This post is [an entry in the Nexon PEAK Post Challenge].

Anyone who enjoys games has a few things to consider when starting a new one, and one of them is how much money to spend. Each player approaches this differently: some invest heavily because gaming is their only hobby, or because they feel that if they are going to play a game, they might as well enjoy it fully, while others set a monthly budget and stay within it. There are also players who find the greatest enjoyment in spending nothing at all. Whether those players spend money or not, a healthy player population is essential to keeping a game going, so I believe that every player matters. Developers and operators may see things differently, but from a player's perspective, a game with more people is generally preferable.

In that sense, Mabinogi Mobile accommodates a wide range of spending habits. Free-to-play players, light spenders, regular spenders, and those who spare no expense can all enjoy it on their own terms. Perhaps I see it that way because I am closer to a light spender myself, but from that perspective, at least, it is clear that this is a game you can thoroughly enjoy with little or no spending.

Free-to-Play Players and Mabinogi Mobile

How should you approach Mabinogi Mobile as a free-to-play player? I am now on day 493 of Mabinogi Mobile, and although I have since become a light spender, I spent the first 6 months after launch playing without spending anything. The reason is simple: put kindly, I am cautious; put less kindly, I am timid, and holding off on spending is my way of gauging how much I will enjoy a game. I sometimes tell myself that any money spent would feel wasted if I ended up quitting soon. However eagerly I had been waiting for Mabinogi Mobile, anticipation and spending are two separate matters.

Free-to-Play Tip 1: Claim the Daily Free Items

After about half a year of playing for free, I became a light spender, though I think I could comfortably have continued without spending, given how much the game offers free-to-play players. With that in mind, I would like to share some of the options available to them. Once you defeat Glas Ghaibhleann in the first main story and return to Erinn, you can find daily free items on the first page of the Cash Shop. These are genuinely useful rewards and well worth claiming every day.

The daily selection includes not only clothing in the uncolored, green, and blue tiers, but also dyes and fixed-color dyes, with an item available to claim each day. More recently, the range has expanded to include dyeable Elite-tier clothing, Deca, catalysts, and more. You do need refresh tickets, but you can earn plenty of these in-game, so they are worth using here. Whenever there was something I wanted to wear, I would obtain it through this selection, upgrade it, and dye it before wearing it.

Free-to-Play Tip 2: Use the Gold Tab under Cash Shop - Item Shop

Gold is a currency you naturally accumulate as you play. Once per day, you can purchase up to 10 Fragmented Gem Treasure Chests. This may seem like a small purchase, but buying them consistently goes a long way toward filling your equipment's gem sockets. Gems are a key part of progression, making this another essential resource for free-to-play players.

Why Fashion Tiers Matter: It Is Not Just About Dyeing

Dyeing fashion items is an important part of the game, and I doubt there is a Mabinogi Mobile player who would disagree. Clothing you can dye and clothing you cannot are worlds apart in value, if that even captures the difference. Yet the tier of these fashion items also matters for progression. Simply compare a hat at Elite tier, where dyeing becomes available, with one at Rare tier, immediately below it: both the defense it provides and the rate at which it loses durability differ. What is more, you can upgrade clothing all the way to Elite using in-game resources.

Make Use of the Fashion Tickets Available In-Game

You can collect plenty of regular Fashion Tickets in-game, and these even offer a chance of drawing Elite-tier clothing, though the odds are very low. Most of what you receive will, of course, be Normal- and Rare-tier clothing, but these items can also be upgraded to Elite without spending money.

So, How Do You Collect Refresh Tickets and Fashion Tickets?

There are many ways to obtain them, but the most straightforward is through Deep Dungeons, where you can earn refresh tickets and Fashion Ticket Fragment Treasure Chests. Other dungeons, events, and various other sources offer them as well, so it is worth taking advantage of those opportunities. Season changes, major updates, and Campfire live broadcasts also bring coupons and gifts containing various resources. These are worth keeping track of, since the rewards can include not only resources normally available for free in-game, but also Premium Fashion Tickets and Premium Pet Tickets that would otherwise require spending.

Use the Player Marketplace to Earn Deca

Deca is a currency you can earn by trading with other players. It can also be purchased with money, of course, but because it is obtainable in-game, it is an important resource for free-to-play players that should not be overlooked. The marketplace handles a wide variety of items, but when I was playing for free, I most often sold Holy Water. Each Holy Water sells for 10 Deca, leaving you with 9 Deca per item after the fee is deducted. Those amounts may be small, but they add up to something worthwhile over time. The question, then, is where to spend the Deca you have saved.

You can also purchase Deca Ore Chests with Monster Extermination Tokens at the Adventurers' Guild Support Center run by Eavan in Dunbarton. Any adventurer exploring Erinn will naturally collect these tokens, since they accumulate through dungeons, hunting grounds, the Abyss, and raids. The Abyss is the most efficient place to earn them, and 3,000 Monster Extermination Tokens will get you 30 Deca Ore, worth a total of 300 Deca.

Deca May Be Hard to Earn, but It Is Easy to Spend

Deca can buy quite a range of things, including clothes otherwise available only through spending, as well as packages. The options range from the 39,800-won Total Package to clothing exclusive to the 19,800-won Premium Pass. Since these are player-to-player trades, prices naturally fluctuate: greater demand pushes them up, while increased supply brings them down. When I checked today, the package was a little over 4,000 Deca, whereas I paid 9,000 Deca for mine (tears). Still, I feel that buying it at release and enjoying it straight away saves time and expense, so I am not quite at the point of sobbing over the difference.

You can also buy packages with Deca under Cash Shop - Packages - Sequential Packages. They cost a fairly substantial(?) amount of Deca, but contain useful items such as Rebirth Stones, Premium Fashion Tickets, and Pet Tickets that would otherwise require spending. These are another option worth considering as a free-to-play player.

Under Cash Shop - Item Shop - Deca, you will find a variety of items available for Deca, from gender-change tickets for clothing you can no longer wear after changing your character's gender to action boxes, dyes, and more. I always make a point of buying the motion boxes, simply because I am especially fond of character motions... I find them charming.

Mabinogi Mobile for Light Spenders

While free-to-play players spend precisely 0 won, light spenders invest a small amount, and this is the group I currently belong to. Those monthly expenses do accumulate over time, so the total is not necessarily insignificant, but weighed against the enjoyment I get from the game, I find it an affordable option that offers excellent value. Spending also makes the resources available to free-to-play players a little easier to obtain—or, on reflection, much easier. Here is the order I recommend following to make the most of a small budget.

First Step for Light Spenders - Cash Shop - Packages - Starter

Your first purchases should be these three packages in the Starter tab: the “Am I the Only One Without a Cat?” Package, which gives you 330 units of currency and a Cat Selection Bag for 3,300 won; the “Hot Deal! Fashion Ticket” Package, which gives you 330 Cash and Fashion Tickets for 3,300 won; and the “Hot Deal! Premium Fashion Ticket” Package, which gives you 550 Cash and Premium Fashion Tickets for 5,500 won. A standard top-up gives you only 990 Cash for 9,900 won, whereas these packages include additional resources. Once you have purchased all three, you should have 1,210 Cash.

Second Step for Light Spenders - Cash Shop - Packages - Mission Packages - Erinn Life! Attendance Return Package

The Attendance Return Package offers 100% cashback, meaning that for an initial 1,200 Cash, you can earn Premium Fashion Tickets, Gold Ore, and Rune Fragments simply by checking in. If the 14-day attendance period feels too long, there is no way around the wait, but unless you began spending on your very first day, you have likely already met the requirements. Even if it is your first day, this is a manageable wait for a light spender. This is only a starting point; from here, you can gradually make purchases within whatever limits you personally consider light spending.

Purchase Recommendation 1 for Light Spenders: Fantasy Life Total Membership

One of the two purchases I have continued making since becoming a light spender is the Fantasy Life Total Membership. It offers various benefits, but the ones that matter most to me are the extra 300 in bag weight capacity and the ability to obtain 20 fragments when dismantling a 10-star Legendary Rune. Other benefits include double resources from gathering. Taken together, they make a considerable difference to everyday life in Erinn.

Purchase Recommendation 2 for Light Spenders: Adventurer Pass Premium Ticket

This premium pass refreshes roughly every 42 days. The pass is an important source of resources for free-to-play players, while its paid offering also provides excellent value for light spenders. It includes a substantial amount of progression resources, which is why this is the other purchase I make regularly.

To work out the total cost around the 42-day cycle, we need the least common multiple of 30 days and 42 days: since 6 x 5 = 30 and 6 x 7 = 42, that is 210. Over 210 days, assuming 7 membership purchases and 5 pass purchases, the costs are 12,900 x 7 = 90,300 won and 19800 X 5 = 99,000 won. That comes to 189,300 won over 210 days, or roughly 901 won per day and 27,043 won per month. In other words, you can enjoy the game for less than 30,000 won a month. You also earn 10% in Cash Shop points, so after 7 months you would have accumulated 1,893 points, which can be spent on various items as well. That makes the arrangement quite worthwhile. As for why I have 5,000 points, these have not been my only purchases; something occasionally catches my eye. What counts as light spending does, after all, differ from person to person.

What Mabinogi Mobile Offers Players Who Spend Little or Nothing

It is a game you can enjoy without financial pressure, though how you choose to spend will depend on what you want to achieve. My own goal is to enjoy the game and experience all its content, with a particular focus on the main story and core activities, and my current spending level is more than enough for that. I am not aiming to set new records, which is one aspect of the endgame, but even that is possible with good game sense, grinding, and a little investment. I naturally cannot expect to beat players who spare no expense, and I do not resent that, because we are pursuing different things. Personally, I find games that require spending from the outset burdensome, which is why I recommend Mabinogi Mobile as a game you can enjoy on a modest budget.