Gets way worse.  Easy to eat through 1m to get an upgrade on a 6* accessory on that last level.

I save up 15-20m silver and then just try not to think about it as I roll up everything I need to.

That's ludicrus 

Makes FTP a waste in hopes of getting high lvl champs.  If I bought NOTHING I'd have to play 12hrs a day (provided I had the energy) endlessly just to get upgrade costs not to mention other things you need silver for

I'm taking a break from Warcraft 'cause I was bored, so I started to play this (play for free!) game.  this past month I've spent a whole years' worth of Warcraft subscription on this game trying to get higher lvl champs.  And yes I was upgrading a 6* artifact

The same pet peeve happens here as in Warcraft... shitty drop rates and the ingame monitary costs... silver here gold in Warcraft

That's the way these games work. All of them. You either spend time, or you spend money. There is no way around it.

However, it is absolutely not impossible for FTP to thrive in this game. I haven't spent a dime, and I'm absolutely end-game.

Use your remaining auto-battles to farm the highest level you can in Spider. Set the results to sell everything. Look for 1M silver when you wake up. 

I guess 500k to reach lvl 16 on a 6-star is pretty lucky... i count for 1.5 M for that, when i prepare for artifact events.   Last fusion i started event 1 with 18M, had the parts at 9M ... second event went worse, i had to sell for another 4M to complete it.