Adam7

<ul type="square">[*]EVENT NAME:
MEGA Scavenger Hunt[*]WHEN:
Saturday, April 22nd at 8:00pm EDT[*]WHERE:
Event starting point is the Atlas Park gate in Steel Canyon, Champion Server[*]HOST:
MEGAFORCE[*]ANY PREREQUISITES?
Must be a level 1 "Core" Archetype (Kheldians are not allowed due to inherent travel powers)[*]WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
For this event nine members of MEGAFORCE will replace their "MEGAFORCE Star" emblem with a letter from the SG name. Each one of these nine members will take up a position within either Atlas Park or Galaxy City. Each participant will join the public global channel “Scavenger Hunt” to receive event instructions. When the event begins the participants will fan out into Atlas Park and Galaxy to find the nine members. When a participant finds a "letter" they will write down the MEGAFORCE member's name, letter and zone location. Once a participant believes they have all name “letters” they will return to the Atlas Park gate in Steel Canyon and send a tell to Kiloton Hammer (event leader) with all the member names, their zone and their letter. The winner will receive 2 million influence, 2nd place 1 million influence and 3rd place 500,000 influence as a reward.

This event is not limited to Championites, if your from another server roll up a new hero and come join the fun.[/list]

<ul type="square">
[*]EVENT NAME:
MEGA Bloody Bay Invasion[*]WHEN:
April 18th (TODAY!!!) 9pm EDT[*]WHERE:
Hero Side- Meet in Skyway City[*]WHERE:
Villain Side- Meet in Cap Au Diable[*]HOST:
MEGAFORCE[*]ANY PREREQUISITES?
Bloody Bay has a minimum level of 15, and all who enter will have their levels adjusted to 25[*]WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
A MEGA event designed to promote PvP awareness, and the sense of enjoyment that can only be found in MEGA PvP with people you know, and like playing with. Perfect for Non PvPers, casual PvPers and experts alike. Good times to be had by all![/list]

(ps- if anyone would *not* like their events listed here, please PM me so I don't. I cannot promise I'll remember to check every day for events that aren't already listed, or bump the thread when listed events come up, but I will try.)

OK, here's the idea: 1 central post that lists all current and upcoming events and ONLY the events. Keep the discussions to the threads dedicated to them.
Lets keep the Format simple-

<ul type="square"> [*]EVENT NAME[*]WHEN[*]WHERE[*]HOST[*]ANY PREREQUISITES?[*]WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW[/list]
Like I said, lets try not to hold discussions here, keep it to the events only so this doesn't get cluttered.
I figure, with all the events that are thrown on this server, it should be bumped fairly frequently.
Feel free to re-post your event when its day comes along
(ie, post that there is an upcoming forum friends day soon, then repost it on the day its being held)

Let’s see if this experiment of self regulation works.

(edit: wasn't clear on the "NAME" point- sorry nether)

thanks guys!
I'm glad some people are finding it useful.
I think I may forward it along with any "free trial" codes I send to my friends from now on.

Thanks RT!
That means a lot coming from you.

-or-
ADAM-7’s guide to the heart of CoH.
(revised to be i7 &amp; CoV compliant)
What’s new? Sections on ED/Multi Target Nerf, and PvP.

This guide is geared toward players from other MMOs coming here and wondering why the things they are used to aren’t present. Why the style and feel of play from other games are not mirrored here. Why there is no traditional MMO end game content? Why can’t my max level character advance further? Additionally, this will also touch on the oft controversial topic of power leveling and rushing to the finish (in a non inflammatory way). And if any of you follow my posts, you will see things I have said before here, just in a complied format.
Anyway, let us begin.

Adam, what makes City of Heroes different, and what is this paradigm shift of which you speak?

Unlike any other MMO out there, City of Heroes is NOT about the “end game.” It’s a paradigm shift that a lot of people have trouble swallowing, but it’s the way the game was made.

In nearly every other MMO out there, the levels leading up to the max level “end game” are just gravy. They are meant to make you “put in the effort” or “grind” to reach the fun: max level raiding, equipment, crafting and PvP rewards. Essentially, the meat of the game occurs after your level is maxed out and you are fine tuning your “stuff” (whether be it powers or equipment or robotic rabid chipmunk pet of DRAMA-D000MZXORS). That is NOT CoH. (this is why many people who rush to reach the end become unsatisfied very quickly; they are missing the point of this game)

People rushing to the end game at the expense of the other content just don't "get" this game. There is no end game content that extends ones enjoyment. Unlike WoW or EQ or DAoC, you don't have high level raid content or PvP uber rewards. When you hit 50, the Devs expect you to roll an alt, and bring your 50 out for 50 content (when its made), PvP, Arena, PvP base raids (and crossover CoV content), and playing with your friends. They have expanded what your 50 can do with the exemplar, auto exemplar for TF features and PvP Zones.

Other than that though, your character has essentially retired. Sorry, no way for you to spend another 1000 man hours raiding the depressing elemental plane of sadness where Lord EMO god of whining and mediocre music reigns supreme, just to beat him and hope you are the one person out of your 50 player raid group to get the hat of Xanax (+35 save against confusion and fear) to further tweak your stats. That’s not this game. Its part of the reason why our character’s “stats” are not typically available for view and why they implemented their “Enhancement Diversification” system (whereby adding more than 3 Single Origin enhancements of the same type to any one power provides negligible benefit). The Devs would rather you not worry about putting in 35 more hours of raiding, crafting, and PvP reputation farming to get your resistance rating up from 85% or 86%. By scaling down the benefits one can get by obsessing over their “stats” vs. the benefits that most casual players figure out on their own they have evened out the playing field AND made it even less of a disparity between fully “Hamidon Enhanced” characters vs. non Hamidon enhanced characters. (for further reference see my points on enhancement diversification below).

And here’s the kicker- When they finally DO make end game content, people will exhaust it and cry out for more within weeks. Why? Because no matter WHAT endgame content CoH adds, it will not be the kind of end game content these people want.

But Adam, why NOT? I want my content!

Most (gross generalization) people who are currently crying over lack of end game content are looking for the kind of content that EQ or DAoC or WoW has. When your character hits the highest level the can get, there are still uber items out there to increase their power. They can still finish their cursed midnight armor of the pre-dawn exorcism or what have you.

These items require hours and hours and hours of raiding to acquire, and you aren't even guaranteed the item at the end of that time. Heck, in some cases these armors or weapons are only available to one person at a time per server, and you have to zealously guard your position in the game’s ranking system lest someone else out farm you and take your “loot.” Having to be vigilant in your progress and a regular basis and worry about others trying to snake you out of your hard earned position… that’s sounds more like a competitive job than a game to me. But what do I know?

So what happens? In an obsessive race to optimize their character to the max, people who have already hit max level are still willing to spend 50+ hours to get all the min/max'ed equipment. And in many cases, they don’t even GET the equipment they need from the drop, but rather the raw materials they need in order to spend yet MORE hours crafting the equipment they need, with no guarantee of success! And that’s not even getting into PvP uber rewards, where your rewards a given out based on PvP experience. So you have players who have more time on their hands than other players cornering the market on the PvP special rewards.

Yep: because Junior over there gets out of High School early, and devotes every second of his spare time to keeping his PvP ranking, he gets the towering shield of the divine holy hell demon’s wings. And there is nothing you can do about it. That kind of end game content allows a person to feel like their character (who can no longer get experience) is still advancing. Even if it takes them hundreds of hours and the exclusion of the rest of their lives to do so. They are still getting stronger as a result of all the time spent. They feel like their character doesn't need to be shelved because there is still room to grow.

And ONCE they have optimized themselves to have only the best, there is still PvP raids to keep them busy, because PvP provides rewards in both PvP AND PvE. And those rewards are good! And though many people like this, there remains a problem with that in reference to CoH.

Many of us came to CoH to break out of that grind. We got tired of having to spend hundreds of hours to get enough lvl 265 spectral wombat pelts to make the phasing wombat boots of doom which allow us to finally cross the phased rainbow bridge of despair into the shadowed castle of shadows, only to fight the twilight squirrel (with 400 other players) in hopes of being the one person to get the fabled nut of destruction. (Because, as you know, if you DON'T have the nut of destruction, you are teh noobxzors in PvP and no one will invite you to their l337 gank squad)

End game content in CoH will most likely just be more missions. Perhaps requiring multiple teams (in the vein of hamidon, but in smaller scale). They may require whole supergroups. But regardless, the will not give loot, and the will not give continued and extended character advancement. (Key word is “extended”, they may provide some limited further advancement, but not to the end of 100+ hours to get your full set of death badger armor).

Okay Adam, I’m starting to follow you, so are you implying I shouldn’t PL or Rush through my first character?

Well, most people rush in the other games because to EQ or DAoC, the meat of the game is at the end. In other words, to EQ players, the fun isn’t in getting to max level, but rather, once you get there. They prize the destination, not the journey (if you don’t mind the cliché) *a funny aside, new players in EQ sometimes get turned off immediately as its tremendously difficult to find lower level teams, as everyone is being PL’d to join the “fun” in the end game*

This being the case, the solution to powerleveling should become kind of obvious, but lets sum up what we know now, first:

1. CoH has no ph4t l3wt. There are no items of power to increase your characters stats.
2. CoH has no extended play end game. You hit 50 and retire. Kthxbye.
3. CoH has no crafting. You cannot spend hours and hours refining your vampire bunny teeth to make your singing vorpral sword of slaying.
4. There will be no steep rewards for PvP victories. Our items of power that our SGs (will) hold do not open up a super dungeon where even uber-er items can be found, or give us +100,000,000 hp &amp; unlimited endurance as well as a staples “that was easy button” solution to any encounter.

These things all tie in together and they also form the crux of end game content, and the goal of powerlevelers in the other games. People PL for these reasons (in other MMOs). People want to get to the meat of the game immediately (2) because that is where the most “fun” is had in the game. However, to get to this fun they must be outfitted with the best equipment (1). To get this equipment they must raid and get the raw materials and (3) craft ‘em or get ‘em from a drop. All in the hopes to even further optimize their characters (4).

So what, then, is the “meat” of City of Heroes if its not extended advancement?

As shown above, CoH has NONE of these things. CoH is unique in the fact that the focus of the game isn’t max level pvp raiding. Nor is it max level dragon (or hamidon) slaying. This game is about bringing your hero up from an outbreak stopping scrub at lvl 1, to a dimension saving portal jockey at 50. All the content they need to accomplish this isn’t there yet, but if the khelds are any indication they are certainly trying. They are attempting to put in so much content that each character can take a different path through the game with different experiences.

They are succeeding somewhat when you consider you can now take a character though the hollows, then to striga, then to croatoa, then to the shadow shard. That’s a lot of contacts and content ( 5 – 35, 40-50) if I recall correctly) that is different from what you are used to. You can also spend a lot of time doing missions in the PvP zones and advance in that fashion (though there is limited storyline advancement there). They have expanded missions to change the things you have done already. They have adjusted tile sets, enemy mob powers, and AVs to make things different from your first time through.

They WILL eventually have level 50 only content, but it’s not going to be the crafting, stat tweaking, 500 hour obsessive compulsive ‘gotta catch it all tedium that other MMOs bill as “end game content.” The devs want you to enjoy each level, not rush through them to join all the fun raiding the dark shadowed fortress of darkness which can only be reached if you get the key of night content flag by killing Shad-or, the black dragon of inky blackness inside his den of eternal evening.

OK Adam, but what about Enhancement Diversification! Those Devs ruined my Favorite Character! -or- What the heck IS this Enhancement Diversification I hear people complaining about?

1st- for those of you new to this game, Enhancement Diversification was implemented around issue 5/6. It essentially neutered the bonus provided by adding more than 3 of the same type of single origin enhancements to a power. Prior to ED, one could (for example) 6 slot a power for damage and a massive boost. That boost is limited to the first 3 enhancements now. Additionally it went hand in hand with the multiple target nerf, which placed a hard cap on how many enemies could be hit with a single AoE attack. Many long time players had problems with this, since it came out over a year after the game was released and hampered or outright crippled certain styles of play.

The reasoning behind ED was to level the playing field between people who were excessively well informed of the game mechanics, and casual players who were not. That way, in PvP, there was not a caste of “l337” characters who had perfectly min/maxed builds who could win by virtue of slotting choice. It was also intended, and succeeded, at bridging the tremendous gulf between Hamidon Enhancement Haves and Hamidon Enhancement Have-Nots. (a Hamidon enhancement is the reward for the End Game raid in City of Heroes, and it is an enhancement that can effect 2 or even 3 aspects of a single power). Hammi-O’s are still very good to have, but they are not the super “I win” button they once were.

It was also an attempt by the developers to make our characters, as a whole, less effective while not actually “nerfing” anyone in particular. To this end, they have succeeded. There are few out there who can argue that their characters have become more effective post ED than Pre ED. However, by making us less survivable, they were able to ratchet up the difficulty of the game a bit without making any other change to the engine. Suffice it to say, the game you play today is more difficult (in a good way) than the one previously. There was a time when certain scrappers could solo monsters and arch villains, when tankers could round up every mob on a level and keep their attention, when blasters could rain destruction on dozens of mobs with a single attack… were we powerful? Yes. Was the game fun? Yes. Was it challenging? Not so much. And a game without challenge is one that wears thin. When a controller could pop his AoE hold every minute and be able to hit 30 enemies with it, there was not much concern with tactics or strategy… people would rush in and leave the tanks and controllers to keep aggro managed. Which was accomplished fairly easily.

In my opinion, Enhancement Diversification &amp; The AoE targeting nerf have made this a better game. Others may disagree, and they have every right to. The one thing that cannot be taken away from those nerfs though, is that they have crippled the most common ways to PL, and severely reduced the effectiveness for those ways that have not been removed completely. You new players out there have nothing to worry about, as all this was done before you got here. CoV showed us all 1 thing: when the game starts out with the ED &amp; Target nerf built in, there are no problems, since that’s the way the rules were laid out. CoH on the other hand, had those rules tacked on a year late, so many people still have the image of how their character USED to play, rather than focusing on how he or she DOES play.

And PvP Adam, What about that? There are rewards, right? And Items of power?! And crafting??!! LET ME DO MY RAIDING DAMNIT!

Yes, with PvP Zones, and the (soon to be implemented Items of Power base raiding system) there are rewards for PvP. There is also a minor crafting system based on salvage. This is NOT your prototypical forced PvP keeping up with the Joneses raiding system. Firstly, the majority of PvP rewards are the ability to purchase level 53 enhancements (to which you can get the same effect by combining 3 level 50 enhancements), and purchase “large” inspirations, which would otherwise be found completely at random. Nothing game breaking or worthy of an excessive time sink.

You, as a player who does not devote his every waking hour to PvP will not be worse off than Junior over there who does. PvPing truly is a choice here, not a necessity.

Salvage is dropped while playing in SG mode and can be “crafted” into items for your base. Your base is what will house items of power- SG wide minor bonuses granted by an artifact stolen from Rularuu the ravager in a raid only accessible by your SG. Your SG leadership will assign a particular “window of opportunity” where your base can be raided each day. A base raid is limited to a small number of people on the attacking and defending sides (15?). These bonuses are nice to have, and are a pleasant reward to the groups who claim them, but their effects are not so noticeable as to, once again, skew the balance between haves and have nots. As with PvP rewards, base raiding is a choice and not a necessity to continue to have fun playing and not feel inferior to those who DO have those bonuses.

OK, got it. Thanks Adam!

Once you understand this kind of paradigm shift, you may find yourself not only looking at City of Heroes in a different light, but enjoying it more. I have never played a MMO before where it is a perfectly acceptable practice to take a few months off, and come back for the new issue to see what content was added. Nor have I ever played a MMO that is so accommodating for that (the fact that no characters have been forcefully deleted yet speaks volumes about Cryptic’s view of their fans. Once you understand the idea that the fun of this game is in the playing, not the end game stat tweak PvP castle elemental dragon raid II: super ultra mega champion edition, you will also understand why I don’t give suggestions on how to dissuade PLing from the populace at large: There is no reason to. Rampant PLers will play this game a bit, and either max out, get bored and move on or not be able to find anyone who knows HOW to PL, get bored and move on. Those of us who enjoy the game for what is IS, rather than what we want it to be, will most likely still be here bringing another alt up from 1-50.

good god, the thread had been defeated, but the sould still burns!

No way is this guide obsolite.
Epics are not a horse and carrot kind of thing any more than the epic powers are in CoH. Just that in CoV they are tied to a few missions. Odds are you get some kind of special mission each level and the completion of which will get you your power... or something like that.
Rest assured that in PvP epic pools will neither be necesscary nor hard to acquire. As far as a "lot" of PvP... the autolevel feature will allow your level 50 toon to fight in bloody bay, siren's call, warburg and recluse's victory will all play differently.
If there is a more specific concern regarding post 50 pvp please ask, and i'll answer as best I can.

I can tell you that hot feet is fairly unreliable, but the combination of hot feet and repel on the other hand, is good good fun. =]

ack! so many posts on a guide that I thought was dead...

"Rise from your grave!" apparently...



lots to address, and aswer... but i'll try (these answers may or may not be in order)

As far as preaching to the choir- I think you are right, and for the most part, I am. But I am also hoping to that this guide may help new players coming in from DAoC or EQI/II, or AO or the like. Games where the goal is the destination, not the journey.

As far as WoW and Endgame and Fun- Didn't want to direct quote you, but I'll address your point. I never claimed that the endgame is where the "fun" is, but if thats where the "goal" is. Blizzard is going to keep adding "end game" content, and all the fun raiding / PvP that goes along with it. Thats where THEY want the game to go, even if the fanbase differs. unfortunately.

PLing in other MMOs - We can agree to disagree, no? Most PLers I knew of in other MMOs did so so they could participate in the end game. The place where all the under max level gameplay brought them. The "goal" of lack of a better term. And that goal was either raiding, stat tweaking or PvPing depending on your game.

And as for me-
I have never played an "adam" before in any MMO, and my most well known character was a max level runemistress and PvP meanie in dark age of camelot: Aryiallis Loreweaver, leader in The Hands of Destruction. Long range damage and bubbles 4tw! Kind of makes sense why my main is a blaster here lol.


But i'd like to thank all of you who agree, or disagree, for the kind words, the sentiment, and the contributions to this thread.
My SG is starting to get into the swing of things with bases &amp; crafting (though, as Mal knows, we aren't PvP centric, so our base is geared to PvE and not raiding), so I will address that eventually. But its still not crafting in the "Lets raid the glacier, where Fidge-ar the icy dragon of cold awaits in his den of frozen tears!" kind of crafting.

global: Adam7

CoH:
A d a m - 7 lvl 50 Fire/Devices/Elec Blaster
Miss Moonlight lvl 36 Fire/Kinetics Controller
Last Regulator lvl 35 Claws/Regen Scrapper

CoV:
Uptown Girl lvl 18 Mercs/Dark Mastermind
Handmaiden of Hera lvl 6 Energy/Dark Brute
Kaga Oyabun lvl 11 Ninja/Forcefield Mastermind

puh leeze I havent seen my crack pipe since you stole it from me MONTHS ago!

[ QUOTE ]
I was going to say you were nuts Adam until I read the end because Mage Storm the Blaster has yet to even step foot inside the Warburg.

[/ QUOTE ]

lol i figured starting of saying i solod bert, myr and ant respctively would have tips you off to the craziness well in advance of my claims to solo an entire SG.


(But i would have gotten away with it too if it wasn't for those rotten kids!)

If I may make a small suggestion:
Threads like these can, and will, eventually lead to hard feelings.
It is *very* tough to have rational discussions involving PvP victories and defeats without someone coming in and acting like a smack talking a-hole.
I now retrurn you to your regulalry scheduled thred:

Adam7 (lvl 50 blaster) has soloed in warburg the following people:
Bert the viking
antaean
myr
ace
xpp
you
his dog
mage &amp; arc (same time)
the entire sg The Elements (that one was tough... i needed to pop some blues and greens)
most of the legendaries (until ingot MoG'd... who says its not useful)


adam7 was defeated wholeheartily by PIE

and was fought to a stalemate by jack daniels.


i keed i keed. i have still yet to pvp in this gamel

[ QUOTE ]

[ QUOTE ]
But if you enjoy the game for what it *is*, rather than what you want it to be, you'll still be here months and even years later.

[/ QUOTE ] That's like saying that if a woman would only accept that her mate beats her, cheats on her, and generally ignores her, she can remain happily married for years.

[/ QUOTE ]

which is precisely why my girlfriend and I have been so happy for the last 3 years.

i keed i keed...

in seriousness though: there is still a ton of stuff to do at 50.
Shadow shard, auto exemping, PvP zones, building bases, old TFs, the soon to be legends &amp; skills systems.

I agree though that 50 seems like a retirement. However, to use your comic book analogy:
I don't see level 50 as bruce wayne finally finishing batman: year 1 and being ready to tackle what the city has to offer. I see level 50 as bruce wayne during Kingdom Come... he's reached his apex, he's done all he can do, and he's finished. But if the world really needs his help, he'll be there for one more go.

levels 1-10 your character: origin.
10-20 your character: year 1
20-40: the prime time
40+ the end game


I sincerely hope more things are added that 50s can partake of (and I await eagerly for further challanges that A d a m - 7 can meet) but I am also content that he reached the end to his story. That being said... lets see what the "legends" system can offer us.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Other than that though, your character has essentially retired. Sorry, no way for you to spend another 1000 man hours raiding the depressing elemental plane of sadness where Lord EMO god of whining and mediocre music reigns supreme, just to beat him and hope you are the one person out of your 50 player raid group to get the hat of Xanax (+35 save against confusion and fear) to further tweak your stats.

[/ QUOTE ]

Great post. Only one thing. Why get the hat of Xanax when I can just craft the Alprazolam Cap for cheaper, and the stats are just as good (since U.S F.D.A rules require that stringent testing and quality standards be applied to assure that my generic item is just as good as the brand name before it can be used by 1337z0r consumers).

[/ QUOTE ]

strong, nick lambert... strong.

i have to say I disagree with your opinion max, though that doesn't make it wrong.

I will point out that in the steel canyon firefighting, characters with ice powers can damage those fires. (if not now, then VERY soon, as ice powered heroes can do so in CoV).

I will also say that I find the lack of loot &amp; economy as refreshing now, as I did when I first started. My snark and sarcasm when describing loot runs in other games, or the "end game content" is well founded. I did it. I hated it. It was really a sad excuse for content in my opinion. Once again though, that is just my opinion. Some people like raiding for 15 hours with 50-100 other people to lottery for the 1 elite item drop they need (which wasnt even garunteed to drop in the 1st place). I don't. And I'm the first to say that if you DO enjoy that kind of game, CoH isnt for you. You will get bored. You will leave. Its that simple.
My little guide was simply intended to express the differences that CoH has from other MMOs. To make people understand that unlike other games, there is no reason to PL, no reason to spawn camp, no unique loot that you can get only at the expense of another. Yes, CoH can get boring with its repetitive play. Yes, the missions are similar. Yes, content is added at a slower rate than we all wish it was. But if you enjoy the game for what it *is*, rather than what you want it to be, you'll still be here months and even years later.
My main just hit 50 after 513 hours, my 2 primary alts are both in their high 30s. I've been here since right after issue 1 hit. Still not bored, and still loving it. YMMV.
(though I wont lie... I am playing CoV as well, and its a much better game)

thanks guys!
I'll be revising this guide for i6 in a few days to include information on bases/crafting, IoPs and the fundimental difference in combat.
I appreciate the feedback.

OK So that’s fire Blast. Now on to devices.

DEVICES

Web Grenade: Single target immobilize. Base duration is not very good, and enemies can still attack. Uses very little end.
Comments: You are stuck with it. The only thing I have ever used it for is to bring down fliers, or to immobilize a boss type foe so I can use Rain of Fire… and even then I use it rarely as I’d still prefer him running around in the rain than shooting me.
Recommended Slotting: 1 – 1 immob duration.
Fun Index:

Caltrops: Area of Effect slot movement. Causes fear. Causes minor damage. Recharge is fair, and end usage is a bit high.
Commentary: Very useful power, contrary to what some believe. Throw this down right after your opening salvo (which will be discussed later) to cause foes that remain standing to run around aimlessly instead of attacking you. You can also use this as a doorjamb in areas where you pull through a door or bottleneck.
Recommended Slotting: 5 or 6 – 3 slow, 1 (or 2) end redux, 1 recharge redux.
Fun index:

Tazer: I suppose I’ll describe it. Melee range single target disorient. Can’t comment on recharge or endurance.
Commentary: The least used devices power, and maybe the 3-4th least used power in the game… for good reason. Do. Not. Take. This. Power.
Recommended Slotting: A slap upside your head if this is voluntarily in your power tray.
Fun Index:

Targeting Drone: A toggle power that greatly increases your accuracy. Uses a decent amount of end.
Commentary: Before the days of I6, targeting drone allowed devices blasters to 6 slot their attacks for damage, thus eking out an extra damage enhancement over their non devices brethren. Those days are no more, but still, the addition of targeting drone is a must, and it allows us more creative slot usage.
Recommended Slotting: 4 – 3 to-hit buffs, 1 endurance redux
Fun Index:

Smoke Grenade: An area of effect around target –perception, causes stealth suppression, and a minor to hit debuff (which is partially –or completely- suppressed when enemies are attacked… I believe the jury is still out on when the debuff is or is not suppressed entirely)
Commentary: In the pre-i2 world this power was the cats pajamas. No longer the broken easily exploitable power it once was, its nerfing has been overcompensated due to its former cheesy glory. As such, I would only recommend this power to complete your stealth abilities if you do not take superspeed. If you DO take SS, than smoke grenade in addition to cloaking device will give you complete stealth even from high perception enemies.
Recommended Slotting: 3 – 3 to hit debuffs
Fun Index:

Cloaking Device: Toggle that grants stealth with no movement penalty. Uses a fair amount of endurance. Also provides a minor defense buff.
Commentary: Highly useful power for many, if not ALL, /devices builds. Cloaking device will allow you to do many things: Set up your cone attacks, set up trip mines, scout out areas, stealth to bosses, run through maps without worry of aggro, complete clicky missions in record time. I’d say it would be foolish of you NOT to take this power.
Recommended Slotting: 1 or 2- 1 (2) endurance redux
Fun Index:

Trip Mine: A drop (summon) bomb that will detonate if any enemies come within proximity causing PBAoE damage and knockback. Will cause additional damage to foes near the epicenter of the blast. Recharge rate is OK and endurance usage is fair.
Commentary: Pre Enhancement Diversification this power was beyond excellent for the solo blaster. It would wipe out white minions, usually kill yellows, and ruin the day of oranges. Now, you need to couple it with more damage. Not too terrible. Usage tip: Lay the mine, and back away REAL fast and let loose with fireball to finish off most groups. For in depth trip mine usage, check out Revolver Law’s trip mine guide. Usage Tip: Couple Superspeed with cloaking device and you can run up to any mob but a sniper, knife of artemis or rikti drone and drop the mine right on their feet. Usage Tip: Minefield- set up 4-6 mines one after the other down a corridor and pull an entire group run back down through that corridor and watch the group get blown apart as they chase you through your minefield.
Recommended Slotting: 6 – 3 damage, 1 acc, 1 end redux, 1 recharge redux.
Fun Index: (from 5 before i6…. Thanks ED!)

Time Bomb: Similar to Trip Mine, only instead of detonating when something comes close, it will blow in 15 seconds regardless of what happens around it. It supposedly will detonate due to enemy explosions, but I have yet to see it. Endurance usage and recharge are both fairly high.
Commentary: I skipped this power, but some people swear by it. As a solo blaster you can really frontload your damage using this, but a teaming blaster will find himself hard pressed to use it frequently. Usage Tip: Frontload your damage! Place a time bomb the same way you would a trip mine, count down from 15 seconds the moment you see the white squiggly stop spinning around the power… when you hit 6 mississippi initiate the trip mine. They should either explode simultaneously or stagger slightly resulting in some nice damage. For extra fun, layer it with a fireball!
Recommended Slotting: 5, 3 damage, 1 Acc, 2 endurance redux. (no recharges as you can set up time bomb minefields, so there is no need for it except once per spawn.
Fun Factor:

Auto Turret: You place a drop (summon) stationary turret which will fire rapidly at any targets in range. It takes a good 8-ish seconds or so to set up, does OK damage, and eats up a TON of end. It also has a very high recharge.
Comments: Well, where do I begin? Auto turret is universally considered a poor power… because it is. But its not the worst (that honor still goes to tazer) but it is most certainly a disappointment as our level 38 unlocked power. I would recommend not taking it, though pre i6, I used it. I am respeccing out of it. Why? I’ll explain. Previously I only used auto turret in 2 situations. To absorb alpha strikes (very rare, as many alphas contain AoE attacks which would hit me anyway) and against AV/Monsters to help keep up sustained DPS. In i6 I will no longer use it for sustained DPS considering its high endurance usage and poor damage output and the fact that stamina was lowered. I’d rather throw out 2 more blazes than an auto turret. Usage Tip: Recall friend will allow you to tote your little turret around with you wherever you go!
Recommended Slotting: 4- 3 damage, 1 end redux. (no need for ACC, even though it is a drop, it has high inherent accurancy)
Fun Index:

POWER POOLS:

I would recommend stamina. The addition of it to this build will allow you to basically blast all day without worrying about your endurance. Very helpful for sustained DPS.
I would recommend super speed. The additional +stealth is handy and hasten, even in its current state is still a great power… though hardly needed.
Flight: I recommend fly because an aerial view of the battle is handy and staying out of melee is nice. Also: you’d be surprised how few people look up in large scale PvP battles in places like Bloody bay, Siren’s call and Warburg. Additionally: with Superspeed as your primary travel you will need vertical movement. Also: Air Superiority is a great attack is you don’t mind getting into melee. Though it will hinder your kill zone if you rely on it.

Section 3: Synergy between sets... why fire/dev combines well.

Fire / Devices works well for a bunch of reasons. As a primarily Area of Effect blaster, being able to not have to slot accuracy is still a boon. Where your other blaster brothers will be slotting accuracy you will be slotting either another end redux or another recharge redux, allowing your powers to recharge faster and cost less endurance. W00t I say, w00t! Also, Devices, as mentioned way above, in no way hampers your Kill Zone in a team situation. Being that you have no melee attacks, your optimal Kill Zone remains at the exact edge of Blaze range. 20 yards unslotted I believe. This means from that range, every direct attack at your disposal can be used. This range keeps you out of melee, and away from PBAoE attacks and damage auras. Also, cloaking device allows you to take your time and line up your cone attacks. Finally, since your most used 1-2 punch will agro whole groups, being able to set up ambushes with your caltrops and mines can be very helpful.

Section 4. For the new blaster

If this is your first blaster I highly recommend reading Concern’s 3B guide, there are great tips in there.

My contribution is to help you understand the difference between burst damage and sustained DPS and when each is appropriate…

Burst damage is cramming in as much damage as you can in the smallest amount of time. You worry about burst damage against groups Minions and easy LTs.
Sample attack chains (AoE Burst)
Tripmine -&gt; Fireball
Fire breath -&gt; Fireball
Tripmine -&gt; Superspeed backpedal -&gt; Fire Breath -&gt; Fire Ball

Burst into Sustained DPS: used in spawns that contain minions, LTs &amp; Bosses. Your burst damage wipes the Minions and LTs, and your DPS kills the boss.
Sample Attack Chains (AoE burst / Sustained)
Tripmine -&gt; Fireball (minions) -&gt; Blaze (boss) -&gt; Fire Breath (boss) -&gt;Fire Bolt (boss)
(get close to the group) Fire breath -&gt; caltrops -&gt; Rain of fire -&gt; fireball -&gt; blaze -&gt; fire bolt -&gt; fire breath

Burst damage (single target) used to off a solo boss who is by him or herself
Sample attack chain:
Trip mine -&gt; Blazing Bolt -&gt; Blaze -&gt; fire breath -&gt; fire ball -&gt; fire bolt

Sustained DPS: Used against AVs or monsters who have obscene hit points and insane regen rates.
No sample attack chains here, just keep your attacks coming and be happy you slotted heavily with endurance reducers.

AND A NOTE ON DEFIANCE:
The blaster's inherent ability is called defiance. It increases your damage the closer you are to being defeated. It is, in my opinion, a terrible inherent ability and I would suggest playing your blaster as if that bar didnt even exist. If you would normally use a green insp but are chosing not to thanks to defiance, I cannot feel sorry for you when you face plant. The only up side to defiance is at least the devs didnt take anything from us to compensate for giving it to us.

Section 1: Should I even PICK fire/dev?

FIRE BLAST
*Pick Fire Blast IF: You like doing damage to as many different foes as possible. You like contributing to the team by wiping out scores of minions and LTs so that they rest of your team can tackle the bosses and the more dangerous mobs. You do not want to worry about managing the secondary effects of your powers. You like seeing LOTS of red numbers all over the place.
*Do not pick Fire Blast IF: You prefer the role of single target killer. You like your powers to have a secondary effects. You like a lot of utility or variety in your powers.

*GENERALLY: Fire blast is all about 1 thing: Area of Effect damage. That’s it. If you are looking for utility, look elsewhere. This next point is VERY important to understand thanks to Enhancement Diversification: Fire Blast has NO SLOTTABLE SECONDARY EFFECT. That’s right: energy has knockback, electric has end drain, ice has slows/holds, assault rifle has def debuffs… fire has NOTHING. You are going to slot it for optimal damage output, and that is it.
*Of Note: Though your single target damage is fairy limited, when you consider the fact that you are damaging many mobs with most of your attacks, you will most likely be the most damaging member on your team.

DEVICES

*Pick Devices IF: You like having a bag of tricks to supplement your blasting. You feel you have enough damage in your primary powerset to overcome the lack of it in your secondary. You like to set up your battlefield and ambush enemies. You like to solo.
*Do not pick Devices IF: You really love to PvP. You want to enter melee. You are not patient. You prefer your fights “fair.” If you really want the power “build up”.

*GENERALLY: A high utility set, devices is a jack of all trades bag of tricks. It is NOT like any other blaster secondary, it does not focus on attacks and damage (though the last few powers will cover that for you). Devices is the only secondary set to totally supplement blasting with utility while not substantially altering your Optimal Damage Range (Kill Zone). This set is all about setting ambushes and altering the battlefield to suit your needs.
*Of Note: Devices is a tough set to use in a team setting, insofar as a couple of its best abilities are geared more towards solo play than team play unless your team is patient. Additionally, I6 and enhancement diversification has hurt the utility of the set, and though it remains viable, it is not the brick house it once was. Also, now that damage has decreased across the boards for all archetypes, the lack of build up in this set is much more noticeable.

2. DETAILS MAN, I NEED DETAILS!

FIRE BLAST

Flares: Flares is a very quick recharging weak damage single target attack. Additionally, its animation is fairly long for what it does. Uses almost no endurance.
Commentary: I wouldn’t pick this, personally. However, some blasters do take it, and for the earlier levels of the game, find it useful. I personally think there are better power choices to make. If you do take it, its quick recharge makes adding a recharge reduce in it pointless.
Fun index:
Recommended Slotting: 4 slot – 3 damage, 1 end redux

Fire Blast: a quick recharging and moderately weak damaging single target attack. It has a very quick animation. Uses very little endurance.
Commentary: This attack will be used, most likely, more than any other ability you will pick up short of targeting drone. It is your attack chain filler, and it goes off so quick that you will never find yourself in a position going: man, I died because I couldn’t pop an inspiration during that animation. PICK THIS OVER FLARES. Its quick recharge makes an recharge redux redundant, and you are only slotting an end redux in there to keep its small cost even smaller.
Fun Index:
Recommended Slotting: 4 slots – 3 damage, 1 end redux.

Fire Ball: Area of Effect (AoE) Damage. More damage than fire blast. Quick activation.
Commentary: What’s not to love? Well, it does chew end a bit, but out slotting will take care of it. Against a single target fireball costs more end than is worth the damage unless you are working on sustained damage per second in AV &amp; Monster fights.
Fun Index:
Recommended Slotting: 6 slots – 3 damage, 2 end redux, 1 recharge.

Rain Of Fire: Wide AoE Damage over Time (DoT) targeted on a location. Long recharge. Eats a LOT of end.
Commentary: A rather poor power at first glance, Rain of Fire causes fear to any enemies effected by it. It does fairly weak damage (if enemies take the total amount of damage it would be equivalent to approx 2-3 fire blasts on each… but over somewhere around 10-15 seconds. Many fire blasters ignore this power, and I don’t blame them. I, however, did take it as a flavor power, and enjoy it. Usage tips: use it in 3 situations. 1. as a form of soft control in situations where you are being overwhelmed a properly timed RoF will cause the enemies to focus more on scattering than attacking you. In situations where there is a door or a bottleneck, you can use RoF as a separating ability, and keep mobs on each side of the door where they are. 2. when enemies are held so you get that extra damage without the scatter. 3. with caltrops, as the slow effect of caltrops prevents a quick scatter, and in combination with other AoE damage, you’ll be putting a hurting on things. I would take it and test it and see if you like it. Not a required power.
Fun index:
Recommended slotting: 5 – 3 damage, 2 end redux.

Fire Breath: High Cone damage over 3 “Ticks”. Recharges somewhat quickly and eats a respectable amount of endurance.
Commentary: Bread, meet butter; you guys will be spending a lot of time together. Do not, under any circumstances, skip this power. It is your most damaging AoE, and in combination with fireball will allow you to maximize your AoE potential. Usage tip: lead off with this and follow with fireball. The damage “ticks” will prevent mobs from using any interruptible abilities.
Fun Factor:

Aim: Quick activation power that grants you a large bonus to accuracy, and a minor bonus to damage over the next few seconds. (Typically enough for 3 attacks) Not a fast recharge, but only uses a bit of endurance.
Commentary: It’s a good ability, both for its supplement to you targeting drone’s accuracy, and its minor damage increase. I would take it, but not necessarily as a priority. Recommended slotting will allow you to use it quite frequently (on either every, or every other mob group)
Fun Index:
Recommended Slotting: 3 – 3 Recharge Redux

Blaze: High damage single target attack. Quick activation. SHORT RANGE. (not melee…but close). Decent endurance usage.
Commentary: You wont do more damage to a single target than this power unless you are sniping. I wouldn’t skip this power (though some do due to its range restriction). Admittedly, it does effect your Kill Zone, by forcing you closer to the mobs. However, its high damage makes up for its shortcomings. (at this point I was just pointed to Troy’s mix tape of love… so if my commentary gets wonky please forgive me… I just keep cringing) Usage Tip: if you chose not to slot for range, make sure against AVs that you push the boundaries of blaze and attack from as far out as possible. Being 1 shotted by a PBAoE or having your attacks interrupted by a damage aura is never fun.
Fun Index:
Recommended Slotting: 6 slot: 3 damage, 1 end redux, 1 recharge redux, 1 range (to make sure you can use it outside AV damage Auras and PBAoE attacks… more useful than you may think; if you chose not to slot for range, pop another recharge redux or end redux in there)

Blazing Bolt: Long activation, Extreme Single Target damage, Long Range, Interruptible, and uses a good amount of end.
Comment: You guessed it- this is your snipe. If you don’t mind the set up time, the end usage, and the fact you can be interrupted, it’s a heck of an opener. Unfortunately since the advent of ED, this suffers from the same problem as Blaze… it can no longer 1 shot minions without aid. Aim *might* be able to put you over the edge, but pop a red inspiration just in case. The fact that it’s a snipe usually relegates it to battle opener, or pulling tool, so no need for recharges.
Recommended Slotting: 5, 3 damage, 2 end redux.
Fun Index:

Inferno: Massive Damage, Large Radius PBAoE attack that destroys foes around you. Even in the ED world inferno will still wipe our groups of foes. It has a 2 second or so activation time that will suppress stealth (allowing enemies to see/attack you before you finish the attack). It is uninterruptible. It also drains all of your end, and leaves you unable to naturally regenerate endurance for 10 seconds after it is used.
Commentary: Dude, you need this power. Though, thanks to ED, it will wipe out all white &amp; yellow minions, white LTs, and possibly yellow LTs. Pop a red or three and you will still decimate anything but an orange boss. It has a few very handy uses: 1- as an alpha strike you can use this to destroy just about everything but the bosses. 2- when your group is the victim of unexpected aggro, your inferno can help mitigate this by wiping out nearly all of the offending group. 3- In AV/Monster battles where there are lots of enemies surrounding your main target, you can wait for the tank to take the aggro of the AV and inferno the rest, leaving a lot of breathing room for your team. Some people feel that its not worth losing all your endurance over, but in my humble opinion, they are wrong.
Recommended Slotting: 6 – 3 dmg, 3 recharge redux.
Fun Index:

The happy fun guide to Fire Blast / Devices blasting… in I6 and beyond!
(borrowing from EGs style… and there are worse people to steal from)

Hello all, I am going to give you guys a review of both sets and hopefully help you decide if either of these powersets are for you. This guide will include slotting recommendations, but will not provide a complete build for you… you need to decide on your own how you want to build your character.

Also, please understand that this is a guide being written from my experiences; by that I am trying to reiterate that I am not necessarily a min/maxer, nor a number cruncher. I can only tell you what I think works and doesn’t and include anecdotal evidence or commentary from fellow friends and players. (a great example of this is my recommended slotting on targeting drone: 3 to hit buffs. Its ALWAYS been 3 to hit buffs for me, I never felt the need to 4-6 slot it, and I hit everything just fine. Other would scoff at this concept and 6 slotted it in the pre-ED world). Additionally, the slotting recommendations I list here are a significant departure from what I would have listed in i5 and previously.

A note on slotting:
All recommended slotting takes into account 3 SO slotted targeting done on all powers.
In pre-SO drone levels you may want to consider slotting an additional 1 Acc in any and all attacks. Either at the expense of one of the other slots or in addition to them to be respecced out later.
Additionally, I am recommending slotting that would yield to sustained DPS and you not running out of end often. This will be most noticeable in long fights (either AVs, Monsters, or multiple spawn wave like battles). And also keep your downtime down. That’s why you will see so many end redux as well as me recommending stamina.
Fun Index ratings are out of 5.

A quick terminology explanation:
Optimal Damage Range, or Kill Zone. By these two terms I mean the best place for you to be sitting to unleash your full damage potential. A very important thing to consider when looking at devices vs. other secondaries.
DPS- Damager Per Second.
Frontloaded or Burst damage: Packing in as much damage as you can in the shortest possible timeframe.

Sections:
Section 1: Should I even PICK fire/dev?
Section 2: Details man, I need details!
Section 3: Synergy between sets... why fire/dev combines well.
Section 4: For the new blaster.

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CoV and I6 will change some of this. There will be crafting for one.

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Yea, there will be crafting, and I'll address that sometime soon after I experience it... but its not exactly the kind of crafting from other games. However, my opinion may change after experiencing it.

my pleasure. I'm glad at least someone found this useful!

-or-
ADAM-7’s guide to the heart of CoH.

This guide is geared toward players from other MMOs coming here and wondering why the things they are used to aren’t present. Why the style and feel of play from other games are not mirrored here. Why there is no traditional MMO end game content. Additionally, this will also touch on the oft controversial topic of power leveling (in a non inflammatory way). And if any of you follow my posts, you will see things i have said before here, just in a complied format.
Anyway, lets start:

Adam, what makes City of Heroes different, and what is this paradigm shift of which you speak?

Unlike any other MMO out there, City of Heroes is NOT about the “end game.” It’s a paradigm shift that a lot of people have trouble swallowing, but it’s the way the game was made.

In nearly every other MMO out there, the levels leading up to the max level “end game” are just gravy. They are meant to make you “put in the effort” or “grind” to reach the fun: max level raiding, equipment, crafting. Essentially, the meat of the game occurs after your level is maxed out and you are fine tuning your “stuff” (whether that be powers or equipment or rabid chipmunk pet of DOOOMZXORS). That is NOT CoH. (this is why many people who PL to reach the end become unsatisfied very quickly; they are missing the point of this game)

PLers just don't "get" this game. There is no end game content that extends ones enjoyment. Unlike WoW or EQ or DAoC, you don't have high level raid content or PvP uber rewards. When you hit 50, the Devs expect you to roll an alt, and bring your 50 out for 50 content (when its made), PvP arena, PvP base raids (and crossover CoV content), and playing with your friends. They have expanded what your 50 can do with the exemplar and auto exemplar for TF features.

Other than that though, your character has essentially retired. Sorry, no way for you to spend another 1000 man hours raiding the depressing elemental plane of sadness where Lord EMO god of whining and mediocre music reigns supreme, just to beat him and hope you are the one person out of your 50 player raid group to get the hat of Xanax (+35 save against confusion and fear) to further tweak your stats. That’s not this game. And when they DO make end game content, people will exhaust it and cry out for more within weeks. Why? Because no matter WHAT endgame content CoH adds, it will not be the kind of end game content these people want.

But Adam, why NOT? I want my content!

Most (gross generalization) people who are currently crying over lack of end game content are looking for the kind of content that EQ or DAoC or WoW has. When your character hits the highest level the can get, there are still uber items out there to increase their power. These items require hours and hours and hours of raiding to acquire, and you aren't even guaranteed the item at the end of that time. So what happens? In an obsessive race to optimize their character to the max, people who have already hit max level are still willing to spend 50+ hours to get all the min/max'ed equipment. And in many cases, they don’t even GET the equipment they need from the drop, but rather the raw materials they need in order to spend yet MORE hours crafting the equipment they need, with no guarantee of success! That kind of end game content allows a person to feel like their character (who can no longer get experience) is still advancing. Even if it takes them hundreds of hours to do so. They are still getting stronger as a result of all the time spent. They feel like their character doesn't need to be shelved because there is still room to grow.

And ONCE they have optimized themselves to have only the best, there is still PvP raids to keep them busy, because PvP provides rewards in both PvP AND PvE. And those rewards are good! And though many people like this, there remains a problem with that in reference to CoH.

Many of us came to CoH to break out of that grind. We got tired of having to spend hundreds of hours to get enough lvl 265 spectral wombat pelts to make the phasing wombat boots of doom which allow us to finally cross the phased rainbow bridge of despair into the shadowed castle of shadows, only to fight the twilight squirrel (with 400 other players) in hopes of being the one person to get the fabled nut of destruction. (Because, as you know, if you DON'T have the nut of destruction, you are teh noobxzors in PvP and no one will invite you to their l337 gank squad)

End game content in CoH will most likely just be more missions. Perhaps requiring multiple teams (in the vein of hamidon, but in smaller scale). They may require whole supergroups. But regardless, the will not give loot, and the will not give continued and extended character advancement. (Key word is “extended”, they may provide some limited further advancement, but not to the end of 100+ hours to get your full set of death badger armor).

Okay Adam, I’m starting to follow you, so are you implying I shouldn’t PL my first character?

Well, most PLers in other game level themselves because to EQ or DAoC, the meat of the game is at the end. In other words, to EQ players, the fun isn’t in getting to max level, but rather, once you get there. They prize the destination, not the journey (if you don’t mind the cliché) *a funny aside, most new players in EQ get turned off immediately as its tremendously difficult to find lower level teams, as everyone is being PL’d to join the “fun” in the end game*

This being the case, the solution to powerleveling should become kind of obvious, but lets sum up what we know now, first:

1. CoH has no ph4t l3wt. There are no items of power to increase your characters stats.
2. CoH has no extended play end game. You hit 50 and retire. Kthxbye.
3. CoH has no crafting. You cannot spend hours and hours refining your vampire bunny teeth to make your singing vorpral sword of slaying.
4. There will be no steep rewards for PvP victories. Our items of power that our SGs (will) hold do not open up a super dungeon where even uber-er items can be found, or give us +100,000,000 hp &amp; unlimited endurance.

These three things all tie in together and they also form the crux of end game content, and the goal of powerlevelers in the other games. People PL for these reasons (in other MMOs). People want to get to the meat of the game immediately (2) because that is where the most “fun” is had in the game. However, to get to this fun they must be outfitted with the best equipment (1). To get this equipment they must raid and get the raw materials and (3) craft ‘em or get ‘em from a drop. All in the hopes to even further optimize their characters (4).

So what, then, is the “meat” of City of Heroes if its not extended advancement?

As shown above, CoH has NONE of these things. CoH is unique in the fact that the focus of the game isn’t max level pvp raiding. Nor is it max level dragon (or hamidon) slaying. This game is about bringing your hero up from an outbreak stopping scrub at lvl 1, to a dimension saving portal jockey at 50. All the content they need to accomplish this isn’t there yet, but if the khelds are any indication they are certainly trying. They are attempting to put in so much content that each character can take a different path through the game with different experiences.

They are succeeding somewhat when you consider you can now take a character though the hollows, then to striga, then to croatoa, then to the shadow shard. That’s a lot of contacts and content ( 5 – 35, 40-50) if I recall correctly) that is different from what you are used to. They have expanded missions to change the things you have done already. They have adjusted tile sets, enemy mob powers, and AVs to make things different from your first time through.

They WILL eventually have level 50 only content, but it’s not going to be the crafting, stat tweaking, 500 hour obsessive compulsive ‘gotta catch it all tedium that other MMOs bill as “end game content.” The devs want you to enjoy each level, not rush through them to join all the fun raiding the dark shadowed fortress of darkness which can only be reached if you get the key of twilight content flag by killing Shad-or, the black dragon of inky night inside his den of eternal evening.

Once you understand this kind of paradigm shift, you may find yourself not only looking at City of Heroes in a different light, but enjoying it more. I have never played a MMO before where it is a perfectly acceptable practice to take a few months off, and come back for the new issue to see what content was added. Nor have I ever played a MMO that is so accommodating for that (the fact that no characters have been forcefully deleted yet speaks volumes about Cryptic’s view of their fans. Once you understand the idea that the fun of this game is in the playing, not the end game stat tweak PvP castle elemental dragon raid II: super ultra mega champion edition, you will also understand why I don’t give suggestions on how to dissuade PLing from the populace at large: There is no reason to. Rampant PLers will play this game a bit, max out, get bored and move on. Those of us who enjoy the game for what is IS, rather than what we want it to be, will most likely still be here bringing another alt up from 1-50.

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And where is Jiraiya?!

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My guess is we're getting "filler" right now as the Manga tries to pull ahead with the "real" storylines again. That's why Jiraiya has been away on his "secret mission" for a while now. Someone who's acctually read the manga could probably give you a better confirmation of this, but that's what I think's happenning.

[/ QUOTE ]

yep, thats whats happening.
The manga ended naruto "part 1" after the big shakedown fight between cursed seal 2 &amp; kyubi-fied. (trying to stay somewhat ambiguous to avoid spoilers)
The last scene in naruto part 1 (as kishimoto calls it) is the scene in the cave with all the shadowed forms of the akatsuki members.
Then the manga goes into a kakashi side story for like 6 chapters. Then they took a month off. And then it picks up again with "part 2".
Part 2 has thusfar been fairly awesome.
any and all downloads of the naruto series you want (manga &amp; bittorrent episodes for free &amp; direct download episodes for a membership fee) can be found at narutofan.com

oh, and happy burfday RS.

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...which simply says that you cannot get a refund.

[/ QUOTE ]

actually, this EULA snippit serves a twofold purpose:

1) to inform you that this company cannot, does not, and will not "ensure continuous, error-free, secure or virus-free operation".

2) AND indemnify them against law suits or refund request as a result of such.