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

[A Cat]

On my newest 50, I ended up with 700,000 or so after buying my last purple (including accidentally paying 16.5 mil for a converter accidentally). 

[Luminara]

34 minutes ago, Yomo Kimyata said:

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

 

[TraumaTrain]

Very influential.

[Koven]

10 hours ago, Ukase said:

I think this should be soothing, lol 

 

 

Are you looking to adopt a grown up man?  Papa?

[Icono04]

9 hours ago, Yomo Kimyata said:

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

FOURTEEN KARAT golden couch, Lenny!

[Snarky]

[Lockpick]

On 8/16/2021 at 4:09 PM, Miss Magical said:

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.

 

 

That BAF takes 15 minutes to do and another 15 to 30 to get a team assembled.  You can likely get 2 Townshend arcs done by the time you can assemble a team and do the BAF.

 

The Townshend arc also give you 1 Emp, 1 common Incarnate component, and 1 roll.

 

And, of course, you mentioned the solo aspect of it, but this is critical.  You can do it whenever you want with no dependencies.  I find this to be the most effective way to grind incarnates.  If a trial is forming or a TinPex comes up I will try to join, but if nothing is forming this seems to be the best bet.

[Miss Magical]

8 hours ago, Lockpick said:

 

 

That BAF takes 15 minutes to do and another 15 to 30 to get a team assembled.  You can likely get 2 Townshend arcs done by the time you can assemble a team and do the BAF.

 

The Townshend arc also give you 1 Emp, 1 common Incarnate component, and 1 roll.

 

And, of course, you mentioned the solo aspect of it, but this is critical.  You can do it whenever you want with no dependencies.  I find this to be the most effective way to grind incarnates.  If a trial is forming or a TinPex comes up I will try to join, but if nothing is forming this seems to be the best bet.

Personally, I don't consider time spent while waiting for the BAF to assemble as time spent playing the game. I'm chatting with friends outside the game, reading a book, on my phone, watching videos, etc. But perhaps you're right and that 15 minutes should be factored into the time spent. In that case, perhaps we should get a nerf to Townshend's arc or an increase to incarnate trial rewards. 

 

 

[Zhym]

12 hours ago, Lockpick said:

That BAF takes 15 minutes to do and another 15 to 30 to get a team assembled.  You can likely get 2 Townshend arcs done by the time you can assemble a team and do the BAF.

 

The Townshend arc also give you 1 Emp, 1 common Incarnate component, and 1 roll.

 

And, of course, you mentioned the solo aspect of it, but this is critical.  You can do it whenever you want with no dependencies.  I find this to be the most effective way to grind incarnates.  If a trial is forming or a TinPex comes up I will try to join, but if nothing is forming this seems to be the best bet.

This.  BAF is a lot more entertaining, IMO, and more social, but if your goal is to grind out incarnate components as quickly as possible, there's nothing like running Heather Townshend's arc over and over.  And as you mention, it's also great if you don't have a lot of time to play.  I've logged in, run Burden of the Past, and logged back out in less time than it takes to have a regulation coffee break.  Can't do that with BAF. :)

[tidge]

35 minutes ago, Zhym said:

BAF is a lot more entertaining, IMO, and more social, but...

 

Each to their own taste. While BAF is running, there isn't that much time for socializing. Even "speedy and intense" content like MLTF and LRSF offer chances to chit-chat during missions.

 

I am glad that the folks running "league" content like BAF and Hamidon have finally adjusted their directions/advice... it felt like it took forever for league runners to

• In BAF, direct players to move to the paths the escapees take rather than direct players to doors (and then have to hunt down escapees)
• In Hamidon, not just blindly call out for league EoE refreshes when there was essentially nothing that would hurt you.

I don't want to sound too critical of the league runners (who I appreciate), it's just that while the league runners (in HC) have generally been good about tolerating the learning curve for new players, it occasionally felt like they weren't equally willing to try new things.

 

My favorite content that falls into the category of "we can talk about options" or "let's just do it madcap" is the Miss Liberty Task Force. It certainly runs smoother with some discussion (especially when team composition is less than ideal), but I find the game has some charm when things start to go pear-shaped and the team recovers.

[Zhym]

36 minutes ago, tidge said:

Each to their own taste. While BAF is running, there isn't that much time for socializing. Even "speedy and intense" content like MLTF and LRSF offer chances to chit-chat during missions.

I guess I'd draw a distinction between "social" and "socializing."  Running a BAF is still "social" in that you're doing it with other people, even if there's usually not time for "socializing." 

 

36 minutes ago, tidge said:

am glad that the folks running "league" content like BAF and Hamidon have finally adjusted their directions/advice... it felt like it took forever for league runners to

• In BAF, direct players to move to the paths the escapees take rather than direct players to doors (and then have to hunt down escapees)
• In Hamidon, not just blindly call out for league EoE refreshes when there was essentially nothing that would hurt you.

I don't want to sound too critical of the league runners (who I appreciate), it's just that while the league runners (in HC) have generally been good about tolerating the learning curve for new players, it occasionally felt like they weren't equally willing to try new things.

 

My favorite content that falls into the category of "we can talk about options" or "let's just do it madcap" is the Miss Liberty Task Force. It certainly runs smoother with some discussion (especially when team composition is less than ideal), but I find the game has some charm when things start to go pear-shaped and the team recovers.

I suspect @Snarky may have some thoughts on the merits of leagues and PUGs. :)  But I do think HC sometimes falls into the trap of Trial and TF leaders thinking that everyone's done the content 100 times and so there's no need for instruction (heck, most of the time, they're right).  It's "Go.  Hunt.  Kill Skuls" for high levels.  And a lot of the TFs are very forgiving of that looseness when run with teams full of set-bonused T4'd incarnates.  But the occasional pear-shaped team makes me appreciate the well-run ones that much more.  On Excelsior, if I see a trial run by @Oklahoman or @STiTcH (or others whose names I'm forgetting at the moment)—well, that's still no guarantee that the TF or Trial will go well, but if it fails, it won't be for poor leadership.

Edited August 19, 2021 by Zhym