Zero to Awesome (30 day project)

Day 14 - Monday 8/15/11

I ran five villain tip missions, so I'm halfway to being a pure villain again. For that matter I'm over halfway to being a hero and part of the way to staying a rogue or something. But the only jump I plan to make is back to villain.

I also respec'd my character to sort out the order in which I picked my patron powers. I have three slots in Scorpion Shield and six slots in Web Envelope, and it was important that I pick those up at 41 and 44, and not pick Aim before them. I really don't use Aim much anyway -- I'm thinking that it won't matter much if I grab lower-level Rectified Reticles because it's basically a 2-piece mule set for the defense the set provides, practically speaking I never have time to hit Aim. But those IOs cap at 20 and it bugs me to slot level 16 or 13 or whatever IOs for any reason, unless it's something like a proc.

But the respec allowed me to pick up and slot out Web Envelope, another power that I may not use much but grants me extra defense.

After that I ran an ITF with friends. I hit 47 and am within 3bubbles of 48.

My LotG defense IO sold, and all of the stamina IOs I had. I crafted some of the Eradication Damage recipes to sell -- it looks like those would sell much better than the triples that I've been unable to sell.

do you feel that double xp weekend was a bit of a cheat since it hasnt taken you 20 days to get to 47 but instead 14.

How would your results change if you dodnt play during double xp?

Day 15

Tonight was all about going back to being a villain. I ran 5 tip missions, and then before I did the morality mission I went to Eden and then The Hive to gather up those badges. I also later grabbed the Sewer and Abandoned Sewer badges, which so far as I can figure out is all of the explore badge accolades I can get blueside. (I can't get Atlas Park because one badge is in a location only heroes can access.)

But in between all that my friend ran an ITF, so I joined and hit level 48... and am now within a few bubbles of 49.

Then I went back redside and blew up Croatoa.

I finished by converting 50 merits into a villain merit. I had nearly 600 merits by that point, and about 550 million influence.

I've sold all of my Eradication IOs. They sold very quickly once I offered them for a more reasonable price. I'm suspicious that the price was rising just as I was dropping my asking price, but anyway, that meant some good money coming in.



Tomorrow night we run ITF yet again.

The Atlas Park badge near the Recluse's Victory portal can be gained by a Rogue with the help of a hero/vigilante and Recall Friend/Shadow Recall. Only the door stops you getting in, they can beam you in and then you could get them to TP you out, use a base transporter, Pocket D teleport, Wentworths teleport or Mission Teleport.

Been nice reading this, I don't generally play the market, but some interesting tips to utilize!

Cool to know. ^_^ (And also the kb information Shadow posted).

Over the last two days I only had bids on the two Rectified Reticle IOs for my build, and I changed my strategy and instead of waiting on lowball bids on the level 19 IOs, I placed bids on the level 20 IOs. For some reason it bugs me more to slot a level 19 vs. a level 20 than it does to slot level 30 over level 40 or 50. Which is illogical, but the IO is so low level to begin with.

But beyond all that, level 20's are just much more plentiful, and I have the money now to get the highest level and get my IO faster into the bargain.

I was bidding about 7 million on the to hit buff IO at level 19, and the level 20 cost about twice that. I had a bid of I think 32 million for a level 19 to hit buff/recharge, and in fact I'd even seen a level 20 go for that. I bid 42 million for the level 20. Both bids filled in 48 hours, so I have those IOs crafted and slotted now as well.

I originally had a recharge IO slotted in Aim as well... the two above IOs don't provide much benefit for to hit or recharge -- but in fact I don't even use Aim that much. I have too many other powers to click on, and I have good accuracy already. So I moved that slot to Manuevers so that I could do the 12 points of knockback thing... which as Shadow pointed out I probably don't need, but hey, I've been doing a lot of TFs lately, no knockback/knockdown is pretty nice. ^_^

What I have left to pick up for my build (from memory): One purple proc, a couple of Enzymes, and the things that I expect to buy with a-merits, the Miracle and Numina uniques and Luck of the Gambler +recharge IOs. I still burn through endurance fast, and even though I have a power that will replenish my endurance, it'll be nice to get those uniques slotted. But I'm going to need about 1.2 to 1.5 million total to buy those other three IOs I think. So I placed bids this morning on more recipes that I hope I can sell for good money.

Day 16

Not much progress today. I converted 50 merits into a villain merit and bought a nice shiny Miracle +recovery. Crafted and slotted it, sold some stuff, crafted more stuff. Mostly I sold Performance Shifter end/rech IOs, and I'm crafting and attempting to sell some Obliteration damage IOs.

I've also bid on 10-stacks of: Eradication damage, Eradication dam/rech, Gift of the Ancients defense. Most of those have filled. And I still have a 10-stack of Luck of the Gambler def/rech, which are really selling low so I've been reluctant to craft and sell them.

I was planning to join a friend's ITF but he was late getting on and I got talked into pulling out my troller for a LGTF. It wasn't finished when my friend started his ITF. Sigh!

I worked on other projects as well -- I took Shinobu Eden villain after first arranging for one of my other toons to hold the title of SG leader for the next few days. I started the patron arc.

I also bought a new $2 account yesterday, just because I could. I created a claws/fire brute and using Topdoc's CEBR guide I PL'd myself to 20. Then I made a widow, because I could. I'm going to see what I can accomplish on this new account without borrowing money from my other accounts, but obviously I'm using AE to do it. ^_^ So I'm not sure that will prove anything either, but it's interesting to have no vet powers, no bonus pack powers, nothing but my powers and brawl and darts.

Day 17

Once again I didn't actually gain any experience with my charaacter, though I did log in and convert 50 merits and do some marketing. All of the Obliteration damage IOs that I'd listed had failed to sell. This alarmed me a little, since they'd been selling for good money just a day or two earlier. I had all 10 listed already. I wound up crafting ten Eradication damage IOs, and those have also taken a dive in price, down from over 20 million each to as little as 10 million. (there were 9 for sale a few days ago, and now there's over 40). Anyway I listed mine for more than 10 million but less than I'd originally planned to list them for.

Most of the evening was spent playing with my brute on my new account and then working my SS/INvul brute Shinobu Eden through Ghost Widow's arc and unlocking the patron pools, and then running five rogue tip missions. I also made a couple of blackberry pies last night, that took up part of the time I'd normally use to play. ^_^

This morning when I logged in to check the market, none of my Eradication IOs had sold but 7 of my 10 Oblits had sold. Huh, go figure. Anyway, that puts me over 700 million. ^_^

Day 18



This is a snapshot of what I had bought as of two days ago.

The LotG def/rech have been sitting there a while... they're not making a lot of money so I'm in no hurry to craft and sell them.

I'm pretty sure I already crafted and sold the Performance Shifters. I can buy more of these at will for below 1 million a recipe and sell them for 7-12 million crafted.

All of the Eradications have filled in the last two days (I bid in stacks of 10 generally). I'm trying to sell the Eradication damage IOs right now, and they're not moving. But I think it's just a matter of time. Tonight there were 24 for sale, and 10 of those are mine. There were 61 people bidding. The last five sales were all for 10 million, which is pretty low, the recipe was going for 20 million and more just five days ago. But with so few for sale, I suspect someone will be willing to pay my price soon and then once you have a last 5 showing most people paying 15 or 20 million per IO, other people are more willing to bid that high themselves. At least, that's my theory. ^_^

I've crafted & sold most of the Oblits for 25 million each on average, although I still have 3 listed.

I crafted the Gift of the Ancients tonight and listed a few of them. (That order had filled too -- I have 10 IOs now.) Right now they're selling in the 20 million range.



I joined an ITF tonight and got to level 49 and within 2.5 bubbles of 50. I should hit 50 the next time I play, but I want it to be on a TF or something and not something like a radio mission team. We'll see what I can join tomorrow.

I also converted 50 more merits and got my Numina unique. I ran the ITF before crafting and slotting it, and even with just the Miracle I noticed a dramatic improvement in how quickly my endurance bar ran down during battle.

This character is a lot of fun to play. Having the smashing/lethal defense on an ITF is nice. Not that I can't be easily debuffed, but we had several melee to draw aggro, there were only a few times where I was drawing aggro and I managed to stay on my feet for the time needed for someone else to take aggro or for the enemies to die. ^_^



Bear in mind that I've spend 80 million converting merits into villain merits over the last four days. ^_^

Day 20

Didn't have time to do much on Saturday. Sunday I goofed around with my brute Shinobu Hime on my third account for a bit, got her up to 37 now, and also spent time getting my level 45 brute Shinobu Eden to rogue status (on my way back to being a hero and leader of Hero Force Alpha Assault again).

I've been marketing with my 3rd account brute and I have to say, AE is still not only the fastest way to level but also the fastest way to make money starting from zero. In four days since I created the account I'm up to about 300 million with no outside help.

Meanwhile, AE Baby is not really making any money. I have a bunch of Eradication damage IOs that won't sell -- or at least, won't sell for the price I want to sell them for. It confuses me a bit because there are not a lot for sale and there are about three times that many people bidding, but eh. I'm going to have to pull them down and try something different here soon, I have 10 days to come up with the cash I need for my last few IOs and Hami-Os.

Anyway, I played AE Baby today. I joined an ITF and hit 50 fairly early into it.



We had no real tank. In fact, what we had were four defenders, a dom, a blaster, a crab, and me the fire/kin corr. You want to know why 8 defenders (buffers) > 8 good soloers (scrappers/brutes/blasters etc.)? Take a look at my numbers above -- capped at 400% damage bonus (which I was for nearly the entire task force) and smashing/lethal damage of over 150%. Tank? What's a tank?

Anyway having hit 50 I promptly ran my Mender Ramiel arc and opened up my Alpha slot. I solo'd the whole thing. Still at -1/1 mind you, but I only died once in the rikti Honoree/Holtz fight, and I was actually able to rez right there and finish off Holtz (Hero1 was already down). I used my vet rez mind you, it has the advantage of making me invulnerable for a few moments. But otherwise I could have run back from the Vanguard base and still finished it off. ^_^

Point is, I can solo pretty well.

I joined a Lamda after that. In the evening after running an ITF on my scrapper Trinkets and then a Cathedral of Pain (also on Trinkets), I went back for another incarnate trial.



Some guy who I know I've teamed with before was starting a trial. I sent him a tell immediately saying I'd join. I waited. After two minutes he broadcast that he had room for six more. I send a second tell. I waited. Finally, he said he was full -- never replying to my tells in any way.

Possibly he was busy and bombarded with tells, but also I wondered if he'd just decided to ignore me because of the name. Anyway, I 1-starred him with notes explaining what had happened, just because I was annoyed. Not like the guy had such a fantastic RP-worthy name himself.

I joined another BAF that was forming and we cleaned house, no escapees, AVs went down like clockwork. I even was made leader of one of the teams, so no wondering if someone was reading "PL'd noob" into my silly name. I stayed with that team for a second BAF (a little more ragged the 2nd time) and then for a Lamda.



All told I got two commons, and then on the last two trials a rare and a very rare. Haven't unlocked anything yet but I'm close.



Plus I was finally able to claim the Ascension armor that the game has been bugging me about for three weeks.

Gratz!!

Gratz!!!!!

Gratz on L50!

I've enjoyed reading along during the adventure.


Cheers,
4

The big adventure now is to get enough money to finish the build. I have 800 million, but I estimate I'll need 1.4 to 1.5 billion. And I sold very little over the weekend.

What I need are 4 Enzymes, a Ragnarok proc (pretty cheap from what I remember) and 4 Luck of the Gambler +7.5% global recharges (which I'm buying with a-merits, I bought one tonight so I just need 3 more).

So the first thing I did tonight... well actually was to join a Lambda. But after that! I pulled down everything I had for sale that wasn't selling and relisted it much lower. Sometimes you just have to cut your losses.

I have been following your adventures since the very begining. It makes for good coffee reading every morning at work. Congratz on your 50!!! Wish I had the time or courage to start up one of these.

This is a very interesting read! As a longtime extremely casual player, I've learned quite a few things, and I've been entertained. Kudos!

Villain Plan by Mids' Villain Designer 1.942
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Level 50 Magic Corruptor
Primary Power Set: Fire Blast
Secondary Power Set: Kinetics
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Leadership
Power Pool: Speed
Ancillary Pool: Mace Mastery

Villain Profile:
Level 1: Fire Blast -- Decim-Acc/Dmg(A), Decim-Dmg/EndRdx(3), Decim-Dmg/Rchg(7), Decim-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(29), Decim-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(34)
Level 1: Transfusion -- Nictus-Heal(A), Nictus-Heal/HP/Regen/Rchg(3), Nictus-Acc/Heal(5), Nictus-%Dam(11), Nictus-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(29)
Level 2: Fire Ball -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(5), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(7), Posi-Dmg/Rng(13), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(21), Ragnrk-Knock%(40)
Level 4: Siphon Power -- Acc-I(A), RechRdx-I(9)
Level 6: Combat Jumping -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), DefBuff-I(15), LkGmblr-Def(37)
Level 8: Fire Breath -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(9), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(11), Posi-Dmg/Rng(15), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(21), RechRdx-I(50)
Level 10: Siphon Speed -- Acc-I(A), RechRdx-I(13), RechRdx-I(43)
Level 12: Boxing -- KntkC'bat-Acc/Dmg(A), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx(40), KntkC'bat-Dmg/Rchg(40), KntkC'bat-Knock%(42)
Level 14: Tough -- S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(A), S'fstPrt-ResKB(43)
Level 16: Maneuvers -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), HO:Enzym(17), HO:Enzym(17), Krma-ResKB(43)
Level 18: Blaze -- Decim-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(A), Decim-Acc/Dmg(19), Decim-Dmg/EndRdx(19), Decim-Dmg/Rchg(34), Decim-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(37)
Level 20: Speed Boost -- Efficacy-EndMod/Rchg(A)
Level 22: Weave -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), LkGmblr-Def(23), HO:Enzym(23)
Level 24: Aim -- Rec'dRet-ToHit(A), Rec'dRet-ToHit/Rchg(25)
Level 26: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(27), RechRdx-I(27)
Level 28: Super Speed -- Zephyr-ResKB(A)
Level 30: Increase Density -- RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx(A), RctvArm-ResDam/Rchg(31), RctvArm-EndRdx/Rchg(31), RctvArm-ResDam(31)
Level 32: Inferno -- Oblit-Dmg(A), Oblit-Acc/Rchg(33), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg(33), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(33), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(34)
Level 35: Transference -- RechRdx-I(A), Efficacy-EndMod/Acc/Rchg(36), Efficacy-EndMod/Rchg(36), Efficacy-Acc/Rchg(36), Efficacy-EndMod/Acc(37)
Level 38: Fulcrum Shift -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(39), RechRdx-I(39), RechRdx-I(39)
Level 41: Scorpion Shield -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), LkGmblr-Def(42), HO:Enzym(42)
Level 44: Web Envelope -- Enf'dOp-Acc/Rchg(A), Enf'dOp-EndRdx/Immob(45), Enf'dOp-Acc/EndRdx(46), Enf'dOp-Immob/Rng(46), Enf'dOp-Acc/Immob/Rchg(46), Enf'dOp-Acc/Immob(50)
Level 47: Rain of Fire -- Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(A), Posi-Acc/Dmg(48), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(48), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(48), Posi-Dmg/Rng(50)
Level 49: Inertial Reduction -- Jump-I(A)
Level 0: Born In Battle
Level 0: High Pain Threshold
Level 0: Invader
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- ULeap-Stlth(A)
Level 2: Rest -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 1: Scourge
Level 4: Ninja Run
Level 2: Swift -- Run-I(A)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 2: Health -- Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(A), Mrcl-Rcvry+(45)
Level 2: Stamina -- P'Shift-EndMod(A), EndMod-I(25), P'Shift-End%(45)

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Thanks !

Try as I might, I can't keep myself from posting.

I'd like to encourage everyone to only point out errors that are just so brazen, to not do so would be an injustice to some unsuspecting new player who happens to come along.

I was once a "noob". In many ways, I still am. I left the game for a long time, and have come back. The folks that write these guides, for whatever reasons they may have, are doing a fine job of educating new players and returning players.

Myself, through some old school knowledge I had before, and some tips within the forums, I've turned a paltry 23 million (combined from 10 level 50s that I already had) into several billions.

I would like to do one of these - but I can't discount my knowledge of the game. I can choose to not claim specific vet powers. (and certainly, at lower levels the Sands of Mu and Nemesis Staff are very nice to have!)

Yet, only my experience is going to tell me that the tutorial is going to give me two 3rd tier inspirations that I can sell for enough to put some bids on underpriced recipes.

I applaud the efforts of the OP, and others who post their guides, and those who constructively correct the rest of us.

Have fun with your experiment. Fire/Kins are fun! At least my level 22 is so far.

Day 22

I think we've agreed that whatever "results" I might get from my experiment here are skewed by my used of vet rewards, by my own knowledge of the market and the game, and by the fact that I gained a lot of levels during a double exp weekend. But I'd still say that the overall point is just to show how to furnish a nice build on your own by the time you hit 50, or not much after.

Anyway, we can now add one more thing that is going to skew my results by quite a bit:




I ran 5 tip missions tonight, solo at -1/1, and got these two drops in successive missions. It's not the first time I've gotten two purple drops in one day, but certainly the first time I got two such very nice drops at practically the same time, and with so little effort. Not only would I not expect anyone else to manage that -- I doubt I could manage it given another fifty or one hundred tries.

But I'm not complaining. ^_^

What I did tonight:

1. Ran two BAFs and unlocked my Judgment slot (and slotted it with a T1).

2. Picked up some Ascension armor and two emotes, swoon and collapse. Those two are lots of fun, and I have swoon on my 2nd account and keep trying to use it on my first. Now I can.

3. Ran the five tip missions.

4. Converted 50 merits. Sold 5 IOs on the market.

5. Joined a Silver Mantis with friends.



I was frankly surprised at how many badges I have. I know I grabbed all of the explore badges that I could -- or at least, all of the ones that would lead to merits. I pretty much ignored history and other badges that didn't yield merits. And I still haven't set foot inside an AE building. But... over 500 badges? (I'm at 511 after the Silver Mantis tonight). That's kinda neat. In fact, Mouse Police on Virtue is over 1,000 but I'm not sure how many other of my characters have over 500.

Just to compare, here's my new brute on my new account. All I've done with this character is AE and marketing:



Heh.

An interesting and absorbing read. Thanks for taking the time to post, and grats on your 50!

I have been stuck in "bad" niches before, with my optimistic high priced stuff not shifting, so I routinely sell stuff 20-40% below the "last 5" rather than gambling on the price going up again. A lot of this is due to my DB/Elec Brute splatting through CEBR and picking up random recipes. I have no clue whether (lots of) random recipes > (not many) cherry picked niche recipes, but ultimately there's no difference (to me) between "more money than you'll ever need" and "lots more money than you'll ever need".

Hopefully this will help others.

-H

Day 23



Here you see just about everything you need to know about how my day went.

1. Converted 50 merits and bought my second Luck of the Gambler +7.5% recharge.

2. Crafted and listed my two purple IOs. The Armageddon sold instantly for 535 million. I probably could have listed higher then, but I'm not going to complain about that. ^_^ I did list them both fairly high -- you pretty much can not go wrong listing purple IOs at the high end of the sell range, someone will pay that price soon enough.

3. I have 18 IOs for sale (17 in the picture) and NOTHING sold overnight or all day. I pulled down a bunch of the Eradication damage IOs that I had ALREADY pulled down and relisted at a "more reasonable" price. I think I just need to hand them out on the street corner or something.

The other things I have listed -- Eradication dam/rech, acc/rech, and Gift of the Ancient defense -- are selling for much higher than my list price, so it's probably only a matter of time before the ones listed even lower than mine sell out, and mine will sell. I think. Maybe.

(I crafted and listed a couple more random drops -- Doctored Wounds recharge (instant sale for something over 5 million) and a Scirocco's Dervish dam/rech I think. And a Cleaving Blow, not sure why I crafted that one.)

I purchased my Ragnarok proc, crafted and slotted it. It was more than I remember them going for but not so bad -- $75 million, buy it NAO price.

I check out Enzymes. They are going for twice as much as a month ago. I bought several of these in the Spring for 300 million, and a whole bunch in June and July for 350 million. I have at least 5 in my base that I bought at that price. But that doesn't help AE Baby, and they're currently selling for 500 to 700 million. Bleah! I need four of them too.

I ran 5 tip missions and burned down Croatoa again. 50 extra merits since it's my first time since coming back from rogue status. First time on this character at all I think.

No purple drops during my tip missions. Darn! No shards either. I've only earned 3 shards since opening up my alpha slot, and I have Judgment and Interface slotted already.

Did not run any trail today. Instead I did a Manticore with Shinobu Eden, got to 46, and then bought a Glad Armor 3% def IO from someone on the Market channel. Put that in my base. I'm not sure what I'll do with it yet, but I had the money and he wanted to sell, and I like having an extra of those lying about just in case. ^_^ My last one I used on Shinobu Eden, to try and push her smashing/lethal and energy/neg energy defense up to near-trial levels.