WittyLibrarian

THIS IS IT. THE LAST SHARDTOBER EVER. THE LAST SHARDTOBER TF EVER.

WAAAAAAAAAH.

Ahem. This is the fourth and final week of Shardtober here in Paragon City, and this one entails Faathim The Kind as our contact and guide in our battle against Lanaru the Mad God.

The missions BEGIN in the Chantry so please be in that zone to start. The missions involve hopping about from The Chantry to Storm Palace to city zones and back again, so hopefully people will have team teleport and/or mission teleports available to speed up the TF run. Faathim TFs tend to run in the 3 hour range.

Team requirements as always for Shardtober is we need to start with a full 8-hero squad. Level minimum is 45. This Task Force also involves battling at least 4 AV-level villains along the way - Mother Mayhem, Malaise, A Fake Nemesis?, and Baphomet - along with Lanaru itself on the final mission in the Storm Palace. This means your teams need at least one tanker / aggro-taker and at least one defender/controller/corruptor/mastermind for heals and debuffs.

I personally will do my best to be on this Sunday early afternoon, hopefully some evenings this week. I will endeavor to host a Faathim TF run for this Tanker Tuesday (Victory server?), which is tonight as I post this.

Please get out the vote... uh please get out the 50s to make this last ever SHARDTOBER event a big one!

After this, there is little left to do but the crying and saving of your characters and SG files...

Just a quick notice: I used to have sign-up sheets on this forum to get people signed up and prepared for a particular Shard TF run during the weekend. But two things:

1) We've got Looking For Group chat options in-game now, so lining up people that way has helped;
2) Considering this is the LAST SHARDTOBER RUN WE WILL EVER HAVE, I did not want any constrictions on when to play a Shard TF. We can run these at any time on any day for the week of that particular TF and Zone. I'm pretty sure we've all got at least one 40-50 hero available to play the TFs... ;-)

That said, up now is the third of the Shard Task Forces: Justin Augustine TF, established at the entry point to The Chantry zone (accessible via the shortcut portal in FireBase Zulu (FBZ).

This is arguably the most fun of the TFs: very quick to run (most of them are hunting missions) and with a relatively enjoyable endgame mission of RESCUING a God rather than fighting one.

Team sign-up once again requires a full 8-player team. Flight power is again a must, and be forewarned The Chantry is one of the largest zones in-game (bigger in some ways than Indy Port) so there is a lot of travel time still involved. Team balance helps a bit, although a tanker isn't all that needed (healers and buffers, though, will be. Controllers will love this TF). Minimum level does bump up to Level 44, but if you've run the first two Shard TFs - Dr. Q and Sara Moore - you should have gotten to that level by now. ;-) It caps to Level 50, so any 50+1 Incarnate Heroes will have their incarnate powersets unlocked, which should make this easier.

Do note, the Shard realms did get additional exploration badges in one of the later Issue updates, so check the badge hunter maps for where you can find exploration badges for easy merits and XP while you're visiting the Chantry.

I do plan on making a stop on each day this weekend - Saturday evening after 7 pm EST, Sunday evening after 7 pm EST - so I hope to see a good number of Shardtober enthusiasts those evenings. I also hope to get a Shard TF team running for this week's Tanker Tuesday tour stop in... which server this week, boss?

Good luck. Hope to see you in-game. SHARDTOBER! SAVE OUR CITY!

Well, Dr. Q's task force is always a bit hard to find victims, uh teammates, for that one...

But now we move on to a more popular Task Force: Sara Moore, set in the Cascades Archipelago!

This one is a tougher TF in one regard: the AV at the end is one of the meanest you'll meet. Rudalak is, quite literally, a God... so you will need at least one aggro taker (Tanker, Brute) and a handful of debuffers and healers (Defenders, Controllers, Corruptors, MasterMinds).

Full team of 8 players still needed. Levels needed are 40 and up.

As it's the Shard realm, teammates will need Flight as a powerset or Teleport. If needed, jet packs are on sale at vendors throughout the shard realms. Most missions are in the Cascades, but a handful go back into the city, so having Ouro portals and especially Team Teleport available are musts.

Well-run TFs should not take longer than 2.5 hours. And it's popular and easy to get going, so finding teammates online (via the chat channels or the Looking For Group chat) should not be a problem.

I may be available Saturday evening to run at least one Sara Moore TF, definitely Sunday evening for certain.

I am counting on the rest of you - ALL OF YOU! - to stand and fight for the CITY OF HEROES! JOIN NOW THE CAUSE OF DEFEATING THE SHADOWS ONCE MORE! BUY TWO GET ONE FREE! wait, scratch that last one...

Tomorrow is October 1.

Tomorrow signals the dawn of the final SHARDTOBER.

The rules are simple: once you hit Level 40, you venture into Peregrine Island, then into Portal Corp., and then into Firebase Zulu, the first of the Shard realms.

Once you're in, you can't get out. Well, except for the occasional trip back into Paragon City for a door mission. Thank Faathim for Ouro portals and Team Transports: before those shortcuts it would take HOURS to travel back and forth.

The first TF is [a href="http://cityofheroes.wikia.com/wiki/Dr._Quaterfield_Task_Force"]Dr. Quaterfeld[/a], stationed to the right of Gen. Hammond as you enter the FBZ. The Task Force requires 8 players to start (full-team), so you need to line up people well ahead of time to make sure you can get going as soon as possible.

EDIT: damm, will somebody fix the link for me!

Team balance is nice but not entirely needed: there are no AVs to face. Still, wouldn't hurt to have buffers/debuffers and an aggro taker on the team.

Most of the missions will be in the Firebase zone. Flight is a must-need power due to 1) the floating space islands you need to reach and 2) nobody ever figured out the silly jump jet geysers positioned everywhere. There's a temp jet pack vendor in the zone, costs about 5000 credits I believe.

The plan for Shardtober runs is usually for the weekends: when we can best be certain we can get enough players online. For Dr. Q, that's Oct. 6 and 7 (Sat. and Sun.) this weekend. But given the nature of this year's event (a thousand game crashes are not enough for NCSoft!), whenever you can get a team lined up, the better. I recommend planning to run the Dr. Q TF in about 4 hours as it's one of the longest-timed TFs in the whole game (some teams have gotten it down to 2 hours, but let's be reasonable).

Please do take pictures during the TF run as THIS WILL BE THE LAST TIME SHARDTOBER EVER HAPPENS WAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHhhhhh sniff whimper.

I personally will be on for a Tuesday night Dr. Q Task Force because it will be TANKER TUESDAY, and I am quite quite mad. I also aim for running a Dr. Q TF for Sunday afternoon, lemme know what starting time (EST for me, please) you all want.

SHARDTOBER! NCSoft, time to see things eye to eye with us...

I never did get a chance to get 50000 of you to buy my ebooks... ow, forum moderators, stop hitting me...

As word of City of Heroes' closing spreads, we have one last chance to do battle in the Shadow Realms of Rularuu...


For the weekends of October 2012, I call upon the heroes of Champion server to gather in the dimensions accessible through Portal Corp. I call upon the heroes to wage war against the meddling of Crey and Nemesis and the Circle of Thorns, to prevent them from awakening the dark forces of Rularuu and the pain and madness they bring with them...

I haven't been on as much as before, but had thought the game was going strong and had good turnout.

I made a lot of online friends here, and I'd like to think I can keep in touch with you all.

Will the forums here stay open?
Is it alright to start trading business cards/contact info?

I lost track... again...

...if it's alright for me to promote a superhero-themed estory I have available at Smashwords.com ?

I have a coupon for it too that would make it a free download...

...a lot of players from the Omega Flight and Angels of the Night supergroups...

...I miss Mookie...

...I miss the two guys who ran fire tankers like mad from the Avatars of War...

...and I still feel bad about getting kicked from Safe Harbor...

...was kinda hoping some of them would come back with the F2P Freedom update, but I haven't seen much of them...

I wanna thank everyone who ran the Shardtober TFs this month and am grateful you all found the time to indulge in my eccentricities.

From Saturday's run:




From Sunday's run:

Apologies for the lateness of getting these pics sorted and edited and whatnot:

From Saturday's TF run:





From Sunday's TF run:

This is it. THE FINAL TF of the Shadow Shard realms.

http://wiki.cohtitan.com/wiki/Faathi...ind_Task_Force

Again, the TF requires a full team of 8 to start, and considering the AV at the end (the Mad God Lanaru) it'd be nice to have the full team to finish as well.

No sign-up sheets again... the first two weeks I had few signees, so I'll just be begging on the chat channels for teamage.

WHERE: The Chantry (The TF begins in the Chantry but ends in the Storm Palace)
WHEN: For both Sat. Oct. 22nd and Sun. Oct. 23rd I am looking at a 7 PM EST start time. Saturday afternoon is real busy for me, and Sunday I don't want to conflict with Mothership raids (I think that's what's scheduled on Sundays).
HOW LONG: Shouldn't be more than 3 hrs.
WHO: Anyone Heroside (Blueside) from Levels 44-50. Definitely need anyone with buff/debuff powers and aggro control to fight Lanaru (he's MEAN...)

I have both currently set for 6 pm EST. But it's such a quick TF (I've seen it done in less than two hours) that one could run a 6 pm TF and then get ready for the 8 pm EST run. ;-)

Continuing onward in the quest to forge some awesome Shadow Shard TFing!

Next up is the Justin Augustine Task Force starting in the Chantry. Justin is right at the wormhole/portal shortcut entering the zone.

http://wiki.cohtitan.com/wiki/Justin...ine_Task_Force

It requires again a full team of 8 players, minimum level 44 and max level 50, so getting a 50+1 to lead would be very helpful. It's also a TF with a ton of flying about hunting things, so buying a temp jet pack for those without the Flight powerset is a must.

I haven't been getting a lot of sign-ups on the forums here, so I've stopped doing that for now. But I'd hope to get enough people on the Chat channels - BMT, United - to sign up for this weekend. I figure it has to be at a time when there are a lot of people logging in. Is 6 pm EST or 8 pm EST better? This is a very quick TF to run by the by...

Led both the Saturday and Sunday Shardtober TFs this past weekend, and here are the pics:


Sunday's team, posing at the doorway into Rudalak's cavern


Possibly the best action shot I've captured


Saturday's team

Thanks all for joining in, and hope to see you for this next weekend's Shardtober run on Justin Augustine's TF!

I will attempt to make it for Saturday's Task Force. Maybe Sunday's as well...

SATURDAY OCT 8 SARA MORE TASK FORCE
Where: Cascades Archipelago (connected to FBZ which is connected to Portal Corp in Peregrine Island)
When: recommended 4 pm EST.
How Many: 8 players needed (full team to start TF)
Objectives: Defeat a very angry GOD OF RAGE. Also, look for the new Exploration badges in the Cascades zone.

Please give Character Name, Global Name, and Archetype/Level info:
example) Doombringer of Doom, @DoomyX, Tanker/50
1) Witty Repulse, @Witty Librarian, Tanker/50
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)

/facepalm

Well, not everyone runs the Keyes trial. Especially not a Master of... oy.

I have pics of the two teams that ran the Positron Race.

The Winning Team led by Triz Kolar!

From left: Shun Lee, Pep Rally, Triz Kolar, Hyborean, Valyrion

And the Second Place Team led by White Guardsman!

From left: Riveteer, Crimson Gauntlets, White Guardsman, 10.0, Sir Zane

Thank you, tankers, for running the Posi Race!

SUNDAY OCT 9 SARA MORE TASK FORCE
Where: Cascades Archipelago (connected to FBZ which is connected to Portal Corp in Peregrine Island)
When: recommended 4 pm EST.
How Many: 8 players needed (full team to start TF)
Objectives: Defeat a very angry GOD OF RAGE. Also, look for the new Exploration badges in the Cascades zone.

Please give Character Name, Global Name, and Archetype/Level info:
example) Doombringer of Doom, @DoomyX, Tanker/50
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)

Good luck!

SATURDAY OCT 8 SARA MORE TASK FORCE
Where: Cascades Archipelago (connected to FBZ which is connected to Portal Corp in Peregrine Island)
When: recommended 4 pm EST.
How Many: 8 players needed (full team to start TF)
Objectives: Defeat a very angry GOD OF RAGE. Also, look for the new Exploration badges in the Cascades zone.

Please give Character Name, Global Name, and Archetype/Level info:
example) Doombringer of Doom, @DoomyX, Tanker/50
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)

Good luck!

Continuing onward in the quest to forge some awesome Shadow Shard TFing!

Next up is the Sara Moore Task Force starting in the hidden base in Cascades.

http://wiki.cohtitan.com/wiki/Sara_Moore_Task_Force

It requires again a full team of 8 players, minimum level 40 and max level 50, so getting a 50+1 to lead would be very helpful. It's also a TF with a tough AV at the end, so a balanced team format would help a lot.

I'll be posting the sign-up sheets for both Saturday and Sunday TF runs below. Considering it's a shorter TF than Dr. Q, we can start later, say 4 pm EST?