Badge-hunting for re-noobs

Hi, sorry for a very newbish question (I'm returning after years away), but I've been scouting the badge-hunting sites and forums and I think my question is a little too basic.

Are there any badges in particular that you'd recommend getting while I'm still leveling?

When I played last, if you missed a badge (especially a mish badge), you were dead. Now I realize we have Ouroboros, but I've heard that there are badges (e.g., Efficiency Expert) that can't be made up that way. I'm also assuming Mayhems can't be made up later.

But beside specific exceptions like those, are there any other badges/accolades/etc. that you'd recommend getting while still leveling? (i.e,. easier/more fun/useful/whatever)

I was going to put off everything for a while (unless tripping over it on my Vidiot maps) -- on the assumption that especially stuff like exploration and big kill badges are a lot easier to manage if you do them at once and at high-level -- but I don't want to regret anything later.

Thanks. Sorry if my google-fu has failed me.

It sounds like you're playing through as a villain. You covered several of the ones you will want to watch for above, but I will reiterate and add some:

Mayhems- Definitely grab as many different ones as you can on the way up. Those explore badges are hard to come by other ways, and killing 1000PPD is time consuming so you may as well make as big a dent in it as early as you can.

Contacts- Yes you can get Badge missions again later through Ouroboros, but if you're doing Mayhems and getting contacts, you might as well grab any/all that you can along the way. When given a choice between 2-3 contacts, look up which one has a badge mission(s).

Accolades- there's one in particular that's pretty easy to get early on as a villain, and that's Demonic. It's an incredibly handy power to have at your disposal at all stages of leveling. It's worth the extra time.

Strike Forces- If you get bored of the grind of normal contacts and missions, a good way to get some levels quickly and a shiny badge at the same time, is to run a few Strike Forces while you're in level range. Now with new Exemplaring rules, you can even get on SFs below your level and still get good xps.

All this advice applies Blueside as well, except the Demonic Accolade. The Hero Equivalent isn't easy to get until the endgame stages.

Just a few bits of advice off the top of my head, have fun with it and if you have more questions or want me to clarify feel free to ask.

Do you want badges just for the sake of having them or are you looking for those that contribute in some tangible way to gameplay?

In either case you probably want to check out Badge Hunter for more details. As far as I can recall any of the "important" badges, those that are part of an accolade, are available through Oro with the exception of Safeguard/Mayhem badges.

Also, dont forget that you can still do the Mayhem missions even if you've outlevelled them (and even get the rewards for them). You just need to find a lowbie to join.

Thanks for the answers, very helpful as always.

Sorry I didn't state this first: yes, I'm redside, although I was planning to switch to blueside when my latest character hits her 20s, as I haven't played past the 20s on blue-side since CoV came out. But I'd forgotten about the demonic accolade. I might stick around and pick that up before I switch sides, I do recall that being nice to have and relatively easy to pick up.

Also Tommy, I would check if the server(s) you play on has badge channels in them. Most likely they do and that will help you get various Task forces, mayham/safeguards, hunts etc as well.
Provided that the badgers on that channel offer their safeguards/mayhams...

Efficiency Expert, Is a badge for lvl 45-50. You will have several missions with a timeframe of 15 minutes that starts from you accept mission until you complete it.
In other words, make certain you have your drop mission option ready (should you see you will fail), make certain you have low diff and just run to the end of the mission, wack the boss (and near minions) or click the glowie and your done.

paragonwiki has list of badges with effects:

Villains:

http://paragonwiki.com/wiki/Category...s_with_Effects

Heroes:

http://paragonwiki.com/wiki/Category...s_with_Effects

Force of Nature is about as easy as it's hero side version.

At least, it involves some more work but it's a lot less tedious to me :P

Also, Invader is a nice, quick, and easy one to nab. And not level restricted like it's counterpart (TF Commander)