Credits, the fundamental unit of currency, are hard to come by in the world of metroplexity. This is an intentional design of the game to keep the prices of items from getting hyper-inflated - however there are a few ways to earn some quick cash fairly easily. The following is a breakdown of some of the most common and most profitable ways to earn some cash. I've divided it into strategies for farming in run and post-run, although many of these work for both.
In run
Omnitech Supplies Crates
Omnitech supplies crates can be obtained from the Crate Shipment encounter on the waterfront. Each one contains a bunch of battered and fresh cred chips, which can be sold for an average of about 202 credits per crate. This encounter only shows up while you are in gang warfare and your gang is in control of the area, so be sure to have your other gang members clear the area for you first. While you're there, you can set the agenda to Shakedown for another ~50 cred a turn too.
(With post-run gear and the waterfront under your control, you can earn 4000-5000 credits per day. There are a lot of encounters on the waterfront so try to boost +chance of choice encounters, +chance of PvP encounters, and Shakedown. Shakedown gives 50 cred per turn but you can't opt out, it's probably better to boost Choice encounters more than PvP encounters to increase the odds of the 200 cred Crate Shipment encounter, and walk away from other choice encounters.)
Slimy man
If you have access to the VIP Room, the Slimy Man can be a quick source of credits. You need to be working for Dr. Thomas for him to show up, but you don't need to actually give any crates out. The slimy man will give you a fresh cred chip every time you ask, giving an average of 35 credits. Because of other non-combats in the area it's not the best place for long term farming, but if you're near the end of a run and just short of enough cash to finish it, a couple turns here might help. Boosting +chance of choice encounters could make him show up more.
Ancient Treasure Chests
Ancient Treasure Chests can be obtained on the tainted shoreline and the items inside them can be sold for an average of 146 cred. It can take a while to obtain your first one because you have to figure out which of the eight branches of the massive oil slick has the corpse on it, but after that it is a very quick source of credits. Note that you need to ask the corpse for more treasure each time you find a chest, which can slow you down a bit.
Dr. Thomas
If you get Dr. Thomas as a contact while exploring the sewer hideout, you can work for her by delivering crates of eclipse. Not everyone will give great credit rewards but if you are in the area anyway, some people you might want to consider include:
- Carlos (100 cred) - if you have him as a contact, it doesn't even take a turn.
- Desperate Dock Guard (50 credits) - but note that you have to give eclipse to the Desperate Dockhand first.
- Slick Third Eye (100 cred) - requires you to have supplied the girl in the VIP Room, but that doesn't take too long.
As an additional minor reward, if you have given out enough crates then Dr. Thomas will sometimes give you a fresh cred chip once a day.
Killing opponents
Most humanoid opponents drop small amounts of credits, which add up over time. In particular, the gang boss, Shard and Saber about 100 cred each.
Post run
Ghost ship
The ghost ship may be the most effective place to farm in the whole game, although the opponents in the area can be tough to beat so it is not very practical in run or shortly after finishing a quick run. The spectral sailors drop ancient money pouches, which contain a bunch of ancient gold coins and golden keys. Although the keys can be sold directly, using them to open Treasure Chests is much more beneficial. The downsides to farming here is that you must be etheric the whole time, and you can lock out this area if you finish the quest. By running away from the trio of hounds and some first aid, it is possible to farm here with out having to spend turns resting.
See Ghost Ship: Get Rich Quick for an excellent guide to farming here.
Sato
Sato is a contact you can pick up in The Cellar Door in Downtown if you help the Yakuza At the Bar. He will pay 300 cred each for one specific kind of item per day (randomized), but some items are much easier to make than others. Specifically, the items he buys are:
- bulletproof vest - needs light armored vest + ballistic plastic
- armored pants - needs unlined pants + ballistic plastic
- hardened blade - needs sword hilt (moderately limited) + hardened plastic
- hardened cyberblade - needs basic cyberblade (quite limited) + hardened plastic
- hardened switchblade - needs switchblade handle (rather limited) + hardened plastic
- modernized rifle - needs suspicious rifle (which makes stolen crates a little more interesting) + hardened plastic
- sealed cyberblade - needs basic cyberblade (quite limited) + cybersafety seal
- frag grenades - needs gas grenades + Nitro/dynamite (moderately limited) + polysteel
- NitroX - needs Nitro (moderately limited) + white flakes (rather limited)
Ballistic Plastic and Hardened Plastic are among the "higher level" crafting ingredients. If you have the combat chops to fight the Midgard Heavy Guards (unarmed/gatling), they drop both plastics, decent credits and other clothing which can be salvaged.
Pickpocketing the Fashionable Exec
With sufficient Pickpocketing skill, you can reliably steal from the Fashionable Exec. I'm averaging about 83 credits per energy spent.
Gang Warfare
If you have control of a zone and have the gang warfare agenda set to "Shakedown" you periodically get encounters that give you credits. The Quad is the most lucrative zone, yielding 50-75 credits each time.
Omnimall
The Omnimall can be a source of credits from other players. Although the playerbase is small in Metroplexity, there are some items that sell well. Difficult to obtain consumables such as Stimulant Dust and Kraken Rolls may go quickly, and many people will pay a lot for items from limited time content.
Anti-farming
Spending credits on items that let you adventure more may be worthwhile, overall. For example, say you can farm 4000 credits in a day (about 60-70 energy), or ~60 credits per turn. Note however that you can buy Omnitech trauma bandages from Little Eddie's backroom for 20 credits per bandage. So if you stock up on bandages and use 2 bandages to heal instead of 1 turn resting, you come out ahead. There are diminishing return on healing with medicine but many cases when it's worth while (especially if you just need a couple HP to be able to continue to adventure and don't need a full rest).