I stopped playing in June of 2021 and have decided to come back (patching now). I see that there is a new expansion coming out next month so my timing is good. I want to pre-order the expansion but I'm confused about the various "packages" offered. There are things called "Traveler", "Explorer", "Conqueror", and "Eternal Winter Edition". I assume I want the latter, since that's the one named for the new expansion?

Is this correct? I assume that this will enable me to play the new expansion at release, but meanwhile, once I start playing tomorrow after I finish patching, will I be fully up to date, or do I have to buy something else prior to Eternal Winter?

I honestly don't recall the monetization model for this game so forgive my lack of awareness of how this works, I'd appreciate any corrections to my assumptions. Thanks for any insights or suggestions, I'm looking forward to coming back to my family!

value pack, 5 pets, maid for depot is the minimum for me

You don't need those to access the new content. I haven't looked into it but you probably need a decent amount of AP and DR from good equipment to access the grind spots there. There is probably some story there but I wouldn't expect much with that.

The packages just offer some Quality of Life and cosmetic stuff. I suggest playing a a couple weeks before spending money.

Ok, it's coming back to me now. Thanks guys for the info. I'll make a seasonal character and get back into the swing of things again, and then figure out what to buy.

Honestly the best thing you can buy right now is x1 premium skin and x1 classic skin of your choice.

It's the best deal you will ever find because it only cost 10 euro.

You should take a Trial character to the Battle Arena & RBF to decide wether you like the game or not before spending a bunch of money on the in-game items used to generate silver to then buy the combat equipment needed to more or less do what you do with a Trial character in the Arena/RBF.

Tent for me is necessary then Value Pack is like your monthly sub except more expensive sometimes. Only get it when it's on a super sale which happens pretty often. You'll also get them through daily login rewards sometimes and other means.

You don't need to buy costumes but sometimes if you really want one you should. I spent a lot of money on costumes since Shai doesn't have much love on the central market.

Hedgehog pet is the only pet worth spending money on because you can double your drops. So if an artifact drops, you can get 2 artifacts. It's really nice! (the proc is RNG though)

Personally I'd just try playing the game for 2 months. If you can't get passed 2 months it's not the game for you. You don't need to buy any edition of the game other than the base $5 game unless it's free. CalpheON is happening tomorrow so it might even be free for a limited time (again).

This game makes its money from people buying costumes on sale from the pearl shop and destroying them for cron stones which can be used to enhance your gear if you're lucky. There are people who buy like 500 costumes at a time and it's just insane how much money PA makes from pearl items. The business model is RNG pay to win and glamour. You can avoid RNG entirely by buying the stuff already enhanced on the marketboard so you're not forced to do it if you don't want to. You will also get what you need to enhance through daily login rewards and other means like coupons that they give out regularly.

Once you spend the $5 for the game (or whatever it costs these days) you get all current and future expansion packs for free.

P2w costumes and melt for crons to tap or sell costumes for silver and buy gear.

Do it yourself route (not ideal)

Tent for pve.

5 pets for pve.

Value pack to sell your items from doing pve.

Willingness to grind for a solid year straight 12+ hours a day.

The best item to buy is panties for your DK. That improves her gameplay by a lot.