Airman_America

Well, now you know why I never come here anymore. I state a fact, folks pick it apart like politicans. Fact is, it is not a farm, never resembled one either. It will get unbanned I am positive and I will win on this. I have a right to vent when people are stupid and I have a right to expect to be treated as a paying customer. If I want a email notice, then I should get one when it involves important issues like this. I am not going to pick apart every thread daily, I have better things to do with my life. I do not like being judged guilty till proven innocent, and if you support a system like that then you have got some serious rethinking to do about life. Anyone can accuse, it is up to judges to investigate and determine if the accusation is baseless... and baseless accucasions should come with a penaltiy of some form to hold down baseless complaints that are loaded as a joke.

Now I completely understand Palen after reading the news today.

Bye

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The NAME alone does not make it a farm.

[/ QUOTE ]Read the quote Forbin posted before you argue with us.

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5 missions is now, not then and the cost was high if you used custom designs which I did.

[/ QUOTE ]It was 5 missions since launch. Using lots of custom critters (17+ IIRC) will use up pretty much all of your space, though. Likely if you deleted ONCE NPC you could have created 5 missions in the arc.

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It was no different than any other Freakshow mission. Groups were scattered, there were 4 floors of Freakshow, Dreck at the end. Define that a farm when the same is available on the hero side.

[/ QUOTE ]One massive freakshow mission, with an EB kin buff bot, and Dreck? Are you describing your mission, or the Dreck farm? Seriously now! From your own description it sounds like a farm.

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Can be seen as a farm? Ok, so we are guilty till proven innocent? That is justice?

[/ QUOTE ]Contact customer support, they'll check it out. If they determine it's not a farm and unban it, it becomes unbannable unless a GM explicitly bans it/you edit it... if not, well, it looks like they found it to look like a farm as well as the person (people?) that reported it.

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What does the EB do? It steals XP, I have had people quit playing with me on the mission owing to that - with complaints as to it was not worth their time. It worked fine for me. I solo a great deal. I do not enjoy teaming much anyway. So it takes half my XP or half my Influence... who cares as long as an Empath can actually finally defeat Dreck or my Stone Brute can go a bit faster.

When it gets active, you try it, you will see that it is and never was a farm.

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We were warned about even making missions that could LOOK like a farm. Just because you try to give it 5 seconds worth of backstory doesn't make it NOT a farm... fyi

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We were warned SPECIFICALLY about making an arc with "Farm" in the title EVEN AS A JOKE. Guess they were serious.

You can still get your slot back (if your arc truly isn't a farm), but now you need to contact customer support and have them review the arc.

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Yes we clearly warned about it in this thread.

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•• Players are urged to avoid using common farming terms in their story title and/or descriptions. Even if it’s a joke, DO NOT run the risk of having an arc banned and requiring Customer Support to grant you your publishing slot back.

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Swell, I did not get the "memo". How about an email to all subscribers next time? Just because they post it in a thread does not mean I read it or even come here much anymore. I pay to play like everyone else, a simple email warning would have been nice.

Well when they finally "see" what the story is, it will pass with flying colors. I just dislike being judged by some pimple faced 15 year old or joker with an evil bend or some guy who takes everything to extreme. Further the story was not even well played owing to the lowered output XP. It only had 60 reviews in all this time. 60 does not even come close to a "farm". It was published the second week of AE to show you how under the radar it was.

I want to face my accuser next time, make them tell me why they think it is a farm and prove it to me.

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I have a mission I made last issue when you could only have 2 stories in an arc (or about).

[/ QUOTE ]You could have 5, and still can.

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I called the mission Old McGrummbler's Farm. It had Dreck in it, bosses in every group, it never had glowies that healed/gave endurance, never had lumped villains, however it provided loads of faceplants. It had a helper EB you needed if you were a stone brute in need of SB - at a cost for earnings if it defeated anything. The EB was helpful for a weak player when they faced Dreck at the end. You had to defeat Dreck to win. XP/Influence was low and I did get complaints on that which did not faze me as I did not want it to be a farm.

[/ QUOTE ]Sounds like this could easily been seen as a farm.

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I made the villain mission based on a rather funny premise that a farmer who purchased a plot of land in Nevada to raise Brussel Sprouts found it was desert. It never grew anything.

[/ QUOTE ]We were warned about even making missions that could LOOK like a farm. Just because you try to give it 5 seconds worth of backstory doesn't make it NOT a farm... fyi

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Well, it is not. I have sent in for a full review on the matter. The NAME alone does not make it a farm. 5 missions is now, not then and the cost was high if you used custom designs which I did. It was no different than any other Freakshow mission. Groups were scattered, there were 4 floors of Freakshow, Dreck at the end. Define that a farm when the same is available on the hero side.

Can be seen as a farm? Ok, so we are guilty till proven innocent? That is justice?

I have a mission I made last issue when you could only have 2 stories in an arc (or about). I made the villain mission based on a rather funny premise that a farmer who purchased a plot of land in Nevada to raise Brussel Sprouts found it was desert. It never grew anything. Drilling for water he found oil. He sat on the oil till the height of oil prices and dumped about 25 tankers full of it on the market causing a price depression. That angered Lord Recluse who invested in it and lost cash. LR invites the farmer to come to "the isles" tax free, agrees to warehouse the cash, then arranges for the Freakshow to steal it (however he sends in "you" to steal it from the Freakshow so he can blame them for the heist).

I called the mission Old McGrummbler's Farm. It had Dreck in it, bosses in every group, it never had glowies that healed/gave endurance, never had lumped villains, however it provided loads of faceplants. It had a helper EB you needed if you were a stone brute in need of SB - at a cost for earnings if it defeated anything. The EB was helpful for a weak player when they faced Dreck at the end. You had to defeat Dreck to win. XP/Influence was low and I did get complaints on that which did not faze me as I did not want it to be a farm.

Yesterday I see a comment for the first time "A true farm... God I love reporting these". Today my mission is banned.

I sent in a complaint immediately and demanded a review. Did they even play this or look at it? What is the big fat idea that some joker can just drop into any mission and they are taken at word without double checking?

What not to do in CoX?

1. Be rude.
2. No matter how bad a team gets, I mean faceplants, do not just quit a team, discuss it first - politely. Just quitting is... uh... spineless and self centered.
3. Use lots of "l33t" language or poor language like you use typing on a cell phone. Some of us are older, not part of the "text" generation. Please do not give potential teammates a headache.
4. discuss politics
5. Watching some guy trying to hit on a female toon... odds are that on the other end of that "female" toon is a guy... besides... it just looks wierd.
6. Telegraph just how immature you are by making a female toon that looks like Dolly Parton and then dress her in the least amount of clothing you can use... come on, where are your parents? I know if my kid made one like that he would have seen it deleted and been suspended from play. Besides, it will likely offend a real female (yeah, 9 might let it pass, but 1 will raise hell) out there and may cut your choices/chances for teams later.
7. Be a panhandler... get a job... play the game.
8. Cuss on broadcast, team, anyplace... all you are doing is announcing your lack of command of the language and showing your age, and quite possibly displaying that your address is in a trailer park in North Dakota or a tenement in the Bronx. Show some class, even if you were not born with it.

More zones are not needed. More missions late game are.

This guide is not about:

1. The same 8 guys doing it over and over.
2. Searching for the perfect powers.
3. Setting time records.

The guide IS about:

1. Using a PUG to get a goal done.
2. Getting the PUG assembled fast as possible.
3. Ensuring success. Keeping it short.
4. Treating the TF as a "rare farm" that you can do a couple times a night. I do the same on alternate days with the Cap SF.
5. Avoiding traditional farms that occur in PI, avoiding being buzzed for PLs. Sorry, some like it, I don't. I get tells requesting me to do it every night... it is so nice to reply "on a TF". Nobody bugs me after that.

Now, I see a lot of folks here arguing, and I suspect some of that is they do not like the idea of a "put down" on their beloved Tank or Scrapper. However, that is not the point of the Guide. The Guide is here to show you how to effectively "farm" Katie, get it done easily, and get it done with success. I also recognize at least one person here that I had to kick off my team (in 4 months of at least 2 Katies a day I have had to do that 2 times so you can see how awful they were) for not being a good teammate and following instructions. Instead they cursed like sailors and were wanton about tactics of even the most basic kind. A person like this is not fun to play with, they know it too, they just like being some sort of "bad azz", perhaps due to an unhappy life. Cyber bullies come in various flavors.

So, why Controllers?

1. Lock Down. Unless you like the idea of the witches flying all over, chasing them, having them in your face, then you want to immediately immobilize them. Controllers do that perfectly. That is what the class is all about. I am talking here about overpower, I am talking here about getting some Controllers that do not lock down as well as others due to their powers. I am talking about ensuring these witches have 0 chance. I want my Rare Recipe, that is all I do this for. I want to populate my existing 50s, each one, with Miracles, Numinas, Luck of the Gamblers and so on, and not pay a one red dime for them in the store!

2. I ask Controllers and Defenders EQUALLY. Since I use my Global Friends first, then search using 30 - 50. I might get lucky and get more Defenders than Controllers, I might get more Controllers. The only problem with Global Friends is that, even though they know I want to have a team with Controllers/Defenders/Blasters, they sometimes show up using a Tank or a Scrapper. I cant blame them, they are attempting to level a melee toon. I dont complain, I just work around them.

3. There are instances where a Global will want to bring a buddy along. Usually I get the luck of the draw in that case.

So, yeah, I usually have 1 to 2 melee on the team. that happens. I usually have 1 to 2 Defenders on the team. I cannot help that there are less Defenders in the range I want online (do a search sometime, you will see they amount to about a third of population available to ask). Controllers are far more represented and available for teaming.

I have, personally, seen all Defender teams do nicely, do the STF, bust all the margins. I have 4 level 50 Defenders. The problem is that they seem less popular than other ATs.

So, that is the reason I go for searches of both Controllers and Defenders, dealing with the unknown of PUGS, assembling the team quickly, and why I assemble Blasters last. I want to see the content of the team first, then grab what I need for damage. Control amd then Damage is key for me. Yeah, sometimes I have to reverse that if I see the team start to fill with Damage first, however, the idea is not to let those witches move an inch. If I can assemble a team to do that, the team wins, it wins with less effort, it wins with less deaths.

So... please quit sticking up and trying to defend your Melee toon or justify how good they are, or, telling folks how your team does it in 20 minutes, or, how your blah blah blah.

That is not the focus here. the Focus is getting your guarenteed Rare Recipe in about 30 minutes, with a pick up group - period.

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Search: Do a search for Controllers and Defenders (note I did NOT say Blasters - they are my last choice if I cannot get all Controllers and Defenders - they tend to play Blapper and I do not care to remind them to pull back) in the level range of 30 to 50. SPAM (yes I said spam) down the line as quick as you can type “Katie TF?” and that is all. You will get some Yes, some No, and some questions. Screw the questions unless you know the person. I do not answer them anymore as most, I have found, result in a No anyway. Besides, if a person comes back with “what is a Katie?” they are a n00b that will require training and (unless you are feeling charitable) you do not have time for that. If more reply YES than you have slots, tell them that the team is full and you will get them next time.

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That part is incredibly rude. First of all, there are many people you are going to send a tell to, get a quick reply of yes, and refuse to add them. Second, you are outright lying that you will get them next time if you plan to use this same recruiting strategy.

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1. I never lie, goes against my nature, if you have ever played with me you would know that statement is unfounded. I have pad and paper. I write names down, they do get included on the next run. Folks have seen me do this so often during the past three months they can attest to my word here. I suggest others live the same way, however, people will be people.

2, The way I run these days is that by now I have filled a good deal of my globals with guys who want to run these Katies with me. When I log in, my first spam is to my globals. I fill the team with those. Yes, they sometimes want to play something other than a Controller/Defender/Blaster, but they all know what the team needs first, I can count on these guys to always think team/speed first then what they want second. They all know and agree to keep it to 2 melee max. All are very cooperative and we work well together. After I get as many of my globals who want to come, I then target Controllers/Defenders and then turn to Blasters to round it off. Two Blasters are fine, and especially ones that do not employ loads of knockback. If one does, I am looking for the smart blaster who holds that knock until they see Controllers have the group held solid (I do the same with my Blaster and see no reason people should not think about what they are doing), I am not just a button masher like some. I also do not mind a Warshade, I like their slowing effects. Peacebringers are like energy blasters and must be played smart as well. Lets face it, the idea of just because you can blast, blast them all over, might be fun to see, but it can be a real mess and does reduce the effectiveness of AoE powers. I have come to enjoy a Fire Blaster who uses Aim/Buildup and Rain of Fire just before they appear... toss in the ball of flame... total crispy critters.

What I think folks are focusing on it the fact, in a total pick up group, I target Controllers/Defenders first. Sorry if that offends you, but I want lock down. After I feel I have that lockdown, then I go for Blasters. If I must take a team of totally unknown folks into combat, it is best to stack the odds in my favor, hence All Controllers, Then Controllers/Defenders, Then All Controllers/Defenders/Blasters... get the idea? I am talking total unknown, total pickup, a team you can build in 5 minutes and have a 30 minute Katie run.

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Desired Team

You want Controllers, Defenders, and Blasters on your team. Melee is worthless. Hurricane is a terrible debuff and that makes melee ineffective teammates. Don’t tell me what your Scrapper or Tank friend can do, if they are missing half the time, they are nearly worthless and not pulling their weight. The best team is 8 Controllers. The next is a mix with Controllers/Defenders/Blasters. You will need at least 4 Controllers to positively guarantee the same results over and over. If there are less than 3 Controllers on the team, expect a long hard fight with many faceplants.

…and yes, you will occasionally get folks who cannot believe you would do a TF without a Tank or Scrappers.

Getting YOUR Team In 5 Minutes.

Coalition Chat: “Katie TF in 5 minutes, Controllers/Defenders/Blasters preferred. PST”.
You may or may not get anything here. Do not accept Melee. Tell folks you would rather they use a Controller or Defender over a Blaster.

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Thankfully, many people don't have an inherent and senseless bias against certain ATs. I have done Katies many, many times on every mix imaginable and virtually anything is workable, and can result in a quick, successful tf.



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Search: Do a search for Controllers and Defenders (note I did NOT say Blasters - they are my last choice if I cannot get all Controllers and Defenders - they tend to play Blapper and I do not care to remind them to pull back) in the level range of 30 to 50. SPAM (yes I said spam) down the line as quick as you can type “Katie TF?” and that is all. You will get some Yes, some No, and some questions. Screw the questions unless you know the person. I do not answer them anymore as most, I have found, result in a No anyway. Besides, if a person comes back with “what is a Katie?” they are a n00b that will require training and (unless you are feeling charitable) you do not have time for that. If more reply YES than you have slots, tell them that the team is full and you will get them next time.

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I've never had to spam or beg anyone to fill up any KHTFs. Perhaps if you realize that all ATs have something to offer you won't have to take time looking to fill a team with a narrow focus of ATs and can get to the real gist: completing the TF successfully and quickly.


As for the last mission, we always just request that anyone without fly stay at the mission entrance. Anyone with fly can go aid in freeing Katie. The one escorting her back high above the ground from there will be fine, while the other couple can return in time to meet the ambush.

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Nice put down!

1. Bias? No, it has to do with Debuff. Perhaps you always put together the perfect team, perhaps it is the same SG pals over and over. However I am showing folks how to do this anytime, with or without pals on, and have the same results over and over. Melee is debuffed due to hurricane, if you are running with a pick up group, and you are building a team in 5 minutes, then the less of them the better. Besides, it never fails that in a pick up group there are melee that are slow to get out of the spawn area.

2. I assume that you are probably the most popular guy online by this comment! You log in and have an instant team waiting for you and all your friends are max star types who always do the right thing! I wish I had your perfect life! However, I am a normal guy, I log in, some friends want to join me, some have other things they are wanting to do, some are even doing things like dealing with work/kids. Once again, my goal is to show people that they can quickly build a team from scratch in about 5 minutes.

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I was really interested in this post, so I did a search on Paragonwiki for more info and I saw this.

Time restriction on recipe rewards
All Task Forces have a timer in place to prevent players from claiming a rare recipe from a given Task Force less than 4 hours after claiming a rare recipe from the same Task Force.

Is this true or is paragonWiki wrong?
If it's right farming Katie seems a little bit of a waste if your restricted. (I mean wouldn't you quit farming once you got a rare?)
Anyway wasn't comming here to dump on you loved the guide and can't wait to try out your suggestions.
Thx for the info Airman_America / and all that posted,
ED

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Yes, there is a time restriction! I counter it with my multi level 50s (I have 18 plus other lower toons). I have several "Katie Ready" and all I do is cycle them.

On any given day I start with my 39, then another 50. If I choose to do more Katies, I use yet another 50 and another - OR - (and here is a trick for you)... I do the TF again with the 39 and the same 50 I used earlier. At the end of the TF, when the reward appears, you will see some red print below the recipe that says you do not qualify for one... DO NOT SELECT ANYTHING! Log off right there or in some safe spot. Walk away and play on some other toon or take a break, come back later, log in, and claim your prize!

So lets say you have ONE toon that qualifies for a Katie, ok, no problem! Do the TF, claim your prize, do it again, log off that toon for a few hours, come back later and get your recipe!

Good question! Thanks for asking!

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I'm surprised no one has mentioned a dark defender for Katie. With tar patch and fearsome stare, the enemies never move more than 1-2 steps from spawn to cower to dead. My fastest Katie was a PUG run with a good leader, my Dark/Dark as the only defender, no controllers, 4 blasters (two archery for rain of arrows abuse), a tank and 2 scrappers. I took the alphas in mission 1, stealthed the 2nd and used vet team TP to get everyone there, and herded the last room in the 3rd mission with Darkest Night. We finished in 17 min 06 seconds.

And it's not because *I* am that good, but because Dark/ is that good.

RagManX

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LOL you are 100% correct! I have a 50 Dark/Electric that I love dearly. He is a wonderful toon to play. Just the other day I had the opportunity to use him on a Katie run by a SG member. Talk about total lockdown. Yes, that is why I suggest Controllers/Defenders first, then Blasters. Between the loving holds, the debuffs, the buffs, well, it is no small wonder why an all Controller or all Defender STF goes so... smoothly

Remember, I have an equal number of Melee toons, 18 level 50s in all. Lets get serious here folks, there are things they do that a Controller/Defender wish they could. There are things that Controller/Defender do better. You use the right toy for the job! It is like working on a car, you do not use a screwdriver to remove a bolt (well, you can in fact, it just takes a real long time). That is what running so many toons can do for you (besides make you broke getting them all I/Os).

Key here folks is to use the right toon for the job. You can use something else, but some toons simply do better than others depending on the situation. If you do not have loads of toons, well, time/patience/persistance will fix that!

To all above. Keep in context that this was written from the viewpoint that you are going totally with a PUG. If you have known members, friends, things are easier to assemble, and yes, you can make allowances for Scrappers and Tanks based on what buffs are happening.

However, lets assume that you want to farm this TF like me. Lets assume that nobody you know is on at that moment or they want to do other things at the moment. In this case you build a generic team based on worst case and then you can still do the TF in under 30 minutes.

Low opinion of Blasters? No, I have 2 level 50 Blasters. They are fun and powerful. I do object to Blappers on this TF. Hurricane knocks them about and they are debuffed. However, running in to blow them to heavens with Nova is just fine. So, I pick them dead last (but ahead of Scrappers and Tanks). It is far better to lock the spawns with all Controllers or gain buffs from Defenders and let them do double duty. Try it, you will like it, at least Mikey does (gawd, I just showed my age)

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If there are less than 3 Controllers on the team, expect a long hard fight with many faceplants.

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Not true I've done a zillion katies 2 Controllers with AoE immobs is all you need. Team makeup should consist of at least 1-2 debuffers 1-2 Controllers with an AoE Immob and 1-2 AoE blasters


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An Illusion Controller is ideal for this job as they have Superior Invisibility and can Confuse them to death. A Stone Tank can actually be useful here, have them go Granite and just run through the mission.

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Ideal is a stealthy blaster with the ability to solo the spawn (aim/buildup - slotted up Tier9). I do this all the time on my main who's an Electric/Electric.

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“Mission Four – I need ONE and only ONE person, preferably a REAL KATIE VET who knows how to free Katie and bring her to the entrance. I want all others with me… we are Ambush Meat”.

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Send one person with Fly to check the spawn site if clear than that one person can KO the altars fly straight up and back to the spawn site. If the spawn site is not clear (meaning there are mobs so close they will aggro once she's freed) then you should clear it.

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1. In a PUG you may get Controllers who are not slotted right, have incorrect powers and so on. The more, the better your odds. As I said, I do not want the spawn to move an inch. Less Controllers means there will be movement and that makes for ineffective AoEs. I am talking about speed here, getting the TF done in 30 minutes or less, not just doing it. I run 2 a day, sometimes 3 and that is within 2 hours of play. It is a grind, a farm, I do it for Rares and Influence, not XP. In fact I have a "perma 39" just to ensure I get Miracle +Recovery.

2. I have seen that done, and I have seen the Blaster faceplanted too. It is safer to use an Illusion Controller and confuse them to death or a Stone Tank who will simply eat 2 purples and use Recall Team. However, any person who can stealth and tp is ok for this job.

3. In 3 months of doing Katies, I have never had to clear anything. If one person goes and is careful about how they enter the area, there is never aggro from other spawns... never! Occasionally I have seen a sloppy player cause aggro and that is totally their fault. That is why I ask for a REAL KATIE VET or I simply do the job by myself.

Hello All,

After some 3 months of forming/leading at least 2 Katie Hannon TFs a day (some people farm Family - I farm Katie), I have been encouraged by SG members to write a Guide for others to use based upon my experience.

I wrestled with how to present this and so I will write this from my point of view, not just a list of do this or that.

So, listen up to an old former Sergeant on leadership attitudes, goal setting, and how to kill the enemy and thus, win the war.

Get it into your heads that this is a FAST Katie Hannon TF, you are not here to win elections, get love, chum it up. You will earn the respect of your teammates and kill the enemy only by taking charge and getting the job done quickly, effectively, and with minimal losses to your team. If you have other motives, do not read this guide. If you are a politician who plays the winning side, a weakling who cannot bear the thought that someone may get annoyed with you, if you are a laisse fare style leader… read something else because this guide is not for you…

Ok, now that you are clear, you know you want to do a Fast Katie TF, lets get what we want for a team. If you are going to fight a war, do not assemble a team of Boy Scouts, get a team of Killers!

Desired Team

You want Controllers, Defenders, and Blasters on your team. Melee is worthless. Hurricane is a terrible debuff and that makes melee ineffective teammates. Don’t tell me what your Scrapper or Tank friend can do, if they are missing half the time, they are nearly worthless and not pulling their weight. The best team is 8 Controllers. The next is a mix with Controllers/Defenders/Blasters. You will need at least 4 Controllers to positively guarantee the same results over and over. If there are less than 3 Controllers on the team, expect a long hard fight with many faceplants.

…and yes, you will occasionally get folks who cannot believe you would do a TF without a Tank or Scrappers.

Getting YOUR Team In 5 Minutes.

Coalition Chat: “Katie TF in 5 minutes, Controllers/Defenders/Blasters preferred. PST”.
You may or may not get anything here. Do not accept Melee. Tell folks you would rather they use a Controller or Defender over a Blaster.

Search: Do a search for Controllers and Defenders (note I did NOT say Blasters - they are my last choice if I cannot get all Controllers and Defenders - they tend to play Blapper and I do not care to remind them to pull back) in the level range of 30 to 50. SPAM (yes I said spam) down the line as quick as you can type “Katie TF?” and that is all. You will get some Yes, some No, and some questions. Screw the questions unless you know the person. I do not answer them anymore as most, I have found, result in a No anyway. Besides, if a person comes back with “what is a Katie?” they are a n00b that will require training and (unless you are feeling charitable) you do not have time for that. If more reply YES than you have slots, tell them that the team is full and you will get them next time.

Once your team is assembled, brief them!

If you are savvy, make macros up so you do not have to type. Here are the basics of what I say each and every time – even if we have a full team of Katie Vets. I want them all on the same page. I want them to have the same “mental state”. Mental State is important! You want them all settled, thinking, listening like soldiers and not a bunch of clowns who have their minds all over the place.

Tactics ( I say the following)

“Hello team and welcome to a Fast Katie TF. I expect us to be finished in 30 minutes”
“Kill the chatter please and listen up for tactics” (yeah, I say please here and there)
“Mission One – NO CAMPING! If you camp the spawn area you will get the glares of your teammates from faceplant position. I need a Blaster or Defender (or Scrapper if you HAD to take one to finish out the team) to knock. Volunteer?” NEVER let a Tank knock. Avoid using a Controller unless there are 8 of you.
“Mission One – Listen up inside the mission for further instructions. Knocker, only knock on my GO, got it?”

Inside Mission One – make sure all spawns are clear from the spawn area. You do not want pet aggro to mess up anything (Stony is bad about this). Position your Controllers as close as possible to the actual spawn area (the road is for n00bs). You want to lock the AV and her Spawn down and not let them move an inch. If you do not, they will move all over, fly everywhere making AoEs ineffective. Tell your Blasters and Defenders to focus on minions then AV. Tell your Controllers to only focus on holding the Spawn, then full time on the AV. Only after you clear the area, position your Controllers, explain the spawn area, do you tell the Knocker to GO.

“Mission Two – I need a Stealthy Person(s) to go, find Amy, either defeat the spawn holding her solo or TP the team – Volunteer?” An Illusion Controller is ideal for this job as they have Superior Invisibility and can Confuse them to death. A Stone Tank can actually be useful here, have them go Granite and just run through the mission.
“Mission Three – Simple Kill All, make sure you check the upper levels in room one.”

And now, the only mission I ever have problems with. The only mission that some folks simply think they know better than you, will tell you they have done 300 Katies before, and the only one that brings out the worst in immature male teen players. For some reason they think defeating a bunch of stones is glorious… well it ain’t!

“Mission Four – I need ONE and only ONE person, preferably a REAL KATIE VET who knows how to free Katie and bring her to the entrance. I want all others with me… we are Ambush Meat”.

Yes, that is right. Ambush Meat. If more than one person frees Katie I have seen the following.

1. It sometimes goes flawless – “sometimes” is not good enough for me.
2. The ambush appears there immediately.
3. There is confusion as to “who has her?”
4. Somebody goes that says they know what to do but they don’t, and for some reason this person messes the whole thing up.
5. A rare lag spike hits the player, yes, it happens.

It is so much easier if only one person goes. Now, this is the part that the immature male teen will probably get silent about. They may even just do what they want to do anyway. They may not even respond when you ask them to come back. They will argue with you, they will tell you they know what they are doing, they will tell you they do it 10 times a day. I have one answer for them… KICK and you better believe me when I say I do. It is MY team, success rides on my leadership, the team is watching to see if you uphold the tactics or are a weakling like so many others. Either you agree to follow tactics or you are most welcome to find another team that may be more suited to your personality.

After I state all the tactics, I offer the following:

“Are there any questions? Do we have any disagreements? Does anyone not understand what we are doing? Are there any inputs?”

…and honestly, I am willing to amend, adjust, or allow good solid inputs.

Now, if you do not believe me when I say the team is Ambush Meat in Mission 4, take a moment and watch what happens when ONE person frees Katie. Part of the Ambush (unless you catch them all via a Controller hold) will appear near the team and some will run back toward where Katie was released. That gives the person that frees Katie ample time to recover from a lag spike, or some hesitation, to get their act together and get Katie above the trees and safe.

Well ok, I have explained to you my tactics, my feelings, my style of leadership. I make loads of friends and an occasional enemy doing this. I am, however, fair and do not hold grudges though immature male teens tend to and I always explain to them that if they do not learn to follow orders, to learn rules, life will eat them alive later. That does not please them but, tough, I got my team to victory. Real players who are not button mashers, are mature, respect that.

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At least two of the powers should be some kind of AURA Buffs

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I have, several times, suggested that Defender powers need to be different than Controller. After all, a Defender can hit for 65% the power of a Blaster. Yeah, ok, Defenders can self buff a bit, but solo, a Defender cannot self buff to equal a Blaster. Only on teams with other Defenders can they equal a Blaster, and then the Blaster on the team is being boosted at the same time so equality is never met. HOWEVER, Controller buffs are almost the equal of a Defender. Their RA, for example, is not 35% less effective. So, Defenders get to be Junior Blasters with Buffs (and many they cannot self use), Controllers get pets, run farms, and have all the benefits - clearly making them the superior AT.

I have suggested over the years to change Defender buffs to Auras, and make Controller buffs individual. I have, again, turned in a suggestion to the Devs, maybe they will listen this time.

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The fact is that it should be something earned and not by simply waiting till you are so high that the only effort you expend is time

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Once again, most of these badges are gotten simply by playing the game and doing missions. Some are not, but that's usually because someone is playing solo on Heroic for whatever reasons - time, they don't like to or can't team, they're playing an AT and powerset that isn't able to kill all the Damned or Bone Daddy bosses before they're gray, etc.

Whatever their reason, I really don't think it's up to you to decide how everyone should get their badges or play the game.

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You are absolutely correct! It is not up to me! I only make suggestions.

And... if they add in what I suggest, and to make folks like you happy about the extra time you will spend (note, that I said in only one of the points that they should run away... other times they auto surrender, quake in fear so time would even out - why you choose to disregard them is unknown to me)... I think there should be a reward.

Personally, I think that if AI like this is introduced, and you earn a badge at a high level so that you do not earn XP/Influance/Infamy, and the badge does nothing toward a higher goal, there should be a common recipe drop with the badge as a reward or some other form of reward for doing the effort.

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High level players come near low level spawns and the spawns simply sit there with no reaction. This makes it overly easy for, example, 50s to score badges.



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Unless they PL'd, it's pretty hard to get to 50 and NOT have a Skulls/Tsoo/CoT/etc badge or be so close that it doesn't matter if you take out a few gray spawns.

Besides, it's a badge. Why do you care if it's too easy for a level 50 to get a Kill Skulls badge? If it's not challenging for you, examplar down and don't worry about it. No reason to change it for everyone. The fact they can do this has zero impact on you or the game.

Also, once a low level spawn is aggroed, they WILL be scared away by a high level character. If I'm playing a high level Defender and help some lowbie out in The Hollows, I have to watch where I move, because if I get too close, I will make all his bad guys run away from him. That's not really very helpful, so I stay back.

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Regardless of the fact that a badge does or does not contribute to something larger, like an Accolade, makes no difference. The fact is that it should be something earned and not by simply waiting till you are so high that the only effort you expend is time... time to go into a place like the Hollows and blast entire spawns into oblivion with one shot, or time to draw your Broadsword and do a one shot on a level 10.

Make the game interesting, make badge hunting a badge worth owning - never mind the level of the player or the enemy! Make us chase them, let them surrender, let them quake in fear asking for mercy! A badge earned by exploit will never give you the same feeling of achievement as a badge earned the honest way!

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Speaking as someone who's been running around Striga Isle trying to get my Legionnaire badge (defeat 100 Warrior bosses) on my 50 katana/regen, this badge is enough of a pain as it is. Warrior bosses are obnoxiously hard to find.

So if they started running away on sight, that would just make it a little bit ridiculous. Of course, I have superspeed (and, thus, stealth), so it wouldn't stop me from ambushing the first ememy in a spawn, but on, say, my claw/sr (who has SJ), it'd be really annoying.

It's not that I enjoy hunting down grey spawns, but when there are no level 45+ Warriors, I don't really have a choice in the matter.

So your suggestion has a little problem, until they start making on-level versions of every villain type for 50's, complete with boss spawns, and I don't see them doing that.

Back on topic... with regard to mobs running away more, the only thing I've noticed is enemies with range seem to try to get out of melee range more often than I remember them doing... which is kind of annoying when I'm playing my /DA or /Fire scrappers, but does make sense.

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Now, you just sighted ONE of my suggestions, no comment on the others. As I said, people react, not to the overall QoL of the game, but, their own "beds".

Ok, guess what, I would have to live with the conditions too! With 16 level 50s, and not all have every single badge, I would need to live with any changes like this. Note I said that the conditions would vary.

Ok, you give up Danger (being a high level) for more work in the area of searching and catching. It is a small price to pay for something that you can one shot to death.

As I said, it is an exploit that high levels use to get badges easily and that needs looking at.

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Anyone notice that mobs seem to run away... ALOT. Been playing my crab since I12 launch and it seems like just about everything runs and its quite annoying.
EDIT--- This happened when I was fighting scrapyarder as well... Basically he ran instantly.

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Long ago, like I6 or I7 time frame, I posted a suggestion about high level players who come near low level spawns. The core of my suggestion was:

High level players come near low level spawns and the spawns simply sit there with no reaction. This makes it overly easy for, example, 50s to score badges.

I suggested the following AI (numbers 1 - 5 below would vary - you never would know how they would react):

1. Spawns automatically surrender.
2. Spawns cower in fear.
3. Spawns automatically run away, in fear, to the nearest door/tunnel they can find.
4. Spawns attempt to fight you as best they can.
5. Another possibility is that ALL spawns under your level con as 'whites" in difficulty, with no xp/influence awarded however.

OF COURSE... it was flamed by several as:

1. "it would grief low levels hunting for spawns".
2. "a fleeing spawn would grief a low level team if they bumped into each other".
3. "It is unfair".

You get the general replys. Basically the suggestion area is one where you put in an idea and several wait to pounce on it, no matter what, and say NO!

Well, my idea was to make them react more "lifelike". Of course, and the reactions never considered, that the fleeing spawns CAN be programmed to simply run for doors and not react to any low levels they run across. They never considered that once you leave the immediate vicinity that spawns "respawn". Spawns can also be programmed to not react if a low level is engaging them and a high level player comes in close after engagement.

Honestly, I look at the more selfish reasons for negative reactions to suggestions:

1. People like things as they are. They like the idea of something they can exploit.
2. People are so worried that closing a door to an exploit can lead to another and another.

Actually, it is an exploit. A high level toon simply dropping in on a low level spawn and instantly defeating them because they are programmed not to react is a no brainer way to get a badge - for an Accolade even and that can lead to a win in PvP.

WB and I use the flyposes all the time. I do not see many using them, however, I do.

Good guide. I copied and passed it on, via email, to my SG.

The problem is, and I see some of it above, is that some people do not like to lead, they do not like being less than 50, they do do like being left out.

These people see 50s as the "in crowd" and gravitate to them begging to come along just so they can be part of the "in crowd". The folks that pander to them love the adulation that the lowbies give them so they "PL" them.

They come, they go, they never stick around in SGs long, they need to feel part of whatever is the biggest thing. I think there is a medical term for both types... the ones that need adulation and the ones that need to feel part of the "in crowd". A good example of the "need" they have are some of the threads I saw when Veteran Rewards were first announced. The thought of being without wings, of having to wait for wings, made many furious!

OH... never count on the guys who beg for PLs to return the favor or become leaders, some do, most simply move on to something new and beg to be part of something else that they deem "in".

Keep up the good work!

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Fire tank's Burn is similar. The mobs run when you activate it instead of being taunted by gauntlet. Burn is anti- tanking like MoG is anti-regen.

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I agree totally with your statement on Burn. Just about the only way to make Burn work anymore is to take Ice as your Secondary.

Back to the main idea here though...

I still stand hard on my suggestion to swap Blaster Force of Nature for Regen Moment of Glory.

Could you see a more happy pairing than Blasters with controlled Defiance and Regens with some real resistance and the ablility to heal? FoN is to Regens as to MoG is to Blasters!

That is far more correct than putting hair on a lizard as we have now... just as Evil Geko would look silly with eyebrows and a goatee!

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As a Bots 'n Bubbles MM myself I don't find Force Bubble to be very good at drawing aggro. I typically leave it on all of the time and I rarely feel the need to bother even switching the bots into bodyguard mode, mobs tend to naturally shoot at my bots instead of me. I do have Scorpion's shield, but it's more of an insurance policy than anything else (the real gem of Scorpion's powers is the targeted AoE immobilize, which prevents mobs from escaping the burn patches (well, until my own bots knockback does so at least).

Force bubble is an insanely wonderful tool for the build however because it means my bots are almost never switched into melee mode and can keep pumping out their far more powerful (and AoE) ranged attacks instead. It does annoy some people when I'm teamed up (brutes/stalkers), but the near certainty of never having a mob melee you or any of your pets is an incredible defense buff.

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I concur with this. I have a Robot/FF MM who is absolutely uber. I am not sure why the writer chose the patron power he did. Robots and Force Field are all about DEFENSE! The only patron power that grants a defensive armor is Black Scorpion. The object, with bubbles, is not to get hit!

Black Scorpion's armor is number one for this set, all others are number two or lower...