Early game money

[Nova]

How do I get enough money to buy Hold-Wall in the early game?

[Du-Vu]

Depends what you mean by early game. You're probably best off getting to Defiance Bay as soon as you can, for money and XP. Lots of quick little sidequests you can do there, if you want to load up before tackling the combat-heavier areas.

[happybjorn]

This quickest way is probably to sell as much as possible to Heodan during the intro. If you have the ring Gaun's Pledge sell that to him too (I think this requires having either preordered, or having upgraded the game by getting the expansions).

Between what you sell to Heodan and loot in the intro dungeon there should be a little over 1000 copper in coin. The ring is another 1537. You will also have several hundred in loot you can sell once you reach Gilded Vale. So you will need another 1000 or so copper to buy Hold-Wall (this is assuming a price of 4000 copper, not sure if prices change based on difficulty).

There might be just enough loot around town to get the rest, there certainly is if you can do part of the Temple of Eothas or go to another map or two and get loot from there. Money is really tight in the early game.

[D'amarr from Darshiva]

Why would you want that weapon so badly?

[Gilmoy]

I agree with both perspectives.

- On the one hand, any starting weapon will soon become obsolete. Just play long enough.

+ On the other hand, actually buying an early weapon early is a useful puzzle in its own right. That's why it's for sale, right? Reasoning as above, any early tranche of coppers will also get replaced by later coppers, so you might as well spend it early for early advantage.

Then it may be necessary to (learn how to) maximize your copper income. That could lead you to learn tips, habits, and behaviors that will be generally useful throughout the game.

++ Finally, it might be a fun thing to do. Think of it as a player-written mini-quest

[D'amarr from Darshiva]

Originally posted by Gilmoy:

+ On the other hand, actually buying an early weapon early is a useful puzzle in its own right. That's why it's for sale, right?

Yet you may be able to afford only a single expensive item early (and if refusing to spend cash on anything else), and the same shop owner offers multiple that are more interesting:
--> https://pillarsofeternity.gamepedia.com/Black_Hammer_Smithery

[Du-Vu]

If the guy wants an arbalest, let him have his arbalest. Knocking prone on a crit can be fun, and if you do Tuatanu's quest it's a decent enough discount.

That's one of the few enchanted arbalests in the first game, though. You'll want to look at your options for enchanting and try and stock up to upgrade it yourself, if you plan on sticking with it.

[Gilmoy]

Originally posted by D'amarr from Darshiva:

Yet you may be able to afford only a single expensive item early ...

True. So buying (only) 1 item is a bit of a gambit. But that's a fine way to earmark 1 playthrough. It will surely be different from the average playthrough in which you don't do it.

If a shop has 5 different items that you could afford, that's 5 different gambits! You will play PoE1 at least six times, hehe.

[D'amarr from Darshiva]

Originally posted by Gilmoy:

If a shop has 5 different items that you could afford, that's 5 different gambits! You will play PoE1 at least six times, hehe.

Or you will skip those items altogether, because you have found out you don't need them early and you don't want to waste money on them. There are better items in the game, and after a first playthrough, players may have learned that they will earn a lot of cash in Act 2 and beyond and would rather skip many of the items that are sold in Gilded Vale.

But yeah, for a role-player who strictly decided on using an arbalest and who likely also invests into Weapon Focus:Soldier, the Hold-Wall weapon may be more tempting than a basic arbalest. Afterall, the heavy ranged weapons in PoE are good combat openers.

[Rad-Icarus]

Originally posted by D'amarr from Darshiva:

Why would you want that weapon so badly?

Why aren't you telling him he's playing wrong and making bad choices?

[D'amarr from Darshiva]

Originally posted by Rad-Icarus:

Originally posted by D'amarr from Darshiva:

Why would you want that weapon so badly?

Why aren't you telling him he's playing wrong and making bad choices?

Huh? I ask because there may be a misconception about the term "early game". Also notice the first response in this topic!

Act 1 areas remain accessible up to the late point of no return, making it possible to buy from that merchant any time later.

[D'amarr from Darshiva]

Oh, and in case you wonder whether buying Hold-Wall in Act 1 might be "a bad choice"? Well, the answer depends on what the player's characters can do and what their needs are in Act 1. It's possible to make a bit of cash, but other items from the same merchant could be a better, more efficient choice - and more helpful with regard to some of the problems one runs into in Act 1.

Would it be "wrong" to spend all cash on a single expensive item while still in Act 1? Depends. The summoning figurine could turn out to be much more helpful immediately, but it could be that player is willing to take the risk of going flat broke after deciding what item might be the most helpful purchase.

[happybjorn]

Originally posted by Du-Vu:

If the guy wants an arbalest, let him have his arbalest. Knocking prone on a crit can be fun, and if you do Tuatanu's quest it's a decent enough discount.

That's one of the few enchanted arbalests in the first game, though. You'll want to look at your options for enchanting and try and stock up to upgrade it yourself, if you plan on sticking with it.

Good points, without doing the quest the price is 4800 (instead of what I wrote earlier, which was 4000, after the quest had been done). I checked briefly and getting to 4000 copper is pretty easy to do in Gilded Vale, 4800 doesn't seem possible without doing Temple or going somewhere else. You can't enchant a weapon with Fine until level 4 anyway, so doing the quest first makes lots of sense.

There are so few unique arbalests that it may be the best one, but it depends on what's mentioned in the quote, how far you are willing to enchant it. The soulbound one (from Deadfire pack) seems like it ought to be good, but it's class restricted.

[Arekusu]

Just don't skip any content and you can afford the crossbow in act 1. Biggest paydays are Raederic's Keep (gotta kill everything though) followed by Temple of Eothas and then Od Nua levels 1-5 (although I'd skip level 3 due to ogre druids being OP that early on). I can't remember exactly how much the act 1 content nets you, but it's probably about 10k if you do as much as possible.

[D'amarr from Darshiva]

The Endless Paths of Od Nua don't open up before completing Act 1, and in Act 2 you get many more options to make an income. Defiance Bay and Dyrford become accessible.

[Diomedes]

Its a waste of time, just progress with the story.. As soon as you do a few major story line quests in Defiance Bay.. You're swimming in money.