Ok! So I’m playing solo on skirmish mode, character level 36. I’ve completed all missions and DLC except for the last few missions of FNIX Rising (Wages, Cycles, Good Night) and the Showdown missions.
I’d like to advance my character to a higher level, since the dev announcement for Showdown indicated playing the last missions might benefit from the level cap being removed. I haven’t done much base defense. I have some of the experimentals. Not all, but some.
I’m a middle-aged parent, so my reflexes are not the best, and I only have so much time to devote to gaming.
Question is: if my goal is to level up, how would base defense grinding and rival farming compare to replaying the game from the start using a new world with my level 36 character?
The XP gap for each new level increases, but I don’t have a sense of how these two methods would compare, and which method would get me to a more maxed-out character faster. Has anyone tried/compared?
There’s probably a few ways you could efficiently grind some xp, the way you mentioned would be a great way to do it, especially if you unlocked the skill that gives you extra xp from finishing missions. But the alternatives would be simply getting into big fights with rivals and large amounts of machines. Relay beacons give you quite a bit of xp as well I believe. Also what platform do you play on? I’d be happy to hook you up with some experimental guns to help with the end game, I have all of them. The showdown missions are tough
That’s really nice of you, @dogcoffee ! I’m on Steam. Would be happy to hook up at some point, although I had been thinking I wanted to kind of conquer the game at least once on my own, meaning no cheats and no sharing from other players - just gear I legit obtained on my own. Although, I suppose restarting the missions from square one is bending those rules a bit anyway Let me think about it, and if I get fed up/impatient, I might reach out to take you up on the offer! I actually didn’t have any experimentals except for the .44 magnus after weeks of playing, and then last night I just kind of went for it and started mowing down rivals and got the exp M/49 and exp Kpist one right after the other. Gotta love the rng gods
Yes, there is a 2-level XP perk, and an augment for XP. I always wondered about that: if you apply that augment, do you need to have the weapon actively equipped when you take down a machine to get the bonus? Or just in your backpack? Or just in your wheel?
Hey gotta respect an honest playthrough! I’m also on pc but sadly I play on the gamepass version so I can play with my brother, since he’s on Xbox. And also about the xp augment, I think you have to have it equipped but I honesty don’t know for sure. But good luck on your playthrough!
Relax, man, I’m over 60 and I started GZ when the covid lock downs kicked in and I never stopped since. My game reflexes aren’t the best either and that’s why I’d rather do single player. I don’t want to slow anybody down. I like stealth and trapping the bottards from a secured location. I don’t care as long as I’m having fun. I’m lvl 71 and I think I missed the same missions as you. The base thing is a whole different game just to keep the arcade gamers happy IMO. They were trying to keep everybody happy. I’ve tackled only a handful of rivals on my own. No big deal from a secured location and if you have the patience. And even then the loot may not be worth your time. Overrated. We’re all just killing time here, aren’t we ? We’re not trying to win an oscar, right ?
But the survivors on the forum here have helped me a lot ! It’s not always obvious what’s expected of you during missions and I’ve often wondered how our fellow sufferers did manage to find out how.
Just memorize some locations near a safe house where the soviet n local machines fight each other very often, they usually won’t target you before one side of them are totally destroyed, so you just kick-in n ‘balance’ their amount (#w#) thats a large sum of exp.
Let me think about it, and if I get fed up/impatient, I might reach out to take you up on the offer! I actually didn’t have any experimentals except for the .44 magnus after weeks of playing, and then last night I just kind of went for it and started mowing down rivals and got the exp M/49 and exp Kpist one right after the other. Gotta love the rng gods 
thats a large sum of exp.