Advice wanted please - PvE Build - mainly for Solo Play

[REN56]

Advice wanted please for a decent Player vs NPC build mainly playing solo outside the DZ.

Hi all,

Due to RL schedules etc. - most of the time I end up playing "Division" solo (not a problem, I don't mind).... plus I'm age 60 so it's a lot harder to keep up with all of the younger folks (slower reflexes, arthritis, etc.), and I hate feeling like I'm slowing anyone down or need babysitting while playing.  

I totally hate PvP modes (yes, I know, I'm the rare oddball in this case), so I only play PvE mode fighting the NPCs.

This also means that I stay away from playing in the DZ - except for the times here & there where I go into DZ to do one of the Daily Assignments that involves having to enter DZ.

Thankfully with the new additions with the 1.2 patch/update (Search & Destroy), it's made playing the game lots of fun once again. 

My character is Level 30 with everything cleared & completed on the map.  At this point, regular Credits seem worthless (almost 4 million), since there's nothing available for sale anywhere using credits that's remotely useful at this point.  XPs are totally useless unfortunately, since we have the Level 30 player cap.  So it's all about Phoenix Credits at this point (and trying to find something useful to spend some on when saving them up because of the 1000 Phoenix Credit cap), and continuing to collect materials for crafting.

My Gear Level is around the 171-185 GL range - depending on which stuff I use - currently the higher GL stuff that takes me to 185 drops both DPS and Toughness quite a lot (mainly Health specifically).  I'm still using several 163 GL golds, mixed with a couple of 182 golds.  I have 1 set item of Strikers Knee Pads @ 214 (blueprint & crafted, which I use), Tacticians Authority Pack @ 214 (loot), & Lone Star Mask @ 191 (loot).  Nothing really special on the Talents of the equipment pieces.

My primary weapons are Vector 45 ACP @ 182, Aug A3 Para XS @ 163, Black Market AK-74 @ 182.  All 3 are fairly close on DPS when mods are applied... but I prefer using the SMGs.  My secondary weapon is First Wave M1A @ 163 (I actually use this a lot).  My handgun is the Centurion pistol (bought solely for the GL 204).  Nothing extra-special on the Talents on the weapons.

Armor mitigation is around 53%.

DPS is around 100k-120k depending on which items are used. 

Toughness is anywhere from around 100-165k depending on which items are used.

Skill Power is just over 10k.  I use Pulse (Tactical Scanner) & First Aid (Overdose), with "Recovery Link" as Signature.  If I had the choice, I'd take that 10k of Skill Power and move it all to DPS or Toughness (in other words, I'm not big into the Skills).

Talents are: Adrenaline, Critical Save, Combat Medic, & Battle Buddy.

I never use any of the Consumables (yes, I know, not good), and I very seldom use any of the Grenades (yes, I know, not good).

Unless I do something stupid, I typically have no trouble dealing with Missions on Hard and the Level 30 Elites.

I saw a post reply that was done awhile back ithat basically said that a person with a GL of 151 (what the OP said he had) should have no trouble taking on the Lexington Event Center mission on Challenging difficulty.  Umm... maybe that's true for most others... but I get toasted immediately.  So besides simply "sucking" (which could be the case), maybe I'm missing something.  For me, there seems to be a huge gap trying to go from handling the Level 30 elites to handling the Level 32 Elites.

Clearly my entire set of gear needs overhauling in a big way (weapons included), that's obvious.  

Soooo, with all of this background info provided... what I'm looking for is some helpful advice on how to improve my character for PvE - hoping one day to be able to handle Challenging Mission difficulty and then try the 2 Incursions... from boosting gear level up, to boosting DPS via better weapon (this stands out to me as a big immediate need), better gear combinations for playing  solo - but also effective when playing along with others (again, only meaning PvE) when the opportunity arises, so that I feel helpful to the group (doing my share of the work and not getting taken down easily & repeatedly, without feeling like I'm being "carried").

Many thanks in advance for your replies and helpful advice.  

 

[ShootFirstPodcast]

Sooooo, with all of this background info provided... what I'm looking for is some helpful advice on how to improve my character for PvE - hoping one day to be able to handle Challenging Mission difficulty and then try the 2 Incursions... from boosting gear level up, to boosting DPS via better weapon (this stands out to me as a big immediate need), better gear combinations for playing  solo - but also effective when playing along with others (again, only meaning PvE) when the opportunity arises, so that I feel helpful to the group (doing my share of the work and not getting taken down easily & repeatedly, without feeling like I'm being "carried").

Many thanks in advance for your replies and helpful advice.  

Hey there!  Our biggest suggestion would be to do the Search and Destroy Missions (should now be available in all of your Safe Houses if you've completed all of the Encounters and Side Missions on the map).  Those Search and Destroy Missions will get you Intel Tokens which you can use to pay for the Daily Vendor (in the Security Wing next to the K9 Unit) for High Value Targets.  You should be able to take on all of those solo (except maybe the ones that cost 15 or 20 Intel Tokens.. but even them you may be able to do solo as well depending on skill/gear).  Each HVT Mission will drop either a 182 Gold, 191 Teal, or 214 Teal from the boss for sure.  These could get you in the 190's at the very least possibly in just one evening.  Plus, they'll give lots of Phoenix Credits so you should be able to purchase Blueprints from the Special Vendor in the Tech Wing upstairs to get you a couple other 214 Teal Gear Sets.  These things combined should jump you over 200 Gear Score pretty quickly, and will then allow that you should be able to feel like you're not being carried when doing a Challenge Mode or Incursion with other players.  Our brother-in-law went from 173 to 195 in less than two hours only doing the High Value Target missions with us.  Granted, if you can group up with others you should also venture out to do the Weekly High Value Target missions as those bosses will typically drop 240 Teal Gear Sets which will considerably help with your character leveling up.    Hope this helps!

 

[Xeromaus]

matchmake for missions. You won't be soloing challenge modes with those stats anytime soon, and there's no way you'd clear falcon lost or clear sky alone with your setup. Since you won't enter the DZ, you'll need the daily HVT/HRT missions to grab set pieces regularly.

For a solo player, keep your firearms and your stamina roughly equal to each other (NOT dps and toughness) and you'll do fine. As you progress through gearing, one or the other invariably goes up, so just find pieces that make the other match it.