I decided to give the Contraband Slot Machine one last try to see just how bad it's been nerfed by spending 100 Contraband Cartel Chips. Unfortunately it see.
The Contraband Slot MachineIn preparation for the upcoming Nar Shaddaa Nightlife event on 13 June, I have been spending my time exercising my arms – one firmly holding a foamy Grog and one pulling the lever of the Contraband Slot Machine! I wanted to provide some of my findings, freshly updated for 2017.
I know this is mostly old news for many of you, as the Contraband Slot Machine came out many moons ago. Legends tell that it used to be fantastic, so great in fact that it ruined the economy of SW:TOR and was subsequently nerfed by Bioware. Damn you, Bioware!
However, legends also tell of rumors. Fictional guild members who have successfully won prizes off said slot machine, beating the odds. I wanted to see if the rumors were true. Just what is the current drop rate for this machine? Is it still actually viable?
I have to say, I blame Sarssen for this post. She gave me a very nice tour of her newly decorated Tatooine Stronghold, and I got immersed in the bottomless money pit that is decorating in SW:TOR. Up until this time, I don’t think I ever bought anything that didn’t come from Felusia Stato, the decoration selling harpy that everyone gets free with their first stronghold purchase.
I became enamored with the art of the possible. I became engrossed with the unique and disparate vendors across the galaxy that sell a vast variety of stronghold decorations. And I spent 60 million credits in one week off the GTN decorating my first stronghold on Nar Shaddaa (not counting unlock costs). And it occurred to me as I looked sadly into my pockets, broke and destitute, that maybe there was a cheaper way to obtain some of these decorations than the GTN.
For example, Felusia Stato’s ne’er-do-well cousin, Clem Stato, the Cartel Certificate Decorations and Personnel vendor that can be found in the Strongholds and Crew Skills area on the fleet piqued my interest. Clem sells mainly personnel decorations, nearly every one of which is 5 million credits plus to purchase on the GTN, if available at all. But he requires a form a currency largely removed from the game, the elusive Cartel Market Certificate. Where do these come from you wonder? Are they nothing more than a splinter in the mind’s eye?
Why, legends tell that they drop from the Contraband Slot Machine, of course! And also from a few contraband cartel packs that aren’t even offered any more in the Cartel Market store. The drop rate for either is apparently so poor, that this Contraband Slot Machine decoration is not even used in many a stronghold these days and despised by both players and developers alike for the agony and anguish of owning one. They just stare at you from afar, taunting you into losing yet more credits.
This is the reprehensible fiend in question:
What is the drop rate today? Is this machine worth another look?
I spent 1.2 million credits (so far) to find out. For you math lovers, that’s 1,600 Contraband Cartel Chips at 750 credits apiece. It takes 11 minutes to spent 100 Contraband Cartel Chips, or 6 minutes if you are a gambling addict like me and find two machines next to each other and use both. Here’s what I got for my trouble:
| Reward | Reward Type | Ending Quantity | Drop Rate Percent | Cost Per Credit Spent | Reputation |
| Banned Holovids | Reputation Trophy (Green) | 340 | 21.25% | 3529 | 297 |
| Prohibited Medical Supplies | Reputation Trophy (Blue) | 248 | 15.50% | 4839 | 693 |
| Confiscated Artwork | Reputation Trophy (Purple) | 112 | 7.00% | 10714 | 1584 |
| Scrap: Scavenged Scrap | Scrap Peddler Material (Green) | 4 | 0.25% | 300000 | |
| Scrap: Assorted Droid Parts | Scrap Peddler Material (Blue) | 1 | 0.06% | 1200000 | |
| Scrap: Jawa Junk | Scrap Peddler Material (Purple) | 3 | 0.19% | 400000 | |
| Contraband Cartel Chip | Play Again | 0 | 15.41% | ||
| Nothing | Loss | 0 | 40.34% |
The first three are all reputation items, of the Green, Blue and Purple variety respectively. They earn reputation for the Contraband Resale Corporation, a vendor by the name of Settar Upredas found in the Cartel Bazaar area on the fleet. Banned Holovids are +297 reputation, Prohibited Medical Supplies are +693 reputation, and Confiscated Artwork are +1584 reputation. It is interesting to note that even with the smaller drop rate of purples, the most reputation per credit spent is earned with the Confiscated Artworks. In fact, you can max reputation (from 0-70000), Legend status with the Contraband Resale Corporation, with an investment of only about 280,000-300,000 credits (about 45 minutes time) using this slot machine. However, due to the weekly level reputation cap you can gain, it takes about 3 weeks to use them all to get the max reputation level.
The scrap drop rate has been reduced to be basically worthless, because you can get all three much more easily doing guild conquest each week.
Winning a Contraband Cartel Chip is not really a win, as it just gives you the ability to play again, extending play time. And of course, losing is always a let down.
However, I surmise that if one can receive 1-2 Cartel Market Certificates for less than 5 million credits investment in this slot machine, it might still be viable. All of these personnel decorations cost more than 5 million credits on the GTN, and are all sold by Clem Stato:
| Decoration Item | Cost (in Cartel Market Certificates) |
| Arrangement: Speeder Station | 2 |
| Bartender (Male) | 1 |
| Circular Sign: Cartel Coin | 1 |
| Equipment Locker: Fancy | 2 |
| Flag: Beneficent Hutt | 2 |
| Jawa Scrap Peddler: Hadiir | 1 |
| Jawa Scrap Peddler: Izzar | 1 |
| Jawa Scrap Peddler: Mnek | 1 |
| Luxurious Rug (Red) | 2 |
| Luxurious Bed (Orange) | 2 |
| Market Canopy (Red) | 2 |
| Medical Droid (Imperial) | 1 |
| Octagonal Light Node | 1 |
| Potted Plant: Green Bush | 1 |
| Potted Plant: Large Fern | 2 |
| Potted Tree: Autumn | 2 |
| Red Cushioned Chair | 1 |
| Senator's Rug | 1 |
| Serving Droid (Astromech) | 1 |
| Topiary Tree (Gumdrop) | 1 |
| Twi'lek Dancer (Female) | 1 |
| Twi'lek Dancer (Male) | 1 |
| Waitress (Female) | 1 |
Now assuming you actually can still get Cartel Market Certificates from this slot machine, Settar Upredas (Contraband Resale
vendor) found in the Cartel Bazaar, also has some great items. However, we are talking a massive amount of time and credits to get something worthwhile:| Item | Required Standing | Cartel Certificate Cost | Credit Cost | Recent GTN Price |
| 2V-R8 Customization - Butler (Blue) | Newcomer | 3 | 20000 | |
| Aratech Eclipse (Purple) | Champion | 4 | 100000 | |
| BK-0 Combustion Belt (Orange) | Hero | 0 | 9450 | |
| BK-0 Combustion Boots (Orange) | Hero | 0 | 0 | |
| BK-0 Combustion Chestplate (Orange) | Hero | 0 | 0 | |
| BK-0 Combustion Face Mask (Orange) | Hero | 0 | 0 | |
| BK-0 Combustion Gauntlets (Orange) | Hero | 0 | 0 | |
| BK-0 Combustion Greaves (Orange) | Hero | 0 | 0 | |
| BK-0 Combustion Wristguards (Orange) | Hero | 0 | 0 | |
| Darth Malgus Holostatue (Blue) | Friend | 4 | 25000 | 15000000 |
| Diplomat's Meditation Hoverchair (Purple) | Champion | 10 | 100000 | |
| Elite Regulator Belt (Orange) | Friend | 0 | 9450 | |
| Elite Regulator Body Armor (Orange) | Friend | 0 | 15550 | |
| Elite Regulator Boots (Orange) | Friend | 0 | 12850 | |
| Elite Regulator Bracers (Orange) | Friend | 0 | 9450 | |
| Elite Regulator Faceguard (Orange) | Friend | 0 | 15550 | |
| Elite Regulator Gloves (Orange) | Friend | 0 | 12850 | |
| Elite Regulator Pants (Orange) | Friend | 0 | 15550 | |
| Enforcer's Eyeguard (Orange) | Outsider | 0 | 2400 | |
| Kaliyo Djannis Customization 9 (Blue) | Newcomer | 0 | 15000 | |
| Mask of Nihilus (Orange) | Legend | 10 | 100000 | 22500000 |
| Overlord's Command Throne (Purple) | Champion | 10 | 100000 | |
| Resplendent Crown of Avarice (Orange) | Legend | 6 | 160000 | 3400000 |
| Revan's Mask (Orange) | Legend | 10 | 100000 | 88000000 |
| Ruddyscale Kowakian Monkey-lizard (Blue) | Hero | 10 | 100000 | |
| Shadow Nekarr Cat (Blue) | Friend | 4 | 25000 | |
| Speckled Blurrg (Blue) | Outsider | 2 | 10000 | |
| Ubrikki Crimson Skull (Purple) | Outsider | 2 | 10000 | |
| Vette Customization 9 (Blue) | Newcomer | 0 | 15000 | |
| Voss Dignitary Boots (Orange) | Newcomer | 0 | 12850 | |
| Voss Dignitary Bracers (Orange) | Newcomer | 0 | 9450 | |
| Voss Dignitary Gloves (Orange) | Newcomer | 0 | 12850 | |
| Voss Dignitary Lower Robes (Orange) | Newcomer | 0 | 15550 | |
| Voss Dignitary Robes (Orange) | Newcomer | 0 | 15550 | |
| Voss Dignitary Sash (Orange) | Newcomer | 0 | 9450 |
Contraband Cartel Slot Machine Swtor
I have yet to see results from this slot machine, but I plan to keep trying. I really need the three Jawa Vendors for my Black Market on Dromund Kaas. May luck favor the foolish!Rorrim
P.S.
Other people have also done similar analyses, and here are their (similar) results:
One person's attempt
Another Person's attempt