PSA: Companion Gifts, The GTN Inflation, and you.

[CKNORTH]

I Might catch a bit of heat for this but I want to Enlighten the player base, Especially Newer players regarding Companion Gifts, on a bit of knowledge.

 

1st. There is a companion gift vender on the fleet in the mid stall where the GTN is that sells Rank 5 Gifts for 10k a pop. Most likely you seen people selling stacks of 10-100 of these between 17k-29k per item on the GTN.

 

2nd. It Costs roughly 4.3m from the NPC who sells these gifts for 10k each to cap a Companion to rank 50 after you buy the legacy perk rank 3 of gift giving.

 

3rd. Not that I am busting people who want to make credits from the CC store after all the instant companion 50 unlock might seem like a good buy at first glance. but please 23m+ Each?? really?

 

Be sure to look around at some of the venders on fleet. chances are anything that is otherwise tradeable on them. will likely be on the GTN at an inflated price. I don't consider myself a hero for telling people this. but with the ample amounts of spam I see on starting worlds and what people boost to insane amounts on the GTN I think this topic is fair enough to point out. so much so it probably could use a sticky as helpful info to NEW PLAYERS.

 

Regarding the fact people gouge on the GTN, I find silly. yeah I do think a lot of specific items that are extremely hard to get "Might" be worth the price. but heck you can even get Revan's MASK in the Cartel Bazaar with the rep you collect in certs for 100k and 10 certificates… Anyhow I do hope this helps people who are fresh players here, and maybe even help some of the older seasoned players to just look around and explore your options...

Edited November 30, 2019 by CKNORTH

[fahdashq]

Don't buy the commander's compendium on GTN unless it competes with the price you can get it for at the conquest vendor in the crew skills section of fleet. You can buy them there for 3 dark projects and 4.25m (roughly 5.75m - 7.25m depending on how dark projects are selling at the time, weeks where it is a conquest craft is usually cheaper). Also, there are charts on Dulfy's site that show how many gifts you need, but going by the purple gifts you can get on fleet, and that you are buying the companion's best gift, you need roughly 479 gifts with all 3 legacy perks active.

 

So you can either save a bit of credits and manually give ~479 gifts to a companion (10 mins+ of spam clicking (with all 3 lvls of faster gift giving), or you know...), or pay the extra creds for dark projects (or craft some) and instantly get a lvl 50.

 

And yes getting level 50 companions are worth it, especially if you do any kind of crafting or crew skill missions, and almost all companions are equal in power. There are a few rare companions that have a couple different abilities, but for the most part they are all the same, pick a comp that you like to use often. Personally I always get at least 1 ranged and 1 melee companion to 50 on all my toons because some fights like last boss of hammer station benefit from the companion running back to the boss, and then obviously fights with a lot of aoe you want a ranged companion that can avoid most of it.

[SteveTheCynic]

I Might catch a bit of heat for this but I want to Enlighten the player base, Especially Newer players regarding Companion Gifts, on a bit of knowledge

From where I'm standing, the main criticisim is that you present this as if it's something that you've just noticed and more to the point, as if it is self-evidently unknown, a thing nobody's ever commented on before.

1st. There is a companion gift vender on the fleet in the mid stall where the GTN is that sells Rank 5 Gifts for 10k a pop. Most likely you seen people selling stacks of 10-100 of these between 17k-29k per item on the GTN.

Not news. It pops up on the forum from time to time, sometimes as announcements similar to yours, sometimes as complaints from people who found out about the vendor after having bought some from the GTN.

2nd. It Costs roughly 4.3m from the NPC who sells these gifts for 10k each to cap a Companion to rank 50 after you buy the legacy perk rank 3 of gift giving.

Apparently, there's a tradeoff where you buy low-rank (grade 1 or 2) gifts until they stop working *then* switch to grade 5 purples. It saves money but takes longer to click through.

3rd. Not that I am busting people who want to make credits from the CC store after all the instant companion 50 unlock might seem like a good buy at first glance. but please 23m+ EA?? really?

I don't see why you're ragging on EA here. They don't set the GTN prices.

Be sure to look around at some of the venders on fleet. chances are anything that is otherwise tradeable on them. will likely be on the GTN at an inflated price. I don't consider myself a hero for telling people this. but with the ample amounts of spam I see on starting worlds and what people boost to insane amounts on the GTN I think this topic is fair enough to point out. so much so it probably could use a sticky as helpful info to NEW PLAYERS.

Indeed. Wise words for real life as well as in-game. Shop around, you may find that thing you're looking for at a cheaper price somewhere else.

Regarding the fact people gouge on the GTN, I find silly. yeah I do think a lot of specific items that are extremely hard to get "Might" be worth the price. but heck you can even get Revan's MASK in the Cartel Bazaar with the rep you collect in certs for 100k and 10 certificates… Anyhow I do hope this helps people who are fresh players here, and maybe even help some of the older seasoned players to just look around and explore your options...

The Revan's Mask from the vendor isn't compatible with Collections, I think, whereas a CM-bought or CM-via-GTN-bought one *is*, and newer players are unlikely to have that many certificates..

[CKNORTH]

From where I'm standing, the main criticisim is that you present this as if it's something that you've just noticed and more to the point, as if it is self-evidently unknown, a thing nobody's ever commented on before.

 

Not news. It pops up on the forum from time to time, sometimes as announcements similar to yours, sometimes as complaints from people who found out about the vendor after having bought some from the GTN.

 

Apparently, there's a tradeoff where you buy low-rank (grade 1 or 2) gifts until they stop working *then* switch to grade 5 purples. It saves money but takes longer to click through.

 

I don't see why you're ragging on EA here. They don't set the GTN prices.

 

Indeed. Wise words for real life as well as in-game. Shop around, you may find that thing you're looking for at a cheaper price somewhere else.

 

The Revan's Mask from the vendor isn't compatible with Collections, I think, whereas a CM-bought or CM-via-GTN-bought one *is*, and newer players are unlikely to have that many certificates..

 

Two things I am just going to slightly point out, EA also known as Each... I just typoed The caps A also the Revan's mask is compatible with the unlock and how do I know?? its how I unlocked mine in collections. not raggin on EA ill fix the typo LOL

[VarnieTsk]

Thanks, OP. I found this very informative. Gives me an idea what I have to look forward to if I continue on with this game. Personally, I feel that I'm already paying monthly for my subscription and kind of resent the fact that I would be required to pay such exorbitant amounts just to have my companion be able to actually do it's job properly, only to have it taken away when the companion gets taken away, Fine for the people with large amounts of credits they're trying to drain. Not so fine for someone like me starting out with very few credits and every time I turn around I'm being drained to nothing again.

 

Made me think of this vid so I'll just leave it here. Very funny. Give it a watch.

 

[CKNORTH]

Thanks, OP. I found this very informative. Gives me an idea what I have to look forward to if I continue on with this game. Personally, I feel that I'm already paying monthly for my subscription and kind of resent the fact that I would be required to pay such exorbitant amounts just to have my companion be able to actually do it's job properly, only to have it taken away when the companion gets taken away, Fine for the people with large amounts of credits they're trying to drain. Not so fine for someone like me starting out with very few credits and every time I turn around I'm being drained to nothing again.

 

Made me think of this vid so I'll just leave it here. Very funny. Give it a watch.

 

 

Welcome, just trying to keep it on an even playing field. if you want to know how to make credits without the need to flip GTN stuff or heck without needing to use the GTN at all. PM me would be happy to coach people on the diversity of things available to people in game. and I wont charge a thing either. its one thing to know things and use it to hurt players. its quite another to pass on knowledge to people who can use it to enjoy the game like I do.

 

EDIT: I can give a tour of 1-50 Republic side anytime my characters name on Satele Shan is Xion Sioken, if I am on feel free to let me know you need help..

Edited November 30, 2019 by CKNORTH

[TrixxieTriss]

Best solution is just make the DARK PROJECTS to get the commanders compendium yourself. Then all you need to pay for is the mats and credits at the vendors or better yet farm them and it costs even less.

[CKNORTH]

Best solution is just make the DARK PROJECTS to get the commanders compendium yourself. Then all you need to pay for is the mats and credits at the vendors or better yet farm them and it costs even less.

 

Well for New players, Free Players, or Preferred players, Dark Projects might not be an option, however you can allocate 1m from the vender at 100 Gifts at a time to Cap companions... to which makes more sense to people who fall in said category.. I'm pretty tired of people treating Free players and Preferred like they do not exist in game, and frankly the what I seen of "Most" subscribers attitudes in game. I would help anyone who plays on a tight budget namely free first or anyone who truly is a new player, their are many. just my opinion.

[JediQuaker]

Personally, I feel that I'm already paying monthly for my subscription and kind of resent the fact that I would be required to pay such exorbitant amounts just to have my companion be able to actually do it's job properly, only to have it taken away when the companion gets taken away….

1. Complaining about having to pay for a sub plus having to spend (imaginary) credits for companion gifts is like complaining about having to buy Monopoly and then having to spend (imaginary) money to buy the properties or "such exorbitant amounts" for a hotel. It's basically just part of the game.🙄

2. If you are really concerned about temporarily losing a level 50 companion, purchase Treek or HK-51, or use one of the various sub rewards like Nico Ocar, etc, if you have them, and level their influence to 50. You don't lose them during KOTFE.

3. Level one of the your class companions and summon them from the terminal in your Odessen base (or simply wait for them to return, where possible)..

Edited November 30, 2019 by JediQuaker

[CKNORTH]

1. Complaining about having to pay for a sub plus having to spend (imaginary) credits for companion gifts is like complaining about having to buy Monopoly and then having to spend (imaginary) money to buy the properties or "such exorbitant amounts" for a hotel. It's basically just part of the game.🙄

2. If you are really concerned about temporarily losing a level 50 companion, purchase Treek or HK-51, or use one of the various sub rewards like Nico Ocar, etc, if you have them, and level their influence to 50. You don't lose them during KOTFE.

3. Level one of the your class companions and summon them from the terminal in your Odessen base (or simply wait for them to return, where possible)..

 

^ this is what I am talking about, people don't know those are attainable if they are new players. heck how many new players know they can get Treek for 1m Credits if they have a level 40 Legacy??? probably 0 if any....

Edited November 30, 2019 by CKNORTH

[TrixxieTriss]

Well for New players, Free Players, or Preferred players, Dark Projects might not be an option, however you can allocate 1m from the vender at 100 Gifts at a time to Cap companions... to which makes more sense to people who fall in said category.. I'm pretty tired of people treating Free players and Preferred like they do not exist in game, and frankly the what I seen of "Most" subscribers attitudes in game. I would help anyone who plays on a tight budget namely free first or anyone who truly is a new player, their are many. just my opinion.

 

I have done it your way in the past. It’s extremely tedious and you need to key bind the gifts or you’ll get a sore mouse hand.

If even got a spread sheet I got from Dulfy that shows the most economical way to use gifts to get your comps up.

http://dulfy.net/2015/10/21/swtor-fallen-empire-companion-influences-guide/

[Ardrossan]

I honestly forgot about the 10k gift vendor, so thanks.

 

10k per gift is pretty expensive for new players, but for old players buying gifts off the gtn, it makes a lot of sense.

[VarnieTsk]

1. Complaining about having to pay for a sub plus having to spend (imaginary) credits for companion gifts is like complaining about having to buy Monopoly and then having to spend (imaginary) money to buy the properties or "such exorbitant amounts" for a hotel. It's basically just part of the game.🙄

2. If you are really concerned about temporarily losing a level 50 companion, purchase Treek or HK-51, or use one of the various sub rewards like Nico Ocar, etc, if you have them, and level their influence to 50. You don't lose them during KOTFE.

3. Level one of the your class companions and summon them from the terminal in your Odessen base (or simply wait for them to return, where possible)..

 

1) Nope, you miss the point. Having to spend "imaginary" money, means that much less I have, which in turn means that much more stuff I'll be "encouraged" to spend cartel coins on, which means eventually having to purchase some with "real" money. Just to enjoy the game I'm paying a monthly sub for or to have a decent character & companion. And how 'bout those companion gifts "unlocks?" Can I buy those with "imaginary" money? (unless maybe on the gtn for some outrageously inflated price, lol)

 

2) You say PURCHASE a companion. lol. Kinda makes my point for me rather than discrediting it.

 

3) "Level" one companion....... lol again. See #1

 

Not sure why you saw the need to try and discredit and/or invalidate my opinion & how I see things with a condescending "counterpoint" rather than simply stating your own opinion but, meh, whatever. Doesn't change my mind or my opinion.

Edited November 30, 2019 by VarnieTsk

[TrixxieTriss]

^ this is what I am talking about, people don't know those are attainable if they are new players. heck how many new players know they can get Treek for 1m Credits if they have a level 40 Legacy??? probably 0 if any....

 

I’m definitely not new at all, but I’ve never heard of a way to get Treek for 1 Mil, care to share how?

[CKNORTH]

I’m definitely not new at all, but I’ve never heard of a way to get Treek for 1 Mil, care to share how?

 

I sure can go to Cartel Bazaar that little droid its red you see as SOON as you enter the bazaar spinning around all happy? That is a vender with Treek on it for 1m Credits, go take a look see.

 

C0-R1 <Legacy Vender> to confirm Mercenary Contract 1m Level 40 Legacy

Edited November 30, 2019 by CKNORTH

[Void_Singer]

:: Cough ::

Companion Gift Calculator

:: Cough ::

 

Way better than any old guide. Made by yours truly

 

PS. Low end price is now down to 4.05 mil

[Void_Singer]

I’m definitely not new at all, but I’ve never heard of a way to get Treek for 1 Mil, care to share how?

her base contract is available from one of the fleet vendors... security key I think...then you can unlock it in collections and only pay 300k per additional character on legacy... very worthwhile for crafting zombies

[Transcendent]

1) Nope, you miss the point. Having to spend "imaginary" money, means that much less I have, which in turn means that much more stuff I'll be "encouraged" to spend cartel coins on, which means eventually having to purchase some with "real" money. Just to enjoy the game I'm paying a monthly sub for or to have a decent character & companion. And how 'bout those companion gifts "unlocks?" Can I buy those with "imaginary" money? (unless maybe on the gtn for some outrageously inflated price, lol)

 

Not going to invalidate your opinion.

 

Companions do their job at Level 1, they just do it much better at Level 50. If you are crafting, they supposedly do it even better if you have the right amplifiers on gear (the basic blue set you can buy is the best and cheapest option for that one...).

 

Levelling companions can be done with in-game credits, I've slowly levelled up a few at a time by crafting items, selling, reinvesting the credits gained to level them up over time. If you are impatient then buy the token from the conquest vendor, however it works out cheaper to buy the 10k gifts if you intend to level up more than one companion per character (for crafting purposes).

 

Buying something with Cartel Coins and selling it on the GTN for those credits is a shortcut, it's not something I recommend to anyone, a little bit of patience while playing other aspects of the game will earn you those credits for nothing aside from playing the game. You're already paying if you're a subscriber, why pay twice? Just learn to ignore the numerous credit sinks in the game and spend your credits on the things that will make your game-play more enjoyable to you personally.

[DawnAskham]

The rank 50 tokens sold by the conquest vendor are the best from a credit / time perspective - even with the speed and affection boosts, it costs nearly as much to buy grade 5 gifts and spam them over and over.

 

Anyone who buys the CM version for 20-30 million or more off the GTN is just getting ripped off (when considering the the conquest vendor cost, though the GTN price is in line with CC to credit ratios - it's just a poor use of CC).

 

Other things to watch for on GTN...

 

White crafting materials posted for significantly higher prices than the crew skills vendors.

 

Other vendor related items like decorations and such, again posted for significantly higher prices than the vendors.

 

A-hats posting stuff to appear at first glance to be cheapest price, but in reality posted well above the average price (e.g. some a-hat has a page of solid matrix posted at 1,000,000,000 each, which sorts to top / bottom depending on ascending / descending, and may appear to some to be 1,000,000 each, which would be lower than the actual lowest of around 1,200,000 each).

Edited November 30, 2019 by DawnAskham

[JJKerryee]

:: Cough ::

Companion Gift Calculator

:: Cough ::

 

Way better than any old guide. Made by yours truly

 

PS. Low end price is now down to 4.05 mil

 

This is actually really good. Thanks..spares me the time to have to do it in my head.

[JediQuaker]

^ this is what I am talking about, people don't know those are attainable if they are new players. heck how many new players know they can get Treek for 1m Credits if they have a level 40 Legacy??? probably 0 if any....

Well, most actual "new" players have neither 1 million credits nor legacy level 40, nor have they subscribed at a time to get a companion as a sub reward. But, those new players can simply resort to my #3 suggestion. 🙂

[Tsillah]

Yeah it always amazed me cause the vendor on the fleet sells the purple versions of all companion gifts for 10K each but try to find any below 10K on the GTN. So just go to the vendor.

 

Also the gold ones go for ridiculous prices, up to 200k each. Their point value compared to the purple ones roughly comes down to 40K so about 4 times as good as the purple ones. So if you buy them for more than 40k you're ripping yourself off.

 

I know because I've been selling them but I just assumed so rich folk didn't care to overspend. If it's players that just don't know their actual value then I'll happily lose those sales.

[CKNORTH]

Well, most actual "new" players have neither 1 million credits nor legacy level 40, nor have they subscribed at a time to get a companion as a sub reward. But, those new players can simply resort to my #3 suggestion. 🙂

 

Nor can they get to Odesson, either way I think that constructive criticism is a good thing but don't belittle their efforts, give a good solution to the issues. it is about being seen as a Vet of the game, imo that alone has been skewed with Elitism. Where I am here saying not everyone is like that, and I am willing to help anyone who needs it. Regardless of their subscription status.

[Tsillah]

Well for New players, Free Players, or Preferred players, Dark Projects might not be an option, however you can allocate 1m from the vender at 100 Gifts at a time to Cap companions... to which makes more sense to people who fall in said category.. I'm pretty tired of people treating Free players and Preferred like they do not exist in game, and frankly the what I seen of "Most" subscribers attitudes in game. I would help anyone who plays on a tight budget namely free first or anyone who truly is a new player, their are many. just my opinion.

 

Possibly because subbed players are tired of free players wanting stuff without paying for it. In the end the whole game was for subs only and once f2p came into being a lot of what they had included in that sub price was given away frree of charge. I get that it was a necessary change after BW screwed up the launch but it doesn't change that simple fact. So yeah we got 500 CC per month as compensation as if that covers it.

 

But a number of f2p/pref players do whine about the restrictions and I'd like to hear your thoughts on that side of the story, because I'm not sure you can know the attitude of "most subs" as it is and it does annoy me that free players want more stuff but aren't willing to pay for it. I won't say that most of em though cause I can't know that but I've heard the complaints often enough that it annoys me. You just can't expect to get a bunch of stuff when you don't pay. Or am I saying something strange here?

[CKNORTH]

Possibly because subbed players are tired of free players wanting stuff without paying for it. In the end the whole game was for subs only and once f2p came into being a lot of what they had included in that sub price was given away frree of charge. I get that it was a necessary change after BW screwed up the launch but it doesn't change that simple fact. So yeah we got 500 CC per month as compensation as if that covers it.

 

But a number of f2p/pref players do whine about the restrictions and I'd like to hear your thoughts on that side of the story, because I'm not sure you can know the attitude of "most subs" as it is and it does annoy me that free players want more stuff but aren't willing to pay for it. I won't say that most of em though cause I can't know that but I've heard the complaints often enough that it annoys me. You just can't expect to get a bunch of stuff when you don't pay. Or am I saying something strange here?

 

This game could in the End if it totally got rid of the subscription could Triple its bottom line simply by letting people play the game as intended, let me give you a concept to mull over This game has what 2m subs a month? @ $15 a month now let me throw a bit of math at you Say it is 100% free EXCEPT what is all in the store and has close to 50m people playing. if of those 50m people playing only 80% spend min $5 a month... what does it correspond to for this game? think about it if they just opened up PVP alone never mind the OPS or FP's just pvp. I can almost tell you that people looking for a game to play other than WoW and GW2 that offer free pvp play?? people in the door is money in the pocket.

it isn't the fact that all F2P don't spend money... simply not true the store could live from F2P buying just $5 a month on CC. let me put this in perspective one store has a cover charge at the door per visit of $15 while another store with the exact same products has no cover charge at the door.... where would you go to shop??

Edited November 30, 2019 by CKNORTH