Starting out: Leveling up fast with Stat Refunding

Do you know some good strategies to help your fellow team mates do better in game? Help us out. Post some in here.

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Starting out: Leveling up fast with Stat Refunding

Post by Cadmium » Thu Nov 22, 2007 1:09 am

Joey's server is particularly unique with its wide variety of power ups and its redesign of many Unreal Tournament RPG elements, take the time and learn and experiment with these variables; it's worth it.

One important aspect of Joey's redesign is the refundable stats option. We are allowed to make mistakes and play with stats that feel custom with the knowledge that we can refund any horrible purchase we made without worries:
That is joey's covenant to us.
The following text seeks to illuminate how refunding your stats in game can increase your efficiency greatly and get low level players to level up fast!!

Specifically what I mean by refunding stats...
it's the power for low level players to customize Stats for particular maps, situations and weapons!!

General note: Being a low level player will affect everyone, since the monster difficulty changes according to the levels of all the players( I don't know how it works exactly). Generally the longer you stay alive the easier the monsters will be able to kill, so don't lose hope! It's just painful to see a high level player take minutes to kill a single monster... if he lives. With the power to refund and redistribute your stats you can add a greater probability to winning a map.

The following applies to levels: 10-140
Scoring effectively as a low level: Basically you can break it down to these 4 things.
Stat adjustment in order to stay alive.
Super Shock Rifle maps+stats readjust.
Redeemer spamming(+ maybe stat readjust.)
Minigun/Mp5 use

Strategies:

Staying Alive:
I believe the first thing you should buy is Damage reduction and health bonus, maybe the 7:3(maybe 4) ratio, more damage reduction than health bonus. However when it comes to damage bonus... By the time you get to level 40-80 I believe in a 3:2 ratio, more damage bonus than damage reduction. ( also you want to slowly build to a weapon speed of 150 by level 140)

That's just my opinion, some players have different needs.. but that doesn't change the fact that low level players will die easily in later waves...so... what combo is best?!! None are, you have to readjust your stats for later waves... By waves 11, 12 and 17-20 you'll want to hide most of the time. The best thing you can do for your team is to readjust your stats and max out Damage Reduction and Health Bonus. Hopefully by this point you'll have a weapon with retention and a variety of shields, then just wait it out.... and maybe play a game of solitaire or wash some dishes... Just make sure to readjust your stats before wave 1 on the next map. Focus on big guys that you can take down with vorpal, but mainly just hide.
Note: Naturally as you level up you'll be able to handle harder waves without refunding... test the waters but don't be afraid to refund your stats by wave 17. I guess by the time you can gain more than 1 thousand exp. points on waves 17-20 than you can stop refunding, but it does help the team win if a low level player stays alive!

Again, keep your normal comfortable stats when you play on regular waves, but refund them and focus on defense later when things get too tough, learn the art of running away!!!


SSR Maps, If you get the chance to play one of these, you're in luck. Super Shock Rifles will kill anything in matter of a few shots regardless of level or damage bonus. The first thing you want to do is refund all your stats and try to max out damage reduction(400-ish is fine I guess), and then health bonus. Usually 300-400 health bonus is fine. You'll want to save some extra stat points for weapon speed(maybe a gold kit?). No damage bonus is necessary or really any other stats... Just take advantage of this opportunity by being as aggressive as possible, if you die... no biggie(just try to die at the end of the wave) maybe you'll get a better ssr? maybe a wop, just keep shooting. As a low level player I'm constantly readjusting my stats for different waves or maps etc. Anyway by using this strategy I was able to gain an absurdly high score for my level... as well as experience.


Redeemer Spamming.

You can essentially use the same technique with redeemers that you use for ssr maps. If you find a map with a redeemer and some open space then get ready to level up. Just look around for resupply powerups, health, redeemer shields and retentionand the common good power ups. To get a redeemer of power just keep picking them up until you get one of power. The spawn time between redeemers are about 2 minutes~( you might be forced to wait 20 mins somtimes...) You can either run around and shoot them or find a spot to hide and spam them!
I would recommend setting a keybind for the superweapon for easy access. When you readjust your stats I would focus on damage reduction, then health bonus, and if possible max ammo and a few levels of vampirism.(I'm not 100% sure vampirism works on redeemers).
Anyway, Just be mindful of other players, as redeemers can be annoying.
One last note, I'm not sure damage bonus has a worthwhile effect, so I don't recommend buying db points when using a redeemer.
Weapons
The minigun and mp5 are great weapons for a low level( given they are weapons of power). Their speed combined with consistent damage can outscore most default weapons until wave 17. Most other weapons are designed for having a high weapon speed and max damage in order to be useful. It's just nearly impossible to outscore any other player who's faster than you if you're both using a.. (fireball for example), the best thing you can do is take advantage of the speed with the mp5 and minigun. If you choose the mp5 path.. think about (stat wise)buying a gold kit, and denial by level 80, and a fast weapon speed (150 is ideal by lvl 140).
(Additionally waves 14-16 are waves I recommend you focus on; with vorpal and a high weapon speed you can get some easy points).
I would strongly suggest buying denial as well, it's the only way to keep the mp5( before level 45 if possible). The only problem is you might get stuck with a mini or mp5 you don't want.... watch out.

My recommendation of power ups on an mp5/mini:
Retention, Vorpal, Infinities, Superspeed, propulsion/pullforward/knockback/freeze
Protection 5, 2 Titan Rock shields, 2 instagib shields, 2 redeemer shields. Retaliation 5( snag some exp for being hit)
Damage 5 is nice too by the way.

Well this just one way to level up fast, note that it earned me 6-13k scores(ssr maps) before level 100 and a 17k before level 140.( although that can be accredited to artifacts too, but that's a different strategy...)

Summmary: Readjust your stats constantly to meet your particular needs. The above information is somewhat specific to some situations which I recommend. Although make sure to have normal/constant stat setup for waves 1-8.

goodluck and happy hunting, I hope this of some use to some one.
Last edited by Cadmium on Mon Apr 07, 2008 2:32 am, edited 9 times in total.

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Post by crayola » Thu Nov 22, 2007 1:33 am

some nice tips ..also i hear once you have refunded and readjusted then continue playing all your stats becomes double or more like health, damages ..etc though i haven't tried it yet Lol
well its 2am and i have work in 4-5 hours zz.

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Post by Cadmium » Thu Nov 22, 2007 4:37 am

Not that I know of cray but you never know I guess?, but even if that did happen it's hard to tell when you're a low level. Which reminds me, refunding isn't necessary by level 180 or so, I might add that later.

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Post by Archangel » Thu Nov 22, 2007 8:49 am

The mini isn't worth squat since the SSR pu isn't showing up any more.
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Post by Scion » Thu Nov 22, 2007 7:02 pm

Heh you might want to note that insta shields aren't the easiest of things to get, so you might consider reflection for things like turbo and laser rifle, not sure exactly how well reflection works though :( .
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Post by SirBeast » Fri Nov 23, 2007 5:13 am

Scion wrote:Heh you might want to note that insta shields aren't the easiest of things to get, so you might consider reflection for things like turbo and laser rifle, not sure exactly how well reflection works though :( .
Reflection works REALLY well. Even being over level 220, after wave 15, turbolasers and laser rifles are 2 of the things that kill me fastest. Two reflection PUs work wonders with that problem.
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Post by Cadmium » Sat Nov 24, 2007 3:45 am

Good tips, I really don't know much about reflection pu's either.... single protects work well too if you can't find p5 either...
There's so much more to write though, I was trying to be specific to this stat readjusting strategy. One other thing I would keep in mind is reconfiguring weapon powerups for particular waves, like focusing on purely damage and rage pu's on waves 1-7, 9,10, 13-16. Normally you can cut out instagibs, protect 5, or any other defense power ups on those waves. However I usually try to have 1 instagib powerup at all times... but wands usually show up on waves 8,11,12 17-20 so sometimes I just take a risk on the other waves.
however reconfiguring powerups wouldn't be something I recommend for players starting out...

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Post by Big_Meat » Mon Jan 07, 2008 12:44 am

crayola wrote:some nice tips ..also i hear once you have refunded and readjusted then continue playing all your stats becomes double or more like health, damages ..etc though i haven't tried it yet Lol
well its 2am and i have work in 4-5 hours zz.
True. I redistributed my stats in-game on a couple of occasions, and noticed my default health was about 200pts higher than normal... adrenaline was higher... not only that, my damage reduction and damage bonus stats were much more effective. Combined with vamp (level 3 or 4), the damage I was dealing would boost my health up to 999! And monsters that were hitting me did little to no damage (wands and laser rifles still hurt a lot, though). However, this effect only seems to last for one game, or until you respawn, if you die. But you can do serious damage while you're alive!

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Post by Cadmium » Mon Jan 07, 2008 12:22 pm

It's time for a little update, after all my tests with Cadmium_Orange I did notice that my health rose past 650 and stayed that way after a reset ( which I only took advantage of 2 times), I don't rememebr adrenaline but I did NOT notice any added damage bonus or damage reduction, (particulary a map where I was using lil lady) . Then again I don't remember specifically testing db (after a reset).

However I would consider stat doubling an exploit compared to my other tips... watch out with that.

Edit UPDATE
I tried doing this trick once again with Orange, I ended up with extra adrenaline, and Health bonus, just like Big Meat described, but I still did not notice more damage bonus and reduction. Moreover my weapon speed remained no more than 200.
Last edited by Cadmium on Wed Jan 09, 2008 10:22 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Post by [iX]AnnaBeaver » Mon Jan 07, 2008 4:41 pm

SirBeast wrote:
Scion wrote:Heh you might want to note that insta shields aren't the easiest of things to get, so you might consider reflection for things like turbo and laser rifle, not sure exactly how well reflection works though :( .
Reflection works REALLY well. Even being over level 220, after wave 15, turbolasers and laser rifles are 2 of the things that kill me fastest. Two reflection PUs work wonders with that problem.
Thanks for mentioning that Beast!!! I usually only use one reflection pu on my weapons..and yes...the turbo laser and laser rifle monsters kick my ass!!

Cadmium: AH HA!!! Now I know the reason for all the names!! hehehehe \:D/ BTW, I made a comment to you in game the other day...but I don't think you saw it. Here's what I think your next name should be...."Cadmium_Multicolored" or "Cadmium_Multitonal" \:D/

Also, thx for the info :wave:
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