Skoodge wrote on Jul 12
th, 2017 at 7:05am:
If you wanted to put together your own list, I'd love to see it (and contribute). Foppy's is amazing and he did a great job, but it's also very, very reaper and group heavy. I've got one crappy reaper point so far, I'm planning on hitting the harbor and market pretty hard this next life (pretty much playing all the quests for the reaper XP since I'll finally be able to open them) but it's going to be awhile before I can hope for anything in the mid to upper levels besides jumping into someone else's group and trying not to die too much (and at this point, if I only die once on a level 15 reaper quest, I'm happy).
There are a few places in Foppy's list I'm really needing alternatives for.
Shadowcrypt - replies completely on having a designated opener. I solo, that's never going to happen.
After GH - It'll be easier after I get my key to eveningstar and open up those quest, but outside of maybe Rainbow in the Dark (which I'm learning and it may become a farm for me), most of the Vale quests are not easy farms when you're soloing with different classes/builds that don't have the right buffs.
The final mile - those last two levels are a fucking bitch when it turns out the build you were trying doesn't have the dps/survive-ability you thought it had. Not sure where the XP sweet spot is for those final quests, but it sure as hell isn't in the Inspired Quarters (yeah, you've got Reclaiming Memories, which is a quick boost, but it's not enough for that last level).
I probably need to learn the Devil's Battlefield quests better (by the time I stopped TRing back in the day, no one ran it anymore, they were all in Evening Star), but I'd love to hear some alternative suggestions for that last 10% before TRing.
Foppy's list is awesome for speed running PL's. Very strong. It does have some group dependency though. Especially if you want to do higher skulls in the process.
What I have found is that soloing Reaper has a sweet spot from Level 4-11 content. Your bloat from the Reaper Trees has you ahead of the power curve of the base mobs. Only the champs and reapers are a threat. So, if you are soloing a lot that life you are better off focusing on getting reaper XP in the earlier levels and then focusing on quest XP at the end.
If you grouping, you should speed through the lower levels and get to level 10+ because the reaper xp (and xp/min) is generally better in higher skulls at higher levels because the formula is:
50 + (3 * QuestLevel * Skulls). Doubled for 1st time bonus.
So higher skulls matters dramatically, especially at higher quest levels. BUT, only if you can do it fast. Keep the skulls where you can still move at a quick pace. R3 zerg is better than R5 slog. Because level 10 quest on 3 skulls= (50 + (3 * 10 * 3)) *2 280 base reaper XP. Level 10 quest on 5 skulls= (50 + (3 * 10 * 5)) *2 400 base reaper XP. So if you can run two R3 quests in the same time as one R5 (and with no deaths for 10% more quest and RXP), then you are ahead of the game.
Did GH Tor at level 14 in a full party last night on 6 skulls. Sped through it at same pace as we would have run Elite or R1, for the most part. Barely slowed down. 2300 R XP at completion. But most players can't do that solo in the same timeframe. (I know I can't) That quest sucks for R XP/min solo because of the quest layout and on R6 it will take too long to kill stuff in a few places.
So that is a quest that you either skip on a soloing path or run on R1 whereas in a group, it is a mandatory hit on moderate or high skulls.
There are probably 4 paths to look at:
Group - Fastest PL possible (Foppy's list)
Solo - Fastest PL possible (Slight mods on Foppy's list. Wiz king is less viable for example. And Shadow Crypt A) needs opener and B) is slower with one vs. group doing two paths)
Group - Min/Max Fast PL with Reaper XP (Slight mods on Foppy's List)
Solo - Min/Max Fast PL with Reaper XP (Mods on Foppy's List to add more R-XP focus at lower levels and to bypass group friendly content as mentioned above)
I'd like to put up a list, but I feel like I'm still gathering data during runs. I don't feel like I have an optimal path worked out yet. Who knows. Maybe I am overthinking the whole thing...