Buying Zoids - Chaotic Age Zero

Buying Zoids

Introduction: Though each and every pilot starts with two Zoids, Levels 1-4, it's fairly probable that any one given pilot is going to want more Zoids. This section contains the table which details the prices and times of buying various Zoids, as well as detailing the transport system and how to know whether or not you can buy a Zoid. It also discusses the starting transport, the Gustav, in depth.

Transports: Before we go a word farther, its important to explain that Zoids: Chaotic Age Zero uses the transport system to restrict the number of Zoids that you can own. This means that there is no legal limit in any country to the number of Zoids that a person can possess, but the Zoid capacity of the transport that said person owns restricts the number of Zoids that he or she can maintain at once. All players start out with a Gustav, which will be discussed later in this section. The other transports that individuals can buy are the Hover Cargo and the Dragoon's Nest, both of which are detailed in the Zoid Database. Each successive transport is larger, and can maintain a greater number of Zoids, to the Dragoon Nest's maximum of eight.

Note that all of the above is only true of single, individual pilots. Teams have an additional three transports available to them: the Hammer Kaiser, Whale King, and Great Whale King. Unlike single pilots, the maximum number of Zoids a team can own is limited by international Zoid Battling law (to 10 Zoids), to keep things fair and even-Steven. Factions can own any of the six and can even design their own. Both teams and factions may even have ground facilities for maintaining Zoids, which are beyond the reach of the individual. Also note that individuals are limited to a single transport (for the reason that one person can only drive one transport), while larger organizations are not.

Gustavs: Because the Gustav is the staple transport and one is gifted to every person at the beginning of his or her tenure as a registered Zoid Pilot, we probably ought to discuss it individually for a little bit. The Gustav is unique in that the levels of Zoids that it can carry are sometimes restricted to below Level 4 (so no, not the good kind of unique). The Gustav comes with two Zoid Trailers, both capable of carrying and maintaining a Level 1-4 Zoid. More advanced, heavily armored, or heavier Zoids require a different transport, and often, special modifications of said transport to boot. The Gustav can also have additional trailers purchased for it (up to 2 for weight reasons), which are usually restricted to carrying a Level 1-3 Zoid. While its a heavily armored, durable little bugger, most people want to move onto their next transport as soon as possible. Reliability isn't always valued as much as capacity and size, as it turns out.

A Capital Idea: There is another clear distinction between the "Individual Transports" and the "Capital-Class Transports". The other two transports that can be possessed and operated by an individual, the Hover Cargo and the Dragoon's Nest, can normally only carry Zoids of Levels 1-4. This is because they, like the starting Gustav trailers, lack the advanced facilities necessary to maintain larger and more complicated Zoids. While Level 5 Zoids and Zoid Xs are beyond the Gustav, the Hover Cargo and Dragoon's Nest can be modified to carry a limited number of them. The Capital-Class Transports, the Whale King, Great Whale King, and Hammer Kaiser, are already large and advanced enough to carry such Zoids, and have no level restrictions on them.

Deal or No Deal: Though there are already substantial monetary rewards associated with Zoid Battling, many pilots find that they simply don't make enough to buy transports above and beyond the Gustav. The price hop from the Gustav to the Hover Cargo is huge, to say the least, and few pilots can simply throw around hundreds of thousands of Zian dollars. Therefore, the most recent renedition of the International Zoid Battling treaty states that when a pilot has fought 20 sanctioned Zoid Battles, he or she can trade in his or her Gustav and buy a Hover Cargo for a discount price of $40,000. This option is available to the pilot after 20 battles are reached as long as he or she has the original Gustav from the start of said pilot's career. The downside to this is whatever modifications and money you put into modifications for the Gustav itself go out the window. It's a flat trade-in, no provision for modified Gustavs. Still, this is an offer that few refuse.

The Moniez : So, now that I've told you all about what it takes to buy a Zoid, and you're ready to do so, you probably want to do so. Alright, here are the various costs for buying a Zoid from the manufacturer. It's possible to buy a used one from one of your peers as well, though its at whatever price he or she sets it at. So, here's the chart below. Price and delivery time are both based on level. The first column is level, the second is price, and the third is delivery time (if you really needed me to spell it out for you).

Standard Costs and Times
Level 1	$4,000	12 hours
Level 2	$10,000	24 hours
Level 3	$22,000	36 hours
Level 4	$34,000	48 hours
Level 5	$46,000	60 hours
Transport	As Zoid	Instant
Zoid X*	N/A	N/A

*Zoid Xs cannot be purchased under almost all circumstances.

This next table is the list of figures for selling Zoids back to the manufacturer or to another second-hand Zoid dealer (or, in some cases, a faction). Note that you'll almost always get a better price selling to a fellow pilot, but selling a Zoid to the non-descript NPC organizations from whence it came doesn't require you find a buyer, and is an instanteous process. Also, in case you didn't pick up on the pattern, Zoids are sold back for exactly half of the price they are bought for. For a modified Zoid, add the prices of the mods onto the cost of a Zoid of that level, and then half that. (IE: resell value of mods is also half-price).

Standard Selling Price
Level 1	$2,000
Level 2	$5,000
Level 3	$11,000
Level 4	$17,000
Level 5	$23,000
Transport	As Zoid
Zoid X*	N/A

*Zoid Xs cannot be sold under almost all circumstances.