Looking for Tips for Easy First Character

[StarseedWarrior]

2 hours ago, Nemu said:

I don't recommend any melee AT to start. Those require you to engage in melee and melee can be pretty dangerous early game when you don't have your defenses/mitigation fleshed out (think being put on the spot to tank/take the alpha running troll missions, ruin mages, etc...) The survival for most melee ATs also very much depend on IOs. Most melee ATs also suffer from poor endurance management at early levels due to the need to balance offense and survival toggles. For a beginner with no cash flow it'll be a long road for you to get from where you are to those builds and performance levels that people post on the forums.

 

Criteria for an easy beginner build:

 

Good endurance management - no endurance = no fun

Decent survival - dying all the time = no fun

Playstyle that doesn't feel too restrictive - melee ATs force you to be in melee even if you are put into a situation where it's not advantageous to be in melee (ruin mages). Ranged attacks are more versatile, nothing preventing you from shooting stuff in the face as well as from afar.

 

Even though I'd encourage everyone to start with a blaster to learn all the nuances of the game, it's definitely not the easy path. But if you are genuine about learning, go blaster, experience all the shortcomings/holes that you need to be mindful of. No other AT will give you as much insight into fundamental game mechanics such as proper threat assessment, positioning, aggro management, line of sight, movement, inspiration usage, mez awareness, etc.. as blasters.

 

If you want a more relaxed, easier experience, I recommend sentinel. Good AT to pick up and just have some fun with a lot more room for error.

 

I was wondering why so many recommended melee as their first and if you have short range melee its not fun at first and will grind a new players gears at first, I would just start with an ele/ele ele/nin/, blaster rifle/bio/ele/sr or energy with one of those over a blaster for especially if you start on rogue side soloing.

Edited January 16 by StarseedWarrior

[vibal]

3 minutes ago, StarseedWarrior said:

 

I was wondering why so many recommended melee as their first and if you have short range melee its not fun at first and will grind a new players gears at first, I would just start with an ele/ele ele/nin/, blaster rifle/bio/ele/sr or energy with one of those over a blaster for especially if you start on rogue side soloing.

 

Melee tend to be much simpler toggle up and go, and also more forgiving as you can take a punch. Positional awareness boils down to "is it close enough to punch?"

 

To the OP I would strongly suggest a brute. You get a taunt aura to keep baddies from deciding "nah, no thanks" and just walking away along with survivability and a smooth early damage curve. Dark melee/Electric Armor would be a solid pick. Siphon Life hits like a truck and gives you sustain in your rotation and electric starts okay and gets better with investment. Notably you get access to conditional resists that are near unique in the resist to -recov AND -end. Electric also has a damage aura which are consistently underrated damage boosts. Energize works fine for what it is and you can freely skip the tier 9. Dark melee suffers a bit in the AoE department, but this can be supplements late game through patrons/APP picks.

 

Scrappers have a lower hp pool, but get to roll the crit dice if you like the RNG. They do have a couple sets w/a taunt aura as well (willpower/shield/and....?). 

[Crysis]

Sentinels pretty much are the “easy mode” AT on Homecoming.  They aren’t all that powerful, but they get armor (great defense) and melee-distance (mostly) blasts as primary offense.  They don’t particularly scale well so you may find at 50 you are outclassed by pretty much every other AT in the game, but they are durable, mostly fairly easy ciick-oriented powers or toggles and don’t particularly require a lot of special tactics to play.  

 

I’m sure I’ll get swarmed by the Sentinel Reputation Defense Force forum posters for saying this, but it’s a great starter AT until you really find what you like best for combat.  Mix of melee and blasting.  If you decide you love blasting, then move up to a real Blaster or maybe a Corruptor or Defender.  If you like the “nothing really gets through my defense” mode of play, but want more powerful attacks, then move to Scrappers, Stalkers, Tankers, Brutes or even Dominators.  Controllers and Masterminds are sort of in classes all by themselves, as are VEATS and Peacebringer/Warshades.  

 

Think of Sentinels as the Sampler Platter on the appetizer menu.  It can be a whole meal, but you’ve got a full menu ahead of you so best to just use them as a nibble before the main course.

Edited January 16 by Crysis

[Doomguide2005]

     I think both Nemu and Zewks hit upon some important factors to consider.  The only things I would add are even within the various Archtypes there can be quite a bit of variance.  Running Willpower vs Dark Armor despite both being armor sets are very different experiences with very different levels of player experience 'required'.   Required in quotes because while certainly specific  ATs and sets require different levels of player skill it can easily come down to player preferences and tolerances making a large difference.  Which foes do your contacts send you up against?  How much dying or what pace of gaining experience and levels are tolerated?  None of this game is so difficult that any of them can't succeed if the player is okay with a slower casual approach vs trying to push the envelope.  I've solo'd nearly all levels of this game with a wide variety of characters and my number one recommendation is play a pairing you think you'll enjoy.  Even with a character you find fun and easier you'll probably "mess up" something but do so knowing virtually anything can be corrected between respecs (or respecification) and using alternate builds.       My own first was a Claws/SR scrapper and among the things which can make earlier levels painful for melee are Vahzilok who hit you with toxic damage DoT that  reduce your movement and recharge speeds.  Well one the things that makes Claws a good choice is Focus.  It's a 40ft ranged attack that can help keep some distance between you and them.  Claws can also put together a whole attack chain, the same one you would use at endgame, for single targets by the time you have Focus.  It's a good example of why you can't really blanket say a whole set or AT is easy or hard.  Combine Claws with SR and at 20th you can gain Quickness which makes you resistant to recharge and slow movement.  Now those Vahz are even less of a danger as are things like Quicksand.  And we haven't even brought teammates (or how many teammates) into the picture both of which make tougher larger numbers of foes even easier to handle generally and also ups your rate of experience gain.   Look your choices over and rather than ask which is best ask what the strengths and weaknesses those pairings have and go from there.  Sorry good lord I get wordy.

[Crossie]

PB or warshade.  They don't come any easier than that. 

[StarseedWarrior]

3 hours ago, vibal said:

 

Melee tend to be much simpler toggle up and go, and also more forgiving as you can take a punch. Positional awareness boils down to "is it close enough to punch?"

 

To the OP I would strongly suggest a brute. You get a taunt aura to keep baddies from deciding "nah, no thanks" and just walking away along with survivability and a smooth early damage curve. Dark melee/Electric Armor would be a solid pick. Siphon Life hits like a truck and gives you sustain in your rotation and electric starts okay and gets better with investment. Notably you get access to conditional resists that are near unique in the resist to -recov AND -end. Electric also has a damage aura which are consistently underrated damage boosts. Energize works fine for what it is and you can freely skip the tier 9. Dark melee suffers a bit in the AoE department, but this can be supplements late game through patrons/APP picks.

 

Scrappers have a lower hp pool, but get to roll the crit dice if you like the RNG. They do have a couple sets w/a taunt aura as well (willpower/shield/and....?). 

I disagree sentinals are simple to in their own way, so are certain other power types, also yea your pointing out the obvious one will learn postional awarness at some point but regardless it is not a good introduction into the mmo.

[StarseedWarrior]

3 hours ago, Crysis said:

Sentinels pretty much are the “easy mode” AT on Homecoming.  They aren’t all that powerful, but they get armor (great defense) and melee-distance (mostly) blasts as primary offense.  They don’t particularly scale well so you may find at 50 you are outclassed by pretty much every other AT in the game, but they are durable, mostly fairly easy ciick-oriented powers or toggles and don’t particularly require a lot of special tactics to play.  

 

I’m sure I’ll get swarmed by the Sentinel Reputation Defense Force forum posters for saying this, but it’s a great starter AT until you really find what you like best for combat.  Mix of melee and blasting.  If you decide you love blasting, then move up to a real Blaster or maybe a Corruptor or Defender.  If you like the “nothing really gets through my defense” mode of play, but want more powerful attacks, then move to Scrappers, Stalkers, Tankers, Brutes or even Dominators.  Controllers and Masterminds are sort of in classes all by themselves, as are VEATS and Peacebringer/Warshades.  

 

Think of Sentinels as the Sampler Platter on the appetizer menu.  It can be a whole meal, but you’ve got a full menu ahead of you so best to just use them as a nibble before the main course.

I am always opened to the truth I just do not understand if they really do not make it up in other ways like so many claim they do not team wise and etc, I see allot of debate and it is really hard to tell if it is a community issue because it usually is when it comes to mmos and hybrid classes.

[vibal]

On 1/16/2024 at 5:28 PM, StarseedWarrior said:

I disagree sentinals are simple to in their own way, so are certain other power types, also yea your pointing out the obvious one will learn postional awarness at some point but regardless it is not a good introduction into the mmo.

I'm not sure what the disagreement is? But sure, sentinels are hella simple as well. Range > Taunt aura or Taunt aura < Range seems like a flavor pick assuming that's the only deciding factor. I also made a specific call to a character that fit the bill outside of the general statement. Sent range + mitigation combo comes at a price that's a bit too steep imo (range + mitigation - damage - utility = fun??). Brute, Tanker, Scrap (situationally) are going to do more damage and have more mitigation giving a new player a much wider target to land on. TBH if I were going put that much weight on range I'd still recommend a VEAT over a sentinel. A VEAT is still going to quietly buff the team and give at least the same levels of mitigation.

 

The question also wasn't "what's a good introduction" as I would point squarely to a utility character -> particularly one with a force multiplier in that case. The question was "easy". Brutes are going to be the easiest you get with the lowest downside (again -- in my opinion).

 

Also, sentinels really do not make it up in other ways late game or in teams. Your dealing dominator levels of damage without a control primary. You'll outdamage a non-procced defender, but you know.... support primary. Everyone should play what they enjoy. If you love the sets and combo's have at it. I don't see the utility in looking at sentinel numbers being a community issue though.

[StarseedWarrior]

10 hours ago, vibal said:

I'm not sure what the disagreement is? But sure, sentinels are hella simple as well. Range > Taunt aura or Taunt aura < Range seems like a flavor pick assuming that's the only deciding factor. I also made a specific call to a character that fit the bill outside of the general statement. Sent range + mitigation combo comes at a price that's a bit too steep imo (range + mitigation - damage - utility = fun??). Brute, Tanker, Scrap (situationally) are going to do more damage and have more mitigation giving a new player a much wider target to land on. TBH if I were going put that much weight on range I'd still recommend a VEAT over a sentinel. A VEAT is still going to quietly buff the team and give at least the same levels of mitigation.

 

The question also wasn't "what's a good introduction" as I would point squarely to a utility character -> particularly one with a force multiplier in that case. The question was "easy". Brutes are going to be the easiest you get with the lowest downside (again -- in my opinion).

 

Also, sentinels really do not make it up in other ways late game or in teams. Your dealing dominator levels of damage without a control primary. You'll outdamage a non-procced defender, but you know.... support primary. Everyone should play what they enjoy. If you love the sets and combo's have at it. I don't see the utility in looking at sentinel numbers being a community issue though.

I think allot of it is miscenceptions are you going to say corrupters should just roll defenders if they want to support to? I do not think it is simple I have played plenty of other ats and many are far more simple to me, there is nothing that complicated about hover and blasting and the occasional down blap. I have done allot of research into the at and this is a common issue in mmos where some classes are seriously misunderstood many also do not consider that other ats are just over tuned, there is weaknesses that should be looked at multiple ats.

Edited January 19 by StarseedWarrior

[vibal]

8 hours ago, StarseedWarrior said:

I think allot of it is miscenceptions are you going to say corrupters should just roll defenders if they want to support to? I do not think it is simple I have played plenty of other ats and many are far more simple to me, there is nothing that complicated about hover and blasting and the occasional down blap. I have done allot of research into the at and this is a common issue in mmos where some classes are seriously misunderstood many also do not consider that other ats are just over tuned, there is weaknesses that should be looked at multiple ats.

 

Defender -> Corrupter would only be a valid comparison if corrupter's did more damage, had higher support numbers, and also had a third element defenders 100% do not have in their toolkit. That's the comparison being made with VEATs to Sentinels. If that were true, as it is in the case of VEATs:Sent, I would certainly recommend that you roll a corrupter instead of a defender. You'll prioritize support or damage currently to decide between corrupter and defender. Your initial case was for ranged damage + mitigation. VEATs offer that, offer more of both, in addition get team buffs, and a pick'em of pets or control.

 

Flavor trumps everything and if you loathe crab legs or can't stand psi blasts Sent is an awesome spot to land. Personally, I love rad blast. I couldn't care less that it's a lower mid set in terms of numbers. When I nuke, I want an actual nuclear bomb animation. That's not the question in the thread though. You started by saying that range > melee. Okay, I'm game, but why would you choose less damage, less mitigation, and zero utility when there's another range + mitigation AT right over here doing that better?

 

I'm not 100% sure where you're going with the rest of the statement. If you personally are setting the bar at sentinel performance being the baseline then I suppose almost every set in each AT is overperforming and becomes an outlier. But if everything is an outlier except the one little AT - is it maybe possible that sentinels are underperforming?  Or maybe that the role they fill is niche at best?

 

 

[StarseedWarrior]

4 hours ago, vibal said:

 

Defender -> Corrupter would only be a valid comparison if corrupter's did more damage, had higher support numbers, and also had a third element defenders 100% do not have in their toolkit. That's the comparison being made with VEATs to Sentinels. If that were true, as it is in the case of VEATs:Sent, I would certainly recommend that you roll a corrupter instead of a defender. You'll prioritize support or damage currently to decide between corrupter and defender. Your initial case was for ranged damage + mitigation. VEATs offer that, offer more of both, in addition get team buffs, and a pick'em of pets or control.

 

Flavor trumps everything and if you loathe crab legs or can't stand psi blasts Sent is an awesome spot to land. Personally, I love rad blast. I couldn't care less that it's a lower mid set in terms of numbers. When I nuke, I want an actual nuclear bomb animation. That's not the question in the thread though. You started by saying that range > melee. Okay, I'm game, but why would you choose less damage, less mitigation, and zero utility when there's another range + mitigation AT right over here doing that better?

 

I'm not 100% sure where you're going with the rest of the statement. If you personally are setting the bar at sentinel performance being the baseline then I suppose almost every set in each AT is overperforming and becomes an outlier. But if everything is an outlier except the one little AT - is it maybe possible that sentinels are underperforming?  Or maybe that the role they fill is niche at best?

 

 

Oh please only with certain combos your getting those numbers ive noticed allot in the community love exaggerating and manipulating about others ats including sentinals. And its funny how people like you always compare them to blasters when they should be compared to scrappers I feel like a more useful scrapper type is and whats what many who do roll them are looking for.

 

I doubt your coming from a real genuine place this is far from the only thread bringing up their weaknesses and strengths and allot if being left out here but I see I am wasting my time so im moving on. It is clear your only interested in being right not objective. Anwyays cool story.

Edited January 19 by StarseedWarrior

[catsi563]

On 1/16/2024 at 5:36 PM, Crossie said:

PB or warshade.  They don't come any easier than that. 

ha ha

 

dude dont troll the new person 😛

[Ironblade]

I would say to pick any class that features an attack set as their primary and a defensive set as their secondary.  Something like a blaster is attack/attack, a controller is crowd control/support, a corruptor is attack/support.

 

So I would recommend any of the following:  brute, scrapper, sentinel, stalker.  In each case, their primary power set is about doing damage while the second set is about staying alive.  Personally, my very first character was a scrapper.

 

For a total newb, I'd say pick a defensive set without too many click powers so it's more 'set and forget' but, as an experienced MMO player, that's not a concern so pick any set that appeals to you.

 

Once you get the hang of this game, then venture into crowd control, support, tanking, etc.

[twozerofoxtrot]

This is going to be similar to a lot of previous recommendations but for first time players I always recommend a...

 

Willpower/Martial Arts Tanker.

 

This is the most easy-to-drive pick, period. It has the added benefit of being a viable (if not very exciting) end-game tanker once you know the ins and outs of the game.

 

Some tips:

• At level 1 take Storm Kick over Thunder Kick. As a Tanker, when you land a hit with Storm Kick you gain a temporary buff of 10 Defense to all categories for 10 seconds. This buff doesn't stack on itself but it can be maintained throughout the fight by using Storm Kick off cooldown. Thunder Kick has no extra bonuses; I usually don't ever take it on my characters, period. 
• Crane Kick and Cobra Strike are essentially the same power, with the same stats and different animations. The difference is that Crane Kick has a chance to yeet your enemy away from you and Cobra Strike has a chance to stun them. I prefer to keep my targets in melee range so I skip Crane Kick for Cobra Strike.
• Rise to the Challenge is your most important Defensive power, but only works well if you are swarmed in melee. Don't let enemies blast you from range throughout a fight.
• Resurgence and Strength of Will are both "okay" powers but can be safely skipped if you want to pick other things that seem more fun or interesting (pool powers starting at 4, epic pool powers at 35).

 

 

[vibal]

20 hours ago, StarseedWarrior said:

Oh please only with certain combos your getting those numbers ive noticed allot in the community love exaggerating and manipulating about others ats including sentinals. And its funny how people like you always compare them to blasters when they should be compared to scrappers I feel like a more useful scrapper type is and whats what many who do roll them are looking for.

 

I doubt your coming from a real genuine place this is far from the only thread bringing up their weaknesses and strengths and allot if being left out here but I see I am wasting my time so im moving on. It is clear your only interested in being right not objective. Anwyays cool story.

Literally compared them to VEATs, and only the ranged versions (crab/fort), not blasters as the similarities are relevent (range + mitigation). Also not sure if that's a lingering issue but I personally have never spoken in forum about sentinels for good or bad. But I'm happy to walk away from the convo.

[Skyhawke]

A lot of great advice in there. I'll add by saying don't overthink it when starting out. Best way to learn is getting faceplanted, figuring out what works and doesn't work and reworking your character. Respecs come at every 10 levels, can be gotten over and over with the respec trials. Eventually, you'll get a build you like, a playstyle you like and a year later look at your build think "What was I drinking?" and redo the whole thing. Just did that for my main. It's all part of the process. Just have fun, that's the most important part.

[catsi563]

3 hours ago, Skyhawke said:

A lot of great advice in there. I'll add by saying don't overthink it when starting out. Best way to learn is getting faceplanted, figuring out what works and doesn't work and reworking your character. Respecs come at every 10 levels, can be gotten over and over with the respec trials. Eventually, you'll get a build you like, a playstyle you like and a year later look at your build think "What was I drinking?" and redo the whole thing. Just did that for my main. It's all part of the process. Just have fun, that's the most important part.

All of this ^

 

and also dont forget to just ask in game theres a general and help channel so feel free to ask any questions in there you may have the community is willing to answer any questions you may have

[Herotu]

For my first character in Homecoming, I made a Fire/Kin Controller. I really hate spamming one or two buffs over and over, but it's popular in groups. More importantly, can solo competently without IOs. 

[MoonSheep]

On 1/12/2024 at 9:59 PM, Rishidian said:

I don't mean to get on anyone's case, but for the new folks asking questions, please keep the abbreviations to a minimum.  For people not up on the jargon, it can get confusing (Is SS meaning Super Speed?  Super Strength? Stainless Steel?).  While I've been here a while, and know that FF means Forced Flatulence, others may not.

 

We don't want to scare them off TOO early...

 

hmm, that’s true. but i would recommend OP plays an MA/SD scrapper, AAO is a good dmg buff and its easy to cap S/L def. useful at low levels for posi, DFB and DiB, but still valuable for MLTFs, LRSF, HM ITFs and any other TF that’s the WST as it’s a versatile AT. worth picking up a KB to KD IO from the AH. its cheap to build with SOs or IOs and is a popular FOTM, FWIW YMMV IMHO

Edited January 21 by MoonSheep

[Sovera]

A Sentinel would be really easy to start with if you pick Hover with Fly from the Flight pool. You stay at range in the air and hitting mobs and though they have ranged attacks to retaliate they are weaker than their melee attacks. Plus you can either whittle or kill a few before they even get close. Storm Blast/Bio Armor would be my advice since Storm is flashy and cool, and also comes with built in soft CC and debuffs.

 

If you prefer melee then a Fire Armor/Ice Melee is also a good choice with Ice Melee getting Ice Patch at level 20 which will do a lot to keep you safe on top a Tanker's resistances. Unlike other games Tankers here don't need to memorize attack patterns, be forced to lead the group, have to sweat their defensives to survive and etc. They are just expected to jump into the fray before the others and that's it.

[JasperStone]

You have been given a lot of great advice that I agree with.

 

I would put a hold on the Epic Archetypes for now. They can be a bit complex based on the amount of choices you can make power-wise.

For Example a Peacebringer:

• Triform - human/nova(blaster like)/Dwarf(tank)
• BiForm - Human/Nova, Human/Dwarf, or Nova/Dwarf (kinda rare)
• Human

And ... we have not even talked power choices

If interested check out the guide by @Laucianna

 

I also recommend holding off on Master Minds. They can be a bit complex control-wise. In truth, you can setup your Henchmen/pets to just defend you and roll with that.

Or , like me, have binds and keymapping to control each one. It can make a single solo mission fun tactics-wise. At least for me.

 

Both of the above are tremendously fun to play. Advise you to wait a bit for them.

 

My advice:

•  dabble across ArcheTypes(AT), you have a lot of character slots for a reason. You have been given great choices.
• If you find yourself liking a particular one, roll another. 
• Powersets within ATs can behave differently so dabble within ATs as well.
• Check out the Archetype board for advice
• Explore our awesome wiki 🙂
• Have fun 🙂 

 

 

 

 

[Scarlet Shocker]

there ain't no substitute for playing the game and finding out what works for you! Everyone's different and you've got a lot of choices!

[nzer]

I'm sure OP doesn't need any more recommendations at this point, but I just wanted to jump in and say masterminds really are not that hard to play and don't need any micromanagement, even at high levels. In fact manual control is usually going to be worse than the default defensive follow orders, because of bodyguard mode.

 

As was said before, bots/force field is impossible to screw up and pretty much plays itself even with cheapo enhancements. Thugs/ and demons/ are also good, and you can go /time on any of the three if you want something more active. A lot of the other combos do require more investment to shine though.

 

I also probably wouldn't recommend mastermind for a first time player, just because it's so different than everything else in the game. But it's not a bad choice by any means.

[Darkaiser]

One bit of advice that I haven't seen above yet: Think about what YOU want to play. What sort of heroes do YOU see yourself as in the comics or the movies? Think about the last time you thought to yourself 'Now THAT would be cool!' and see if anything resembles that, even a little. The goal is to have fun.

 

It's going to sound boring but mouse over the various Archetypes and read what they say. Even though they're both melee fighters, Wolverine fights VERY differently than Batman. Storm is nothing like The Human Torch, and so on.

 

Think about how you like to play your games. If you like being able to solo, stay away from Blasters for a while because their survivability solo isn't very good for a new player. If you prefer to team with others, any sort of ranged character works well and will be an asset to the team.

 

Good luck and welcome back!

[tidge]

I also vote against Masterminds as a starter AT. They are not hard to solo with, but it is very easy to make a LOT of mistakes with them and the Endurance tax will not give a new player an idea of the different things a player can do with a primary and secondary.

 

I'd also not recommend Brutes. The Fury mechanic is going to have a little learning curve, and (my opinion, YMMV) it is easy for new/solo Brute players to learn the wrong sort of lessons for team play.

 

My recommendation would be Sentinel, because the secondaries are different, and can be somewhat forgiving. The Primaries will have enough going on to learn the ropes of them. I'd then opt for either a Scrapper or Stalker, with the latter if you want to quickly get a feel for being "sneaky" in missions.