Welcome to the forums! First thing I should say to you is that questions, even questions ABOUT guides, should be posted in the Player Questions section. The guides section is only for POSTING guides themselves. You might want to ask a forum moderator to move your post. You'll also get more responses by posting in the proper place.
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One of the most annoying things I read in the player guides are all the builds and guides that assume that you're playing a new character and have an alt or a buddy that can supply you with the most powerful IO sets.
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That's why my Force Field Guide only lists SO slotting as the recommended slotting. IOs, the whole invention system, and the Market were all meant to be OPTIONAL additions to the game that you can choose to ignore. Most guide writers nowadays have forgotten that. I haven't. Even if I include IO slotting in the future versions of my guide, I will ALWAYS keep the SO slotting, it's just a matter of principle.
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Are there any guides that take the newer/less experienced player into account
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Read the guide to Combat in my signature, it's MADE just for you. 
Thanks for the reply, but a force field guide really doesn't help my Dark Melee/Regen scrapper. :-)
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Thanks for the reply, but a force field guide really doesn't help my Dark Melee/Regen scrapper. :-)
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That's why you should read his Combat Guide.
As a general rule, for most PvE, the Damage attack slotting template is 1 Acc SO and 3 Damage SOs. Depending on the attack, you might want to slot additional enhancements in for the harshest cost/highest penalty. For attacks like AoEs that have large acc penalties, an extra Acc SO would help. For powers with heavy end costs, or end costs over time, you might want to consider end reduxes. Most toggles don't need more than 1, but it varies with the toggle. Use the real-numbers feature, or check City of data to compare costs (End costs like Hurricane's are typically endreduxed as much as possible). For powers with high recharges that show substantial benefit each time they are activated can use extra recharge redux.
I don't mean to be pedantic; I just don't know what level of experience you have. Learning by example works, but you can also figure it out if you compare numbers between sets and just fiddle around and ask in the forum for your AT. Don't be afraid to post a build, and ignore the people who laugh at it.
Anyway, this should be moved to Player Questions. I'll flag this so the mod can see it.
Up the difficulty on missions, fight tougher mobs, farm the mobs that drop the highest selling salvage, Honestly I had millions on my main in his late twenties purely from farming particular salvage and lucky costume piece drops or rare recipes, even on alts I make now, I have atleast 5 million by level 20 and some of them are really unlucky, took me 4 years of on and off play to get a 50, don't stress! take your time and enjoy it, learn the mobs, the drops, you'll get more out of it in the long run!!!
Experience can't be bought and it is worth a thousand rare IO sets!
Shhh. My common sense is tingling. ~ Deadpool
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Experience can't be bought
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But it can be shared. Thus the Combat guide.
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Up the difficulty on missions, fight tougher mobs, farm the mobs that drop the highest selling salvage,
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1. I tried upping the difficulty on missions. It kept sending me straight to the hospital. I had so much XP debt after attempting the same mission four times that I turned the diff back down and swore never to do it again. How the rest of you manage it, I have no idea.
2. Fight tougher mobs. Yeah, see above.
3. I have no idea what mobs those are. Is there a farming guide out there?
And as I noted on the Combat Guide's page, it's mainly for playing on teams... I mainly solo, since during the times I play, it's harder than heck to even find other players online, let alone a decent team.
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And as I noted on the Combat Guide's page, it's mainly for playing on teams... I mainly solo, since during the times I play, it's harder than heck to even find other players online, let alone a decent team.
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Then you should read this guide on how to easily make your own teams! Guaranteed to work or your money back!*
*So, since it's free... that's like, zero, right? 
Money or not, don't worry about IOs until you're in the late 30s, I think.
For now, focus on Slotting up all your powers with SOs.
For Regen, you should at least have:
Reconstruction (at least 2Rechg, 2Healing), Dull Pain (at least 2Rech, 2Healing), Integration, Fast Healing , Quick Recovery (3 Endmod).
I can't tell you about dark/, though. Still, dark /regen should be able to handle at least one step up in difficulty well enough at that level, though. If you're having trouble when you go to contacts/insp sellers, I suggest you invest in purple insps (pop two to three against beefy foes). Don't be afraid to use insps, if you aren't already.
I'd be more specific but the overall problem if "Dying" is kind of vague. Is it that you're not killing in time to survive? Is the alpha too overwhelming? Missing a lot? What missions? What are you usually fighting?
Guides can be a great starting point. Also find players you consider successful with the toons you want to have and ask them how they set up their current character and what they found to be good and bad with their powers and slotting. Make adjustments and tweak your characters according to how you play because not everyone will play or approach their characters or the game in the same exact way.
Be happy!
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I'd be more specific but the overall problem if "Dying" is kind of vague. Is it that you're not killing in time to survive? Is the alpha too overwhelming? Missing a lot? What missions? What are you usually fighting?
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Okay, right now I'm working on a Dark Melee/Regen scrapper. He's up to level 16.
For Dark, he has the first three attack powers and Siphon Life. I find Siphon Life to be a very nice mini-healer which, in conjunction with Reconstruction, has saved my bacon a number of times. Most of these powers are 3-slotted, with two accuracy DO's and one damage DO. And I still miss a disturbing amount.
For Regen, he has Fast Healing (3-slotted), Reconstruction (2 slots), Quick Recovery (3-slotted of course) and Integration (only 1 slot). No Dull Pain? With Siphon Life, I haven't really needed a second heal. Yes, I know Dull Pain is more than just 'a second heal', but I don't have the experience with the game to really know how to use it.
Aside from that, I have Combat Jumping and Super Jump for movement. I missed out on the first bank mission and the raptor pack, so I decided to grab a movement power by 14 no matter what. I'm too impatient to wait to run through a zone to get to missions.
I've just started playing in Steel Canyon, and mainly I've been doing radio missions. And if I up the difficulty by even one, I end up going to the hospital when I inevitably come up against three or four +1 level minions and their lieutenant, all with ranged attacks. So when I'm trying to deal with one, the others whittle me down to no health. Popping inspirations lets me deal with one of those battles... but for the next one, I have no inspirations left. Time for another trip to the hospital. No thanks, I'd rather earn XP a bit more slowly and not rack up the debt in the first place.
The problem is a low damage output with Dark Melee combined with low accuracy. If I slot for accuracy, I can't do enough damage to put my foes down fast enough. If I slot for damage, I miss too often. Seriously, if I'd known Dark Melee was going to be this tough to solo with, I'd have just done another Martial Arts/Regen scrapper, even though I dislike the concept that 'martial arts' is just kicking.
If there's any devs reading this thread, I'd seriously like to suggest that at the character generation part of the game, you list what powers are easier for newbies to play. 'Cause sure as heck Dark Melee ain't one of them.
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Then you should read this guide on how to easily make your own teams! Guaranteed to work or your money back!*
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Read my message again. It's not that I can't find teams. It's that there's not enough players online at the times I play with the same interests to form teams.
I actually have the EXACT same build, The Philotic Warrior, also a Dark/Regen. Right around the same level too. I'll go take a look at his build and tell you what I have. I've never had any problems soloing him. In fact, I often TANK for my teams with this character. I'll let you know what I come up with, but yes, Siphon Life is wonderful.
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Then you should read this guide on how to easily make your own teams! Guaranteed to work or your money back!*
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Read my message again. It's not that I can't find teams. It's that there's not enough players online at the times I play with the same interests to form teams.
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I'll bet I can prove you wrong. Name the time, and the place, and the character name.
Okay, The Philotic Warrior is actually a level 15, and here is his build and slotting:
Shadow Punch: 1 level 15 ACC IO (19.2%), 1 level 10 ACC IO (11.7%), 1 level 10 Endurance Reduction IO (11.7%), 1 level 15 Endurance Reduction DO (16.7%)
Smite: 2 level 10 ACC IOs (23.4% total), 1 level 15 Damage DO (16.7%), 1 level 15 Endurance Reduction DO (16.7%)
Siphon Life:1 level 15 ACC IO (19.2%), 1 level 10 ACC IO (11.7%), 1 level 15 Damage DO (16.7%)
Fast Healing: 2 level 10 Healing IOs (23.4% total)
Reconstruction: 1 level 10 Healing IO, 2 level 15 Healing DOs (45% total boost from all 3)
Quick Recovery: 2 level 10 Recovery IOs (23.4% total)
Dull Pain: 1 level 10 Recharge IO (11.7%), 2 level 15 Healing DOs (33.3% total)
Jump Kick: 1 level 10 ACC IO (11.7%)
Super Jump: 1 level 15 Jumping IO (19.2%)
Now keep in mind that I do NOT fund my other characters with my level 50. All my alts "earn their own keep" so to speak, so I got all these great cheap IOs by bidding reasonably overnight at the Market on the ingredients, and then making them myself in the University. Working my way to get myself full of IOs right now, that way I don't have to replace them all the time. That will save me lots of money.
But with this build, I have decent attack, and I can survive almost every fight.
Okay, just had a little example which proves my point about not upping the difficulty level of the missions.
I was in a mission against the Council. I ran into a trio of +1 minions. Their assault rifles tore me up and I found myself in the hospital. This was on Heroic.
Yes, I do suck. And let me tell you why.
First, I'm physically disabled. One of my disabilities is a problem concentrating. I can only really do one thing at a time, and I cannot multitask. This is another reason as to why I solo, as I find myself a liability in a team, more often than not.
Also, I am very slow, in terms of manual dexterity. I tend to react slowly to danger. I didn't realize I was getting myself torn to shreds, because I was concentrating on setting up my attack chains to put the minions down. My inspiration box is full of heals, two wakies and four breaks.
My character also KEEPS MISSING!!! Even with my powers slotted with two DO's for accuracy, they KEEP MISSING!!! I swear I have a roughly 50% accuracy rate!! I mean, at this point, WTF?!?
This is getting FRIGGIN' RIDICULOUS!!!
I'm almost to the point of scrapping this toon and starting over! Dark Melee is just too inaccurate for me. It's frustrating me to the point that I want to find the guys who programmed this concept into the game and have a very pointed discussion (involving a large ballbat) with them about new players, frustration levels and accuracy.
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I'm almost to the point of scrapping this toon and starting over! Dark Melee is just too inaccurate for me. It's frustrating me to the point that I want to find the guys who programmed this concept into the game and have a very pointed discussion (involving a large ballbat) with them about new players, frustration levels and accuracy.
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With the slotting shown above, I have 1.31 accuracy on two of the three attack powers, and 1.23 on the other one. That's better accuracy than Archery gets by default, and most people will tell you that Archery is pretty nicely accurate to start off with.
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I was in a mission against the Council. I ran into a trio of +1 minions. Their assault rifles tore me up and I found myself in the hospital. This was on Heroic.
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You might want to consider picking up Dull Pain. Not only does it give you a good one time "heal" in case of emergencies, it also gives you a 25-33% boost to your total HP for a good 2 minutes. It definately increases your survivability.
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First, I'm physically disabled. One of my disabilities is a problem concentrating. I can only really do one thing at a time, and I cannot multitask. This is another reason as to why I solo, as I find myself a liability in a team, more often than not.
Also, I am very slow, in terms of manual dexterity. I tend to react slowly to danger. I didn't realize I was getting myself torn to shreds, because I was concentrating on setting up my attack chains to put the minions down. My inspiration box is full of heals, two wakies and four breaks.
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That, unfortunately, I can't help you with.
Okay, first off take a deep breath. Your obviously frustrated, but this is supposed to be fun. I'm guessing you must be having some kind of fun or you wouldn't still be here.
Secondly, have you played Regen on a Scrapper before? It's a very click heavy power and it only gets worse as you increase in level. Maybe you might want to look at a Dark melee/Willpower scrapper. The protections are toggles instead of button pushing. Basically you turn the toggle on and forget about it. This might help with both your dexterity and focus problems. Really with Regen you need to be on top of your health bar. Sometimes that last second heal is all that's keeping you alive. Plus if you're going with a concept toon Willpower is mostly about regen so it still fits. I know deleting a toon can be annoying, but if it's more frustrating than fun I'd consider another powerset.
As for guides/slotting; what works for one person may not work for another. Personally I put 2 SO/IO accuracy in all my attacks but missing is a big pet peeve of mine. Not only that but if you miss you still expend endurance and that's a big fat waste.
Like I said, think about the sets, if you have mobility issues regen just may not be for you. It's a fun build but even I get tired of all the clickyness. I tend to roll toggle scrappers anymore. I hope this helped in some small way
Edit: I thought of another possibility. Maybe you should set up the heals into some binds to that you don't have to reach as far on the keyboard. I bind my regen's heals to the "E"; "Q"; and the left shift key. Also leaves more room in your tray. Just an alternate suggestion.
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Okay, first off take a deep breath. Your obviously frustrated, but this is supposed to be fun. I'm guessing you must be having some kind of fun or you wouldn't still be here.
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QFT
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Okay, just had a little example which proves my point about not upping the difficulty level of the missions.
I was in a mission against the Council. I ran into a trio of +1 minions. Their assault rifles tore me up and I found myself in the hospital. This was on Heroic.
Yes, I do suck. And let me tell you why.
First, I'm physically disabled. One of my disabilities is a problem concentrating. I can only really do one thing at a time, and I cannot multitask. This is another reason as to why I solo, as I find myself a liability in a team, more often than not.
Also, I am very slow, in terms of manual dexterity. I tend to react slowly to danger. I didn't realize I was getting myself torn to shreds, because I was concentrating on setting up my attack chains to put the minions down. My inspiration box is full of heals, two wakies and four breaks.
My character also KEEPS MISSING!!! Even with my powers slotted with two DO's for accuracy, they KEEP MISSING!!! I swear I have a roughly 50% accuracy rate!! I mean, at this point, WTF?!?
This is getting FRIGGIN' RIDICULOUS!!!
I'm almost to the point of scrapping this toon and starting over! Dark Melee is just too inaccurate for me. It's frustrating me to the point that I want to find the guys who programmed this concept into the game and have a very pointed discussion (involving a large ballbat) with them about new players, frustration levels and accuracy.
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play something that has a lot of innate defenses... look for always active, followed by toggles... avoid click-to-activate defenses?
control + power put said power on auto, eliminating the necessity to click it and firing it whenever it comes up. this works on one power at a time.
put your attacks in slots 1-4. keep a hand by the keyboard there and just randomly spam those four?
or slots 7-9, or whatever is comfortable/convenient.
forget about to/do/so enhancements...
put in low bids for IOs and/or invention salvage (and build your own) and sell everything that drops for you.
let the bids sit overnight, a day or two... once i get to toon to about lvl 4, i've been selling all TOs that have dropped and have been putting all my salvage for sale at the current market price. by lvl 7, without fail so far, i've managed to IO out my toon with lvl 10 IOs.
you don't outlevel IOs. they will never go bad on you during a mission when you level and you won't ever keep a group waiting while you go refresh IOs.
as i get new slots, i throw in new IOs. sometimes i get good set drops, sometimes i get good deals on sets. eventually i upgrade to better IOs... but i'm in no rush.
mobs that drop magic loot are the winners. early hellion missions have gotten me 200,000 influence by level 7... easily... pick magic origin and run your contact's missions.
do you have any of the gaming keyboards? do you have any binds set up to help you by minimizing the amount of keys you'll need to push in order to accomplish XYZ?
do you have any friends that play COx? are there no SGs recruiting? no SGs that have coalitioned with other SGs? there are a number of walmart-sized SGs/Coalitions that do a lot of recruiting on a number of servers (if not all of them).
mistakes are easily missed on large teams. get in a large sg/coalition and stay on big teams and as long as you can keep up... you're good... if you've got people buffing/debuffing, then you CAN concentrate on only attacking.
just some ideas. some of which really don't have much to do with COx specifically, but would rather apply to most all online games.
Political correctness is a stench in the nose of God. Yes, your God(s) also.
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Then you should read this guide on how to easily make your own teams! Guaranteed to work or your money back!*
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Read my message again. It's not that I can't find teams. It's that there's not enough players online at the times I play with the same interests to form teams.
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What time zone are you in? I'm in the u.k. and my play times clash completely with 80% of the servers I play on. My advice would be to make your own teams, and a tip for salvage, all you have to do is make a note of the highest selling salvage on the auctions, examine every mob you fight "target mob, see info" and look at what they drop. Here you can make a list as long as your intestines!, simply try to kill the ones that drop the good stuff, thus building your chance for decent drops. as the money builds up try and pimp your character a little bit, look at the section of the forum that your power sets match and follow the guides in there. ask questions, ask for guides, It'll come, trust me.
That was the long and hard way for salvage seeking. Easier way would be to kill alot of circle of thorns for the salvage they drop, fast money. ^_~
As far as playing crap hours, make your own teams, no matter what time there is always someone somewhere looking for team, always! I did advise upping your difficulty but it looks like you ran into some trouble, understand that some power sets are late bloomers so you are always going to struggle untill all your powers come together, you are a scrapper I believe so all your problems shoould lessen as you level.
Follow the guides, trust me some of the information shared on this forum is golden, we have some extremely smart and exerienced players in this game that don't mind sharing their knowledge.
I'm a casual player and I've been floating around this game for 4 years on and off, take my advice with a pinch of salt, it's based on my personal experiences only, there may be advice out there that is 10 times better than what I just offered, keep looking and don't get disheartend 
Shhh. My common sense is tingling. ~ Deadpool
All of the build guides I've written assume that they're taking you through a relatively normal levelling process, and contain at least some suggestions about which powers to take sooner, which to postpone, and which to skip.
The more recent ones mention inventions; but mostly in the spirit of keeping things inexpensive by pointing out potential bargains. All of them speak of slotting in terms of general priorities rather than specific sets.
I've written a Dark/Willpower guide you might get some ideas from.
<《 New Colchis / Guides / Mission Architect 》>
"At what point do we say, 'You're mucking with our myths'?" - Harlan Ellison
After some tinkering, I've decided to rebuild the character... this time going with a DA/WP tanker, not a scrapper. Tankers suit my playstyle better anyway: rush in, pound on the biggest bad guy, attract all the attention while the rest of the party is dealing with everyone else. And the extra defenses Tankers get helps, too.
One of the most annoying things I read in the player guides are all the builds and guides that assume that you're playing a new character and have an alt or a buddy that can supply you with the most powerful IO sets.
I've been playing this game, off and on, for the last 9 months. In that time my highest level character has gotten to all of 24th level. I haven't even earned more than a million influence on him, and I play the auctions as much as I can. I'm never going to afford the IO's, so all the advice about what powers need what sets is completely useless to me.
Also, these builds that people put together must assume that you're respec'ing the character at 50th level, since they tend to skip powers that, at low level, are very handy for low-level characters, such as the first attack power in any attack powerset. While I realize that at higher levels, those miniscule powers may not have as much 'oomph' to them as the higher-level powers, when you're low level and trying to get the damage output so you can solo, those powers are pretty handy to have.
What I'd like to see are any player guides for powersets that reflect the crawl from level 1 to level 50, and don't assume that you have a mountain of inf to draw from as you try to slot those powers so that you have a chance to fight the bad guys. And please, don't tell me to increase the difficulty. I play solo most of the time, I've tried higher difficulties, it usually ends up in XP debt. And while I know that moar debt = moar inf, I want to get a character to 50 sometime before the next ice age begins. I know how to play the game; I just don't have the resources that most everyone else seems to.
Are there any guides that take the newer/less experienced player into account, or is everyone more interested in slotting Sting of the Manticore to remember what it was like when you were struggling to afford DO's, let alone SO's, waaaaaaay back when you started playing?