Solo TFs… I think I screwed up :)

[Decair]

So, returning player to the game after… 15 years ish.

 

I’m really enjoying leveling my Ice/Stone Stalker (see thread by Carnifax), which I purely solo with.

 

However, at level 18 I decided to catch up on Task Forces, so that I could get accolades.  Positron 1 went fine.

 

I’m level 20 (downleveled to 16) when I start Positron 2, which goes fine until the ending AV, the purple Dr. Vahzilok.  Where my build-up+opener only takes 20% of his health pool, and very slowly start to chunk him down (massive health).  At about 65% health he brings in like 10+ adds and those just wipe me.

 

Try 2 is actually worse… I try luring the adds away and occasionally hitting the AV, but he regens too fast.  Switching to “-1” difficulty and relogging doesn’t seem to change the difficulty at all… everything I saw in that last mission stayed the same color (maybe the -1 only helps at the start of the entire TF?).

 

Reading up on the fight, I think I screwed up in two spots:

1.  I out leveled the TF, and installed the latest IOs (many of which are min 20), and up’d my SOs (also 20).  So many of my enhancements just don’t function when I’m leveled down to 16.  Oops… I apparently needed to do this at 15 so that my enhancements were good.

2.  Apparently even with enhancements working, to solo this AV folks seem to recommend buying a summon to tank the adds.  I had no summon.

 

#1 seems like the big issue; I’m not going to blow a bunch of inf at this point to create another build with low level enhancements / IOs.  So I think I’m screwed soloing this unless I a) get a team or b) hit the point where I’m okay blowing the inf.

 

Is my assessment correct, or am I missing something?

 

 

Thanks!

[Nemu]

Your enhancements did not go bad because you exemped down from level 20 not do they not count because you acquired the slots after level 16.

 

You don’t have to be level appropriate to solo TFs optimally. Optimal TF soloing tends to come from completed high level builds with attuned set bonuses/ATOs/purple sets.

 

A lot of TF solo runs also rely on constant feeding of inspirations through email and/or envenomed dagger p2w temp power. The latter provides enough -regen to slow AV regen for you to whittle them down.

[Decair]

Thanks!  I’ll try the envenomed dagger.

 

You’ve caused me to also relook at exemplar rules on the wiki.  I think the following are true when going from 20 to 16, if the wiki isn’t outdated and I’m not missing something.

• My lvl 20 SO’s will still work, but will be at 76% effectiveness.  My misunderstanding here; 76% is better than 0.
• Any set bonuses which had min level IO’s of 20 go away.
• Any special IOs, with global procs and the like, which had min levels of 20, stop functioning.

 

[StrikerFox]

The P2W vendor also sells an AoE grenade that knockback targets. Lob one at the adds, maybe it will blow them off the bridge.

[Sovera]

11 hours ago, Decair said:

So, returning player to the game after… 15 years ish.

 

I’m really enjoying leveling my Ice/Stone Stalker (see thread by Carnifax), which I purely solo with.

 

However, at level 18 I decided to catch up on Task Forces, so that I could get accolades.  Positron 1 went fine.

 

I’m level 20 (downleveled to 16) when I start Positron 2, which goes fine until the ending AV, the purple Dr. Vahzilok.  Where my build-up+opener only takes 20% of his health pool, and very slowly start to chunk him down (massive health).  At about 65% health he brings in like 10+ adds and those just wipe me.

 

Try 2 is actually worse… I try luring the adds away and occasionally hitting the AV, but he regens too fast.  Switching to “-1” difficulty and relogging doesn’t seem to change the difficulty at all… everything I saw in that last mission stayed the same color (maybe the -1 only helps at the start of the entire TF?).

 

Reading up on the fight, I think I screwed up in two spots:

1.  I out leveled the TF, and installed the latest IOs (many of which are min 20), and up’d my SOs (also 20).  So many of my enhancements just don’t function when I’m leveled down to 16.  Oops… I apparently needed to do this at 15 so that my enhancements were good.

2.  Apparently even with enhancements working, to solo this AV folks seem to recommend buying a summon to tank the adds.  I had no summon.

 

#1 seems like the big issue; I’m not going to blow a bunch of inf at this point to create another build with low level enhancements / IOs.  So I think I’m screwed soloing this unless I a) get a team or b) hit the point where I’m okay blowing the inf.

 

Is my assessment correct, or am I missing something?

 

 

Thanks!

 

 

Not on Stalkers, but I do solo TFs regularly.

 

The missions themselves are just regular mobs which you can control via the difficulty settings. So you can solo at 0x1, for example. But other than Posi 1 all other TFs will have AVs which cannot be lowered to Elite Bosses.

 

AVs do require a bit more oomph than regular SOs bring to the table. Still doable, but you will want inspirations and probably temporary powers. The minions Vhaz summons will explode so you need to take them out with AoE or try to bait them into exploding (stand in melee for a few seconds and then run out). They are only called three times, I think.

 

Vhaz will heal back to full at his second phase so you will need patience to whittle him down. If you buy envenomed daggers then spam them where you have a gap in your attacks, which, at that level, you're bound to have. The daggers will make his regen drop to a point you can comfortably damage it but your problem will come from two fronts: surviving the damage and your endurance.

 

For the first purple inspirations (Lucks) will prevent damage and are indirectly better than greens. Have about 2-4 greens and the rest purples. If you find this is not enough then buy more and mail them to yourself as you can take them from the mail even mid fight and replenish your tray.

 

For the endurance you use the Recovery Serum from the P2W vendor and when its down you sub in for blue inspirations. Considering dropping all toggles you don't need during the fight.

 

 

By level 20-ish as you are you can start looking at buying better stuff than generic IOs. For example both the Stalker specific IOs will give you a large boost to damage since one of the procs gives a chance to your Build-up power to instantly recharge and other makes you hide again which ensures a crit.

 

Take a look at my signature for some money making tips but even just selling merits will make you enough to start buying the cheaper stuff (a Gaussian proc in your Build-up will nearly double Build-up's damage boost for the first 5 seconds and costs only about 2 million).  And purchase at least generic IOs since they won't go red in a few levels and have to be replaced.

[Decair]

Thank you for the advice!  Will try these.

[PancakeGnome]

15 hours ago, Decair said:

Is my assessment correct, or am I missing something?

 

Well, first off.... most people can't solo AVs (at least not unless they are very prepared). As you noticed AVs have a TON of hp and do a ton of damage and have massive regen.

They also become immune to holds and control for a period on and off during the fight.

So to solo them, you have to 1) Do good damage 2) have great defenses 3) shut down their regen.

That means you need to be a very strong character with the right stuff.

You can fill in the gaps though, with preparations and money. After you start the TF you can't really talk to p2w vendor for something like the venom daggers (for -regen). 

But you might want to go get some summons if you really want to take down AVs. https://homecoming.wiki/wiki/Bloody_Bay like there is a quest here you can do to get a 5 charge shivan summon. 

And there are some other summons around you can get too from places. 

Or.... just bring a friend or two or theory craft how to get strong enough to take it down. That you were able to take its health so low was pretty good actually. It sounds like you just need a bit better defenses (fighting pool? tough / weave?) or maybe some self healing (aid self?). And then combine it with a good strategy.

[nihilii]

Sovera's advice is excellent and I would follow that first.

Fill your inspiration tray with purples, chomp on 3 per minute (this puts you close enough to the defense softcap)
Buy 300 Envenomed Daggers, put them in your tray next to your attacks and use them as soon as they're up (on top of high -regen, they do very high DoT damage)
Buy as many charges of Recovery Serum as possible, use as soon as the fight begins.

 

This preparation takes 2 minutes and will dramatically increase the solo AV efficiency of any lowbie character.

If it doesn't work, you can move to more time-consuming steps.

But, it's often not necessary to tweak beyond that.

Even just mixing the above formula slightly can change results significantly.

For example, lvl 2 purple insps (Good Lucks) can be bought through /ah for a pittance, and they give twice the defense as a lvl 1 purple. Which means you can use merely 2 per minute or even just 1 if you're feeling confident. This stretches the length of time you can fight, *or* it gives you opportunity to fill the rest of the tray with red insps to increase your damage output.

[BazookaTwo]

On 1/26/2024 at 12:29 AM, PancakeGnome said:

After you start the TF you can't really talk to p2w vendor for something like the venom daggers (for -regen). 

 

 

Untrue. You can still access the START Vendor in pocket D during a Task Force

Edited March 8 by BazookaTwo

[Lunar Ronin]

2 minutes ago, BazookaTwo said:

 

Untrue. You can still access the START Vendor IN pocket D during a TF

 

As well as Fort Trident and The Crucible.

[BazookaTwo]

3 minutes ago, Lunar Ronin said:

 

As well as Fort Trident and The Crucible.

 

Brilliant. Did not realize that 

[BazookaTwo]

Also I'll add that you can use the superbase temp powers available to purchase with salvage to shore up various things, if you're planning ahead. And I would plan ahead for any solo AV fight.

[Doomguide2005]

1 hour ago, BazookaTwo said:

 

Untrue. You can still access the START Vendor in pocket D during a Task Force

I recently discovered that the p2w (START) vendor in Fort Trident can also be used similarly to the pocket D vendor (though I'm unsure if there's any advantage to having both options)

 

I also have started using both the Plasmatic Taser and Stun Grenades both of which can help deal with the waves Doc Vahz summons.

 

In addition to the Shivan option mentioned above (in Bloody Bay) the p2w vendor also offers summons options including the police radio back up which my Empath utilized when tackling Doc Vahz and is a relatively cheap option for a new or leveling lowbie.  And I would also second the recommendation to use sg base empowerment buffs