The experience of a returning player having to re-learn the ropes.

[crimson72]

3 minutes ago, Ignatz the Insane said:

 

This simply isn't true.  The game certainly isn't more difficult that it was on live.  Toons run perfectly fine on SOs....although I'd buy generic IOs starting at level 22 rather than use SOs.  Sure you should be 'fully kitted in sets' for Hard Mode stuff, but nearly everything else absolutely doesn't require it.  

 

There are a variety of ways to make money.  All of them take a bit of time and a bit of effort.  My advice?  I'd follow Yomo's advice and solo a melee character to 50 running solo story arcs and Task Forces.  You'll accumulate over 1000 Merits doing so, along with a bunch of recipes, which you can craft, convert and either sell or use.  I'm a big fan of newer players frankenslotting their first few toons.  

 

If you want some specific advice on making money using the Market with little time investment, head on over to the Market forum.  Put those Merits to use!

 

Can you offer a specific example for how merit farming is more efficient than AE farming (includes selling drops/recipes and inf gained)?  I've asked this before, and I've never gotten a decent response.  I'm interested, if you can at least provide me with some specifics.  You don't need to type a huge wall of text, just an example of why this method is more efficient/better than this other method is all I'm asking for.  Because it seems to me like this is simply an alternative for people who don't like AE grinding more so than it being a better method.  I'm open to trying it. 

Edited May 31, 2023 by crimson72

[crimson72]

A power leveled 50 alt can still exemplar down and do task forces, etc if that ends up being a good method.  So it's not like leveling to 50 misses anything other than certain story archs.  

 

I don't care so much for the stories in MMORPGs, and this is one of the reasons why I tried, and couldn't play a game like Final Fantasy 14 with the forced main story arch, it was mind numbing for me, when all I wanted to do was run dungeons/raids/etc and get loot.  People don't have to like that, but that's my preferred way of playing MMORPGs. 

 

I can state for a fact that the number of games I've played for the story is 0.  

[Wobegone]

11 minutes ago, crimson72 said:

 

Can you offer a specific example for how merit farming is more efficient than AE farming (includes selling drops/recipes and inf gained)?  I've asked this before, and I've never gotten a decent response.  I'm interested, if you can at least provide me with some specifics.  You don't need to type a huge wall of text, just an example of why this method is more efficient/better than this other method is all I'm asking for.  Because it seems to me like this is simply an alternative for people who don't like AE grinding more so than it being a better method.  I'm open to trying it. 

 

I never bothered with calculating efficiency.  I (mostly) soloed story arcs a number of times because it suited me.  I made plenty of money, enough to buy whatever I want with any toon.  I got to test powers in real time so I could decide what to keep and what to sacrifice.  I also spent time while leveling buying yellow recipes and converting them.  A few minutes at the beginning and end of each session can make tons of money. 

 

Sometimes I go old school and run a toon without any seed money.  Most of the time I just grab 500 million from savings and just kit out in ATOs and Winters, just so I have less to worry about on the way to 50. 

 

I also made a Spines/Fire Brute and did a fair amount of farming.   Put on some music and just jam out for an hour.   

 

Whatever's your jam, it's there if you look.  It's not hard to level, whatever the method.  It's not hard to make money, whatever the method.  

 

 

[crimson72]

I'll strongly consider using converters, I find a lot of recipes while farming, and last I checked on the AH converters were selling for around 60-70k a piece.  I'm trying to calculate the ratio of 1 converter per merit and estimate whether it's quicker to simply get 3.5 million inf through farming vs getting 50 merits from a TF or whatever content you acquire them from.  3.5 million doesn't take very long at all to get, even on my under equipped spines/fire brute who's still a purple pill addict.  I'd estimate the rate to increase by a whole lot if I was fully kitted to the point where I had max defenses and resists.  Even looking at merits from the perspective of 50 being able to buy a luck of the gambler defense/recharge 7.5% for 50 merits, which typically goes for around 6m on the AH, even 6 million inf might still be quicker to obtain even with a brute who's an unoptimized purple pill addict over grinding merits.  

 

Can someone tell me how long it takes to get 50 merits using the best known methods?  A quick search suggests about 45 minutes to an hour, but that could be wrong, or maybe it's better now, these were topics a few years old. 

Edited May 31, 2023 by crimson72

[Wobegone]

OK, probably not what you're looking for, but anecdotally:

 

As much as I was swimming in Merits while leveling, I was constantly using them on my crafting toon.  This was after leveling several toons on generic IOs and frankenslotting.  My first 50 became my main in many ways, including spending a few minutes every session buying yellow recipes, crafting them, rare roulette, and selling.  At times it became tedious, but I made a ton of money.  But I was always short Merits.  They were gold for marketeering.  Eventually, I soloed melee projects to fund Merits to fund crafting to fund Squishy alts who didn't solo as quickly or easily.

 

Then I had 20 Billion or so and....stopped.  I haven't needed any more.  Some of that real world stuff like not being able to play as much.  Even so, I doubt I'll ever need to farm or grind for money again.

 

OH! Edit:  I also ran that farming toon quite a bit as something different.  Sometimes I just offered free Powerleveling.  Sometimes I solo farmed for drops and money.

 

Sorry, one last edit.  Still anecdotal:  I rarely powerleveled my own toons.  The ones i did I rarely played.

Edited May 31, 2023 by Ignatz the Insane

[crimson72]

3 minutes ago, Ignatz the Insane said:

OK, probably not what you're looking for, but anecdotally:

 

As much as I was swimming in Merits while leveling, I was constantly using them on my crafting toon.  This was after leveling several toons on generic IOs and frankenslotting.  My first 50 became my main in many ways, including spending a few minutes every session buying yellow recipes, crafting them, rare roulette, and selling.  At times it became tedious, but I made a ton of money.  But I was always short Merits.  They were gold for marketeering.  Eventually, I soloed melee projects to fund Merits to fund crafting to fund Squishy alts who didn't solo as quickly or easily.

 

Then I had 20 Billion or so and....stopped.  I haven't needed any more.  Some of that real world stuff like not being able to play as much.  Even so, I doubt I'll ever need to farm or grind for money again.

 

What were you aiming for with converters to try and flip?  Chances are, I have some recipes in my inventory right now that I could "convert" to a payout.  I also have 60 or so converters I got normally just doing whatever (mostly AE farming)

Edited May 31, 2023 by crimson72

[Wobegone]

Just now, crimson72 said:

What were you aiming for with converters to try and flip?  Chances are, I have some recipes in my inventory right now that I could "convert" to a payout.  I also have 60 or so converters I got normally just doing whatever.  

Seriously, head to the Market forum and read a few threads.  Yomo's path to a billion is a worthy start and may still be on the first page.  

 

I targeted yellow recipes that with one conversion became a rare or orange recipe.  The travel recipes are one example.  I converted a ton of yellow taunt recipes for another example.  Then convert by rarity to anything that would sell for around 2 million.  I wasn't picky.   Eventually it became a game within the game with me and I targeted specific IOs....flooding popular IOs to lower the price. 

 

Which reminds me.  There are certainly a few who try to manipulate the Market.  There are just as many or more who do the same kind of targeting to keep prices lower.  IO prices have been pretty steady for years.  Any dips and peaks you see are probably normal spikes in supply and demand rather than any kind of manipulation.

[Snarky]

7 hours ago, Ironblade said:

ooo, themed names.  So many ideas: Necrotic Flea, Electric Flea, Sonic Flea, Robotic Flea . . .

Redonkalic Flea

[Neiska]

Hello OP @crimson72,

 

Quite a bit to break down here. But I have some time to kill at work here, so here we go! I am an avid farmer and a Mastermind main, so hopefully I can help.

 

1. Masterminds themselves as an AT won't win any DPS races. What they are good at, is a very customizable support class. More than any other AT, your primary/secondary pairing can affect how you play. You can build offensively, defensively, buffs, debuffs, melee, ranged, even specialize in flying combat if you like. To me the real strength of Masterminds is this flexibility that not many other ATs can offer.

 

Thugs is one of the best primaries, and can go with any secondary. Poison however is, well... I won't say it's "bad", only that on a limited budget starting out the odds are not in your favor. I have seen some /Poison Masterminds do some pretty neat things though, but that's pretty top-heavy investment to get there. But if you like the journey and that is what you have your heart set at, then don't let anyone tell you differently, numbers be darned. But Masterminds are a fantastic class if you put the time in to learn all the nuisances, styles, and mechanics in play. Its a very complex class, which is why I personally love them.

 

2. Farming. Well, that is a can of worms here on the forums. You essentially have 5 groups of people -

A. Pro-farmers - people who farm for various reasons, in any number of styles.

B. Anti-farmers - people who consider farming to be.. ..not good. I have even been called a "cheater" or worse just for farming. Many feel it is not really a part of the game. But it exists, and has remained for a number of years now. I scoff at any insinuation that it's not a part of the game.

C. The majority of people who largely mind their own business, and don't particularly have an opinion on the matter.

D. The people who don't use the forums.

E. @Snarky, who is by all rights a person who deserves to be in their own group, and I think it would be cruel, even possibly a violation of human rights, to stick any poor soul in the same box as him.

 

The point is, if you even mention farming, in any context, you are more or less waving a big flag. People are going to have opinions about it. Personally, I go by live and let live. You do your thing, I'll do mine, and we will meet in the middle somewhere. Also, (just my opinion here), I think it speaks volumes of someone who believes they have a right to lecture others on what they can and cannot do when not a staff member. Additionally, I have to restrain myself when they attempt to "flex" by comparing farming to non-farming, when playing the market easily beats them both combined. But that's getting off topic here. 

 

Anyway, if you mention farming, just be aware that you are opening yourself to peoples opinions. But that's all they are. Opinions. Opinions aren't right, and they aren't wrong. They are just opinions. And some people here whom have a pretty high opinion of themselves, seem to think their mere opinions carry far more weight than they actually do, or think their opinions are official Homecoming policy. They do not.

 

There are farming communities, however. I won't name them here for obvious reasons. But I will describe that we have a discord with a list of maps, farming builds for every AT, inf earnings calculators, compare strategies, mechanics breakdowns, voice chat, team farming, and more. And there is just as much co-operation in our little community as others. We even have "farm events" where we time ourselves in things like how long to get to 50, how long to make X, how long to fully slot out a specific build, and so on. It's just like any other Supergroup that does similar activities, just based on Discord and focused on Farming/AE as the activity. But, given the nature of the activity that is severely frowned on others, it is sort of underground. People just want to do their own thing and enjoy the game in a way they enjoy. Not be hounded with drama, opinions, and disapproval when they weren't asked for, as is often the case.

 

3. Running multiple accounts is allowed. They just ask us to be mindful of server population. Personally I 3 box 3 Masterminds. And when you multi-box, it completely changes many of the dynamics and figures in play. Such as how much inf/hour you earn, how many drops you find, and so on. I won't go into specific details and numbers, but what I will say is that what some people think is "a lot of inf", is chump change to others. And with an added bonus that if you have multiple farmers on different accounts, you can make alts quite easily. And that if you do manage to make a team that can, you won't be sorry.

 

So, if farming is the activity you enjoy doing, than do it. And I hope you have all the fun you want and it rains money from the sky for you. And don't be like others who try to turn enjoying a game in different ways into a competition or comparison, like many do here. Having "fun" isn't a contest.

 

Just my two cents on the matter. Personally I ignore people with specific haircuts and interjecting opinions. They are welcome to them, and their mere opinion doesn't affect me one way or another.

 

And life is far too short to fret about some random voice on the internet who disagrees with me over pixels in a video game that is old enough to vote.

 

Best wishes, and happy farming.

[Neiska]

On 5/30/2023 at 10:22 AM, GM Crumpet said:

I think farming has a place (I'd be a hypocrite to say otherwise as I have farming alts) but I also think it can become the focus instead of a tool and someone ends up farming as the main or only aspect of the game that they play.

 

I would like to highlight that some of us who use the AE almost exclusively, it isn't always about the money or drops, its about the kind and scale of combat. Some AEs you can have a small map with 100 enemies, or a massive map with 100s of enemies. Some people just like to have a big huge battle without gimicky mechanics or things like purple patches that 1 shot you. And taking my 3 MMs and fighting several groups and fighting them all at the same time is pretty awesome fun. So I finish the 4-5 minute long nonstop battle, reload the map, and do it again. And I will try different builds and strategies in that situation. To me, that is much more fun and rewarding than ITFs, contacts, story missions, and the like.

 

I just wish there were scenarios you could setup, well, as an example nonstop waves of nemesis or something. You kill some, more swarm in, kill a few more, and more pop in again, and it never ends. Even if there was zero EXP, drops, and INF, there are some that would enjoy it. I might spend an entire afternoon in there, seeing how long I could hold out.

[Snarky]

1 hour ago, Neiska said:

E. @Snarky, who is by all rights a person who deserves to be in their own group, and I think it would be cruel, even possibly a violation of human rights, to stick any poor soul in the same box as him.

 

Hey, if you want to toss someone in my box I PROMISE they will be treated with the utmost professionalism.

[UltraAlt]

11 hours ago, crimson72 said:

I still remember the time when tanks had no aggro limits, and cones/aoes would hit as many targets that were in range, and tanks could quite literally herd an entire AE meteor map worth of enemies into an ice patch and burn the whole stack down.  Ask anyone who played back then, they can attest to the almighty fire/ice tank.

 

You are correct. The DEVs have taken steps in Homecoming to curb the farming.

 

BTW, I started about a week before issue 2 dropped.

 

I saw maps of war wolves crammed into containers by tanks and all nuked by a single blaster ... there was no limit on the targets for nuke back then either.

I said never again.

If I find myself in a powerleveling situation, I'll leave

.

I will admit to the guilty pleasure of holiday events.

 

I stand by what I said.

I think there are far more players farming than there are utilizing the market for trading.

[JasperStone]

21 hours ago, Sanguinesun said:

 

 

Primarily in this case and much of your experience, there is just simply a knowledge gap occurring, I believe.  I see this pretty often with returnees from live or even just a couple of years ago or new people.   Its a shame but it happens  pretty frequently.

 

Teams, especially on excelsior are extremely easy to find with caveats:

 

1. Obviously, if you're on a bad time when there are less folks around, its a luck of the draw.  Days of the week also factor.

 

2. Knowing what teams to join also helps.  Not every LFG message makes it clear(out of an assumption players know).  If someone says for example, "level 54 (mission/tips/PI) team looking for x number of people" you can join those, typically from level 1 and I see them every single day at various times of the day.  They're the defacto power leveling/farming outside of the AE.   Also Tasks forces at or below your level are commonly called for and a good way to earn merits too, especially on the weekly task force/strike force ones.  Also X level missions team messages can also be sidekicked up to.   

 

3. While the vast majority of players focus on hero side, any time you also see LFG's related to point 2 but are on the villain side, you can join those at any time just quickly and freely visiting the seagull(null the gull) in pocket d.  There are no restrictions/tediousness involved in switching sides.

 

4. Being patient.  I am a bit skeptical that each and every time you logged in that 15min went by each and every single time and you didnt find teams, either due to the points mentioned above or time as it were etc.  I think if you'd maybe watched lfg more carefully, you'd've found a team.

 

5. I've not used the queue system either in years.  Arguably most dont anymore due to the easy on excelsior to grab a team.

 

6. Nothing, stops you from making your own teams except passivity.  You'd be surprised how fast teams fill once people start asking for task forces or other similar common and incentivized play.  Some other things can take time but usually again patience is all it takes, again unless you're playing at 4am server time or some such on a monday or the like. 😛

 

------

 

Regarding influence issues:

 

Even with double EXP boosters enabled (meaning you dont earn influence from mission completion or kills) from the P2W vendor constantly, one can earn enough influence doing points 2 and 3 typically to earn enough influence for IO enhancers either crafting or buying from the AH (which often can be cheaper than crafting).

 

This can be done by:

 

1. Selling either to a vendor or on the AH recipes that you come across for enhancers.   When you're especially joining 54+ teams from point 2 above, you'll get level 50 recipes.  Regular IO ones as you know go for around 100k as vendor trash, more in some cases if sold on the AH.    Set Enhancers vendor trashing values vary up to about 10k of the level 50 ones BUT some can sell for millions on the auction house (10mil+ even).    

 

2. To get seed money(ie money for listing feeds for the AH too) you can also go to the AH, and offer really small amounts for Single Origin enhancers that are level 50 or just under/above.  Those average 15k sold to a vendor.  You can also look for the afore mentioned level 50 IO enhancers and vendor for 100k as I said but get lucky and get those recipes for 1-how much ever you're willing to spend to earn a profit from vendoring for them. 

 

3. There are a plethora of guiides on how to making tons of money from the AH too of course that explain how to earn seed money and then to start converting cheap enhancers to millions in value ones and more.

 

5. You can just take merits earned and convert them to special salvage or valuable set enhancers to sell. (also covered in guides usually).

 

With Homecoming servers since last fall, we've a new item called Aethers which can sell currently for about 4 million on the AH which randomly can be earned when completing a mission(semi rare but I've average 1 per toon while leveling one from 1-50).

 

And I can go on.

 

For the month of May, I've leveled from 1-50 an average of 2-3 characters a week and procured just from the basics(not the super saavy guide style AHing) close to 200mil while doing so.   They hit 50 and I just would make a new toon, carry over the money to the next one.   This is profit after spending for IO enhancers for them too(non set ones).  Im not hyper focusing on making 1 50 to them work on getting them all the sets IO's etc either.  They're just toons to enjoy the experience to 50 with.  Since I run on taskforces and also earn merits and occassionally the rikti mother ship raid when advertised and get vangard merits, I can also pool the merits to buy enhancers later if I want to focus on 1 toon too.

 

Also once 50 and the double exp boosts no longer work and one starts earning influence, you can do of course any normal 1-50 content and earn too.  Running ITF's can earn you millions too if you just wanted to stick to 1 toon that way or those afore mentioned 54 mission teams are also where folks are influence earning capable.

 

 

This is why crumpet was saying its easy.  

 

 

But the very real and sad part is that for those who do know know these things and more,  it can be extremely challenging.   Its just simply a knowledge gap.

 

People then who do not ask about what to do in game, ask on the forums, read guides etc then of course tend to be the ones who fall through this knowledge gap and its cracks so to speak.  Unfortunately, some in the community do not have much sympathy for those folks either as if they expect the game to be a filter system for those who can and cant, essentially.  This game for returnees and new people has a pretty hefty learning curve, arguably, and quite frankly, typical in game experiential learning doesn't weather that curve as well as it could.

 

 

-----

 

Switching gears then a bit, despite the teeth gnashers regarding farming, it is integral to the sustainability of these servers as they currently exist, again despite their knowledge gap to the contrary.  The auction house is for example cited how to make money as I mentioned above but it is indeed just a --shifting-- of game currency between players and not an actual meaningful nor impactful ---generator--- of influence.  And while general game play generates a meaningful portion of that, the famers are a strong component as well.

 

But with that said, for new players, having them focus on farming in the AE isn't always the best nor matching every person. New players who for example get power leveled in a farm but do not know how to play content with their 50 can then struggle or become discouraged once they try to join teams because they are for all intent and purpose, just still a level 1 in the understanding of the ins and outs of the game.    However, if they just want to also farm and never step foot out of the AE(hard to do for optimal farmers though but that's a different thing, and they're entirely happy to do that, then there's nothing wrong with it.

 

But if I meet a returnee or a new player, I tend to encourage them at the very least to run through teams on tf's or other missions etc to at least see and understand different game play dynamics.  Not all do mind you but that's their choice and nothing wrong with that.

 

-----

 

Again though, CoH and additionally the culture/game play specific to Homecoming(vs live or other unofficial servers), is a learning curve that doesnt appeal to everyone and often its a challenge to see new players who stick with it because of how overwhelming, even when you break it into bite size pieces for them or they do so themselves, they just dont have motivation to stay with it due to either their being influenced by other games and expectations, aesthetics, or the social dynamics (not as in toxicity but the way people interact in the game may not be their cup of tea so to speak).    It is tough.  There's no denying that else we'd have much much much higher player concurrencies that we do now(and now's not bad to be sure, Im just saying in terms of comparison to other games, even if not accurate equivalencies).

 

All in all crimson, you've managed to survive through and seem to express that you're thriving.   That said, help then others and pay it forward to help them understand the game too so that they dont succumb to the frustrations you experienced and thus quit out of discouragement.

Can we pin this somewhere? Well said.

[Sovera]

Welcome back, friendo. There is a lot to do and a lot of alts to try. Masterminds are a bit of a newbie trap in that they seem cool and easy and usually make for an easy leveling, but turn out to be a hassle mid way through. I suggest a Tanker and plod through the game at your pace as their damage was improved from the old CoH.

 

My signature has a guide for a bit of everything a new or returning player might need

[lemming]

9 hours ago, Neiska said:

E. @Snarky, who is by all rights a person who deserves to be in their own group, and I think it would be cruel, even possibly a violation of human rights, to stick any poor soul in the same box as him.

I mean really, stuck into a 6' box with an undead?  And how many air fresheners? That's not much space

[srmalloy]

14 hours ago, lemming said:

I mean really, stuck into a 6' box with an undead?  And how many air fresheners? That's not much space

Particularly after pouring in the carboy of Lysol®...

[Ironblade]

On 5/31/2023 at 2:14 AM, crimson72 said:

Can someone tell me how long it takes to get 50 merits using the best known methods?  A quick search suggests about 45 minutes to an hour, but that could be wrong, or maybe it's better now, these were topics a few years old. 

Signature Story arcs, but you need multiple characters.  Each part of the arcs allows you one free pick of 4x merits at the end - ONCE - then it has a one week timer before you can pick that reward again.  The normal reward is 5 merits so the 4x reward is 20.  And when I say it allows one 'free' pick, it works like this.  If you run the arc on a character that has never run it, you can take the 4x reward.  You can then run it IMMEDIATELY on the same character and take that reward again - THEN you have the one week timer FOR THAT CHARACTER.

 

My scrappers and stalkers can run part 1 of arc 1 in under 6-1/2 minutes for 20 merits.  My slower characters (tanks, controllers, defenders) take 8-11 minutes.  So we're talking 60 merits in under half an hour - under 20 minutes if you're actually trying.  Whenever I run an arc, I log the time in a spreadsheet so I can see when that character is eligible to run it again.  Also worth mentioning, one of the reward choices in 10 threads (if you're eligible to earn threads).  Each reward option has a separate timer so you can take the 4x merits and run it immediately to take the 10 threads.

 

So, with 44 characters above level 10, I can run the arc as often as I can stand.  🙂

 

Another option - hear me out - is the Dr Quaterfield task force under certain conditions.  Notably, it is EASY to solo.  Normally, it gives 122 merits.  When it is the weekly, it gives 244.  I have 3 accounts.  I log in all three to start, solo it on my main, then log in all three accounts for the final mission and get 3 x 244 = 732 merits.  I'm leisurely about it and take a lunch break so it takes me 4-5 hours.  If I actually used the other accounts, who have all the mission transporters, team transporters, etc, I could reduce that time dramatically.

[Ironblade]

On 5/31/2023 at 2:27 AM, crimson72 said:

What were you aiming for with converters to try and flip?

Garbage.  Browse the auction house until you find sets where there are hundreds and hundreds for sale and hardly anyone buying.  Typical suspects are sleep, slow, confuse.  I buy hundreds of yellow recipes.  I can get them for a few thousands and the salvage to craft them costs maybe 1800 inf.  Convert outside the set for one converter, until you get either something valuable (for example, Karma -KNB is a yellow item) or end up in a valuable category (defense, resist, range damage) then convert within the category.

 

This works for me since I'm not targeting any niche.  I'm playing converter roulette until something good comes up.

 

 

P.S.  I still work for converters, per my previous post, despite having over 40,000 stockpiled.  When my main starts to approach the cap (10,000 on one character - I do a lot of task forces and hami raids), I spend 1,000 on converters and give them to a marketing character.  I still work the market, despite having almost 10 billion inf, because I find it entertaining in small doses.

[lemming]

49 minutes ago, Ironblade said:

Signature Story arcs, but you need multiple characters.  Each part of the arcs allows you one free pick of 4x merits at the end - ONCE - then it has a one week timer before you can pick that reward again.  The normal reward is 5 merits so the 4x reward is 20.  And when I say it allows one 'free' pick, it works like this.  If you run the arc on a character that has never run it, you can take the 4x reward.  You can then run it IMMEDIATELY on the same character and take that reward again - THEN you have the one week timer FOR THAT CHARACTER.

 

My scrappers and stalkers can run part 1 of arc 1 in under 6-1/2 minutes for 20 merits.  My slower characters (tanks, controllers, defenders) take 8-11 minutes.  So we're talking 60 merits in under half an hour - under 20 minutes if you're actually trying.  Whenever I run an arc, I log the time in a spreadsheet so I can see when that character is eligible to run it again.  Also worth mentioning, one of the reward choices in 10 threads (if you're eligible to earn threads).  Each reward option has a separate timer so you can take the 4x merits and run it immediately to take the 10 threads.

 

So, with 44 characters above level 10, I can run the arc as often as I can stand.  🙂

 

Another option - hear me out - is the Dr Quaterfield task force under certain conditions.  Notably, it is EASY to solo.  Normally, it gives 122 merits.  When it is the weekly, it gives 244.  I have 3 accounts.  I log in all three to start, solo it on my main, then log in all three accounts for the final mission and get 3 x 244 = 732 merits.  I'm leisurely about it and take a lunch break so it takes me 4-5 hours.  If I actually used the other accounts, who have all the mission transporters, team transporters, etc, I could reduce that time dramatically.

The new Dr Stribbling arc gives 20 merits per run, and for the badge, it's five runs.   I got the time down to less than 15 for a run though it could be done quicker.  No time limit that I saw, but I also think the 20 merits is the initial reward, so the Dev team will probably reduce that a bit.  (Maybe drop it to 10 once you have the relevant souvenir to the choice)

 

Dr Q:  I've solo'd it in 90 minutes with a blaster. (obviously longer if lunch break, etc... 😉 ) MT & TT are best for the return to the shard while Ouro will get you quickly to most of the other paragon missions.

[Skyhawke]

On 5/31/2023 at 11:09 AM, Snarky said:

Hey, if you want to toss someone in my box I PROMISE they will be treated with the utmost professionalism.

 

 

 

[cranebump]

4 hours ago, lemming said:

Dr Q:  I've solo'd it in 90 minutes with a blaster.

So have I! Here's a graphic representation of the process:

*(NOTE: This also applies to Citadel, Synapse, and those 122 kill-alls followed by patrols in every really old legacy mish)

Edited June 1, 2023 by cranebump

[Jiro Ito]

On 5/30/2023 at 11:14 PM, crimson72 said:

I'll strongly consider using converters, I find a lot of recipes while farming, and last I checked on the AH converters were selling for around 60-70k a piece. 

 

Highly recommend this method for outfitting your own characters and making money on the auction house.  Craft all of your drops (that you get for free!) and use converters to make something you can use now, something you can store for another toon later on, or something valuable to sell on the market.  After awhile you'll never need to buy an enhancement or recipe again, save maybe your ATOs and WTOs.

 

Getting all of the exploration badges in a zone (vidiotmaps ftw) will grant you 5 merits per zone.  Spend 'em on converters!

 

Welcome back!