What is the benefit of buying the battle pass or growth pass?
For both battle pass variants, there is a paid path as well as a free path. How they differ and what rewards are available on which path in detail remains unclear. According to the developers, however, aside from cosmetic items, it should be possible to earn all rewards from the one-time purchasable growth pass.
The battle pass refreshes monthly and offers not only cosmetic items but also crafting materials, in-game currencies, and other items. What can alternatively be earned without spending money is currently unclear.
The same applies to the offers in the battle pass shop, where you pay with battle pass shop points that you primarily earn by leveling up the battle pass to the maximum level. Since you can pay for both paths with earned Luzent, there is at least one option to access all pass contents without spending money.
However, whether it will actually be that way in practice depends on the price of the passes and the actual number of Luzent that can be earned.
This trailer prepares you for the release of Throne and Liberty:
What is the benefit of investing money in the in-game shop?
Unlike in Korea, the in-game shop of the western version of Throne and Liberty is supposed to sell exclusively cosmetic items. The materials for the currency Sollant, food, or potions have been removed. Therefore, those who invest a lot of money in the shop will not become more powerful but will be able to indulge in more customization.
How much character power is in the auction house?
Since you pay in the auction house with the real money currency Luzent, the final question is what can you actually buy on the player market? Currently, the auction house of Throne and Liberty is going live with some restrictions:
- Loot from instanced content like dungeons or guild raids cannot be sold in the auction house.
- Items purchased in the in-game shop cannot be sold in the auction house.
- Nothing that increases your weapon mastery can be bought in the auction house.
- The really good pieces of equipment from the non-instanced content that can be sold in the auction house drop so rarely that many guilds will use this long period to equip their own members – reports from the Korean version confirm this.
- If you buy an item from the auction house, it will always only have the base level. Upgraded equipment parts cannot be sold on the market. You must therefore play to obtain the best-upgraded equipment.
- Skill improvement books and growth stones for increasing the armor value cannot be directly purchased in the auction house.
- Gems needed for crafting skill improvement books and growth stones can be bought in the auction house. Other ingredients like crystals and parchment must be earned. Magical powder can be indirectly obtained through the auction house by buying armor there and deconstructing it.
- You can extract property values from items (which destroys the item) and sell this equipment feature through the auction house. With this feature, you can then enchant an equipment part that has the same feature to increase the respective property value. However, you can also use your own drops for this.
In short: If you want to wear the best possible equipment at launch, you have to play Throne and Liberty; you cannot simply buy everything. However, you can take a few time shortcuts through the auction house, such as by buying suitable equipment features, gems, or base equipment from world bosses.
The time advantage for paying players is likely to be particularly large regarding the maximum upgrade of desired items as well as obtaining the best possible runes or resonance effects. This is very time-consuming and partly dependent on the factor of chance without spending money.
Since you can earn Luzent, there is at least partially an alternative to spending money. However, you must be in an ambitious guild to earn enough Luzent for such min-maxing, and that also takes time.
Note that runes and resonance traits were not available at launch in South Korea. They were only added with later patches.
What are the disadvantages for free-to-play players?
Looking at the current state of information, the disadvantages for free-to-play players are relatively minor. Those who invest money in Throne and Liberty can start a bit earlier, indulge in exclusive cosmetic items and take a few time shortcuts. However, the best possible equipment cannot simply be bought.
Those who are part of an active guild and play regularly should also be able to earn enough Luzent to at least pay for the passes and make a few investments. Does that sound fair to you? Here again are all the known details: Throne and Liberty – All important details about free-to-play, early access, currencies, battle pass, shop, pay-to-win
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