I really want to like this game...

[Ironblade]

10 hours ago, An R Key5993 said:

I really do want to like this game but as of right now I just don't, I was hoping someone could maybe help me figure out why.

Honestly, I see this exact comment a lot in the Valheim reddit.  The game has amazing reviews, people rave about it, but plenty of people simply don't enjoy it.  No game ever has had universal appeal.

 

Having said that, yeah, the game kind of sucks at really low level.  Which is why I get past that as quickly as possible.  I buy the double XP buff from the Pay2Win vendor in Atlas Park and do the Death From Below trial with random people a few times to get to somewhere in the 12-15 range.  Then I delete the double XP buff and start playing the game 'for real'.  On a side note, the 'DFB' trial (that's what everyone calls it in chat) is fun.  It's much more recent content.  Another piece of good content at low level is the Shooting Stars mission arcs.  The initial contact is Twinshot and you can start the arcs at level 5.  It actually has a story and interesting characters unlike some of the original content which is "Go to the warehouse and defeat the random boss."

[Ironblade]

9 hours ago, Snarky said:

There is a learning curve. But jumping into a pug and running the task forces and strike forces is one of my favorite things in the game

Which is weird, because that also seems to be what you complain about the most on the forums.    😛

[Snarky]

1 hour ago, Ironblade said:

Which is weird, because that also seems to be what you complain about the most on the forums.    😛

Well… I am never happy.  So that covers the logic loophole. 
 

But seriously, PUGs are glamorous moving kill fests where you get to use all your powers all the time. 
 

Then, when people trigger ambushes because they are new…. You come to the forums and vent.  Another great use of my powers

[Lockpick]

I might also suggest picking a character that is survivable, especially if you plan to solo a lot.  Nothing more disheartening than getting defeated and having to run back from the hospital over and over.

[Snarky]

11 minutes ago, Lockpick said:

I might also suggest picking a character that is survivable, especially if you plan to solo a lot.  Nothing more disheartening than getting defeated and having to run back from the hospital over and over.

For years I ran Brutes when soloing the game.  Still love them 

[Go0gleplex]

I solo exclusively...with many different arch types so I can say this with confidence; ALL arch types are survivable if you play smart rather than like a murder hobo laying waste to everything as soon as it's sighted. Some power combos make it a bit more challenging but out of about 30 toons over the last year plus I've only made maybe a dozen hospital visits between all of them. 😉

[Sovera]

1 hour ago, Go0gleplex said:

I solo exclusively...with many different arch types so I can say this with confidence; ALL arch types are survivable if you play smart rather than like a murder hobo laying waste to everything as soon as it's sighted. Some power combos make it a bit more challenging but out of about 30 toons over the last year plus I've only made maybe a dozen hospital visits between all of them. 😉

 

The Plex has it right. This game breeds the 'stand strong, gird your loins, don't move, tank it all' that people die from things they could just walk out from. Enemies debuffing? Kite for a bit until the debuff runs out. Lots of enemies? Pull them.

 

But no. Gotta jump in, face first. To be fair the game also allows it. We're super and it shows, but those conditioned reflexes work against the player when something moderately hard is tossed their way.

[Oubliette_Red]

I think that when starting out and trying the game, one needs to have in mind what kind of character they want to play before jumping in. I do like stabbity-stabbity, Hulk-smash and the occasional sniper but for the most part I tend to play a lot of support which can be a slog when soloing. Do-able, but you have to take the slow, cautious approach, though when teamed even with a couple other players it can increase the enjoyment considerably.

 

There are tons of guides for practically every flavour of character you could think of so, I'd suggest starting with what kind of character you'd like to play, tank, scrapper, blaster, blapper, etc. Want to pound on your enemies, blast them in the face, or send your minions after them? The folks here can offer up a multitude of ideas (and have) for a combo of powersets that may fill your needs.

 

[UltraAlt]

14 hours ago, An R Key5993 said:

I hope given the topic no one takes offense, if the game is not for me it's just not for me.

 

Have you ever read a comic book?

Ever wished to have super powers?

Ever thought about fighting crime or being a villian?

 

Well, think of what kind of powers that you would like to have and figure out a cool costume to go with it.

I would suggest starting on hero side as most of the players are on hero side.

Once you are in the world, go City Hall and look for contact in the basement. Best to get the one that fits their origin, and run their missions. (personally, I would avoid Matthew Habashy and Twinshot as contacts)

Otherwise, look for someone recruiting for a DFB and join that team.

 

Use the "contact" on the nav bar and "find contact" to get a contact that is related to your level as you level up.

With the bonus xp on may servers, it is easy to outlevel a contact and missions quickly unless you turn the xp off.

 

The game to me is much better when you have a character you feel like playing at the time and when running with a team, so look for teams to join.

In most cases, teams will take you regardless of your level. When you join a team, you'll get sidekicked up to near the level of the team leader.

 

The City might not be for you. No harm no foul.

It gets more complicated as you level up.

 

Of course, it gets more heroic feeling once you pick up a travel power from the power pools like flight, superleap, superspeed, or teleportation.

 

You have plenty of choices to choose from, I would suggest a melee characters (scrapper or tank) or a ranged damage character (blaster or sentinel) to start.

If you play a range character, while you get used to the game, it's best to always back away from the foes and fire at them from a distance.

Even if you are a melee character, if you get in over your head, run for it.

The enemies will only chase you so far.

 

[Shenanigunner]

13 hours ago, Doc_Scorpion said:

The early game, you only have a handful of powers...  So, I'm not sure what else you'd expect.  Later in the game, when you have a larger toolbox, you'll have more of an opportunity for decision making.

 

This. Until you add enough powers to have any selection options, it's just 1-2-3 grind with what you have. It doesn't take long to gain some powers that only work well in selective situations, or buffs or non-combat powers that have to be used with some forethought, and it goes up from there, until you have dozens of powers that may or may not be useful in any one situation but are in others. Toon and power management become a very significant part of gameplay. But as a junior member of Da Justis League? It's all about beating up street trash.

 

You can also get a full slate of free, useful powers from the P2W vendor in Atlas. Adding something like Nemesis Staff to a melee character, or Sands of Mu to a ranged/squishie one, and basic travel powers to any alt (in lieu of wasting an early slot on a regular travel power), can completely change low-level gameplay.

 

Edited January 18 by Shenanigunner

[UltraAlt]

14 hours ago, An R Key5993 said:

Obviously the character creator is amazing, for RP I could see falling even more in love with it.

 

You could go directly to the Pocket D and do RP at level 1.

 

14 hours ago, An R Key5993 said:

Early game is just really.... boring. There is essentially no decision making up to where I am, just use power as soon as its off cooldown rinse repeat. 

 

The game is teaching you how to use your powers.

Join a DFB or two if you want to level past the early levels to get more powers quickly.

 

14 hours ago, An R Key5993 said:

Map design for instances are really clunky to navigate (tight hallways, awkward floor layouts, etc)

 

?!

You got me on that one.

The maps get bigger as you go, but most of the hallways are going to get any bigger until you hit some level 30 or so content that was made post release of Going Rogue.

 

14 hours ago, An R Key5993 said:

Questing/Missions are very redundant so far, just swap gang and do the same thing.

 

Each of the "gangs" fight differently and have different power sets.

So yeah, maybe the game isn't for  you.

 

 

[Snickerdoodle1429]

15 hours ago, An R Key5993 said:

I really do want to like this game but as of right now I just don't, I was hoping someone could maybe help me figure out why.

For context I've made two characters so far, neither of which have excited me so far. I also should say I'm very much a fan of older game philosophy, I don't mind having to grind, I don't mind prolonged gratification, all of this is fine with me but nothing is clicking yet.

So with all the praise this game gets I'm hoping more experienced players can tell me if its just simply not for me, which is fine, or if early level content is pretty much what I can expect throughout the entire game.

I hope given the topic no one takes offense, if the game is not for me it's just not for me.

A lot also depends on the server you rolled on. Some servers are just not as active for group content as other despite being at 2 dots(yellow) for traffic. If you are trying to do group content but cant find anyone, try moving the character to another server!

[An R Key5993]

7 hours ago, TheOtherTed said:

Sorry if this has already been asked and answered, but what were the characters' archetypes and powersets?

I have a tanker with Invulnerability/Super Strength another Scrapper Battle Axe/Bio Armor

-

I do want to thank a lot of the replies here, all of you have been very helpful. I wasn't even aware of things like the P2W Vendor. I haven't done group content/task forces yet and  do want to give them a try at some point. 

Still booting up the game today, might just start from scratch and really get the imagination juices running. I have toons on Champions Online of which I've made fun backstories on maybe I'll use some of them as inspiration.

My goal is to hit level 20 and do a couple task forces before deciding for sure if the game is for me. Thanks again!

[Sovera]

15 minutes ago, An R Key5993 said:

I have a tanker with Invulnerability/Super Strength another Scrapper Battle Axe/Bio Armor

-

I do want to thank a lot of the replies here, all of you have been very helpful. I wasn't even aware of things like the P2W Vendor. I haven't done group content/task forces yet and  do want to give them a try at some point. 

Still booting up the game today, might just start from scratch and really get the imagination juices running. I have toons on Champions Online of which I've made fun backstories on maybe I'll use some of them as inspiration.

My goal is to hit level 20 and do a couple task forces before deciding for sure if the game is for me. Thanks again!

 

Check the newbie guide in my signature, at the risk of re-re-re-repeating myself on the subject. I've added a lot of the stuff we re-re-repeat, and there's probably some stuff not spoken about since it's taken for granted that everyone knows (right, sea people!?!).

[An R Key5993]

After visiting the P2W vendor and picking up some powers early game is already picking up for me. I also decided to only do "my origins" questline and not all 5, which is making questing (doing missions) feel a lot more rewarding and like I'm making progress. This is much more enjoyable haha.

[TheOtherTed]

4 hours ago, An R Key5993 said:

I have a tanker with Invulnerability/Super Strength another Scrapper Battle Axe/Bio Armor

Ah, yeah, those seem like they'd feel a bit slow in the lower levels.  Sounds like you're finding your stride, though.  Once you get the hang of them and get some team play under your belt, I'd suggest trying other archetypes and powersets.  Even those that sound dull.  Scratch that - especially those that sound dull.  You may be surprised at what you can learn about the game by doing so.

[golstat2003]

Honestly one of the best threads I've seen in a while. Example of how great this community is even after a decade. 🤗

 

With that said An R Key5993 does bring up (and others in this thread) some areas that could be worked on to improve the new character/new player experience. Hopefully HC find time in the next year or so to spruce those things up.

 

Great thread!

 

 

[Troo]

1 hour ago, golstat2003 said:

With that said An R Key5993 does bring up (and others in this thread) some areas that could be worked on to improve the new character/new player experience. Hopefully HC find time in the next year or so to spruce those things up.

 

modernizing the new player experience would be great.