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What's the best way to upgrade rarity?
misanthrope
Member Posts: 84 Arc User
in The Academy
I'm looking for the most energy-credit efficient way to upgrade an item's rarity. I know superior upgrade books are best to use but I'm wanting to know should I use research boost (x1.5) or major research boost (x2.0). The major research boosts are just so over-priced compared to the 1.5 version, they're like 10x more costly. I have about 31m energy credits to spend btw.
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As for the boosters... not sure.
normal text = me speaking as fellow formite
colored text = mod mode
Start with a low mark item of VR quality. You can start with something worse then VR but that just leaves one more rarity grade you need to increase. Most start with Mark II Very Rare.
Take that item, put it in your bank, and wait until an upgrade weekend.
During an upgrade weekend, upgrade the item using a Omega Particle Upgrade from the Anniversary Event. If you don't have one, then head to the exchange and purchase 3 Omega Fragments. Combine them in your R&D Tab into a Omega Upgrade kit. This project will take 20 hrs.
Slot the Omega Upgrade and a research point accelerator (2x Chance.) You can get these in R&D Packs or on the exchange, usually for about 1.8-2M EC.
This should give you a 40% chance of quality upgrade. If done on an upgrade weekend, you should get a 40% chance every mark from mark II up until approximately Mark X - Mark XI. Use Phoenix Kits to get the item the rest of the way to Mark XV. If you were unlucky and only got up to UR instead of Epic, you can use Phoenix Kits to get you the rest of the way.
This is not only the most cost effective way, but also the highest chance of success.
Sorry, I had a type-o in the original post, I corrected it.
The kit you want to use is an Omega Kit which cannot be purchased on the exchange. Once crafted, they are bound to account. You can however, purchase 3 Omega Fragments and combine them in your R&D Tab under 'Special Projects.'
Omega Fragments are on the exchange, they currently run about 650k EC Each.
The project will take 20 hours and will award you 1 Omega Upgrade Kit.
Sorry for the confusion, my bad.
Yep, sorry man.. your own fault.
You did pretty much nothing I advised.. you did it the painful and expensive way. Shame, but hopefully you learned from it.
I'll try anyway because I like hitting my head against a rock..
Here is the method for getting items that you currently have up to a better rarity as cheaply as possible. Feel free to ignore this too.
1. Start stockpiling your Dilithium and wait for a Phoenix Box Event.
2. During the event, buy Phoenix Boxes from the Dilithium Store.
3. Break down all VR, and Rare tokens into Commons. If you get an UR or Epic and you need it, use it.. otherwise convert them as well.
4. Spend all your uncommon tokens to buy Phoenix Kits. Stockpile as many as you can.
5. Again.. wait for an upgrade weekend. If you're upgrading on non upgrade weekends, you're going to pay through the nose.
6. Pump Phoenix Kits into your items until they reach the rarity you want.
Phoenix Kits count like 4 Superior Kits. If you use them on an Upgrade Weekend it's like putting 8 Superiors into your item every time. They cost Dilithum to buy the kits, but they don't cost any to apply. You end up saving a ton on Dilithium and there is no EC cost.
DO NOT use 2x accelerators on high mark items. It's a 100% waste of EC. These are only good when used from Mark II. At high mark, they do nothing but burn EC.
This is how Reputation and Fleet Gear is upgraded. Same for items you have that you want to improve.
You need to weigh the costs of upgrading vs. starting over. Example:
You have a Rifle that you like, it's Mark XII Very Rare. Lets say it's a Split Beam and you want to go Epic with it.
You need to weigh the cost of pumping kits into a high mark/low rarity item vs. crafting a new one at low mark/low rarity and pushing forward that way. It's almost always cheaper to start over.
This method is best used on items that can't be crafted. Event rewards, rep gear, fleet items, etc.
Again, feel free to ignore the advice, but don't say it 'ain't any good.' It's how it's done, and it's far better then your method that you already said yourself is terrible.
Knowing you, you will probably ignore the advice given, but hopefully it helps someone else reading this thread.
Good luck.
Your way will be horrifically expensive unless you use Phoenix Kits on an Upgrade Weekend.
I have to admit, I find you confusing.. this isn't the first time I have seen you ask for advice and then disregard it. I am not trying to be hostile, I am trying to help you.. I am confused why you ask for help if you refuse to use it.
Doing it the way you're doing it is not going to give you the results you want. If you have the Omega's and Accelerators already then starting over at Mark II is not just a little cheaper.. it's WAY cheaper.
If you don't want to do that, it's fine.. but using Phoenix Kits on an upgrade weekend is the only cost effective way to pull it off. Usually during Phoenix Events, I buy several hundred Phoenix Kits, but that is to do multiple characters. If you're doing a full set of weapons and want to go from VR to Epic, you're going to need at least 100 kits, probably closer to 150-200.
I strongly suggest you put the tone aside and listen to what Napalm and I are telling you. I have 10 characters with all Gold Gear and I spend a fraction of what you're spending. I am not saying this to prove I am better then you, or smarter then you.. just that I have learned over the years how this is done and I am trying to help you.
I learned the 'hard way,' and wasted a lot of resources before I learned. I am trying to help you avoid those same mistakes, so is Napalm. Sure, he might not sugar coat everything, but he's trying to help you and you shouldn't ignore what he's saying.
What you do with the advice given is up to you. Again, either way, I wish you luck.
If anything I said needs further clarification, please feel free to let me know.
1)
You want to upgrade an item's rarity that is available at Very Rare Mark II, for example, purchasable on the Exchange, something you can craft.
Even if you already have a higher Mark version of the item, chances are it will be less resource intensive to start with the Mark II item (even accounting for resources already spend on getting that item).
Then, you want an Omega Upgrade, and upgrade the item once, possibly with a Research Boost, ideally during an upgrade weekend. The upgrade will grants so many tech points that the item will rise in several marks, and every time it gains a new mark, there is also a chance that it upgrades its rarity, and with the Omega Upgrade, it's really likely to happen. If the item did not go to Epic, you might decide to sell it on the Exchange or dismantle it, and try again. Either way, from now on, you probably don't want to use Omega Kits anymore for this item.
The rest of the Marks you can do with Phoenix Upgrades (possibly with Tech Boosts) or Superior Upgrades (while tempting, I think boosts are wasted here. Boosts only boost a single upgrade kit, and a Phoenix Upgrade grants a lot more tech points per kit then a Superior Upgrade, meaning the boost is far more effective here.)
If you don't have Omega Upgrade Kits, and absolutely no way of getting them and you need, you'll have to try to use the Romulan UPgrade Kits from Admiralty or Superior Experimental Upgrade Kits. And finally, of course, Superior Upgrades.
2) You want to upgrade an item that you cannot get at Mark II. Like reputation gear, fleet gear, mission rewards and the "unique" craftables like the items from the Aegis Set or the Plasma-Emission Torpedo Launcher.
In that case, the cheapest way is probably Phoenix Tokens, possibly augmented with tech boosters. Your item is unlikely to bump rarity before it reaches Mark XV. The good thing is that the rarity increase chance rolls over every time you complete the technology point progress bar, unless the item actually increases its rarity (then it resets). But unfortunately you also always have to complete that bar, so it doesn't really matter much whether you use tech or research upgrades. The second boosts the chance per completed tech bar, but the other lets you clear the tech bar faster.
If you don't have Phoenix Kits, Superior Upgrades will have to do.
If you have any Ultimate Upgrades, consider using it on items that are particularly expensive to upgrade, like shields, warp cores, impulse engines and deflectors. Ultimate Upgrades of course are hard to get, only available when the 20 Master Key box is available during a key sale or since recently, from TFO Buyouts (which means one purchase per account per Featured TFO). Sell the other master keys, maybe to afford yourself some Omega Fragments.