How to Use the Trading Post in Arknights

In a game community saturated with tower defense RPG-style games, Yostar and Hyperglyph’s Arknights brings something a little different to the mobile genre. While farming and grinding is par for course in games like these, players often overlook an essential game mechanic for accruing money and Orundum – the Trading Post.

Read on to learn more about Trading Posts, including why you need one, how to use one, and how to upgrade one in Arknights.

What’s the Purpose of Trading Post in Arknights?

The Trading Post is your primary source for the game’s currency, LMD. You can also trade Originium Shard materials and Pure Gold for the Orundum used for recruiting purposes. Generally, though, most players use the Trading Post to earn some much-needed income.

How to Use the Trading Post in Arknights

This RIIC facility functions on a standard retail premise: demand and supply. Your Trading Post receives an order, and you source the supplies to fill the order. For a more detailed breakdown of the process, check out the steps below:

1. Recruit and Assign an Operator

Storefronts don’t work without someone being there to take the orders, and the same holds for your Trading Post. If you want to get it up and running, you’re going to need to assign at least one Operator to the job.

Ideally, you’ll use an Operator who has skills specifically suited to the role like:

• Exusiai – 20% increased order acquisition efficiency
  
• Steward – increased order limit by +3, -0.25 Moral consumption per hour
  
• Courier – 20% increased order acquisition efficiency, increased order limit by +1
  
• Mousse – 30% increased order acquisition efficiency
  

You only need one Operator to start taking orders, but you can assign multiple characters to maximize your Posts’ efficiency.

2. Play the Waiting Game

When you get your Post up and running, it’s time to wait for an order to fill. There are three types of orders you can receive from Lungmen:

• Low: 1000 LMD for two Pure Gold
• Medium: (Level 2 upgrade required) 1,500 LMD for three Pure Gold
• High: (Level 3 upgrade required) 2,000 LMD for four Pure Gold

Once you acquire the requisite upgrades, the order options are selected at random until the Post reaches the order limit or until you reach Trading Post Level 3. At this maximum level, you can choose the order instead of receiving it randomly.

3. Source the Materials Ordered

You can get Pure Gold in a variety of ways like:

• Operation drops
• Production
• Store

Pure Gold drops from Operations are nominal at best, and you don’t want to spend your money on this resource buying it from the Store, which leaves you with one option: Production.

The amount of Pure Gold you produce in your factories depends on your level and base structure or the number of factories you’ve allocated to the base. Players have a variety of strategies for the “right” base build, but one of the most popular is a 2-4-3 structure, which means building two Trading Posts, four Factories, and three Power Plants.

It takes a little under an hour an

4. Cash Your Paychecks

Once you have enough Pure Gold to fill the order, you can trade them in for LMD. Filling orders also frees up your order capacity and allows you to take more orders.

What’s the Best Way to Make Money in Arknights?

Since LMD is the main currency in the game and you need it for just about everything from increasing your Operator levels to promotions, you’re going to need to farm it – and quickly. Here are some of the best ways to make this virtual currency:

Trading Post Exchanges

The main reason to have Trading Posts is to make money, so it is your primary source of income. As mentioned before, you can earn between 1,000 and 2,000 LMD for Pure Gold orders. To maximize your income potential, make sure you have at least a couple of upgraded Trading Posts to unlock medium and high-yield orders.

Complete Supplies Missions

Completing missions will yield LMD, but the most lucrative mission types are the Cargo Escort ones. The higher the Mission level, the more LMD you’ll get per Sanity, so try to go as high as you can to maximize your potential profit.

Log In to the Game

You probably already know this one, but you get LMD just for checking in each day. Make use of the daily log-in bonus, and make sure to collect your LMD.

Complete Daily/Weekly Missions

You have various Mission choices in the game, but if you want a reliable income source, make sure you complete the Daily and Weekly Missions. These missions are always available and reward variable amounts of LMD for the trouble.

Spend Real Money at the Store

If you have the budget, you can always spend real-world money in the game’s Store. LMD currency is available in various packs, and you’ll receive the LMD as soon as your payment goes through.

Trading Post Upgrade Materials

Once you upgrade your Control Center, it’s time to increase your Trading Post level. To do this, you’ll need:

• Moving from Level 1 to Level 2: Drones, three Concrete Building Material pieces
• Moving from Level 2 to Level 3: Drones, five Reinforced Building Material pieces

You can craft Concrete Building Materials using Carbon Brick at your Workshop, although it will cost you quite a few LMD to do it. You’ll also need to have a Level 2 Workshop first. Reinforced Building Materials are also crafted at the Workshop using Carbon Packs instead of Carbon Bricks. Before you can prepare this advanced building material, though, you’ll need a Level 3 Workshop as well as 7,200 LMD per piece.

Let’s Make Some Money!

Trading Posts are the most reliable way to make money in Arknights, but you can’t do it alone. Recruit some of your most business-savvy Operators to run the Post, and don’t forget to set up some factories. It may not be the fastest way to earn income, but it’s a great way to make a steady paycheck while you’re on those Escort Missions.

How many Trading Posts do you have in your Facility? Do you rely on other methods to make LMD in Arknights? Tell us about it in the comments section below.