Powergaming lowbie!

[Snarky]

Sooo, seeing a LOT of threads about "classic challenge" and "This is too easy"  and yadda yadda ya da.

 

What about us?  Those whiny sneaky snarky little alts that just want POWAH!?!

 

No, seriously.  I have seen quite a few new people in the game.  After you been doing this for a decade you may want to try leveling to 50 on Dual Origin Enhancers.  But lets throw some info to the newer players (and I might get a tip to put in my hat for later)

 

What would be the absolute easiest AT and powersets to do a lot of solo pre-50 stuff on?  It may come down to preference.  I havent tried MMs since a few failed experiments on live.  Could never get my bots to do what I wanted.  Is yodeling really too much to ask?  Anyways I hear MMs can be beastly solo.  Which makes sense as the rumor is they were designed as Redside Tank class.  My personal preference is Brutes.  Although at a standard setting of +0/x1 and with the changes to the Tank AT.....very nice.  Some people just Blast.  Many tend to know where the NPCs will be and have the maps memorized.  But there are some trigger happy gamers who may not have Paragon memorized and still believe that just Blast it and move on is the only playstyle.  

 

So....tell us what you think.  Show me the Powah!  errr, please?

[Soyuz]

I like Scrappers for soloing, but that may be because Brutes never quite clicked for me. Anyway, I find Scrappers to be a nice mix of durability and horsepower, clearing missions quickly and able to take on the tougher challenges. Not as durable as Tankers, obviously, but faster.

 

Salt the build with a few IO's for extra bite. Which ones will depend on where you think your build is lacking, but you can easily add large amounts of S/L and melee defence or S/L resistance, cover the knockback hole in your status protection if you have one, slot KD or stun procs in your attacks etc. Honestly, I'm barely scratching the surface when it comes to IO's since I'm actually quite new to using them. If Moar Powah is what you're after and you want to be a proper powergamer though, you can't neglect them.

 

There's a nice, short introduction to using procs, globals and uniques for some quick gains here (thanks Gulbasaur) and a handy-dandy comparison table for set bonuses themselves here (thanks HCWiki). Both have been invaluable to me.

[LiquidBandage]

14 hours ago, Snarky said:

What would be the absolute easiest AT and powersets to do a lot of solo pre-50 stuff on? 

Peacebringer, Squid-mode, aka treat it like a Blaster.

You get all of your pertinent powers at/by level 6. You have four good pertinent attack powers that are augmented by your chosen form. You essentially have a travel power any time you are in your chosen form. You don't have a whole lot of other extraneous powers to distract your slotting regimen as you level up (fewer mistakes). After you fully slot your squid powers, you can pick up Lobster and repeat the process, plus it provides a good bit of survivability. It isn't complicated, it is fun and it is relatively cheap in terms of crafting/upgrading enhancements over the course of your progression.

 

The other option would be any sort of character with Regen.

[Coyotedancer]

My middle nephew and his mum just started playing the game... They've been at it for less than a month, and came in as total n00bs.

 

They started with a Brute and a Dominator. 

[Cutter]

Tanks or brutes, especially with a damage aura. Easy to bump spawn sizes early (adjusting difficulty as found appropriate).

[Yomo Kimyata]

Not to toot my own horn, but toot-toot.

 

 

[Shred Monkey]

I gave myself the challenge of making the most powerful level 12 toon I could.  I came up with a katana/rad brute.   Katana for divine avalanche and a solid attack chain, and /rad for early help with endurance and a toggle status protection.  Brute so I could benefit from fury and not have to slot damage.

 

When I built him I had to run DFB repeatedly (level locked so I stayed at 12) to get a bunch of SO's to pimp him out.  But now that you can buy SOs and upgrade them, that part (and it's a very powerful part) is easy.

 

I primarily use him to street sweep anything up to +3s.  And I recently put combat teleport on him, making him just a blast to play with around Steel Canyon and Skyway City,  I've taken him on Posi runs, too, just as a fun run.

[Bill Z Bubba]

On 1/22/2021 at 2:25 PM, Cutter said:

Tanks or brutes, especially with a damage aura. Easy to bump spawn sizes early (adjusting difficulty as found appropriate).

This. Tanks are absolutely the best for absolute survivabilty and damage output when ignoring enhancements and being a lowbie. Which, ya kinda gotta do just due to the way slotting works as you level up. A 6slotted brawl with SOs after all, (just an example, don't do this unless you're Houtex on his Brawling Humilator,) is far better than a single empty slot.

 

Edit: And as soon as I hit save on this post, my brain went "oh, but fury damage in lowbie levels....."

Edited January 26, 2021 by Bill Z Bubba

[Nemeroff]

On 1/21/2021 at 10:25 PM, Snarky said:

... What would be the absolute easiest AT and powersets to do a lot of solo pre-50 stuff on? ...

Easiest?

Tank, Brute, Scrapper, Stalker. Not always in that order.

 

Stalkers can be faster at earning XP imho. Hide, enter mission "Find the files or whatever glowie allll the way at the end of the map." Kill amount is minimum. Add in the near-instant one shot kill; fast & easy.

Disclaimer: not every mission is set up like this, lol.

 

Tanks might the easiest to the point of boredom; power sets depending.

 

For interest/action Brute or Scrapper.

 

EDIT: I never made Bio Armor. But I hear they're great just clicky.

Edited January 27, 2021 by Nemeroff

[DougGraves]

I thought this was about playing powerful low level characters, not what levels easily.

 

I create charcters at levels 13, 19, 23, 29, and 34 and then turn off XP so the character just stays at that level. 

 

At level 13 tankers are the best soloers.  In teams I find dominators and defenders work best.  Tankers are not tough enough to tank well for a team of 8.  Plant, dark, electric, and ice dominators can have an aoe control up every fight that is better than having having a low level tanker.  Defender ally "bubblers" such as ff, thermal, and ice make low level teams go smoothly.  

 

Dark/ defenders basically function like dominators with their fear cone but have the added bonus of healing.  Dark/sonic even at level 13 make great all around characters with a focus on single target damage, dark/fire are much better at aoe damage but are lacking in single target damage.

[Troo]

Stalkers.. placate is available at level 12.

[ninja surprise]

On 1/27/2021 at 10:33 AM, Nemeroff said:

Tank, Brute, Scrapper, Stalker. Not always in that order.

 

Yep, and it really depends on power selection.

 

Scrappers and Stalkers get the magic Crits to one-shot things left and right, which is amazing fun, but you won't be taking on large crowds.

Tanks defeat slower, but are tough enough to last while you're defeating them.

Brutes might run out of endurance before getting enough Fury to be effective.

 

If you get an armor or primary that has endurance recovery, it helps a lot while leveling.