Best experience for the energy spent.
The following guide will be utilizing a system of timing longer to shorter cut-scene missions for optimal XP gain. Whenever you see me refer to "Baking" or "Cooking", it is in reference to sitting on a cut-scene mission with a long timer (IE: Letting that 9 hour mission "Bake").
First I am going to group all of the decent "XP gain vs energy spent" missions into different categories. These will be, Long-bake (9 hour to 1 day timers), Mid-Bake (1 to 3 hour timers), and Short-Bake (less than an hour). For those of you who are used to this system, or have already read through this guide, it will serve as a reference of all of the good missions for you to make your own rotations. For the purposes of this guide, I will be references missions from the point of the game I am currently in. If you have not reached this point of the game yet, just apply the same principles to the campaigns you have unlocked.
Next, we will devise a few "Rotations" of missions. We will always start with the long-bake rotations, move on to the mid-bake, and then finish with short-bakes. This is to ensure that we are gaining maximum XP.
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***LONG BAKES***
Stalk the Werewolves - 4 energy - 30 exp - 1 day timer (Downtown Suburbs)
Find the Traitor CPD - 4 energy - 30 exp - 9 hour timer (Downtown Suburbs)
Track the Horde - 5 energy - 35 exp - 1 day timer (Market Subway)
Breach Magic Barrier - 5 energy - 30 exp - 12 hour timer (Market Subway)
Search McCandless' Remains - 4 energy - 35 exp - 1 day timer (The Outskirts)
Breach Cult Checkpoint - 5 energy - 30 exp - 9 hour timer (The Outskirts)
***MID-BAKES***
Track the Magic Source - 6 energy - 30 exp - 3 hour timer (Market Subway)
Reach the Horde - 6 energy - 30 exp - 2.5 hour timer (Market Subway)
Research Marcella Dupree - 5 energy - 30 exp - 2.5 hour timer (Outskirts)
Crack the Mansion Safe - 4 energy - 28 exp - 3 hour timer (Dark Hallow)
Breach Hunter Hideout - 4 energy - 28 exp - 3 hour timer (Dark Hallow)
Search for Arkuz - 5 energy - 26 exp - 1.5 hour timer (Dark Hallow)
***SHORT-BAKES***
Observe From Above - 5 energy - 28 exp - 10 minute timer (Downtown Suburbs)
Scout Cultist Tunnels - 7 energy - 26 exp - 10minute timer (Outskirts)
Scout Cultist Building - 7 energy - 23 exp - 5minute timer (Outskirts)
Search Fox's Corpse - 5 energy - 20 exp - 9minute timer (Dark Hallow)
Chase Down Hunter - 5 energy - 20 exp - 8 minute timer (Dark Hallow)
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So, in our struggle to acclimate to the new energy mechanic, me and Aculeas have started trying build the best way to manage my energy and time. Most of my playtime is while I am at work, so the energy system is actually beneficial in that way. But this breakdown is to get the most xp for my energy in rotations.
To start with, we know that playable missions give 10 experience for 3 energy. That's a constant across all campaigns. (minus the first play through). Where the inconsistency lies is in the cut-scene missions. In the first two campaigns they do not get that much XP, usually in the 3-9 range. However, in the next two campaigns we begin to see exp in the 20-30 XP range. Now as long as we find the missions with an energy cost that makes that XP gain better than missions... we're in business! The only problem with this plan, is regarding the new changes to energy drops in playable missions. These drops will probably make constant playable missions the most efficient way to level, but let us assume that one cannot actively play (at work, etc).
Below I am going to detail my personal rotations throughout the day.
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Here are the dreaded long-bake missions. Most people HATE these missions because they take so long. I have learned to love them. These allow me to get more and more missions baking in my "Queue". So that means more XP over the long run!
Long-Bake Rotation
Stalk the Werewolves - This mission costs 4 energy and grants 30 exp. It has a 1 day timer. (Downtown Suburbs)
Find the Traitor CPD - This mission costs 4 energy and grants 30 exp. It has a 9 hour timer. (Downtown Suburbs)
Track the Horde - This mission costs 5 energy and grants 35 exp. It has a 1 day timer. (Market Subway)
Breach Magic Barrier - This mission costs 5 energy and grants 30 exp. It has a 12 hour timer. (Market Subway)
Search McCandless' Remains - This mission costs 4 energy and grants 35 exp. It has a 1 day timer. (The Outskirts)
Energy Spent: 22
Time required: 24 hours
XP Gain: 160
So, from this rotation alone, we are getting 160 XP over the course of 1 day. Once these missions are baking, we are guaranteed that 160 experience at the end of 24 hours on top of any other XP we have gained. The more missions we can have baking throughout the day, the better. This increases our overall experience per day.
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This next rotation is for those of us who have to leave for a few hours and will be unable to log into game in that time. It is for maximum offline experience gain in the 25 energy allotment. I am actually starting this rotation with one of the "Long-Bake" missions because it is still available. We never want to skip a long-bake because they increase our overall experience gain in the long run.
Mid-Bake Rotation
Track the Magic Source - This mission costs 6 energy and grants 30 exp. It has a 3 hour timer. (Market Subway)
Reach the Horde - This mission costs 6 energy and grants 30 exp. It has a 2.5 hour timer. (Market Subway)
Breach Cult Checkpoint - This mission costs 5 energy and grants 30 exp. It has a 9 hour timer (The Outskirts)
Crack the Mansion Safe - This mission costs 4 energy and grants 28 exp. It has a 3 hour timer. (Dark Hallow)
Breach Hunter Hideout - This mission costs 4 energy and grants 28 exp. It has a 3 hour timer. (Dark Hallow)
Energy Spent: 25
Time required: 3 hours
XP Gain: 146
So, as you can see with this rotation, it grants you a huge 146 experience, but needs 3 hours to come to fruition. These type of missions are optimal if are not going to be able to log in to the game for a bit.
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When it comes to short-bake rotations, I suggest picking out the "Best XP for lowest XP" mission you have access to (Which is under 10 minutes), and spamming it as often as you can. This is not always optimal for some people, who don't have time to play. If this is the case, you can pretty much use up your 25 energy on any combination of the Short-Bake's I listed up top.
Short-Bake Rotation
Observe From Above - This mission costs 5 energy and grants 28 exp. It has a 10 minute timer. (Downtown Suburbs)
Energy Spent: 5
Time required: 10 minutes
XP Gain: 28
Every 10 minutes, I do this mission. It costs 5 energy per, and I replenish 2 energy every 10 minutes. This equates to me being able to do this mission 7 times over the course of 70 minutes for a reward of 196 XP.
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Now let's break down my 24 hour period of XP gain.
There are three 24 hour quests I can do per 24 hours = 100 XP
There is one 12 hour quest I can do twice per 24 hours = 60 XP
There are two 9 hour quests I can do twice per 24 hours = 120 XP
There are three 3 hour quests that I can do eight times per 24 hours = 688 XP
There are two 2.5 hour quests that I can do eight times per 24 hours = 480 XP
There is one 1.5 hour quest that I can do sixteen times per 24 hours = 416 XP
There is one 10 minute quest that I can do 35 times per 6 hours = 980 XP
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Total XP gained over 24 hours = 2,844 XP
Obviously we cannot do the last 10 minute quest every 10 minutes for 24 hours. We have to sleep sometime! And also, we have to account for the time it takes for refreshing the mid-bake rotations throughout the day. So I calculated (over the course of 24 hours) doing the 10 minute quest 35 times. This takes about 6 hours.
** NOTE: The above numbers reflect someone with absolutely no life who dedicates every waking moment to DL and does nothing else in attempt to level as fast as possible. Your gains will probably be much lower. **
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I understand that this is subject to my level (17), but I will continually update my rotations for future campaigns. Hope that someone found this useful.
EDIT: Screenshots of mission locations
EDITEDIT: Thanks to Aculeas for discussing this with me and inspiring me to post.
more pics coming soon
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