Okay, at 22 as of this post. Slotting is going as okay as low level slotting can. I am copying exactly the build I have play tested at 50 and really enjoy. I am using tuned KCs, and am probably going to pick uyp some tune reactives soon.
I have the missions set pretty easy, just coasting through and reading the game as a giant interactive comic. Some of the blueside stuff is surprisingly well written. The Faultline stories are very nice. Who knew clockwork were psychically controlled. And now that you mention it it makes perfect sense. The Clock King is a brain in a jar. Who knew the Sky raiders captain's outfit would make Elvis say "Now that is gaudy..."
As I finished level 19 was at 197 badges and 315 merits. Have started hero tips and will be converting merits to A merits. Goal is to fund the next project like this with this character. (Next will be a pure badger, prob Rogue, and not really into every arc/mission/story)
I think this is the last day of the Ski Chalet. Bought an extra respec from the elf. Will be renewing the temp rez power and the Jingle Jet flight pack to maximize availability of both during the long trudge through low level content.
Did the Sister Psycho last night. Very good team of master badgers. We flew through the missions. It is the hardest time I had yet however. The Freak's End Drainers were very rough. That is even though I had resist Energies. My toggles were dropped at least three times. I was always scrounging for blue inspirations.
On the bright side I did my first Hero Alignment mission last night. Also converted 50 merits to an A merit.
i did renew the Jingle Jet temp at the Chalet on the last night. There was no way to delete the renewal of Light Rez, so could not renew that. (that leaves me with 2 rez, the bank and the vet)
Quote:
LOL!|
Originally Posted by Blue_Centurion
I have the missions set pretty easy, just coasting through and reading the game as a giant interactive comic. Some of the blueside stuff is surprisingly well written. The Faultline stories are very nice. Who knew clockwork were psychically controlled. And now that you mention it it makes perfect sense. The Clock King is a brain in a jar. Who knew the Sky raiders captain's outfit would make Elvis say "Now that is gaudy..."
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This is my absolute favorite way to play.
Get solo on a good, fun, toon, loaf along, and enjoy the story. There's a hella lot of cool stuff out there. Heck, for a long time, I'd take a day or two every month and run story arcs from AE like this as well. The GOOD stuff in AE? It's at least as good as anything the Dev's have put out. The hard part is finding it.
More importantly, experiencing the content makes the game as a whole a lot more fun. The Praetorian lowby arcs are freaking AWESOME when you work out how everything is twisted and backwards from the regular stuff.
Have fun, man!
...dang, now I wanna start doin' this. Hell, I even JUST rolled a new SS/Inv brute.
Hmmm......
And finished all content 20-24. Wow, that seemed very long compared to the times I have done it redside. Part of it is I am now doing Hero tips, but that is not huge. There is a lot more content Blueside. The Striga storyline was interesting. I love the plaques on Striga about the lost ship, very dark, very human. More on the Sky raiders from another contact. The Sky Raiders are ex-military? Add that to the fact that their commander dresses like Las Vegas showgirl and I think we got a theory on why they left. Not saying there is anything wrong with that, just trying to fit the puzzle together. Nothing else stands out greatly in this level range, except too many hunts. Did I mention too many hunts? Oh, did figure out where the Lost are in Terra Volta. Just a little ways in from the door and down into a pit. And evidently nowhere else. These were tough at 24th, but I only had to run once. The Sky Raider hunt(s) in TV are also easier since there are bands of about 10 Captains who stand on walkways, far to the front right as you enter TV. The doppelganger storyline stood out as very nice. That is the one they added with GR I think? My clone died saving the worlds from my clones...
Now doing First Ward as my first arcs in 25-29. I know I could have done them in 20-24, but decided to shift them into this set. My plan is to do most solo storylines as soon as they come up, even if they are 25-50 or w/e. Task Forces and Trials I will wait until either max level (+3) or until some of my friends mention they are running one I need that I am at least minimum level for. Will be getting Hurl at 26 and Invincibility at 28. Plan is for Fly at 30, and of course Footstomp at 32. I am currently using a Jingle Jet, but at the pace I am on I do not think it will last though too many more levels. Bought some Tuned reactive armors on the Paragon Market. The character is using a lot of tuned partial sets, and that sure does help on a big project like this.
I wrote down all my stats at 24. I will edit the post tonight with all the merits, badges, etc.
Its always nice to see someone take the first steps into really becoming part of the paragonverse.
I myself have loved the story and run countless solo missions through out the game with my characters. It was what lead me to begin creating Lore based RP concepts rather then generic fit into any comic world concepts.
Should you happen to be curious about such things and are not yet on it, consider playing on virtue server, rich with RPers and no few Lore based ones like myself.
Look up Bentley Berkeley on virtue anytime I run TFs of all level ranges frequently and enjoy RPing as a mentor to young heroes as well.
BTW yes its very true that blue side is richer in content then red side. Since COV launched its always had a smaller pop and tends to attract more solo minded players back when that was the only way to play the vil ATs.
This is why I have most vigilantes and rogues as having access to the full world is really worth the loss of hero/vil merits imo. At least if your more about playing then grinding.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Blue_Centurion
And finished all content 20-24. Wow, that seemed very long compared to the times I have done it redside. Part of it is I am now doing Hero tips, but that is not huge. There is a lot more content Blueside. The Striga storyline was interesting. I love the plaques on Striga about the lost ship, very dark, very human. More on the Sky raiders from another contact. The Sky Raiders are ex-military? Add that to the fact that their commander dresses like Las Vegas showgirl and I think we got a theory on why they left. Not saying there is anything wrong with that, just trying to fit the puzzle together. Nothing else stands out greatly in this level range, except too many hunts. Did I mention too many hunts? Oh, did figure out where the Lost are in Terra Volta. Just a little ways in from the door and down into a pit. And evidently nowhere else. These were tough at 24th, but I only had to run once. The Sky Raider hunt(s) in TV are also easier since there are bands of about 10 Captains who stand on walkways, far to the front right as you enter TV. The doppelganger storyline stood out as very nice. That is the one they added with GR I think? My clone died saving the worlds from my clones...
Now doing First Ward as my first arcs in 25-29. I know I could have done them in 20-24, but decided to shift them into this set. My plan is to do most solo storylines as soon as they come up, even if they are 25-50 or w/e. Task Forces and Trials I will wait until either max level (+3) or until some of my friends mention they are running one I need that I am at least minimum level for. Will be getting Hurl at 26 and Invincibility at 28. Plan is for Fly at 30, and of course Footstomp at 32. I am currently using a Jingle Jet, but at the pace I am on I do not think it will last though too many more levels. Bought some Tuned reactive armors on the Paragon Market. The character is using a lot of tuned partial sets, and that sure does help on a big project like this. I wrote down all my stats at 24. I will edit the post tonight with all the merits, badges, etc. |
Pro Tip: if using a jet pack fits your concept, never take fly. You can just go to firebase zulu and buy one with an hour of fuel for 10k inf as often as you need. Ive got many a former sky raider concept toon who has done just that
if you have a steampack or booster jump pack they will let your jet pack hit fly cap speed often enough to make it viable.Also keep a WW tp handy, always a useful way to short cut between zones.
Also personally a good solo AT would of been something like Kat/Regen pretty much an unstoppable killer from start to finish. Also very flexible. My BS/regen has 3 different builds, each doing very different things.
One is team centric using leadership,recall,healing pools and capable of stealth ops to short cut as needed on TFs if a team mates time is growing short.
One is solo centric and is built around doing as much as one can do against big baddies. Favors dark mastery, and has not one power useful for helping others in his build outside of I guess his barriar incarnate effect
One kind of meets a middle ground, built for strong solo power while working in teams so say while doing a tf if some team mates are just weak tea i can usually make up for thier lack substantially.
the only problem is the middle one also tends to exemp the best having numerous purple IO sets. so when I exemp down for TFs it still often brings so much power to the table its hard to want to switch to a team centric build
Thx for the tips Demetrios. A jet pack fits my concept, but the constant trips to FBZ does not. I know that trick about the Jump pack and Steam Jump, (have both) ghetto afterburners lol. The Jingle Jet has served me well. It clips with my giant character, and I will be glad to say goodbye to it. I have the power slot for fly already figured into my final build. This is a slow leveled up version of a 50 I have playtested already, softcapped and fights meaner than a wet cat. The Fly power's enhancer even gets a Winter's Gift slow resist global, using the whole cow approach. The character is on Virtue. A stoic loner character mostly though. Feels it's his responsibility to save the entire city lol. This character will exempt exceptionally well, having almost all tuned enhancers, globals, and a couple sets of Purps. I am thinking of running a second one of these as my badger, was going to do something else, but am having problems finding anything I like. This character's concept is way too fixed to allow villainry. (Unless my wife helps with storylines, she is a genius at such things)
As I rounded 24 to 25 I had 275 badges, 236 merits, and 10 Alignment Merits. My merits are down because I am converting them to Alignment Merits, and have converted 7 so far. I need to start doing the "Who will Die" story arcs for more, but have been pretty busy.
I will be posting at the end of every major or cool story arc, or after 2-3 boring ones in the future. Bundling 20-24 all in one post was counterproductive to the nature of what I am trying to do here.
Blue, if you want to look like your character can't fly himself, you could always try using the Rocket Boot costume pieces. The jets ignite when you activate Hover or Fly.
Thx Kazz. Talked to my wife about this (the final word...) She says that based on my origins the character will fly based on sheer willpower.
Finished 1st ward. Really nice story, great graphics. Why is Midnight a panty smelling freak? Seriously. The dude is off. It would be understandable if he was a head drilled zombie, but as a "great wizard" he is developmentaly challenged beyond the pale. Killing him for effect only slightly (slightly) softens his content. That needs to be fixed, really fixed. Other than that a great run in 1st ward. THe experience is good. You do a lot of talking/reading, so the big exp pops are nice there. Shows you do not have to grind to get good exp, a trend I hope the Devs keep on.
Great... Now I'M being inspired to create a DM/WP Scrapper so that I too can solo all of Blueside.
Thanks Blue_Centurion. You've made my Altiitis worse. =P
This sound freaking awesome and interesting. I guess you are also doing the safeguard missions?
My question is: Do you have a list or something similar, of each contact, levels, etc? I would really like to try something like this, but I dont think I will dare without a checklist or something similar to a contact guide
There is almost no way to get a good contact list blueside. This is because they did something to make it seem less repetitive over the years. Multiple contacts give the same story arc, but you only unlock one of them. So I approached it completely differently.
I did the new content 1-4. (I always stop earning experience on the last level before I out level everything.) You are introduced by contacts to other contacts, and that is the easiest thing about the process. Once I have exhausted all contacts I was introduced to, used the "find contact" button, etc I then go to City Wiki. http://wiki.cohtitan.com/wiki/Hero_Story_Arcs. I verify I did all the arcs, got all the "souvenirs" Then I run the bank mission for that level group. I have yet to have a contact be offered when I do this, and that means they got nobody else lol.
I am also running all level appropriate Task Forces. I am also badging all location and plaques etc. I do not think this guy will be a badger per se, since I envision him being just Blueside, but it is nice to get them since I'm spending so much time on him. I'll also do Giant Monsters and such when i can get them. Maybe at the end of it I'll organize monster hunts and zone event parties to fill out all the stuff I missed.
Thats very helpful, indeed. Yesterday I started compiling a list of story arcs (I'm not going to do EVERY contact, I'm happy with doing every story arc) and I noticed a few things:
- Only 2 arcs form level 5-9? (Both of them in the Hollows)
- The intro arcs (Twinshot, etc) are not included
- First Ward is not there
- There are no Story Arcs from 25-29??
I'm trying to find a contact guide for First Ward. I will share my list once I finish it, if anyone wants it.
I started yesterday my StJ/WP scrapper, too, for this. So far she is level 6, just finished AE intro and Twinshot arc, and she is ready to head to the hollows!
As Blue Centurion said, I had to stop XP at level 4 to finish all the intro arcs (and get atlas saviour badge!), then kill a few mobs to hit level 5, then twinshot called me. I should also do one or two sewers runs, for the bonuses (and the badges!)
As a note of interest, I made 2 macros:
/option_set NoXP 1 //This will turn off XP gains
/option_set NoXP 0 //This will turn on XP gains
Quote:
Nervermind this, somehow I missed them |
Originally Posted by Erhnam
- There are no Story Arcs from 25-29??
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Here is another thing that helps. do 4 Death From Below Sewer runs. The 3 badges are cool, but the 4 temp powers that last until 22 are great.
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I'll do that. I will also probably set my missions at -1/x1, since I guess I will have to stop my xp gains every range, this will allow me to run a bit quicker |
Originally Posted by Blue_Centurion
Here is another thing that helps. do 4 Death From Below Sewer runs. The 3 badges are cool, but the 4 temp powers that last until 22 are great.
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Okay, took a couple days break from the city. Now I'm back at it. I don't think I will finish up 25-29 content this weekend, but hope to make a good dent in it. Did Jim Bell in Talos. Kinda boring. Then did the 25-29 portion of Croatoa. Very nice stuff. The writing is not quite as tight as First Ward and the new stuff, but overall high marks. What impressed me the most is the depth of the content. Sure, this is an older game. But that also means it has tons of stuff, like all of Croatoa zone and it's storylines just waiting there. I had never done this content before since my first few years in the game were almost all redside.
The plan from here is to comlpete stuff zone by zone. I did the Ouro Arcs, cool stuff. Not my first time though them but still fun. Also, good way to get the badge for the contaminated. My plan is Talos, then IP, then Striga and anything else that pops up from contacts opened during 25-29 stuff.
Finished Eliza THorpe arc. Learned some stuff, like the fact that Devouring Earth are a real tough fight. She had 11 missions beside her arc. We got to know each other.
Then I rolled on to Miriam Bloechl. After her story arc there were another dozen or so missions. Lot of CoT and Banished Pantheon. Neither are a tough group for my build. However, she had a lot of collect this, rescue 400 peeps. One map I could not find 3 (I try to stealth where I can.) I knew the map pretty well, After searching fifteen minutes I start the massacre, 15 minutes later, still not found anyone, starting to think it was bugged. They were all 3 in a small area (rarely used, rarely spawned to) I think whoever wrote that was evil. Anyways, got a surprise badge at the enfd of Miriams stuff, yeah.
Couple tricks I am adding to my bag is always keeping a temp End power crafted. When I fight non stop my end curve is ugly. So that is good for when I cannot stealth and I run short on blue yummies. Also saved the day when I was running 50 hero tips with a blaster and we drew Carnies. Oof, start with a bad end problem in long fights and add Carnies. But with the temp running I was okay.
Also, doing a weekly Cathedral of Pain for the buff. When you spend this much time in a week on one character it is more than worth it.
Still got quite a bit of 25-29 to go. I am hoping to have it done or mostly done by the next weekend. I want to start slotting a few more enhancers. THe bonuses are really saving my bacon. 35 (and the next +End Proc) looks very very far away.
Oh, and now I get why the banished pantheon looks like a lot of ex soldiers. One question, what genius buried them all with guns?
Keep the updates coming! Im in the level 20-24 range and I must agree with you: there is A LOT to do (and Im only doing Story arcs/badge missions). As I said, running at -1 helps speeding, as well as that nice Celerity proc in Sprint
A temp power I also recommen is buying the Market Teleport each time you burn it. Yes, you may have Ouro+base, but having more porters to quickly move around is never bad
I just wanted to chime in here and say that this is fantastic thread. I too love the soloing gig. This game is way more than power level here, power level there.
I think I am going to move a few toons over to the Virtue server as it seems RP is more prevalent (@ least Blueside).
Maybe I'll start a new solo project as well.
Yeah, I am running at -1. Still doesn't help with the hunts in Terra Volta. The only mission I have had a prob with so far is a Devouring Earth mission where I triggered a spawn and an ambush at the same time. there were a good number of mobs, and the fight took 3 to 4 minutes. They drop those little buffer/debuffer things. they are hard to see/target. I had some end management problems in that fight. Still, not significant green bar issues. Have only been defeated in street hunts, and so far only a couple times. Yesterday a group of around 11 Lost built some momentum on me and put me down in Terra Volta.
I am using a stealth proc in sprint. This allows me to grab glowies, find kidnapped peeps, and generally run through large areas of uselessness without fighting. I have the Vet power reveal, and have most of the city memorized, the patterns, etc.
I hope this doesn't sound snarky. It's really not supposed to.
Been reading through this thread and can't help but chuckle at some of the realizations you've made about the lore. I always get into the lore of any game I play so the thought of someone who's been playing for years just now discovering that the Sky Raiders are ex-military or that the Banished Pantheon minions look like soldiers from past wars because they are is kinda funny to me 
That being said, I think what you're doing is awesome. Ever since Freedom I've been seeing all kinds of chat in the Help channel from new players asking various questions about content and game lore. Good to see someone taking the time to see the world they're playing in and enjoy the rich story it provides.
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Heh, my global is Snarky. Not kidding, my wife's suggestion. So, you cannot be Snarky!
Anyways, yeah, some of this is new to me. I have solo'd Redside a few times. I played almost exclusively Redside content for years. I think I knew Sky raiders were ex-military, but not sure. Anyways, now that I see their commander is a freak it just really stood out somehow, that contrast. Pretty sure this is the first I heard that the Banished Pantheon were raised from a military graveyard off Dark Astoria. Really glad to be doing the Dark Astoria content before that goes the Ouro way.
Another nice thing I see is the steady improvement of the game. Redside was written after Blueside mostly, and it was better. I have solo'd Praetoria about 3 times, and that was written better than Redside. The new stuff in the rewrite of Posi TF, and the rewrite for beginning heroes in Atlas is even better. So, kudos to the staff for steady progress. Some of this Blueside stuff I am slogging through is just....blech. Mostly this is due to too many hunt 20x, or too many find 7 glowies in a row. Othertimes I find gems. (That Sky Raider Captain's costume. Oh my!) But even while slogging I am taking the time to read the content. Hard to retain it all. But the canon of knowledge is insanely large. One of my big problems is not creating alts for each idea I come across. i may designate a server my idea alt server, one that I have no characters on, and just create 1st level concept characters so I remember the thought. Then i can keep slogging and look at it once I'm done. In fact I will do that starting now. Cause my next project is a badger, and i will have 6 months idea done once I get done with these two projects.
On Redside after 30 I had to turn off exp earning a lot less. I do not think i shall be that lucky Blueside. Blueside may have some drech, but it has tons of it lol. I'll keep looking for the gems and keep folks posted.
I started my solo Blueside project about a week ago. With the holidays I am not making much progress. I decided to start the thread anyways, just to share my thoughts.
Picking the right archtype and sets seemed hard. I have considered soloing Blueside many times, (even started a couple times) and always struggled with this. Once I made the decision it seemed natural and easy. My favorite, a Super Strength/Invulnerability Brute.
He is currently sitting at 14th. I am running all arcs, every contact, every storyline, every hunt 10x until the contacts won't talk to me anymore. At level 14 the missions are not a challenge. I have the 5 special enhancers that Proc until level 22, only 4 slotted though. I ran the DFB 4 times at 4th to get all the temp bonuses. I am picking his armors whenever I can, and already have Boxing and Tough. I ran the Posi 1 & 2. I was blue hungry on Posi 1 hard, and thankfully we picked up a kin for Posi 2. I am about halfway done with his level 10-14 content. I am looking forward to leveling him to 19 pretty quickly after I finish 10-14 content. I have most of my bids filled for 20-22 SOs, and I will slot a few more I/Os, prob at least one set of tuned Kin Comb. He already has the two +3% def and a stealth proc in Sprint.
As usual on Blueside the hardest thing is the multiple contacts for storylines. Whoever wrote this side is either a genius or an idiot, but I can't figure it. My attack plan is to just keep calling contacts, running banks, searching for new contacts until there is just no way to get another mission in that level range that I can figure out.
I also did all the holiday stuff with him, and I just need about 80 more presents for the Toy Collector badge to finish off all event badges. So, even with company and the holidays a pretty good start. Happy New Year!