A Newbie's Guide To Incarnate "Leveling"

STEP 1: UNLOCKING THE ALPHA SLOT
Find Mender Ramiel in Ouroboros and run his story arc to unlock your Alpha Slot and begin your incarnate journey. You can also unlock the Alpha Slot by earning Incarnate Experience through running Incarnate Trials, purchasing Incarnate Experience by using Incarnate Threads (obtained by running Trials) or from a voucher you can buy from the Astral Merit Vendor (Christy) in Ouroboros for 5 Astral Merits. If you're a newbie to the system, it's probably easiest to just run the Mender Ramiel story arc. You can solo it fairly easily and quickly on the lowest settings. You can also unlock the slot in 2-3 runs of the Behavioral Adjustment Facility Trial.



You currently have 5 incarnate slots: Alpha, Destiny, Interface, Lore, Judgment. The Alpha slot can be slotted with shard-based components or thread-based components. The other 4 are all slotted with thread-based components. There are a variety of ways to acquire Incarnate Shards and the shard-based components such as running TFs, the weekly TF target, running regular missions, etc. I would recommend running the two easier Incarnate Trials (Behaviorial Adjustment Facility Trial and Lambda Sector Trial) and going with Incarnate Threads and thread-based components instead. It's a lot faster and easier. You can also run the Keyes Island Reactor Trial or the new Underground Trial but they are considered to be harder and probably not a good place to start for newbies. Keyes is not very popular and it probably will be hard to find teams for that one anyway. (NOTE - When looking at how to create the Alpha Slot powers, use the scroll bar on the right of the window to scroll down and see the thread-based components. The shard-based components are listed first for the Alpha Slot powers and it's a common mistake when people first look at this window to think that they can only be built with shard-based components). By the way, you can also convert your shards into threads if you accumulate some from other missions, TFs, etc.



Before you start running Incarnate Trials, it would be a good idea to check out the various incarnate powers that will be available and start planning out which powers you intend to select. You'll get a reward selection at the end of each successful trial. Rewards are thread-based components (Common, Uncommon, Rare and Very Rare). So if you know ahead of time what you need (especially for Rare and Very Rare components), then you can save yourself some time and influence. You can do sideways conversions of components and also downgrade them, but that can be inefficient and creating Rare and Very Rare components can be expensive and time-consuming. As I learned the hard way, you might have a go on a lot of trial runs to get a Rare or Very Rare component that you need. So it's a much smoother process if you don't waste them when you get them. You can access the "Incarnate Abilities" window at any time, no matter what level you are, by clicking on "Powers". It's listed right next to your "Combat Attributes" link and right-clicking any incarnate power will allow you to bring up the detailed info and attributes of the power.

As part of your planning strategy, keep in mind that the Alpha, Lore and Destiny slots each bring a level shift when you slot a Tier 3 or Tier 4 power in them. The Alpha Slot level shift applies for all content as long as you are running it at level 45 or higher. This means you'll be fighting at a level 51 combat level as long as you're running anything level 45 or higher. It won't actually change you to a level 51 for purposes of Hit Points, etc. but since you're at a higher combat level, it will make it easier for you to hit enemies and increase your survivability. The level shifts possible from the Lore and Destiny slots only apply when you're running Incarnate content. As a result, to increase your survivability and make the Incarnate Trials more fun and less frustrating as you're building your powers, I would recommend making a Tier 3 Alpha Slot power, Tier 3 Lore Power (pets) and Tier 3 Destiny power (self + ally buff) your top priority, in that order. For example, once you have all 3 level shifts, the bosses and elite bosses on the Trials should con red for you instead of Purple. The Tier 4 powers all require that you have crafted two Tier 3 powers to combine into one Tier 4 power. So it will generally take you twice as long to get a Tier 4 power than a Tier 3 power. That's why I recommend focusing on those three Tier 3 powers that give you a level shift before trying to boost any of those power up to Tier 4.

(NOTE ON CHAT LINGO - People will commonly refer to their tier powers as T1, T2, T3 or T4 to indicate which tier they have for that power. People will also refer to themselves as a level 51, 52 or 53....or as a +1, +2, +3...or as a +, ++, +++. This represents how many level shifts they've obtained for their toon. Only the Alpha Slot shift applies outside of the Incarnate content though and they will show as a 50 (+1). They won't show as a 50 (+2) or 50 (+3) until you enter the Incarnate content. You can check your own level shifts by looking at your "Combat Attributes" in the "Base Section" right under your "Threat Level".)

If you focus on your Tier 3 powers for Alpha, Lore and Destiny first, then you should figure out which Rare and Very Rare components you will need for them. When you complete Trials, if you have an option for a Rare or Very Rare component, then you can grab it and hang onto it. They can be costly and time-consuming to craft so if you can stockpile what you need as go along then you'll be able to get those level shifts faster. I keep a little cheat-sheet handy so I know what I need but you can always bring up your "Incarnate Abilities" window to check what you will need for certain powers before you confirm the Reward selection at the end of the Trial.



I'm just focusing on the Behaviorial Adjustment Facility Trial (commonly called "BAF" in chat) and the Lambda Sector Trial (commonly called "LAM" in chat) for purposes of quicker and easier obtaining of incarnate level shifts and powers. You should probably start out running the BAF first. It's the more basic of the two from a strategy standpoint and easier for a newbie to learn. You can run BAFs to unlock your Judgment and then Lore slots. Then, you can either run LAMs to unlock your Interface and then Destiny slots or you can also purchase XP towards those slots with threads and influence if you want to keep running BAFs. Keep in mind, these are just some general pointers for newbies. This is not intended to be an uber-strategy guide for running the trials.

Servers usually have a meeting place where people looking to run these trials gather up. For example, on Freedom there are always people gathered in Pocket D to run incarnate trials. The teams are run through the League system with BAF able to accommodate multiple teams up to 24 people total and LAM able to take multiple teams up to 16 people total.

Check elsewhere in these Forums or on the Paragon Wiki for detailed information on the incarnate trials including what's involved and typical strategies.

A FEW GENERAL TIPS FOR ALL INCARNATE TRIALS:

(1) Pay attention to your League Chat. Make sure you can view League Chat in your chat window and make sure you're communicating with your League-mates through League Chat. All of your instructions from the League Leader will come through League Chat. Some people utilize different strategies so pay attention.

(2) Check immediately after you zone (especially if your comp loads the zone faster than others) to make sure you didn't end up with the gold star (designates League Leader). The teams get shuffled (usually even if they are locked) when zoning and often the gold star ends up on someone other than the original League Leader. The person with the gold star is the only one who can re-balance and re-arrange the teams so it's important you promptly pass the gold star back to the original League Leader. This is done the same way as with a team, just right-click on their name to bring up the option. Teams are used to balance and organize people on different tasks for the trials so it's important that the League Leader is able to fix the teams after everyone zones.

(3) When in doubt, follow the League Leader. Eventually you'll run into people in your League who believe they know the only successful strategy to do something. If there are any contradictory instructions in League Chat, make sure you're following the instructions of the League Leader.

(4) Avoid "Badge" runs until you're more familiar with the trial. Certain tasks can lead to badges on the trial, but they make things much more challenging. You don't want to do something that accidentally costs the League the badge because you didn't know about the badge requirements. Also, new incarnates without any level shifts or incarnate powers may not be very useful on a badge run since the difficulty of success will probably be higher on a badge run instead of a normal run.

(5) Remember, you're on a team....a really big team. Your job is to follow the directions of the League Leader and help the team reach its goals. This isn't a time for you to prove to yourself how many mobs you can "solo" at one time or anything like that. Check your ego at the door.

(6) If you get disconnected, when you re-load, go to the "LFG" tab and you should be able to select an option to re-join your last event so you can get back into the trial. League leaders can't invite people once they are inside the trial, so if you get disconnected, then this is really your only way of getting back in.


A FEW TIPS SPECIFICALLY FOR BAF:

(1) Until you get some level shifts, you may find yourself a little squishy and find it hard to hit mobs. Stick with the group and try to avoid drawing extra aggro. Running off by yourself and getting killed won't do anyone any good.

(2) Stay back when the AVs are being pulled. Most people like to pull Nightstar and Seige to the middle of the map on the tennis courts. In the final battle, they need to be both defeated within a certain amount of time respective to each other. So it can help to keep them close together, especially to maximize use of AoE's. If someone is pulling one of the AVs towards the group, pay attention to what the League Leader wants. If you're too far up attacking and distracting the AV while a designated puller is trying to pull them to a certain spot, then that's not helpful.

(3) During the escape phase of the BAF, the League Leader generally splits teams up along the North and South path. Pay attention to which path you're supposed to be on. If you're not sure which is North or South, check your map or click on a teammate and see which path they are on. League Leaders generally try to balance the teams to keep a certain amount of control and damage on each team so it's important that you're where you are supposed to be.

(4) The escape phase awards one Astral Merit if no more than 20 prisoners escape. However, if no prisoners escape, then an extra Astral Merit is awarded. Some people get very serious about that extra Astral Merit so it is wise to pay attention and do your job on this phase. Generally, League Leaders will either utilize "door" or "choke" strategies or both. When the escapees exit their spawn points, the door strategy involves one or more people trying to stop the mobs at the spawn point so they never even make it onto the paths. The choke strategy involves blocking up the paths at certain points after the escapees make their way onto the main path that curves around the map.

(5) If you're a newbie, I'd recommend setting up camp on a choke point for the escapee phase rather than a door unless the League Leader instructs you otherwise. The escapees will not simply run loose after they spawn. They all follow the path for a certain distance before they will veer off the path and try to escape the compound. So if you camp at the right point, they will all come to you anyway. The commandos/lieutenants are immune to any mez or slow powers so they are the main targets to worry about. Control powers can't be used to hold them at spawn points. Escapees will pass the next door before they try to escape so you generally want to position yourself on the path facing the nearest door so you can attack any mobs exiting that door and the overflow from any other doors further up the path. If commandos make it past the group handling the door and/or choke point near the door where they spawn and no one stops them along the way, they will eventually make a break for it between the buildings (or the NW corner of the map). So if you're on a door, you may not notice the escapees veering off the path or be able to help stop them...if you do then leave the door, you may create an overflow heading the other way. If you're a melee/damage person, then focus on the commandos. The control people can lock up the minions but they can't mez the commandos. If you're a control person, then don't leave your choke point unless an escapee has veered off the path and is making a break for it with no one else chasing them down. You can't mez or slow the commandos so they'll always get past you on the choke point unless you defeat them first. If they get by you, let the damage/melee people handle them or the next chokepoint because they'll have taken a lot of damage by the time they reach the next chokepoint. There is no need for 3-4 people and all of their pets to chase down 1 escapee that is running down the path and not trying to escape. If you're a control person and you leave your chokepoint in that situation, you'll just create more chaos because you're letting several other mobs run loose on the path just to chase 1 escapee that other people are in a better position to handle.

(6) Save your Lore pets for the escapee phase. If you've slotted any Lore pets, then don't use them on the BAF until the escapee phase. They are much more valuable to help keep the escapees in check. They have a 5 minute duration and the escapees start spawning at the 5:00 minute mark of the countdown for that phase. So conjure your Lore Pets just a few seconds before the 5 minute mark so you'll have them available for the entire escapee phase. You get Mastermind-type controls for the Lore Pets, so take advantage of that. If you're a melee person, target the commandos who are at a distance from you and set your Lore Pets to attack them. If you're a controller or dominator, use your Lore Pets to attack commandos since you can't mez them and need to focus on controls to back up the choke point.

(7) For the final phase, Nightstar and Seige will both be resurrrected and they must be defeated within 10 seconds of each other. Pay attention to their health bar on the trial status window. Also, pay attention to your League Chat. There will often be directions about which team should be attacking which AV to keep balance in their health. If you're attacking one AV and their health is significantly lower than the other AV, then switch your attacks to the other AV. Both Nightstar and Siege will get reinforcements at certain points throughout the trial (referred to as "adds" usually in chat). If you end up defeating one AV with the other one having too much health remaining and they are resurrected, then the League could get overrun with adds which have been accumulating. If one AV is in single digits in health and the other one is at 20+ in health, then stop using AoE's if the AVs are very close together. You may be attacking one AV but your AoE is hitting them both. Also, make sure both AVs are finished off. Their health is tracked in the status window on a 0-100 scale. These are percentages of Hit Points, not actual Hit Points. So it may say zero, but they could still have a sliver of health. I've seen Leagues stop attacking because they thought it was over and both AVs ended up rezzing. Your Reward options will pop up on the screen when they are both defeated. So keep attacking until your Reward option pops up.

(8) Never disable any of the guard towers. There are consoles around the outer part of the map that look like computer terminals. If the trial is completed without disabling these, then that is worth 1 Astral Merit. The guard towers are generally not a problem during any phase of the trial. Therefore, unless a League Leader instructs you to disable a guard tower, do no touch them.

(9) If you die during any of the AV battles, wait a few seconds before you rez unless you're the tank holding aggro on the AV or something like that. Often, you'll have a teammate with vengeance and the team (but not the entire League) can get a good boost from vengeance. If you have no self-rez power, you may have a person in the League that will use a rez power on you. If no vengeance or rez is used on you, then either rez yourself or if you can't self-rez or it's too dangerous to rez where you are, then go to the hospital. You can go to the hospital within the trial and get back out there to help. Laying there, dead, and trying to leech off the rest of the League will get you kicked from the trial.

(10) Make sure to watch your warnings/rings when fighting the AVs. When you draw a certain amount of aggro from one of the AVs, you will see a warning pop up on your screen with your name. With each warning, you will also get a ring around your toon. After the second warning, if you continue to draw too much aggro, you will be "sequestered" which puts you in a hold for a period of time and also anyone in your nearby vicinity (within the ring around your toon). If you get two warnings/rings, then you need to back out of the fight and either go defeat some adds or if you're really squishy, just stay clear until the rings wear off. You can lock a significant number of your League-mates in one of these holds if you're not careful and you'll quickly draw the ire of the rest of the League.

A FEW TIPS SPECIFICALLY FOR LAM:

(1) Outside of badge runs, there are normally two types of LAM runs: a "speed" LAM or a typical run. The speed LAM is where a number of the mobs and obstacles are skipped to run the trial faster because people aren't looking for incarnate XP as they have all of their slots unlocked and they just want the Empyrean Merit reward (can only be awarded once every 20 hours for a particular trial) at the end. If you're a newbie, you won't have your slots unlocked so you'll probably want to skip the "speed" runs since you will need that incarnate XP to unlock your slots. Either way, you should be aware if you're joining up a speed LAM because different tactics are involved. Generally, a speed LAM will skip the outside mobs, go straight over the wall into the compound, clear the interior of the compound of mobs, skip the turrets around the compound, enter the facility's main door and possibly skip the labs phase. There are variations on this so if you're on a speed LAM, pay attention to which phases the League leader says to skip.

(2) For the first few phases, everything is pretty easy and straightforward. Stick with the group as all of the outside mobs are cleared, and then the inside mobs and then the turrets. Once the inside mobs have been defeated, your League can move into the facility doors to take on an Elite Boss. He's very easy to defeat. After he's defeated, the teams typically split with one team heading to the warehouse (doors off to the left after the Elite Boss) or the lab (doors off to the right after the Elite Boss). Pay attention to which team you're on and which team is being sent to which section.

(3) The warehouse and the lab each have certain temporary powers which are awarded to people destroying the targeted objects within their section. In the warehouse, you're trying to destroy 10 weapons crates which will give a grenade temporary power that can be used on the AV at the end - Marauder. In the labs, you're trying to destroy 10 containment chambers which will give a molecular acid temporary power that can be used to close one of the doors into the compound for the final AV fight to stop the flow of adds into the compound. All of these targets will be heavily guarded so it's a good idea to stick with someone else on your team to take them out. If you've got an invisible power or a combination of stealth powers that basically equates to invisible, then you can skate by pretty much everyone except some of the seers. (NOTE - the targets always spawn in the same spots so after a few runs you'll have a good feel for where to head). If you die and can't rez safely, just go to the hospital and you'll need to jump/fly over the wall back into to the compound and then re-enter the main facility door.

(4) If you have Lore pets, bring them out right at the beginning if it's a normal run and then again at the end for the final AV battle. If it's a speed run, save the Lore pets for the final AV battle. They are most useful in the final AV battle...especially with all of the adds running around as your League tries to focus on Marauder. When you're in the warehouse or lab, you'll be moving from location to location very quickly and they'll barely be able to keep up with you and they'll drag all sorts of extra aggro with you. I generally don't even use my controller pet on this phase for that reason unless I'm in a tight spot and need him to draw some aggro off me or we need some extra damage to help finish off a target.

(5) Once all of the weapons crates and containment chambers are destroyed or the time runs out for that phase, then the final AV battle with Marauder starts. Everyone will head back out of the inner facility and usually gather right outside that door. At this point, you should check your temporary powers and make sure if you have any grenades or acids (or both if you helped out in the other area after your area was completed), then they need to be somewhere in your power tray so you can use them. Again, pay attention to the League chat and the League leader's instructions here as the strategies may vary somewhat. Usually, the League leader will want everyone with the acids to wait until around the 18:00 minute mark before the acids are used to close the doors. There is an extra Astral Merit if you defeat 30 adds during the battle with Marauder so leaving the doors open allows some adds to build up. Often, the League leader may want 2-3 doors left open at the 18:00 minute mark to be closed after the 30 add defeat bonus has been achieved. There are 10 doors spread around the outer wall of the facility and they have giant holes in them until they are closed up by targeting them and then using an acid temp power. Many Leagues will be able to easily complete this trial without closing all 10 doors but you don't want to be on a team that needs all 10 closed and you're sitting on an acid that you didn't realize you have so pay attention here. Usually everyone will call out their Lore pets and buff up right before heading in to face Marauder.

(6) If you're a newbie, then you probably want to avoid the adds and just focus on Marauder. As the adds accumulate, if you start using AoEs on them or drawing the attention of groups of adds, you could find yourself overwhelmed pretty quickly. As you achieve those level shifts, you'll be able to shrug off that add aggro rather easily. If the 30 add defeat goal isn't achieved quickly, then you may need to take out a few adds to help out there, but otherwise stay on Marauder.

(7) Periodically, a message will flash on the screen that Marauder is "enraged". This is where the grenades are used. Once someone fires a grenade at Marauder, then he is "pacified" and easier to attack again.

(8) Periodically, Marauder will use his "Nova Fist" attack. There will be a warning on the screen which says that he is about to use the Nova Fist attack and to back up. You should immediately back up out of his PBAoE range. One shot from this attack is enough to take out all but the strongest toons. Simply back up and after he slams his fist into the ground unleashing the attack, then jump back into the fray.

(9) If you're not sure what to do with the grenades or acids, you can always pass them to a League-mate. Just ask in League chat if anyone wants your grenades or acids and usually one of the more experienced players will take them off your hands.



Generally, you'll receive 5-6 Astral Merits and 1 Empyrean Merit for a successful BAF and 4 Astral Merits ("AM") and 1 Empyrean Merit ("EM") for a normal LAM. (NOTE - The Keyes and Underground trials award 2 EMs for successful completion). Certain badges can be obtained for a variety of tasks and you receive an AM for each of those if achieved. There are certain tasks normally achieved in a BAF or LAM that could result in less AMs if they aren't achieved. You can only earn the EM reward on a trial once per every 20 hours so if you run it again within that timeframe, then you'll get an AM at the end instead of an EM.

Both the AMs and EMs can be used for a variety of things. You can breakdown them down into threads. You can go to the AM and EM vendors in Ouroboros to unlock certain options for costumes, auras, etc. You can also buy recipes just like you would for a Merit Reward vendor. The EM Vendor sells PVP and Purple recipes. The AM Vendor sells all other types of recipes. I would recommend hanging onto your EMs. Breaking them down into threads or anything like that really isn't an efficient use of them unless there is a costume/aura/emote that you really, really want. For 40 EMs, you can buy Purple recipes. The PVP recipes cost 50-70 EMs. Granted, it will take awhile to accumulate that many EMs, but for example on Freedom, most of the Armageddon recipes will net you 600-650 million influence and the PVP recipes for Gladiator's Armor (TP resist/+3 Def) and Shield Wall (TP resist/+3 damage resist) go for 2 billion influence. The AMs can be used to buy other recipes from 16-32 AMs per recipe. You can also use them for things like costumes, auras and emotes. For 5 AMs, you can also unlock the Alpha Slot on another level 50 toon of yours or unlock auras or unlock capes for another toon. You may want to let these accumulate to 32 AMs and then purchase a Luck of the Gambler +recharge or something like that to sell on the market. Just like the Merit Reward vendor, you can set the level for the recipe so you'll want to set recipe for uniques (like the Numina +regen/+recovery) and globals (like the LotG +recharge) to their lowest available level either so you can use them at lower levels if exemplaring or so that they will be more valuable on the market because other people will want them available for use when exemplaring.

Chumbucket, I felt pretty much the same way. Made a bunch of mistakes on my main toon for my first go-around on the incarnate stuff like downgrading Very Rare components and Empyrean Merits into threads. Had no idea how many attempts it would take to get a Rare or Very Rare sometimes on those trials and didn't even know there was a vendor for Astral Merits and Empyrean Merits. Plus, I felt like I was clueless on the trials even though I checked out the details about the trials on Paragon Wiki ahead of time. Everyone was on fast-forward and there was a ton of short-hand for the strategies once I entered the trials. Had no idea how or why some of the stuff was even being done, lol.

Thanks, Zombie Man!

Check out Justice's badge channels. Also, I know Triumph has moved incarnate trials to Dark Astoria now. Perhaps it has done the same for Justice.

Triumph: White Succubus: 50 Ill/Emp/PF Snow Globe: 50 Ice/FF/Ice Strobe: 50 PB Shi Otomi: 50 Ninja/Ninjistu/GW Stalker My other characters