as a single player game how is Praetoria?

I am wanting to make a grav/time controller and play through Praetoria from 1 to 40.

Anyone done this yet?

is it fun?
how does the story hold up all of the way through?
any particular path in Praetoria most fun? (loyalist, traitor, violent, peaceful)

I believe Zombieman had a "hit everyone" guide.

It's a great area of the game - the Resistance Warden path is the one that makes the most sense if you're planning on going 1-40, rather than 1-20, as it's the one that's best supported in First Ward and Night Ward, and it's also the one that feeds the smoothest into the Incanrate storyline.

I don't even know how to get to Praetoria when creating a new character anymore.

I guess I just click past it so quickly that I've stopped noticing it. Hrmm.

Praetoria's my favorite starting zone, by far, and I mostly solo. Admittedly, the learning curve is a little steeper there, and depending on what/how you are playing you might not be able to just breeze through it as quickly as other areas, but with some smart play, for my money, it's the best place to be!

Taking it to level 40, though, solo is somewhat harder. I find First Ward pretty much tops out at around 25-27, and you've got to find some way of making it from there to 30 for Night Ward, which- the only time I've made it all the way through so far- stops around 35-37 or thereabouts.

There are 5 repeatable contacts in FW - one is neutral, so anyone can use him, 2 are for Villains/loyalists, and 2 are for Heroes/Resistance.

I don't think you have to be 30 exactly, I got new contacts that started Night Ward arcs after I hit 29.

Praetoria 1-20: Great. Really good storylines, four branches of which that you can swap between at various points throughout your story. Amazing environments and maps. Memorable characters. Very shades of gray about morality. Really does a good job immersing you in Emperor Cole/Tyrant's city, while building you up as a powerful Loyalist/Resistance member.

Praetoria 21-40: Ball has been dropped. One linear storyline that completely disregards who you were during 1-20 content, regardless of if you were Loyalist or Resistance. First Ward is a very well designed map. Night Ward, however, is literally copy and paste with a different paint job. Overall story is forgettable and feels like a side adventure that has no real importance or impact on Praetoria or Primal Earth. Enemy groups include black knights with Warhammer-esque armor/weapons, British cops who act as grim reapers, sentient spells, and self appointed warriors of the Well of Furies.


I highly recommend playing through Nova Praetoria, Imperial City, and Neutropolis. After that, though, IMO NW and FW should just be skipped over. They're not even technically Praetorian content. Anyone, hero, villain, or otherwise, can run them. And they're such a departure from the style laid out by the 1-20 content that it's incredibly jarring to transition into First Ward.

On that note, anyone know what happens if you take your Praetorian through a portal out of Praetoria and/or First Ward? Can you even use the portals? Does it automatically switch you to the alignment of the first area you go to?

As a secondary observation: Running repeatable content in First Ward is mind-numbingly boring. My praetorian is level 26 by now, without choosing a primal-earth alignment. Because I'm stubborn. But... I just can't take any more of those missions. Gah.

I've tried grabbing a team, but First Ward is pretty desolate.

The Praetoria content is pretty good storytelling. Great scenery, engaging storyarcs. Unfortunately after level 20, they discontinue the normal arcs but the FW and NW arcs are nice as well.

However, bring a character who can survive well as the opponents are stronger then you are used to. I still highly recommend it.

I rolled a Praetorian for each of the 4 paths and loved all 4, though Warden and Power were my favorites. Its definitely a challenge so if you run it, make characters you can survive with, but patience, insps and planning can get you through almost any situation. Big downsides are there is almost no one, at least on Pinn, so soloing is almost the only path, it's easy to out level contacts, no access to SG amenities.

The following is all opinion, your mileage may vary, etc.

1- Pick something that is good at handling large crowds of enemies.
Praeteria is highly solo-able, provided you have the right power sets. Which ones qualify for that are up to you. Just be aware that, no matter which side(s) you play, you will have missions that take you to large empty rooms with lots of enemies. Lots of enemies.

2- Beware of the "Praetorian Greeting" ambushes.
Seriously, there are some missions that give you 3 and 4 waves of them. And, sorry Stalkers, they are targeted on you- not your general location. Thus stealth will not avoid them.

3- Manage your experience gain if you want to see all of the story.
Due to there only being 3 level ranges, and the waves of enemies, you can out level a story arc easily. Which is too bad, the stories are good (I'm so-so on the Resistance Crusader storyline) and each of them has an interesting morality choice at the end. Make that even more so if you want to do multiple storylines at once (which can involve going undercover for the opposite faction).

I liked the idea of it, it's all very pretty too but I find it too tough for anything but brutes, tanksand scrappers, really. Too many ambushes.

If I could ever find a team there I might go back from time to time, but solo? Nah, man, nah.

It does very well as a single-player game. All four of the storylines are well done, although some resonate with people more than others. The Resistance Warden and Loyalist Power arcs seem to be popular, and I like the Loyalty Responsibility arc as well. The only one I don't really care for is the Resistance Crusader arc.

But otherwise, like others have said, have a toon that you're comfortable enough with to face off against mobs that will be tougher than usual. For instance, Destroyer bosses (or if they're lieutenants via the difficulty slider) have mez protection, hurl, and footstomp. At a low level, that hurts.

The environments are beautiful and the story is supremely crafted.

It does kind of fall apart in First Ward and Night Ward though. Taking away the four paths and putting them on all the same track is disappointing. I mean, don't get me wrong, I enjoyed First Ward quite a bit, but I've yet to do Night Ward (working on that now). It's just not the same as the beginning Praetorian zones. There's a total shift in tone and even complexity.

I've really enjoyed Praetoria as a solo game. I found the second half of First Ward less enjoyable than the opening few arcs, but then I had a lot of fun again in Night Ward. Looking back, I think it might've been because First Ward and Night Ward are really one storyline, and that's why the ending of First Ward seemed a little disappointing.

On a Mind/Psi Dom I found Praetoria challenging, but not stupidly difficult.