50 Days to 50 - A Self-Challenge and RP Journal

Hello, folks!

I am one of those poor pathetic creatures who has never known the joy of hitting level 50. So, to fix this, I am setting myself a challenge: I will reach level 50 in the next 50 days by merely averaging one measly level gained per day. That can't be that hard, right?

Now, it would be silly to think that I'm only going to gain one level on each day that I play. It's also silly to think I have time to play every single day. Thus, by setting the goal of *averaging* one level a day, I can measure my progress while still being realistic.

In order to provide myself with some extra motivation, I've decide to do some mild RP along the way and journal my experiences for you to read and comment on. I will provide in character and out of character updates as often as I reasonably can.

At this point, I've already rolled up the character, a Corruptor with Fire Blast/Cold Domination powers named (obviously enough) Blue Fenix. I will update with the first journal entry tonight or tomorrow.

Rules/Goals for my challenge:
-Try to reach level 50 in the next 50 days!
-Post a journal update for (almost) every day I play on.
-Team whenever possible
-Avoid AE farms and similar ho-hum no-challenge modes of leveling
-Influence will be passed down from higher level characters (and donations accepted) just to save some time
-Don't bother with a fancy IO build - Either slot SO's, Common IOs, or whatever's cheap.
-Have fun!

EDIT: To clarify, that's 50 consecutive real-life days. "Day 1" was August 23rd, and Day 50 will be sometime in October.

Sounds like fun . Much success on that .

I'm glad you put ' *averaging one level per day* '..Ive been able to, by just doing solo missions mind you and not hardcore playing, and not during 2xp weekend, get characters from 1 to mid-20's almost 30 in a weekend. But that's me..I wish you the best of luck and can't wait to see your updates.

When you hit the higher levels (i.e. 37+) - what I used to do was grind newspaper missions set on Ruthless (don't know how that difficulty settings translates into the new difficulty system.)

Update #1

Days so far: 1
Remaining days: 49
Level: 10
Average Levels Per Day: 10
Outlook: So far, so good!

IC:

The shores of Mercy Island are no stranger to the strange. Today's catch - an orb of ice, larger than a man and slightly distended, as if a glacier had laid an egg - lies on the beach. An indistinct figure can be seen through the frosted shell, curled up like a child sleeping. As the day wears on, the heat of sun and sand begins to penetrate the frozen orb, and its surface shines with meltwater.

From the rocks above the shoreline, a woman clad in red floats gracefully down to the sand, her face and body hidden beneath mask and armor. She contemplates this bizarre addition to her island silently for a moment before activating a radio transmitter in her helmet.

"Arbiter Smythe, I've found him. I told you my vision was correct. Send a squad and a medical team immediately. Kalinda out."

*****

The first thing I remember - clearly remember, I mean - is waking in an Arachnos medical bay without a name. Everything before that is a haze, though I know I remember flying. Flying, and falling.

They told me I had washed up on the shore, victim of a shipwreck or something like that, but I don't think I believe it. The next few days were all tests and training. They (and I, I must admit) wanted to see what I could do, and how. How much weight can my wings support? How far away can I call up a snowstorm? How do I generate blue fire that doesn't burn, but freezes? "Magic," they told me, and I laughed bitterly.

Eventually, I got to meet Kalinda. She was nothing but evasive answers and BS about 'destiny'. Sign up, be a team player, rule the world - sorry lady, not my thing. I left as soon as she'd let me, but she insisted we'd meet again. Not if I can help it. The only thing of value I got from Arachnos was a name, and the stupid mook who punched my ID card couldn't even spell that right. I'm 'Blue Fenix' now, and I guess that'll have to do.

*****

Mercy Island itself is a cesspit of chaos. I'd complain more about getting mugged three times in the same day if I actually had anything to steal. At least punching their faces in made me feel better. I even took out a Longbow squad that was rounding up 'suspicious characters'. The smug bastards deserved it, though I suspect they don't waste their best men on petty crooks and outcasts like us.

Things started looking up when I 'negotiated' my way aboard a ferry to Port Oakes. At least there's a smattering of civilization here, fast food joints, tumble-down apartments, and a shipping yard. "No jobs for freaks," though, as I found out from every manager and foreman in town. You'd think they'd pay us a few bucks during the day to do a little lifting and shoving, 'cause as I found out, most of us just come back at night and take what we want anyway.

I managed to find a few like-minded individuals, though none too bright. We can make a living, at least, in between dodging the cops, the arbiters, the Family, Longbow, and the Council. It wasn't long before we got fed up enough to decide we should hit a bigger target. Bank robbery, is, well, kind of thrilling, to tell the truth, and I could finally splurge a bit - hotel room, hot bath, juicy steak, and a warm bed. Even with all that, in my dreams I'm cold. Always cold, and falling.

OOC:

Day 1 of the challenge went pretty smoothly. I decided to roll up a Fire/Cold Corruptor, a combo I'd never played before, for the following gameplay reasons:

-Good balance between damage output and team support (compared to most Blasters or most Defenders)
-Good AoE/Single Target balance
-Able to solo at a pace I find reasonable if no team is available
-I hadn't tried the new AoE team shields yet, and I wanted to see if it made a 'bubbler' more fun
-Fire Blast is known for high damage output
-Cold Domination is known for contributing to both mass-combat (Sleet, shields for allies) and big boss (AV, GM, etc.) fights (Benumb, Infrigidate, and Heat Loss)

As for RP/concept considerations:

-Always wanted a character based on the 'Blue Fenix' screen name I've been using for years, but never had a successful one
-I have Angel wings at level 1 from a vet reward, which fit with the concept and costume well
-Power customization is letting me have blue Fire, so I'm not forced into Ice/Cold to match the concept

Being a Corruptor meant I had to start in Praetoria or the Rouge Isles. I've had issues finding teams in Praetoria in the past, though, so I decide to start villain-side and see how that worked out. I've always got the option to mess with alignment later on anyway, and I'd like to think I'm already hinting at that in my IC writing and how I'm RP'ing the character.

My first night of play was mostly small teams, paper missions, and a couple bank robberies. Getting up to 10 means I'm starting to get a sense of how this guy will play, though of course many defining powers (Blaze, Sleet, T9's, etc.) are far off. I picked up Hover for combat use, and will get Flight as my main travel power eventually. Suggestions on powers and pools, especially ones that could be thematically fitting or unusual builds are welcome.

At this point, I'm having fun and looking forward to working my way up into the teens in the next day or two. 12, 20, and 22 are always big turning points for any character I play, for reasons that should be obvious to those who know the mechanics of this game. I'm also well on my way to the one-level-average-per-day.

Update #2

Days so far: 2
Remaining days: 48
Level: 17
Average Levels Per Day: 8.5
Outlook: Easy as pie!

IC:

I should have been more careful. It was less than a week after my last bank robbery and I already had Longbow knocking down my door. None of those green recruits from my Mercy Island days, either; these guys were serious business.

Everyone's told me you're supposed to just shut up if one of the goon squads takes you, no matter what faction they're from. I couldn't keep quiet after what they told me, though. One of the punks I pulled a job with turned out to be a real sicko, spent the money on munitions and blew up a freaking orphanage. I'm not proud of what I've had to do to survive, but I never wanted to be one of those card-carrying, maniacal laughter villains. Longbow offered me a way out. I took it. I squealed.

As soon as I was on the streets again, I pulled out my emergency stash and spent the last bills on a ride over to Cap Au Diable. I couldn't chance my rep in Port Oakes catching up to me after a run-in with the law like that. C.A.D. turned out to not be that much of a change from where I'd been, anyway. Run down, smelly, and full crooks and freaks like me. I decided, this time, I would take charge of the jobs. At least that way I could cut down on the number of madmen I'm forced to trust with my life.

Things have gone well for me here, so far. I've built up some contacts, recruited allies, and pulled a few slick heists. My powers are developing as well - I'm faster than I was, more accurate, harder hitting. Sometimes I can't tell if it's because of all the practice I've had lately, or if things I used to know how are coming back to me, but I've found a few new tricks, too.

This week, I started having flashbacks. Just a moment or two at a time, images of fights and burning buildings, the sound of screams and gunfire. Once, I suddenly remembered dinner with someone (a friend? an enemy?), drinking tea and laughing cynically together at some misfortune. But I can't see his face, or recognize his voice. I still don't know who I am, and I'm not really sure if it matters.

OOC:

A second night of teaming and all is well. I decided to lead instead of follow this time, and I managed to hold together a group of 5 or more (with various additions and losses over time) for at least a couple hours. This pulled me all the way to level 17 before I decided to take a break.

So far, I'm definitely enjoying this character and this build. The changes to how shield powers like Glacial Shield work have definitely made my life far easier. I do find myself occasionally missing the buff on someone who's at range or lagging behind the group, but that's not too hard to fix by just casting it again on them. I get to offer a lot of extra survival to the group with minimal effort, and that feels great.

Offensively, I'm enjoying Fire Ball and Rain of Fire for the sheer AoE BURNING. I picked up Hasten for the sake of having these up more often, but I've skipped out on Fire Breath for now. The Fire Breath animation has always felt too slow and clunky, and I want to have more time available for keeping more important powers in play.

I've also dipped into the medicine pool for Aid Other, which I don't expect to actually slot or use very heavily. My main goal there is to pick up Aid Self eventually, to cut down on the number of times I have to retreat or take time to use rest after grabbing too much AoE aggro. If only I could cast shields on myself.... oh well.

2 days and 17 levels down! I may not be able to play again for a day or two, but this weekend should see some more significant progress.

Any suggestions on things to do once I hit the 20 to 25 range? Zones? Alignment? Powers? IOs? Anything you want to see in my RP?

Nice!

A note on fire breath - I believe there is a new animation for it available, so check the costume powers section. I really like all of the new fire animations And Fireball + Firebreath is really good! Give it a try, I think you'll like it when they are both well slotted.

Question: Is this "over a period of 50 days" or "50 days that I've played not including the need to take a break every now and then?"

I guess what I mean is, consecutive 50 or total 50?

Update #3

Days so far: 3
Remaining days: 47
Level: 18
Average Levels Per Day: 6
Outlook: Squishy

IC:

Some days, it pays to read the morning paper, and other days it's nothing but trouble. For example, a local tabloid recently ran an 'exclusive interview' with Bobby "Ears" Vinotto, a lieutenant among the Mooks. I had a run in with them a few weeks back over a jewel heist, and Bobby didn't take it very well. He decided to call me out in the paper, calling me all sorts of names and saying I tried to seduce his girlfriend. ******* didn't have the freaking balls to even say it to my face.

Of course, in the Rogue Isles you can't just let slander like that stand. It's business and personal. I tracked Bobby down to an old office building where he'd holed up with some of his grunts and went in alone to teach him a lesson. I blasted through his guards easily. When I found him, Bobby was bragging to his right-hand man about some time he ran into Ghost Widow and managed to not die. What a blowhard. Three minutes later he and his buddies were on the floor. I don't think he'll be doing any interviews again for a while, especially with his jaw and fingers busted.

On the way out, I noticed some crates stacked up in one of the offices. The Family's always had connections to smuggling and contraband, so I popped the lids and rummaged around. There were some guns, bullet-proof vests, that sort of stuff, but the real score was two crates full of high-end medical supplies. They had drugs, bandages, IV's, and even some of those high-tech wound-repairing nanobots that just came on the market a few months back. Strangely enough, as I gathered the supplies up and considered just how much black market value I could get out of them, I realized - I know how to use this stuff. It just came to me, the full details of dosage and interaction warnings, and how to administer an IV. Even the nano-tech felt weirdly familiar.

I ended up holding on to the medical stuff, if only because it seemed to finally give me a link to my past. It's come in handy a few times since then, but what the connection really means is still a mystery to me.

OOC:

Having just filled out all my slots with DO's, I decided it was time to solo a little and gauge my current performance. I ran a few paper missions and realized the following truths:

1) I can kill things fast.

2) I die fast too.

I hit level 18 and picked up Blaze, which definitely improved my damage output a lot, but I'm currently feeling REALLY squishy. I suppose once I pick up Arctic Fog and Sleet, things will get better. For now, I'll just keep teaming or turn the difficulty slider way down when I need to solo.

hahaha this is awesome , im wishing you all the best in this .

i've often set goals for myself in this game to help keep me engaged and its always fun tracking someone elses progress on a goal oriented climb like this , don't dissapoint me and let this fall by the wayside as i'll be cheering you on .

Update #4

NOTE: Update #3, above, has also been edited to add the IC part I had planned but didn't get around to writing before.

Days so far: 7
Remaining days: 43
Level: 26
Average Levels Per Day: 3.7
Outlook: Busy

IC:

This is where my story gets twisted. A friend of a friend put in me in touch with Vincent Ross, an ex-member of the Legacy Chain bent on revenge. At first, this was just a standard snatch-and-run, picking up some sort of Coralax artifact for him, but things got complicated.

It turns out the Blood Coral he sent me to find has some serious mojo behind it, the kind of power that gets into your mind. Something in my subconscious tried to tell me this was a nuke waiting to blow. I should have listened; instead I got caught up in Ross's own special brand of insanity. We put together a ritual that let me contact the mind of the Leviathan, an incredible, ancient beast powered by the metaphysical remnants of a dead god. Don't ask me how that works.

Nothing went as planned. Nothing ever does. I made it out alive and with most of my brain intact, as far as I could tell. And even better, I had a link to the Leviathan's power ready to use when the Legacy Chain came calling. Two hundred of their mages and warriors came down on me and Vincent, and I made the worst mistake I can remember. I called upon the power stored in the Blood Coral to save myself.

For five long minutes, I literally held the power of a god. That was all the time I needed to burn down my foes with cold fire, freeze them into submission, and thwart their petty magics with my own. Two hundred members of the Legacy Chain assaulted me. Two hundred died. I hovered over our urban battlefield and watched them fall before me.

And I enjoyed it.

OOC:

Over the last few days I've been catching a few hours of play here and there between work and spending time with my friends and girlfriend. Fortunately, I've managed to complete some interesting solo content in that time, as well as jump on a few good teams (including one Sister Psyche TF), bringing me up to level 26 in only a single week of play time. Leveling will be slower from here on out, I expect.

In the last few levels since getting Artic Fog, my build hasn't progressed too much. There are enough powers in my two sets that just don't appeal to me enough or aren't very practical (the snipe from Fire Blast, Snow Storm, Frostworks, etc.) that I've been able to start dipping into power pools a good bit. So far, I've got Hover, Fly, Hasten, Aid Other, and Aid Self. Aid Self has turned out to be a real boon for both solo and team content, and this is the first time I've really had a character that took it and made good use of it. I think I'll take Resuscitate and Recall Friend eventually, as I've got enough room in my build and those powers will add some good teaming utility.

I know, I know, "Take leadership for support!" you tell me, "It increases teh defense and teh DPS!" Yeah, well, I've done the leadership thing. It's popular, because it works. That said, I felt like going a different direction here. In fact, my power choices have given me fresh ideas about Blue Fenix's backstory, as I've already started showing with the whole medical supplies thing in Update #3.

In fact, I'm loving the way this character's personality and story are evolving to match some of the content I'm running. The Bobby 'Ears' paper mission and the Vincent Ross story arc provided some great character development opportunity and inspiration.

I've changed alignment to Rogue now, and I'm starting to run content in Paragon City. I've also got a new costume (which reminds me, I haven't posted any screen shots yet! Oh no!). I've also got my main build slotted out with Common IO's. I probably won't bother with sets at all for now, except maybe a couple of important procs/specials like the Steadfast +3% defense and Perf Shifter: Chance for +End.

Up next: The grind to 32, in search of Benumb and Inferno, two powers I can't wait to try out!

((May I suggest Snow Storm? At least try it. The Slow and -Rech are real boons for squishy characters as it reduces the attacks that come your way. Not to mention with enough Slow enhancement it'll keep things from running out of your Rain of Fire.

Love it so far, Fenix. Write on, play on, rock on!))

Heya Blue! I believe we did that Sister Psyche TF together. Do you remember a lawyer anti-hero named Opening Statement?

This is an awesome idea. You've inspired me to try something similar.

Update #5

Days so far: 9
Remaining days: 41
Level: 31
Average Levels Per Day: 3.44
Outlook: Up and down like a roller-coaster

IC:

The glowing light in the Blood Coral faded away along with the Leviathan's presence in my mind. The power was gone, and I dropped to my knees amid the remains of my enemies. A fierce pain shot through my head. My mind was my own once more, and I could finally see the true horror my ambition had wrought.

I retreated from that scene mentally, drawing inward to calm my thoughts. A new memory bubbled up to the surface - a conversation. No vision, just voices, mine and a woman's.

*****

"It's all my fault," I said.

"No, no it isn't," she said, "You didn't do anything."

"Exactly!" I shouted at her, "I. Did. NOTHING. I could have warned someone, or called the cops, or, or, something. Their blood is on MY hands now."

"No, love, listen to me," she said, and I could feel her hand on my shoulder, "You didn't do this. It was the other doctors, the Crey corporation, they're the ones responsible, right?"

I couldn't answer that, not through the tears.

"You're a healer, remember? That's why you got into this in the first place, to help people, to make a better world. You're a healer, love, not a killer. I know you."

*****

The flashback ended and I wondered if she was right, not to mention who she might have been. I heard cars and sirens and knew I couldn't stay and weep any longer. I fled, not just from the scene but from the city and that island and myself. When I finally stopped to catch my breath and consider, I realized I finally had a clue to my past. The Crey corporation.

I couldn't stay in the Rogue Islands any more, not after that show of power and the number of factions who would be at my throat. I decided to track down the main Crey labs and offices to see if I could dig anything up, and I'd look for a new place to rebuild my life in the mean time. It was time to visit Paragon City.

OOC:

Well, there's good news and bad news. The good news is, I'm continuing to enjoy this character, this journal, and the journey, and I've had a few people comment that they're following my progress, so that's cool. The bad news is, I lost my real-life job this week. Unemployment paperwork and job hunts, here I come! At least I'll have more time to play?

Since changing alignment to Rogue, I've mostly been teaming up with folks in Paragon, with the occasional solo mission. I've run a Sister Psyche and Citadel TF this past week, as well as some radio and tip missions. A few lucky drops (such as Steadfast Protection +3% defense recipe) and a tiny bit of marketing (buying high-end recipes and crafting the IO to resell) have made it fairly easy to keep my build kitted out with Common IOs and a couple of useful proc's, as well as build up a little nest egg for future investment or building.

New powers recently include Benumb (which is quite handy for dealing with Bosses), Recall Friend, and Resuscitate. I'm a bit torn on that last one, as it fits the character but doesn't see as much use as I might like. So many people carry wakies or have other rez powers these days, it hardly seems worth talking. Perhaps in a later build I'll drop it for something from my main power sets, I dunno.

I'm closing in on 32, which means Inferno, and then 35 and 38 will bring my last two major powers (Sleet and Heat Loss). After that, I'm really not sure what to do with epic pools, as I have almost no experience there. Any advice?

Yeah Fire/Cold is great. It really shines in a team, so as you seem to be doing so, stay in a team so you can take full advantage of your shields/AoEs, and only solo if you need to really.

Endurance will be a problem levelling up, I used to use the Recovery Serum temp. since every little helps. I know some people knock it, but I really like Fire Breath (with the new animation) for some more AoE. When you get Sleet/RoF combo at 35 it's quite a tidy opener due to the KD.

Update #6

NOTE: This update is blatantly incomplete but I need to post it now before I shut down my computer for the night. Will fix tomorrow.

Days so far: 10
Remaining days: 40
Level: 33
Average Levels Per Day: 3.3
Outlook: Nuclear

IC:

Paragon, the City of a Thousand Heroes. What a place for a crook like me to hide from his crimes. My first step was a new outfit, something that would hide my face and maybe provide a little padding. Next, hair dye - I can't just chop off my wings, but coloring my feathers and hair differently is the next best thing. You'd be surprised how many people completely overlook the wings in a city with so many metahumans.

As soon as I was confident enough in my disguise and litany of fake names, I started pickup mercenary work around the city. Turns out even the heroes need extra muscle on occasion, and enough of them aren't too particular about the source or price. I started building up a network again and researched Crey's operations in my downtime.



OOC:

I think you have this one in the bag mate , im still rooting on you though

Hard to believe it's been nearly 6 months since this challenge. I realized I should probably post a final update just for the sake of closure. So, here it is...

Update #Final

I did it! I actually did hit level 50 with this character before the 50 days were up. Unfortunately, I don't remember exactly which day I finished on. I also feel a bit guilty, of course, that I stopped updating this and never finished writing the story.

Since then, I've done some Incarnate trials and tweaked out my build a bit. I've also been on and off CoH at various times, worked on other characters and projects, etc. But I am very happy indeed that I at least have a level 50 character now and got to see the endgame content.

In any case, thanks again to everyone who supported me in this, even if it was just a "Cool story, bro." I am considering doing another challenge and maybe IC journal again soon, but I'm not sure at this point what kind of character, challenge, etc. would be fun. Suggestions are welcome!

I was wondering how that turned out for you Fenix. Myself, I thought it was a very ambitious challenge, but I've been levelling far slower than you, but I also have alt-itis.

Good work tho, maybe it will provide a kick in the pants to some other slow levellers.