Reference for game version 3.7

 

Vanguard

Reference Archive

Spending & Star Citizen

Overview:

The goal of this FAQ is to answer some frequently asked questions and provide guidance on how one spends their time, aUEC, and real world money (cash) in and around Star Citizen. There are a number of confounding factors that come into play when making an informed decision about how you spend in SC, the goal of this document is not to dictate, but to inform one’s own decisions.

Clearly, some of the answers here will be offset by an individual’s motivating factors, so answers may vary from what is written.  

Understanding Persistence:

One of the primary factors that will inform a spending decision is understanding persistence in the game today.  Any patch may constitute a complete character reset.

So what stays and what goes in a reset?

Stays:

  • Anything purchased on RSI.com with cash

  • Anything you are currently being rewarded as part of your subscription membership

  • Any rental items you have rented with REC

  • Any UEC you have purchased at rsi.com or that comes with your starter package.  To see this amount, login to RSI.com and click “Account” it will show you your current UEC

    • Note, in some cases people do not start with the same amount of UEC listed under account, you should raise a ticket with CIG to see if they can fix this.

    • The reset can actually work in your favor, if your aUEC balance in the game is lower than your UEC balance on your account, the reset will put you back at your UEC account balance

Goes:

  • Any aUEC you have earned through missions, trading or any other in-game activity.

  • Any ships you have purchased with aUEC

  • Any ship weapons you have purchased with aUEC

  • Any armor, FPS weapons, clothing you have purchased with aUEC

This means, if you grind for a prospector and buy it with aUEC, the next day a patch resets progression, your prospector is gone. Plan accordingly with your time as this can crush ones soul just a bit right now.

With 3.8 adding the first version of platform persistence, we will hopefully see total wipes happen with less frequency, but you should always be aware that in-game progress may be lost at any time to a reset.

Try before you buy:
The simplest one is, borrow from an org-mate.  Vanguard has more ships than we know what to do with.  Just ask and someone will get you setup. Your other option is to rent a ship with REC (awarded by being a subscriber) to try a ship in Arena Commander, or with aUEC in the PU. This is always better than buying something blindly based on marketing fluff from CIG.  Crap like “it punches above it’s weight class” or “fastest ship in the verse” is extremely misleading when taken out of context. Borrow it from an org-mate, fly it, ask opinions about it, learn it yourself, then decide if you should buy.

Ships or Gaming Rig?

This is a balance, if your FPS is suffering and your rig is 3+ years old.  I’d spend my money on upgrades, buy ships later. Remember, at launch Vanguard will have literally thousands of ships (we already do), and nowhere near as many pilots.  Every ship you can imagine will probably be free-to-fly or even just outright gifted to those who need them. Get your gaming-rig set first, then spend the excess finances on ships, just exercise restraint.  A better rig with better FPS is going to improve your performance far more than a new ship.

Should I subscribe?

The short answer is, YES.  Subscriber benefits are pretty nuts.  In the last few months we’ve gotten access to hammerheads, the entire freelancer line up and Vanduul Scythe.  A base package and a 1 month subscription would give you 4-5 extra ships right now (at the time of writing, Jan 2019).  Some of them are the best in the game.