XP gain while soloing ME3 multiplayer (or: "does it pay to have no friends?")

Related: How can I effectively solo the co-op mode? | How is score calculated in multiplayer?

So lately, I've gotten sick of being either #3 or #4 on the leaderboards at the end of missions. "How can I be number one?", I said to myself. Well, one way to do it would be to solo the mission. "That sounds like a great idea", I thought, "and hey, if I play the mission entirely alone, that means that I get all the XP!"

On the other hand, that means that I miss out on the team bonuses and rewards that come from being a well-adjusted individual who knows how to play well with others.

So, assuming that I'm a bit sociopathic and I don't really care whether I'm playing alone or with others, which is more beneficial strictly in terms of reward potential, playing alone or with a team?

Solution 1:

Playing with a team is always more beneficial since it guarantees a higher chance of mission success, not to mention faster completion of objectives for bonus money. If your goal is to earn credits to purchase packs, there is no reason at all to play solo as the credit reward for mission completion is much higher. Also, the number of monster spawns remains the same even if you solo. If your goal is to gain experience, again, completion of a mission earns you far more rewards than dying at wave 5.

Finally, on some mission types (such as data extraction), solo defending a single point for 5 minutes is extremely hard to do.

If you are having trouble earning more experience (i.e. placing higher in the scores list at the end), it would be more beneficial to examine that to see how you can improve there rather than soloing, especially if your character is a low level.

Here are some screen shots:

Note, the total amount of xp you get is actually the total squad experience, so not only do you get xp for your own points but the points for everyone else on the team. You definitely want your entire team to perform well (and earn lots of awards) in order to maximize your benefits:

Solution 2:

United we stand!

Honestly I do think you have better to play in the team, it will be likely that you might not be able to complete the mission alone (otherise, congrats!) To improve the XP you get, try to maximise the bonus point you get. By this I means XP for 10/25 assist, 10/25 kills, 10 biotics kills, headshot, rounds alives, and so on and so forth

Solution 3:

although i was unable to give you my answer in time because of me taking the time to give you actual results missed out on your mark but o well, here you go.

Solo Bronze

• It took me ~28 minutes to complete a solo bronze mission successfully on my first try. I was on the map Giant against Cerberus, scoring 84,194 points with 3 Download missoins (i.e. wait in one spot as a bar loads on your screen). I had to use 2 medi-gels and 1 rocket and really only because i had 3 of those missions as they are the toughest ones to solo. Obviously the que time for this was 0. Photo

Bronze w/ Leavers/AFKrs

• I did this mission with myself of course 1 person who left after the second wave 1 person who was afk for half the mission and another person who was more of a hinderance(sp?) then helpful. Against Cerberus on Giant again, I personally Scored 53,342 points out of 83,152, in ~23 minutes. The person's points who left still counted in the total. I will say that my average que time for waiting is 5 minutes as well as that 2/3 games i get a leaver or afker. Photo

Bronze Good Game

• This was a game with no one leaving no one afking everyone doing their part in the mission to make it succesful. This took me ~20 minutes against Cerberus on Giant again, if you didnt notice i made sure my all my contributing factors are the same. I personally scored, 47,294 points with a total score of 113,482. Only thing i could not make the same are the missions which are always different and would take days to get the results I would like.

Alright so here is a little math for you:

• Solo Bronze: ~3007 per minute spent
• Bronze w/ Leavers/AFKrs: ~2319 per minute spent (not including que)
• Good Game Bronze: ~2364 per minute spent (not including que)

This evidence shows you that solo is actually the most beneficial way to go about getting points in a match if you are successful each time. You have just as much chance to fail in a team as you do solo considering the rate of leavers/afkers and just plain bad players. Obviously these results vary for most players considering i play mostly gold and silver i outscore everyone considerably so the points you get will drop a lot more then likely.

Well there you have it my fun for the evening, also sorry for the facebook pics i couldnt get them on this answer any other way. Also anyone who likes my page your awesome.