The next in our SWGoH Should I Buy series is a review of Mechanized Menace Packs and Bundles for MagnaGuard and Droideka.
The set of marquee packs and bundles come with a change to previous and it is worthwhile to thoroughly what has changed and how these changes affect anyone interested in the packs and bundles.
Previous Marquee character bundles and packs have followed a standard content approach:
- Shards (with variability in the packs)
- Credits
- Training Droids
- Ability Mats
- Gear
The Mechanized Menace Bundles for MagnaGuard, B1, and B2 are similar to the standard bundles. MagnaGuard’s and B2’s bundles offer 50 shards of each respective character, along with the typical credits, gear, mats, etc. for $14.99 USD. The B1 bundle offers 30 shards for B1 with the credits, gear, and mats for $9.99 USD. The bundles for Magna and B2 should only be purchased by those who never acquired these characters to 7* naturally through Bronziums, Galactic War drops, or general farming over the years.
The B1 bundle, however, offers a way to take one of the newest marquee characters to 4* without waiting for B1 to reach a free-to-play farming node. There is also an accompanying pack for B1 which offers the ability to pull anywhere from 5-330 shards per pack for 1299 crystals per pack. Players should expect to spend the equivalence of at least three Vault of Crystals to get B1 to 7* through this method.
The Droideka Bundle and Packs however, vary from the previous structure and are worth dissecting further.
Pack versus Mega Pack
The Droideka Pack offers anywhere from 5 to 330 shards for 1299 crystals, while the Mega Pack offers a minimum of 15 shards with the possibility of 330 for 2599 crystals.
The guarantee of 10 extra shards for 1300 crystals more may seem a bit steep, but that guarantee turns the Mega Pack into a “2 for 1” option. The Mega Pack is akin to pulling two normal Packs, but instead of a guaranteed 10 shards for 2598 crystals, players are guaranteed 15 shards for 2599.
At first, the difference between the Pack and Mega Pack doesn’t sound very different or even useful, but what must be understood is what is being bought within each pack.
Each pack has its own set of shard drop probabilities:
The probabilities on the Mega Pack are such that players have a much higher chance to pull 17 or 25 shards per pull, than acquiring anything similar in the normal Pack. Also, while the chances are just 0.10% for the Pack and 0.23% for the Mega Pack, the Mega Pack offers “double” the chance at pulling 330 shards for Droideka.
It’s also worth noting that the overall average for shards per pack differs between the two packs. The Mega Pack offers an average of 19.5 shards per pack, giving a rate of 133 crystals per shard, while the Pack averages at 7.8 shards per pack, giving a rate of 167 crystals per shard. On a crystals per shard basis, the Mega Pack’s average provides a better return on the crystal spend.
For players trying to acquire 7* Droideka as quickly as possible, the Mega Pack offers the best chances to get the highest amount of shards per pull. As always, however, players must remember that the probabilities apply to each pack. Pulling 10 packs does not mean that 6 of 10 will drop 17 shards each; each pack gets the full set of probabilities applied each time.
The new format for Bundles
With Droideka’s Mechanized Menace Bundle, the developers have decided to experiment with a new option. In the past, marquee bundles offered 30 shards to take characters to 4* (post-event) for around $10 USD, and included some credits, training droids, and some low level gear.
Droideka’ Bundle is relatively the same, except now the bundle costs $20 USD and includes 1350 crystals. The new bundle format is essentially the $10 bundle with the $10 Box of Crystals and an additional 10 crystals.
The new format can be viewed as both a gift and a nuisance. For players who do not often purchase crystals, or limit crystal purchases to the $5 Bag of Crystals, the new bundle offers both shards and an “extra” helping of crystals, so the increased price seems like a gift.
For players who are more likely to purchase larger amounts of crystals (and often the demographic of players who are more likely the purchase marquee bundles and packs), the added cost is a definite nuisance. Those who are more familiar with purchasing “Crates” or “Vaults” of crystals, the 1350 crystals accompanying that additional $10 price provides crystals at a much higher cost than normal crystal purchases.
To break down the cost, a Vault of Crystals costs $100 USD, giving 15,710 crystals at a rate of around $0.64 per 100 crystals. A Box of Crystals costs $10 USD, giving 1340 crystals at a rate of around $0.74 per 100 crystals. Alternatively, a single Vault gives 15,710 crystals, but 10 Boxes gives only 13,400 crystals.
Overall, the Box of Crystals provided in the new Droideka bundle forces players to purchase crystals (whether desired or not) and also forces players to buy those crystals at a higher rate than most who normally purchase crystals would buy them.
The ultimate decision in purchasing Droideka’s Mechanized Menace Bundle comes down to whether players would find it more economical to spend the extra $10 for more “expensive” crystals to start Droideka off at 4*, or if players would rather spend an additional 1300 crystals on a 10% chance of gaining 25 Droideka shards and then continuing to promote Droideka from there.
The total cost for a 7* Droideka still comes to around $300 USD through either just packs or the combination of bundle+packs. This time around, however, there’s a little more nuance and just a bit more of a possibility for luck to bring down that total cost.
By Kaitco of Descendants of the Empire
Gaming-fans.com Senior Staff Writer
