Some folks would be trying to cut out the middleman, but not Phoenix Labs: The studio is bringing The Middleman into Dauntless. He’s basically an NPC crafter who will allow players to buy and combine cells, which act as the game’s upgrade materials. You’ll also be able to destroy unwanted cells and break them down into a new currency called aetherdust, which you can then use at the NPC.
“Don’t worry too much about cleaning out his shop, but do act quickly if you see a must-have cell,” says Phoenix Labs. “The Middleman’s weekly stock rotation means that old cells get replaced when new ones arrive.”
If you don’t like what he’s got on hand, you can use him as a tool to fuse cells together, though you’re not guaranteed to get exactly the upgrade you’re hoping for, and while it won’t cost you any in-game currency to work with the Middleman, it’s not an immediate process. ‘Course, you can speed it all up with cash-shop items.
“It takes our shadowy salesman about 24 hours to fuse two +1 cells. Combining rarer cells takes even longer. Of course, you can always speed things up with some aether concentrated extract modules. These ‘ace chips’ – available in the in-game store – reduce the amount of time it takes for the Middleman to do his thing.”
Massively OP recently gave Dauntless our award for best PvE at PAX West; you can check out our writers’ impressions right here.
