Am I the only person who plays by ear?

Basically, I've been looking around the boards for a while and I keep seeing all these posts saying that they are new to Corruptors, or something, and they give a build that takes them to level 50.
I just wonder if they plan on following that build solidly and mechanically all the way to level 50, or if they do other stuff along the way and respec in to it. It's just because they say they have just started out and have planned what they are going to do. I mean, I haven't even planned what I'm wearing tomorrow, for <deity>'s sake!

So, am I the only person who plays the game by ear, or what?

No, you're not. Many of my characters are "played by ear". I don't usually plan them out for more than a couple of levels. Others, I do have a fairly specific plan for them and follow it for the most part.

Occasionally, I might take a peek at someone's guide to see their opinion on some powers. Maybe get an idea on slotting. But, I've never followed anyone's guide. I don't even use either of the build planners. I feel my way to what I need as I play.

If I have a free respec available, I'll use it at mid-30s to convert to Set IOs and a slight shuffle of powers. If I have a free respec available at high-40s, I might do another, almost-"final" powers shuffle.

Thanks for the replies. I no longer feel so alone.

I never plan a character's set out. I pick a powerset that works for the concept, then jump into things and have fun.

I've done 2 or 3 toons by following the guides. I didn't enjoy them.

Now I just jump in blindly and make my own mistakes and learn from them.

Oh, I plan characters out, choose every power and slot all the way to 50 ahead of time. But I revise those plans constantly, moving slots when I need more or less than expected, removing powers that looked good on paper, and so forth. The plans are mostly there to keep me from making a stupid mistake that will eat up a respec

About all I use are guides to binds, the MM's one is very useful. I like to pick my own powers.

Since I am working on my very fist Hero and villian (hey, gotta play both ^_^) I am not following strict build guide, but just making what I think will be fun. Later on I most likely will respec or create a new character with "Ub3r L33+" build, but for now I just want to see what I can come up with.

On 9 toons out of 10, I couldn't tell you what power I'll be taking for my next pick. When I actually get to pick a power, I'll read up on the options and pick one. The only time I know in advance what I'll be picking is at certain key levels - like Stamina at 20 for toons that need it, the nuke at 32 for blasters, etc.

My first few 50s were completely flying blind. I chose powers and slots and made a lot of mistakes. Back then, you could only get a few respecs total, so I had to live with the gimp in the footlocker.

Later on, I got Mids. Mids allowed me to see the big picture, plan slots, and get a general idea of where I was going with a character. Once I had the build, I would play the character out and see.

While planning is fun for me and I like having things laid out in advance, that still doesn't stop me from changing stuff around. Nothing is ever written in stone... except Stamina.

I try not to let my Mids' playing interfere with my CoX playing Figuring out builds on Mids is far more fun than forcing myself to actually follow said builds, so I do whatever looks fun in game and respec out the mistaken choices later if necessary.

I found a long time ago that I enjoy my characters most if I play them for what they are at that very moment, and then when it comes to levelling, picking the power that is the most appealing at that exact moment.

My only exceptions are that I try to pick up my travel pre-requisite between six and twelve, and I respec into the fitness pool at level twenty. Other than that, it tends to be very much on the fly, and I love it like that. Every character has been played like that since.

I tend to scan guides for sets I'm not familiar with just to get an idea of what powers are considered "good" but I tend to level up my character picking powers that I think I'll want and then decide what powers I want to actually keep long term. Once I hit 50 I'll respec them into an IO build if I get around to it (I have 5 level 50s, 2 have full IO builds and one has half of an IO build)

I usually go the first 10 or so levels blind to get a feel for the powersets, then make a 1-50 plan. The plan usually ends up being revised a ton as I level up and find better ways of doing things.

So yeah, I plan, but it's mostly to keep me from doing something stupid. I don't always follow my first plan all the way to 50.

99% of the time I plan a character out. When I first make them, if it's something I'm not familiar with, I plan to level 24 generally. Once I have a feel for the character I make a better plan for my run to 50, and then a second build with IOs post-50.

I make a plan to 50, but in no particular order, just seeing how the powers I want, slotted like I typically do, will work out in the final thing.

Then, I play up to around 25 picking stuff as I feel I need it. I'll usually make a plan for the next ten levels based on how the first 25 felt. I might drop powers I was planning, I might even respec the character.

I usually only stick to a plan once I get in the 40s. It's important that I not put a slot in the wrong place then. Respecs aren't confusing to me at lower levels, but the closer to 50 they get, the more they confuse me and I screw up.

I have decided not to play a toon based on how it looks in Mids. I've also chosen some to play that way. My katana/wp, my favorite toon, was chosen once I saw how she worked in Mids. I've recently made a electric/inv, katana/dark, and fire/electric based on how they seemed in Mids.

I use Mids to plan, but my plan is very dynamic. I often level without checking it, but am more likely to consult my plan if I've levelled several times that day or I'm placing slots.

Reading the archetype boards is generally not a good representative sample, since that's where people go to ask for help with builds, so that's where you'll se a bunch of builds being posted

I've only ever really planned out and follow said plan on one char, and that was when I was trying to softcap my BS/Shield Scrapper.

Every other char usually gets a run through Mids just to get an idea of what I might like to do with that char or to get a peek at what powers I'd be able to take when.

Edit: I was originally gunna answer the op stating that I normally play the game with my hands. Now I remembered a guy I used to know in game that swore up and down that he could play the game with his...ummm..."other finger". Thought I'd just share that with y'all

I love tinkering with Mid's and seeing what kind of numbers I can come up with. I can probably put together a functional build for just about any powerset combo there is....even if I've never played it.

Now, with that said, would you like to guess how many of my live builds have been meticulously planned out?


2. I have planned out and stuck to exactly 2 builds out of all 25 characters I regularly play. I like to get a general idea of what I want to do in Mid's shortly after I create a character. But it doesn't always work out how Mid's says it should. I frequently revise plans when I realize that I need this other power more than what I had planned to take here, and the whole build just goes sideways from there.

It usually works out in the end, but it very seldom looks like I thought it would when I started.