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Addendum: Apparently, after you foil the bank robbery, you have 15 minutes to collect other goodies. I don't know what these are, and how to get them, or if they are worth it.

Vidiot maps has a map of the mission (look for "Atlas Park -- Safeguard Mission" in the drop-down under the title). It looks as if there are keys, and things they unlock. I have a just-dinged-6 toon that needs to do this, so I'll post details when I discover them.

If any more-experienced player already knows the details of the after-mission goodies, please help!

Lots of guides tell you to do the Safeguard Mission to get the 2-hour temp fly. I could not find complete, simple instructions here, but I did stumble around in-game long enough to figure it out. So, I'm writing it up in hopes that other n00bs might benefit.

A "police detective" contact will appear in your contacts list, around level 5. I was not paying close enough attention to know exactly how you get the contact. This may be an introduction from your first contact, or it may just magically appear when you ding 5. Look out for it. If someone wants to introduce you to a police detective, take it!

Anyway, go talk to this detective in person (always King's Row?). You'll be given a police radio, and it will appear in your contact list. Click on it to see a list of possible missions (I think it always gives missions in the zone you're in, and it was empty in Atlas Park, so stay in King's Row). Complete three missions from the radio. They are all door missions, with tougher enemies than you would normally face at level 5, so be on your toes!

There's a red progress bar under the detective (in the contact list). Once you have completed 3 radio missions, the progress bar will be full red. When you get that, go visit the police detective, and you'll get the "bank robbery" mission. Completion of that gives you the jet pack.

The bank mission puts you into a fake Atlas Park zone. Use the map to find the bank. Run to it, and avoid the mobs on the way. Enter immediately. The action starts as soon as you see the "The Bank is being Robbed!" message in red, as you approach the door). The mission itself is simple -- arrest all, and do it before they get away. Mine had the leader as a spines scrapper (high damage), with a crew of embalmed cadavers (Vahz minions?) who debuff you by projectile barf, apparently. I think the debuff messes with your accuracy and recharge times. So if you have hasten already, that will help. If you have room for non-critical inspirations, accuracy will help.

I failed the bank mission the first time I tried it. I idiotically went in with only one inspiration: endurance. DUH! I had to complete 3 more radio missions to get the "bank robbery" mission again. Second time, I stocked up on shields (squishy blaster toon) and accuracy, and completed it no problem.

Talk to the detective again afterwards, and you'll get the feather toggle in your tray. Right clicking it tells you how much time you have left on it. Conserve it! The clock only runs when you have it turned on. Use it only to go vertically, then get to a level surface and turn it off. When your two hours of flying is used up, that's it. It disappears, and you cannot get it again.

When it's toggled on, you'll look like a friggin' Sky Captain (you'll be seeing those in Terra Volta late 20s, as I recall), but it sure beats climbing fire escapes and jogging around looking for ramps!

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2. Obtain the 2 large inspirations from the Outbreak tutorial. Do not use them. Instead, post them at Wentworth's for a low price so that they sell fast. They will likely fetch 2-10 thousand influence each, allowing you to slot up your character completely for the first few levels. This task is not essential, but if you choose to do the tutorial you might as well do this.


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Wow! 4000 for the heal and 6000 for the damage! Great advice. At level 9, my toon is still fully packed with TOs because of this ONE SUGGESTION.

I love your guide! Thanks!

I haven't played for about 2+ years, and am just now flirting with getting back into this game. Be aware that my own advice might be outdated.

My main back then was a nrg/nrg (lvl 50). In my recollection, blapping is about two things:

1. taking out stuff quickly and
2. surviving long enough to do so

The better you do #1, the less you need to worry about #2. This is less important in teams, where you can mainly blast.

You cannot completely ignore defense, but... the build you have here seems too offense-heavy, to the point of having more attacks than you can cycle. My advice is to use more on defense, and have just enough attacks to cycle. Slot them heavily for damage, and manage your endurance accordingly: slot end reduc, and take stamina as soon as possible.

Offense:

Like a scrapper, you need a continuous chain of devastating attacks. Slot for dmg, end reduc, accuracy. knockback/knockdown is essential to keep things from hitting back (you're squishy!). Having too many attacks like this means you haven't taken or slotted pool powers, which will help!

My main strategy back then was aim + buildup + snipe, just out of melee range, with stealth + superspeed on (does that still equate to full invis?). while snipe is animating, target the second guy, set follow, and be ready to total-focus. The used to take out two mins, or one LT. Maybe sometimes a light tap to finish off the second guy.

After that, it's scrapping, more or less, with some quick blasts when they're up, and some knocks on the especially-dangerous guys. Don't forget to fire Hasten on your way in to melee range, or before you snipe.

Defense:

I know I had health, stamina, tough/weave, stealth, hasten, superspeed. I don't know how much they have nerfed since I've been gone. I guess I'll find out!

I'd skip AoE -- too much aggro drawing. You'll be most effective taking out one guy at a time, hard and fast, then moving to the next one. If the groups are too dangerous even after taking out the big threats first, then learn to pull, and thin out the mins before taking on the group. This mostly applies to sweeping solo.

Stealth + Superspeed used to equate to full invis, good for sneaking almost anywhere until lvl 30 / crey's folly.

Overall:

Here's what else seems to be missing: Getting to 50. Respeccing is necessary for this kind of build. I wouldn't worry about defense at all until the teens, frankly. You cannot effectively do offense and defense until then, so start with the strength: offense. Use the teens and 20s to build up defense and travel, and the good attacks that become available then.

I'm pretty sure I respecced out of flight pool around 20-ish (taking superspeed + superjump as my travel mode -- very fast, got verticle, and low end use), then respeccing back into flight at 40-ish for the shadow shard.

Sorry if this advice is all over the place, and very general -- I don't remember everything in detail.