it) and it will double the bank and boff space for all your characters, and unlock a borg bridge officer and red matter capacitor besides. MUCH more cost-effective than buying extra bank slots 12 at a time per character. Or activate it as you're leveling the characters and get a free respec token every 10 levels, but you won't get the maximum bank space unless you hit the level cap before your subscription runs out.

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  omgajjerot Member Posts: 0 Arc User

  July 2012 edited July 2012

  -Stay away from lockboxes, especially the ferengi!
  
  I've gotten every 'lockbox' ship except the D'kora (Bug/Galor/Tuffli) from opening them myself, The ferengi lockbox has THE WORST Side-rewards ever, its a zen hole you will just throw money down and be disappointed by.
  
  -If you buy a ship, make sure its one you will want to use (Generally, Tactical>Escort // Engineer>Cruiser // Science>Science) and only buy a T5 ship(Max level).
  
  
  -Duty officer Packs/Slots (If you like them, they will also help you level faster and get stuff at endgame)
  
  
  -Inventory Space/EC Credit cap will help a lot at max level as well, Ship slots depends if you want to collect ships or if you don't like deleting older ships that you don't use anymore.
  
  
  Of coarse, I would probably suggest waiting until your max level and understand everything a little better. So you can make a more educated purchase and get the most out of your money.

  [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

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  mikewendell Member Posts: 0 Arc User

  July 2012 edited July 2012

  victorstillwater wrote: »

  I'm currently a Level 10 (two ranks above enisgn) Federation Tactical Officer, and I wanted to support Cryptic and PWI by purchasing zen once the conversion of C-points to Zen concludes.

  
  To me this screams first or second day player. Especially considering how quickly you level up in this game.
  
  While I applaud you for your commitment in supporting the game, may I suggest waiting a week just to see if you still like the game? I know with me I don;t have a whole lot of cash and that would be a big chunk of my food budget for the month.
  
  I will mention two things that you may want to look at.
  
  - The EC cap. 10m comes very quickly. That should be your first upgrade. if you don;t, any money above that just gets trashed and is wasted.
  
  - I would pick bank slots over inventory slots. Bank slots are cheaper. Also many items you can still access if they're in your bank instead of being forced to keep them in your inventory. The crafting data samples, particle traces, the STf currencies, and commodities like provisions can all go into your bank and you still have access to them.
  
  Hope this helps

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  ryanev Member Posts: 0 Arc User

  July 2012 edited July 2012

  I would suggest waiting at least a month after getting to level 50 before buying anything.
  
  That way you would have a better view on the game, the items in it and pretty much how the game works.
  
  Personally the worst thing you can use your money for is the Lockbox keys. Imagine them as a money drain. If you need the ships so badly, you're better off buying them from the exchange with Credits.
  
  
  In my personal experience the best purchases so far are the EC Cap increase, +100 Doff Slots (I do doffs a lot and I find 200 to be satisfactory) and the extra character slots.
  
  Best ship purchases so far are: (Note: some may argue, but this is strictly my oppinion)
  Escort: T5 Akira Escort, T5 Defiant Escort
  Cruiser: Excelsior, maybe the Oddysey bundle
  Science: Nebula
  Small Craft: Delta Flyer
  But i suggest to wait at least until you have flown your standard T5 ship you get for free before you buy any other ship.
  
  So in conclusion. Don't rush with any purchases, see how you develop, reach max level, play around with it and see what you need and THEN purchase. Trust me, it's the wiser descision.

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  mikewendell Member Posts: 0 Arc User

  July 2012 edited July 2012

  To add to ryanev's post, we appear to be getting upgrades on the tier 5 ships so you may want to hold off on that as well until they get released and folks can try them out.

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  victorstillwater Member Posts: 33 Arc User

  July 2012 edited July 2012

  Hey folks.
  
  Thanks for the advice.
  
  As a game hopper, I have a tendency to want to support games I play, even if its just a short while. I might purchase a ten-dollar equivalent of zen but will not use it until I need to.
  
  Thanks again folks.

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  clannmac Member Posts: 279 Arc User

  July 2012 edited July 2012

  I agree with most of these suggestions, though I will say that, personally, I never had much use for the EC cap increase: save your points. You might get to the 10 mil level, but it won't happen rapidly enough for you to worry about increases. Besides, things you really want to have in the game and are available through the Exchange will sap a good deal of those credits.
  
  If you are going to spend "investment money" on 'C'/'Z'-store points, definitely invest in both Doffs and Doff slots. You will notice that A LOT of your skill points, most craft items, and rarer commodities come from Doff assignments. The better quality your officers, the better the chances of success for each mission, and the better the loot most times. And, the more Doffs you possess, the more assignments you can complete.
  
  STAY AWAY from lock boxes, these guys are right: they really are money pits. Not to say you can't get some cool stuff, but considering each key costs ~a Dollar, a Euro thirty-five, or a Pound-1/2, it can be an expensive gamble to end up with an item you can't use or don't really want. Thing is, having said that, folks in this game are hot for lock boxes, so if you have keys, put them up for sale in the Exchange for ~1 million EC each, and watch the credits roll in...
  
  I agree that you want to get a feel for what you need based on your style of play rather than stockpiling expensive ships and equipment that you don't end up using in the long run. An example from a military veteran's standpoint: your 'FNGs' always want to carry their pack, their shine kit, canteen, two sidearms, a knife, five grenades, and their primary weapon; seasoned vets know all they need is their weapon, their water, a good med kit, and a bit of luck...if that analogy makes any sense to you.
  
  You may also want to wait until after the release of Season 6 to evaluate things: while there will not be too much added to (or taken from) the 'Z'-store as far as items go, there will be a focus on gaining certain items or point sets that may be more easily gained with certain equipment.
  
  Of course, you have to be a member of a Fleet for any of that to matter, but it is a consideration if you are or plan to become a member of one.
  
  My two cents,' for all they're worth.

  
  
  Fleet Commander
  Caprica's Revenge
  (...actually active since November 2010, which may one day be important to archaeologists, but not to anyone else...)

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  victorstillwater Member Posts: 33 Arc User

  July 2012 edited July 2012

  Thank you for the input. It's most appreciated.

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  darkjeff Member Posts: 2,590 Arc User

  July 2012 edited July 2012

  ryanev wrote: »

  In my personal experience the best purchases so far are the EC Cap increase, +100 Doff Slots (I do doffs a lot and I find 200 to be satisfactory) and the extra character slots.

  
  I send DOffs off on assignments whenever possible, and 200 works out. If I was stuck with 100, I think I'd run out of room for DOffs that are necessary for assignments, and spares to upgrade with the 5-to-1 assignments.
  

  mikewendell wrote: »

  To add to ryanev's post, we appear to be getting upgrades on the tier 5 ships so you may want to hold off on that as well until they get released and folks can try them out.

  
  I noticed that the Odyssey is available at Fleet shipyards, but it's the basic one - not any of the three that can be purchased. I see that it's short one console slot, dunno about the stats.

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