You’ve probably seen the shouting matches in world chat. One guy is screaming that the game is "dead on arrival" because of the auction house, while another is flexing a +9 purple bow he got just by grinding world bosses for six hours straight. It’s messy. When people ask if Throne and Liberty pay to win mechanics actually ruin the experience, the answer isn't a simple yes or no. It’s a "yes, but it’s weird."
Amazon Games and NCSoft made some massive changes for the global launch. They knew the Western audience would revolt if it looked exactly like the Korean mobile-port graveyard we usually see. But let’s be real: Lucent exists. You can buy it with a credit card. You can use it to buy gear from other players. If that sounds like paying for power, that’s because it is. However, there’s a massive gap between "buying an advantage" and "buying a win," and that's where things get interesting for the average player trying to decide if this MMO is worth the hard drive space.
How the Lucent Economy Actually Works
Everything revolves around Lucent. This is the premium currency. In most games, premium currency is just for cat-ear headbands or sparkly wings. Here, it’s the lifeblood of the Auction House. If you want a specific "Lequirus’s Thorny Shadow" dagger and don't want to run the Cave of Desperation fifty times, you go to the marketplace. You spend Lucent. You get the item.
Where does that Lucent come from? Someone bought it with real money.
But here’s the kicker: the person selling that item is often a Free-to-Play (F2P) player. In a strange twist of economic design, the "whales" are effectively funding the F2P player base. If you find a rare, tradable drop, you sell it for Lucent. You then use that Lucent to buy your own upgrades or even the premium Battle Pass. It's a closed-loop system that feels predatory until you realize that, as a grinder, you can actually hoard the "paid" currency without ever touching your wallet.
Honestly, the real bottleneck isn't the gear itself. It’s the growth materials. You can buy a base-level Epic weapon, sure. But can you max it out? You need Growthstones for that. You can't just buy infinite Growthstones from a shop. You have to play the game. You have to do your contracts. You have to run your dungeons. A guy with a $10,000 credit limit still has to log in and do his "dailies" just like you, or his expensive sword will stay at Level 1 and hit like a pool noodle.
The Pay to Convenience vs. Pay to Power Debate
Let's talk about the Battle Pass and the Leveling Pass. If you’re playing Throne and Liberty pay to win style, these are your first stops. They aren't optional if you want to be competitive. They provide a steady stream of materials that shave weeks off the grind. Is that winning? In a race to the endgame, yeah, it kind of is.
The Gear Ceiling
There is a hard cap on how much money can help you. Once you hit the maximum enchantment level on your gear, money stops mattering. In games like Lost Ark or Black Desert Online, the "honing" or "enhancing" can go on forever with lower and lower success rates, often requiring "protection" items from the cash shop. Throne and Liberty doesn't do that. Your gear doesn't break. You don't lose progress. Once you're maxed, you're on equal footing with the billionaire.
Skill Still Dictates the Win
Go into a 3v3 Arena. If you don't know how to time your stuns or when to use your defensive morph, a guy in Blue gear who knows his rotations will absolutely melt you, even if you’re decked out in purples. The combat system—especially after the skill expression updates—requires actual brains. You can't "pay" for a better reaction time when a Greatsword player is about to drop a stun-lock combo on your face.
The Guild Problem: Where Money Actually Matters
This is the part most people ignore when discussing Throne and Liberty pay to win concerns. The real "winning" in this game happens in massive GvG (Guild vs. Guild) battles over Stone of Exertion or Castle Sieges.
When a guild has fifty players who have all spent $200 to get their gear up to par quickly, they will steamroll a guild of fifty casual F2P players. It’s simple math. In the large-scale meta, "time is money" becomes literal. A guild that buys its way to the gear cap in week two will control the map, collect the taxes, and get even richer, while the F2P guilds are left fighting for the scraps.
This creates a "rich get richer" cycle. The top guilds get the best rewards from world bosses because they have the DPS to secure the kills. Those rewards are then used to further strengthen the guild. If you are a solo player, this might not affect you much. If you want to be the king of a castle, you better hope your guildmates have deep pockets or zero social lives.
What You Can’t Buy (The F2P Edge)
You can't buy Skill Points. Well, not directly. You earn them through scrolls and playing the game.
You can't buy Abyss Tokens. These are required to get rewards from the open-world dungeons. When you run out, you're done for the day, regardless of how much Lucent you have.
You can't buy "Sollant" in unlimited quantities. Sollant is the basic gold currency used for almost every action in the game. Even if you buy the best gear, you need millions of Sollant to transfer traits and upgrade skills. You get Sollant by killing mobs. Period.
The game forces a time investment. This is why the Throne and Liberty pay to win label feels a bit heavy-handed to some veterans. It’s more like "Pay to Fast-Forward." If you play 8 hours a day, you will eventually catch up to the guy who spent $500. The question is whether you have the patience to be his punching bag for the first month while you're catching up.
Real Examples from the Korean Servers
Look at the history of the game's launch in South Korea. Initially, it was much more aggressive. The community hated it. NCSoft actually listened—a sentence I never thought I’d type—and stripped out several of the more egregious systems. They removed the "Auto-Combat" (essentially a built-in botting system) which was a massive source of P2W complaints because you could pay for "offline" grinding time.
In the current version, the "Blessing of Solisium" is the standard sub-model. It gives you some inventory slots, a bit of extra Sollant, and faster travel. It’s a classic "premium" sub. If you think a subscription is P2W, then stay away. But if you’ve played WoW or Final Fantasy XIV, this feels pretty standard.
Practical Advice for Navigating the Economy
If you're jumping in and want to stay competitive without going bankrupt, you have to be smart. Don't waste your Lucent on cosmetics early on. Focus on the Auction House trends.
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- Watch the Trait Market: This is where the real money is. High-demand traits like "Heavy Attack Chance" or "Melee Hit" sell for a fortune. If you find an item with a rare trait, don't use it. Sell it. Use that Lucent to buy the specific gear you actually need for your build.
- Join an Active Guild: Not necessarily a "whale" guild, but one that actually shows up to events. Participation rewards are huge. You get bags of materials just for being there when a boss dies.
- Focus on One Build: The biggest mistake F2P players make is trying to gear up three different weapon sets. Pick two weapons (like Staff/Wand or Dagger/Greatsword) and pour every single resource into them. Spreading yourself thin is how you end up weak and frustrated.
- The Long Game: Remember that MMOs are a marathon. The people who spend thousands to be "first" usually quit in three months because they’ve run out of things to buy. If you enjoy the grind, the Throne and Liberty pay to win aspects eventually fade into the background as the power curve flattens out at the endgame.
Basically, the game is designed to make you feel the "pinch" just enough to tempt you into spending five bucks here and there. It’s a business. But unlike some of its competitors, it doesn't slam a steel door in your face and demand a toll to keep playing. You can see everything, do everything, and kill anyone—provided you put in the hours that the other guy put in dollars.
Actionable Next Steps for New Players
- Audit your time: If you can only play 5 hours a week, acknowledge that you will be behind the power curve unless you spend money. If you can play 20+ hours, you can realistically compete with medium-spenders.
- Identify your "Best in Slot" (BiS) Traits: Before spending any currency, research which traits are mandatory for your class. Buying the wrong gear on the Auction House is the fastest way to waste Lucent.
- Monitor the Auction House for 48 hours: Don't buy anything the first day you hit level 50. Prices fluctuate wildly based on the day of the week and which world bosses are active. Wait for a "dip" in the market to gear up.
- Check the "Special Shop" Daily: Sometimes there are limited-time "Sollant" bundles or event items that are actually worth the free currency you’ve earned. Don't ignore the shop just because you're F2P; sometimes the best deals are hidden in the menus.