I don't know why I'm sharing this, except that I like talking about cool things I've discovered. I risk shutting down a pretty consistent influence generator here by doing so, though. Although it's true that very few people read this blog, it is also true that a dozen or so of those who do will be on Champion server where I play—so spreading this information risks killing ye ole cash cow.
Still, for what it's worth, here's how I pull down around a million influence in roughly an hour every now and then in City of Heroes by purchasing enhancements at Wentworth's.
The Mechanics
- First, pick an origin (it doesn't matter which, really) and filter for enhancements of that origin between levels 30 and 35. I also like to select "For Sale Only" as I'm only interested in buying.
- Next, find Single Origin enhancements from that origin that have a) zero bidders and b) more than 1 seller. If you pay attention, it doesn't take long to identify the unique graphics used for an origin's SOs. It won't kill you if it is Dual Origin instead, but the eventual sell price will be under half what it is for the SOs. You'll still make a profit, but not near as much.
- Next, place a bid at some ridiculous price point. I generally clear out any I can buy for 250 and then try again at 750 until I don't get any takers.
- This is important: find the store for that origin and sell your ten enhancements. Going to the store for that origin increases the price the store will pay by about 50%. Even the lowliest SO enhancement sells for at least 9,000 influence at its origin store. That's a minimum 10x profit so each trip pulls down more than 100k influence.
Some Reasoning and Speculation
Why level 30-35 SO enhancements?
Because you don't get a big price boost for higher levels and the demand is much greater for higher level SOs. A level 50 SO enhancement sells for around 20k influence and it's harder to find the bargains because more "legitimate" purchasers are looking for them.
What if recent purchase prices are really high?
In my experience it doesn't matter how high the latest prices have been. For some reason, about a third of the people putting these things up for sale decide to go cheap. I'm guessing that is in order to lose as little as possible to the 5% placement fee.
Why 250 and 750?
Two reasons. First, 750 is high enough to clear inconsequential minimums and low enough to guarantee a 10x return. Second, I start with 250 to catch the really, really boneheaded minimums. Any more than two price levels is more time than I want to waste and I just can't convince myself to do just one price (though it'd probably be more efficient to just do 750 all the time. In fact, if there are only two or three for sale, I'll just bid once at 750 and move on).
How fast does the supply replenish?
I typically do all the SOs for a single origin per night and come away with a bit over 1 million influence. I notice that I can often see my purchases in the history if I revisit the same origin in consecutive days so it takes a bit for the supply of stupid minimums to replenish. For that reason, I tend to spread it out. Also, for this reason I'm probably shooting my profit margin in the foot posting this entry...
Are some origins better than others?
I'm not entirely sure as I've only been doing this a couple weeks (and not every night at that). Technology and science have been very rich veins. Magic has been noticeably poorer. Natural and mutation have been in the middle. I'm not sure what causes the difference or if it persists over time or across servers.
Wouldn't it be better to use something you have more slots for, like recipes or salvage?
No. While you can come away with more stuff, they don't sell for nearly as much to the store vendors. Thus, not only are your profits per item smaller, your net gain per trip is lower as well.
Isn't this a lot of thought to be putting into a stupid game?
Yes. It is.
36ddf611-9fe0-4b16-b6db-f518c745c86e|2|5.0
Subscribe