The Officially Unofficial Weekly Discussion #63: What do you do for low level content or to get through levels 1-30?

[DougGraves]

Old contacts, new contacts, blue side, red side, gold side, DFB, story arc zones (Hollows, Faultline, Striga), AE stories, AE farming?

 

And do you do any of the special contacts like Twinshot, University tutorial, Cape and Aura arcs?

Edited January 19, 2024 by DougGraves

[Greycat]

Depends on the character. Sometimes the AT.

 

Blueside? I typically skip DFBs these days, one run at most. Hit Habashy's arc, get the teleporter by getting all the Atlas explore badges (and hit the plaques while I'm at it,) grab an ouro portal to get the echo:atlas badges - either then or some other time, honestly. Then it depends on the character... part of why I like blueside and all the "duplicate" zones is that I can pick my own path. Hollows? Sure! Beat stuff up in Perez? Sure. Hit the arcs in KR? Might just fit! Each character gets their own progression with what feels right, contact wise.

 

The only real major "Do I run this..." I can think of is running Magic characters through Croatoa. Which gets them to 32 or 33, typically. With that nice story zone bonus at the end. Other than that, my characters could be anywhere.

 

Redside... eh. Since it doesn't really have that, and I don't care for a lot of the "You're a lackey, you're an idiot" writing, or the environment, I don't play it much. I have redsiders, but the sameness just leads to burnout quickly. I will tend to run Radio, though. And I've enjoyed Efficiency Expert Pither's challenges...

 

Goldside... mostly just cry as the 50th ambush comes for my level 4 whatever... or grumble as I'm told to pick flowers for whatserface.

 

Khelds, I'm often doing the Kheldian War arc on top of everything else.

 

VEATS... I'm doing their arc to level 10 to get the costume slot, then probably getting them farmed past that stupid level 24 forced-respec, if not farther. I don't like the forced respec, and don't like their story arcs past... eh-20ish. (I *have* played them, yes. It's why this is now almost guaranteed to be a farmed character to some degree... that plus the mid to later arcs just felt thrown together.)

 

 

[SeraphimKensai]

I typically default to farming it up with an alt account, but when I make the character I come up with its name/costume/general story and if I feel it merits running through various content I will run it up in a traditional style.

 

Then again I'm also one of the weirdos that occasionally takes praetorians up to 50 by going straight to first ward/night ward instead of going primal or running general content teams out in the Shadow Shard to get people out of their usual funk of running radios in PI.

[cranebump]

I hardly do any tutorial arcs anymore. Used to do Galaxy City. So these days: I might do DFB to about level 10. Then KR or Hollows. Lockhart in Steel (or Pos1 and 2). Faultline arcs. Usually throw in a Synapse and a Cit. If I'm straight soloing, I may or may not start with Matt H. I might start out with default contacts in Atlas. Whether I do or not, I'll follow whatever contacts I get, often juggling 2 at a time (used to do more than that, but 2 is easier to manage these days, and gives me a better chance of not outleveling one of the arcs before I complete it and get the merits). There's a lot of merits via arc completion, by the way. It can't compete with the time/merit ratio of blowing through some of the TFs, but you can come out with a decent haul.

[Sovera]

As the years go I changed my low level approach.

 

Now I no longer do AE or DFBs or teams other than Synapse (takes too long to solo so I always team for it). My run is always starting by saving the guy's wife, which then opens the cop contact, which ends with the Arachno collaborateur. I don't remember their names... Anyway, that leaves me at level 9 which is good enough to start my TF trek but with some merits to my name. I only resume teaming at 40+ for ITFs and Tinpexes.

 

Before that I used to do the kill witches in the tunnel AE mission since one map would leave me at level 12, then solo TFs except Synapse.

 

Before that I used to grab the new alt and another account and do two AE farms which would leave it at level 23. Solo TFs, etc. Very efficient and the best way IMO since I can slot most powers straight away instead of playing with empty slots and then resume low level play. Solo TFs except Synapse.

 

Before *that* I used to create a team and run two DFBs and then create a team and start an all TF run from Posi 1 onwards always teamed up and that's how I played for the longest time.

 

Edited January 18, 2024 by Sovera

[Oubliette_Red]

Toggle my XP on/off so I can finish out the contact. On some character I play through the low level contacts, especially if I haven't played their arc in a good long while, other characters I team up with friends and get PL'd along the way. I'm not big on 'End Game' play so no need to rush to 50.

 

[UltraAlt]

1 hour ago, DougGraves said:

Old contacts, new contacts, blue side, red side, gold side, DFB, story arc zones (Hollows, Faultline, Striga), AE stories, AE farming?

 

 

 

Most of the time at this point I end up doing DFB's until level 8.

If it's slow, I'll run the lake in Atlas Park for some levels and then go to King Row or the Hollows.

I ran the Origin contacts with my Origin Project characters.

 

At level 8, tend to move to Steel to see if I can get a Posi 1 going - then a Posi 2.

If that isn't happening, it a toss up based on the character. Parking and switching. Kings Row, Hollows, or Police Scanner missions. On a whim, I'll go to Skyway.

 

Once I get to 20, then it's time for Yin. If no Yin, head to Talos or Striga. Maybe run Posi 1 or Posi 2 if someone is recruiting. Maybe some police scanner missions.

 

After the Yin, maybe another Yin, Moodfire, Citadel, or Hess. Run around some more in Talos or Striga. Maybe run Posi 1 or Posi 2 if someone is recruiting. Maybe some police scanner missions.

 

Usually reaching 30 by that point.

 

I don't run any villains.

My Rogues usually end up following the same path a lot of the time (because it is easier to find low level teams in Paragon City), but I mix in newspaper missions (once a high enough level) because I like running Mayhem missions.

[Spaghetti Betty]

These days I PL alts to 27 to save them from an early delete. Before that, I would grab a ton of p2w stuff, crank my difficulty to x8, and grab a legacy contact. Hammering out 2 indoor missions this way is enough to qualify for The Hollows. Following the same format through there will usually have me at 20 by the time Frostfire is done with.

[drbuzzard]

2 DFB, Posi 1&2, Yin (repeat if needed). If there's PUG teams, that can pad XP as well. 

[FFFF]

Outbreak -> Kill one or two Hellions -> sell the large inspirations for starting cash -> Atlas Park exploration badges -> convert the merits to converters and sell for more starting capital.

 

Then I go through Matthew Habashy -> Aaron Thiery -> Hollows -> Shauna Stockwell -> Eagle Eye. All those missions are really good and have a modern (except the Hollows) feel to them. You'll have well over a hundred merits after running through those arcs so at that point, you've self-funded yourself. I usually start buying / using SOs at level 9-10. Before then, they make too little difference.

 

At that point, I diverge quite a bit. I may do Twinshot's mission arc if I did her early arc, I could solo at Posi 1 (which is really easy for just about any AT with SOs). I do Laura Lockhart, Graham Easton and the FSBA contacts if the character is in the Talos Island range. After that I level casually until I lose interest in the character. Most of the time, I get to 50, get a few incarnate powers and call it a day.

[Doc_Scorpion]

Depends on the characters...  My melee/offensive toons tend to grab the first contact and head out.  I do PUG with them, but generally level locked because I play them solo a great deal.  Solo tends to be a mix of story content and radio missions, with judicious use of the XP lock to avoid outleveling.  My support/defensive toons DFB until I'm bored or am at least level 9-10 and then head out to PUG it.  Blasters are special case...  some solo, some PUG, some mix the two.

[Go0gleplex]

Anything and everything I can to avoid Kings Row and the endless Skull missions unless I'm feeling a bit M other than to get the exploration badges. Once I'm done with Atlas, I'll usually go to the Hollows, then Steel. That is if I'm not just running gold side til 20-30.  I tend to avoid or limit my stay at Port Oakes as well due to the absolute boredom (few mission contacts other than the Radio) when running Red side...and Grave's missions are simply unappealing to me.  Talos and IP are both rather monotonous as well.  Being solo, no Task Force runs for me. 

[Water]

I predominantly level up in TFs. I have a few solo characters who are going through missions chronologically with XP earning off. I consistently play DFBs in badge mode at level 1-50. Any TF or SF is an attraction at any level. Any team in fact.

 

[Mister Mass]

I choose which side to start on (& which tutorial to run) based on the character.  I try to keep blueside, redside, & goldside balanced.  I try to run more-or-less all of the contacts by shutting off XP at each level band - although on blueside I will often skip some of old contacts, as most of them just have generic missions instead of story arcs or badge missions.  I take my time & don't rush through the level bands.  By rotating which side I start on, each side feels almost fresh again when I get back to it.

 

Since I long ago made my fortune on the market, I kit my young characters out with the best enhancements as soon as they can slot them.  Obviously this makes low level play a lot less painful.  I'll join TFs/SFs as hey become available, but usually turn off XP, so that I don't inadvertently outlevel contacts in a level band.

 

So I level up much as I did on Live, but with better enhancements - & without having to try to max out debt in order to stay in a level band.

[Seed22]

7 hours ago, DougGraves said:

Old contacts, new contacts, blue side, red side, gold side, DFB, story arc zones (Hollows, Faultline, Striga), AE stories, AE farming?

 

 

I PL myself to 50. I dont have the patience to deal with the leveling experience anymore.

[Techwright]

While not a firmly set rule of mine, I generally run Matthew Habashy's arc while waiting for the next available Death From Below, then try to run DFB to level 16, at least.  This gives me all 4 of DFB's end bonuses.  At that point I prefer to run Drowning In Blood, but as DIB is rare, I usually run the Positron TF instead, that usually gets me to 20 and the Penny Yin TF.  I'll run the Synapse TF if I have time.  Variations on this will have me running one of the two contacts from Matthew Habashy, then going over to King's Row and running the two Skulls storyline contact's missions.

[Crysis]

Powerfarm from 1-32.  Always.  I haven't played lower level content in....forever.  Not since maybe first month of Homecoming.  Don't miss it one bit either.

 

Even with all the nerfs to AE, I still take maybe one or two gaming sessions per week, usually when I'm in video meetings or asleep, and just afk powerfarm a couple of new alts.  Then when I'm ready I pull them out, kit them out, and play for real.

 

Not everyone's cup of tea but I find the storyline in this game monotonous and repetitive.  

[Biff Pow]

Mostly police scanner and bank missions to 20, then add in Tip missions. As long as your character can gradually increase difficulty, it goes very quickly.

[Snarky]

I have an alt acct farmer. I can farm a new toon to 30 in half an hour?  With coffee break part way through.  
 

I was making a ton of toons last year for about three months.  Leveling 2-5 50s a week. Most of them I did NOT farm. Or farmed for 10 minutes to get to 15-18.  My preference for levelling is 4 DFBs (for the boosts).  This puts you at 16? With 2xp. Forget the exact number.  Then all the TFs, SFs, and Trials in order. (That order determined by last level of the content, not first).  So, a 20-40 is run at 40 or later.  
 

To me this is by far the funnest way to team and level and learn a new archetype/powerset/build.  

Edited January 19, 2024 by Snarky

[Spaghetti Betty]

14 minutes ago, Snarky said:

I have an alt acct farmer. I can farm a new toon to 30 in half an hour?  With coffee break part way through.  
 

I was making a ton of toons last year for about three months.  Leveling 2-5 50s a week. Most of them I did NOT farm. Or farmed for 10 minutes to get to 15-18.  My preference for levelling is quitting 4 DFBs (for the boosts).  This puts you at 16? With 2xp. Forget the exact number.  Then I quit all the TFs, SFs, and Trials in order. (That order determined by last level of the content, not first).  So, a 20-40 is run at 40 or later.  
 

To me this is by far the funnest way to quit teams and level and learn a new archetype/powerset/build.  

I fixed this for you!

[ZorkNemesis]

I usually just stick to the standard story arcs.  Blue i'll run the Atlas Park series then usually go into Kings for Shauna and Eagle Eye or sometimes The Hollows, followed with Montague, Laura and Grahm in Steel.  Red follows a similar path with kicking Longbow out of Mercy Island, then usually Graves or paper missions, then Ruben and Hammond in Cap.  After 20 I like the I17 arcs with Keith or Dean, but I also follow up with alignment tips to set my preferred alignment and get that nice merit bonus.

 

Gold I usually don't pick up an exp booster so I can follow a path to completion.  I'll pick what alignment I want to do at the start and just play the missions in order until it's time to go.  If i'm feeling adventurous sometimes I stay and go through First Ward but usually i'll pick a Primal side at 20.

 

Generally I refrain from farming, and i'll pick up a TF if i'm in the mood but i'll usually solo my way though it all instead (playing on the former ghost town of Indom is a factor there).  I do usually send money around level 22 though to start getting a build together, especially when LotGs become an option.

[Carnifax]

I'll usually run a DFB anyway if they're going. After that I'll typically PL myself using the alt account to 18 and do Posi 1 and 2 from there. Then typically missions / tips / PuGs / SG stuff with friends. 

 

Arc wise I'll try and do some but they're very easy to quickly outlevel. 

[Coyotedancer]

I'll play through the usual low-level missions if I'm using a powerset that I'm unfamiliar with, just to get some familiarity with how it handles at low level. Typically, I do that solo or duo/small team.

 

If the character is made of sets that I already know well? I usually avoid the low-level game entirely, and just toss them into a round of fire farming with Sunni, so that I can start actually playing them at mid-level.  That's especially true with lowbie Hero side, which at this point I'm inclined to avoid like the proverbial plague. I've seen that content so many times now that I'd rather let Leonard have the Hollows than slog through the place again. 😖

 

 

 

 

Edited January 19, 2024 by Coyotedancer

[rolandgrey]

It depends.  If it's a melee character or a Sentinel, characters built for resilience from the get-go, I just solo through the contacts, trying to tackle tasks that would best fit their concept.  If it's a support character, I get them to ten as quickly as possible any way I can so they can provide some basic varied support when teaming with friends.  Blasters...  Well, lately my Blasters have been going the same route as the Melee/Sent types.  Their damage output is just fantastic, and they don't have the inherent endurance issues they used to have anymore, so Blasters are a lot of fun.  I don't play many Dominators, but my behavior with them is similar to that of the Support characters.  I know they're along the same lines as Blasters (though mechanically they keep getting lumped in with Controllers), but they lack that "click" that Blasters have with me, so I don't get the urge to solo them.  The same goes for Kheldians, though the Arachnos soldiers can usually go solo with my playstyle.

 

As for favored content, I don't really have anything that stands out from the low-level stuff.  There's the Hellions/Skulls gang war that starts over a magic cloak of all things and leads to the then-leadership of both factions being taken out (Bonefire, I think it's called).  Sure, it's a lot of "Fight Skulls or Hellions" content that you would normally have left behind by that point, but it's also a way to burn through some of the more annoying levels (11 and 12) easily.  Plus, it has the added humor of both of these starter gangs getting KO'd because they were fighting over what would be the D&D equivalent of a minor magic cloak (like, one that would keep them warm in winter or one that would add 1 to Dex saves but at the cost of a point of Charisma).

 

For cranking through levels, though, I'm a big fan of Torchbearer's Saturday Night Synapse, a player-made event (by Kalikamata) where numerous teams League up and tackle the Synapse TF simultaneously, then pause after defeating the Clockwork Lord until everybody's caught up so we can have a group of Babbages to fight all at once in a huge melee.  A big chunk of merits, a big chunk of XP, and even more when the Synapse TF is the weekly strike target.

 

EDIT: There's also the Vahzilok Plague arc, an arc that was infamous in the heyday before Inherent Fitness, and still cringe-inducing afterward.  It's an arc where you get infected with the Vahzilok Plague and it severely reduces your recovery and regeneration.  You only suffer it for a mission, but MAN, what a slog that mission is!  However!  Get through it and push to the end of the arc and you get to fight Dr. Vahzilok.  You don't have to, mind you, but you can, and you can set it so he appears as an Arch Villain, making for an excellent capstone to the 15-20 range without going through a TF.

 

For post-20 arcs, the only real arc that stands out for me is The Mysterious General Z.  Its opening mission features Ambassador Alwane, an actually competent rescue NPC (because he's armed with an assault rifle and knows how to use it!).  It also has the "US Ambassador" (used to be Alwane's bodyguard, but I guess a writer realized the Sky Raiders wouldn't leave a bodyguard alive when they revamped the arc).  This "US Ambassador" also wields an assault rifle to devastating effectiveness...  Almost as if he's got training from some clandestine PMC...  Finally, there's General Z, or as some people also know him, General Aarons.  THAT General Aarons.  And sadly, he's been nerfed after the arc was revamped.  Gone is his assault rifle (at the time, Heroes could get an inkling of what it was like to be a Mercs MM), replaced with his Vanguard Arc Pistol and Pistol Whip attacks, but he still has all the cocky overconfidence he had before...  Meaning he's probably going to taste floor soon after your rescue him.  It's still a fun arc, though, and has a sense of intrigue you rarely see in a lot of the game's story.  Plus, it's the one that spells out who the Sky Raiders' "mysterious benefactor" was (though he's probably more than a little miffed at them in recent events, now that it seems they've decided to go into business solely for themselves).

Edited January 19, 2024 by rolandgrey
Added arcs

[Skyhawke]

Depends on the character. I have some that are solo projects for me that I want to take through as many story arcs as possible with no double xp. Then there’s some that I solo, but do double xp and don’t mind taking the most expedient route to 50 with. Then there’s my teaming only characters who always get double xp.

 

My solo, full journey characters will do all the Atlas Park contacts as well as Twinshot. From there, it’s on to either Kings Row or The Hollows. This will depend on my mood and/or the character concept. Street level heroes to KR, magicky ones go to the Hollows and other types are at my whims. From there, it’s on to Skyway or Steel until I get high enough level to go to Faultline. Done it up so many times, but I love Faultline. Finish Faultline and it’s off to Striga. From Striga to Croatoa and there we go, into the 30s.

 

Solo, double xp characters follow a similar route, but end up missing a bunch of arcs.

 

Team only characters hop into a DFB and never look back. From there it’s Posi 1 & 2, Synapse, Yin and bouncing around wherever I can find a spot.

 

Villain side is fairly similar, solo characters run the arcs (doing a villain tank now and really digging doing things I haven’t seen in years) and team characters get on whatever they can.

 

Goldside is no double xp, turn it off to stay within the full arcs and then off to First Ward and then Night Ward.