Zombie Man

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You may have noticed some click powers that used to root you and now don’t. These powers snuck their way into the wrong build (see what happens when we don’t root them), and most of these will change back in the next build that makes it to live. Consider this an official head’s up.

Again, sorry for the confusion this has caused. We’ll get it all sorted out shortly and we thank you for your patience and understanding.

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I think it's time you guys fixed your development process.

It's broken.

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Obviously there was confusion or a lack of clarity among the devs over the scope of the changes. When the changes hit Test, we, the players, caught the discrepancies. Within a week, a new patch dealt with most of the discrepancies and we've been informed that the next few patches will deal with the rest.

The Community Rep and a Developer and the animator were all reading and responding to our posts over this. As much as I've been critical of the development and QA process in the past, this round of changes and patches had exemplary responsiveness from NCSoft and Cryptic.

I am well pleased. I wished the development and QA of all the patches and issues went like this.

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I will give you five cookies if IR is unrooted

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and I shall match that offer. Anyone else want to add to Lighthouse's cookie bribe?


All rules aside, when you have a travel-related power like IR, it needs to not stop your movement for 2 seconds. It's counter-productive.
If that can't be done, then perhaps IR itself needs an overhaul. Maybe a slightly longer duration, or faster casting time (.3 seconds of rooting would maybe not get noticed), or something.

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Is IR a toggle or a click power?

Group Fly (a toggle) used to root, but it doesn't anymore (under the new toggle rules). If IR is a toggle, it shouldn't be rooted. If it is a click, then it should root.

If it is a click and you don't want it to root, then you're asking for another exception to the rule. Comparing it to Group Fly probably isn't going to help make the case since Group Fly is from a power pool which specializes in travel powers. Travel powers found in AT powersets, on the other hand, (like Siphon Speed or Speed Boost) certainly do root. If IR becomes unrooted, then so should they... which is unlikely to happen.

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1. AOE Heals will not root


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Healing/Radiant Aura and Warmth are AoE heals, but so is Twilight Grasp and Transfusion. Will they be unrooted as well?


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I would have to assume since they are also enemy debuffs that they will still root.

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3. Self Heals will not root

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Dark Regeneration, Siphon Life, and Life Drain are all self heals. Will they be included for unrooting?


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All three of those powers deal damage to enemies so should still root you.

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Yes, but like I said, I'd rather not assume.

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Cut it out.

It's been made perfectly obvious that the click rules are more restrictive than the toggle rules.

If toggle debuffs root, even if they buff or heal, then so will click debuffs, even if they buff or heal.

It's pretty obvious that the only click powers that affect others and that will be unrooted are pure heals, like Healing Aura (which was already unrooted). Click Heals that add in extra buffs (Vengeance) or debuffs (Howling Twilight) will root as they've always been.

My question about click self+ally buffs was never answered until the clarification was made in the patch notes. Don't hold your breath for a redname to clarify this any further until the next patch.

If you want to make a spoiler text that needs to be highlighted in order to be read, you're out of luck.... mostly. You see, with the two different background colors, if you choose blue text, the villains can read it without highlighting it; and conversely, if you use the maroon background color for the text, heroes can see it.

And so, I've found the color that's halfway between the two background colors. It's possible, but difficult to read on both boards, making it easy for people to not accidentally read a spoiler.

Just use [ color:"#423750"]Your spoiler text here.[ /color]


But, without that space after the bracket. It will look like this...


Your spoiler text here.


... and be much easier to read when highlighted (click and drag your cursor over the text).

Also... clicking the little printer icon on the lower left of this post will show a printer-ready version of the post with the background color stripped out, thus making the spoiler text easy to read.

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So Leadership powers... they'll root again?

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The first three Leadership powers are toggles. They follow the newly implemented toggle rules in that they now and will always be *un*rooted since they are self+ally toggle buffs.

Vengeance, however, is a click power. I don't know if they accidentally changed it to be unrooted, but because it is a self+ally click buff, it should root. If it was self-only click buff, then it shouldn't root. But once a click power involves allies and is not an AoE heal, then it roots.

And they moved their free guide a fourth time to here.

I think they do that to stop direct linking so that you have to see the other links on their website.

Anyway, I downloaded the pdf file so it's always on my computer and I don't have to rely on Prima. There was a two month period where they were 'updating' their site and it wasn't available. I had to rattle a few cages to get it back online...

...thus, my recommendation you all d/l it before it disappears for good some day.

To save the file, open it up in the pdf reader, and from the pdf reader's menu bar, choose 'Save a Copy.' Don't use your browser's save function.

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/hide is not a synonym for /window_hide, despite what /cmdlist reports. /hide will hide that character from search results and /whoall queries.

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Heh, that's right. Stupid command list synonym!


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Kinda added it to paragon wiki, we might make a guide section, and I need to pull the important information into the top section.

Also, what are the max/min numbers? At the beginning you say .64 and 1.54, but later on you specify .54.

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Happy to provide for Paragonwiki. The correct number is .64 for minimum rescalable size, that '.54' is a typo.

Other notes:

Note: The 3D game graphics and the 2D GUI can not only be *scaled* separately from each other, but their *resolution* can also be resolved differently. If you choose a high resolution setting under Options/Graphics/Screen/UI_Resolution, both the 3D graphics and the 2D GUI will take on that higher resolution. This will shrink the GUI, but with the information provided above, you now know how to rescale the GUI back to a larger size (although, the menu window never rescales, unfortunately). Higher resolutions provide more and crisper detail to both the 3D graphics and the 2D GUI... but what if that puts too much strain on your graphics card or CPU? Well, there is a slider in Options/Graphics/3D_Resolution_Scaling to lower the 3D resolution which *does not* lower the 2D GUI. This allows for crisp, high resolution 2D graphics while lowering the 3D graphics load on your computer.

Note: Related slash command /window_resetall. This will reset all window options to their default scale, size, and color.

Note: Related slash commands toggle the showing or hiding of specific windows and they are initially bound to a specific key.<ul type="square">[*]/chat Toggles the chat window. c
[*]/tray Toggles the tray window (no default key, but 'backslash y' will work)
[*]/target Toggles the target window. t
[*]/nav Toggles the navigation window. n
[*]/map Toggles the map window. m
[*]/menu Toggles the menu. backslash
[*]/powers Toggles the power inventory. p[/list]

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My abbreviated shadow cyst crystal guide:

If you have the damage output to take out a boss in 60 seconds, pop 3-4 purples and destroy the crystal with impunity.

If you do not have 3-4 purples, ask teammates for them

If you do not have the damage output to take it out in 60 seconds, give the purples to someone who does.

Of course, there's some situations where this won't work (e.g. if the cyst is in a spawn of quartz-dropping devouring earth), but basically 3-4 purples &gt; any encounter in this game.

Good point on the nictus bosses though, I giggle a little when someone calls out "dwarf" or "nova", those bosses are so anemic they're basically free XP.

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That's what I've been doing on my Regen Scrapper. Pop three shields, tp onto the cyst and it's down within 30 seconds. And I'd like to take this opportunity to thank all those unbound Nictus for showing up so as to power Soul Drain.

Of course, I've been doing this under the mistaken assumption that the cyst was especially dangerous to the Kheldians in the party in the same way that voids and quants are, and I was trying to protect them. Next time, I'll let the Kheldians take care of their own problem.

Good info here. It'll now be appearing in the Guide to Guides.

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How about a guide for sprinters? Check out my demo of the path,

You just need hyper stealth +SS, combat invis, or someone to grant invis you.

You can make the run in under 4 minutes, sprintin' all the way, and only 1 really hairy part, and that's over Gordon Trench, but very big pipe and not too far on it.

Terra Luigi

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Trolling thru the forum to compile an updated Guide to Guides, I come across interesting and fun stuff I missed. This had me laughing out loud (truly, not in an 'lol' way).

Just last week I took a level 50 toon with SS and flight to the top of the reactor to see if I could find ways of using SS alone by going backwards (i.e., out). It's an old maze puzzler's trick. So, the zone was fresh in my mind.

Good work on the mario/luigi theme.

Besides, all the guides posted here are in the stickied Guide to Guides at the top of the forum (the specific AT guide lists are in their respective forums).

This thread was meant to die. Actually, it should be deleted. I'll be asking Lighthouse to lock it.


DO NOT POST IN THIS OLD THREAD, IT HAS BEEN REPLACED BY... Guide to Guides

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Now, when one looks at Penelope Yin's info, how would one know that there was any discussion involved?

Push the button? There's a Discussion link on the top of the page, just like any wiki....

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Yeah, but it would be nice if you knew before you pushed the button whether or not there was discussion there.

And upon further investigation, I've just discovered that there is such a mechanic... if there's no discussion, the discussion tab is a little bit lighter.

Live and learn.

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Zombie_Man, I quoted your post in the Talk page for Penelope in ParagonWiki, not sure how it'd fit in the article but I thought it should be somewhere. Hope you don't mind.

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I'm honored. But ParagonWiki deserves it, since it was my source to dig up the names of the Lost Bosses.

Now, when one looks at Penelope Yin's info, how would one know that there was any discussion involved? Hate to think that there's all this extra information that goes unnoticed because there's no link or sign that it's there.

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Let me explain further. For example, say someone is willing to help update the Kheldian Guide Post. They would write me at Lighthouse@ncsoft.com and let me know they are willing to help with that. In turn, I'll email them back the source text of that post. That way they will have all the UBB links and everything.

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Too much work. The easy way:

1. The player-editor who is updating the Kheldian Guide Post goes to Kheldian Guide to Guides thread hits the quote button on the first post of that thread (with all the links) and, presto, gets a copy of the post with all the UBB tags.

2. The player-editor edits the post and posts it. The updated version is now the last post of the thread.

3. The player-editor emails you, Lighthouse, that the Guide has been updated and can be found at the end of the guide-thread.

4. You, Lighthouse, go to that player-editor's post and hit 'quote'. You now have the version with all the UBB tags. You can then cut and paste it into the first post using your special mod powers to edit 'uneditable' posts.

5. This also allows other players to see the player-editor's edits and to make additions and corrections.


If there is any player-editor for whom this process is too difficult to comprehend... then they shouldn't be doing web based editing.

===

As a side note, again, I strongly recommend a better way to house all this information: A wiki based database of player guides that will mesh with an online manual. Have NCSoft host the wiki database so that you have ultimate control of content (as you do with the forums). This way, all users can contribute (and correct) information that will stay fresh and easy to access. Also, you can get the Cryptic people to review certain articles that serve as game-manual articles for correctness.

Just imagine if the Prima Guide for Issue 7 was an editable online wiki database. All those errors in it would be quickly corrected by the players (with the devs' confirmation), and everyone would have instant access to the latest and correct information!

Look at it this way: A bulletin board forum is a great place for discussion and Q&amp;A. It is not a good tool for the posting of relatively static information in which many people can contribute to and corroborate on and update. Use the right tool for the job: a wiki database.

Come on, Lighthouse, you know you want NCSoft and CoH/V and its website to be a leading edge, model community support resource. Think of the online buzz. Think of the awards. Best part is, you get all this done with volunteer services (just look at all the volunteer work put into the guides). [OK, you need to get your web gurus to set it up in the first place, but after that... it'll run itself.]

Just throwing it out there.

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STOP SAYING "SUE"!


While one can initiate a civil suit on any grounds, whether valid or spurious, it is much more difficult to win a suit.

THERE ARE NO GROUNDS FOR WINNING A SUIT HERE.



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Wait now... Couldn't Cryptic(or any one of these video game company featured in the decumentery) sue whoever it is who put the clips together? I mean, in a way, they're misportraying a copywritten character?

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I'm no lawyer, but I hope so.

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3 words: Defamation of Character

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I hope you posted this as proof that a suit in this case is unwinnable:

1. How could Cryptic prove damages?

2. How could Cryptic prove the opinion that video games is not influential of promoting violence (I mean, 'proof' prove)? It's difficult to prove the positive or the negative of that statement conclusively. And with all that doubt... no successful suit.

3. What actual statement was being made about Statesman which would be the object of the suit?

4. The use of the Statesman image falls under fair use. No one is attempting to use the Statesman image for commercial trade. A short clip does not violate trademark or copyright law. If you produced a video of how super heroes in comic books promote good social values, you could show a brief clip of Superman and DC couldn't win a suit against you (they can sue, but they'd lose).



So... let's all drop the "sue 'em" bandwagon. We hear lots about these types of suits, what we don't here is how they wind up... mostly dismissed or lost.

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Perhaps Slander or Libel would be better suited for this sort of thing.

And of course proving damages is the hard part to do. IANAL, IANYL, IANC'sL, and INSIWAL (I never said I was a lawyer). But if there's precedent, and/ or they can prove damages or otherwise prove that a video like this can unduly harm reputation, it can be an option. Hollywood actors have sued tabloids (and won) for similar reasons (unauthorized images in magazines depicting them unfavorably).

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Yes, they sued. And they lost. You can't win on 'unauthorized pictures' if you're a celebrity. You can't win on 'unfavorableness' if it's true. The only times celebrities have won (which is rare) is when a tabloid printed an out-and-out lie.

You don't know what you're talking about. I mean, did you even read the link you quoted?




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And whether you agree or disagree with litigation as an option is your opinion. I'm just playing devil's advocate YMMV.

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An informed opinion based on legal fact v. an uninformed opinion based on wrong information. Devil's advocate is advantageous only if you make cogent arguments.

And purposeless litigation is a plague upon American culture. We all lambasted Marvel for their baseless suit against Cryptic, and you're saying a little baseless litigation is now OK?

STOP SAYING "SUE"!


While one can initiate a civil suit on any grounds, whether valid or spurious, it is much more difficult to win a suit.

THERE ARE NO GROUNDS FOR WINNING A SUIT HERE.



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Wait now... Couldn't Cryptic(or any one of these video game company featured in the decumentery) sue whoever it is who put the clips together? I mean, in a way, they're misportraying a copywritten character?

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I'm no lawyer, but I hope so.

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3 words: Defamation of Character

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I hope you posted this as proof that a suit in this case is unwinnable:

1. How could Cryptic prove damages?

2. How could Cryptic prove the opinion that video games is not influential of promoting violence (I mean, 'proof' prove)? It's difficult to prove the positive or the negative of that statement conclusively. And with all that doubt... no successful suit.

3. What actual statement was being made about Statesman which would be the object of the suit?

4. The use of the Statesman image falls under fair use. No one is attempting to use the Statesman image for commercial trade. A short clip does not violate trademark or copyright law. If you produced a video of how super heroes in comic books promote good social values, you could show a brief clip of Superman and DC couldn't win a suit against you (they can sue, but they'd lose).



So... let's all drop the "sue 'em" bandwagon. We hear lots about these types of suits, what we don't here is how they wind up... mostly dismissed or lost.

"Half of Americans play video games."


I always suspected all those soccer moms 'shooting the moon' in online Hearts were out to destroy the solar system.

Spoiler Alert....



























Penelope Yin's namesake from The Wacky Races is Penelope Pitstop, who drove car #5, the Compact Pussycat.

Between two missions towards rescuing Penelope and her father, you encounter these Lost bosses...:
<ul type="square">[*] Slag of Skyway [*] Gruesome of Galaxy [*] Ruffcut of Perez [*] Blast of Hollows[*] Ant of Atlas [*] Blubber of Steel [*] Muxley[/list]
They correspond to these Wacky Racers...:
<ul type="square">[*] #1, The Boulder Mobile with the Slag Brothers, Rock and Gravel [*] #2, The Creepy Coupe with the Gruesome Twosome, Big and Little [*] #10, The Buzzwagon with Rufus Ruffcut and Sawtooth[*] #6, The Army Surplus Special with Sgt. Blast and Pvt. Meekly[*] #7, The Bulletproof Bomb with the Anthill Gang [*] #8, The Arkansas Chugalug with Luke and Blubber Bear[*] #00 Dick Dastardly and Muttley &lt;snicker, snicker, snicker&gt;[/list]

Wacky Racers not appearing in the arc: Prof. Pat Pending; The Red Max; Peter Perfect.

Penelope's info refers to her as 'perilous'. There was a spin-off of the Wacky Racers called Perils of Penelope Pitstop.


Now, what we really need is a CoV arc where one has to stop that pigeon!

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Have you written, or thought about writing, a Game Play Guide? If so, now is the time to revisit it and spiff it up! Or, get writing and put your game play wisdom down in black and white!

One of the initiatives the Community Team will be tackling is to update the many guide posts on our forums. These guides are an excellent resource for our community and we want to keep them current and up to date.

So, make it your new year's resolution! Forget the gym and write or update your guide today!

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Huh?

Let me repeat... Huh?


Who is this "Community Team"? And how is it *you* are going to update *our* guides? Are you going to correct them, change them, update them yourselves?

Or... just hound us to do it?

NCSoft/Cryptic can't even put out a competent game manual. As much as we (mostly I) begged for you to put the text up on the web ahead of time so we can proofread and correct it. You didn't. What comes in the game box is incomplete and often wrong. Your game manuals are a 3 on a scale of 10.

Other information, like how demorecord works, how macros/binds are parsed, the hard numbers of powers... you won't release. At least not at once and comprehensively. We have to hound the devs in PMs for information you should have made available all along. It was the hard work of players who figured most of this out and published it.

Now that Statesman is no longer micromanaging things (and completely reversed his philosophy of keeping us in the dark with the numbers by taking a paycheck to put together Prima's I7 guide), the devs are more forthcoming with real numbers and info... but it's not enough.

Because NCSoft gives us so little resources on their own game websites, it is the players who've put together the best sources of information on the game. I go to vidiotmaps, badge-hound, nofuture, paragonwiki for information on the game. NCSoft's CoH and CoV website is a joke for information. Let's take an example: On the CoH website was an attempt to list all the emotes for us. Compare that to what Mantid did. Mantid gets a 9. NCSoft employee gets a 3.


If you really, really are serious about organizing guides and information, Lighthouse. Then NCSoft needs to have their own version of Paragonwiki that will serve as the online game manual. And you need to get the Cryptic people to look over the info and correct it and fill in the blanks so we know it's the real deal and not a player's best guess.


Otherwise, just organize the Guide to Guides for us and let it go.

This is a beta version of a guide to Mission Difficulty Level and how it is affected by Notoriety (Difficulty Level) and team size. All comments are welcome, especially with the stuff that still needs testing (see Task/Strike Forces and Trials).

[Kheldian section edited with info provided by Fried Jedi]




Introduction

Basically it all comes down do this question: How difficult will the foes be in this mission, and can I affect that difficulty?

Difficulty of foes come in three forms:

1. Level of the Foes: Are they level 1, 2, 10, 38, 51, or even 54?
2. Number of the Foes: Are there 10 foes in a spawn point, 6, 2, or will there be just 1?
3. Rank of the Foes : How many, if any, of the foes will be lieutenant, boss, elite boss, or even ArchVillain/Hero rank?

So, let's look at how the game mechanics determines the difficulty level of the foes. This first part will deal with regular, normal missions one gets from contacts (i.e., not the Task/Strike Forces or Trials).



How is the difficulty level of the foe-spawn determined?

There are three variables which affect the level, number, and rank of the foe spawns:

1. The level of the mission holder at the time the mission was received;
2. The current size of the team; and,
3. The current Notoriety (difficulty level setting) of the mission holder.

[u]The level of the mission holder at the time the mission was received[u]: When foes are spawned, the game looks at what the level of the mission holder was when they first got the mission. (A player's 'level' is their 'Security Level' if they're a hero or their 'Threat Level' if they're a villain.) So, for example, if the mission holder picked up the mission at level 10, but didn't do the mission until the mission holder was level 20, then the base difficulty level of the mission is still generated for a level 10 character.

[Please note: The difference between 'mission holder' and 'team leader.' The 'mission holder' is the team member who got the mission from the contact. That person 'owns' the mission, but they may or may not be the 'leader' of the team. The team leader (the one with the star) can see all the missions of all their teammates (if they're in the same zone) and pick their own or someone else's mission as the current team task. If they pick someone else's mission, then it is that person's level at the time they received the mission that matters. When it comes to Task/Strike Forces and Trials, then it's the 'team leader' that counts with regard to the Notoriety (Difficulty) level.]

So, for example, if the mission holder picks up a mission from a contact at level 10, then levels to level 12, and then does that mission... then the base level of that mission will still be 10. If during the mission the mission holder levels up, and even if they train to that new level... the base mission level will not change. If that mission holder goes into the mission solo at the default difficulty setting, the foes will all be level 10... give or take.

Give or take? Yes. Give or take one. The overwhelming majority of the spawns will be level 10 in this example. However, you will see an occasional level 11 spawn, and more rarely, a level 9 spawn. There appears to be some purposeful randomness involved.

[Side Note: Buggy spawn levels -- You may encounter the occasional bugged mission which may contain some very bizarre level ranges and spawns. The most common involves a foe's minimum and maximum levels. Let's take the example of the imaginary foe group called the Foobars. Internally, deep in the mechanics of the game (i.e., on a spreadsheet _Castle_ guards), the maximum and minimum levels of the Foobars is listed... let's say, they can only spawn between levels 12 and 47. Now, let's say you take a level 10 Policeband mission that has Foobars in them. Guess what? They won't be level 10... they'll start at level 12, their minimum allowable level setting. Then, if you take a level 50 Newspaper Scheme mission featuring the Foobars... they won't be level 50... they'll be level 47, their maximum allowable level. That is why, e.g., the Hellions that appear in a high level villain mission are so many levels lower. And sometimes, the maximum and minimum settings get bugged which create level 35 Warwolves in a level 30 Task Force, or, Level 2 Wyverns ambushing a level 30 villain. Weird stuff, but, bugs happen. Send in a /bug report when you see foes that are clearly the wrong level that they should be.]

Once the game takes into account the level of the mission holder when they got the mission, it then looks at two other factors:


[u]The Size of the Team[u]: This is rather simple... more team members, more foes (or higher ranked foes) in each spawn point (a group of foes).

The base size of a spawn point for a solo player is: Three minions, or, a lieutenant-minion pair, or, at higher difficulty levels (see below) a single Boss. Note that there is a little bit of randomness thrown in: sometimes you might see just two minions, or maybe four minions; or maybe a lieutenant alone; or a boss with a minion. Three minions or their equivalent on average is the base spawn for a solo player.

Once you add in more team members, the spawns increase in size: two members tend to spawn 5 minions or their equivalent on average.

[It would be nice if someone wanted to experiment with team sizes and determine the average spawns for teams with 1-8 members. And make a nice chart out of it. -ed.]

Notice the 'or their equivalent'. If a boss is worth about three minions, and you're spawning an average of 11 minions per spawn point with a large team, you just might get a spawn with three bosses and two minions in it. Bosses are noticeably more difficult than minions, even moreso than three minions because they 'con' higher. Foes that 'con' higher because of their rank are harder to hit, have more accuracy, have more damage, and they have more attack and mez powers. They are worth more experience points, but that's because they are a greater risk, and thus, more difficult to battle.

Now remember, because of team size, many of the foes will 'con' higher because there will be some higher ranked foes. They won't con higher because their level increased. At one time, large teams would spawn higher 'level' foes, but they don't anymore. So, for example, if a mission is going to spawn level 20 foes (give or take... see above) for a solo mission holder, then adding seven teammates will not spawn level 21 or 22 foes. Adding seven teammates will add more foes per spawn point, and higher ranked foes (bosses and lieutenants), but they will still all be level 20 (give or take... see above).

Let me simplify this: more teammates = more bosses and just 'more' over all, but not a higher level.


[u]Notoriety[u]: Ah, here is how you can bump up both the level of the foes *and* the number of foes/bosses. There are five levels of notoriety, by default, all new characters begin at the first and easiest level. The level names are (hero/villain):

1. Heroic/Villainous;
2. Tenacious/Malicious;
3. Rugged/Vicious;
4. Unyeilding/Ruthless;
5. Invincible/Relentless.

Heroes can go to a Hero Corps Field Analyst (marked by a colorful dial icon on your map) or villains can go to a Fortunata Fateweaver (little person icon, just like contacts) to have their notoriety changed (for a fee of influence or infamy). Paragon Wiki has a good list of where to find Analysts/Fateweavers.

So, how does Notoriety (the 'difficulty setting of the player') affect the difficulty level of the foes?

Let's first consider the case of a solo player:

Notoriety (Difficulty) Level #1: Foes are the mission holder's level at the time the mission holder took the mission (give or take... see above). Usually three minions or their equivalent (see above). Bosses are suppressed for solo players at Notoriety #1. (At higher Notoriety levels, or for two or more team members, Bosses will appear as normal.)


Notoriety (Difficulty) Level #2: The team size is treated as if you have +1 more members. Yay! You get a virtual teammate! So, now, if you're solo, the game pretends you're not. It generates more foes thinking you're a two-member team. Welcome to the average of 5 minions or their equivalent (Bosses!) per spawn point.


Notoriety (Difficulty) Level #3: At this level you lose your virtual team mate, and the game will spawn foes for a team of one member... you're back to three minions or their equivalent per spawn point (but, there might be a Boss, Bosses are only suppressed for solo players at Notoriety #1). But what you lose in size, you make up for in level. Your foes will now be +1 to their base level. So, for example, if at Notoriety #1, the foes would have been level 10, they will now be level 11 (give or take... see above).


Notoriety (Difficulty) Level #4: At this level, you keep the +1 added to the foes' base level, just like at Notoriety #3, however, you get your virtual team mate back! That's right, the game will treat you as a two-member team (5 minions or equivalent on average) and spawn accordingly just like at Notoriety #2, but, they're all +1 in level!


Notoriety (Difficulty) Level #5: Your virtual team mate is gone again, so, you get the spawn size for a solo player (3 minions or equivalent on average), however the foes are now +2 in level (give or take...).


So, now that you know how Notoriety affects the difficulty of the foes in a mission for a solo player, it's easy to extrapolate to large teams, namely, more team members simply means more foes per spawn point which means probably generating higher rank foes (bosses, conning higher), but not extra levels. You can only bump the level of the foes by +1 with Notoriety Levels #3 and #4, and by +2 with Notoriety Level #5.




Special Cases: Bosses and ArchVillains/Heroes


The special case of Boss suppression by solo players at Notoriety #1 has already been explained. Let's now take the special case of ArchVillain Rank foes. (And by ArchVillain, or, 'AV', we also mean the heroic analog, the Hero Class.)

Many missions have an AV foe, especially once you get past level 40, then there are a lot of AVs. But, soloists and small teams sometimes find AVs impossible or extremely tedious to deal with (especially since AVs were buffed in difficulty during I7). And so, the Developers came up with this solution: Under certain conditions, an AV can be made to spawn as Elite Boss Rank, which is easier to battle. The conditions are a combination of team member size and Notoriety Level as follows:

1. AVs will become Elite Bosses in regular missions depending on team size and the mission holder's difficulty setting under these conditions:
   
   Notoriety (Difficulty) Setting #1 -- team is less than 6 members.
   Notoriety (Difficulty) Setting #2 -- team is less than 5 members.
   Notoriety (Difficulty) Setting #3 -- team is less than 4 members.
   Notoriety (Difficulty) Setting #4 -- team is less than 3 members.
   
   Or, another way to remember this is that 6, 5, 4, and 3 are the number of team members needed to spawn an AV for Notoriety Levels 1, 2, 3, and 4.
   
2. AVs will always remain AVs in normal missions when the mission holder's Notoriety (Difficulty) Setting is #5 (the highest, which means the AV will spawn at +2 level, to boot!) -- even while soloing.
   
3. AVs will always be AV level in Task/Strike Forces and Trials.

When is a foe generated?

Obviously, until you or a teammate enters a mission, no foes have been generated yet. Once a mission has been generated, then, at the very least, the first set of foe-spawns are spawned and exist when you enter the mission. However, it is very clear that for many maps -- especially multi-level or some very large one-level maps -- not all the foes are spawned all at once. As you get closer to new spawn points, or go up (or down) to their level (e.g., take an elevator), then the foes in that section of the map are spawned.

If there are foes-yet-to-be-spawned in a map and you change your difficulty level or the number of players on your team, then the foes-yet-to-be-spawned will be spawned adjusted to your new difficulty level and team size. You can prevent the change in foe spawns by running through the entirety of the map and forcing all the foes to spawn. Then you can change difficulty level or team size and the foes won't change. (Yes this can be exploitable, see below.)

Be aware that some foe spawns are hard-wired and won't change. Some Task Forces and Trials spawn foes at a certain unchanging level. The villain's respec Trial is now immune to changes in team size... it will generate the number of final foe spawns based on the size of the original starting Trial members, even if some are (temporarily) offline or have dropped from the game (this change was made in order to prevent the above mentioned exploit.) {Although, this 'fix' comes and goes depending on the Patch of the week.}




Task/Strike Force Levels and Trial Levels

There was recently an official redname post on this, and, I can't find it. Probably made in a scrolling forum. Anyway, I think it went that:

Task Force foes spawn to the max level of the Task Force range. The leader's difficulty level can increase the foes' levels and spawn size, and larger team sizes will increase the number of foes. [It used to be that larger teams increased the foes' level also, but that isn't the case anymore.]

Trial foes spawn to the level of the highest team member level. In fact, according to the Knowledge Base, Level of Respec Trials goes by the level of the highest level in the team and then modified by the team leader's difficulty setting.

And, most importantly, there are exceptions to the Force and Trial rules just given. We've had a report of the Croatoa Task Force base level being affected by the Notoriety level of a team member who was not the team leader.

Bleh! We need to create a list of all the Forces and Trials and keep track of how their difficulty is determined.

Anyway, it's a good idea for everyone on a Force or Trial to set themselves to Notoriety Level #1. You never know when a disconnect, mapserve, or a temporary log out will change the leadership of the Force/Trial to someone else. Better be safe than sorry.




Kheldian Spawns


Wherever there is a a Kheldian (Peacebringer or Warshade) there will be Quantum and Void spawns. Quantum spawns are the regular foes with Quantum versions of their weapons or powers that do special extra damage to Kheldians. Voids are a foe class who hunt Kheldians and do that special extra damage even moreso.

Voids spawn in addition to the regular spawn, they don't replace any of the regularly spawned foes.

And whenever anyone teams with a Kheldian, the team gets tagged with, let's call it, the 'Friend of Kheldian Tag.' Thus, if the team splits up, even the members without the Kheldian will spawn Quantums and Voids. Even after the Kheldian leaves the team, the team still has their Friend of Kheldian Tag active and will see Quantums and Voids in all their future missions until the last person on the team, who now owns the FoKT, logs off and back on. (This is to prevent the Kheldian dropping the team, having the team spawn the whole mission without the Kheldian and without Quantums and Voids and then inviting the Kheldian back. Teams can still do that... but they have to log off between each and every mission for it to really be useful... which then isn't very useful after all.) So, remember your FoKT if you team with a Kheldian until you log off.




And here is a handy chart that sums most of it up...

Notoriety / Difficulty Level Chart

[ QUOTE ]
AI critters have always 'cut and run' if they consider themselves unable to win an encounter. The behavior you describe is consistent with that condition.

It is not impossible that the AI is flipping to 'run away' mode too easily for some reason. Reading Aett_Thorns post, it does not sound like this is the case, but if you can get some solid data to back it up it'd definitely be worth looking into.

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Yes, and we've been surmising that's the problem with Scrapyard and Deathsurge when you have higher level players involved in the fight, although as Giant Monsters they shouldn't, or, if even they should run, they shouldn't do it so quickly.

Is this the problem with MM pets and caltrops? MM pets can target caltrops and be aggroed by caltrops though they can't actually attack them. If the caltrops are attacking the pets, and the pets can't attack back this targetable 'foe', then they 'cut and run' very, very, very, very far away.

Is the 'cut and run' AI the same as the 'run away because I'm Feared' AI?

From the Known Issues Web Page:

Normally, I'd ignore one little typo, but...

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Known Issues on the Live Servers

1. To unlock Veteran Rewards (respecs, powers and/or costume tokens) you must first click on the associated badge button. To find this button please go to the "Veteran Reward" tab on your badge menu and scroll through your rewards. This is by design.
2. If you are experiencing any issues with chat windows taking up the whole screen please use this workaround:
1) Click on Menu, then Options.
2) Select the Graphics and Audio tab and scroll to the section where it has the Screen/UI Resolution and 3D Resolution Scaling.
3) Change the 3D Resolution Scaling to match the Screen/UI Resolution.
4) Click "Save Changes" and this should resolve this issue.
3. Workaround for changing the inside color of Veteran Reward Trenchcoats:
For characters who have already unlocked a Cape:
- Equip a cape and set the colors you desire for your Trenchcoat
- Switch back to the Trenchcoat
For characters who have not unlocked a Cape:
- Select the Trenchcoat, use the "copy color to all" button, select the color you want for the inside of the tail. Select any other costume option then de-select the "copy color to all" button.
4. We are aware of and working to correct an issue that could have players experience global chat outages while in missions or in supergroup bases.
5. The phase alignment and mystical energies of Supergroup base teleporters to Faultline are currently not working correctly.
6. Players may experience respec issues while slotting energy flight, rest, or sprint. If you would like to slot any of these powers we highly suggest you hold on to your respec for the time being.
7. Power: Aim in hte Blaster Electric Blast set uses teh same animation as the Blaster Energy Blast version.
8. The Numina Task Force can not currently be completed. New sensors must be calibrated to properly gather information from the group of Vahzilok that now infest Frontline.

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I imagine someone was getting sleepy near the end there.

(Actually, all of #8 doesn't make sense to me, and I just did Numina last week. It seems #8 and #5 are not technical reasons, but cutesy in-game, in-character reasons. I guess the other numbered items are missing their out-of-character double parentheses.)

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Went to pick a new Title for one of my toons, noticed the new veteran titles...well picked my new one, hit ok, nothing happened. The option to pick a title disapeared. /bug'd it but guess i'll have to wait for 20 levels since i can change all i want supposidly at 50.

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Were you the right level? According to the path notes:

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Titles

* Players may now change their title at levels 15, 25, 35, and 45. These title changes do not stack (if you do not use the one you get at level 25 when you reach level 35, you only have the level 35 change, and lose the level 25 one). At 50, players may change their title without restriction. Talk to any trainer to change your title in this manner.


[/ QUOTE ]

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Are we supposed to have a bunch of the same number of Vet Reward badges visible to everyone? One for the actual months played, one for a free costume, one for a respec, for example. Myself and everyone I looked at had the same thing. 2 and 3 of the same Vet badge icons. Seems odd. I would expect to see only one badge for each of the months. No reason for me to know someone else has a respec or free costume left...

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Vet Reward badges with a clickie button are not really badges, they are reward selection windows. They just happen to use the badge graphic in the window. Clicking some rewards causes the reward claim window to disappear (respecs, tokens, attack powers), while other don't (Sprint reward, base decorations).

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Wings don't animate when using Super Jump. (bug or misfeature?)


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From when I8 was on Test and we complained about that we were told the Devs would be looking into it.

Wings are by no means completed. They haven't even added the physics for the feathers yet.

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Faultline missions are kinda hinky when it comes to the level range. I do the first 2 contacts starting at level 15, and am only 17 when I get to the third, which won't give you mishs till 20. That seems a little spread out to me. Never remember having this issue in the Hallows, or Croatoa or Striga. Maybe 1 level difference but never 3.

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Same with Striga. Contacts #3 and #4 are +5 to contacts #1 and 2.




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Some odd lag in clicking a power and it going off, or a power looking recharged and it not being done yet (by like 10 or so seconds). It's like at a hami raid lag wise, only not so bad.


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That's server side lag. Lot more players on then usual. Lots of bugs to flush out. Animations and graphics still need streamlining.

Compared to I6 and I7, we're doing very well... no large spread disconnects or server crashes.