The Altaholic's guide to getting to 50

"I've been playing this game for years and can't get past 30. I have 80 characters!"

Does this sound like you? Do you have pages full of concepts you've started but given up because another "new shiny" caught your eye? Have you found yourself quoting Stalin with a COH twist - "You delete one, it's a tragedy. Delete millions of characters... it's a statistic!"

You, my friend, are an altaholic.

Now, that in itself isn't a bad thing. There are so many powerset combinations - and now, with Going Rogue, so many powerset combinations to try on the other side (Heroic mastermind anyone? Villainous Peacebringer?) and low level Praetorian content that, for an altaholic, it's simply irresistable. You must make more!

The game itself has the "Create more alts!" philosophy in it, as well. Where other games might restrict the characters, you can make as many as you want (well, as many as you have slots for.) And with the recent addition of "gleemail," you can send yourself INF, recipes and enhancements, regardless of side.

But if you've been playing and constantly delete characters, have never had a mid or high level contact... well, you need help. And with Incarnate content driving the story forward being at 50+, well, if you don't get there, you'll never see it.

Who are you to tell me this? What do you know about it?

Hi. Memphis_Bill. I've played since issue 3, and started with the alts early. At time of writing, I have around 276 alts over two accounts. I know what it's like taking years to get to 50 - but on the other hand, I have 21 50s (with several others in spitting distance) as I write this.

Am I an altaholic?

This is as good a place to start as any. Are you new to the game and just overwhelmed by choices? You're not an altaholic (yet.)

Are you playing fewer than 10 characters? You're not an altaholic.

Do you see a powerset and just HAVE to make one like that? You might be a developing (or full blown) altaholic.

Are you out of server slots? You're likely an altaholic.

Have you deleted full servers worth of characters to make a new one? You're likely an altaholic.

Altaholism isn't defined by one or two things. It fits with the (paraphrased) definition of "pornography" - "I can't define it, but I know it when I see it." Many altaholics know just what I'm talking about - and most altaholics will, eventually, admit it to themselves, even being proud of the title. There's nothing wrong with that - unless it keeps you from experiencing the rest of the game.

When Altaholism gets bad

Every now and again (at least monthly,) someone comes to the boards and says they can't get past a certain level. Not with a certain powerset, or they're having trouble with some enemy group, but that they keep deleting characters or burning out on them without getting past this level range. It seems to be the mid-20s to mid-30s, most often.

A lot of changes happen in this range. Your powersets have less to look forward to - you're over half done with them. Power bumps? You get SOs and then... what? Groups get harder, and the XP starts feeling like it slows - especially after 32, where we shift from the power - slot - power progression to power - slot - slot - power model. Whatever the case, it prevents the deleting altaholic from ever seeing (outside of teaming) a great deal of content. No Rikti War Zone. No Cimerora. No Incarnate content. No rescuing Statesman, or proving your ultimate power to Recluse. (Fortunately, Epic ATs were lowered to 20 for the unlock. Unfortunately, this gives the struggling altaholic even MORE alts to choose to make.)

If this describes you, don't worry - there are ways to get yourself past this. You WILL have a 50.

What not to do:

Don't power level yourself, or hop on a farm.

This is probably the most damaging thing you can do to yourself right now. No, this is not complaining about farms! Instead, you, as an altaholic, are skimming through without seeing the content, actually playing the character against enemies as they meet your level, and really removing rewards from yourself. (Now, if you're doing it for a PVP character, ignore this - but don't think it cures your altaholism. You want a 50 to see the rest of the game.)

What TO do:

There are a lot of things you can do. But the very first one, the thing you MUST develop is this:

Self discipline.

Remember, you want a 50. If you've been deleting in the 20s, you have never - never - played a single powerset to completion. You've never had a controller pet. You've never fully slotted out most of your powers. You've never rushed into a spawn just to have them melt from your nuke. If you've been deleting in the 30s, you've never had a "full" character, played Patron arcs or the like. Keep reminding yourself - *you want a 50.*

This does not mean you can ONLY play one character! I wouldn't do that to you. I don't do it to me. It does mean, however, that you have to set yourself a goal and follow it.

The next thing? NO DELETIONS!

Just don't do it.


If you're getting tired of the run to 50, that's fine! Let the character rest. Find a nice day job location and park them for a bit. DO NOT DELETE! No! You don't have to do it! Let them sit until you're ready to come back to them. (Note, if there's a set that just isn't you, that's different - but if it's "Oh, I need a new slot, who do I delete?" Don't do it.)

See my Guides and Tutorials

The Altaholics Anonymous Group Therapy Solution:

This is the most thorough way of doing things. You can take some of this and apply it to other characters, but this is a full program to help you get to 50. Now, while I'll list "steps," this is not a "12-step" ripoff. It's just a way for you to progress. And yes, it includes cheating. (Not at the game.)

Step 1: Admit you're an altaholic.

You've likely done this already. But if you haven't, or you're not sure, look at your characters. Have you been playing for months or years? Have you done a lot of deleting, or barring that, spread out to multiple servers and filled them? Worse (and I'm here... trust me) have you bought slots on multiple accounts and STILL filled them? Are any of them 50?

Look at yourself. You're an altaholic. Admit it.

Step 2: Find others in the same boat.

Or not in the same boat. What's important here is the group. You want others around sharing a goal to push you forward and get you through the rough spots! You'll be playing with this group, too, which helps with XP and tough missions - not to mention helps *spawn* tough missions. This may give you a feeling of accomplishment as you plow through multiple AVs.

Barring other altaholics, create or join a "Theme team." You'll see these mentioned on occasion - all fire/rads, for instance. Do *not* join the Iron Eagles (Death = Deletion.) This won't help you! I'm part of several I've started with friends - sappers, trappers, shield characters, Kheldian themed SGs. It helps!

Step 3: Find a new server!

"But all my stuff is on THIS one!" "But that one is dead!" Yeah, be quiet. For one, "All your stuff" is on your account. You can - but shouldn't - gleemail it to yourself. For the other, no server is dead - and you'll be starting your own group ANYWAY, so it doesn't matter.

Why is this important? Simple. You don't want to go to play this and see a list of other alts. This server is your "GET TO 50" server, or your "Project" server. This is to help you concentrate on that one alt. Bring enough people for at least a team and a half, if not two teams. Not only does this ensure you'll have teams going, but it'll help fund that SG's startup costs.

No level pacts. Don't make me break out Vader again.

Step 4: Form your SG.

10 isn't that hard to get to, and you'll want storage for your new group. You should be able to hit 10 fast and get this started. It's also more incentive to keep playing - you want your teleporters! You want your storage! You want a fantabulawesome base! (This also has a side benefit of giving you somewhere to play if your "main" server is having problems.)

Step 5: Schedule time.

Yeah. You're playing *with others.* Set up a time you meet every week - do NOT set it to every day! You're an altaholic, you don't want to burn out on your project character. If it's every few days, fine. Once a week is good. Don't let it be longer than that! This is to guarantee you WILL make progress. Play for an hour or two on the scheduled days.

Step 6: Play.

Yeah. That simple. Your group meets (say) Thursday from 9-11 Eastern. Play! Have fun! Look, you're leveling! Are those imps? is that a tier 9? You're making progress!

Step 7: Don't play.

... wha? Yeah, you heard me. Don't get ahead of the group - you want to progress together. More importantly, you don't want to burn out on the character! You want this to be something to look forward to, not "ugh, well, I said I'd play this and I will, even though I have already. I'm 32, they're 29."

Go play with another alt - *but not on this server!* DO NOT MAKE ALTS ON THE PROJECT SERVER! When you're there, you want a laserlike focus on that character until it hits 50!

When it's not Theme Team time, go play with your other alts. Keep that variety going.

Step 8: Don't keep rerunning content.

Yeah, this is bad, especially with the WTF for Incarnates. But you don't want to re-run (for instance) an ITF over and over! That way leads to burnout for you - do that later! You want to progress. There are whole level-ranges of content out there for you to experience. Go learn about Ambassador Kur'Rekt! Beat down Honoree! Fight in a television! Save Statesman (or don't.)

Step 9: Enjoy your 50.

Yeah. You may have noticed at some point that, hey... you have controller pets. Or, look at you, you're in Granite. And you had this "Epic" thing unlock. You're fighting inside a TV. You've run your first ITF - you'll find yourself with new challenges you've never seen before. Enjoy them! Look forward to the next one!

If it's not "content" but "power," you've unlocked new ranges of IOs to play with - and can slot purples and Hami-Os. Go play with your build!

Step 10: Find the next one.

You may not need a "theme team," but pick the next character that has interesting high level powers. Drag some of your group along, or find a SG (or join one that runs regularly!) and get THAT character up there. If your first was a hero, try a villain. You will still create and delete - some powersets just don't click with everyone.

See my Guides and Tutorials

Alternate progression schemes:

Split up your alts.

Make one server your Hero server, and another your Villain server. Don't mix the two!

Alternately (heh,) split them by AT - Tanks on Triumph, Controllers on Champion or whatever you want to do. The point of this is to help you focus on a smaller number of characters, even if you have a LOT of alts - and if you have to switch servers to put that alt on the "right" one, it may slow down your alt creation... or deletion.

It's a character. Make it one!

Don't just look at that blaster as a "Fire/Energy blaster." That is James McBlasterson! Former pitcher for the minor leage Paragon Supers, he was disqualified on the eve of his signing a big league contract when he discovered he'd had a latent mutation that was adding a little "spice" to his pitches. While some may have given up or even taken revenge, he chose to revel in this discovery and become a hero. Hey, punk, catch THIS flaming fastball special!

It's not for everyone - and no, this does not mean you HAVE to go to virtue and ((learn to talk in parenthesis.)) You don't even have to RP heavily - just remember who you've made the character. The occasional bind or battle cry can lighten things up and keep you (and your team) entertained, sure (don't overdo it!) but more importantly, you won't want James sitting there forgotten. He deserves adventures, doesn't he?

Give yourself a goal.

Has a certain AT really clicked with you? Do you love playing Doms? Is saving the team's butt as a tank just a rush for you? Is support your thing? Pursue it! Make yourself a chart and play one of every something to 50! (Personally, I went for one of each AT - that's 12 50s to chase.) Once you hit that goal, give yourself another. Have one of each AT? Well, fill out one of each Mastermind, or see how Superstrength pairs with each Tank primary.


Reward yourself!

Give yourself a reward for hitting 50 - or other levels. No new alts til 40, for instance. Or, my personal one - each 50 gets a celebratory bit of artwork. (No, this doesn't have to be expensive, there are very good artists on Deviantart, for instance, who are $20 and under.) Now, admittely, for me I'll get that when a character is interesting... but then again, I have over 20 50s.

Artwork isn't for everyone. Find something that "does it" for you, and give it to yourself at 50.


Where I stand:

I do practice what I preach. Yes, I do go through alt-spurts where I'll make 5-6 a night for some reason, and delete 1-2 of them in a month. But here's how I get to 50, personally:

1. I like the high level content. It's a treat for me to run Television again, for instance. (Reward.)
2. My 50s get artwork done. (Reward.)
3. I play on theme teams. Not completely, but we'll swap over to them every once in a while. (Goal.)
4. I set goals. I already have one of each AT to 50. Now I'm trying for one of each control set to 50, and getting my 50-to-alt ratio to be 1:10 (it's about 1:12 or 1:13 now.)
5. I make characters. I may not always put them down in game, but a fair number of my characters have a history, a backstory, something to make them *individuals.* This, for me, keeps them interesting to play, and some have interrelationships (no, not talking ERP here) with others in the SG or with other alts.

See my Guides and Tutorials

Some interesting points. I've got about 30 50s on five servers, some of which took five or six years to make it all the way. The rest of the slots are all filled with lower level characters, most of which will never get to 50.

If your goal is actually to get to 50, the best way to do it is to just play the character for the fun of it. Find some friends you enjoy playing with and forget about leveling. Before you know it, you'll be 50.

A few practical tips for actually making it to 50 easily:

• Don't overplay characters. Play for a couple of hours and then move on to something else. If you burn out on a character you won't come back to it. This helps with the next point:
• Play only when you have patrol XP. You will level 50% faster.
• Team as much as you can with higher level players. This is not the same as PLing, as long as you're actively participating.
• Play with people who know what they're doing and don't waste your time. That's not to say friendly discussion is bad. But if they're getting themselves and you killed all the time, or you're waiting half an hour for them to replace their outdated SOs, they're just being rude to you and everyone else they're making wait.
• Run regular content that interests you: don't run repetitive farms, and don't doorsit. If you are sitting bored with a character instead of learning how it works, you will never like it.
• If the team can do it, run at higher difficulty levels. Most well-built tanks can run at +0/x8 solo, and if they've got some backup they can easily push that up to +1 or +2. If you're helping them decimate the opposition, it's not PLing: it's playing the game the way it's meant to be played.
  But if you're dying all the time crank the difficulty down. Nothing is more tedious (and time-wasting) than being on a team that thinks they're getting more XP by running at +3, but are spending half the time running back from the hospital, or forced to pull mobs a few at a time instead of bulldozing through the map. Learn your limits and push them, but recognize when you've hit the limit and back it down a notch.
• Realize that some characters bloom late, and some require advanced or expensive builds to become fun. I have a Rad/Kin corruptor and I hated him, but I gutted it out for 50 levels. I respecced into a soft-capped S/L build and the character is actually quite fun now because he can get into melee where he can actually benefit from his own Fulcrum Shift without getting smeared on the floor. It's not a cheap build, but it requires no purples and can be done with a couple weeks worth of alignment merits.
• Different ATs and different powersets can have totally different playstyles. The same tactics won't always work. Often a character seems boring or unworkable because you're trying to play it like another character. If you adapt your style it can put a whole new and interesting spin on a character.

Your guide is a thing of beauty. You even have advice or playing alts and not playing alts rather than one or the other. Fantastic.

I only got my three month reward now, but I have only five characters and instead keep costume files saved for later character making rather than lots of alts. I am working towards unlocking the Arachnos agents at the moment, and intentionally made a throwaway level-to-20 wonder for that purpose, but overall, I'm getting through everything and having a blast.

I have to agree, despite my rookie status, on one fact: Delete all gravity characters for now. I tried that as my second character........ow.

This is brilliant. Most likely something I'll have to put into practice as well.

I just now started getting back into the game, so full blown altoholism hasn't hit me yet, but I know it's just a matter of time. I played for about a year straight and left while Villains while still in beta, but the highest character I'd ever gotten was 24, and I spent no small amount of time playing.

Now I have soooo many more options for everything. I've spent most of the last three days just creating and deleting characters, experimenting with new things, trying every set possible. I have a few characters that have hooked me so far, but I have a ton of concepts floating around in my head.

I definitely have to settle down to 1 or 9 characters eventually though. Think I'm going to try to get every support set to 50 (love support), but I'm afraid it might give me too much leeway since the sets can be put on Corruptors, Defenders, Controllers, and Masterminds. That's a lot of room to rationalize deleting a character for a shiny new primary.

I think my biggest thing at the moment is finding an SG to roll with that'll help me reach my goals. When left to my own devices, I tend to just roll alts, but it helps a lot to have an SG that'll just tell me, "Hey, jump on so and so for a bit so we can run whatever."

Anyway, excellent post!

I like your guide Memphis, but for me it was a little different. I can truly focus on one character till completion. So when I chose to get a level 50, I focused on that one character till I got a level 50. No doubt I will do the same with the rest when I want to take them to level 50.

I have learned a very important point from my brother that also plays the same MMO's I do. He says when you have a purpose or goal for your character, then it is alot harder to get bored and stop playing. I have found this to be true for me.

I have raging altitis, I do have a a few 50's and what I like to do is have one toon I am concentrating on getting to 50 but when he is out of patrol XP or I want some different I'll play one of my alts.

My discipline is that I will always log him in and try to play at least one mish. Usually, that will reminded of why I like him/her and I'll play for a while. If it doesn't then I just play some other hopeful.

I also write backgrounds for any toon that I am serious about leveling. It helps me to think that He/Her is the first one to discover the Secret of the Hollows or to discover the terrible fate of Hero 1 or (well you get the idea)

I've recently returned to City of Heroes and well - yeah, I haven't got altism yet, but I'm getting there! Luckily for me it seems, my alts don't make it past Level 10 before I've deleted it - I know, I know, I should keep it going until DO's atleast! But I just can't!

My "main" at the moment is a Blaster, Dual Pistols / Devices, and I'm having ALOT of fun, she's level 26, and I could easily sit there and get her to Level 50, but I'm making to many alts, and am currently getting majorly into a War Mace / Shield Defense Brute. Part of what has kept me playing both those characters (and I know level 26 isn't a long time) is a solid background story.

My Blaster is called Little Yellow Hood, and is the daughter of a Mob boss, who at the time was in a small time gang called the Dawsons who were rumoured to be on the Loyalist payroll. One of the gangs street thugs came across an amulet that allowed him to control the weather and decided to use it to seize control of the gang - he killed her father and took over the gang, the street thug - Lil' Jimmy Maxwell, assumed the name the Storm Capo (and is now my Thugs / Storm Mastermind) and changed the name of the gang to the Hurricanes. Alice (my character's "real name") was just a kid at the time, but swore vengence. As she grew up, she come to realise she couldn't just take on the Storm Capo and expect to win, he was now a superpowered villain in control of a gang who also had low level storm-powers (his amulet allowed him to bestow others with the same powers, but at a much lower level) - so she needed help.

She got that help in the form of Powers Division, where she worked for Provast Merchand as an undercover spy for the Loyalist, in the Resistance. She became Little Yellow Hood, a name she got for her small size and her signature yellow hood. Being a part of Powers Division got her access to several powerful gadgets and devices, including her guns, and even her patented jet boots. She eventually moved to Primal Earth in order to "fix the problem" there, where she established the Vigilante Organization known as The Hoods, who believe that in order to fix Paragon City, morals need to be thrown out the window, and as such, they sometimes come under fire from Longbow and Wyvern, people who believe that they're brutal and harsh methods go to far. She one day hopes to use her new found power as the Little Yellow Hood to settle the score with the Storm Capo.

It's that story that allows me to really get into my Blaster, I try to do that for all my characters but it's not always easy to create a story thats as compelling (atleast to me) as hers. Luckily my Brute has a story that's also really well thought-out, but I won't bore you with the details