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The Black Market has some interesting changes, as of late. In the past, it was a rare shot at getting one, and even when you did, there was no guarantee that the 1 ware it offered would appeal to you. But now things have changed to give players more opportunity and chance to acquire the Black Market items they seek the most.
For 1 thing, BM wares have increased from 1 option to 3. With 3 options, you're more often than not going to get at least something you like. Furthermore, you don't have to choose, either. You can buy 1 of the choices, 2, all, or none.
Remember though, that BM wares sell for MP. So this new change is very much in favor of pay players. Still, MP now flow in this game for the dedicated play to win player. So these wares certainly aren't out of reach for the free/budget players. But if you want a shot at the BM wares for no cost, there is a new, but difficult, option to do so.
If you want to be a little more bold, or you just don't want to fork over the MP, you can opt to fight the Dealer. The Dealer is a demonic, or ghostly apparition that brings you the BM wares offers. By opting to fight (assault and attempt to rob the Black Market merchant, because you're a hero......... wait..... wha????) you go into the duels screen against the Dealer. If you win, some or all of the BM wares are awarded to you, potentially along with MP.
Not a bad gig. But don't take it lightly. The Dealer's core is both unknown prefight and changes between fights. And this NPC is TOUGH, and it gets a LOT tougher each time you beat it. All the top players agree that he's a challenge they lose to far more than they beat.
For the free/budget player that rarely spends on the BM, it's still worth a shot. Worst case scenario, you haven't lost anything. Best case scenario, you get some good stuff the big budget players pay for, and some MP you steal from a Dealer......... And who knows at this point? It's possible losing to the Dealer makes future tries easier?
For the bigger budget players, I feel that this NPC is far too tough to gamble with. It's best to go ahead and just spend the MP for what you want. On the off chance there's just nothing that you just got to have, then go ahead and roll the dice on a fight against the Dealer. He's definitely one of the tougher NPC in the game to test your mettle against.
Remember to use your patrol cons to increase your odds of running into the Dealer further. Maybe we can even convince Justin to let our Oracle buildings and Seeing Eye cons give us a glimpse of what these Dealers are working with. One can hope.
Good luck heroes and villains.