They did, it was much slower before. Personally I found that after 40 it went quicker or at least felt that way.
Father Xmas - Level 50 Ice/Ice Tanker - Victory
$725 and $1350 parts lists --- My guide to computer components
Tempus unum hominem manet
It has been smoothed at all levels. That still doesn't mean later levels don't get bigger and take longer. I assure you no character is done at that level, they're really just getting started.
However 35-40 is the last big jump in opponent difficulty and size of each level, so there can still be a noticeable slowdown if you keep doing things the way you always did them. Sometimes it takes a bit of re-thinking. If your main goal is to level quickly you should always be ready to adjust your plans and tactics to improve xp over time.
I recommend a couple of things for people who complain leveling slow is getting them down:
- Alternate between a couple of characters at the same time so they always have some Patrol XP banked.
- Make sure the character isn't level pacted without a good reason to be.
- Make a point to bite the bullet and join the Weekly Strike Target whenever possible, even if you hate grouping.
- If you are a die hard soloist, find ways to change up your routine. Find some contacts with good story arcs so you can collect those end of arc bonuses, even if you don't care about reading the missions.
- Examine your character's overall Area Effect potential. When it's good, more lower level foes can often be better xp than bunches of higher level ones. Even if you're more of a single target monster, find a good mix so that you're not beating up the same boss for 3+ minutes, because killing 3 Lts in the same time span will be more xp and less hassle.
"Null is as much an argument "for removing the cottage rule" as the moon being round is for buying tennis shoes." -Memphis Bill
Quote:
These are simple yet HUGE pieces of advice. I generally switch between 2 to 3 regularly for patrol XP, I also log out in Police Stations, for the XP bonus it grants.|
Originally Posted by Lemur Lad
- Alternate between a couple of characters at the same time so they always have some Patrol XP banked.
- If you are a die hard soloist, find ways to change up your routine. Find some contacts with good story arcs so you can collect those end of arc bonuses, even if you don't care about reading the missions. - Examine your character's overall Area Effect potential. When it's good, more lower level foes can often be better xp than bunches of higher level ones. Even if you're more of a single target monster, find a good mix so that you're not beating up the same boss for 3+ minutes, because killing 3 Lts in the same time span will be more xp and less hassle. |
I've also found, with all my toons, that the level 32+ game is when my tactics and overall feel of a character begins to get refined for the endgame. The higher level mobs, with more mez and attacks, require new strategies and tactics that I didn't need in the early game. Thankfully I now start getting enough slots and powers to round out the build and advance as needed.
My eng/eng blaster became an assassin at this stage, picking up SS to compliment Stealth and ghosting missions to obliterate bosses as quick as I could. Where as before the 30's he'd been played as more of a take time before each group toon. Etc etc.
Lowering the difficulty to improve levelling speed would seem counter intuitive at first glance but it indeed works, if you have the AoE power to support it. My Fire/Fire Blaster for instance, his speed nearly doubled once I lowered the diff down to -1X4. Mobs just melt and speed increases as a result, faster clearing means faster end of mish bonuses!
Maestro Mavius - Infinity
Capt. Biohazrd - PCSAR
Talsor Tech - Talsorian Guard
Keep Calm & Chive On!
Quote:
These are really good suggestions. Thanks, Lemur Lad |
Originally Posted by Lemur Lad
It has been smoothed at all levels. That still doesn't mean later levels don't get bigger and take longer. I assure you no character is done at that level, they're really just getting started.
However 35-40 is the last big jump in opponent difficulty and size of each level, so there can still be a noticeable slowdown if you keep doing things the way you always did them. Sometimes it takes a bit of re-thinking. If your main goal is to level quickly you should always be ready to adjust your plans and tactics to improve xp over time. I recommend a couple of things for people who complain leveling slow is getting them down: - Alternate between a couple of characters at the same time so they always have some Patrol XP banked. - Make sure the character isn't level pacted without a good reason to be. - Make a point to bite the bullet and join the Weekly Strike Target whenever possible, even if you hate grouping. - If you are a die hard soloist, find ways to change up your routine. Find some contacts with good story arcs so you can collect those end of arc bonuses, even if you don't care about reading the missions. - Examine your character's overall Area Effect potential. When it's good, more lower level foes can often be better xp than bunches of higher level ones. Even if you're more of a single target monster, find a good mix so that you're not beating up the same boss for 3+ minutes, because killing 3 Lts in the same time span will be more xp and less hassle. |
Teaming makes levels go faster. I can gain a level in about an hour of good teaming or during a single ITF, for example.
my lil RWZ Challenge vid
Quote:
Yep, and try to get on a WST team every week, the XP bonus at the end can make a huge difference. I did the freakspec earlier this week on a level 43 and got 1.2 million XP at the end--fully half a level.
|
Originally Posted by Organica
Teaming makes levels go faster. I can gain a level in about an hour of good teaming or during a single ITF, for example.
|
My Characters
Knight Court--A CoH Story Complete 2/3/2012
How slow is slow? This is somewhat subjective. I feel like even my slowest-leveling characters make steady progress if I play them. The only ones that seem to drag are the powerset combos, costumes, and concepts I don't really enjoy. Maybe you'd like another character more and it wouldn't seem so bad?
If we are to die, let us die like men. -- Patrick Cleburne
----------------------------------------------------------
The rule is that they must be loved. --Jayne Fynes-Clinton, Death of an Abandoned Dog
i am a mostly solo player, who used to have altitis, and never got anyone above 25 for the first year or two i played. i finally got a rhythm going with my last toon that made hitting 50 feel so easy i was dumbfounded. hit level 20, got to talos (mind you this is a hero side method, haven't done a vill side yet), hit the default arc so you get your tips, run your 5 tips a day (i generally played every 2 or 3 days so i always had some patrol xp), and hit the WST, and make sure you hit your favorite story arcs, for me that varies by what "kind" of toon it is, but stuff like Croatoa and a quick trip to dark astoria are always on my list. between those 3 targets, i found i barely got all the arcs in that i wanted to do by the time i hit 50. i also made sure to get all the phalanx TF's done for the accolade, and all the badges and whatnot for for the other health/end accolades. actually was putting off psynapse tf for as long as i could but had to do it eventually before i got to 50 (stupid personal rules and all).
i find if you play while watching your xp bar, it behaves like a watched pot... never boils. if you set specific goals per play session, damned xp just creeps up on you, i swear.
Oh yeah, that was the time that girl got her whatchamacallit stuck in that guys dooblickitz and then what his name did that thing with the lizards and it cleared right up.
screw your joke, i want "FREEM"
Quote:
Another good reason for alternating between characters, other than saving up Patrol XP, is that you don't get bored playing the same character over and over again, which seems to be part of the OP's problem. I usually alternate between characters with different ATs and powersets so that I can experience a sense of variety. Also alternating between heroes/villains and different level ranges helps ensure a more varied experience.
|
Originally Posted by Lemur Lad
Alternate between a couple of characters at the same time so they always have some Patrol XP banked.
|
Quote:
Quoted for truth. If you make a habit of teaming all the time, you'll level faster than you know what to do with. Hang out in the badge/TF channels for your server. Form and run pick-up teams--for alignment tips or radio/newspaper missions if nothing else, or Task/Strike Forces if you have the time. Weeklies are good because you'll almost always find lots of level 50s willing to run them with you, and since they'll have 2 to 3 more powers than ordinary people at your level that makes it easier, but any reasonably short TF will have its fans. (Lots of folks like Hess, because who doesn't like fascists with giant robots?)|
Originally Posted by Organica
Teaming makes levels go faster. I can gain a level in about an hour of good teaming or during a single ITF, for example.
|
See the link in my signature for some advice on forming and running PUGs yourself. The nice thing about forming them yourself is that you don't have to wait for someone else to ask you, and you get to be in charge.
It can still feel like a grind sometimes in the post level 32 range, no matter what you do...but you can certainly minimize that time based upon some of the very good suggestions in this thread. I rolled a new toon on double XP weekend that is up to level 48 already despite playing my main more often. Having come back to the game recently after being gone for awhile, I have noticed (at least on Freedom) though that all of the post-30 zones like Bricks, FF, PI, etc. have a LOT less people than they used to. I try to team up as much as possible with this new toon and it can be hard to find a team sometimes. Since AE, you've got a lot of power levelers that don't use the traditional routes to level. You've also got a bunch of people spending time on the incarnate stuff. I remember I used to be able to step out of the train station in Bricks or FF and always find a team within a couple of minutes. Now, I may go into one of those zones and there will be only a handful of people in the entire zone.
In addition to joining TFs, you also might have more luck joining up with a team in the 20s and exemping down....if your goal is to get to 50, then you probably won't mind having some of your later powers unavailable when exemping if you can get on big teams more often...and you'll find teams more easily in the 20s in Talos. If I'm having trouble finding teams, I'll switch to my main...but if I see a big team forming or in need of people, then I'll just send a tell and ask if they mind if I switch to an alt to join up with them. Pretty much everyone won't have a problem with that. That way, I take advantage of opportunities to get on full teams when they are around, but I'm not sitting around waiting for teams or having to grind through solo missions to pass the time. Also, if I end up on a really bad PUG, then I just excuse myself at the end of the current mission and go elsewhere. Don't think it's cool to bail on teammates mid-mission. But if it's a bad team that is team-wiping for whatever reason, then I'll move on to something else after that mission is over. It's amazing how much time can be wasted on just 1 mission with a few teamwipes...waiting for people to hosp, re-zone, re-group, etc. If the team is using bad tactics, you've got a squishy tank, or whatever it is...then that problem won't go away and you'll certainly be grinding with a team like that.
Assuming you aren't already IOed, did you upgrade your enhancements to Lvl 40 SOs or are you still using Lvl 35 SOs while playing at Lvl 37? The difference is quite noticeable. 26.7% Vs 38.3% going from a -2 to a +3 with a single SO; 53.3% Vs 76.0% with two SOs (note ED is starting to kick in); and 79.0% Vs 97.3% with 3 SOs.
An occasional miss due to lower accuracy and reduced damage when you do hit could extend every encounter by several attacks, which then also reduces your remaining endurance forcing you to delay your next engagement by a few more seconds. All of that extra time does add up over the course of a mission.
Of course if you are IOed then that isn't an issue.
Father Xmas - Level 50 Ice/Ice Tanker - Victory
$725 and $1350 parts lists --- My guide to computer components
Tempus unum hominem manet
Run the ITF. That always seems make my xp bar move fast. 
Trying to level feels like I'm pushing against a very heavy weight, moving forward only a few inches at a time. I kinda wanted to "finish" the character I'm playing by getting her to level 50, but I'm losing interest because progress is so slow. It's the same moves with the same character over and over and over and over and over.
I thought leveling speed was increased at all levels? Shall I just call the character finished at level 37?