What's the best way to earn money?

[CMonsterGT]

I'm not necessarily a new player (been playing since July of '13), but I have a hard time making (and keeping money).

It is especially apparent when I see other people's videos and they have 1-3 million credits in their bank. I've personally never had more than $200k at any one time, and it's usually after a daily and a FP.

 

There are a lot of legacy perks I don't have that I want (such as Treek and the field respect), but haven't been able to get that kind of money together. There isn't some kind of interest system I'm missing, is there? I have 6 level 55s, a 53, 40 and 25.

[psandak]

My questions to you are:

 

• What is a typical play session for you? Do you run FPs, daily areas, PvP, operations. What aspects of the game do you play?
  
• What are you spending your credits on? Are you constantly buying little things off the GTN? Are you dying a lot and therefore have to repair your gear? Are you leveling crafting skills in the hopes of saving credits by making stuff for your characters?
  
• What crew skills do you have? You mention six characters but no crew skils.
  

 

Daily areas are a great "blue collar" source of credits. An average run using one character in one area will generate between 50,000 and 100,000 credits depending on the area. All small group content - AKA FPs - generate credits during the run (through drops off mobs; note: DO NOT pass on random gear click greed because every little bit helps) and at the end you get a reward for completion. Both ground and GSF PvP also generate credits rewards when you finish. Operations are taxing on the wallet until you get them on "farm" status (AKA able to clear the content without dying).

 

If you are spending what little you have on little stuff, ask yourself the question: "Do I REALLY need this?" 99% of the time the answer is no. So STOP SPENDING! If you want something specific, set it as a goal and make sure to keep your eyes on the prize. You also need to have patience - the credits will not appear overnight no matter how many profess otherwise. They are exceptions not the rule.

 

As for crew skills: crafting is an investment - you must spend credits in the short term to get more back in the long term. BUT you have to do be smart about it. I quote DarthTHC: "Make credits not stuff." The point is don't craft something just because you can craft it in the hopes it will sell for a profit. Take specific note of the last three words of that statement for a profit. If the materials to make that item are worth more than the item, sell the materials. Even if you went out into the field and gathered the materials from nodes, those materials are NOT free.

 

For more details and tips on making money thru crew skills see my guide

 

And if all else fails you could go the Cartel Market (CM) to GTN route; pay real money through Cartel Coins (CC) for a desirable CM item and post it on the GTN. This is NOT a violation of the TOS and/or EULA (although some feel it should be). The caveat is that when you buy something off the CM it is bound to the character for 36 hours (this is real-time: buy at 12am one day and the item is bound to you until 12pm the next day).

[MSchuyler]

Just to give you some sort of benchmark. I started a Sith a couple of weeks ago and have her at Level 47 right now with a million credits. I have done nothing strange. I did not convert CCs to credits or anything like that. I have kept up on training costs and not paid attention to travel costs and repair costs.

 

What I have done is pick up all drops from all mobs and tried to sell off the gear on the GTN one time each. If it doesn't sell one time, I sell it to a vendor for what I can get. I'm in an orange gear set I got from my legacy collection and have bought mods all the way up, usually with commendations, but sometimes with credits.

 

I did this as a kind of test to see what would happen if I used no subsidies, no crafting, no tricks to get more credits, and this is the result. I don't really feel like I have gone without, but I haven't spent lavishly on stuff either.

[CMonsterGT]

I always have my companions out doing crafting or gathering missions, and in the later higher levels, they are like 2-3k a pop. I must have spent a lot of money on companion gifts since I have most everyone leveled up for the achievements and better returns on crafting.

 

Other than my first toon (a Sent), I don't really die as much anymore, often able to manage quests a few levels above me without a problem. I hardly wipe on a regular FP as long as I get the proper heals (I hate it when I'm at 25% life and the healer is DPSing, but that's a whole 'nother argument). I'm definitely wanting to be better at PVPing, but I don't usually play it past the daily and weekly, but my new Guardian I'm leveling, I'm hoping to do just that.

 

Back on topic, though, I don't spend much on the GTN for cosmetic stuff (although I did just spend $150k on a pink lightsaber), except for few and far between. I'm usually function over form. I'd say 10% of my total expenditures are on cosmetic stuff.

 

I was just crafting stuff to RE and then get a level deeper, but I was doing the math on getting all level 26 purple mods for my guardian and it looks like I could spend $100k in mats just to have top level gear....for a couple of levels. Plus there is the extraction cost, since I'm usually some orange gear that I got from an anniversary pack.

 

So dailies and ops are the best ways to earn it? What are the ops that doesn't generate money? I know I went on EC or EV the other day (with the boss that makes you jump from rock to rock) and none of the mobs dropped money. Plus, it was a pug group and we died a lot so I ended up in the negative 30k after it was done (since we couldn't earn money for the wipes). I had to run a regular FP just to be even again.

[CMonsterGT]

And yes, I always greed, I never understood why people would pass, as it is basically free money, and every now and again you get something better for a comp. I have about 1100 CC, but I really want to be able to save that for unique cosmetic stuff. I recently unlocked the Cathari species for my new Guard, but before that, I haven't spent it on anything (I was a sub from July-Dec of last year, and then F2P until about 5-6 weeks ago and am a sub again). Not being able to wear purple gear makes it hard to run with a guild at the endgame.

[psandak]

You misunderstood. I said, Operations are a drain on credits, unless you can complete them without dying. While operations trash may not drop much, each boss drops a huge amount of credits usually about 10k per participant. but if you die twice per boss fight that wipes out the gain.

 

And yes, going for purple crafted items for leveling is a HUGE drain. My philosophy while leveling crafting skills was: get *A* blue schematic (does not HAVE to be the exact one I want/need), use up blue materials to level up the skill, make enough blues to gear up, RE the extras, if you happen to get a purple schematic great, if not so be it. And having the materials to make the purple item is just icing.

 

Honestly at this point, even with a 450 in every crafting skill, I am more likely to use planetary comms from level 55 characters to gear up a new alt than craft anything...it's just easier.

 

In short there are two ways to make a lot of credits in any MMO:

 

• do content intended to be done to make money. This usually means daily and weekly quests as they are repeatable.
  
• invest what you have to make more money back. This is usually done by either playing the GTN (buying low and selling high), or by using the crafting system to your advantage, or both .
  

Most players start with the former and those who wants lots of credits shift to the latter eventually.

[TheRandomno]

If you've only ever had 200k over 1 year and almost 7 55s, you're doing something very wrong.

 

I have nearly two 55s and 8 mil credits. Very little came from CC purchased, and I once gave 700k away and never got it back. :/

[MeNaCe-NZ]

The first question that comes to mind reading all this is how many toons are you running exactly? Hopefully not one of the people who has like 1 level 55 toon with maxed crew skills then a whole bunch of other toons at varying levels ... I won't go in to depth but that can get expensive and will not make you money, especially if you are using that one level 55 toon to send/give ANYTHING to other toons. If a toon can't be self sufficient and has to rely on other toons to get by your account overall will not become profitable.

 

So yeah putting aside non level 55 toons and then becoming self sufficient to 55 ( and not earning any massively huge profit though they can of course with maxed crew skills prior to 55 ) you should focus on your maxed toon.

 

First thing's first - max your affection on all the companions you have available to send out on craft/gathering missions. I'm at work and trying to work off memory but I think we get 6 companions generally from story and 5 crew slots? So based on that you ideally only need to boost 5 to max affection for crew purposes ( there could be other reasons or achievements for getting all of them, I forget and I max them all anyway coz I can ) If you get the other optional companions later well those can be maxed later and replace someone you are already using if need be.

Now picking which to max is a simple case of looking at your crew skills and then at your companions obnuses to see if any give bonuses towards a crew skill you've chosen - you would chose crit chance first and efficient 2nd ( crit is chances of getting a critical success and efficiceny is time to complete ).

 

Some would say to choose a crew skill based on your class companions as you get the bonus to crit with X character but honestly that is min/maxing and really won't make that much difference in the long run - rich is rich and the biggest contributing factor to rich is activity time imo. Also if everyone took that one skill because X companion gave +5 to crit then that might crit more often but that crew skill is probably highly over saturated on the market and nto as profitable as people think ( *cough* cybertech *cough* ). So yeah choose your crew skills based on what is selling, the materials used to make X items and what they sell for etc. etc. I've posted this stuff a few times and don't feel like writing a guide but feel free to review my post history from my profile to dig down some guide like info I've put on researching the GTN and selecting the best crew skills based on doing some research etc.

 

Next of course is to max your crew skills to 450 but that's common sense.

 

Now you have smart choices in crew skills based on items you see making actual profits and they arem axed and your companion affection is maxed so now all you need to is begin gathering/crafting based on researching the gtn - as psandak has mentioned if materials sell for more than a craftable item is worth then sell the mats, if you see mats on GTN when researching and the sum of those mats means crafting X item makes a nice profit then you buy those mats so you can craft with them then and there and get that profit - you can still gather them and build up researves etc. but at least you're making a profit now crafting instead of waiting for the chance of actually getting the materials from gathering, especially purple items that require crit or you to buy mission discoveries for guaranteed crit.

 

Lastly I guess is RE'ing. I would the same logic to RE'ing as you do with what skills to take and that is research the GTN. See what the purple sells for vs the blue and also their mats to see what gives best profit. If it's profitable purple then by all means start crafting the green then blue to RE to get it - if its not profitable forget about it. You should NEVER RE purples just to send to other toons that are leveling. Sure you can do it for end game gear but considering you can get a good bunch of end game gear from oricon and all the comms your other toons will be earning ( and if they aren't earning comms they don't need you to send them gear since they can't be running anything of use or you've done something wrong building/learning them if you cant complete comm based activities like ops n fps ). any gear above the 28's is just too much of a waste to craft seeing as it uses iso's and mmg's etc. - if you have those sell them or if you can craft with them then do so and sell your profit if all the above rules still apply. Most end game mods etc. people make sell for a loss compared to mat costs - I really fail to understand the market here and why people are sending their materials to someone for crafting when selling the materials themselves they would have had money left over and still got thei tem they wanted by buying it on the GTN but I digress .. sort of ... that point shows that sooo many people have no clue what so ever on basics economics in this game that it's so damn simple to make millions.

 

So yeah only RE for purples etc. that make you money and else RE to blue if you really must send something to other toons, never higher than blue, its not needed for leveling.

 

I think that covers it all, I make millions using 1 toon doing the above sort of stuff ( being able to login during a period of maybe 8-10 hours a day ) and am only now bringing in a second toon that is starting to turn large profits ( larger once I get a gathering skill I need to 450 ) so I know it all works. Some people brag about the millions they make using 6+ toons so if you play it smart and do your research you can have a much easier, simpler time than them.

[Merouk]

I was just crafting stuff to RE and then get a level deeper, but I was doing the math on getting all level 26 purple mods for my guardian and it looks like I could spend $100k in mats just to have top level gear....for a couple of levels.

 

That's what you're doing wrong, IMO. Purple is NOT needed for leveling up; green is sufficient, blue is more than enough. It can cost 4 million credits to level up a crafting skill, if you stop at blue recipes. If you try to RE to go for purple recipes, you're probably looking at 10+ million to get the recipes. And you don't need purples for levels 1-54.

 

Making money is definitely a grind in this game; it's designed to entice you to buy cartel coins and spend them on packs to get credits. You're saying your characters have gathering and mission skills, and from that and from doing dailies it sounds like you could make 1 million (and more) in short order, IF you stop spending.

 

So stop spending.

[Kulyok]

And yes, I always greed, I never understood why people would pass, as it is basically free money, and every now and again you get something better for a comp.

 

Just to answer that: I always choose pass in FPs(unless I really need something for myself), because I feel I have enough money for basic needs, and someone in the party might be struggling for credits to pay for their skills, basic companion affection or Speeder Training 3.

 

To the point:

 

- you've got purple mats for Underworld Trading. They sell extremely well. I once sold my stash and got like 2 or 3 million in a day.

 

- Companion gifts always sell very well, even Republic/Luxury/Courting. Missions that cost 2225-2125 credits(UT, Treasure Hunting, Diplomacy, Investigation) are the best, because they bring purple and blue gifts. A Rakata Grenade alone costs ~30-40k.

 

- scavenging components sell fast because Armstech and Cybertech chars need them for levelling. Chanlon Grade 2 is fast to produce, but it costs a lot, because everyone needs it and it's only available in quantities on Nar Shaddaa(add genetic anomalies to the list for bio guys, and the planet's a golden mine).

 

- watch prized and highly sought items. Black and Black dye for 800k? Buy it right now, you'll sell it for 2mil minimum. Bantha for 1mil? Well, that ain't going to be happening, but it it does, add 5 mil to your stash.

[DomiSotto]

I hear your pain! I have been stuck in the 200 thou hells for a while, but slowly starting to climb to the coveted 1 mil on each L40+ character and 500 thou on everyone under L40 situation.

 

If you have that many L55 toons, your simplest way is to go cheap but extensive. Go get the L1-L2 mats in stacks that undercut the prices. You will collapse the markets but you will encourage the buyers who hope to sell high later to buy your stacks. The server pop will hate your guts (I know by name and daily curse a guy who does that on Harbinger overnight throwing stacks of everything in 99's for rock-bottom price on the same toon), but if you stay on top of your game you can get out of the hole fast enough. Or grind the easy dailies that your characters can do with one hand tied behind them. While stacking L1-2 mats that go for over 500 creds a sheet on GTN.

 

With crafting, I try to balance out crafting investment by selling, and try not to deplete each character.

 

In short,making money in this game is very boring, and takes tons of time, but one can do it. It is far easier when your load times are short (i.e 30 sec vs 3 min)

Edited July 25, 2014 by DomiSotto

[Lorica]

Like the above poster stated, making creds is a boring affair but this is how you can make creds;

 

1. Dailies especially Black Hole at 50+

2. Crafting then selling your creations - Grenades for PvP, Augmentation Kits, Stims, and etc.

3. Sell your special mob drop treasure on GTN.

4. Sell unwanted Cartel Items, your junk maybe someone else's treasure.

5. If you have a good and well geared team, flashpoints, ops, and etc can be profitable especially on some special drops that do not instantly bind to you or your legacy. If not, those repair bills sometimes are not pretty so this is conditional.

Edited July 25, 2014 by Lorica

[CMonsterGT]

This is all great info, thanks guys. Last night I did TFB with my guildies and picked up about 230k, which was nice, but I had to instantly spend 200k on field respect since I want to be a healer, but they always seem to want me as a DPS (probably because I'm new and my gear stinks).

 

Yea, I always went for purple for each schematic, and hardly ever sold any of them back. Each one of the toons is up to 450 at level 55. I'm finding now that I need to concentrate on the 52 prototype stims and medkits for running ops. I think I realize my biggest money sink was buying the Legacy leveling up bonuses for FPs and WZs which were pretty expensive. I think it was $250k for each line, so $500k for each companion. Then I was also hitting up the GTN for the flashpoint 25% extra exp, but those were only $1k apiece usually. The pink and yellow all exp ones were pricey.

 

To one guy's point, I was using the 55 toon's money to fuel the lower levels by giving them an influx of cash. With this last toon I'm doing (a Guardian, my 9th), I'm just going to run the main quest and bonus series and WZs. I'll do the FP weekly, but that's it.

 

So basically you play GTN and use that knowledge like a stock market to make the money. I suppose that's a learning curve. I know I was doing that for awhile with underworld trading metals like Mullinine and Xenolite and it was doing pretty good, but it seemed like a lot of work for not much credits, but I would get lucky every now and again and find someone who was selling it for the super low "recommended" default price.

 

For the companion leveling up, that seemed to also be pretty expensive, as I did the 100k trick on the GTN for the first 6000k affection, and then did the comp convo's and then the companion gifts. However, now everyone is pretty much leveled up on affection except for ashara on my inq, and half the comps on my consular (my last under 50 toon). I suppose I can sell off the unused GCs, didn't realize they were worth significant money.

[Master_Hitsugaya]

take on slicing so you cant get thermal regulators(only get them on crits) and sell the for 15-20k each

also take on diplomacy and sell rakata grenades for 40k

 

some of the best ways to make money is to simply sell matts which you get almost 100% profit depending on which ones you sell.

 

 

there is also a mission on voss(imp side) a heroic 4(need to be 55 to do this) go in kill 2 mobs run out reset phase you get 4500-5500 creds from killing both mobs not counting what you sell(can only reset every 2 mins so you might have to wait 20-40 seconds)

[DomiSotto]

CMonster, really, sounds like you were having fun with your characters and that's what matters. I am often tempted to just play myself, but yeah, it takes discipline and daily commitment to develop the Legacy that is sustainable and profitable. One thing to do is always run your spare alts in the mission mode to unload on the GTN at the end of the mission and, yes, the annoying short missions, as those pile up the materials fast.

[CMonsterGT]

Yea, I've definitely enjoyed my experience with the game thus far, and I got my last toon, a 45 Consular to Corellia, and then I'll have all of the storylines complete. I've been really working this Gree event, I think with enough rep between all my toons to max out the rep for the next 2 weeks.

 

So Black Hole gives out more money than Section X? SX is the daily I've been doing a lot, but I'll need to soon switch to another since I've almost reached the highest standing for that group (halfway of the last tier).

 

My new goal is to reach 1 mil credits for both the achievement title and to unlock Treek for all accounts. Finally a use for the CC rotting in my market.

[CMonsterGT]

How do you get the thermal regulators? Do you have to have the special 450 missions for slicing?

[Essence_of_Light]

How do you get the thermal regulators? Do you have to have the special 450 missions for slicing?

 

You need to have the 401-450 slicing missions unlocked to acquire them. When you do, you can get them (but you only get them if your companions crit).

[MeNaCe-NZ]

Also they will only crit for therms on bountiful and rich missions for the 401-450 tier.

[Khevar]

Also they will only crit for therms on bountiful and rich missions for the 401-450 tier.

Yup. The names of those missions are "Unsliceable" and "Watching the Watchdogs". No other missions have a chance of returning Thermal Regulators.

[Kulyok]

I ran those slicing missions about ten or twelve times on maxed companions, and only got the regulators twice. Wasn't too happy with the drop rates, especially since blues are worthless.

[MeNaCe-NZ]

Blues won't be for long I don't think personally but I digress.

I also find the drop rate on therms to be somewhat lower than what I am used to from say treasure hunting though I have no numbers to back this up. They are worth more so perhaps that might explain lesser odds given to some materials via rnd. Likewise I find criting in biochem with Doc to be completely off par with say criting in artifice with Khem Val. I'll often crit 0-1 times with Doc for a full queue of adrenals ( so giving me 15-16 adrenals ) where as in artifice I'll average 2 crits from a queue of 5 ( sometimes 1 sometimes 3 ). That is wih Doc having +5 to crit.

 

I guess just reading what I wrote we can pretty much assume that all crew skills don't have the same crit rates or chances via RNG. It would be stupid to really. I mean having a mission that can drop 15 items have the same crit rate as one that drops 5 would seem a tad off to me anyway.

[DomiSotto]

So Black Hole gives out more money than Section X? SX is the daily I've been doing a lot, but I'll need to soon switch to another since I've almost reached the highest standing for that group (halfway of the last tier).

 

I have never done SX, but a run of solos on Black Hole that takes like 30 min tops procures about 70 thou. It's really fast and profitable. More if you do H4+.