Fastest Solo leveler?

[SunSetSam]

What would you consider to be the fastest solo leveler? 

[DoctorDitko]

A */Dark Mastermind.

 

[Without_Pause]

Rad/fire Brute. You never said how they would solo.

[Pyriold]

1 hour ago, Without_Pause said:

Rad/fire Brute. You never said how they would solo.

+1, true.

 

For normal content you can either have brute/scrapper (various sets and specialities), blasters (you can make them tanky) or maybe soldiers/widows. Some controllers and dominators can also be very effective and safe, but probably not as fast.

[Carnifax]

4 hours ago, DoctorDitko said:

A */Dark Mastermind.

 

Til they get to Sharkshead 🤣

(I still remember the system shock I got on Live bringing my up-til-then immortal Necro/Dark to Sharks and seeing my poor Zombies getting AOE melted). 

 

Stalkers nowadays must be up there too. Can be easily tanky enough in a straight fight and have the ability to ghost annoying missions and "cheat" in fights by deleting the nastiest thing in a spawn before the fight even properly starts. Of course its pretty set dependent but you can fine tune the diff settings to best suit the primary.

[Snarky]

I would vote Blaster, built right.  At standard setting +0/x1 you are looking for mission complete and story arc bonuses.  A good Blaster (get invisibility) will be cruising through these like a hot knife through butter.

[arcane]

7 hours ago, Without_Pause said:

Rad/fire Brute. You never said how they would solo.

This.

 

Stalker if you care “how they would solo”

[Without_Pause]

1 hour ago, Snarky said:

I would vote Blaster, built right.  At standard setting +0/x1 you are looking for mission complete and story arc bonuses.  A good Blaster (get invisibility) will be cruising through these like a hot knife through butter.

Or you know, just play a Stalker and have mez protection, Def/Res, and a possible heal early. On the flip side, a build which can handle larger mobs might solo faster. I don't know. I never tested it, and certainly not at what point larger mobs take over. I never felt like my Brute soloed slow going from 1-50 never using a 2x XP booster, and I'm sure I could have pushed it further. I was eventually at x8, but I was no higher than +1 sans a Council mission. Damn you red side. I know someone was soloing a Tank at +4/x8 pre level 50, so yeah. Hell, set up Council farms and my Ice/stone Brute was doing +4/x8 at 48. Not recommended as it was slow as hell, but add in 2x XP and that's some fat XP right there. Best of both worlds might be a Elec/shield Stalker. Granted, Shield takes some time to get going and isn't that great sub level 50 so it kind of defeats the purpose.

 

In terms of a Blaster, Ice paired with a number of things is to going to solo very well. 

 

EDIT: I should add, Either EM or StJ with EA or Stone is likely the best options for a Stalker. 

Edited April 8, 2022 by Without_Pause

[tidge]

I'm assuming 'for levelling' :

• Enhancements are not endgame build quality
• Not using AE

If there is a 'trick' it will be to do as much AoE as soon as possible...typically by 25+, so you can face as many MOB as possible in missions. Masterminds and Damage Aura types should get there sooner, but practically Stalkers, Scrappers and Blasters will probably overtake them by the mid 30s.

 

I want to recommend VEATs, but that level 24 Respec will slow you down!

 

[Bill Z Bubba]

On 4/8/2022 at 8:44 AM, Without_Pause said:

I don't know. I never tested it,

 

3 vetlvls per hour solo in Dark Astoria with BZB scrap. Granted, that's fully kitted out and T4ed. I don't see blasters pulling that off.

I also don't see any blaster soloing faster than any scrapper/brute solo from 1 to T4ed. I honestly have to call complete BS on that. Hell, even a tank will probably solo faster than a blaster just due to mez protection and being able to crank the diff up far earlier. Zerging for mission complete can't hold a candle to max diff clear all XP.

Blasters rock at 50 after they've got all the cheat powers in place. Until then? Nah, they'll be wasting far too much time bouncing between mission and hospital/base while meleers are cranking through without issue.

Edited April 10, 2022 by Bill Z Bubba

[Without_Pause]

I can't recall what level range and certainly those missions took time, but I think even in my 30s I could crank a level in 3 missions and pretty consistently. You can't do arc missions due to traveling between zones if you are looking for completion bonuses and speed. If one pushes their diff setting, they will see they fully go T4 much later Vet level wise than other builds. 

[Snarky]

On 4/8/2022 at 5:44 AM, Without_Pause said:

Or you know, just play a Stalker and have mez protection, Def/Res, and a possible heal early. On the flip side, a build which can handle larger mobs might solo faster. I don't know. I never tested it, and certainly not at what point larger mobs take over. I never felt like my Brute soloed slow going from 1-50 never using a 2x XP booster, and I'm sure I could have pushed it further. I was eventually at x8, but I was no higher than +1 sans a Council mission. Damn you red side. I know someone was soloing a Tank at +4/x8 pre level 50, so yeah. Hell, set up Council farms and my Ice/stone Brute was doing +4/x8 at 48. Not recommended as it was slow as hell, but add in 2x XP and that's some fat XP right there. Best of both worlds might be a Elec/shield Stalker. Granted, Shield takes some time to get going and isn't that great sub level 50 so it kind of defeats the purpose.

 

In terms of a Blaster, Ice paired with a number of things is to going to solo very well. 

 

EDIT: I should add, Either EM or StJ with EA or Stone is likely the best options for a Stalker. 

It is the kill alls which tip the balance to the Blasters

[Snarky]

8 hours ago, Bill Z Bubba said:

 

3 vetlvls per hour solo in Dark Astoria with BZB scrap. Granted, that's fully kitted out and T4ed. I don't see blasters pulling that off.

I also don't see any blaster soloing faster than any scrapper/brute solo from 1 to T4ed. I honestly have to call complete BS on that. Hell, even a tank will probably solo faster than a blaster just due to mez protection and being able to crank the diff up far earlier. Zerging for mission complete can't hold a candle to max diff clear all XP.

Blasters rock at 50 after they've got all the cheat powers in place. Until then? Nah, they'll be wasting far too much time bouncing between mission and hospital/base while meleers are cranking through without issue.

I did not read the OP as fastest vet levels but fastest 1-50

[Bill Z Bubba]

2 hours ago, Snarky said:

I did not read the OP as fastest vet levels but fastest 1-50

 

Same case. Blaster would actually do better post 50 than 1-50. (Edit: But still won't be able to touch the solo speed of a meleer.) When you can hit max diff and not die at 30, you're going to pull way ahead of those that can't on leveling speed.

Edited April 10, 2022 by Bill Z Bubba

[dtjunkie]

I have alt-itis (24 level 50s, about 120 total toons), so I have a different take on the question. For me, the fastest solo leveler is the one that I enjoy playing the most. I have absolutely steamrolled the first 30 or so levels on countless brutes, scrappers, and blasters, but then they just sit there languishing.

 

I find I level the fastest when I have a perfect mix of challenge, enjoyable character concept, costume I enjoy looking at, and survivability. For me, that ended up being an Electric/Electric Sentinel who I took from 1-50 in 20 days without any XP boosts playing mainly solo blueside content and is now at Veteran level 101. Unclocked was so much fun I just couldn't stop playing him.

 

 

[Without_Pause]

8 hours ago, Snarky said:

It is the kill alls which tip the balance to the Blasters

This works to the advantage of the melee characters actually since they can handle the additional mez coming in far easier. It is much easier for a blaster to ghost to the end and kill the boss.

[Snarky]

1 hour ago, Without_Pause said:

This works to the advantage of the melee characters actually since they can handle the additional mez coming in far easier. It is much easier for a blaster to ghost to the end and kill the boss.

Mez is not an issue once you know the game.  Between break frees and various powers that mitigate mez and just knowing how many to carry against what mobs....  I am not a great Blaster player, but even I can fumble through things with little trouble as long as I maintain situational awareness

[Bill Z Bubba]

25 minutes ago, Snarky said:

but even I can fumble through things

 

But that's the point. On melee, there's no fumbling through anything, there's no slowing down, there's just wading through the masses with no need for situational awareness or tactics. There's burn farms, then there's melee in standard content, then there's everybody else lagging behind. The situation changes dramatically as the team size becomes greater than 1, of course, but solo? Nah, no blaster is going to outpace a meleer from 1 to 50 there.

[Snarky]

18 minutes ago, Bill Z Bubba said:

 

But that's the point. On melee, there's no fumbling through anything, there's no slowing down, there's just wading through the masses with no need for situational awareness or tactics. There's burn farms, then there's melee in standard content, then there's everybody else lagging behind. The situation changes dramatically as the team size becomes greater than 1, of course, but solo? Nah, no blaster is going to outpace a meleer from 1 to 50 there.

I can easily do content on a Brute true…but I can do kill alls WAY faster on Blaster.  Or a Stalker Scrapper etc.  Maybe that is just me.  But the AoE sure helps too

[Yomo Kimyata]

To be honest, the fastest way is to two-box, which is technically solo, which can get you from 1-50 in a number of hours, but I doubt you are talking about that.

 

If we are talking about some sort of challenge, where people would compete against the clock, it is intellectually interesting to me to think about how I would approach it.

 

first question is: self-funding or not?  I made a thread a long time ago about speed inf gathering, and it’s not as lucrative as it once was, but you could probably still pull it off.  Second question is what types of missions, if any?  AE farms would probably be fastest, followed by regular missions, lastly street sweeping.

 

if I were to go down this path, I would have a catheter installed, self-fund, and mainly do paper missions, specifically Council missions.  I’d probably start blue side at +1/x1 (which is my starting default) and run my first set of contacts (probably natural origin).  By the time I hit level 5, I would expect to have enough inf to keep myself in SOs and I would start running paper missions.  
 

Depending on your AT and power choices (I’d probably pick some sort of brute, definitely one that is AoE friendly, because I prefer melee and going to the hospital will shave previous time off your goals), then it’s just pushing the limits on your +/x to max out your xp.  Double xp?  Sure.  Normally, I go +1/x1 to +1/x3 to +2/x3 to +2/x5 to +3/x5 to +3/x8 and I usually don’t go +4/x8 pre 50 unless I’m playing something really overpowered.  But for xp gain I might prioritize the x over the + and shoot for +1/x8 ASAP.

 

I’ve never tried to do it in a single session—not even close.  But I suspect someone could easily pull it off before 8 hours of double speed expired.  Even faster if you add 8 hours of boosters as soon as you can.

[Without_Pause]

4 hours ago, Snarky said:

I can easily do content on a Brute true…but I can do kill alls WAY faster on Blaster.  Or a Stalker Scrapper etc.  Maybe that is just me.  But the AoE sure helps too

I think the point is are you doing kill alls at x1 or are you actually pushing the mobs size? I would love to see how many blasters are taking masses of Mu and their end drain at x8 with a leveling build. They can task my Brute which has actual end drain protection. Kill alls aren't really in the favor of Blasters you think they are. How many Blasters are doing x8 before level 50? If I can take a Brute through 3 missions to get a level during my 30s, how many does it take for a Blaster? You aren't winning a leveling race at +0/x1 with mission completion bonuses. Any famer can verify that.

[Bill Z Bubba]

2 hours ago, Yomo Kimyata said:

To be honest, the fastest way is to two-box, which is technically solo,

 

Negative. Just because you're playing with yourself doesn't change the fact that you're duoing the game. Might as well consider 8 boxing soloing which most can do with even moderately decent rigs theses days.

[Snarky]

7 hours ago, Without_Pause said:

I think the point is are you doing kill alls at x1 or are you actually pushing the mobs size? I would love to see how many blasters are taking masses of Mu and their end drain at x8 with a leveling build. They can task my Brute which has actual end drain protection. Kill alls aren't really in the favor of Blasters you think they are. How many Blasters are doing x8 before level 50? If I can take a Brute through 3 missions to get a level during my 30s, how many does it take for a Blaster? You aren't winning a leveling race at +0/x1 with mission completion bonuses. Any famer can verify that.

I still think (and i may be wrong) that chasing arc bonuses is faster than mass murder.  But since i know what farming can do…..I could be wrong.  
 

In which case you just want a good armor Brute with a damage aura and crank difficulty 

 

In that case I would go with a Dark/Dark Brute.  Best at soloing every damage type. Super defenses are not needed due to two auras stun/fear and non suppressed stealth in combat

Edited April 11, 2022 by Snarky

[tidge]

 

Springboarding from this post, without joining that particular conversation.

 

13 hours ago, Without_Pause said:

I think the point is are you doing kill alls at x1 or are you actually pushing the mobs size?

 

I definitely take my 'solo' plays through content, and generally it is my melee characters for which I can turn up spawn sizes soonest. Once I can exemplar down from level 50+, the lower level missions can be run at x8 with far fewer issues, but I don't think this represents the intent of the OP.

 

For Scrappers and Stalkers, it is typically more of a problem in "defeat all" x8 missions that one of the MOBs in a spawn has run off or wandered away and I have lost track of them.

 

I don't think that arc completion bonuses (as far as Inf) are anywhere close to matching simply turning up the spawn size.

 

[Yomo Kimyata]

13 hours ago, Bill Z Bubba said:

 

Negative. Just because you're playing with yourself doesn't change the fact that you're duoing the game. Might as well consider 8 boxing soloing which most can do with even moderately decent rigs theses days.

 

Actually, I would consider 8-boxing to be solo play, since there is (presumably) only one person actually working on it.

 

But then again, I can't imagine 8-boxing would be the most efficient way to raise one character 1-50!