I would never buy exotics for gold or real money either.
When R8 came along with the ridiculous string of exotics that were required to progress, there as a bit of an uproar (to say the least) that resulted in the "No Hunter Left Behind" concept and the launch of the crystal currency.
Anyway... in R8, there is basically one map piece for each of the three weapon series, the trophy hunts, and five exotic/event series.
When region 8 was still the final region, the exotics would initially be gold only and then eventually come available for HBs or crystals. Not sure how it works now, but I suspect that they should still be there for HBs and/or crystals.
You will have to grind away contract hunts for crystals, but that is pretty easy in R8 versus what they gave us in R9. Don't be in a hurry for R9. It is not worth the effort.
Comments
When R8 came along with the ridiculous string of exotics that were required to progress, there as a bit of an uproar (to say the least) that resulted in the "No Hunter Left Behind" concept and the launch of the crystal currency.
Anyway... in R8, there is basically one map piece for each of the three weapon series, the trophy hunts, and five exotic/event series.
When region 8 was still the final region, the exotics would initially be gold only and then eventually come available for HBs or crystals. Not sure how it works now, but I suspect that they should still be there for HBs and/or crystals.
You will have to grind away contract hunts for crystals, but that is pretty easy in R8 versus what they gave us in R9. Don't be in a hurry for R9. It is not worth the effort.
iPhone 6, iOS 9.2