A Question Regarding Leveling and Play Styles

[Darkaiser]

I'm curious as to how other people play this game.

I'm something of a completionist and so I usually try to knock out all of the Fixer gigs, as well as the NCPD events, before following the main story terribly far. Sometimes I chase down a story line because of an event or a reward (like my current Sniper build got the snipers from the area fights and working with Panam) but at Hard Difficulty I find myself at level 54 and nowhere near the end of any storylines except the one for the Paralazes.

Before 2.0 and Phantom Liberty, I would hit 50 right around the end of the main quest. Now, I'm rocketing towards 60 with tons of content to go.

My question is; How do you all play the game? Do you try to level a lot before the Heist (I was level 18 before Jackie died)? Do you do Fixer gigs more or follow the main story line to a good spot and then switch to something else? How much play do you have after you hit 60?

I'm just curious. Thanks in advance.

[Rhapsody]

You'll get more fun toys if you level up by first playing as much story content as you can. You get to maximize the range of tier 5++ items you find from all the side content, and some story arcs kinda treat V as somewhat noob merc anyway.

[Crimsomrider]

Pre-Heist I ignore all side content and just do the three main missions, then post-Heist I ignore all main stuff and just explore the city and side-content. Haven't even left Watson yet after 50 hours :D

[Draconifors]

I also follow the main quests until I've opened up the map, and then do what I do in any open-world RPG: explore, and ignore the main quest for a veeeeeeeeeeeeery long time.

I'm thinking I'll try to clear all of the NCPD scanner hustles and do whatever gigs and sidequests I run into along the way.
Either that or start by clearing out Watson again.

[Ishan451]

Originally posted by Darkaiser:

My question is; How do you all play the game?

My 2.0 + PL playthrough was pretty much follow the main quest until Act 2 begins. Then walk most places, do NCPD prompts on the way... gigs when opportunity arises. And then sooner or later you'll hit all those "wait 24 hours" stops in the missions, which is where i tend to be all over the place and do whatever. A few gigs here, a few cyberpsychos there, a few main and side missions...

My main mission has been sitting at "meet with Hanako" for a while now, as i am working Phantom liberty. I did end up regretting going so late to Dog Town.. Not because of the Relic Tree, but because of the car theft missions, which seem to be a reliable source for Shards.

Not really seeing the point for NCPD stuff, i mean... when i walk past it, i will clear it, but the payout isn't really worth hunting them down. I actually was super bummed by the reward, or lack there of, for hunting the Cyberpsychos and bringing them all home alive.

Originally posted by Darkaiser:

How much play do you have after you hit 60?

My "build" was done at level 30... i really don't care about more levels, to be honest. The only reason i wanted to level more was to get legendary stuff... and it is largely me looking for Iconics now.

Level is meaningless at this point to me. Got all the skills that aid the way i want to play... and so far its been mostly "find Iconic, try Iconic, go back to the same weapons I used since level 10". With the exception of the gun Kerry gave me. I do enjoy that one.

[Rhapsody]

Originally posted by Ishan451:

Not really seeing the point for NCPD stuff, i mean... when i walk past it, i will clear it, but the payout isn't really worth hunting them down. I actually was super bummed by the reward, or lack there of, for hunting the Cyberpsychos and bringing them all home alive.

Originally posted by Ishan451:

The only reason i wanted to level more was to get legendary stuff... and it is largely me looking for Iconics now.

Those two go hand in hand. :p

2.0 offers a lot of interesting playstyles that you can mix and match and even swap on the go if you have balanced spread of attributes. It's just a matter of finding them.

The rarest things in the game are tier 5++ weapons of your preference with two unused mod slots. Putting Firecracker on double-barreled shotgun turns it into fully build-independent weapon. The only iconic weapon I've found to rival those is Tsunami. Yet another reason to not save Phantom Liberty for too late (relic upgrades being the foremost reason).

NCPD tasks also frequently yield you cyberware capacity shards, and skill shards and perk shards.

[Darkaiser]

I'm happy that there are several places where you can park the main questline and leave it.

Before talking to Saburo's bodyguard (whose name I can never remember...), you don't see Johnny again unless your car gets smacked by Delamain. That means no Rogue which means no Panam (and she WHINES during the mission after downing the AV!) or that whole line. You can call Mama Wells, go to the offrenda, get a bike and that's cool.

You have so many gigs in Watson (23? Seriously?) that you can't really help but go up some levels. Never mind the Cyberpsycho missions and NCPD events.

I haven't done any of the car grabs because driving in the game is...lackluster at best...but if those are a good source of Shards then I might try a few. I keep reading that the timer for them is unreasonable though so we'll see.

Thanks for the input.

[Rabidnid]

Originally posted by Darkaiser:

I'm curious as to how other people play this game.

I'm something of a completionist and so I usually try to knock out all of the Fixer gigs, as well as the NCPD events, before following the main story terribly far. Sometimes I chase down a story line because of an event or a reward (like my current Sniper build got the snipers from the area fights and working with Panam) but at Hard Difficulty I find myself at level 54 and nowhere near the end of any storylines except the one for the Paralazes.

Before 2.0 and Phantom Liberty, I would hit 50 right around the end of the main quest. Now, I'm rocketing towards 60 with tons of content to go.

My question is; How do you all play the game? Do you try to level a lot before the Heist (I was level 18 before Jackie died)? Do you do Fixer gigs more or follow the main story line to a good spot and then switch to something else? How much play do you have after you hit 60?

I'm just curious. Thanks in advance.

When this game launched it was practically impossible to reach level 50. Most people ended up around level 45 having 100%ed the game.

Since then it had fluctuated. My last playthrough I hit level 60 having only done PL MQ and about half the gigs, with only about 20% of the NCPD jobs done.

They might balance XP again at some point but I kept playing long after I hit level 50 in the pre 2.0 game as that usually happened in late act 2.

[Darkaiser]

Originally posted by Rabidnid:

Originally posted by Darkaiser:

I'm curious as to how other people play this game.

I'm something of a completionist and so I usually try to knock out all of the Fixer gigs, as well as the NCPD events, before following the main story terribly far. Sometimes I chase down a story line because of an event or a reward (like my current Sniper build got the snipers from the area fights and working with Panam) but at Hard Difficulty I find myself at level 54 and nowhere near the end of any storylines except the one for the Paralazes.

Before 2.0 and Phantom Liberty, I would hit 50 right around the end of the main quest. Now, I'm rocketing towards 60 with tons of content to go.

My question is; How do you all play the game? Do you try to level a lot before the Heist (I was level 18 before Jackie died)? Do you do Fixer gigs more or follow the main story line to a good spot and then switch to something else? How much play do you have after you hit 60?

I'm just curious. Thanks in advance.

When this game launched it was practically impossible to reach level 50. Most people ended up around level 45 having 100%ed the game.

Since then it had fluctuated. My last playthrough I hit level 60 having only done PL MQ and about half the gigs, with only about 20% of the NCPD jobs done.

They might balance XP again at some point but I kept playing long after I hit level 50 in the pre 2.0 game as that usually happened in late act 2.

It never occurred to me that they had rebalanced anything after 1.6 or 2.0. That would explain how leveling past 30 used to feel like it took forever but now it seems faster.

[Zoid13]

for the most part i sneak, snap necks and throw bodys in the bin with the occasional knife to the head.
when things go sideways i sprint, dash, jump and click click click click click with my katana and watch body parts fly all over the room :P

[Chief Spreading Bull]

Its my third play through, so I generally like to do the non-combat quests early on to bank a ton of xp and cred then move on the fighty bits. After that its just a check list of cleaning up the city's NCPD, Gigs and Side Jobs, though I tend to prioritize the ones who give schematics for weapons I want, like Breakthrough.

If need to build up materials or money I just go through Valentino Alley and El Coyote Cojo.

[unboundlopez]

I'm new and just got the satori and nehan in hard mode. I think I'm going to stick to this combo until its no longer viable. I'm lvl 8-9 right now

[Darkaiser]

Originally posted by ChiefSpreadingBull:

Its my third play through, so I generally like to do the non-combat quests early on to bank a ton of xp and cred then move on the fighty bits. After that its just a check list of cleaning up the city's NCPD, Gigs and Side Jobs, though I tend to prioritize the ones who give schematics for weapons I want, like Breakthrough.

If need to build up materials or money I just go through Valentino Alley and El Coyote Cojo.

Yeah...if you find where the gangs congregate you can bank big xp and eddies fast. I like the Beach in VDB territory

[Darkaiser]

Originally posted by unboundlopez:

I'm new and just got the satori and nehan in hard mode. I think I'm going to stick to this combo until its no longer viable. I'm lvl 8-9 right now

I cannot believe that I was stupid enough to miss the Nehan on my current playthrough! By the time I hit Dogtown and could buy it, I couldn't make myself part with so many eds for a knife...even a really cool one.

[psionyx]

Since 2.0, my current playstyle is to try and find gigs and storylines that I think might have impact on the Dogtown content, and trying to do those. I know some scenes in the base game have different dialogue options if you have done Dogtown already, and I'm curious about the opposite. Like I know Beat on the Brat has some minor relevance if you've done it before Dogtown, just more dialogue options. But things like the Peralez/Dorsett gigs, they seem significant to what's going on. Perhaps even Delamane depending on how you end that arc pre-Dogtown, might have some significance. That's really my only priority right now. That and trying to find a netrunner build that I like considering all the changes they made to it.

[Avalanche]

I have gotten stuck in a loop where it keeps resetting me to an earlier point of the road and i am like? why? I was able to get there, but it won't let me leave.

When does the whole game world open up?

Cause i have got up to the main quest to go to lizzies bar to talk to a client. (ie. Jackie is waiting for me) It is before act 2....just saying.

I hate being locked out of a world when it allows me out, but doesn't let me back in.

It TICKS ME OFF.