General

@SHiNeeTM: I've got like 5 ~ 7 characters that have yet to do the NLC GFA quest, so that'll give me an okay amount of mesos right off the bat.

I'll give the scroll thing a go, then slowly work my way up.

@SHiNeeTM: Hmm, I've been considering doing the crafting thing, making half earrings, and then fusing and praying I land a nice %STR stat on it, but I'm reluctant, because I fear I may end up with nothing but duds.

200 Mil is a lot of mesos to me, even in this day and age of Maplestory. I really want to get into Merchanting, but when I walk into the FM I get so intimidated by all the "pro" merchers there, and even here on Basil o.o

A decent Knuckle should be the first step. Having 3%~6% STR on everything is a good stepping stone, but if you don't have a good Knuckle then your %STR is worthless. Try to get something around 100 attack(Not sure how expensive they are). I personally tossed 60%'s on a King Cent that had 6% Attack potential, I used it until just a few levels ago where I replaced it with my Legendary one(99 Attack, 15% PDR and my range went up a bit). So yea, first step; workable Knuckle.

Then start working on %STR gear. Some people skip 3% STR and head straight to 6%(Or higher, depending on funds), that's fine. Since you only have 200m, you'll probably be dealing with 3% STR things. They shouldn't be too hard to come across, and they shouldn't be too expensive either. Belts, Earrings and Shoes in particular should be lower priced due to how many Crafters make those. As for Pirate gear with %STR, it may be difficult to come by, but it is by no means expensive.

So yea, King Cents should be easy to scroll for a Knuckle and 3% STR gear isn't that hard to come by. Earrings, Shoes and Belts are cheaper for higher %'s due to crafting. That's about it.

Oh yes, as @SHiNeeTM suggested, crafting accessories and armor is an excellent way to get the items you need for even less hurt on the wallet.

In general, weapon always comes first. If money wasn't a big issue, perfecting a knuckle would be the first step. However, because you don't quite have the funds to do major upgrading, perhaps starting off with 3-6% str on every piece of potential-able equipment would give you a decent boost.

Over time as you obtain items with higher value and perhaps find a way to make money and not get tired of the method, you can move up a few %str on a piece of equipment one by one. Try not to go overboard and get a decently high% str on just one item.

For example (and of course price is just a general idea) getting a 12% str unique earring for 350 mil wont be as good as getting about 3-6% str on 10 pieces of equips for 75 mil.

@GodOfSparks: Hmm, I suppose you're right. I was jumping the gun, when I even got the idea of buying such a perfect weapon for such a massive price. o.o Start off small, make my way up.

thanks!

@xBeta: Umm yeah. I used my crappy Ewand6 for a very long time until I decided to get a good one. I'd say when you'll have about 20%~30%, then try to get a good weapon.

@dreyerp: Well, I have roughly 200 Mil, which I would love to use to do a little bit of merching, but I don't have a store permit, or valuable items to sell. I doubt 200 Mil can get me anything [i]too[/i] valuable either.

@GodOfSparks: Ah, so you think I should start off with other equipment, and leave the weapon for later? Thanks for listing the prices, that helps a lot.

9% Half Earrings => About 100m
4% Belt => About 10m
8% Sneakers => About 60m

That's a good start.