Suggestions For Solo Incarnate Content
By
Kirsten,
Posted on: 2011-07-29 02:28 in Suggestions and Ideas
/Signed. This seems like a very effective way to handle solo Incarnate progression.
Open Archetype Suggestion thread!, Kirsten's Epic Weapon Pools, Feudal Japan, Etc., Alignment specific Rularuu iTrials!
If Masterminds didn't suck, they'd be the most powerful AT in the game.
I enjoy doing the trials every now and then but grinding them over and over and over to advance just becomes distasteful after awhile. And while I can easily just stop doing the trials I still want to engage in activities that can advance my character. I personally don't find responses that tell me not to play the game or to engage in activities that won't advance my character very helpful.
I would like a solo alternative that is viable. Shards are not viable in my opinion. They drop too infrequently and are reliant on the RNG which can be notoriously unfriendly at times. Currently with shards being the only solo method to advance incarnate stuff, trying to access the endgame in any way other than the trials just becomes really off putting and not really worth engaging in to me. At the same time trials are increasingly becoming more and more off putting to me as well. My server Guardian is not one of the highest population servers and lately trials have been hard to come by or when I manage to find one its such a bare bones group we aren't able to complete the trial. Ideally I'd like to see two things added:
* Shard drop rate increased.
* Random Incarnate Story Arcs: An npc that has a number of random repeatable (or if that is too much has a set limit to how many you can do per day) incarnate story arcs (5-10 missions long) that can be done solo or with a team. The first time in any 18 hour period that you complete one of these arcs you are awarded a small amount of ixp and a small number of threads at the end of each mission and an E-Merit at the conclusion of the story arc. Doing more of these random arcs awards a smaller amount of ixp and threads than the first arc and an A-merit at the conclusion of the arc. To make it more challenging temp powers could be disabled on these arcs much like they are on trials. If this is still too much gain the devs could always go with a "diminishing returns" concept. First arc gets e-merit, 2nd gets astral, any beyond gets 5-10 threads etc.
This type of system time gates the advancement. Those who run trials will get more ixp, threads, E-merits and A-Merits much faster than the soloist but the soloist can still make steady, observable progress that is not tied to RNG. This design also prevents exploitation by tying the relevant rewards (ixp, threads, merits) to the completion of the missions and the overall arc. The devs have full control over how much ixp/threads would be awarded by these missions so can set it to a pace they deem acceptable. People who engage in both these solo arcs AND the trials will obviously advance much quicker and those who enjoy the trials but would like to break them up with other activities without stopping their incarnate advancement would have an alternative. Adding these two things would easily make the incarnate system solo accessible and still keep trials at the top of the food chain for the speed of acquisition.
Thank you for taking the time to read and I look forward to seeing what the future of COH brings!
Jem - Ill/Rad Controller Lv 50+3 Nic - Mind/Psi Dominator Lv 50+3 Lady Liberation - Invuln/SS Tanker Lv 50+1 Invicitx - Demon/Pain Mastermind Lv 50+1 Celeste - Emp/Arch Defender Lv 50+1 Nightsilver - DB/WP Scrapper Lv 34 Dusk Howl - StJ/Regen Brute Lv 32 Kyriani - Time/Energy Defender Lv 41Psifire - FF/Psi Defender Lv 50
Star Lighter - LB/LA Peacebringer Lv 30