To Chip or Not to Chip. That is the question.

And I am seriously trying to weigh the options here. I think what I need is an experienced Skill chipper to sit down and pow-wow with.

I've currently got 182,711 skill points across a broad range (damn near all) professions. As I have skilled up over the last 2 years I have noticed that my spending has skilled up to. Bigger skills let me use bigger guns which use more ammo. I am at a point where it is too easy to spend more in game then I would like to when I'm thinking straight.

So I'm considering chipping the majority of my skill out. Saving a few (VSE, Capt., sweating) but most hunting based skills, mining, evade, dodge and the rest. Basically taking myself back to Noob levels in most professions and starting over. A little older.. and a lot wiser then when I first came to this wonderful little universe. One it will be a nice challenge to see how fast I can build them back up again. and Two I wont be so tempted to blow 500 ped of ammo on a single 1 hour hunt .

So, In conclusion.

If there is anyone out there that has the time and patience to talk over these options with me and give me some good sound advice. I would be deeply indebted to you, oh wise one. If at the same time you know a buyer that wants a good all around set up of skills pre made. Why that would be almost too good to be true.

Please leave me a message here, or contact me in game "Tameron Cutter Othello"

I am a Rocktropian at heart and can usually be found there. Early mornings or early evenings EST.

Thanks and Happy Hof'fing Everyone.

My advice: Keep your skills, and just do smaller cycles with a reduced bankroll. Tone down your spending and learn to profit from the ground up.

On the other hand, this seems like a profitable time to chip out. ESI prices skyrocketed by ~400% since last I checked a few months ago, and it seems that the skills that were practically TT trash (like Rifle) are selling higher than ever, which makes no freakin' sense to me at all

If its the SIB on gun that bug you. Chip out the hunting hit/dmg skills.

keep the evade/dodge related skill
keep the hp related skill (if possible)

youll be starting back again, but with higher hp and higher evade/dodge. Which is good for your pedcard as u can approach hunting with no armor on.

I would suggest some ped card control if possible over chippin gout.

Even if you just wanna be a sweater - its going to be so much easier to sweat when you have 150 hp and lvl 20 evade vs 90 hp and lvl 4 evade

swampymonster said:

I would suggest some ped card control if possible over chippin gout.

Even if you just wanna be a sweater - its going to be so much easier to sweat when you have 150 hp and lvl 20 evade vs 90 hp and lvl 4 evade

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For sure. Don't chip out anything that is a pain to skill naturally, like evade... You will probably be tempted to buy it again some day anyway.

swampymonster said:

I would suggest some ped card control if possible over chippin gout.

Even if you just wanna be a sweater - its going to be so much easier to sweat when you have 150 hp and lvl 20 evade vs 90 hp and lvl 4 evade

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That's one of the things that makes me want a chipping mentor here lol. Evade and Dodge are free skills, I know the tricks for building them back up quickly (currently 35 in evade). The HP is why I'm going to retain my Captains and Melee skills.

And I agree, Ped card control is the most essential thing. But it is also the thing I am having trouble with, that brought this whole thread to life.

Skills are barely worth anything nowadays (except for defense ones, but those you should keep no matter how low you plan to go). you won't recover a fraction of what it did cost you to gain them. And if (when) you decide to hike your gameplay level up again, you will bitterly regret that you sold them.

It sounds like you lack the discipline to maintain your ped card with your current skills.

Chipping out skills will make that more manageable for a time of course, but you'd be back to where you were in the blink of an eye - since your play style hasn't changed.

What you need to consider changing, is yourself.

You don't have to always use the highest level maxed weapon for your level, you should use what your ped card can afford. If you don't wanna spend 700 ped in one hour hunt, the answer is quite simple, downgrade to lower weapon/mobs.

When you get bored of that, you can always do the bigger ones every now and again for fun.

The thing most people realize when they get to medium level is that the game gets more expensive as you go, and (most people) can't afford to keep up at that pace.

What you can do then is adapt, change your play style/play less frequently etc. That is the hard truth of this game.

I definitely feel your pain OP.

After 5-6 long slow mining runs planetside, all I want to do is go nuts with a huge amp in HELL or FOMA. It's costed me a lot in the past, and I'll probably make the same mistake again.

But I know I'd be kicking myself for all eternity if I sold my mining skills

Svarog said:

Skills are barely worth anything nowadays (except for defense ones, but those you should keep no matter how low you plan to go). you won't recover a fraction of what it did cost you to gain them. And if (when) you decide to hike your gameplay level up again, you will bitterly regret that you sold them.

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I agree with this. After the cost of the ESI most skills aren't really worth chipping. Sometimes you can make some nice profits at auction with small (over priced) amounts but if they don't sell then the auction fee is a killer.

Best bet is to sell your uber gear, downgrade and buy CLDs/AUDs. Then play with your dividends . This way your spending will be physically capped.

matthew said:

I agree with this. After the cost of the ESI most skills aren't really worth chipping. Sometimes you can make some nice profits at auction with small (over priced) amounts but if they don't sell then the auction fee is a killer.

Best bet is to sell your uber gear, downgrade and buy CLDs/AUDs. Then play with your dividends . This way your spending will be physically capped.

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Solid advice! I'd definitely consider this OP. I'd do it myself if I had the PED

Removing it all and then skilling it up again isn't a challenge if you just keep spending it's just the inevitable consequence.

If the main issue is the amount you're spending then set yourself a budget - deposit it at the beginning of the month and then use it as you see fit but you're the only to blame if you're ped less by the end of the month.

I noticed that my spending was going the same way, normal progression I suppose and exactly what MA wanted, so when my debit card expired I didn't re-register the new one and that instantly cut my deposits to $50 per month. It meant I missed out on a few things, even 10 ped globals are a rarity for me, but tbh after so many years I'm glad I didn't give them the cash.

Best option would be to buy a low-level, unL SIB gun. In the lvl 10-20 range; this will restrict your cost per hour and reduce the temptation to go big when buying the next (L) gun.

Don't chip out. It's not worth it and you'll miss the skills. I've chipped out fully 3 times, each time regretting it.

I've managed to work my way back up without chipping in, just grinding missions. Not yet to where I was but getting there... still wish I hadn't chipped.

Even when full quitting the game the return isn't actually that much unless you're rocking a bunch of 10k+ skills... a few thousand ped? Do you need 200-300$ that much? ESI costs are too big of a proportion of the skill MU.

my advie is to sell everything and dont look back.

No! Don't do such thing! What happen to your original plan?
You need to step down a bit and do some low lvl things.
Stop gambling in shared loot and mining big times without good returns.
Stay in space longer and use the low lvl repairer (even there you want to go big now).

You're my friend and I don't want you to regret it.

I was in the same boat as you in 2008, it took about 8 months to unload the skills (225k) in total for me.

I will say that I do not regret it as much as I thought I would, prices were a bit better back then ofc, but it very much surprised me with the total value in the end, to the point that my frustration of my "losses" (the cause of the sell) was stifled by unexpected profits from skills/items.

I checked back into the game about 2012 with the 5k or so skills I had left and havn't stopped since. (360k)
I have very much enjoyed the return back up this time around, like you said, a little wiser, more careful ect.

The only caution I can say is that some skills now seem off in the rate they give onto a chip vs others, so pay more attention to the in-game numbers vs any of the other numbers you might get. Like seeing how many skills one ESI will take vs many, and the current markups(and volumes) in auction/buyers.

Hope it works out for you, I did it, and have no regrets to be honest.

Its fun seeing green lines all over the place again at least. (I highly suggest weapons of many types on one mob in those early levels, kill bonus' are awesome to watch)

Good luck with whatever decision you may come up with.