The Fastest Way to Earn Credits? [400k/hour :: Methods]

Forza Horizon Legacy Horizon FH2 Discussion
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Okay, so here’s an even more revised version of that gigantic wall of text that’s been here for some time:

The purpose of this value and equation set is to determine what CR earning method is most efficient (i.e. what can one do to earn the most amount of credits in the least amount of time). Variables’ ranges are included, but can vary beyond what I’ve listed.

Variables:
15-17 = Number of minutes each Finale takes to win (in online) in an S2/X class car.
60-120 = Number of seconds it takes to win each head-to-head race in an S2/X class car.
3,100-3,800 = Rewarded CR count after winning each head-to-head race.

Constants:
1,000,000 = Goal CR count.
60 = Number of minutes in an hour & number of seconds in a minute.
3,600 = Number of seconds in an hour.
90 = Median number of seconds needed to win each head-to-head race.
50,000 = (Average) base CR reward for winning each Finale (online).
3,450 = (Average) base CR reward for winning each head-to-head race.
+85% (+0.85) = Max difficulty bonus (ONLINE).
+125% (+1.25) = Max difficulty bonus (SOLO).

Finale Method (ONLINE ONLY):

Let’s figure this stuff up and keep it as short as possible; for the Finale in Online:

(45,000 CR * -0.10) + 45,000 CR = 40,500 CR
(47,500 CR * 0.475) + 47,500 CR = 70,062.5 → 70,000 CR
(50,000 CR * 0.85) + 50,000 CR = 92,500 CR

Now, the above shows that, on average, one makes around 70,000 CR from winning the Finale online. BUT, with all assists allowed in online turned off, that gives the player an extra 85% on top of what they make from races credit-wise, which should turn out to be around 50-55k. Thus, one can make up to 92,500 credits every fifteen minutes. That is, of course, with all difficulties set to max, giving the player an 85% bonus towards that 50,000 base reward for getting first. NOTE: I have tested and proven true that one can make a little more than 92,000 CR in one fifteen-minute finale in online.

Further:

92,500 CR * 7 = 647,500 CR per >> TWO HOURS <<

I went ahead and took fifteen minutes out of the 120 for waiting time (for players joining, lobby waiting, etc). Again, this shows that one could make around 323,750 (647,500 / 2) credits an hour if all difficulty settings are turned off (in online). Now, our goal is to make a million credits, so:

1,000,000 CR / 323,750 CR = 3.0888030888 → 3 hrs 5 min

According to the above, it takes a little more than three hours to get a million credits with racing the finale online over and over again (winning, mind you).

Head-to-Head Method:

Now, even further, I will attempt to explain the head-to-head method as well as text can. The head-to-head method is, quite simply, racing drivatars over and over again in Horizon Solo, which I assume everyone has done at some point. Math below:

6,000 CR * (3,600 sec / 120 sec) = 180,000 CR (base)
7,500 CR * (3,600 sec / 90 sec) = 300,000 CR (base)
8,800 CR * (3,600 sec / 75 sec) = 422,400 CR (base)

I use my average for the bottommost equation above. Thus, it does confirm that the average CR reward per hour, disregarding other difficulty settings and sticking to what I run (listed below), is around 400k an hour 300k per hour. (That one hour long run must have been a miracle run because from then till now I’ve been getting almost exactly around 300k an hour with this method. Odd…)

≈ 301,200 per hour

Now, with the regular head-to-head method, the math above shows amounts anywhere from 180-422k, which can be made in one hour but the CR gain percentages are all based on preference and personal skill. I just now tested this method for an hour straight (07/26/2016 06:45-07:45) and made 424,000 using an X-class Bentley with my own track tune.

“Freeway Cutoff” Method:

Now, a slightly more obscure version of the head-to-head method, what I dubbed the “freeway cutoff method”. How to do it: fast travel to the spot on the freeway right above where it says “NICE” on the map. Be sure to be heading Northeast and not Southwest on the other side of the freeway. Sit there and wait for a drivatar to come up behind you. When they get close, catch up to them/it and start a race with them/it. The finish line should have been placed where the GPS sends you towards the golf course or towards Nicé Massena (in some cases). Most of the time, the mileage of the race should start out around exactly two miles. It does for me, and this method works for me, so it should start out at around 2.0 miles for you, as well, but depending on from where you start the race, mileage can range from 1.8 to 2.2 miles (tested). Race to the end and win, and the reward should be hefty, around 5,000 CR base. Now, more math:

5,000 CR * (5,000 CR * 1.25) = 11,250 CR per race

Reward ranges greatly because of distance traveled, usually anywhere from 10k to 11k flat. Almost for just less than a minute of racing. Nice! Now, assume each race takes around a minute and a half to complete (including fast travel time):

**NOTE - O Bleak Genius has contributed a lot to testing these methods, and he pointed out that one figure of the equation below made the final total way off. Read his post here.

New equation:

10,000 CR * (3,600 sec / 45 90 sec) = 400,000 CR

As noted in O Bleak Genius’ reply, the actual feasible total is nowhere near the previously predicted hourly CR total of 800k, it’s more likely to be around 400,000 CR per hour.

Rivals Method:
O Bleak also mentioned Rivals and his method of exploiting the ranking system to maximize profits. His steps do stand true, I tested them this morning. Steps below:

Start a Rivals event from the in-game menu. Choose a rival that dishes out 10,000 CR (the max reward for beating a Rival). Then, start the event. The key here is to beat the rival just barely, as close as you can get to their finishing time, while also beating them. The trick is to start out at a relatively slow finish time, then work your way up, rival by rival, beating each by as little as possible on each run.

Other Possible Exploits:
I will note that there are workarounds to exploiting the drivatar head-to-head racing path creation system (dub?). One example is the long stretch of freeway East of Nicé Massena. The thing is that there are no turnaround spots for around 2.7 miles. Thus, if you start a race on the on-ramp going West on the freeway just West of the Festival, occasionally the race route will either be set to down in Nice or somewhere Southwest of the Festival. From my experience, this isn’t too common, though. I have not found a way to get it to work every single time and I’m not sure I ever will seeing as how the route setup widget in the game is somewhat random when choosing finish points. The crazy thing is that depending on how far the finish line ahead actually is, I’ve gotten 34k total rewards from an 8.2mi race that only took two and a half minutes. Might want to try it yourself to see if it works for you.

(Somewhat Ambiguous) Conclusion:
Averages for Each Method (Per Hour):
Finales - 323,750
Head-to-Heads - 301,200
“Freeway Cutoff” - 400,000
Rivals - TBD

According to O Bleak Genius’ testing of the “Freeway Cutoff” method and my testing of the regular head-to-head method, both methods dish out around the same average amount of 400,000 CR per hour. Though I do not know how well O Bleak’s performance is, I do know that my times for the cutoff method were ranging from 55 seconds to a minute and five seconds, though every time I cut off to the other side of the freeway because the game kept making the finish line to the North instead of South towards Nicé.

If you’re shooting for something that’s a bit more diverse than just racing up and down the same stretch of freeway, move around the map and challenge a drivatar to a head-to-head every time you see one. Most of the time the paths created will lead you across the map anyway. Something a little more diverse than that is the Finale in Horizon Online, though it can get boring if you end up being the only one left racing or if you’ve done it enough times.

Also: can someone let me know if the port town “Nice” is nicknamed “Nicé Massena”? Because I’ve been calling it that since this game came out because I remember hearing “Nicé Massena” stated in the dialogue.

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Updated info with new max credit count.

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Most efficient CR farming method is confirmed. 800k per hour. Info in OP.

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Interested, so I took this home and tested.

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Have you been getting this kind of return in practice? I couldn’t replicate it. I averaged less than 400k per hour. One problem was screen loading times + race loading times + fast travel times + time waiting for a drivatar had me averaging more than 2 minutes from start to start. But I think the bigger problem trying to get to 800k per hour is that the math doesn’t allow it.

The easiest way to ballpark the math is to think 10k per minute, 60 minutes per hour, for an absolute max of 600k per hour. You’d need to win 10k races 80 times to get 800k … 80 is more than a race per minute, from start to start. I had trouble trying to match your race per 90 seconds, from start to start, let alone average less than 60 seconds.

I think you meant to divide 3600 by 90, not 45. You were trying to show how many tries you can get in an hour, and since you were using 90 seconds, you want to see how many 90 second blocks in one hour. That’s 3600 / 90. This answer, 40, is the number of times you can make 10k per hour. Comes out to 400k per hour. Not sure where the 45 came from but that’s a factor of two when it comes to hourly earnings.

Turns out Finales, circuit races and solo head to heads pay pretty similar. In practice, I make about 300k per hour doing circuit races, about 350k - 400k doing 12 minute Finales, and 300k + doing head to heads from that spot. The key to making head to heads pay more seems to be averaging closer to 90 seconds than 120 from start to start. 100k per hour difference. But if there’s a way to make 800k, I haven’t found it.

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Time differences and CR reward fluctuations are accounted for. The 800k CR reward an hour was the absolute max, which I believe I noted was virtually impossible as that would indicate a perfect world within the game, which isn’t so, so your 600k CR/hr estimate are closer to what is actually more commonly possible. Your entire post has been noted and I will be following up if I find anything further. Thanks, man.

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When I said that 600K was the maximum, I didn’t state that right.

600K would be the absolute maximum … if there were no travel times or loading times or time spent waiting on cars.

And 800K is completely impossible, a product of an incorrectly set up math problem.

Your basic equation was correct. You can use it like so:

9900CR * ( 3600 sec / x ) = CR per hour … where “x” equals the time in seconds it takes to finish one race and start another, from start to start.

But the problem was that you used 45 seconds, and 45 seconds is just completely impossible.

When starting head to heads at this location, which I agree is probably the best location in the game, at least from what I’ve seen, you can get one of two general races. One takes you to the left of the golf course, and the other takes you to the right. The race that ends to the left of the golf course gives you that base payout of 5000+ CR and pays out about 10,000CR. But that race is always about 2.7 miles. Yes you can cut it shorter by going down the onramp on the other side of the freeway, but it’s still a fairly long race. I farmed this for a couple hours straight using an X class Veneno that I can do Finales in under 12 minutes without taking the major shortcuts and the quickest I finished just the actual race was 54 seconds. I was straight flying and it was beautiful, but 9 seconds slower than the 45 second figure you used. I averaged about 60 seconds in all the races of this type. But then there was an average of about 23 seconds of loading times, cutscene times and travel times.

60 + 23 = 83

So that’s an average of about 83 seconds without yet considering the waiting for drivatar times. The fastest I was able to get from start to start was 84 seconds, as a drivatar was right there when I arrived … but usually it doesn’t happen like that. Even in heavy traffic, there is usually a wait of a few seconds, and then time taken to match speed. In two hours, I managed to get the total time to 90 seconds or under only 3 times. This figure of 90 seconds is the figure you used in the words setting up the problem in which you used 45 seconds in the math. This would make way more sense and be closest to the actual maximum, leaving out other problems that I will get to.

10,000 CR * ( 3600 / 90 ) = 400K

Not 800k. Not 600k … 400K.

But even that is not really possible. Since I only got to 90 seconds or under 3 times out of dozens, the average is really more than 90 seconds. But not only that, when it gets dark in game, traffic thins out greatly and you could be stuck for one or more minutes waiting on a single avatar going your direction.

And not only that, the other type of race you get from that location takes you to the right of the golf course. This race seems to be between 1.8 miles and 2.2 miles … and only pays a base amount of 3,800 CR to 4,400 CR. I finish these races in a shade under 45 seconds and can go from start to start in an average of 90 seconds when traffic is heavy. But even though I can average 90 seconds when traffic is heavy, that doesn’t equal 400k an hour because each race is worth about 8,000 CR instead of 10,000 CR.

8000 CR * ( 3600 / 90 ) = 320K

And this total cannot be achieved because of times when traffic is light and it takes longer to get a race with drivatars.

In my two hours, I made a little less than 500k. Less than 250k an hour.

I asked if you have actual put this into practice and got the kind of figures you were talking about because I couldn’t come close to replicating it and I saw a math error (using 45 seconds even though your wording suggested 90 seconds) that overestimated possible income by a factor of two. I think it’s still the quickest way to make money on head to head races, but it still is short of matching the hourly payouts of online lap races or finales.

And I do appreciate money making suggestions. I didn’t mean this post in a bad way. I just spent hours testing and checking math, and the truth is what it is.

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I am happy that at least I am not the only one interested in this topic. I have recorded your fixes to the equation and corrected them in the OP. Thank you very much for your input! I did not test out the previous “max” equation, which I believe I did note that it was very close to impossible if not completely impossible, which is the sole reason I did not test it. My results from when I originally posted the edit with the first head-to-head method revision ranged widely, both from base CR reward and time intervals.

I will go over the OP once more and correct what is needed to be corrected as soon as I get done with GTA. I haven’t been on Horizon 2 much at all for days now.

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I remember another money making strategy and used it this weekend, but it has limitations.

Rivals.

If you have one of the faster cars for a race and have a good tune, you can make a lot of money fast doing rivals in a certain way. This weekend, I made 750.,000 CR in an hour … and about 3 million over the whole weekend. I’m kind of OCD about having a car for every tune instead of having just one car for multiple tunes. I needed another Ferrari 250 GTO.

Basically, you need a leaderboard in which you haven’t posted a time, or one where your time is very, very, very far off the best you can do. You also need to be able to drive fairly well. If you can’t log any clean laps, this probably won’t work well.

At a certain level on the leaderboard, beating rivals gets you a 10,000 CR bonus on top of the other CR you earn. This level isn’t very high, to be honest. It seems like only the top 100 or so times on a leaderboard are even remotely competitive, and the 10,000 CR bonus comes in way below that level, so you can be doing races and be seconds, sometimes even tens of seconds, off of a truly competitive pace and yet still be beating rivals and earning that 10,000 CR bonus.

So what I do is find a circuit race (any race works, but you can make more from these just because they can be repeated so quickly) for which I haven’t posted a time, get the best car for the class (like an S2 Veneno), and then post a really slow time and see what kind of bonus I’m offered for the next rival. Once I find that I’m being offered 10,000 CR for winning (on the screen where it asks you if you want to challenge the next rival), I then race that rival and TRY TO WIN BY AS LITTLE AS POSSIBLE.

And this is the key to the strategy … winning by as little as possible … so that the next rivals race is almost the same as the previous. Winning by too much puts brings you closer to the top of the leaderboard too fast, where it’s harder to beat the times and it takes longer to do so. When you have the lead at the end of races, use your rearview mirror or look behind so that you can see the opponent, then slow down as needed to win, but by as little as possible. You want to maximize the number of rivals races you can do while earning that 10,000 CR bonus each time before you reach the point where there is no more CR to be made. Repeat as many times as possible. Doing circuit races is nice because they are almost all sub-1 minute lap races, and starting from a standstill while the rivals are passing the start/finish line at speed helps keep the races close while allowing for a lot of improvement when winning gets more difficult.

Yesterday, I did this in Nice at the first two circuit races with an S2 Veneno (I shared the tune if anybody needs one, called 7/6/16, and it’s been good enough to get on the front page of more than a couple leaderboards). When I got to where I was getting the 10,000 CR bonus, the times were still very slow. They were so slow that I’d be starting my lap from a dig and still having to slow down and wait 5 or more seconds so that I wouldn’t win by too much to keep the strategy going. Each lap took well less than 1 minute and paid 18,000 CR - 20,000 CR. And since clicking through the menus and getting to the next rival took very little time (no fast travelling waits, no waiting for opponent waits), there’s a lot of money to be made. I made almost 200,000 CR in the first 10 minutes.

As you get higher and higher on the leaderboards, the races start to take longer and longer as you can’t beat everybody on the first lap. You get 4000 CR - 5000 CR per extra lap, but it slows down how quickly you can get to the next rival. And eventually, you’ll either run into rivals you can’t beat or be on top of the leaderboard. Either way, farming that race is done and you need to find a new one. There are only so many leaderboards and you can make only so much CR on each. Limitations.

But if you haven’t set great times on all leaderboards, this might be the quickest way to pick up a couple million. And if you need only a couple hundred thousand credits, you can probably get that much in 10-15 minutes.

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I have updated the OP (finally) and will get around to testing the Rivals method within the week.

Most value inconsistencies in the OP have been corrected.

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Can I ask what motivated you to farm credits? The money making in this game is awfully easy…

Looks like you’ve put a lot of effort and time into this. That’s impressive!

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For me it’s because I try to have a car for every tune … because I’m a crazy person.

I have over 500 cars with a value of about 240 million credits, more than a half dozen Ferrari 250 GTOs, Venenos, Alfa 33s, etc.

Here’s my thinking on the Alfa 33’s: I have an S1 drag car, an S2 drag car, and X drag car, two RWD A class cars (one with aero and one without), two AWD A class cars (one with aero and one without), two RWD S1 class cars (one with aero and one without), two AWD S1 class cars (one with aero and one without).

Do I need all these cars? Couldn’t I just load different tunes for each car? No, I’m a crazy person.

Making money is easy, no doubt, but it still takes a while to save up more than $3 million … and I have only 2 Shelby Daytonas and only 2 250 Testarossas, so I’m still not done yet.

And about making money on Rivals, to get the most out of it, you need to use those skills points to permanently unlock the bonuses that apply. I think one gets you double the CR for beating Rivals? Or something. My game’s not in front of me right now but I know that some apply.

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The main reason I put so much time into testing these things is to find out what method yields the most profit while taking as little time as possible to do so.

I’ve played the game through and past the second finale four times since January of last year. I got up to level 350 on each of the four past run-throughs and on this one I started in January I have just progressed enough to unlock Storm Island and all of the hubs. I have only completed the first two showcases, am only at level 154, and am sitting right under 15m credits earned (as of right now).

I finished a few Rivals events yesterday and earned 225k in a little less than 15 minutes. I have yet to do Rivals straight for an hour, but according to O Bleak, it does pay out quite a bit more per hour than head-to-heads/finales.

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I am sitting on several dozens of millions. This time thru, IDGAF about the money, just the race. Finishing first as a 150 something instead of the what would be over 800 by now, against said high levels, I know p—ses them off!

Shelby Daytona and Ferrari 250!