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The Demon Auction, or Devil Auction, is a recurring mechanic in the Devil Survivor series. Through use of the auction, Demon Tamers can pay Macca to make contracts with the demons who have put themselves up for auction.
Demons in the auction are placed in different Auction Ranks, with higher ranks having higher-leveled demons. These ranks are restricted to auction members of the corresponding rank or higher. The Protagonist will initially start out with a Basic membership, but will be able to upgrade his membership status by reaching certain ratings. Once the required rating has been reached, a macca fee has to be paid to unlock the next rank.
The ranks are Basic (普通FutsūDevil Survivor Devil Survivor: Overclocked and ノーマルNōmaruDevil Survivor 2 Devil Survivor 2: Record Breaker ), Gold (ゴールドGōrudo), Platinum (プラチナPurachina), and Occult (アングラAngura).
★★★s
Demons that are up for auction have different ★s, indicating the demons strength and ranging between 1 to 5, with 3 being the average. A 1 or 2-star demon will have lower base stats than normal, but will have cheaper starting and buy costs. Conversely, 4 or 5-star demons have higher base stats but are also more expensive. The chances for a specific version of a demon to appear differs between demons, but the first time a demon is added to the auction it is guaranteed to be 3 stars. Each version of a demon that can appear will have a different name depending on their star rating.
Demons in the auction may have different skills than the same demon made through Fusion, either having additional, different, or missing skills. Both demons with high and low Star Rating can have changed skills. Although which demons are available for auction at any given time is random, the actual demons that can appear are set. For example, in Devil Survivor: Overclocked, a 4-star Moh Shuvuu will always be named Pretty Shuvuu, have 2 extra MP, 1 extra Magic, and have the skill Amrita.
Purchasing Demons
There are two ways to make a contract with a demon up for action: By winning in a bidding war against rival Demon Tamers, or by spending the buyout price to purchase the demon directly. After the Protagonist has won a bid, he may choose to either pay the macca he's promised or to default on the bid. Defaulting on a bid will anger the demon, making it leave and reducing the Protagonist's reputation by lowering his rating.
False Listings
When a demon is bought through bidding, there is a 7% chance for it to turn out to be a False Listing; a listing where the demon either lied about their real cost or their identity. There is a 50% chance for a false listing to be for a different demon, a 20% chance for the demon to cost double the listed price, a 20% chance the demon costs half the listed price, and a 10% chance the demon will join for free.
Defaulting on a False Listing does not reduce the Protagonist's rating, as the fault lies with the demon—not the bidder. Demons purchased through buyout cannot be false.
Other
Demons are normally added to the auction at set dates and times, but if the Protagonist's party defeats a demon in a story or free battle the demon will be added to the auction even if it is before their normal listing time. Some demons do not have a time they are automatically added, and must be defeated to appear in the auction. Which demon from the currently available pool is available for purchase is determined when the app is opened, and the Auction updates with new demons every 30 minutes.
Auction Rivals
This section is in need of research.
Reason: Information on Rival preferences and behavior is based on information from Megami Ibunroku Devil Survivor Official Perfect Guide. As no information on Rival behavior is available in the guide for DeSu2, it is unknown if they have remained the same.
When bidding for a demon, the Protagonist is competing with up to three other rival Demon Tamers. There are 24 different rivals, whose names are all references to characters from other Megami Tensei games. Each rival has their own auction rank and can only bid on demons belonging to it. Rivals have different preferences for demons, and will bid more on demons they like. How strong their preference is varies between "mild", "medium", and "strong". Even if the preference is only mild, they will still bid more than if the demon didn't match their preference at all. Rivals also have ardor, which determines how aggressively they will bid without surrendering during a final bid or if the demon matches their preferences. Ardor ranges from SS, which is the most aggressive, to E.
Preference explanations:
Name
Explanation
Resistance
Demons with a resistance that Nulls, Repels, or Absorbs.
Cheap
The cheapest available demon.
Bonus
The available demon with the highest amount of bonus stats.
Healing
Demons with healing skills.
Global
Demons with skills that hit all enemies.
Level
The available demon with the highest level.
Appearance
There are 8 different types a demon can have: Dog, Cat, Girl, Cute, Hee-ho, Beautiful, Fierce, and Non-human.
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Reason: Expand more on the new bidding system, and explain how bidding in Special Auctions works.
The Protagonist can now default on demons bought directly, and the way bidding works has been changed from how it worked in Devil Survivor.
When placing a bid, the Protagonist will now see an estimate of what the other bidders are willing to spend. Once the bidding has started, the others will spend part of the 5 seconds considering before placing a bid. Icons are shown below the bidders' names to indicate how close the bid is to the estimate previously given:
The bidder is still considering.
Average bids indicate that the bid is close to the estimate.
Aggressive bids indicates that the bid is more than the estimate.
Cautious bids indicate that the bid is less than the estimate.
Once the Protagonist has purchased a demon, it may ask for extra Macca. Paying the extra fee may please the demon and cause them to give the Protagonist more Macca in return.
Conditions for unlocking auction ranks
Rank
Macca Fee
Unlock requirements
Basic
—
—
Gold
1000
Unlocked at the end of Tuesday OR after winning 20 demons in the Basic rank
Platinum
3000
Unlocked at the end of Friday OR after winning 20 demons in the Gold rank
Occult
5000
Unlocked after winning 10 demons in the Platinum rank
Devil Survivor 2 introduces the Special Auction, which are rare auctions that may appear after purchasing a demon. During a Special Auction, unique variations of demons that don't normally appear are available, with different skills, stats, and cheaper prices. Only a few demons can be bought during a Special Auction, as each time a demon is purchased other Demon Tamers are going after the remaining Special demons, meaning the Protagonist has to carefully decide which demons he wants to try and get. The Special Auction is only in effect for the auction rank of the purchased demon that triggered it, all other ranks are unaffected.
In the Triangulum story, the Demon Auction function is initially unavailable but becomes unlocked after the second mandatory battle, along with the Cathedral of Shadows and the Demon Compendium. The Protagonist starts out at Basic rank, but with a different set of Basic Demons available than he starts with in the Septentrione story.
Conditions for unlocking auction ranks in the Triangulum story
Rank
Macca Fee
Unlock requirements
Basic
—
—
Gold
1000
Unlocked at the end of Wednesday OR after winning 20 demons in the Basic rank
Platinum
3000
Unlocked at the end of Thursday OR after winning 20 demons in the Gold rank
Occult
5000
Unlocked after winning 10 demons in the Platinum rank
Devil Survivor 
The bidder is still considering.
Average bids indicate that the bid is close to the estimate.
Aggressive bids indicates that the bid is more than the estimate.
Cautious bids indicate that the bid is less than the estimate.
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