Assuming you have 4 hours a day to play, this should be relatively easy. It would be comically easy if these are all KDF and you have a decent set of doffs on your alts.
The difficult part is drudging through the monotony of it.
-the Guramba, financed through Dilithium and leftover stipends; bought it during a sale
-the Vandal Destroyer, Dilithium only
-one Bortasqu', Dilithium only, bought during a sale
-one Vesta, Dilithium grinding and ZEN through surveys
- a number of Master Keys, financed by both EC and Dilithium
- which in turn so far got me: A Tholian Doff and two special consoles plus a healthy amoubnt of Lobi crystals which I may at some point turn in for a Krenn Temporal Destroyer.
So, yeah. Even as a Silver, you can get pretty much everything you want simply by playing the game and being patient.
Ok, day 4, 5, and 6 complete. I'm sitting at just over 1200 zen now. I'm still doing the Deferi dailies, the Eta Eridani dailies, the academy history assignments, turning in contraband, and STFs. I have found that those missions are usually the fastest for getting a good amount of dilithium. Turning in contraband helps me get a head start on the next day sometimes, so I like doing those too. I'm home for the holidays, so sometimes I only get to log on for just enough time to do the winter race. I'll continue to post updates on my progress here.
Day 7 and 8 complete. My total is now 1524 zen. I focused on STFs these last two days. I got some good mk12 purple gear that I sold on the exchange for a nice price, took the EC I made and bought some master keys from the exchange. I didn't get any lock box ships, but that's ok. Since I'm home for the holidays, I can't exactly devote a large amount of time to this project, but this is still a pretty good haul all things considering. Oh, and the dilithium exchange rate was at 99 per zen tonight. I'm edging closer to the halfway point, and I'm beginning to see a light at the end of the tunnel. Hopefully it's not a train.
buying lockboxes is NOT "sticking it to the man" bro ;P
could have bought contraband with that EC and turned it into dilithium into zen, just saying.
Good point, but sometimes I just can't help myself. I'm gettting better though. Maybe I'll save up that EC and buy a lockbox ship from the exchange instead.
My total at the end of day 9 is 1743 zen. The exchange rate has gone down to 98 dilithium per zen now. I'm not going to come right out and say that I hope it goes even further, but as someone who is free to play and doesn't spend money on zen, I'm not going to complain if it does go lower.
Still sticking mainly to the STFs and doing Eta Eradani dailies. I did the investigate officer reports daily tonight. The Battleship Royale is a pretty decent mission for this IMO.
Zerobang - I also took your advice. I spend a ton of EC on contraband on the exchange, but that's going to turn into a heafty sum of dilithium when I finish turning it all in.
I've been getting lucky on my other characters with the STFs, but my tac tonight just could not keep from drawing aggro. It's almost as if the game is aware of what I'm doing and it is trying to make it harder for me. Anyway, still did pretty good tonight.
Day 10 complete. Final total is 1926 zen. The exchange is holding steady at 98 to 1 tonight. I'm not going to encourage it to go lower, but I will take advantage of it if it does.
Day 11 complete. The exchange rate dropped again to 97 to 1. I took it easy today. My final total is sitting at 2009 zen. The next two or three days I won't get to do a whole lot, because I will be traveling back to Texas. After that, I'll put some more effort towards completing this task.
Exactly, you can buy from the store without paying real money.
Whatever the exchange rates, it is always possible now. It was not before, so there is nothing to complain about. Previously we had to put money into the game to buy store items, there was no alternative or a reward for the missions we were already doing that could be exchanged into credits (now zen).
Even doff assignments give some dil.
I have dil building up on all my characters but I never ever grind, TRIBBLE grinding. If someone grinds, it is their choice. I feel a lot of pity for people who complain about grinding to get items they could easily decide not to get then avoid the grind! Such conflicting desires and emotions must run through these people. Beware!
When I used a $25 gift card from Christmas 2011 before it expired at the end of November, I put it in my steam wallet and got $25 worth of zen during the Zen sale in November.
I had barely enough to buy two ship slots and the Galaxy X and Sao Paulo escort (im a tactical and never gave escorts a try other than the NX and the Akira). To make up the difference I used my dilithium stock pile and got the difference in Zen from my Dilithium. Cost me something like 13,000 dilithium.
Just recently I respec'ed my character for 500 zen by trading 49,000 Dilithium for 500 Zen off the exchange at a exchange rate of 99 to 1.
I am grinding dilithium and almost back to where I was again and I will be using this to get more Zen. While I gladly will put money into the game I am at a time of the year that so much is going on that I cant afford to do that at the moment. So at this time I will be using dilithium to outfit my ships with fleet gear, get Zen so I can buy two more ship slots and if the Ambassador class ship comes out as I have been hearing in unconfirmed rumors during the 3 year anniversary I will spend dilithium and EC on out fitting that ship.
I have to say since my fleet mates showed me how I could have fun and grind dilithium easily I am having fun doing it, mainly because I am not forced to sit there and grind the same stf`s over and over again.
Day 12. I didn't do a whole lot today except for the winter races, but I did trade the dilithium from turning in contraband and duty officer missions to get some zen. My main reason for the update is to post the latest dilithium exchange rates. I'm not sure what happened, but the dilithium rate has dropped from a rate of 97 to 93 to 1. I was surprised to see such a significant jump in a short amount of time. I'm leaving to go back home tomorrow, so I won't get a whole lot of time to do anything. I will have my Breen ship by this time tomorrow with my Klingon, and it won't take too much longer to it with my two Fed characters. I also got the Steam Starter pack as a gift. I'm looking forward to putting both the Breen ship, and the Steamrunner through their paces soon.
Day 13: Zen total is 2118. I'm close to the halfway point. I'm currently in transit back to Texas from Tennessee. I'm staying at a hotel tonight, and since it has free wi-fi, I figured why the hell not? I really didn't do much at all as far as this project is concerned, but it was a really good night. I added a little over 60 zen to my stock pile, I was able to show General Korloth some love by hooking him up with a Breen cruiser, and I was able to recruit a new member to my Fed fleet, "The Renegades of Funk" (Rage Against the Machine was on the radio when I came up with the name). The exchange dropped again to 92 to 1 tonight. If this keeps up, this is going to be a lot easier than I thought it was going to be. I should be back at home tomorrow evening, so I can get back to work on this and make some real progress.
on a personal note:
i just finished fitting out all my 10 Characters with maximum possible Bank Slots.
I already did DOff and Inventory slots way back, got em all maxed.
So now, all my 10 Chars have all per char Slots possible + a healthy bunch of Costume Slots.
i'm done with Bridges (got em all)
i'm done with C-Store Clothing Options (got em all)
i'm done with Ships, in theory i could spend another 17500 Zen on Ships, but none of them are of any value to my Characters (2 tier 3 ships with no new Skins / no new Console powers (same as Tier 5 version), the Refit Ships i don't need because i got the Vet Token ;P ... i guess i could if i wanted a fleet version of it on 2 chars... to get the discount? probably never going to happen).
...
i only could use some of the 700 Zen Spacesuits but just bought a few with EC, so not really interested at the moment and i don't do Nukara anyway (really just because i like the visual...).
Fleet Ship Modules, LockBox Keys and DOff Packs are pretty much the only option left for me now to get rid of my earned Zen at all.
and FYI: i did not spend any $ on STO since the Winter Event 2011
...well and i bought the Steamrunner on Steam, but that one doesn't count since you can't get it with Zen.
I'd say i've pretty much beaten the C-Store.
1 Year work but i got it ALL now.
The market crash is proving to be a good opportunity to change dilith to credits and buy very rare Mk XII stuff.
An average lock box provides about 90K in credits probably more if you averaged in items like temporal duty officers that are worth 1mil. So for roughly 30K dilith, or a little more than what is in the dilith store for an XI item, you can get yourself a nice very rare dual phaser canon for example. Plus you get the actual weapon type you want vs. the rep system. Here's hoping the market goes into the 60s or 70s.
Day 14 and 15: Total zen comes to 2811. The exchange is down to 87 to 1. To answer a previous question, I spend about 4 hours maxing out my dilithium for all three of my toons. I'm over halfway there.
Day 16. End total is 3000 zen. The Dil exchange is holding steady at a rate of 88 to 1. I think it's stabilized for now. If any more dilithium sink projects come down the pipe, it may crash again. Work and family is taking up more time than usual, so I'm only able to get online once or twice a week, but with the dilithium rate so low I don't think it will add too much more time to this project.
Day 17. End total for today is 3189 zen. The market has been fluctuating between 88 and 87 to 1. I focused primarily on STFs tonight, and then I made a lot of money selling a bunch of Andorian sleigh bells on the exchange. I used the EC to purchase contraband, which I am turning in for dilithium. I should make hitting the cap for one of my characters a little easier.
Day 18 and 19. My final zen total comes to 3608. The dilithium exchange is starting to take a nose dive again. It was holding steady at around 87 to 89, but tonight the rate was down to 84 or 85 to 1. This is good for me, but I can see how this would give other players cause for concern because it is going to make it a lot more expensive to get dilithium from the exchange by buying zen.
You'll make it without a problem lol. In two days I ground out enough zen for 2 ships just for the consoles on them, a total of 2500zen. And sure while someone may be buying the zen that we are buying with dil, they aren't getting any real money from me. So if/when you see me in chat saying "drop baby drop!" i'm refering to the exchange because daddy needs a new ship lol. Now move out, draw fire, get your free zen
Day 20. Final total for today is 3850 zen. The dilithium exchange has dropped to 85 to 1. Once I was actually able to get a rate of 84 to 1, but that isn't the case right now. It's looking like the exchange is going to drop again. Right now this would be a great time to cash in your dilithium and hoard your zen. The exchange is going to turn around eventually, and when it does, some people stand to make a LOT of dilithium this way. My birthday is on Thursday, so I may not get on but one other time this week. I'm turning 30, and I have to finish out the 30 mile run. I've already ran 24 miles, so I only have 6 more miles to go. I think I can finish this project by the anniversary event or shortly afterwards.
You might want to check out the surveys linked in the bar above the forums. I've made thousands of ZEN over the last couple months doing those, and filling a few offers in with an alternate email I don't use very often. Obviously you want to avoid the ones that require credit card info, but as long as you're cautious you can get lots of ZEN without being spammed or scammed. Plus some of the surveys are actually interesting.
Just wanted to post a quick update. I'm not done for today, but I thought this was important enough to put on here before I go to work. I just maxed out one of my toons and when I went in to trade my dilithium, I found that the exchange has rebounded significantly. I'm sitting at 3935 zen. I traded at a rate of 94 to 1. This is a significant jump from yesterday's 84. I'm guessing it has something to do with the recent announcement of the Dominion lockbox. Players must be stocking up on master keys so they can get the new shineys. If this is any indication, I imagine that the exchange may become very profitable for anyone looking to trade zen for dilithium. I'll finish up with today's total tonight after I get home from work.
Comments
The difficult part is drudging through the monotony of it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzwFIED8_Yo&hd=1
'nuf said
-the Guramba, financed through Dilithium and leftover stipends; bought it during a sale
-the Vandal Destroyer, Dilithium only
-one Bortasqu', Dilithium only, bought during a sale
-one Vesta, Dilithium grinding and ZEN through surveys
- a number of Master Keys, financed by both EC and Dilithium
- which in turn so far got me: A Tholian Doff and two special consoles plus a healthy amoubnt of Lobi crystals which I may at some point turn in for a Krenn Temporal Destroyer.
So, yeah. Even as a Silver, you can get pretty much everything you want simply by playing the game and being patient.
Rest in Peace Brothers
Rest in Peace Brothers
could have bought contraband with that EC and turned it into dilithium into zen, just saying.
Good point, but sometimes I just can't help myself. I'm gettting better though. Maybe I'll save up that EC and buy a lockbox ship from the exchange instead.
Rest in Peace Brothers
Still sticking mainly to the STFs and doing Eta Eradani dailies. I did the investigate officer reports daily tonight. The Battleship Royale is a pretty decent mission for this IMO.
Zerobang - I also took your advice. I spend a ton of EC on contraband on the exchange, but that's going to turn into a heafty sum of dilithium when I finish turning it all in.
I've been getting lucky on my other characters with the STFs, but my tac tonight just could not keep from drawing aggro. It's almost as if the game is aware of what I'm doing and it is trying to make it harder for me. Anyway, still did pretty good tonight.
Rest in Peace Brothers
Rest in Peace Brothers
Rest in Peace Brothers
Whatever the exchange rates, it is always possible now. It was not before, so there is nothing to complain about. Previously we had to put money into the game to buy store items, there was no alternative or a reward for the missions we were already doing that could be exchanged into credits (now zen).
Even doff assignments give some dil.
I have dil building up on all my characters but I never ever grind, TRIBBLE grinding. If someone grinds, it is their choice. I feel a lot of pity for people who complain about grinding to get items they could easily decide not to get then avoid the grind! Such conflicting desires and emotions must run through these people. Beware!
I had barely enough to buy two ship slots and the Galaxy X and Sao Paulo escort (im a tactical and never gave escorts a try other than the NX and the Akira). To make up the difference I used my dilithium stock pile and got the difference in Zen from my Dilithium. Cost me something like 13,000 dilithium.
Just recently I respec'ed my character for 500 zen by trading 49,000 Dilithium for 500 Zen off the exchange at a exchange rate of 99 to 1.
I am grinding dilithium and almost back to where I was again and I will be using this to get more Zen. While I gladly will put money into the game I am at a time of the year that so much is going on that I cant afford to do that at the moment. So at this time I will be using dilithium to outfit my ships with fleet gear, get Zen so I can buy two more ship slots and if the Ambassador class ship comes out as I have been hearing in unconfirmed rumors during the 3 year anniversary I will spend dilithium and EC on out fitting that ship.
I have to say since my fleet mates showed me how I could have fun and grind dilithium easily I am having fun doing it, mainly because I am not forced to sit there and grind the same stf`s over and over again.
Rest in Peace Brothers
Rest in Peace Brothers
i just finished fitting out all my 10 Characters with maximum possible Bank Slots.
I already did DOff and Inventory slots way back, got em all maxed.
So now, all my 10 Chars have all per char Slots possible + a healthy bunch of Costume Slots.
i'm done with Bridges (got em all)
i'm done with C-Store Clothing Options (got em all)
i'm done with Ships, in theory i could spend another 17500 Zen on Ships, but none of them are of any value to my Characters (2 tier 3 ships with no new Skins / no new Console powers (same as Tier 5 version), the Refit Ships i don't need because i got the Vet Token ;P ... i guess i could if i wanted a fleet version of it on 2 chars... to get the discount? probably never going to happen).
...
i only could use some of the 700 Zen Spacesuits but just bought a few with EC, so not really interested at the moment and i don't do Nukara anyway (really just because i like the visual...).
Fleet Ship Modules, LockBox Keys and DOff Packs are pretty much the only option left for me now to get rid of my earned Zen at all.
and FYI: i did not spend any $ on STO since the Winter Event 2011
...well and i bought the Steamrunner on Steam, but that one doesn't count since you can't get it with Zen.
I'd say i've pretty much beaten the C-Store.
1 Year work but i got it ALL now.
NEXT project: LOBI STORE !
An average lock box provides about 90K in credits probably more if you averaged in items like temporal duty officers that are worth 1mil. So for roughly 30K dilith, or a little more than what is in the dilith store for an XI item, you can get yourself a nice very rare dual phaser canon for example. Plus you get the actual weapon type you want vs. the rep system. Here's hoping the market goes into the 60s or 70s.
Rest in Peace Brothers
Rest in Peace Brothers
Rest in Peace Brothers
Rest in Peace Brothers
pep talk over
Rest in Peace Brothers
Rest in Peace Brothers