Which difficulty do you play at and why

Some like the standard layout +0 No AV . Some increase player eqivelent to take on more mobs .

I prefer +2 , AV and bosses as soon as I roll a new toon to get better exp and more prestige .

What do you prefer and why ?

Solo I usually set it to -1/x3ish when I'm running around by myself I like to feel invincible lol.

On a team as long as the team can handle it I try to keep it at +2 minimum. Aside from the xp boost I prefer a challenge when I'm on a team.

I agree Rad about +2 while on a team . On occasion when leading a team , I have one or two heroes/villians complain that it's too hard cause they can't "conan" their way through the mission , but at that level it makes getting some badges easier since you can run into more bosses . Haven't tried it x more than one hero/villian , now that would be a challenge .

It really depends on the toon, what I think it can handle, and just how much I want a challenge.

On my Mace/Shield Brute (L42), I'm at +0/x2/Bosses. For some missions this is cake, like say a recent mission that was full of Longbow Spec Ops, or of Crey minions. I could probably handle more in that case. On the other hand, that's plenty of challenge against Arachnos, especially where every other spawn contains a boss.

My DB/WP scrapper was similar. Near the end I probably could have pushed x3 at least, and probably +1. But, I was soloing fast enough anyway, so there wasn't much of a reason to.

My NRG/Kin corr when I was leveling her, different story. I tended to keep the spawns smaller (yes, larger spawns would have been good for Fulcrum Shift, but with no defenses...) but I might up the difficulty +1. I introduced bosses late with her, but later turned them back off (Malta, Carnies, etc. just were just too much of a frustration with no mez protection).

Merc/Poison MM, I upped the difficulty and introduced bosses early. Much more suited to taking down tougher, smaller spawns.



One thing I do like about the new system - and something that I need to use more - is that you can make changes w/o having to spend influence. There may be times when I could roll along at +2 for some missions, but if I then have to take on Miss Liberty, or Madame of Mystery, or Requiem...no shame in scaling things down. The influence payment might not have really been significant (at least at higher levels), but it was still a bit of a mental deterrent for me.

Playing strictly solo, and preferring finishing missions to defeating masses of critters, I usually stick to the default settings till around level 20, when I throw in bosses for extra excitement/drops. Depending on the toon, I'll fiddle with other settings once in awhile to mix it up a bit.

Yeah I noticed that too Sardan , but most of the time I'm just running around beating up random snakes and longbows , but great point .

On Cheat Code I run at +4/x8, bosses and AVs when soloing arcs.

On AE missions I usually set it to -1/x8 so I can feel uber heroic.

I like +2 in bigger, higher level teams. However, if there are many side-kicks or the only damage dealers are side-kicks, then I don't think it is fair to expect them to do their job against a lot of +4 bosses... at least not if they are below the mid 30's.

Any bump up under any circumstance before SO's seems like you are just asking for trouble. But I guess I'm just a whimp and probably need to learn 2 play.

But to answer the OP, my duos and solo scrappers usually run at +1 as a matter of course after the mid 20's.

No Golden _ Avariel your'e no wimp , thats just how you play . Theres no right or wrong answers , just getting a feel for how some enjoy playing this game .

I do +1/0 AV. Why why why would anyone not want having AVs?

Now, a question:

What does the second number do? I know what it means, but what does it do?

What second number Post ? I be confused .....

in terms of diff, i vary it widely depending on what toon im using and what types of mishs im doing.

my dark/stone brute can run normal mishs on +0/x8 boss and AV, except against vanguard, vanguard are NASTY on 8 man spawns with bosses when soloing.

when im running AE mishs i spawn everything as low as it can go (-1/x1 no boss or AV) because i have no clue whether the person mish will have balanced or insanely overpowered enemies or if they have insanely overpowered EB/AV class enemies.

when running squishy toons in normal mishs i usually keep at -1 or +0 for lvl, and x1 or x2 on the spawn sizes (this is soloing)

melee toons i run on x3 usually, but until 20-25 i usually run on the default bcause it makes it easier, when in the very low lvls, <15, i usually run on -1 lvl because at tose lvls, you get xp insanely fast so you kill things faster, run mishs faster, essentially lvl up faster.

on teams, ill vary the diff depending on how the teams doing if the teams doing my mishs.

I generally keep my difficulty the default +0/x1, but I'll ratchet up a few levels if the character starts to feel strong, but I rarely increase the spawn size.

There are exceptions. My SS/WP brute likes the difficulty on +0/x3 to make sure there's enough fury to go around and fuel for RttC. My bots/traps was mind-numbingly easy until +2/x8.

The most unusual case is my warshade. While leveling him up, I had to set the difficulty up to +0/x6 to make the game easy enough. He would get murdered by small spawns, but tore through large ones. Mirelock.

On my primary toon, Bot/FF MM, I play him on +2(x2)+Boss(-AV). Prior to the changes I was playing him on Challenge 3. This setting I think is pretty close to what the diffuculty on Challenge 3 was.

Most of my other toons I play at +0(x1)+Boss(-AV). I am playing a Scrapper, Broadsword/Shield, that I've dabbled with +0(x3)+Boss(-AV) and he seems to do well on that for the most part. I'm thinking of trying +1(x2)+Boss(-AV) to see how he does. With increased group settings there are some groups of mobs, tuatha for example), that in large groups with a boss will chew him up for lunch if he doesn't have any luck in his inspiration tray.

On the two chars I play most (my Kat/SR and FM/WP scrappers) I have focused mainly on getting as many recipe drops as possible. So I start at -1 xwhatever and try to get to -1x8. Then I usually try 0x4 to test the waters, again, trying to get to 0x8. That's where I've stopped at this point in my relatively short CoH career. I want to get as many drops at my current level (or better) as possible.
I'm guessing this will change with some other chars I've made but hardly played (like my MA/Regen scrapper) that don't handle lots of MOBs very well.

The setting I use varies, but on my Mastermind (Thugs/Dark, my first 50, my most-complete build, my badger, etc.), I frequently run solo on -1/x8, resulting in huge spawns that are easy to destroy. As a level 50, this also gives me more chances at purple drops, and as my villain badger, it also helps for kill badges (this was how I finally managed to get the Infiltrator badge, with 2 PPEs at -1 in every spawn.

Depends on the character, level, and what I'm facing, as well as if I'm on a team or not.

See my Guides and Tutorials

Again like a lot of other posters it depends what I'm playing.

For solo my Scrappers and Brutes +2x2 or 3, my WP/SS tank +3x3 or 4, Blasters and Corrs +1x1, Trollers +1x2 and my Defenders -1x1. All no AV.

It's completely toon dependant for me.

Typically it's the default until the 20's. Some never switch it at all. Others
do if I think the build can handle it and/or needs more challenging battles.

In that case:

For squishy types (ie. Stalker) I usually switch to +1 or +2 / 1.

For SMASH types (ie. Tank/Brute/Scrapper) I usually go with +1 / 3 or 4

I don't team much, so that has no affect on the settings for me, but as a
soloist, I leave off the AV's.


Regards,
4

For my level 50 Shield Defense/Super Strength tanker, I generally have the difficulties set at +1/x8, bosses, no AVs, for when I'm running Borea's RWZ missions.

It gets me more Inf, Prestige, and frankly, I ran a few of her missions at x1, and they're so quick and boring that it's no fun. But at x8, it's a blast.

For AE missions, I generally turn it down a little because it seems the new FOTM for AEs is to have all custom characters self-rez, which makes even the short missions tediously long. (I have no problem with long missions, it's just that if it's billed as short, I shouldn't have to spend five minutes clearing the first group because every single minion, LT, and boss self-rezzes.)

It really, really depends. Sometimes I like wading through piles of opponents and casually laying waste to them.

Sometimes I like real nail-biter fights, where I have to really sweat to win.

And what setting this requires can be radically different depending on who I'm playing and the team, if any, makeup.