Story arc recommendation for solo play.
By
Adeon Hawkwood,
Posted on: 2011-11-07 08:23 in CoH and CoV General Discussions
RWZ arcs are pretty good and are staged from 35-50 (35+ arc, 40+ arc, 2 lvl 45+ arcs)
once your in the 40s as well can do tina macintyre and 45 maria jenkins (honestly other than that i dont know hero arcs well enough to give advice since i normally never run hero content lol)
Paragonwiki has a nice table of the arcs by level here http://paragonwiki.com/wiki/Hero_Mer...ashback_System.
The Croatoa arcs are all in the 25-34 range, so you might want to try those if you finish up first ward early enough.
My personal thoughts on which arcs are better (story-wise) are (excluding Croatoa):
30-34
The Rise of the Vampyri
The Library of Souls
Corporate Culture
35-39
A Path into Darkness
The Organ Grinders (though it's plot twists are largely revealed in the RWZ arcs)
The Terra Conspiracy
40-44
Tina McIntyre is close to mandatory (as said earier). Not just her arc either. She has a couple badge missions, one of which is need for the Portal Jockey accolade.
Melvin and the Mysterious Malta Group - Note that it is LONG and of course involves fighting Malta which can be a pain if you don't have a good way of dealing with the sappers.
The Eternal Nemesis - Again, a very long arc.
45-50
Maria Jenkins is also practically mandatory including non-arc badge missions.
Operation: World Wide Red. This is another very long Malta arc that includes the well known Kronos ambush.
Also note that Ouroborous Initiation and many of the RWZ arcs can be done at a wide range of levels.
_________
@Inquisitor
I'd recommend taking a run through AE, if you're not adverse to that. Below are links to my review threads and a list of all the arcs I gave four or five star reviews to. I suspect, sadly, that many of these arcs are no longer available due to rule changes and the thrice-damned IP/obscenity filter, but it's worth a look.
Review threads: first, second, third, fourth
Five-star reviews: 10721 "The Horrible Mr. Caractacus", 12285 "Small Fears", 5898 "The Fan Club", 47550 "Karmic Exchange", 171693 ":: 24 Hours ::", 6143 "Escalation", 67335 "Teen Phalanx Forever!", 161865 "Aeon's Nemesis", 1296 "A Day in the Life of...Dr. Aeon", 55715 "Freaks and Geeks", 178774 "Tales of Croatoa: A Rose By Any Other Name....", 337435 "OMG it's the LOLBAT!", 6017 "Mercytown: The One With All The Fish", 338380 "Talos Vice", 61013 "The Invasion of the Bikini-Clad Samurai Vampiresses From Outer Space"
Four-star reviews: 10855 "Tomorrow Belongs to Me", 1992 "A Hero's Halo", 1614 "Don't Rain on My Parade!", 9550 "Soul Train: Origins", 1684 "Paracon", 7780 "Nobody of Consequence", 2180 "Bricked Electronics", 12669 "How to Survive a Robot Uprising", 3615 "Dark Dreams", 4747 "Future Skulls", 8713 "Ragnarok: Twilight of the Gods", 1579 "The Council's Long Con", 1571 "The Council's Good Graces", 2142 "Ninja Crimewave", 15381 "Heaven's Not Enough", 112548 "A Flame That Burns Bright", 2050 "The Outcast Outcasts", 49035 "A South Side Story", 114284 "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend", 32801 "Sharkhead Isle and the Circle of Banished Warriors", 170547 "The Beating Heart of Astoria: A Play in Five Acts", 135563 "Forever Lost", 97774 "A Simple Misunderstanding", 57352 "The All-Seeing Eye", 189675 "Who is Leonard Grubbenberry?", 1388 "Celebrity Kidnapping", 149323 "Toys From Heck: The Penny Preston Taskforce", 67356 "Shadow Initiation", 137705 "Rage Within The Machine", 60280 "Dr. Dave and the Copper Legion", 260284 "A Warrior's Journey - The Flower Knight Task Force", 167493 "Gizmette", 171031 "The Fracturing of Time", 227331 "The Consequences of War - Part I", 81043 "The Invasion of the Space Ape Armada", 118690 "Sibling Rivalry", 1567 "MacGuffin Delivery Service", 390921 "Arena", 245042 "The Next War on Drugs"
Current Blog Post: "Why I am an Atheist..."
"And I say now these kittens, they do not get trained/As we did in the days when Victoria reigned!" -- T. S. Eliot, "Gus, the Theatre Cat"
I've always liked the Crey arcs (Corporate Culture, The Revenant Hero Project, The Evil Countess Crey, and optionally the Manticore TF). I think they mesh together nicely. I wouldn't do them if you do Lethal damage, though, since Crey tanks resist Lethal like crazy.
The Freaklympics is a lot of fun, although I've found The Freakshow War disappointingly dull as a follow-up.
The Devouring Earth arcs are bland and interchangeable, except for The Terra Conspiracy, which puts an interesting spin on things, which unfortunately I can't discuss without spoiling it.
The Envoy of Shadow can be NASTY hard depending on what character you're using.
I'd disagree with previous posters on Maria Jenkins. Outside of getting to fight the various Praetors, I see nothing to recommend the revamped A Hero's Epic. Not only has it been stripped of its crowning moment (getting to fight Tyrant), many of the missions saddle you with a member of the Freedom Phalanx as a helper, which leads to them either a) aggroing half the map or b) soloing everything while you scramble to keep up.
34 heroes,
20 villains, Victory, Justice, Infinity, Virtue, Triumph, Exalted -- some more active than others
Thanks for the recommendations Necro and Morbid. I have played through the RWZ arcs on my lvl 50 energy blaster and had a lot of fun with those, so I will probably make a second pass on those with this toon. Croatoa is something I have never done, so as soon as I wrap up First Ward, that will be my next stop. I may have to utilize Ouro if I outlevel, but as I said, I am not averse to that option.
Venture, it's funny you mention AE arcs, because that will probably be my next solo project. I want to take this toon to 50 completely solo using only dev created story arcs. After that, however, I had a notion to take another toon to 50 using only player created story arcs, just to see which journey is more enjoyable. Thanks for all those recommendations, as I will keep them in mind once I start on that project.
Edit: Fin, I agree with you on Maria Jenkins. I've done it both in it's original form and in it's current form to get the accolade, and I just do not like it. I will wind up doing it for the accolade, but it is at the bottom of my list for now.
Also, I am using a BS/Shield scrapper if that matters.
Quote:
My remark that Maria Jenkins was "practically mandatory" was mostly in reference to her missions as being important for the Portal Jockey Accolade. The same goes for Tina McIntyre. They both have the Praetors you need for Dimensional Warder (not all of whom are available in TF's and trials), but each has an exploration badge needed for the accolade in their non-arc missions. I have not played either arc since the rework so I can't comment on the actual quality of the arcs.
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Originally Posted by Finsplit
I'd disagree with previous posters on Maria Jenkins. Outside of getting to fight the various Praetors, I see nothing to recommend the revamped A Hero's Epic.
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_________
@Inquisitor
Personally I enjoy the Striga arcs in the level 20-30 range. They have a nice mix of enemies and some fun temp powers.
Quote:
The problem with that mission is that the stated objective isn't really accurate. The real objective to defeat all the static spawn Fir Bolg on the map before 50 of the timed spawned ones get away. You can kill the ones actually trying to escape all day long and never get the mission finished.
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Originally Posted by Gearsinger
The Croatoa arcs aren't bad, except for the maddening "Prevent 50 Fir Bolg From Escaping" mission. That one is one of my few auto-drops.
Those arcs start at level 25 with Gordon Bower and go up to 35 with Buck Salinger. |
_________
@Inquisitor
Quote:
Not quite.|
Originally Posted by Mr_Morbid
The problem with that mission is that the stated objective isn't really accurate. The real objective to defeat all the static spawn Fir Bolg on the map before 50 of the timed spawned ones get away. You can kill the ones actually trying to escape all day long and never get the mission finished.
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If you pick the right one at the right time, you can watch the static spawns start legging it toward the portal. Which is why my favoured tactic on that mission with a team is to leave half the team guarding against the runners, while the other half deals with the static spawns.
Not failed that mission yet, and I've been through it a dozen times at least over the years.
If all you're doing is waiting for the runners, then the mission will feel like it's never going to end, because the waves of runners are so spread out over time, and there are a lot of spawns on that map. However, I have done the mission just through the application of patience and waiting for runners... it took a while.
Warning:
The above post may contain Cynicism, sarcasm and/or pessimism. If you object to the quantities contained, then tough.
Quote:
/this, and if your running solo on very low diff like x1 you could potentially kill enough fir bolg that there wont even be 30 on the map to fail the mish
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Originally Posted by Canine
Not quite.
If you pick the right one at the right time, you can watch the static spawns start legging it toward the portal. Which is why my favoured tactic on that mission with a team is to leave half the team guarding against the runners, while the other half deals with the static spawns. Not failed that mission yet, and I've been through it a dozen times at least over the years. If all you're doing is waiting for the runners, then the mission will feel like it's never going to end, because the waves of runners are so spread out over time, and there are a lot of spawns on that map. However, I have done the mission just through the application of patience and waiting for runners... it took a while. |
Quote:
It may be the case that the static spawns will start running as well, but new ones will spawn during the mission and head straight for the portal. If you're soloing and have decent damage it's much faster just to clear the map.
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Originally Posted by Canine
Not quite.
If you pick the right one at the right time, you can watch the static spawns start legging it toward the portal. Which is why my favoured tactic on that mission with a team is to leave half the team guarding against the runners, while the other half deals with the static spawns. Not failed that mission yet, and I've been through it a dozen times at least over the years. If all you're doing is waiting for the runners, then the mission will feel like it's never going to end, because the waves of runners are so spread out over time, and there are a lot of spawns on that map. However, I have done the mission just through the application of patience and waiting for runners... it took a while. |
_________
@Inquisitor
The few 50s that I have were all leveled to 50 through large teaming on TFs, mission arcs, etc. I hear so many people who talk about loving the option to solo to level 50, so I want to give it a shot. I have a character currently at around level 26 who has soloed to that point, and I want to take him to 50. What I am looking for are recommendations from other players on arcs they enjoyed, specifically for the story, although I can stomach a weak story if the missions are especially fun. So far the journey has been
Old Atlas Content to level 5
Hollows to level 15 ish
Faultline to 20ish
Keith Nance, Jenny Adair, and Roy Cooling to 25.
First Ward (still working on this) to present (26).
So what are your Greatest Hits when it comes to story arcs? I am specifically wanting stuff in the 30-50 range, but I am happy to flashback via ouro to catch anything worthy that I missed in the 1-30 range. In your reply, please include level range, contact name, and briefly explain what it is you liked about the arc.
Thanks!