R_M's Comprehensive XP Gain/Debt Loss Guide v6.0
By
Bionic_Flea,
Posted on: 2005-12-13 11:18 in Player Guides
In regard to Fulmen's post, I've written up the following section, which will be incorporated directly into the next version.
I also need to remind myself to make it more explicit that the "Rapid Mission Completion" section or the herd-and-reset technique can be combined with the "Play to Your Strengths (And Their Weaknesses)" section for the quickest and safest XP per minute.
Synergies
It's no secret that many City of Heroes character classes and power sets complement each other. This was largely what the developers intended when they created the game, to give people more reasons to adventure together: Tankers get the enemy's attention, Scrappers beat on them up close, Blasters zap them from afair, Controllers hold them down, and Defenders grease the wheels of the machinery and perform necessary repairs.
But there are certain power combinations that provide a higher level of synergy than the average--powers that stack with other classes' powers, or make other powers easier to use or more effective. If you can find such a combination, it will make advancement for the both of you that much easier.
Of course, the usefulness of this technique is somewhat limited, since it is not always possible to find a "perfect" match among random players looking for teams. However, if you and a friend are starting characters at the same time, you might want to consider choosing a complementary pair.
The following are some combinations that I have thought of or seen in play, or have been suggested by readers. This is not meant to be an exhaustive list; you will probably figure out other good combinations on your own.
Super-Reflexes plus Force Fields: Since the Defense nerfs of Issues 5 and 6, Super-Reflex Scrappers have been a bit down; their Defense was what they depended on to survive and now they have less of it than ever before. However, an application of fully-slotted Force Fields can help them regain something fairly close to what they had before--all the more so if there's a second bubbler around to double-stack them. In fact, any decent team with two active bubblers on it will be pretty nearly invincible.
Fiery Aura (Tankers, Brutes) plus Dark/Dark (Defenders, Corruptors): Since I5 and I6, the Burn patch--formerly the Fire Tanker's mainstay--has become progressively less powerful and harder to use. All the same, it can still be a decent part of a Tanker's (or Brute's) arsenal with the help of a Dark/Dark Defender (or Corruptor), whose Tenebrous Tentacles can lock down a crowd and whose Tar Patch can make them take more damage from the Burn patch (and Combustion, Fire Sword Circle, and Blazing Aura). In addition, Shadow Fall provides a boost to damage resistance from Energy and Psychic attacks, Darkest Night means the Tanker takes less damage in general, and Twilight Grasp makes a good backup heal to the Tanker's own Healing Flames. The same can also be said for */Dark Masterminds, especially Necro/Dark, but they will be somewhat less effective since it is their pets/minions that have the tentacles rather than themselves. Another good partner for a Fire Tanker might be a */Sonic Controller, who will also be able to lock the mobs down and debuff their damage resistance, plus increase the Fire Tanker's own with his sonic bubbles.
Minor Synergies: There are all sorts of little minor synergies, that may not necessarily increase XP per minute but can at least make things easier. For instance, Force Field, Kinetic, and Sonic characters with the repulsion powers are handy with ranged-attack Masterminds (Mercs, Bots); Sonic Resonance's Disruption Field would work well with melee-attack Masterminds (Necro, Ninja)--especially since it's a toggle that can be placed right on a minion.
I have never liked burn, I stopped using it regularly as soon as the status protection was moved out of it.
Even while burn was nigh-perma, I didn't like it.
Reasoning: slow animation, puny area and semi-heavy endurance cost resulting in a tank spending most of her time laying down a burn patch.
This is, perhaps, acceptable as a solo tank, but for a team tank, it is completely unacceptable.
While burn had that 10-second recharge, then using it would result in me basically having to sacrifice a good percentage of attack opportunities as well as cutting down the area I hit tremendously. The "payback" was damage that, when you took into account how many other targets you could hit with other powers, was significantly less than what I'd be dealing if I ignored burn.
Sure, with burn, everybody right on top of me would take more damage, but with combustion, FSC and my other attacks, I did more total damage, even if it was spread out widely.
Combined with Fiery Embrace and Build Up, I'm a much more effective tank doing more damage and, therefore, acquiring more aggro than I could with Burn.
And that's the main deal, more damage=more aggro. Better aggro control=better tank. Damage is just the most effective means to acquire aggro, taunt being a false aggro that wears off too easily.
Thrythlind's Deviant Art Page
"Notice at the end, there: Arcanaville did the math and KICKED IT INTO EXISTENCE." - Ironik on the power of Arcanaville's math
This is a very extensive guide and I appreciate it.
There is one point I want to make and not sure you mentioned it.
One of the other reasons why other people wants to be powerleveled is for PVP. They want to be L50 fast so they can start their PVP toon and customize the powers suited for PVP. I know there are PVP addicts out there that don't care about PVE. I read this somewhere but not exactly sure where.
For other games like WOW, they say Life Begins at Level 60.
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Impressive list, but I wish you'd delete it for various reasons. Not the least of which has to do with nerfs. The XP range bit (avg - 2 thingee) would have staved off a lot of PLing a long time ago without numbing the rest of the power available to each character. All the other changes, especially E.D., are a disgrace and have made many once incredibly fun characters merely mediocre (shout out to regen scrappers of old !!! RIP).
For the record, I have no interest in ebay buying/selling. I'm just a nutjob. I do PLAY two at once, and quite often. I've never had an issue finding people to play with and most who PLAY with me have had no qualms whatsoever about my 2-at-once style (which I am very open and honest about).
The biggest portion of anti-PLer sentiment I've seen is from the same people who'd join the nazi's or the KKK based on what others have said -- it's an ugly group mentality, fueled by a mix of jealousy and blind faith. Those who've PLAYED with me can judge far better my ability than those who look only at my character list.
CHAMPION Server:
Villains
Level 40: FuryOfTheHoles Fire/Kinetics Corruptor
Level 40: WrathOfTheHoles Ice/ColdDom Corruptor
Level 40: RevengeOfTheHoles Fire/Energy Brute
Level 37: ScourgeOfTheHoles Robotics/Traps Mastermind
Level 15: FirepowerOfTheHoles AssaultRifle/Kinetics Corruptor
Heroes
Level 50: TheBlackHole DarkMelee/Regen Scrapper
Level 50: TheWhiteHole BroadSword/Regen Scrapper
Level 50: TheWormHole Gravity/Radiation Controller
Level 50: TheHellHole Spines/Invulnerability Scrapper
Level 50: TheWarpHole PeaceBringer
Level 50: TheCosmicHole ForceField/Radiation Defender
Level 50: TheHoleMighty Fiery Aura/Super Strength Tanker
Level 50: Sun of TheHoles Energy/Fire Blaster
Level 50: TheHoleHunter AssaultRifle/Devices Blaster
Level 50: TheTemporalHole Kinetics/Dark Defender
Level 50: TheHolyHole Fire/Storm Controller
Level 50: TheNeutronHole WarShade
Level 36: TheBoomBOOMHole Sonic/Sonic Defender
Level 28: EventHorizon Energy/Electric Blaster
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This has to be the sinlge most twisted use of "logic" to justify cheating I've ever read in my life.
I think there is a right way and a wrong way to do things. Doing things the right way takes time and effort, but it is the only way to appreciate the rewards.
PL'ing is taking a shortcut to achieve...well, to achieve big e-peenerness, I guess (just read that phrase, love it and it is so appropriate). People who PL cannot appreciate their achievements in the same way people who grind out success do. They aren't hurting non-PL'ers in any way- they are cheating themselves. Thats what cheaters ultimately do.
Justify it all you want, its no skin off my back. I don't have to make excuses or list my (dirty) laundry list of heroes and villains for all to gaze in awe at.
Why? Because I play this game for me, not to try and impress people with how many 50's I have.
Thank you RM, an awesome update to this classic guide!
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This is a very extensive guide and I appreciate it.
There is one point I want to make and not sure you mentioned it.
One of the other reasons why other people wants to be powerleveled is for PVP. They want to be L50 fast so they can start their PVP toon and customize the powers suited for PVP. I know there are PVP addicts out there that don't care about PVE. I read this somewhere but not exactly sure where.
For other games like WOW, they say Life Begins at Level 60.
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Good point, Darna. With that in mind, this will be the new point 7) in the next edition, moving the "wanna be uber" down to 8).
7) "You're SO dead in PVP!"
Hard as it is to believe, there are some CoH players who don't care about PVE content and are solely interested in PVP. These players may be only too happy to blow off PVE content in order to get to level 50 as fast as possible so they can begin creating their ultimate PVP battler.
Because of the way Exemplaring works, exemplared level 50 characters will always be more effective in both PVE and PVP than unexemplared characters of the same level. There are several reasons for this.
First of all, the level 50 characters may lose the use of their later powers when they exemplar down--but they keep all the slots on powers they do still have, even if they were added later. For example, a Fire Tanker with 6-slotted Burn can exemplar down to level 18, which is when lower-level Fire Tankers get Burn, and still have the use of all 6 slots in it--even though a level 18 Fire Tanker will only have the one slot.
Second, when Enhancements are scaled down to be equivalent to DOs or Training Enhancements while exemplared to levels in the far lower ranges, the scaling is not exact: the level 50's Enhancements will perform better for him than Training or DO Enhancements will for an unexemplared character of the same level.
Third, level 50 characters can have Hamidon Enhancements, which act like two SOs in the same slot. Even scaled down, they will still outperform SOs, DOs, or TOs in an unexemplared character of the same level.
Thus, exemplared level 50 characters are quite desirable as teammates when doing tough PVE missions or Task Forces--though, since they cannot get new lower-level content themselves (aside from Task Forces), their utility here to their player is somewhat limited. However, getting new content is not as much a concern in PVP; due to the nature of the PVP zones and the Arena, a level 50 character will never lack for something to do in PVP.
First of all, excellent job. I have read very few posts on these boards that were as well written and that conveyed so much accurate information. Kudos to you!
On the Synergy list I would include Brute with /kin corrupter. Speed boost alone would qualify a /kin as a Brute's best friend, add to that a target based heal in Transfusion, some extra damage resistance from Increase Density, and the buffing/debuffing attributes of siphon power and fulcrum shift, and you have one SMASH happy brute tearing through mobs at ungodly speeds and keeping that fury bar maxxed. *Wipes tear* It's a thing of beauty. *Sniff*
I suppose the same could be said of a Kinetics defender/controller and a scrapper as well.
50s: Inv/SS PB Emp/Dark Grav/FF DM/Regen TA/A Sonic/Elec MA/Regen Fire/Kin Sonic/Rad Ice/Kin Crab Fire/Cold NW Merc/Dark Emp/Sonic Rad/Psy Emp/Ice WP/DB FA/SM
Overlord of Dream Team and Nightmare Squad
Good thought (and thanks for the kind words). Kinetics is quite well-suited to working with high-damage melee characters--and Brutes especially due to their 850% damage cap. Even Fulcrum Shift might not be able to cap that!
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7) "I wanna be UB3R!!!!!11!!1!!oneoneone!1!!"
And then there are those people who, for whatever reason, just want to have a high level character. They don't know and don't care how fun playing a lowbie might be, because they've never bothered to try it. They're the ones you used to see standing around tram stations and ferries--the ones who get their character levelled to 50, then make a Kheldian and powerlevel it too. These are probably the same people who use god-mode cheats on single-player games. Why? Who really knows. Perhaps they feel that having a high level character gives them a degree of control over one thing in their otherwise-uncontrollable lives; maybe they want to see "the ending" even though there really isn't one in City of Heroes. (snip)
There may also be other reasons; if so, I will add them as they come to me.
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I have a possible explanation. Just as my opinion, mind you....
Remember the guys who come tearing up behind you on the freeway, ride your bumper, honk at you, flash their headlights, and then go tearing around you, to do the same thing to the car in front of you? They can't actually think that they are going to get where they are going that much faster, enough to make it worth risking everyone's lives over.
Some of them are the same people, I suspect.
They are people who are permanently stuck in "competition" mode. They see *everything* as a competition. If you are in front of them on the road, that means you are the "winner". So, they HAVE to get in front of you in order to gain back their self-esteem.
The really hard-core power levelers, the ones that are both rude and ruthless, seem to be intent on "reaching level 50 FIRST". In a shorter period of time than any other player in the history of the game.
It's a competition, is all.
Trying to prove to both you and themself that they are smarter than anyone else. If they can get XP faster than you can, then it is obvious (to them) that they are smarter than you are, because, after all, isn't that what everyone wants? Isn't that what everyone is playing for....to gain XP?
Content? XP IS content, to them. First, last, and always. Anything else is just getting in the way of the XP olympics.....proving that they are "the best".
Is it irritating to people who don't do it? Of course it is, just as irritating as the guy riding your bumper. You KNOW that he isn't any "better" than you are just because he swerved around you, but some ancient, animalistic part of your brain insists otherwise...and you get angry despite yourself.
And by the way, to the Devs and anyone else who is offended by the practice of powerleveling, I'm afraid that you have another reason for grieving. There are companies in foreign countries that accept credit card payments in order for one of their employees to sit at a PC and level a character for someone who doesn't want to do the work, for whatever reason. These are actual, probably profitable, companies, whose ONLY raison d'etre is taking cash for powerleveling. There is NO way that the game can be altered, nerfed, so that this practice would be eliminated. The client hands over his credit card number and his login and password, and the kid in Singapore does the rest, and pays his rent for the month afterward. The harder the Devs make it to powerlevel, the more those companies can charge and get away with it, so the more profitable it becomes!
Why bother buying a character on eBay, when you can have one constructed to your exact specifications by a teenager on the other side of the Pacific? And take over at level 40, or 50, whatever you want. These are the same people who think that just because they are walking around "wearing" a lvl 50, that people will be impressed and treat them as if they are something special. A "winner".
And City of Heroes/Villains is one of the games that these companies advertise strongly to their clients.
I'll [i]almost certainly[/i] be happy with I7....."SOON(tm)"
Too bad "Maturity" isn't an Enhanceable power.
Anybody with a bow is okay in my book. ;-)
@Linuial
Starfire/Hellfire
Liberty, Infinity & Protector
Very, very good point Linuial. I may have to steal some of that for when I do the next version. 
(very big grin)
I'm a fan of yours, RM, although you might not remember me, I had some nice things to say about one of your previous versions of this guide....I just updated my pointer on my SG's web page to v6.0 a few minutes ago.
An excellent guide all the way around. Both for those "fur" and those "agin".
Give me credit, and you can use any part or all of it verbatim. ;-)
I'll [i]almost certainly[/i] be happy with I7....."SOON(tm)"
Too bad "Maturity" isn't an Enhanceable power.
Anybody with a bow is okay in my book. ;-)
@Linuial
Starfire/Hellfire
Liberty, Infinity & Protector
[ QUOTE ]
The really hard-core power levelers, the ones that are both rude and ruthless, seem to be intent on "reaching level 50 FIRST". In a shorter period of time than any other player in the history of the game.
It's a competition, is all.
Trying to prove to both you and themself that they are smarter than anyone else. If they can get XP faster than you can, then it is obvious (to them) that they are smarter than you are, because, after all, isn't that what everyone wants? Isn't that what everyone is playing for....to gain XP?
Content? XP IS content, to them. First, last, and always. Anything else is just getting in the way of the XP olympics.....proving that they are "the best".
Is it irritating to people who don't do it? Of course it is, just as irritating as the guy riding your bumper. You KNOW that he isn't any "better" than you are just because he swerved around you, but some ancient, animalistic part of your brain insists otherwise...and you get angry despite yourself.
And by the way, to the Devs and anyone else who is offended by the practice of powerleveling, I'm afraid that you have another reason for grieving. There are companies in foreign countries that accept credit card payments in order for one of their employees to sit at a PC and level a character for someone who doesn't want to do the work, for whatever reason. These are actual, probably profitable, companies, whose ONLY raison d'etre is taking cash for powerleveling. There is NO way that the game can be altered, nerfed, so that this practice would be eliminated. The client hands over his credit card number and his login and password, and the kid in Singapore does the rest, and pays his rent for the month afterward. The harder the Devs make it to powerlevel, the more those companies can charge and get away with it, so the more profitable it becomes!
Why bother buying a character on eBay, when you can have one constructed to your exact specifications by a teenager on the other side of the Pacific? And take over at level 40, or 50, whatever you want. These are the same people who think that just because they are walking around "wearing" a lvl 50, that people will be impressed and treat them as if they are something special. A "winner".
And City of Heroes/Villains is one of the games that these companies advertise strongly to their clients.
[/ QUOTE ]
Yeah, any time someone starts bragging about how fast they leveled, I find myself wanting to be far, far, far away from them. Hard-core powerlevelers in general are among the poorest players I've run across, if for no other reason than because they don't care about their team.
It is because of people like that that I rarely if ever team with anyone unless they're people I know from real life.
And debt really is nothing.
You don't get weaker, you don't get less able to handle enemies, the only thing that happens is that you level slower and that's actually a benefit. It means your character will last longer, after all, because what's there to do when you hit the end of the road? PvP?? Well, you can get all the PvP you want by level 35, because that's the level warburg sets you out. Granted, some base raids can be done at level 50, but really, by the time you've hit 50, you've probably done all the PvP stuff so, again, nothing new.
No, no matter how I look at it, level 50 is the end of your character, so why rush there?
Thrythlind's Deviant Art Page
"Notice at the end, there: Arcanaville did the math and KICKED IT INTO EXISTENCE." - Ironik on the power of Arcanaville's math
Things I need to remember to put in the next update:<ul type="square">[*]Add a caveat to the "teaming can earn XP faster" section that notes if it's a slow team (for example, Masterminds who insist on having every single pet upgraded before you can begin), you could be earning XP faster alone with rapid mission completion.[*]Revise section on blinkie-mission-completion exemplar-for-debt-workoff technique to note that 1) CoV newspaper blinkie/kidnapping missions work really well for this, and 2) the lowbie to whom you exemplar doesn't even have to be on the team until the end of the mission--you can solo your way there, invite them, have them type /exemplar yourname without even having to move from where they presently are, wait one minute, and complete for the big anti-debt payoff.[*]Note the can-no-longer-get-blinkies change to phase shift in the hall-of-shame section, and indicate somewhere in the guide that stealth will sooner or later (I7?) suppress when you click a glowie.[*]Add a note under rapid mission completion that, if you're able to do it with your regular contacts, rapid mission completion also means rapid arc completion, which means more big XP bonuses faster. Use the example of a stealthed Scrapper or Brute, who can speed-complete anything but a rescue-hostage or kill-all mission, and can handily fight their way through even those.[*]Archvillain farming? Take one of the Praetorian missions with two AVs in it, defeat the one at the beginning, reset, repeat? Will this work?[/list]
And don't forget the Defuse Bomb nerf. Bomb base PvP missions are worthless now that they just reward infamy/influence (actually, it may pay off for those cash-strapped early levels)
Just a friendly little request: if you've found this guide helpful, won't you please consider nominating it for Most Helpful Guide in the 2006 Players Choice Awards?
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And don't forget the Defuse Bomb nerf. Bomb base PvP missions are worthless now that they just reward infamy/influence (actually, it may pay off for those cash-strapped early levels)
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Also the lowbie "recover corpse" mission only gives infamy for the corpses now. Defeat "Patches" I think its called?
This is a new section for my guide that will be incorporated into the "Poweradventuring" section of the I7 version.
7) Adversity Builds Character--and So Should You
Even if you have picked the fastest-levelling class ever, you've only done half of what you need to ensure success. The other half is building the best version of that character you possibly can--because the difference between a good build and a bad build can mean the difference between levelling rapidly and hardly levelling at all. And thanks to some of the developers' decisions, coming up with a good build isn't necessarily easy.
Back when City of Heroes was in the planning stages, there had never been a truly large-scale successful MMORPG. Jack "Statesman" Emmert thought that part of the problem might be that other MMORPGs gave their players too much confusing information--so City of Heroes would provide only simple summaries of what powers did, with none of those confusing numbers. (Subsequently, World of Warcraft, which discloses all numbers for all powers, became the biggest hit MMORPG ever, causing a chagrined Emmert to admit that perhaps he had been slightly mistaken.) And so we have the system City of Heroes has now, wherein power effects are given vague descriptions, which really don't mean too much of anything.
Admittedly, this system does avoid the confusion of overloading a player with numbers. However, it causes the confusion of not really telling a player much of anything, which is arguably worse. This means that, when building a character, you can't trust the power descriptions you see on the training screen. A power that sounds like the best power ever might turn out to be the worst power in the set. For example, Fiery Aura's Temperature Protection power is a power that no Fiery Aura player in the know actually takes; half of its effects are completely redundant with the shield toggles, and the other half are mostly unnecessary. Yet a newbie player reading the power selection list would have no way to realize this.
The only way to find out what powers are good and what are stinkers is to learn from experience. Fortunately, there are enough experienced players out there that you do not have to rely only on your own experience. Obsessive number crunchers and statisticians with statistical analysis programs have discovered or extrapolated likely numbers for just about every power out there. Obsessive programmers have compiled these into character-creating programs like Sherk Silver's Character Builder and obsessive guide-writers have written guides around them. All the wisdom you need to figure out your own optimal build is right at your fingertips.
Here are a few recommended places to look for guides, numbers, and advice, in order from most to least recommended.
The City of Heroes official board's Guides & FAQs category. This is where guides are placed that are meant to stick around a while. You may even be reading this guide from there (although since some people have mirrored my guides on their own websites, this is by no means a sure thing). You can find guides by browsing the subject lines, searching on key words, or checking the Guide to Guides. (A guide referencing the Guide to Guides...recursive enough for you?) The Guide to Guides may be your best bet, since some guides don't actually mention their subject in their subject line.
The best guides will be informative and will make recommendations about what powers to take and what to avoid, but will not try to lock you into one specific build. They will also include suggestions for strategies in the use of powers, and may even give you a few tips you didn't learn here. (For examples of what I modestly consider the best sort of guide, see my own guides to Robotics/Dark Miasma Masterminds and Energy/Energy Brutes.) Be advised, however, that since the Guides board does not expire old posts, it is possible you could find guides dating all the way back to when City of Heroes first came out. Look for some indication in the subject line what Issue they were meant to cover, or else check the posting date. The most modern guides will say I6 (or I7, if you're reading this after I7 has come out). Given the number of changes in each issue, obsolete guides may not necessarily have the best advice. Anything before I5 will not take into account I5's Damage Resistance and Defense reductions, and anything before I6 will not include Enhancement Diversification. Anything before I7 will not cover whatever changes end up being made in I7. Ideally, you want something at least I6 (fall-winter 2005) or later.
Even if you don't find an exact guide to your particular power set combination, you can still pick up useful information by reading guides that are partial matches. For example, if you were playing a Spines/Super Reflex Scrapper and couldn't find a Spines/Super Reflex Guide, you could still learn about the Spines set by reading a Spines/Regen guide and about the Super Reflex set by reading a Katana/Super Reflex guide.
The City of Heroes board for your archetype. Whatever archetype you're making, check that board. If you're making a Scrapper, read the Scrapper board; if you're making a Brute, read the Brute board, and so on. You will find lists of guides for that specific archetype there that may be more current, or have more links, than the Guides Guide to Guides (whee, more recursion!), but you will also find threads discussing important aspects of powers and power sets that can help you figure out what to take and what to skip. If you have any particular questions, don't be shy about asking them. Remember, there are no stupid questions...only stupid people who ask stupid questions.
Other advice sites. There are plenty of other fansites and advice sites on the 'net for City of Heroes, such as City of Heroes Warcry, that used to have a lot of good character-building advice; however, the game has changed a great deal and some of the information may not necessarily be current any longer. The warnings above about checking the issue or posting date apply doubly here.
Character-building programs such as Sherk Silver's Character Builder. These programs, which provide an interface to let you build a character's power selections and slots from scratch, have their good aspects and their bad aspects. Good aspects include letting you try out sample builds for your character before he even leaves the training zone, and letting you see the numbers for each of your respective powers. Bad aspects are that the numbers in the version you have may be outdated or otherwise wrong due to updates to the game (or statistical discoveries) more recent than updates to the program, and they also do not give you advice about the powers beyond their printed descriptive text and what Enhancements they can take.
However, sometimes all the guides and good advice in the world will not be enough to keep you from making a mistake in your build. If you have a pre-existing character, you may already have. However, you will have the chance to correct that in the form of the three "normal" and one "freebie" respec you are granted over the life of your character. For information on how best to use those, see R_M's Guide to Using Respecs.
Just to ask: will this guide's scopr eventually include a section on methods for playing as much of the game as possible while avoiding XP gain/Debt loss?
"Antileveling" is as deprecated a play style as powerleveling (due to its focus on experiencing more of the game's content than the developers want to be available to any single character), although far less common; still, I've run across people here and there who attempt it. Solo and with no help at all, there's not much to do (that I know of) other than using concealment to get to missions, adding a Confusion power to get through them (assuming you can get one), and keeping your XP debt as high as possible to mitigate the mission reward. I know there are a number of ways to coordinate with other players to improve greatly on this, but I'll admit to lacking the experience to list or describe them.
SK to a character at least 6 levels above you, and you can duo mission after mission without ever earning a single XP point. The missions are real easy too. That's all there is to it.
Goodbye and thanks for all the fish.
I've moved on to Diablo 3, TopDoc-1304
Very nice guide, I'm no fan of PLing but some of those are excuses for PLing I should remember, so I don't scream at some punk when he -does- have a valid excuse 
You might need to update the guide again. Newspaper gives lesser xp now.
I know. Actually, I've got the update complete, I just need to finish the update on my Robots/Dark MM guide so that I can post all three at once and edit them so that the links I have in each guide to the other two work properly.
Question. Someone said that the 25% bonus inside PVP areas for missions and groups might no longer be in effect.
Any word on that?
ddgryphon: Sorry I didn't see that post for so long.
Yes, I believe that is true; the XP bonus on mobs is long gone, and you only get the end of mission bonus once every half hour.
1) Story Arcs now have a very large "mission completion bonus" associated with them. The first Croatoa one gave me two bubbles [at level 27, admittedly.] Most story arcs send you all over the place, but the hazard zone ones [Striga/Croatoa] seem to be much tighter.
2) I PM'd you about this, Robo, but I'd like to bring it up for general commentary:
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It is important that you make sure you and the character you invite will be an effective duo.
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There are ineffective duos, there are normally effective duos, but there are some duos which hit a sweet spot and are VERY effective- either by themselves or as the core of a team.
For instance, an I6 Force Fielder can improve everyone else in the party's defense by a factor of 3 [VERY roughly]; that is, they'll take 1/3 as much damage as without the [Censored]. As a contribution to the team, this is pretty mediocre. It used to be that a Force Fielder could floor enemies' "to-hit" and provide a factor of 10 or more in defense. This was enormous and a team was only limited by "delivered damage."
You can still do that, but it takes two Force Fielders to do it. Two FF's and six "anything else" is a team that is only limited by the speed at which they can inflict damage. Or one [Censored] and some number of SR Scrappers, that works too. (If you're "building for fast levelling", pick FF; there are a lot more Super Reflexes Scrappers than Force Field Defenders.)
There are other Dynamic Duos out there- Robo mentioned Dark/Dark + Firetank, for one. I don't know if that scales up for a large team, though.
Anyone else have any duos that are Extremely Effective?
Mini-guides: Force Field Defenders, Blasters, Market Self-Defense, Frankenslotting.
So you think you're a hero, huh.
@Boltcutter in game.