User blog:Flitterwing/Advice to New Level 30 (Legendary) Players

This Post was originally a reply to a question, but as it kept getting longer and longer, I decided to just post it as a stand-alone. '''This for all of you Noobs out there... '''

There are a couple of easy ways to improve once you get to level 30 that doesn't involve combat. The 2 main things that you need in DCUO are gear and skills... but cash doesn't hurt either.

1) GEAR: your CR is a direct reflection of your gear. The better it is, the stronger you are - and the harder it is to KO you.  If you are new, take a look at your gear.  If it is lower than 30, you need to upgrade that quick!  Take a look in the broker room.  When searching for gear, use the search option "Price Ascending." It will show you all the cheaper gear first.  Sometimes, players will sell gear at the broker for cheap - an easy way to collect styles and improve...  (Of course, you will see some pretty outrageous prices too - but by the time your CR is level 40-50, 1 or 2M won't seem so expensive.)

(If you are lucky enough to be added to a guild, ask your guild members if they have any low level gear that they would be willing to give you.)

- Also, mods are a good way to upgrade... every piece of your gear should have a mod, no matter what! Even if the mod is only an alpha! So get collecting and get crafting.

2) SKILLS: go to the Deeds menu and look under Feats. There are a lot of skill points that can be earned not by combat but by doing race challenges and collecting styles and participating in PVP and Legends PVP (whether or not you win or lose.)  In just a few hours, you should be able to rack up a few skill points - if you look in your weapon's skill-tree, you will see that you can increase your crit %, vit, dom, heal, and hits.  At the bottom of the tree, there are typically points that can be spent on things like might, precision and defense/toughness.  (Personally, I use handblast but I have skill points in 5 other weapons I don't even use - just for the increase in those attributes!)

3) CASH: Go out and find 16 red exobits. Stand by the Phase Shifter and shout that you are selling them for 2.5 Million – someone will open a trade window and give you 2.5 Million dollars for the 16 red exobits that you found for free!  This will give you the necessary funds to get started.  Enough to buy you some things you will need – like soders, crafting supplies and better gear.

(Red Stacks sell in the broker for between 3-5 Million... but the broker needs a deposit, which makes selling there expensive!)

<p style="line-height: 15.75pt"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: 'Helvetica', 'sans-serif'; color: #eeece1; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-themecolor: background2">- Go down to the war room at the bottom of the watchtower and buy every style they sell (except for emblems...) This will complete a few of the style collections and give you several more points towards new skills.

<p style="line-height: 15.75pt"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: 'Helvetica', 'sans-serif'; color: #eeece1; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-themecolor: background2">4) POWERS: One last note about powers... IMHO, I think that most of the iconic powers are a waste. The only ones I have chosen are the ones that have increased my overall stats, such as increasing crit heal and damage by 10% or dominance.  Avoid any iconic power that needs to be activated.  Instead, spend power points on things that help you in your role.  Remember, you only have 6 actual in-game slots for powers, so anything else that you are not using is pretty much a waste.

<p style="line-height: 15.75pt"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: 'Helvetica', 'sans-serif'; color: #eeece1; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-themecolor: background2">Don’t be afraid to reset your powers and skills a few times to try new things. Find what works for you and if it doesn’t, reset it and try something else!

<p style="line-height: 15.75pt"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: 'Helvetica', 'sans-serif'; color: #eeece1; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-themecolor: background2">I hope that this proves somewhat useful for newer players. If you see me in the game, please feel free to say “hi.”