What are the "Must Do" Missions for End Game "grinding"?

[Koven]

Like, I understand that there are some missions you can do repeatedly every day (or maybe more than once a day?) that give you stuff you need for Incarnate things or special abilities you'll want. Is there a list somewhere that I can see them, what they reward, and get some info on them?

 

Also, does anyone have any recommendations of missions to do every day that may not be on the top of the normal list?

 

Thank you!

[Ukase]

I think you'll encounter some different perspectives. Most players don't "grind" the same thing repeatedly for incarnate salvage. Some do, of course. Of those that do, by and large: 

Speed Lambdas. The most inept concept in my mind, but while it is crude, it is effective. Just don't look for much incarnate XP. Just an emp merit, maybe a couple astrals and a random reward table.

Heather Townsend's arc, out of Dark Astoria, or through Ouro. 
This arc is 4 missions, and when you speed through them, you can get the rewards fairly quickly. Maybe once every 10 minutes or so. (faster or slower speeds depend on your team, your character's ability) What you get is a random common, an emp merit, and the random reward table for incarnate salvage. 

Hamidon Raids: Most of the time, at least on Excelsior, these are run three raids, back to back. After each successful raid, you get a reward table that will offer your choice of 3: 
80 reward merits for the first run on that specific character
1 random hamidon enhancement 
4 empyrean merits. 

you can only choose one of those three. Once you pick the 4 emps on that character, you can swap characters and choose 4 emps again (and email them to the first alt if you wish) or you can choose 80 merits or a random hamidon enhancement on the first character. 
Once you pick 80 merits, the next time, the merits reduce to 40. 

So, one character can get the 4 emp merits, and 120 merits in three runs, or 3 characters could get 240 merits, or 3 characters could get 12 emp merits. 

Apex/Tin Mage also award an incarnate reward table, and on the right team, these can be run very quickly, maybe 20 minutes for both if your team is very competent and experienced. 

Fire Farm - PL an unslotted alt to vet level 48. This will get you 280 emp merits. Levels 1-50 take about 2 hours, give or take a bit. The next vet levels though - they can take quite some time. I do mine AFK because I'd just get bored to tears actively doing it. This way - I can have this alt send transcendent merits to the character I'm actually leveling and playing. And I delete the alt with the 48 vet levels, as it was unslotted and just sitting in the farm. It's a nice thing to not have to sweat the same BAF and Lambda ad nauseum. I can just send over the emp merits in form of a transcendant merit and +3 them in short order if I choose. Or I can reload my farmer with converters, Nothing like options. 

 

[Luminara]

37 minutes ago, Koven said:

Like, I understand that there are some missions you can do repeatedly every day (or maybe more than once a day?) that give you stuff you need for Incarnate things or special abilities you'll want.

 

There's nothing that has to be done once per day, or several times per day.  Nothing.  You can, if you prefer, run almost anything as many times as you want, as often as you want.  The only restrictions are in a diminishing returns approach to the reward system in certain content, such as Task/Strike Forces or Incarnate story arcs when selecting the merit reward (you can receive the full merit reward for the restricted content once every 20 hours.  running the content again when less than 20 hours has elapsed results in half the reward.  this restriction is not global, so you could run every Task/Strike Force once in a 20 hour period and receive the full merit reward for each, for example).

 

But grinding a limited content set isn't a requirement.  The game practically dumps rewards in your lap anyway.  Regardless of what you want to acquire, it can be obtained through casual play.  Enjoy the ride, the game will reward you handsomely for it.

[Miss Magical]

In my opinion, outside of AE farms, there are really only 3 pieces of content whose rewards stand out noticeably from the rest:

 

1) Tin Mage/Apex TF:
This is a pair of level 50 task forces started from within the rikti war zone, and they are among the highest merit/time task forces in the game. Each TF awards 40 reward merits, 1 Astral merit, and a reward table that lets you pick 1 more Astral merit or 1 incarnate component, and can be done in around 15 minutes. Typically teams will do both back-to-back, so it takes 30 minutes for the whole thing. This is often advertised in LFG as "Tinpex".

 

Note: You must have abilities slotted in your alpha slot, or you will be at a -4 level penalty.

 

2) Underground incarnate trial:

This trial is unique because the incarnate component roll at the end is guaranteed to be a rare or very rare. This is not stated anywhere in-game, but it is noted on HC wiki, and I can confirm that I have never gotten a common or uncommon from it. Since rares/very rares are the real bottlenecks in upgrading incarnate abilities, It is always worth dropping everything to sign up for any Underground trial that starts. You also get a lot of exp since there are tons of critters to kill. This trial is longer than usual, and takes about 40 minutes to complete.

 

Note: the enemies in the Underground are level 56. There is a DPS check along the way so it is not recommended to bring characters that are less than 50+2.

3) Hamidon raid:

This raid has a reward table at the end that gives a choice of 4 Empyrean merits, 80 reward merits or 1 random Hamidon enhancement. The raid itself is very fast, has zero difficulty and can be done in about 10 minutes. Most of the hassle is in assembling, organizing people and spawning Hamidon. For this reason, most servers will do 2-3 raids back-to-back, since there's no reason not to do more after going to the trouble of gathering a group for the 1st kill. Doing 3 raids back-to-back takes about 1 hour (including arriving 15 minutes early, spawning Hamidon, and waiting for everthing to get organized); you can pick each of the 3 rewards once with no diminishing returns, or switch characters to get the same reward 3 times.

 

Note: This is the only one of the 3 options open to pre-50 characters - you can enter at level 45+.

 

** A honorable mention to Imperious's task force - a +4/x8 kill most ITF is worth a lot of exp because there are so many things to murder. I got 4 veteran levels on my solo ITF.

 

---

 

My experience is that most of the things that veterans recommend you grind or farm are nothing special for rewards. I often see people recommending things like mothership raids and PI radio missions, which at best are good at awarding 1 or 2 things.

 

As an example, there's a guide out there recommending you do Heather Townshend's story arc, since you get 1 incarnate component roll every 15 minutes. But an incarnate trial, e.g. BAF is also 15 minutes. (I timed it.) And a BAF nets you 1 Empyrean merit, 2 Astral merits, 1 incarnate component roll, 1 uncommon for your first completion, 1 more astral merit per badge requirement you meet if you already got the badge, 1 rare component the first time you get the master badge, and a ton of exp from all the critters you kill, which you won't get from the storyarc if you're just speeding through. The only thing Townshend's arc has going for it is that it's soloable. So unless you're trialphobic -- just do the incarnate trials.

 

Here's a handy formula for you to compare the relative worth of various rewards, if in doubt as to which option to pick:

 

1 Empyrean merit = 5 astral merits = 10 reward merits = 2 million inf or 20 incarnate threads or 1 common incarnate component

 

As an example, this shows me that I should generally pick Reward merits over Empyrean merits from the Hamidon reward table, because it gives 80 reward merits, but only 4 empyrean merits (=40 reward merits). There is one exception, which is that the currencies on the left of the formula can be converted into the ones on the right, but not vice versa. So it is worth picking those on the left if you need the things they buy immediately.

 

Finally? I don't understand the weird idea that you need to grind in this game. This game throws huge amounts of rewards your way wherever you look. It is the only game I have ever played where exp rains from the skies in such amounts they had to add the option to turn it off. I don't farm. I don't profiteer on the auction house either. I do task forces, story arcs and trials and whatever strikes my fancy; and I still make inf faster than I can spend it. Grinding, farming, and chaining yourself to the controls of a spines/fire brute in a comic-con sweatshop is completely unnecessary, superfluous, pointless and useless. Stop obsessing over inf/hr and think more about your fun/hr.

Edited August 16, 2021 by Miss Magical

[Snarky]

It really depends on goals.  In my opinion.  You want cash? Farms.  You want incarnate power “burdens of the past” arc in ouro.  You want fun? Mad cap incarnate trials and any task force. ( fun to run on a kitted out 50 lol)

[Yomo Kimyata]

2 hours ago, Ukase said:

Fire Farm - PL an unslotted alt to vet level 48. This will get you 280 emp merits. Levels 1-50 take about 2 hours, give or take a bit. The next vet levels though - they can take quite some time. I do mine AFK because I'd just get bored to tears actively doing it. This way - I can have this alt send transcendent merits to the character I'm actually leveling and playing. And I delete the alt with the 48 vet levels, as it was unslotted and just sitting in the farm. It's a nice thing to not have to sweat the same BAF and Lambda ad nauseum. I can just send over the emp merits in form of a transcendant merit and +3 them in short order if I choose. Or I can reload my farmer with converters, Nothing like options. 

 

 

This is not a path I follow, but next time you do this @Ukase, try getting a rough split on times:  A. from 1 to 50; B. from veteran level 1-24; and C.  from veteran level 25-48.

 

I suspect that you may get a better overall rate of emp merits per hour by running a new alt to vet level 24 (160 emp merits for A + B) rather than to run it to 48 (280 emp merits for A + B + C).  But then again, I've been wrong before!

[dtjunkie]

I like the Assault on Striga Mission from Provost Marchand. Tell the NPCs to stay put, set it to +4 X 8 and then aggro a War Walker and a few transformation capsules before the ambush starts. Loads of fun (assuming you waited til 50 to start Marchand)

 

I also like seeing how long I can survive the Nemesis waves during the Investigate Harvan's Lab mission during the final Pandora's Box signature arc. Obviously the Stone tank was fine. The Triple E Sentinel was much more hectic.

 

 

 

[Ukase]

3 hours ago, Yomo Kimyata said:

 

This is not a path I follow, but next time you do this @Ukase, try getting a rough split on times:  A. from 1 to 50; B. from veteran level 1-24; and C.  from veteran level 25-48.

 

I suspect that you may get a better overall rate of emp merits per hour by running a new alt to vet level 24 (160 emp merits for A + B) rather than to run it to 48 (280 emp merits for A + B + C).  But then again, I've been wrong before!

Testing it out now, for kicks and grins. 

And take a look, lol 

This is the stalker alt - at level 32 after the first 44 minutes (2xp, afk farmer). This is why I never let someone else's alts in my farms! 3 purples in 44 minutes...just sitting at the door looking pretty. 

 

 

[Ukase]

Meanwhile, the poor farmer, slaving away only got one purple.  

[Ukase]

@Yomo Kimyata In all seriousness - my reason for stopping at 48, for whatever reason - only anecdotally, it takes me longer to get from vet level 48 to vet level 54 (for 20 emp merits) than it does for me to PL from level 1 to 50 vet level 3. (20 emp merits)

See, as you're most likely aware, 1-50 in a farm is quick. About 2 hours. Each vet level though, takes the same time. And the vet levels required to get 20 emps at that vet level is 6 vet levels. Levels 1-50 plus 3 vet levels is faster than 6 vet levels. So, that's why. (or 1-50 is faster than 3 vet levels.) 

How much faster? I dunno. I didn't look at a clock. And candidly, it's mostly afk time. But it's faster. 

Edit: After a night's sleep, it occurred to me I didn't represent my reasoning clearly. Because if it is faster to go 1-50 plus 3 vet levels to get 20 emps, why proceed past the point where you only get 15 emp merits? As stated, I used no clocks, and it's afk time. The 15 emps from 3 vet levels in the vet level 27 to vet level 48 range is more than 10, obviously. So, if I proceed, I'll have 30 emps in 6 vet levels, a slightly better pay off than just the 20 from vet levels 1-3. It may be all in my head, as perception is often reality for most of us. But because that's my perception, I think I'm saving some time - even if it is afk-time. 

I should try it with active farming to get an actual guage, but that would be torture, and I'm called away so often during the day, that I couldn't give it the time it deserves. I'm sure someone has already done this, anyway. 

Apologies for any derailing of the thread. 

Edited August 17, 2021 by Ukase

[Koven]

You're all just speaking Greek to me at this point. I have no idea what Emp Merits are even for. haha

[Icono04]

Empyrean Merits can be converted into Rare or Very Rare incarnate components, which you need to craft a tier 3 and a tier 4 incarnate ability - unless you happen to have the specific rare/very rare component you need.

Alternatively, 1 Empyrean merit can be converted into 20 incarnate threads.

Best of all, Empyrean merits can be mailed to your own alts - most of the other incarnate compoents are character-bound.

 

tl;dr   Empyrean merits are extremely useful, because they can be used as substitutes for the other things you need to create your incarnate abilities.

[tidge]

I will echo @Ukase, with a little bit of personal flavor:

 

At level 50+, the Heather Townshend (Dark Astoria 1) arc is a straightforward means to accumulate random Incarnate reward drops (~10 minutes at speed) and can have the spawn size turned up to x8 (but not difficulty) to also improve chances of purple recipe drops (~30 minutes to clear each map, depending on the AT and build).

 

As I have written elsewhere, Hamidon raids really aren't my cuppa... but I won't deny that a triple run for 120 merits and an HO drop offer a lot of value for time (once the raid actually starts). I appreciate the raid leaders who run these. I do wish that we'd mix up the approaches for variety, because these have become (IMO) dull repetitive events. Masochist perhaps, but cleaning up a triple-bloom seems a challenge worth under-taking. But I digress...

 

I am quite fond of running the first Signature Story Arc (Who Will Die) as a speed. Characters with DPS can do this in under 7 minutes (plus a cut scene), non-DPS characters can do it in 10 minutes (either red or blue). Run weekly for 20 merits, otherwise 5 merits each run. The first time you run it is independent of the weekly counter, so you can run it back-to-back the first time for 40 merits. The maps and villain placement in this arc are friendly for speed runs.

[BZRKR]

8 hours ago, Koven said:

You're all just speaking Greek to me at this point. I have no idea what Emp Merits are even for. haha

Begin here:

https://hcwiki.cityofheroes.dev/wiki/Incarnate_System

And that will help you ask more directed questions 🙂

[A Cat]

9 hours ago, Koven said:

You're all just speaking Greek to me at this point. I have no idea what Emp Merits are even for. haha

Read this guide

 

yeah it's confusing since the system is the result of adapting a free model to a pay model and also lack of refinement due to an unexpectedly early sunset of the live game. All the parallel resources boggled my mind when I got my first 50, since I stopped playing live before incarnates were even a thing. 

 

 

[Yomo Kimyata]

10 hours ago, Ukase said:

@Yomo Kimyata In all seriousness - my reason for stopping at 48, for whatever reason - only anecdotally, it takes me longer to get from vet level 48 to vet level 54 (for 20 emp merits) than it does for me to PL from level 1 to 50 vet level 3. (20 emp merits)

See, as you're most likely aware, 1-50 in a farm is quick. About 2 hours. Each vet level though, takes the same time. And the vet levels required to get 20 emps at that vet level is 6 vet levels. Levels 1-50 plus 3 vet levels is faster than 6 vet levels. So, that's why. (or 1-50 is faster than 3 vet levels.) 

How much faster? I dunno. I didn't look at a clock. And candidly, it's mostly afk time. But it's faster. 

Edit: After a night's sleep, it occurred to me I didn't represent my reasoning clearly. Because if it is faster to go 1-50 plus 3 vet levels to get 20 emps, why proceed past the point where you only get 15 emp merits? As stated, I used no clocks, and it's afk time. The 15 emps from 3 vet levels in the vet level 27 to vet level 48 range is more than 10, obviously. So, if I proceed, I'll have 30 emps in 6 vet levels, a slightly better pay off than just the 20 from vet levels 1-3. It may be all in my head, as perception is often reality for most of us. But because that's my perception, I think I'm saving some time - even if it is afk-time. 

I should try it with active farming to get an actual guage, but that would be torture, and I'm called away so often during the day, that I couldn't give it the time it deserves. I'm sure someone has already done this, anyway. 

Apologies for any derailing of the thread. 

 

I did the unthinkable:  I looked it up in the wiki.

 

According to that source (which may not be correct):

- it takes 39,149,119 xp to go from 1-50.

- it takes 4,973,400 xp to go from 49-50.

- every veteran level takes the same amount of xp as 49-50.

 

So however long it takes you to run 1-50 (A in my example above), it should take you about 4.05x as long to run from 1 to vet level 24 (A+B), and about 7.10x as long to run to vet level 48 (A+B+C).  You are very slightly better off running to vet level 24 than vet level 48, but it's so close that it's pretty much a wash.

 

Math:  the other white meat.

 

 

[Ukase]

2 hours ago, Yomo Kimyata said:

 

I did the unthinkable:  I looked it up in the wiki.

 

According to that source (which may not be correct):

- it takes 39,149,119 xp to go from 1-50.

- it takes 4,973,400 xp to go from 49-50.

- every veteran level takes the same amount of xp as 49-50.

 

So however long it takes you to run 1-50 (A in my example above), it should take you about 4.05x as long to run from 1 to vet level 24 (A+B), and about 7.10x as long to run to vet level 48 (A+B+C).  You are very slightly better off running to vet level 24 than vet level 48, but it's so close that it's pretty much a wash.

 

Math:  the other white meat.

 

 

I wonder if I can remember math enough to take into account the 2xp buff that's active in levels 1-50. 

 

[Yomo Kimyata]

Excellent point!

[Luminara]

2 hours ago, Yomo Kimyata said:

- it takes 4,973,400 xp to go from 49-50.

- every veteran level takes the same amount of xp as 49-50.

 

The wiki is definitely wrong about the amount of XP required per vet level.  I just hit vet level 2 on this character.

 

[Yomo Kimyata]

14 minutes ago, Luminara said:

 

The wiki is definitely wrong about the amount of XP required per vet level.  I just hit vet level 2 on this character.

 

I’m not surprised.

 

Seeing that amount of influence on a lvl 50+ is giving me a facial tic.  It’s like when someone posts a phone screenshot and their battery is at 2%.

[gamingglen]

4 minutes ago, Yomo Kimyata said:

Seeing that amount of influence on a lvl 50+ is giving me a facial tic.  It’s like when someone posts a phone screenshot and their battery is at 2%.

 

Most of my 50s have less because I transferred the INF to new alts. 

[Luminara]

1 minute ago, Yomo Kimyata said:

I’m not surprised.

 

Seeing that amount of influence on a lvl 50+ is giving me a facial tic.  It’s like when someone posts a phone screenshot and their battery is at 2%.

 

I poached her left-over funds for another character some time ago,  after I'd purpled her out (how do you think i'm sitting at 235% global +Recharge?), and stopped playing her until I can figure out how to make a set of rolling chat binds for Phantom Army.

 

 

That's my latest 50's stockpile (what's left after purpling).  Feel better?

[Ukase]

I think this should be soothing, lol 

 

 

[Luminara]

23 minutes ago, Ukase said:

I think this should be soothing, lol 

 

 

 

>.>

<.<

*clicks that Claim button once, just in case*

[Yomo Kimyata]

4 hours ago, Luminara said:

 

I poached her left-over funds for another character some time ago,  after I'd purpled her out (how do you think i'm sitting at 235% global +Recharge?), and stopped playing her until I can figure out how to make a set of rolling chat binds for Phantom Army.

 

 

That's my latest 50's stockpile (what's left after purpling).  Feel better?

 

Better.  That's some walkin' around money.

 

2 hours ago, Ukase said:

I think this should be soothing, lol 

 

 

 

That's some lying down on a golden couch eatin' bon-bons money.