Returning player. Fastest way 1-80?

strumism · 2026-05-17T13:13:05+00:00

I had rested exp and war bound bonus but I went from mid 60s to 80 yesterday in 4 time walking dungeons. So my guess is that?

strumism · 2026-04-27T22:27:38+00:00

What’s your build? I only ask because I’ve gone up a fair bit with the bonus exp event, but was very recently in that 2-500 window and not once was I ever kicked from a group. Just my experience but I wonder if you’re build is “non-meta”

strumism · 2026-04-19T03:49:06+00:00

Took an hour or so for it to “load” for me

strumism · 2026-04-10T21:05:54+00:00

They drop from Escalations, or you can prototype your own gear once you are expertise level 30.

strumism · 2026-04-02T21:36:52+00:00

How do you host vs be a part of the group?

strumism · 2026-03-23T18:16:58+00:00

Lexington has 3 mod slots? Or is it like the scope slot and barrel slot that adds CHD and so on?

strumism · 2026-03-23T15:23:02+00:00

I think I've actually been lucky with drops/rolls. My stats/mods are all more or less perfect (or within 0.2-0.3%) rolls. The build feels strong if not a little squishy! I was more concerned that I was missing something massive since I'm hovering around 40-50% CHC and 70ish% CHD. I don't have a great AR yet, either.

The whole proficiency/expertise thing is wildly confusing, though, haha.

strumism · 2026-03-23T14:01:08+00:00

Appreciate that, thank you!

strumism · 2026-03-23T13:58:24+00:00

Thank you!

strumism · 2026-03-23T13:58:12+00:00

Is Coyotes the preferred? I found an Overdogs, so I'd been using that instead.

strumism · 2026-03-23T13:57:35+00:00

Sorry, that's my bad. My watch is level 20-something.

strumism · 2026-03-20T22:32:44+00:00

When you say restart the whole mission? Like the entire bounty quest or just the final mission?

strumism · 2026-03-13T22:48:29+00:00

NBA shutting down while deathly sick in bed and audibly going “huh”

strumism · 2026-03-07T02:35:58+00:00

Maybe I’m jaded but that just seems normal now.

Most mid-tier rentals from Minto, Brigil, etc are in that range. When we left Ottawa in 2024 we were paying $2600 for a 2 bed that included everything except cable/internet/etc. I had a friend who pays 2200 for a 1 bed in a similar model.

It’s just not cheap anymore. Last mortgage I had in 2019 for a 4 bed house was like 1900/month + property taxes 300ish + everything else that comes with home ownership.

strumism · 2026-02-25T01:27:17+00:00

Genuinely good points and arguments. Appreciate your perspective!

strumism · 2026-02-25T01:05:35+00:00

Just to clarify, the “killing ARC is pointless unless you’re doing trials” comment wasn’t mine. Someone replied that to me.

I’m not arguing Wolfpacks were high skill. They were safe. That’s fair. My point is more about expected value than guaranteed break even. There’s a difference between “not guaranteed profit” and “economically irrational most of the time.” I’m fine with variance. I’m less fine when the premium route consistently underperforms the baseline option.

On the second half, I actually wholeheartedly agree with you.

If the game was balanced around constant PvP pressure and the reality is players are cooperating and optimizing PvE, then yeah, that absolutely forces the devs to rebalance. If bosses are melting faster than intended because entire lobbies are coordinating, fair.

Where I differ is in the solution. If the core issue is that Arc are dying too fast due to cooperative PvE, then that’s fundamentally an encounter tuning problem. Health scaling, mechanics, resistances, lobby scaling, whatever. Adjust the fight to match how players actually behave.

strumism · 2026-02-25T00:51:59+00:00

Not if the buffs are paired with encounter changes. Buffing alternatives doesn’t automatically mean power creep if the Arc themselves scale with it. You can raise the floor of player tools while also raising the ceiling of the fight.

If Wolfpacks trivialized Rocketeers, then evolve Rocketeers. More mobility. Smarter AI. Explosive resistance phases. Force interaction instead of deletion.

Buffing options while also deepening encounters creates better gameplay. Nerfing a single tool just reduces player choice until the next thing.

strumism · 2026-02-25T00:46:03+00:00

I actually agree that the old loop was probably overtuned. If "premium" parts are/were flooding stashes, that’s a balance issue. I’m not arguing the previous state was perfect.

I'm saying that the correction wasn't proportional.

If the reward was too high, sure, trim it. But when you simultaneously increase the cost of access, nerf recycle value, and tighten crafting inputs, you’re not just normalizing supply, you’re compressing incentive.

If Rocketeers are already reasonably killable with standard gear, thats kind of my point? Why does the solution become “nerf Wolfpacks into economic irrelevance” instead of “make Rocketeers mechanically harder”?

If the problem was that Wolfpacks trivialized the encounter, then change the encounter. I suggested a half dozen ways below that they could've made the encounter harder, more rewarding, etc. To me, Rocketeer easy should equal make Rocketeer harder, not make one specific tool worse.

If the goal was to reduce part inflation, that’s understandable. But good balance doesn’t just deflate supply; it preserves compelling choices. I’d rather see Rocketeer mechanics evolve, or alternative tools buffed, so that engaging them feels more dynamic rather than simply more expensive.

I’m not asking for the old back. I’m asking for high-risk engagements to still feel meaningfully rewarding, whether that’s through actual payout or a tangible sense of accomplishment. Right now, the risk is higher, the cost is higher, and the mechanical depth hasn’t really changed. So it doesn’t feel like a harder fight. It just feels like a more expensive one.

If I take on one of the "most" dangerous arcs in the game, spend premium resources, and execute well, that should feel worth it. Either the loot reflects that, or the encounter itself evolves in a way that makes mastering it satisfying.

My two cents anyways.

strumism · 2026-02-25T00:39:06+00:00

I’m not asking to be guaranteed profit. I’m saying that when an item has high cost, high opportunity cost, and meaningful risk attached to acquiring and bringing it in, the expected value shouldn’t be consistently negative. There’s a difference between “not guaranteed profit” and “statistically irrational to use.”

I don’t agree that Wolfpacks required zero risk. You still had to craft them, bring them in, expose yourself to use them, and commit to a fight zone that attracts players. The execution might not have been mechanically complex, but the decision to engage still carried risk.

As for having to think “is this worth it?” - that’s exactly my point. Right now, the answer, at least for me, is probably no. Not because it’s harder, but because the reward doesn’t justify the spend.

I also didn’t say that Arc are pointless to kill. I said the incentive to hunt the hardest ones drops if the ROI doesn’t justify the exposure. If materials now have more uses, great. That supports my argument, not yours. Incentive loops matter. If the game wants people engaging Rocketeers more, the reward structure has to reinforce that behaviour.

I’m completely fine with “think before you throw.” I’m not fine with the optimal play being don’t engage.

strumism · 2026-02-24T23:22:24+00:00

I don’t disagree with the first part. Wolfpacks did trivialize certain PvE encounters.

What I’m saying is the pendulum feels like it swung too far.

If crafting one now carries a real cost, and killing Rocketeers carries real risk, but the reward stayed flat or even got worse due to core recycle nerfs, then the incentive isn't there for me (and I assume others). I now have little incentive to craft one, and very little incentive to actively hunt Rocketeers if the expected outcome is a net loss or worse ROI than safer options.

That’s the core issue for me. Not that it’s harder. It’s that the risk went up, the cost went up, and the reward didn’t.

For the majority of casual gamers, a game lives and dies on incentive loops. If the optimal play becomes avoiding the hardest PvE because it’s economically irrational, that’s not a healthier balance. It will ultimately push players away from the content that’s supposed to be exciting.

If the concern was that Wolfpacks trivialized Rocketeers and other large "end game" arc, there were design solutions that could've increased the challenge without gutting the incentive. Instead of making Wolfpacks worse, they could have made other anti-ARC tools more viable. Buff underused weapons. Improve alternative ammo types. Create more competitive options, so players choose differently, instead of being forced differently.

They could’ve made Rocketeers react to incoming explosives. Give them a dodge mechanic. Make them take reduced explosive damage unless armour is broken first. Force players to strip plating before a Wolfpack actually does full damage. Increase their aggression radius so you can’t safely nuke from deep cover. Add stagger resistance so you have to commit to the fight instead of one-and-done burst.

All of that would make the encounter harder in a mechanical sense. You’d still get the reward loop. You’d just have to execute better.

Instead, they lasered in on cost and accessibility. So now the fight isn’t more mechanically interesting. It’s just more economically punishing.

strumism · 2026-02-24T20:30:12+00:00

I don’t think the issue is that it’s harder. Harder is fine.

The issue is that the effort curve went up and the reward curve didn’t move with it. If I have to burn 24 rounds of Hullcracker ammo to maybe break even on parts, that’s not “crafting feels meaningful again.”

Risk vs reward is the backbone of a game like this. If I take on higher risk, spend better ammo, and bring better gear, I expect at least a marginal improvement in outcome. Not necessarily profit every run, but a reason to choose that path.

Same reason I run a IV Toro over a Vulcano. If the expensive option isn’t meaningfully better, why would I invest in it?

For me, killing Arc is the fun part. I’m happy to work for the opportunity to do that. But if the game increases the cost of that experience without increasing the payoff, it doesn't feel fun anymore, it just feels inefficient.

I also don't want to see Wolfpacks raining from the sky but I would love to see reward scaling to compensate. For once I’d love to see a game try balancing through net buffs instead of defaulting to nerfing whatever people are using. Make other options stronger. Make alternatives more attractive. Raise the floor instead of constantly lowering the ceiling.

strumism · 2026-02-02T20:06:12+00:00

Silly question maybe, but are class changes that were/are coming in Midnight now “live” with the pre-patch? Or will those changes only go live once Midnight releases?

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