The Secret World: Bees, Bugs and FunCompetence

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > The MMO HMO > The Secret World: Bees, Bugs and FunCompetence

Zephro: Nov 23, 2000; I suppose I could part with one and still be feared...

Amante posted:

In theory, there's nothing wrong with putting a couple of suggested builds in the OP for new people who feel completely directionless. The most important part is making it clear that you can't really make any wrong choices with the skill wheel. Any weapon combo works for leveling, and the game outright throws free points at you by the time you're midway through Egypt.

The problem with Mayushit's OP was that he posited Blades/Chaos as the one true leveling build, as if it was the best (or even only) option. Hilariously, Blades/Chaos doesn't even touch the top three most efficient solo/leveling builds.

But that's part of the fun. You can do almost anything for leveling and have fun with it. Builds only start to become a real consideration when you're dipping into Nightmare missions/dungeons. One of the few things with the skill system Funcom actually did right.

See, I was/am kind of directionless, and if there's a top three most-efficient levelling builds, I'd love to know about them!

# ¿ Jun 5, 2013 15:18

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# ¿ May 5, 2024 17:52

Zephro: Nov 23, 2000; I suppose I could part with one and still be feared...

Shadowmorn posted:

Its an amalgamation of "London"-like design, but "Ealdwic" is not real unless im very, very much mistaken.

"Ealdwic" is the Old English name for what's now Aldwych, which is a fairly swish part of central London with a disused Tube station ( :tinfoil:

). The design of Ealdwic in the game looks quite similar to real-life Aldwych, with the stone terraces and (by London standards) wide streets. Though the surrounding residential streets in the game remind me of Highbury and Islington, which is a swanky part of North London full of meeja executives and people who run lifestyle boutiques.

edit: I mean similar in a general sense, they don't seem to have copied streets the way they have for NYC.

Zephro fucked around with this message at 19:50 on Jun 5, 2013

# ¿ Jun 5, 2013 19:48

Zephro: Nov 23, 2000; I suppose I could part with one and still be feared...

Reverend Dr posted:

Really the first time you play through it is more fun to play what you just want to play rather than trying to go for something 'optimal' while leveling. There is just no reason to want to rush through the absolute best part of the game to reach the lackluster grindy endgame faster.

I'm not kidding, jumping into 'optimal sperg attitude' before Nightmare content can really take away from the really well done story and missions.

Last chance, there's no turning back.
You have been warned.

There is only one build that for leveling is noticeably more efficient than any other for leveling. I use "build" in a very loose sense as its really only a handfull of actual skills.

Assault Riffle/X (really anything else is likely to be just as good as the next)
Safety Off 1pt - This is the highest damage builder in the game, even though its passive is due to be slightly nerfed in 1.7, that won't change a thing for leveling.
Three Round Burst 9pt - This is AR's single target consumer
Suppressing Fire 9pt - The go-to AoE builder, quite possibly all the AoE you will ever need
Lock and Load 4pt(?) - Push button get consumer. Great for short fights, great for sustained damage on long fights. Its great.
Anima Shot 4pt(?) - When all else fails and the enemy is too strong, swap this builder for Safety Off. Now you do damage and heal yourself at the same time. No need to change gear for solo. It only builds AR resources (told you any other weapon would be as good as the next), does less damage, makes fights take longer, but it gives you the ability to kill things that are way the hell stronger than you should be able to kill
For Passives, just bring stuff that makes sense (the passives for Safety Off and Anima Shot make sense, as does the +10% AR damage)

Also your stats. Until you reach the higher levels of endgame gear, you don't have a budget for Crit Rating or Crit Power, you will get better damage gains from focusing only on Hit and Penetration. You can put Q10 level glyphs into any Qlevel of equipment. We have metric shittons of Q10 glyph kits lying around. You really shouldn't need to do all that many gear upgrades. Get gear from dungeons, Polaris Q3, Hell Raised Q5(though maybe skip HR), Darkness War Q6 (and blue Q6 weapons from Blue Mountain sequin vendor), Ahnk Q8(and blue Q8 weapons from City of Sun God sequin vendor). (Hell Fallen is Q9, but blue Q8 gear is approximately the same as green Q10 which is the starting gear level of the post zone content).

Congratulations you have now looked behind the curtain. There is a little man crunching numbers on a spreadsheet, that is the real game of TSW. You can't unsee it now.

This is great, thanks. Full sperg mode engaged. Don't get me wrong, I love the levelling, but at the same time I'd like to be able to do as much of it as possible, even the harder stuff, and a good build will help with that!

# ¿ Jun 5, 2013 19:52

Zephro: Nov 23, 2000; I suppose I could part with one and still be feared...

What is a good build these days? I have some Pistol/Elementalism thing left over from when I last played years ago but I have no idea what's current and it seems hard to find advice for players just starting out (I'm still only on the New England island). Is there a go-to build, especially when I don't have access to most of the wheel yet?

Zephro fucked around with this message at 11:58 on Apr 14, 2016

# ¿ Apr 14, 2016 11:56

Zephro: Nov 23, 2000; I suppose I could part with one and still be feared...

Hello Sailor posted:

A lot of builds will work in the Solomon Island zones once you've got a feel for things again, but if you really want to mow things down, start with an all inner wheel Blade build and go from there (drop Delicate Precision for Fist's 1-pt Lick Your Wounds). Blade also has lots of nice outer wheel abilities. Inner wheel Chaos can add some magic AoE to Blade's physical AoE (some targets go down easier to magic damage), plus finishing that gives you access to the lovely 9-pt Breakdown. Finishing inner wheel Fist opens up access to the outer wheel tree with Bloodsport and Salt in the Wound, which is a great passive combo to add to an AoE build.

e: Just be sure to have a finisher for both weapons.

If you want something specific, here's a Chaos/Shotgun build I used before they made Solomon Island easier:

Awesome, thanks so much for this. I have most of Blade already so it shouldn't take too long to switch over.

edit: If I'm going to switch, is there a good place to pick up weapons? I think I'm using Pistols/Elemental because I have QL3 weapons for both just from random mob drops. Can I buy a QL3 shotgun or blade or whatever anywhere? Maybe my faction HQ? (Sorry, I'd check in-game but I'm at work atm).

# ¿ Apr 15, 2016 15:46

Zephro: Nov 23, 2000; I suppose I could part with one and still be feared...

Morglon posted:

Just get a toolkit and craft something, if you don't have any post your character name and i'll mail you some when I get the chance.

Awesome, thanks. Char names is "Pessimism". Using blades and chaos atm if that helps but I'm not picky!

# ¿ Apr 18, 2016 14:06

Zephro: Nov 23, 2000; I suppose I could part with one and still be feared...

Morglon posted:

Alright, sent you some weapon toolkits and base materials, go nuts.

Awesome, thanks so much.

One other question - how does DLC/issues work with this? There's a Steam sale on at the moment but they only list 6 pieces of DLC, starting with Issue 9. Were the other 8 issues pre-baked into the game when they dropped the monthly sub? I've already done some of the Issue 1 missions in Kingsmouth without ever having bought it. Basically, what do I need to spend money on if I want to be up to date?

# ¿ Apr 18, 2016 19:39

Zephro: Nov 23, 2000; I suppose I could part with one and still be feared...

On the subject of pax I have like 800k after finishing Solomon Island and nothing obvious to spend it on apart from the purple run speed boost. Will I actually need it for anything later or should I just save up a bit more then blow a million pax on running a bit faster?

# ¿ Apr 19, 2016 19:55

Zephro: Nov 23, 2000; I suppose I could part with one and still be feared...

Is the end-game bad/lazy then? That'd be a shame. I really liked the quests and atmosphere in Solomon Island and I'm looking forward to Egypt, plus what I hope is more developments in the whole Filth story. Am I just heading for a big helping of disappointment?

# ¿ Apr 22, 2016 23:49

Zephro: Nov 23, 2000; I suppose I could part with one and still be feared...

HughGRect posted:

The solo story content is good all the way through, even the dungeons are worth running once (for the story). After the story, the game turns into a standard MMO dungeon grind for better gear.

OK, thanks. There's a Steam sale on for some of the packs - I can get the "ultimate edition" which apparently includes issues up to 11. A couple of questions:

1) I already have a separate, non-Steam install of the basic TSW game. If I buy this, will it register as a separate game? How can I make sure I link it with the account I already have, cos I don't want to start another char?
2) Is there any way to buy all the expansions up the most recent? Or will I have to buy the last few piecemeal?
3) If I have, say, Issue 13 but not Issues 5-12, can I play 13? Or do I need the complete set?

Zephro fucked around with this message at 20:26 on Apr 23, 2016

# ¿ Apr 23, 2016 20:22

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# ¿ May 5, 2024 17:52

Zephro: Nov 23, 2000; I suppose I could part with one and still be feared...

OK, thanks for the info. I'll grab it and see what happens

# ¿ Apr 24, 2016 10:56

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