Haven't seen anything posted about this so I'm going to.
Just want to ask what is everyone's preferred way to earn gratuitous amounts of EC's? Some of us struggle to obtain 1mill wile others think 10mill is nothing.
Please try to keep the conversation using in game tactics and not just buying lots of z points and selling things.
The Tour the Universe event is a great way to earn roughly 1.5 mil. I put a guide up on the site for it <!-- m -<a class="postlink" href="http://www.stoacademy.com/guides/tour_the_universe.php">http://www.stoacademy.com/guides/tour_the_universe.php</a><!-- m -
You can also sell items that people really want, like the ships you get from lock boxes. Do STFs and sell the loot that you pickup. Some of them are worth 50,000 EC. Essentially just sell things.
ChrisHerr has also posted a slightly different route for Tour the Universe which he has used to complete the mission up to four times in one session. Since you get ECs every time you complete a sector block, you can build up quite a bankroll in a very short time.
The problem I have with Tour the Universe is my slow internet, which takes anywhere from one to five minutes to go from one sector block to another, so I try to use a course with the least possible number of inter-sector warps. This means doing sector blocks as a group as much as possible rather than jumping back and forth to find the shortest route. I usually have to transwarp once to make this possible. I also make maximum use of Quantum Slipstream Drive whenever I get to a long straight stretch, such as the trip across the Pi Canis sector block. Just make sure you make your course adjustments before you engage Quantum Slipstream Drive, because your turning ability is really reduced while you are in it.
My other favorite way to make ECs is to play the market on the Exchange. There are three ways to make large profits. The first is to scroll through the Exchange looking for grossly underpriced items. I have found weapons, consoles and equipment selling for as little as one or two percent of their nominal value. Since you can resell them to a vendor for fifty per cent, that means you're getting up to forty-nine per cent of their value as clear profit. The second way is to find grossly overpriced items. For some reason, people are willing to pay large amounts on the Exchange for items they could buy at a vendor for a fraction of the price. Recently, Mk IIIi Phaser Torpedoe Launchers, for instance, were selling for over 18,000 ECs even though they only cost about 2800 ECs at the vendor just down the hall. The third way to make ECs on the Exchange is to find items with different prices posted in different parts of the Exchange. If you look under "All" for Datachips, for instance, the price will be different than if you look for them under "Personal Devices." If you're willing to gamble, you can buy up low priced items using one setting, then go to the other and post them for sale at a higher price. Nine times out of ten people will buy them before the sale expires. Worst case scenario, if nobody buys them, you can still either repost them at a lower price or sell them to a vendor for their salvage value.
And if I remember correctly, the replicator gives you slightly more than a vendor does for items - although this might be the other way around, in which case it's things like that which can make a huge difference when looking at millions of ECs.
Starfleet/KDF vendors give 60% of the item's original cost
Civilian vendors (like Ferengi) give 50% of the item's original cost
Replicator gives 40% of the item's original cost
I'm pretty sure those are the correct percentages, but even if they aren't it is in the correct order. Starfleet/KDF give the most, replicator gives the least.
Attilio Wrote:If I remember correctly:
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I'm pretty sure those are the correct percentages, but even if they aren't it is in the correct order. Starfleet/KDF give the most, replicator gives the least.
Buy Low, Sell High. On items that have a high turnover rate. I have 40 million EC and made most of my fortune from Contraband and Master Keys.
I'm a FTP player so had a tough time with the 10 million EC cap so had to store my extra EC as Lockbox keys. I quit playing about half a year ago and had 20 lock box keys bought at 1 mil each in my bank. When I came back I was happy to find they were worth 1.4 mil each so converted my dilithium to Zen and bought the 1 billion EC cap upgrade and sold them all for a nice profit.
I was looking at the Tour the Universe and realized that it's now out of date. With the new Romulan sector that throws both of the guilds out, because of the 3 new sectors.
Starfleet/KDF vendors give 60% of the item's original cost
Civilian vendors (like Ferengi) give 50% of the item's original cost
Replicator gives 40% of the item's original cost
I'm pretty sure those are the correct percentages, but even if they aren't it is in the correct order. Starfleet/KDF give the most, replicator gives the least.
Where are the 60% vendors? I only know of the 50% ones (Consumables vendor on ESD and the armor salesman at DS9).
Vanor Wrote:I was looking at the Tour the Universe and realized that it's now out of date. With the new Romulan sector that throws both of the guilds out, because of the 3 new sectors.
It didn't add any sectors. You just fly right through Tau Dewa to Pi Canis or whatever. It didn't change the route at all beyond adding another loading screen and a bit of flight time.
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.stoacademy.com/guides/tour_the_universe.php">http://www.stoacademy.com/guides/tour_the_universe.php</a><!-- m -
