80 Weeks to get my Prismatic Shields

[drakkster2025]

I waited a long time for these shields. I didn't do the grind under the old system because I thought it a waste, now I realize that I was foolish not to get everything under the old system.
PP 2.0 is a grindfest! To get the Prismatic Shields I need 240,000 merits. After the nerf it will take aprox. 80 weeks to generate that many merits. BTW on foot combat I get 1 merit or none
for killing bounties, and I love on foot settlement raids especially military settlements.
If you good folks have any suggestions how I can get them faster let me know. I've been trading rare goods, got to 53K but now I think this will be nerfed. I didn't go into the black to gather plant data and I'm glad I didn't since they've nerfed that.

P.S. When devs nerf it's usually because of lack of content. They want to extend the grind. My honest opinion.

 

[DemiserofD]

First unlocks ARE a bit high. Hopefully they tweak it down a bit.

 

[forbiddenlake]

rare goods were already nerfed once. let's hope they aren't nerfed again

 

[krupps]

I had a stash of prismatics for many years but I am happy to have acquired the cytos from Archon just the week before PP2 was released. I realized that I was pledged for 97 weeks but never reached rank3 (during my absence from the game). I acquired the rank in 1 (one) hour and after the server tick I bought me a few cytos and put it into my storage ship. Looking at PP2 now, noooo wayyyyy.

 

[Factabulous]

So you need 240k, you already have 53k .. and you think it will take 80 weeks. I think what you actually need is a new calculator

 

[Gabriel H]

You got 53,000 merits in 3 days. You need 240,000 merits for shields.

 

[Dragsham]

When devs nerf it's usually because of lack of content. They want to extend the grind. My honest opinion.

Valid point.
If they continue to nerf avenues of merits farming its because there arnt many options that are lucrative ie rares atm or the exploration data debacle etc

 

[O'Roarke]

Here's a reddit thread by @DSS Lev that points to a Google Sheet on PP 2.0 activities that grant merits.
You might find stuff in there that you like to do that get good merits.

 

[DemiserofD]

I'm managing about 5,000 merits per hour, which seems like a reasonable rate of progress to me. That means it takes about 50 hours to unlock the first module, which seems a bit excessive, especially given that I am relatively skilled.

 

[galahad2069]

now I realize that I was foolish not to get everything under the old system

Indeed. They have altered the deal.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31HaTbWONmQ

 

[Gabriel H]

I'm managing about 5,000 merits per hour, which seems like a reasonable rate of progress to me. That means it takes about 50 hours to unlock the first module, which seems a bit excessive, especially given that I am relatively skilled.

I vaguely recall that it took 4 cycles (weeks) in PP 1.0. Seems comparable.

 

[krupps]

Waiting for 4 weeks, working 1 hour.

 

[photomankc]

rare goods were already nerfed once. let's hope they aren't nerfed again

They need to be at least capped. The leaderboards will now be NOTHING but 100% rare goods spam. Nothing else will matter.

That's independent of the unlock values for the modules which are way too damn high.

 

[vanFace]

I didn't do the grind under the old system because I thought it a waste, now I realize that I was foolish not to get everything under the old system.

Yes, you were. Next time you know.
OTOH, it was almost logical that they'll frak that up royally at first. FDev always learns on the go. Give it until next year and you'll see that they've adjusted it enough to form a minimal viable feature. If this will then be enough to re-spark interest in the pile of mess PP was before, I don't know. We will see.

 

[metatheurgist]

Pfft! It's Frontier, by next week you'll be able to get everything in one hour.

 

[DemiserofD]

What I'd like is if the care packages gave you a few early on, rather than outright unlocking them earlier. That makes them accessible but doesn't diminish the effort needed to unlock them entirely.

 

[S0rkvild]

how to make 5000 merits in one hour? I need advice

 

[Ian Doncaster]

Pfft! It's Frontier, by next week you'll be able to get everything in one hour.

The tricky thing here is that the merits you get for your personal rank and the merits you get for the system progress, apart from a few small bonuses from the weekly tasks, are exactly the same.

So making it easier to gain merits also makes systems swing a lot faster.
(Which, looking at the totals needed to move even fairly small systems a measurable amount, is presumably on a fairly harsh scale right now to ensure that there's not massive changes while they figure out the balance)

 

[Helmut Grokenberger]

how to make 5000 merits in one hour? I need advice

I am guessing rare goods trading. I've seen figures of 30+ merits per unit sold, a 64t load of rare goods would yield you around 2k merits. Rinse and repeat.

From my limited testing with my power it seems you need to be pledged to the right power though; no matter what I do, I top out at 19 merits per unit from Kaine. I've seen LYR pledgees get 30 to 40 merits per unit, and Archon people get in the mid 20s. Not sure though. More testing required, maybe I am doing something wrong.

 

[DemiserofD]

I am guessing rare goods trading. I've seen figures of 30+ merits per unit sold, a 64t load of rare goods would yield you around 2k merits. Rinse and repeat.

From my limited testing with my power it seems you need to be pledged to the right power though; no matter what I do, I top out at 19 merits per unit from Kaine. I've seen LYR pledgees get 30 to 40 merits per unit, and Archon people get in the mid 20s. Not sure though. More testing required, maybe I am doing something wrong.

It may have something to do with the system you're picking. There are indicators on the map about strength and difficulty, so it's possible that systems further from your home will be much harder to attack or defend.