Buying out phases 23 and 24 of the Event Pass worth it? My calculation...

[tangofan]

I am currently on level 22, 60/75 on the Even Pass (both tracks). During the previous Event Pass someone posted that they decided to buy out the most expensive phases 23 and 24 in order to get more Festive Certificates. The question for me now is, whether that's worth it.

Note: It is pretty obvious that this is NOT worth it, if you don't have the second (paid) track of the Event Pass unlocked. So the following calculation assumes that that second track is unlocked.

So here is my calculation (again for both Event Pass tracks unlocked):

I'm done with todays event pass, so all I have left to collect is one week of Progress Points, which is 365 points (7*45+25+25). Since I'm at level 22, 60/75 I need 15 points to get to level 23. Since there is no 15 point task, I'll need to complete the 20 point task, before I could potentially buy it out, so only 345 points will be left. (Note: If I decided to buy out level 23, I'll play a coop battle for this to ensure that I only get the 20 point daily mission, otherwise I'll waste even more Progress Points.)

Update: When you buy out a level, you apparently get the full amount of progress points for that level and will receive points toward the next level as well. E.g. I was at 5/100 in level 23, bought out two levels and now I'm at 5/50 in level 25.

Phases to buy out    Available Points   Level 23    Level 24   Level 25  Points available   Certs to get      Cost in Dubs
                                                                                                                                                                 for Certs

    0                    345               95         100          50          150              6                      0

    1                    345                0          95          50          250             10                   1000

    2                    345                0           0          45          350             14                   2000

 

If you want to buy out one phase, you could also buy out phase 24, which is more advantageous. On Wednesday you'll clear both daily and both weekly missions for a total of 95 points. Then on Thursday you'll play a coop game to get the 20 points mission for a total of 115 points, which will exactly clear level 23, with 0/100 of level 24. At that point you'd have 250 progress points left to get, which will get you a total of 10 certs.

Phases to buy out    Available Points   Level 23    Level 24   Points available for Certs    Certs to get           Cost in Dubs

    1 (buy out 24)       250                0         100             240                      10                           1000

 

Are those extra Certificates worth it? It depends. If you want to buy regular Santa Containers, it's not. Each regular container cost 250 doubloons (or 225, if you buy them in a 20-pack). So each 1000 doubloon gives you 4 containers and you could have just bought them directly for that price.

If you want to buy Megas, it might save you a little amount, but that depends on how many certificates you're currently holding. Mega costs 1250 doubloons (or 1000 doubloons, if you buy them in a 20-pack) and can be obtained for 5 certificates. If you currently hold 1 certificates, spending 2000 doubloons will get you an extra 14 to push you to 15, so you're getting two additional Megas. That might be particularly useful, if you're close to the invocation of the "Mercy" rule (guaranteed ship drop after 14 "shipless" Megas).

So all you're "saving" with that buyout is the ability to get one or two extra Megas at the discount price. But what the optimal strategy is, depends on how many certificates you currently hold (or are still able to get, e.g. buy FXPing some T10s). This calculation completely discounts the value of having single certificates left over (1 to 4), even though you can still buy regular containers with them.

Now if WG decides to give us an extra code for Progress Points, you could get two extra certificates, so that would mean, you might reach the next multiple of 5 certs easier. In particular that would drop the necessity for jumping through the extra hoops for buying out phase 24.

Conclusion: It might be worth it on the margins to do this, but only if you feel like getting one or two extra Megas at the discount price, instead of the single container price. Otherwise it's a wash. But if you would have bought those Megas anyway to invoke the "mercy" rule, then it might be worth a thought. However it's extra doubloons spent, so if you don't want or need more Megas, just skip it.

Edited January 1 by tangofan

[Wolfswetpaws]

Thanks for sharing.  🙂 

[tangofan]

Note: Just updated the calculation for buying zero phases out, since I made a copying mistake.

[Utt_Bugglier]

 Well, @tangofan I’m that “someone.”

And there is a vey small error (probably a typo) in your math:

9 hours ago, tangofan said:

… all I have left to collect is one week of Progress Points, which is 365 points (7*45+25+25). Since I'm at level 22, 60/75 I need 25 points to get to level 23, before I could potentially buy it out,…

You need 15 points to reach Level 23, not 25 points. You probably knew this, since you went on to say the 20-points task would get you across the line to 23.

[tangofan]

1 hour ago, Utt_Bugglier said:

 Well, @tangofan I’m that “someone.”

And there is a vey small error (probably a typo) in your math:

You need 15 points to reach Level 23, not 25 points. You probably knew this, since you went on to say the 20-points task would get you across the line to 23.

Correct. I technically need only 15 points. But there is no 15 point task, so I need a 20 points task. But you're correct 25 points is wrong. I've changed this to (hopefully) clarify things. But the rest of the math is unaffected.

Edited January 1 by tangofan

[Ocsimano18]

My only issue is that even if you win a ship from those megas, it will be a totaly random ship that you might not play at all. It’s probably better to keep your doubloons and directly buy a ship you like, or invest it into a dockyard event next year into a ship thar seems to be worthwhile in advance.

[a252]

I am estimated to have 8 certificates by the end.

I may consider buying one stage hoping to collect another mega container, my small Satan crate is 23 left from mercy drop so far, if I am not having luck it will be 18 at stage 25).

I am nowhere near the mercy drop for mega so I may not get a boat.

However I am planning to get 2*8 small Satan crate if I failed to collect with free obtainable ones. If I get 1000 dub for 4 certs, I will just have enough to cover the missing 2 crate to fill in the mercy drop. So I may am thinking of getting one stage done in this case.

 

Edit: I brought 1 level of BP, ended up getting a boat from the small container offer at level 25. So at the end I don't have to wait until mercy drop.

Edited January 2 by a252

[tangofan]

9 hours ago, a252 said:

I am estimated to have 8 certificates by the end.

I may consider buying one stage hoping to collect another mega container, my small Satan crate is 23 left from mercy drop so far, if I am not having luck it will be 18 at stage 25).

I am nowhere near the mercy drop for mega so I may not get a boat.

However I am planning to get 2*8 small Satan crate if I failed to collect with free obtainable ones. If I get 1000 dub for 4 certs, I will just have enough to cover the missing 2 crate to fill in the mercy drop. So I may am thinking of getting one stage done in this case.

Another alternative to buying out a phase is to FXP some tech tree lines you would never play. E.g. in my case I have some sub and CV lines up to T8. In addition to FXP that costs credits as well of course. At the moment I have one certificate and the credits (and FXP) to buy out to tech tree T10 CVs for a total of 3 certs, so I'll need to buy out one phase as well. 

But - assuming I did the math right - I can buy out phase 24, which would give me two Megas all on their own. And of course an extra Mega from the 2nd line of the Event Pass. If I buy out two phases, I'll have 13 certs (before FXPing any tech tree T10), so I could get up to 15 for three Megas (plus the one from the Event pass). Still I'm 7 ships short of a mercy drop (which would be steel anyway in my case) at the moment, so no way to reach that.

In any case don't just trust my math, run the numbers for yourself. 🙃

 

[tangofan]

Update: After playing one coop battle and getting 20 progress points I bought out two levels and now I'm at 5/50 of level 50. So contrary to my assumptions, when you buy out a level you'll always get the full amount of progress points from that level. So buying out level 23 only should get you to 5/100 at level 24. That means you'll actually get two more certs than I originally had anticipated.

I am correcting my calculation in the first post to reflect this.

Edited January 1 by tangofan

[majmac]

In my opinion, it is not worth spending any 'real' money on this game.

[mashed68]

18 hours ago, majmac said:

In my opinion, it is not worth spending any 'real' money on this game.

You do know doubloons come from things other then real money right?  RIGHT???? 

[majmac]

5 hours ago, mashed68 said:

You do know doubloons come from things other then real money right?  RIGHT???? 

I do, that is why I wrote real money.

 

[Utt_Bugglier]

On 1/1/2025 at 5:20 PM, tangofan said:

Update: After playing one coop battle and getting 20 progress points I bought out two levels and now I'm at 5/50 of level 50.

Level 50, huh?

So, you bought out, what, 25 more levels?

[tangofan]

2 hours ago, Utt_Bugglier said:

Level 50, huh?

So, you bought out, what, 25 more levels?

Ok, small typo... 🙃

[Utt_Bugglier]

4 hours ago, tangofan said:

Ok, small typo... 🙃

I was expecting a v2.0 of your calculation changing your conclusion!

[clammboy]

I bought all the starter packs with doubloons I got with my anniversary coupon. Last night I finished the dockyard and received the Niord don't know to much about her except she has very fast reload and long range torps. Now I can finish the rest of the dockyard missions for steel.

Honestly I cant put all that effort into whether it is worth it or not but that was well written for people who do good job!

[tangofan]

5 hours ago, Utt_Bugglier said:

I was expecting a v2.0 of your calculation changing your conclusion!

I changed the calculation and wording in my original post. You get two more certificates, when buying out two phases compared to my original calculation, but the conclusion is the same: Consider buying it out, if it gets you to the next one or two Megas, otherwise forget it. And even "consider buying it out" was never exactly a ringing endorsement.

Edited January 4 by tangofan

[Utt_Bugglier]

59 minutes ago, tangofan said:

I changed the calculation and wording in my original post. You get two more certificates, when buying out two phases compared to my original calculation, but the conclusion is the same: Consider buying it out, if it gets you to the next one or two Megas, otherwise forget it. And even "consider buying it out" was never exactly a ringing endorsement.

No, I meant a conclusion about going for level 50! Humor, man!