Traders seem broken

[LeStudd]

Day 35 Game stage 98. I bought a motorcycle and a T4 compound xbow from traders early on, which was nice. But, other than buys books and magazines, and getting quests, the traders are pretty much a non event. What's the point of Dukes now?

[RipClaw]

32 minutes ago, LeStudd said:

What's the point of Dukes now?

Smelting them down for brass?

[Orabast]

We bought a crucible in week 2 when we were not even close to unlocking it with books. That was pretty exciting. We're saving up for solar bank & cells now.

[LeStudd]

The game feels gutted.

[theFlu]

Yeh, looks like most of my playthroughs will spend coin for most workstation stuff.. crucible, chem station etc. And the chance of finding upgrades to your main weapon isn't low either.. of course, once those are settled, the trader can't really have that much of a role; what's left, ammo? Ammo seems self-sustaining..

[Polymyxin]

I just want to know how to get solar cells to show up for sale. I hear they exist but almost no one has seen them. I wonder if they are tied to a specific loot stage that you pass because I've heard of level 30 players seeing them, or if they are somehow tied to the old secret stash and got bugged when they got rid of the secret stash. 

[Mastermind]

2 hours ago, Polymyxin said:

I just want to know how to get solar cells to show up for sale.

IIRC, 1 trader is more likely than the other to have them in stock, I don't remember which one though. Based on the wiki, I'd say it's probably Trader Bob.

[Vaeliorin]

4 hours ago, Polymyxin said:

I just want to know how to get solar cells to show up for sale. I hear they exist but almost no one has seen them. I wonder if they are tied to a specific loot stage that you pass because I've heard of level 30 players seeing them, or if they are somehow tied to the old secret stash and got bugged when they got rid of the secret stash. 

I've seen one, tier 3, 36k dukes.  It was either Hugh, Jen or Rekt that had it (I can't recall specifically.)  But I had maxed Daring Adventurer (and if it was Hugh, I had max quest tier.)

[Polymyxin]

2 hours ago, Vaeliorin said:

I've seen one, tier 3, 36k dukes.  It was either Hugh, Jen or Rekt that had it (I can't recall specifically.)  But I had maxed Daring Adventurer (and if it was Hugh, I had max quest tier.)

I have max Better Barter, max Daring Adventure and I've unlocked Tier 5 quests. I haven't unlocked Tier 6 yet. I'm almost level 140 and I haven't seen a single solar cell for sale and I check constantly. 

[Survior]

Well considering how bad quest rewards are and how sales were nerfed in general it wouldn't shock me if you had to have a 1:1000 chance or game stage one zillion to see the things.

 

[Vaeliorin]

12 hours ago, Polymyxin said:

I have max Better Barter, max Daring Adventure and I've unlocked Tier 5 quests. I haven't unlocked Tier 6 yet. I'm almost level 140 and I haven't seen a single solar cell for sale and I check constantly. 

Yeah, I'm not exactly saying they're common or anything, just that I've seen them pop up, so they do appear.  They just seem really rare (and even more stupidly expensive than I recall.)

[BFT2020]

18 hours ago, Polymyxin said:

I have max Better Barter, max Daring Adventure and I've unlocked Tier 5 quests. I haven't unlocked Tier 6 yet. I'm almost level 140 and I haven't seen a single solar cell for sale and I check constantly. 

 

I found the issue

 

            <item name="solarCell" count="1,3" prob="0.2" quality="3,6" noSale="Polymyxin"/>

 

Just kidding, they are low probability to find.  You are probably just having very bad luck right now.  There is an electrical trader stage table, but if you are at those levels, you exceed the minimum.

 

FYI - Better barter doesn't affect what will be in the trader's inventory - it just increases the price you get from selling and lowers the cost for things you are buying.  At max Daring Adventure, you got a 40 point boost to trader stage.

[Polymyxin]

On 6/29/2023 at 5:39 PM, BFT2020 said:

 

I found the issue

 

            <item name="solarCell" count="1,3" prob="0.2" quality="3,6" noSale="Polymyxin"/>

 

Just kidding, they are low probability to find.  You are probably just having very bad luck right now.  There is an electrical trader stage table, but if you are at those levels, you exceed the minimum.

 

FYI - Better barter doesn't affect what will be in the trader's inventory - it just increases the price you get from selling and lowers the cost for things you are buying.  At max Daring Adventure, you got a 40 point boost to trader stage.

 

I guess it could be, but everyone I game with is looking for them also and none of us are finding them. It's hard to believe we're all having really bad luck. Why are the banks found frequently, but the cells are impossible to find? The banks have 6 slots.  The cells should be found more frequently. 

 

UPDATE: I don't know if it's the patch they just did, but I'm finally starting to find them. I've found 2 level 5 cells while out today. 

Edited July 1, 2023 by Polymyxin (see edit history)

[BFT2020]

21 minutes ago, Polymyxin said:

 

I guess it could be, but everyone I game with is looking for them also and none of us are finding them. It's hard to believe we're all having really bad luck. Why are the banks found frequently, but the cells are impossible to find? The banks have 6 slots.  The cells should be found more frequently. 

 

There will probably be some tweaks if they are always hard to get.  The banks themselves are the same probability as the battery banks, so not surprised you are seeing those.

 

Something I do while waiting to find the cells is that I go ahead and switch to battery banks (because eventually you will with solar power) and use a generator to recharge the batteries.  Typically I have so many batteries that I can use them to power my base and the generator with additional battery banks to recharge any dead batteries.  One generator with one motor can recharge I think 10 banks full of batteries as each bank will only draw 5 W of power, but there might be a limit on number of connection points so you will lose some wattage from having to use relays.

Edited July 1, 2023 by BFT2020 (see edit history)