City of Heroes anyone?

[Bonegavel]

Originally Posted by gi

Around 5:30pm EST on Virtue, my friend and I will be on playing all night. Name: Supernaught

Friend is a tank, I'm a controller with earth/emp

Anyone is welcomed to join. We are only 6th level, so if you wish to make a new character, I do not see why you shouldn't be able to. We play almost every Wed.

That's a little early for me (usually still at work) but if you are on for a few hours, i may be able to join you later.

Last night was good stuff. I think I've found a controller build i like. Mind/Kinetics with Fly. Almost took The Silent Partner to 9th level last night. Controllers are fun. Too bad respec isn't in or I would have redone BlackFedora.

Last night I think we managed only 1 or 2 deaths - 1 by Homer J and maybe 1 by Project Schism. We had 3 defenders, 2 of which are healers (Aucoin and Doc Evil) and my Controller had some limited healing abilities. Took long to kill stuff without a stable of blasters, but the group we have is fun.

The ambush outside of the Skulls mission was interesting. A group of Skulls (13 SL) jumped us as we exited the building. Pretty nice. I think Aucoin took off to play with his Fly and left Doc the healing duties on his own. I think Doc almost burned out his Heal Other button.

[gi]

Two deaths, Homer J went down so quickly that I couldn't hit my heal button fast enough. Sorry Homer!

PS died at the ambush. I took off to try out my fly right before the ambush happened. 20 seconds later...PS starts swearing........

Good night, I got a half of level, being the one of the highest level there, that was good. We should be on until 11pm EST. Maybe later. I'll have my Blaster: Inverness, on for Thursday. Doc Evil will have to replace his heal other button before then.

[Bonegavel]

Originally Posted by gi

[snip]

We should be on until 11pm EST. Maybe later.

I have a 20 SL blaster on Virtue, but that won't work too well with your level 6's. Regardless, if I hit the server tonight, I'll /tell with the secret phrase, "the trout is about."

[JeeberD]

Hmmm...I might have a level six already on Virtue. Actually, I'm pretty sure that my lone attempt at a Tanker, Fighting Miner, is level six. I'll give you a shout when I log on, gi...

[Bad-example]

"The ambush outside of the Skulls mission was interesting. A group of Skulls (13 SL) jumped us as we exited the building."

I immediately felt bad about this, as right after exiting that last mission I headed for the train station and unsidekicked Silent Partner in preparation for camping out. I headed back but was too late to help out. I should have stayed to make sure everyone made it to a safe spot before dashing off. Sorry about that.

"Anyone is welcomed to join. We are only 6th level, so if you wish to make a new character, I do not see why you shouldn't be able to."

I checked my toon inventory on Virtue and didn't find anything worth playing, so I rerolled my blaster there. Novaburst is level 3 now, and I will try to be on tonight at least to level him up for next week.

[ageofquarrel]

i made a new defender and got him to lvl 6 . the name is white trash rob. You can also look for toxic shock or blind blade and let me know when you get started ok.

[gi]

On with Motown Mayhem now. Tell me if you are on. I'll be switching soon, but would like to transfer the SG I made onto my alt, so if anyone can help, thank you in advance.

[gi]

Supernaught is online

[JeeberD]

Sorry for bailing on you guys so suddenly, gi. My roommate got suddenly and violently ill, and I'm still not certain whether or not I'm going to need to take him to the hospital...

[gi]

No problem, tis only a game. Had a lot of fun last night on the Wed group. I believe I got 2 levels, some I think got 3. My friend is still learning but not doing too bad. Hope to see you all again next Wed. Level 8 is where we are at.

Hope your roommate feels better.

[hoopsguy]

I'm planning to be on tonight, hoping that we have another good run like Tuesday tonight. Probably going to play Doc Evil again so GI can give his blaster a whirl. I'll probably jump on a little early and see if I can squeeze out Lvl 11 before we start.

Also, got Lvl 14 for my tanker and added SuperJump, which is so frigging fun!

[gi]

I'm on now, with Inverness

[MrBug708]

I REALLY wish you guys had started on Virtue

[gi]

join up on Victory, we will sk you

[hoopsguy]

Bug, we switched off Virtue because the server was always jammed. I don't think I have ever seen Virtue be less busy than Victory. Also, we added the structure of Tue/Thur games, which has helped us keep our guys closer in level. On victory we were really starting to see some significant differences in levels between the people who had been playing regularly. Here, even when someone wants to mix in a new alt we still have a core group of 4-6 people within a level of each other.

Tonight was not our finest work, as we saw quite a few deaths. Some of them were earned, some of them were headscratchers. I'll try to get Doc Evil up to Lvl 12 for next time and also try to improve the recovery time on res. Also, I'll be adding leadership as the new power set, which hopefully can improve our combat against the 5th Column armies.

[Bonegavel]

Nice. For tues, the guy that I bring will be at least 11 or 12th level so i don't need to be SKed. I'm learning that I don't think i'll ever be totally happy regardless of the powersets I have so I'm going to stick with Silent Partner and even BlackFedora (dislike his storm secondary).

Lots of fun last night even though i died about 8 times. I think its great that we can all bring different characters to the party because, after all, we are there to have fun.

[Bonegavel]

dola,

I think one of our main problems last night was that we didn't have enough blasters. I think we should have at least 3 blasters on staff at all times to dispatch the baddies in a timely fashion. If you kept a watch, we had plent of healing going on and we lasted a long, long time, but once the END was gone the dying started.

[gi]

Your healer (me) also has to try and not get hit. I would also like to discuss tactics. It would be a lot easier if the tank(s) could absorb all the aggro. Provoke using tank, blasters assist off of him? Why or Why not would this work?

That way the healer has one main person to heal, makes life real easy at that point. Exceptions will be made, but if we can strive for this, it might help out.

Also, blasters need to hover. Helps keep dam down. Blasters have so low hp that I waste END healing them because if I do not heal them when they are at 75% (even though one heal can heal a blaster from 50% to close to 100%) they seem to die more. But I use the full end for heal other in that case.

Anyway, food for thought and discussion. Am I way off base here?

Aucoin will be on tonight to get rid of the 3 death debt. Around 9pmish.

[Thomkal]

Yeah we could use some better tactics after last night's fiasco. Poor Cometflash. But part of that was being used to not being attacked in the back as the defender because you guys have been so good at killing things easily up front. Didn't keep an eye on my health points as a result and that ended in a couple of the deaths.

The assisting on the tank is a good idea, as is perhaps teleporting some of the bad guys to us. Other ideas here?

I'm considering starting a new character to give us more flexibility, but I sure like CF's debuffs. a tanker or blaster seems to be what we need most. Any preference?

I'm so sorry about my continual monitor/video card problem. But there's not much I can do about it than I already have.

[gi]

Thomkal, what do you have? Video card and Monitor? What is the problem? I'm a tech. I might be able to help out.

I was considering starting a tank. But I'll stick to Aucoin as my main. I might retire Inverness. Just seems like we need healing and I really like it when Don the Baptist is on. Props to Doc Evil too. Having both Doc and I on would be nice if desired. Doc is going leadership route.

Any other thoughts?

[Bonegavel]

A "typical" tactic is for the tanks to wade into the crowd and get all aggro on him. Then the Blasters simply target the Tanker (ie, click on the tanker so he is in your Target Box). When the Blasters attack, they are then attacking the same mob (meaning mobile - a single unit) as the Tanker.

Then, my job as controller is to lock down all the mobs that the Tanker hasn't aggro'd so they will be unable to attack until the crowd around the Tanker is gone. The Defenders hang with the blasters, maybe closer so their heals hit the Tankers.

If a Scrapper is involved, he can start attacking the mobs locked down by the Controller and await help from the blasters.

From my point of view, when I put a mob to sleep (you see the Zzzzz above his head) any attack made on him at that point wakes him up immediately! If they have the dizzy halo around their head, they won't come out of it simply by being attacked. So, if you can, attack the guys with the dizzy halo first and let the sleepers wait until last.

AoE attacks are bad in these cases as they have a tendancy to wake-up all those i've put to sleep. I would recommend single attacks against the dizzy halo guys.

Just an idea.

[gi]

Makes a ton of sense Bongavel.

[Bad-example]

Sorry about last night...I didn't expect to be so late arriving and that long distance call was a must-take. Aslso, sorry for all the deaths...they were all clearly my fault

The more we play together, the better we will become at the tactical side of the game. As an Everquest veteran, I favor the tactic we used to take down that first group of 15's that were off to the left. Having the main group hang further back and allowing a tanker to grabs some mobs and run back to the group is a classic EQ tactic. TP foe is another good pulling method. Having a blaster throw down some Caltrops in front of the main group is a very good way to keep those kamikaze mobs from dashing to the back and harrassing the defenders and blasters.

Games like these are a constant learning process as the powers and mobs get tweaked.

I would be willing to start a blaster if anyone wants to level up a new guy. Also, Professor Ion can sk someone to help remove the debt from last night before next tuesday.

[Thomkal]

Originally Posted by gi

Thomkal, what do you have? Video card and Monitor? What is the problem? I'm a tech. I might be able to help out.

Gi,

Check out this thread.

http://dynamic2.gamespy.com/~fof/for...t=monitor+woes

I am obviously not a tech. The one thing I have not done is test it against another monitor. I may have one I can use here, but the problem comes and goes randomnly it seems at times, I'm not sure that not having the problem on another monitor when I test it means its the monitor or not.

[gi]

Going on right now. Might start a new tank tonight too.

[gi]

New character on Victory, name Frigid Tex Tank Ice/Ice

Going to level him up some unless someone needs my other chars. Welcome to join me leveling up a new character if you have no life like me

[Raiders Army]

I'm on Freedom with the Crimson Tsunami (Tank)...just got the game today. Can I get in the group?

[ageofquarrel]

Originally Posted by Raiders Army

I'm on Freedom with the Crimson Tsunami (Tank)...just got the game today. Can I get in the group?

Make a guy on the victory server we play on tuesdays and thursdays starting at 9 est. Also I regularly play on virtue server with toxic shock and blind blade so if you need help let me know.

[sachmo71]

Oy! If you guys run into a dork named Sulfur, beat his ass for me!

[Raiders Army]

Originally Posted by ageofquarrel

Make a guy on the victory server we play on tuesdays and thursdays starting at 9 est. Also I regularly play on virtue server with toxic shock and blind blade so if you need help let me know.

Thanks. I just created Silver Streak on the Victory server. I'll see you on!

[gi]

Got a new scrapper on right now, victory, broken wing.

[Raiders Army]

Thanks GI for the teaming. This game rocks.

Silver Streak is a hero who can control electricity. He found this out after he graduated from college and was cold one night. He was wearing his old pajamas with feet, and after he drug them across the carpet, he found that he could build up enough static electricity to hurl lightning like the Emperor in ROTJ. At first he used his powers to pick up chicks. Now, he uses his powers to fight evil....and pick up chicks.

[Bad-example]

Originally Posted by Raiders Army

He was wearing his old pajamas with feet, and after he drug them across the carpet, he found that he could build up enough static electricity to hurl lightning like the Emperor in ROTJ. At first he used his powers to pick up chicks.

Tell the truth. I bet the first thing he did with his new powers was masturbate while standing barefoot on the shag carpet.

[Bad-example]

delayed dola

That is my way of saying Welcome to the team.

[Raiders Army]

Thanks! Trying to get my guy to level 10 by Monday. I don't know if I can adventure with you, since I need the computer to record Next Action Star and Joe Schmo 2 on Tuesday nights.

[hoopsguy]

Nope, haven't heard that excuse before ...

[hoopsguy]

One good thing about our levels being a little off ... Lvl 14 is pretty lonely going solo, since so few missions are available. Lots of street fighting required, or task force which I still haven't done. But when our guys hit 14 we should have people at 13 and 15 who can pull them along for ride on missions for experience.

[Bonegavel]

I now have a blaster at 9/10 (can't remember exactly) named Phaero. He is fire/ice and I have no problem switching between my controllers (BlackFedora/Silent Partner) my scrapper (Albino Claw) or my blaster. Whatever the party needs, i'll use.

Post your character you are going to bring tomorrow...

[MrBug708]

Task Forces are hard as they require a ton of hours put in, not to mention a well balanced 8 member team

[gi]

Aucoin will be showing up Tuesday after my date. Level 14 1/2 now.

[MrBug708]

I'd start a new character, but I only have theone on virtue and he's half a bar from lvl 15.

[JeeberD]

I'm thinking about starting up a tanker on Victory today, Bug. If you wanna team up let me know...

[MrBug708]

No problem. I get on at random times, I'll sidekick you if need be. Tankers can get away with being of lower lvls in a group with higher members. I'm still Senor Bug.

[FloridaFringe]

Not necessarily. Each task force requires an additional member for requirement minimums starting with 3 for the Positron TF.

We started Positron's with only 3 members and finished in just under 4 1/2 hours.

Tonight we will be starting the next task force mission with only 4 members and should have it completed in about the same amount of time.

Besides that, your group could always agree to split it up on different days.

[ageofquarrel]

Originally Posted by FloridaFringe

Not necessarily. Each task force requires an additional member for requirement minimums starting with 3 for the Positron TF.

We started Positron's with only 3 members and finished in just under 4 1/2 hours.

Tonight we will be starting the next task force mission with only 4 members and should have it completed in about the same amount of time.

Besides that, your group could always agree to split it up on different days.

This is just to start you can solo them if you wish.

[FloridaFringe]

This is true. I meant to include the comment about needing an 8-member team for task force missions. I must have clicked the wrong icon since the quote never made it into my post. Just wanted to make sure that others realized that you are not restricted to needing so many members, for the first couple at any rate.

Although, I couldn't imagine soloing a task force since I already have too much trouble completing a regular mission by myself. Just last night I was working a timed mission solo and ended up needing to find some help just for the final red boss and his orange LTs. O'well, such is the life of a defender I suppose.

[MrBug708]

Different lvl's I guess. We needed 8 people for a lvl 17 task force and we hadn't gotten anywhere because we kept getting our butts kicked. I guess it just depends on the lvl you are at and who you are fighting against.

[FloridaFringe]

If you are level 17 then it's probably Synapse's Clockwork King Task Force in which case all of the mobs should be either level 20 or 21. This of course is why they reccomend that the task force missions be started once you reach the higher level limit. Here's a list of each task force, suggested levels and their minimum member requirments (hopefully this will help others down the road):

Positron - Steel Canyon - Level 10-15 - 3 players
Synapse - Skyway City - Level 15-20 - 4 players
Sister Psyche - Independence Port - Level 20-25 - 5 players
Bastion - Talos Island - Level 25-30 - 6 players
Manticore - Brickstown - Level 30-35 - 7 players
Numina - Founders' Falls - Level 35-40 - 8 players

[Bonegavel]

What is everyone bringing to Victory tonight? If noboby brings their controller, I'll bring Silent Partner. If we are short a blaster, I'll bring Phaero.

[Bonegavel]

Update is live:

06/29/04

Through the Looking Glass Update Notes:

2 New City Zones:

• Peregrine Island – This zone, north of Talos Island , is home to the secretive Portal Corporation. The company's tight-lipped attitude has recently led to concerns that their fledgling technology has somehow rendered the island dimensionally unstable.
• Rikti Crash Site – In this zone, the Rikti War still rages. Join the battle and keep Earth safe from the alien invaders.

New twists to missions:

• 5th Column Prison – When you're defeated in certain equipped 5th Column bases, you will have more to deal with than a hospital bill. The Column has learned how to override the city's emergency teleportation network, and they have no intention of letting you go free.
• Circle of Thorns Crystal Prison – Like the 5th Column, if you are defeated in selected lairs, the Circle of Thorns will have a big surprise in store for you.
• Circle of Thorns Gate Room – The Circle has found a new method of protecting its dark secrets: the Gate Room. This room summons forth hordes of Circle Behemoths to threaten any invaders.
• Circle of Thorns Orichalchum Crystals – Magic can bring power, or magic can bring pain. These crystals have become infused with the Circle's dark magic, and heroes will often find themselves surprised by the results.
• Tech Danger Lab – Technology can be somewhat unreliable. The only way to find out what the Tech Danger Lab holds is to experiment and observe the results.

Outdoor Mission Maps:

• The villains of Paragon City have taken the fight to the streets. Battle your foes in instanced outdoor missions within the city itself, or journey to bizarre alternate worlds and spread justice throughout the multiverse.

Contact\Mission\Story Arc Content For levels 40-50:

• The sick amusements of the Carnival of Shadows have turned deadly. Learn the source of their powers on your quest to save a single soul.
• Expose the darkness in Countess Crey's closets and bring her secrets to light at last.
• Begin to plumb the depths of the mysterious Malta Group, with a little help from a pair of super spies.
• Nemesis: How far will the Prussian Prince of Automatons go in his bid to conquer America ? Find out, and put an end to his evil plans.
• As with many new technologies, Portal Corporation's advances involve great risks. Venture to alternate realities to keep Paragon City safe from the many hazards of the multiverse.
• Is there any hope for peace between the Rikti and Earth? Not if you don't keep your eye on the factions that have begun to splinter Rikti society.
• The Praetorian supervillains may well be the greatest threat your fair city has ever faced. Take the battle to their home dimension to keep Paragon City safe.

Trial Rooms:

• Sewer Trial Room – Deep within the sewer system, something is growing. Characters between levels 38 and 40 must battle the Hydra to keep it contained – but be sure to come prepared for a long, hard fight.
• "The Hive" - The villains in The Hive (Hamidon, et al.) are now level 50, rather than level 40. The rewards have also been adjusted accordingly.

Tailor:

• Now your costume can change and evolve with your hero. At 3 locations within Paragon City , you can update your outfit – for a price.
• At levels 20, 30 and 40, you can earn extra costume slots by performing tasks for Icon's tailors. Now you can customize your look on a daily basis! You may perform these tasks at any level after the initial level.

Balance/Reward/Power Changes:

• Decreased the difficulty of higher level foes. Foes 4 and 5 levels higher than you are now easier. Foes 6 and 7 levels higher than you are slightly easier, but still very difficult.
• Fixed a bug that made some powers buff/heal less in an AoE if it hit a villain target (like Transfusion, Siphon Power, or Twilight Grasp) that was higher level. These powers will now buff/heal based on the casters level.
• Fixed a bug that was causing Scrapper/Regeneration/Resilience to drain a tiny bit of END every 10 seconds.
• Fixed Short Help description for Claws/Focus. It used to say it was a Melee AoE, but it is actually a Ranged Targeted power. Power did not change, only description was corrected.
• Fixed Short Help description for Storm Summoning/O2 Boost. It used to say it was a Ranged AoE, but it is actually a Ranged Targeted Ally power. Power did not change, only description was corrected.
• Fixed Short Help and long description for Energy Blast/Explosive Blast. Actual damage is Moderate, but description said it was Minor. Power did not change, only description was corrected.
• Fixed O2 Boost and Clear Mind Resistance to Sleep (it would awaken slept Allies, but it gave no resistance).
• Burn now also protects the caster from Sleep and Hold effects.
• Fixed inconsistency in the short and long help of Energy Blast/Explosive Blast (power did not change).
• Provoke now accepts Accuracy Enhancements.
• Added a Critical Hit (small % change to do double damage) to ALL Scrapper Primary attack powers. Existing scrapper powers that already had critical hit damage have a higher success chance than other powers.
• Added Resistance to Hold and Knockback to Moment of Glory (technically, this is a bug fix).
• Decreased the Accuracy BONUS of higher level villains when attacking lower level Heroes. This change effectively improved Defensive powers (buffs and Defense armors). There was a discrepancy that made Resist Damage powers more effective against higher level foes than Defense powers. This change does not change any power directly, but allows Defense powers to be more effective against higher level foes. They should be equally effective as Resist Damage powers. This change does slightly reduce a higher level Heroes ability to hit lower level villains, but it should be hardly noticed since High level Heroes are significantly more powerful than lower level villains and will still hardly miss anyway.
• Fixed a bug that allowed Slow (Slow Recharge Time) powers to increase a target's recharge time to infinity. Maximum debuff to recharge time is now 4 times normal recharge (this applies to villains and Heroes).
• Fixed a bug that allowed Debuff Damage powers to debuff a target's damage to zero. A target's damage can not be debuffed below 10% of its normal damage (this applies to villains and Heroes).
• There is now a MAX damage resistance of 90% for all (standard) damage types. No combination of powers or enhancements can bring your damage resistance beyond 90%. Any damage resistance beyond 90% will go towards damage resistance protection (it will protect you from getting your damage resistance debuffed).
• Increased Max possible Resistance to Speed Running, Flying and Swimming to 100% (villains and Heroes).
• Fixed Collision/Selection box of many larger villains.
• The minimum resistance for a character has been increased. This change limits the susceptibility of characters to damage when they are debuffed. The limit is now four times the damage the power would do if the target was not debuffed.
• Increased defense of Ice Armor/Frozen Armor and Glacial Armor.
• Increased defense of Super Reflexes/Focused Fighting, Focused Senses and Evasion.
• Heal Other and Twilight Grasp can now be resisted (in case the target is suppose to be resistant to Heal). This is a fix. All other Heals were always resistible.
• Changed schema of CoT Mages Kamikaze power (Without giving away too much, their Kamikaze power will appear less random now, and you should be able to employ countermeasures to deal with this now.)
• Added system chat message to villain sniper attacks.
• Fixed small typo in Shadow Maul critical system chat message.
• "Underling"-class villains like the Rikti Monkeys have had the reward for defeating them placed more in line with their difficulty.
• Fixed Totem Damage resistance.
• Fixed Provoke's accuracy.
• Fixed Burn Radius (it was smaller than intended. It now functions as it should).
• Fixed a bug with certain Powers that debuff resistance's:

  Before this change, a power which affected resistance would apply this resistance to itself. This resulted in compounding the intended effect, which made the power work incorrectly overall.
  
  

For example:

Imagine one de-buffed a villain's resistance to Fire Damage powers, thereby making them more susceptible to powers of that nature. On the next combat tick, the villain's resistance is calculated again, but this time he's susceptible to Fire Damage powers-- including the one which made him susceptible in the first place. So, he would be made even MORE susceptible. On the next combat tick, it would happen again, etc. The compounded resistance makes the initial debuff much more powerful than intended. In fact, a very small stack of this debuff ends up being completely unresistable. Freezing Rain and Enervating Field are the two powers which are affected by this change. In typical circumstances, you should see little difference in their effects. When stacking these powers, though, you will see the change. If you've been using a small stack of these powers to trivially take out an archvillain or monster, you will find that you will need to stack more of them. In short, instead of the stack multiplying and compounding over time, its strength becomes the sum of the stack; as was intended by the original design. Hero resistance buffs have always been unresistable; they will not be affected by this change at all.

Mission Bug Fixes:

• Penny Preston will no longer give her mission to characters under level 30.
• Serafina will now sell the proper Enhancements.
• Broken Story Arcs have had a fix-attempt made to them. If you have had clues in your clue bag for several levels, go back and talk to all your Contacts to see if you can complete Story Arcs that failed to complete the first time (depending on your level, completing these missions might be rather easy).
• Many, many missions that were giving "Internal Errors issuing this task" or no waypoints appearing have been fixed.
• Many instances of out-of-range Bosses appearing in missions and spawns have been fixed.

Exploits:

• To deal with an XP sharing inconsistency for teams containing members with very wide level gap, we've made the following changes:
  • XP splitting has now changed, giving a larger share to higher level people in your group. Characters groups with a level range of 6 or less should see no significant change as long as they fight mid-range encounters. This is to compensate for how much easier encounters are when the villains are well under the level of the Heroes in your group.
  • Grossly under-level characters (not-sidekicked) in a group are ignored when determining the group's level in regards to rewards.
  • Increased the XP reward for villains 3 or more levels above the Hero defeating them.

Physics:

• The jump code was slightly changed to better reflect reality, to be modified by powers better, and to provide overall better gameplay.

Networking:

• Added networking code that handles client stalls better and should reduce disconnects for users with poor network connections.

New Slash Commands:

• nojumprepeat - Disables jump auto-repeat
• whereami - Tells the name of the shard/map you are on
• costume_change, cc - Changes current costume

Misc:

• Added character delete confirmation.