Sparkling Cube prices: Glimmer, shops and paid bundles

The baseline price is 1,500 Glimmer or premium currency. You don't buy the cube outright. You buy 100 Sparkling Crystals and exchange them for the cube at an Outpost vendor. In the shop the exchange sits under the Item Exchange section, not the Credit section, so look for it there.

Two parts of this are unsettled. The first is the conversion rate at the Outpost Vendor. One Sparkling Cube is listed at 1,000, 100 and 5 Sparkling Crystals, and one Sparkling Anipod at both 1,000 and 100, so check the vendor's own menu before you assume a figure. The second is where you can buy it. One version has the cube bought with Glimmer from Joff under the item exchange menu at outposts, or from the item exchange vendor at the headquarters. The other has standard outpost shop vendors not selling it at all. Joff's menu has its own article on this site, so the trade list is not repeated here.

Lumen Crystals can buy Sparkling Cubes, and Anipod Ultras too, but at a markup. That makes them a convenience rather than a bargain. If you have the Glimmer, the exchange route costs you less.

Petals work differently. Gift of Blessing crafts cubes and seasonal effect items, and each one costs 49 petals. Cubes and seasonal items share that flat price, so every cube you craft is a seasonal item you didn't make. Decide which you want before you spend the petals.

The Mysterious Vendor sells a daily rotating selection of discounted goods. Most of it is everyday stock: Anipods and other catching items; Blaze Stones, Sprout Stones and Mark of the Strong stones; training supplies, energy batteries, Star Essence and nurture items; and a limited stock of growth fruits.

Now and then it also stocks rare items, Sparkling Cubes included, for 3,000,000 in-game currency. That price is far above the Glimmer exchange, but it doesn't use up your Sparkling Crystals. The stock changes every day and the cube only turns up occasionally, so check the vendor daily if you want the chance.

Real money buys shop packs of cosmetics, capture items and progression materials. Those materials include both Sparkling Crystals and Sparkling Cubes, so you can pay for the finished cube or for the crystals you would exchange for one.

Two specific offers include cubes. The Companion Collection bundle has one Prismana Orb, two Sparkling Cubes, one Prismatic Stone and one Capability Fruit. It is the obvious pick if you want a Prismana Orb and Sparkling Cubes in one purchase.

The top paid Companion Handbook tier costs about $20/£20. It adds an avatar frame, skins and cosmetics, an extra Sparkling Cube, a Rare Anipod, energy batteries and Glimmer. That is only one cube, but the Glimmer it includes goes toward the standard exchange route as well.

05Where to start

For most players the Glimmer exchange is the cube to plan around, but check the Sparkling Crystal amount on the vendor's own menu because it is unsettled. Use petals if you can spare a seasonal item. Check the Mysterious Vendor daily. Use Lumen Crystals only when convenience is worth the markup. If you are paying real money anyway, the Companion Collection bundle gives you the most cubes in one purchase.