Is Level 50 your start, your end, or a foreign land?

[Razia]

I do it all. Sometimes PL to mid 30s, sometimes don't. Play my 50s, incarnate them and still keep playing them and keep rolling alts. If I don't like the powerset, I strip them, but I respec them properly and they get to  page in the back. I am so glad, that I don't have to delete characters anymore.

[Xeres]

I'm sort of on the same page with Rathulfr.  If I like the character enough by level 27, I'll IO set them out up to that level and continue to 50.  Then at 50 the question of incarnate comes up - y or n?  Some I don't - they're not some all powerful being, but more a street thug sweeper type.  I'll play the "incarnate worthy" chars until I tier 4 the incarnate slots.  Then onto the next char.

Edited February 8, 2021 by Xeres

[Hew]

It depends. Some chars never make it to 50! Some do, get slotted, and then never really get played.

 

And then SOME are like my fire/dark/mufences/foldspace tank, who I break out anytime I want to just stomp all over everything and not die. (Ok, die once in a while, just to keep it lively... 😄 )

 

I don't know what makes a char a fav that I want to play, and some that are just experiments I played with longer. I have to say though, that tank is by far my favorite go to char ever, and generally I don't like tanks! She is by far the most "chill", slightly hardcore, slightly not char I have, and as a result it makes her immensely fun to play!

 

[Sabrehawk]

When it comes to MMOs I find I tend to enjoy the endgame content the most. There have been a couple of times I tried to take the slow-and-steady questing route to 50 but I never made it. That is alright; I enjoy those stories just as much through Ouro.

 

So for me I take the most efficient path to 50, transfer enough inf to the character to kit out their endgame build and start the incarnate process. This is where the game begins for me. Both in this MMO and in others. 

[Doomguide2005]

    This thread is a perfect example of one of the things that makes this game is so fantastic.  Reading through the posts I see the the sheer variety of playstyles and preferences it supports and keeps satisfied.  I find it nothing short of utterly amazing.

 

     For me I generally expect to take the character all the way to a fully incarnated, high end build with all the bells and whistles when created ... expect to.  I can count on one hand and, at least on HC, have 5 fingers remaining.  On Live at any given moment with respect to any given issue I'd have had 4 left.  Okay probably not till i5 with that 'one' started in late i3 getting to 50 with accolades (~750+ game hours and real time months later).  Likely her HC recreation will be the only one to ever get there again.  About the only thing I've never done is purely power level from 1 to 50 or level-lock a character.  Though big chunks of levels did fly by with that 'one' this time around watching mobs die on a certain AE moon or their buddies in the 'Atta'? cave map.  And 'never' is probably the only thing I'd rule out with anything in this game.  I prefer to min-max and push boundaries both solo and team-wise but I'm also perfectly happy to not do so and sometimes make less than ideal choices because defying 'common knowledge' is itself pushing a boundary and sometimes it is just because of concept or theme.   Hence solo on an Empath set to Invincible (or doing a RWZ style challenge ~i13 with another Emp) or running a blaster to 50 without stamina pre inherent Fitness.

    In short, of the 3 choices above, I'd probably have to say "none of the above".  It starts at level 1 (not 50) and doesn't really ever end even at 50+3 (that "one" exempted to as low as lvl 3 on Live).   I've yet to find this mythological end the post speaks of.

     

[the1egend1ives]

I have about 3-4 "mains" that I cycle through playing. I'll often make a new build of the same character. For instance, I might try an Archery/TacArrow version of my Archery/Traps Corrupter, but usually that's to try out different flavors and settle on a "final" build. Once I'm commited, I'll play that character all the way, doing incarnates, story arcs, and badge hunting until there's nothing left to do. I've played City of Heroes since launch and I still feel like I haven't played everything.

Edited February 9, 2021 by the1egend1ives

[Scientist]

I tend to have only a couple of characters I am leveling at any one time, so that I can focus on doing IO sets on the way up, which powers I like enough to keep in a final respec, and so on.  When I get to 50 I keep going to unlock all their incarnate powers and get at least a T3 in each of them.  During that time, though, if there is a need on a team for one of my existing 50s, I am happy to use them and rediscover what I liked about them.  The leveling is a mix of soloing and teaming, no AE, that is boring, but sometimes a PI team, which is practically powerleveling.  I've level locked a couple of characters in Praetoria to do "all the side switching", before they got out and resumed normal leveling, so I don't mind doing that.  I spend a fair amount of time these days finishing setting up all my 50s (unlocking all the useful accolades, opening all the openable TFs, and so on).  

 

I like low level play (some powersets exemp much better than others), and I like high level play.  To those that say high level play is too easy, I've yet to see a successful Master's run in a Trial, though I've only been on a couple of attempts due to limited evening play time.  To those that say low level play is too boring, its not as bad when you have full level 50 IO sets, since at least powers are recharging briskly and doing decent damage, and I'm normally doing low level play to help out a team, which makes it much more interesting.  

 

 My general goal is to have a character that can fill any hole any team is struggling with at any level, which is why I want them twinked out with everything unlocked.  I now have that, with 15 level 50s, so any new alt will be ones my friends talked me into because they have all KINDS of concepts floating around in their heads, darn them.  🙂  

[cranebump]

I don't do much content with my 50s. I jump on them every now and then to run TFs and Pugs. Oh, and I use them for AE content (speaking of, I'm due for another review of an AE arc).:-)

[CFIndustries]

Playing 0–50 is my endgame, on boring crafted IOs and maybe the odd tricky pony IO (like +Stealth in Sprint). No farms, no shortcuts. Don't even do DFBs, rarely do TFs.

 

I can't wrap my head around "set IO" builds even using MIDS. Just a mental investment I can't be bothered with. Doesn't bother me at all though, I now have a good group of friends who play the same way with zero interest in the 50+ content. Altaholics all and by no means power gamers.

 

But all my alts get to 50 eventually because I am invested in their concept, which is where the fun is. Then I retire them…I know better than to try playing with incarnates without a really nice set IO-based build. And I'm okay with that.

 

The biggest exception is this: on Live I met a very generous player who complemented me on my ability to play even a sub-par build very well (since I play on concept I often skip powers or take powers and combos that min/max players don't). Since he "liked a challenge" he started making builds tailored just to my odd concepts and wants. He just liked watching me go nuts in higher content with one of his builds. So I have about two dozen of his builds from Live that I am re-building on HC and I enjoy using those 50+ builds to play incarnate missions or just roflstomping Level 50 content. And I have to say, he made me some NICE builds; I am forever grateful. And these will likely forever be my only 50+ builds.

 

One huge exception is my "baby" fire farmer. Due to the changes in the economy on HC vs. Live, in order to afford to make these fancy IO Set builds again, I have resorted to farming. He was farmed from 0–50+ (doorsitting) and is based on a cookie-cutter forum build and played with efficiency in mind. Didn't need to do this on Live, but after a couple months on HC it became obvious it was either farm or give-up on doing any 50+ content ever. I missed my überalts, so… *shrug*

 

Two other exceptions are a permadom built by a different friend on Live, and a defender I leveled to 50 and really wanted to make better and got lucky and found a forum build that matched my existing build mindset. Those two are "kitted" and enjoying 50+ content as well.

[Rokkeb]

Back on live 50 was a foreign land, I was a hardcore alt-aholic and there was always low level stuff being run so I was always busy. I'd see someone in group playing something that looked fun and I'd want to try it. My highest ever I think was my "main" claws/wp scrapper who got into the mid 40's.

 

It started that way on HC as well, but now I've got a handful of 50's and TBH now with full IO builds being so accessible (I could never really afford the good stuff on live) my fun comes from getting a character to 50ish and working out builds for them that I think are fun and powerful. 

 

Not everything for me has to be 45% defense s/l or whatever that seems to be the standard though I have character I only like to play in group settings, like more support oriented characters and I like coming up with builds to try and enhance their role as much as I can. A lot of time I'm chasing Recharge reduction more than I'm chasing defenses. 

 

As for incarnates, those are boring to me. I understand they are strong and powerful but the system to make/create them is the opposite of fun to me. Just grind, grind, grind, then build one, then grind some more. Yeah I know you can trade in merits, and run BAFs to get them faster, but still it's just like grinding dailies in WoW to me or AAs in EQ.. it's not a fun system. 

[Snarky]

I just started a Ice/Cold corruptor.  50 is definitely the "start" I sat in Atlas on my limited night hours for three days and got PLd to 50.  Then I respec'd, purpled, catalyzed, boosted.  Then i went to Pocked D and switched to Villain.  Then ran a MSR.  

 

I have run Cold Blast on Blasters, Sentinels, and Dominators.  I just never realized how powerful Cold Domination in Corruptors is.  This is literally the ranged fighter I have been looking for and I have been looking for years.  The AoE is decent (for volume if not damage) but the debuff is extreme (is there a more extreme word?) for ST and very good for AoE.  No reason for me to slow level, I have been running various combos of this for years, just missed the one key powerset.

 

This will be a Villain (for theme and power) who does Incarnate Trials, Redside Strike Forces, ITF, MSR, etc.  I don't need it to run all content, I just need to explore how far I can push it.

 

In the MSR it felt WAY more useful than the characters I have taken there before.  When I debuffed an elite boss I could SEE the League melt it faster.  Slamming large areas with slow and -def, and -res felt very useful.

 

I cannot wait to explore my tactics on teams and leagues and determine how to best use my new ranged superweapon..

Edited February 11, 2021 by Snarky

[Ico]

I'm somewhere in the middle. I have three characters with at least T4 Alphas, but about 20 other alts that anywhere from 10 to 40-something. Some days I want to play a defender, other times a controller, more often than not a blaster. And there's still some AT combos I have yet to try.  I recently got an archery/regen sentinel up to 40 and don't know if I'll play him. I found it to be a little underwhelming.

 

I recently decided to pick a main, get T4 everything, full IO sets, the badge buffs, etc. I've got one more buff to grab and then he's done. Mostly I wanted to see what all the min/max hype is about. And I'm also going to use him and go to Ouro to do old arcs I missed.

[Aeroprism]

I guess I'm all over the place on this one, or at least, I will be once I have a few 50s with maxed incarnates.  There's so much end-game content I have never seen, so many zones I have never been to, so many arcs I have never played.  And I've been playing this game for most of Live's lifespan (I joined Homecoming some 4-5 months ago).

 

But it's not just a matter of levels and content.  CoH is a game that, albeit all its qualities, scales really badly.  I find that the sweet spot is a team of 4-5 players in the 10-40 bracket.  Lower than 10, it's just three powers and brawl like someone said earlier.  Beyond that? The game becomes too easy.  8 member teams?  Too hectic. 

 

Yesterday I was playing my new Ice/Ice tank, she was 20. I advertized for a group and was immediately picked up by a 7-man team who were doing a story arc at max level, x8 +4.  Everything was deep purple and with my two slotted SO powers, I could do nothing (understandable) but EVEN if I had been a fully tricked 50 tank, I would STILL have done nothing: whole spawns died faster than I could target them.  At max level, you either try and be part of the DPS onslaught or you become useless.  Crowd control, aggro, buffs, debuffs, they don't matter anymore, which is a shame because this game is so beautifully made for that at lower levels.

 

Unfortunately, in its current state, CoH max level becomes a solo game, otherwise everythng is too easy. And since all my friends quit the game, I guess I can live with that.

[Grouchybeast]

10 minutes ago, Aeroprism said:

But it's not just a matter of levels and content.  CoH is a game that, albeit all its qualities, scales really badly.  I find that the sweet spot is a team of 4-5 players in the 10-40 bracket.  Lower than 10, it's just three powers and brawl like someone said earlier.  Beyond that? The game becomes too easy.  8 member teams?  Too hectic. 

My favourite thing to do in CoH is to duo.  I find duoing scales really well over all levels, and there are a lot of really fun combos where both characters get to shine.

[Aeroprism]

2 minutes ago, Grouchybeast said:

My favourite thing to do in CoH is to duo.  I find duoing scales really well over all levels, and there are a lot of really fun combos where both characters get to shine.

I completely agree.  Duo with just enough mobs can produce the "Oh sh**!" moments you want in a game and when you pull through, you can be proud that you did out of strategy and synergy and not just because your build was good.  Yes, player skill can influence solo play, but in this game, not by much.

[Obsidian_Farmer]

50 is the start for the majority of mine.  I always have a very specific goal in mind for my characters from the jump so when I'm rolling something new it's already a fully fleshed out character.  I come up with an idea, put together a build, PL the character to 50, outfit it, then run through all of the task forces in order. That way I can get a feel for any powers or synergies I may be unfamiliar with and make tweaks to the build. 

 

There are a few exceptions, like if both sets are ones I've never played or if I'm unsure about the final direction on a build.  I don't really play melee characters either so on the rare occasion I do I actually do the work. 

[Snarky]

13 minutes ago, Aeroprism said:

Yesterday I was playing my new Ice/Ice tank, she was 20. I advertized for a group and was immediately picked up by a 7-man team who were doing a story arc at max level, x8 +4.  Everything was deep purple and with my two slotted SO powers, I could do nothing (understandable) but EVEN if I had been a fully tricked 50 tank, I would STILL have done nothing: whole spawns died faster than I could target them.  At max level, you either try and be part of the DPS onslaught or you become useless.  Crowd control, aggro, buffs, debuffs, they don't matter anymore, which is a shame because this game is so beautifully made for that at lower levels.

I completely agree.  And also completely disagree!  You are correct, on a 'good' team running 50+4 content is trivial.  Many teams split into 2-3 pods to clear faster.  or entire Leagues just become an amorphous energy ball eating AVs.  Like, wtf?   

 

However....not all teams are good.  I never lead teams, and I only PUG.  I jumped into a 50+4 ITF a week ago.  On my main, seriously, this is the guy I do everything on.  Dark/Dark Brute with all the money thrown at it and T4 across all 5 incarnate powers.  It was...horrid.  There were only 3 50s to start.  Okay, I have been farmed a lot.  i will pay my dues.  Lets do this.  Then one mission in one of the 50s leaves.  The leader leaves it at 50+4 and it is thick.  If people are trying to adhere to a cohesive strategy they have little luck, these 50+4s are regularly flooring the bulk of the team.  I wont go into all the details but I ended up soloing the Nictus (killed them all too) around ROM at the end but everyone quit and I left.  I revamped my build after that and added Rune of Protection.  If there was any slack before it is gone now lol.

 

So crowd control, agro, buffs, debuffs do matter.  In fact my newest toon is an Ice/Cold Corruptor who (I just found this out) is a premier AV debuffer.  I have been looking for a great ranged squishy for years.  THis guy is pure range and massively useful to any team.  I am so happy.  Even in the BAF he adds significantly by helping to even out the AVs by debuffing the one with more health.  My Tank has to go solo the add spawns so he doesnt get locked and take 7-8 Leaguemates with him in a timeout.

[fitzsimmons]

I abandon my toons at 8.  Thanks dad.

[CFIndustries]

4 hours ago, Aeroprism said:

But it's not just a matter of levels and content.  CoH is a game that, albeit all its qualities, scales really badly.  I find that the sweet spot is a team of 4-5 players in the 10-40 bracket.  Lower than 10, it's just three powers and brawl like someone said earlier.  Beyond that? The game becomes too easy.  8 member teams?  Too hectic. 

In addition to duos mentioned by @Grouchybeast, a 6–8 person team of casual players with basic SO or crafted IO builds is nice too. I found such a group and we play +0 to +2 and rely on everyone "doing their job" to pull through, but don't play so hard that we can't drag someone's lowbie alt along to join the fun (or just turn down the difficulty…).

 

When I first joined HC I really felt I had to grind out getting a fully kitted alt to enjoy the rarified air such builds bring to a PI radio ROFLstomp. I felt kinda "dragged along for the ride" on an SO/IO-equipped 50. Now that I've found a group of more casual players where I can feel bad*** without spending billions of influence I'm having more fun, by and large.

[Fan Mail]

My journey to 50 through content is what I enjoy the most.  Then they usually get parked except on some occasions, I'll run through incarnate stuff.   

[Bill Z Bubba]

The ones that click get T4ed, passive accolades an carefully plotted out in Mids for full purple/pvp/other IO sets.

But I'm running a brute redside doing content right now and she just hit 29 all solo except for 1 lowbie TF.

There is no end game for me.

Hell, my 3 BZBs on Excel combined are at or over 1000 vet lvls. My "me" sentinel is sitting around 130 vet lvls. My new godmode shield/em tank is gonna hit 100 in no time if she hasn't already.

 

My end game with CoH already occurred when the game was shut down. Then I got a second chance for some more CoH love. And, again, my end game will occur when this set of devs decide to close down the shop.

 

Then again, the data to create my own instance is out there now and I've got the hardware to run a single player (or 2 or 5 player) instance here in my house. So maybe... just maybe, there never will be and end game for me.

[Aeroprism]

16 hours ago, Bill Z Bubba said:

Then again, the data to create my own instance is out there now and I've got the hardware to run a single player (or 2 or 5 player) instance here in my house. So maybe... just maybe, there never will be and end game for me.

 

No sunset for Bill Z.   This right there is poetry.  I salute you sir.

[Doomguide2005]

29 minutes ago, Aeroprism said:

 

No sunset for Bill Z.   This right there is poetry.  I salute you sir.

Amen to that.  I said in another thread asking if you had to choose 1 character to play what would it be.  Not happening ... this not so computer savvy player would figure out how to launch their own server.

 

An endless sea of alts awaits!!

[Aeroprism]

I'll just be content with Homecoming.  For years I missed my little colorful power icons and my flying over Paragon City.  Now Homecoming allows me to have all that again.  It will last as long as it will last.  Doesn't look like it's going anywhere for a while still.

[AkuTenshiiZero]

IMO, the best part of the game is the 40-50 range, when your character starts gaining recognition and you are tackling well-known, named characters.  That said, I also do like the Incarnate levels because you start going far beyond the established power limits and you start to feel like a veteran superhero/villain.