Ad Astra

Yay! I can come out to play with the team this Saturday!

Maurya (lvl 50 Eng/Elec/Elec Blaster) for Team One please!

(I also have a back-up character if it would work out better for the team - Isotope 167, level 42 Rad/Dark defender. I can play either of them, I like them both. Depends on whether the team would function a bit better with Iso's debuffs or Maurya's blasts. Either way, I get to blast stuff.)

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Pocket D does those things in a style of a disco club/bar. Your base does those same things in a style more personal to your own SG.

If your SG prefers using Pocket D, then that's certainly a choice they can make. Their loss, though.

Title says it all!

Best Wishes

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Do not design your events assuming people will participate, and do not design your events with consequences if people don't participate. It doesn't matter how small those consequences are, if they're anything over purely cosmetic, don't even consider it. Don't ruin other people's game to improve your own.

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This times 1000.

I don't think I can add anything else that I haven't been saying all through the thread.

You keep assuming that your gaming experience is the one true universal experience for all City players and that your idea of fun and the need for "consequences" is shared by the rest of us (or even a significantly large majority of the rest of us) and it isn't.

I'm not categorically against any attempt to change the current structure of raids. But your ideas still slap a "temporary" label on a mechanic that requires me to change my plans for the gaming session beyond moving to another zone and coming back in 15 minutes or so - or to rely on the actions of others to clear the zone. You still have not answered what happens if everyone on at the time just refuses to participate - are we all then SOL for using that zone until server reset? And then it spreads to the next zone and the next?

And you still appear to contradict yourself. In one place you say that is would be simple (paraphrasing) for the character in any particular zone - if caught there by him/herself - to clear the 3 (!!!) points before continuing on with whatever else they were doing. Then in another post you scoff at a low level character being able to optimize - your word, not mine, I asked you to share your tactics for said low level character - to be able to take on Rikti. Make up your mind - can the low level character take on the Rikti and clear 3 points or not?

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This always strikes me as weird - to come in and say you've been playing since day one yet you haven't played for the past 4 years.

Seriously, if you look at the meaning of the first phrase (playing since day one) - wouldn't that mean you did not take a "four year break"?

Not to pick on OP, but it seems weird every time I see someone back after an extended break who makes a statement like "been playing since Beta (or whatever)" when what they are reallly saying is that they are back and have not been playing since Beta.


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I don't find it wierd at all. Maybe worded incorrectly, but definitely not wierd. What was meant was, I bought CoH the day it came out, played it quite often for a year or two. Then stopped playing when I graduated, got married, moved, and started a family. Hence the 4 year absence. Now recently, I picked it back up, although since I do have other things going on in my life, I don't play as often as I want, and now that my time IS limited, I'm having a hard time picking a powerset and staying with it.

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I don't think you need to justify your absence, I believe what they find weird is that people use phrases like "I've been playing since beta, but took X time off" to somehow give the readers the impression they are somehow a "vet" or longtime player or diehard etc. And I think a lot of times people use that to somehow lend credibility or insulate themselves from a certain level of criticism. While it may make them a bit of a pioneer, it doesn't make them a veteran player.

(And I'm not saying that is what the OP is saying, but you do see that phrase (or similar) thrown around alot in areas where people are trying to come off as fully knowledgable, totally loyal to the game, etc)

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Yep - you correctly interpreted what I was trying to say.

Nothing wrong with taking a break. Probably lots of very good reasons to do so.

But "playing since day one" implies continuous play throughout to me, not "back from a break, I was here at the beginning".

Anyway, OP, welcome back!

We would be better able to give advice if you could give us a bit more info, though. Like, what was the most fun when you were playing those under level 20 characters? What was the least fun?

On a slightly related note - you do know you can pay SG rent over in Galaxy City and continue to avoid AP. right?

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Ad Astra, Dalantia:

When the raids first came out (and even during the open beta, when the spawns were enormous), I often roamed zones by myself, looking for bombs. When the Rikti started beaming in, I would come under attack, while alone. This happened to many fo my characters, including several new characters I had made. One of them was L1, though I'll readily admit, he was very hard pressed and did have to retreat. My Tankers had no real trouble, but they were somewhat higher level by then (10ish). It does take some careful tactics. If you're just going to stand there, you're going to get overwhelmed.

Either way, if this is a problem, it should be easy enough to scale back the beam-in rate of rikti, giving people more time to handle them.




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So you are conceding my point that there are some characters who cannot handle Rikti alone because they are too low?

How is it fun for that character/player to have to retreat?

Also - what tactics can be used by the lowbie character to "handle" Rikti? Other than the aforementioned "retreat"? Believe me, my characters do not "just stand there".

Finally, nice how your example of a low-level character that had "no real trouble" is a tank.

I think your reply to me supports my point better than it supports yours.

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Ok, so I've been playing CoH since day one, however with an almost 4 year gap since I last played.
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This always strikes me as weird - to come in and say you've been playing since day one yet you haven't played for the past 4 years.

Seriously, if you look at the meaning of the first phrase (playing since day one) - wouldn't that mean you did not take a "four year break"?

Not to pick on OP, but it seems weird every time I see someone back after an extended break who makes a statement like "been playing since Beta (or whatever)" when what they are reallly saying is that they are back and have not been playing since Beta.

Now to this OP - we really can't help you much without knowing a bit more about your playstyle and why you stopped playing some of those characters you couldn't get past 20.

Of course, since I have been playing pretty much every week for the past 4 1/2 years and only have 1 level 50 and 60 other characters between level 6 and 47, I may be biased in saying, keep making alts until you find the one you love.

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Every character I've ever created can handle the raids as they are now, and that's even at L1-5 (though some find it easier than others).

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Do it solo, then get back to me, please.

As it stands, a solo/duo level 1-20, from personal experience, is going to get stepped on by the raids, because they just can't do enough damage to get rid of the hostiles they have before more teleport in.

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My experience as well. I have to call shenanigans on a level 1-5 "handling" even a single Rikti. If the Rikti doesn't get some backup, the lowbie *might* be able to wear it down eventually, but I doubt it (unless the Rikti just stands there and lets the lowbie pound on it,

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If that hopeless character that can't do anything without a team is alone in the zone without a team, he's not going to be doing anything, rikti or no rikti. Frankly, I don't buy that any such character exists. Every character I've ever created can handle the raids as they are now, and that's even at L1-5 (though some find it easier than others).


I get the feeling people aren't really considering the idea, and are just stomping their foot down out of obstinance.

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And did these level 1-5 characters that could "handle" the raids actually take on any Rikti by themselves - or were they in a group, most likely with higher level characters? I would really like to see one of them to see how they are doing it, because I certainly can't take down Rikti solo at that level.

Rikti are scaled as a somewhat higher level mob, even in the "levelless" raids. Your average level 1-5 character with at best 4 attacks (if a blaster) isn't going to be able to beat down the lowest level Rikti quickly if at all. Yet that same lowbie can easily take on Hellions solo (a level-appropriate mob).

Perhaps there is some knee-jerk reacting going on here, but it seems that many see your idea as intruding on their fun - which is a valid concern for them to have. It's not obstinance if they just plain don't like it - it's up to you to make it attractive to them (good luck on that BTW).

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Is Endurance usage that big a deal any more? I used to slot End Redux in Flight, but I haven't had to do that for quite some time now. I rarely use any other travel power, but I thought Endurance usage was reduced for them as well.

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You know, the more I look at my response to Aett, the more I like it. Here's the amended idea.


Change the initial raid as I described before. The Rikti come in and attack the three targets. If they succeed, the raid moves on to an adjacent zone, and the zone they were just in becomes "conquered."

"Conquered" zones will have three rikti control points for the heroes to attack. Destroying them would return the zone to normal, and the raid would stop.

While conquered, the zone would behave normally, however raid-style Rikti would spawn in the normal spawn points, IN ADDITION TO the regular spawns.

Thus, wherever normal foes are spawning, the Rikti are spawning there too (and likely attacking the regular spawns).

This would allow those doing hunts to do them, though they would risk having to fight a few rikti here and there, and it would allow people that need to talk to contacts the freedom to do so, all while maintaining the sense of being in a warzone.


NOW what do you think? Does that satisfy everyone?

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Not really, no.

How do you work with the fact that there are servers that may not have "enough" heroes or villains on at the time (and in the appropriate level range to notice or care about whether the zone is overrun) to pull off this "taking back a conquered zone"?

Your statement that even a single hero could guard one of the points to prevent takeover doesn't seem possible for me, given that there *are* AT/powerset combinations not meant to handle such duties. I would really feel sorry for the lone level 8 earth/emp controller in KR (or worse, Perez Park) during one of your raids.

And if I were that lone level 8 earth/emp controller, I would just log off and say to hell with playing City of *, because the casual atmosphere of "anyone can solo" would have just been made a lie.

Honestly, with your discontent about not being able to make your tankmage and not feeling "super" enough, I sometimes wonder why you still play this game. If you want "consequences" on the scale you seem to be looking for (demanding that every other player drop what they are doing to play your minigame of GM must be stopped before he destroys the zone) perhaps there is a different game out there that better suits your desires. I don't want to play it.

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I'm thinking it's /coalition_cancel SG Name

Also, be sure to have coalition edit permissions on the toon you're using to do the command.

Hope this helps.

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Thanks for the info. Energy and Control were restored today by the GM's. The above command is the correct command to cancel coalitions, unfortunately it still does not work with mine. I'm pretty much S.O.L. for the time being. I don't understand how it worked with the other coalitions, but it will not work for that particular coalition that will not break/delete. Works for some but not all. Oh well, guess I have to live with having a coalition in my list that I do not want. Thanks all.

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While it may be irritating, I am wondering why you are concerned about this coalition? There is nothing they can do to harm your base or your stuff - the only thing they can do is access your teleporters and such.

The only other downside I can see to letting that particular coalition stand is if you run out of possible coalition slots for SGs you want.

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Ok, so let me rephrase. NOT a mastermind, but something new and a bit different for the heroes. NOT all the sets must have pets. And really how cool would it be to have missiles ? And on the logic side of things, the super hero universe has a lot of normal people without anything inherent but a strong will and an arsenal of gadgets to their disposal.

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Play an AR/Device/Munitions Blaster then.

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Themes. If you customize a Zombie's appearance, is it still a zombie? Can the powerset still really be called Necromancy if you're summoning catgirls that happen to have zombie powers?

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Now I'm picturing several Catgirls using variations of vomit attacks.

"Uh-Oh. Looks like someone set up an open bar too close to Otacon again..."

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Hairballs.

There is a known issue with energy/control being disabled if rent has not been paid for a long time. More generally, no one will have accessed the base in quite a while as well.

The fix is to send a quick /petition to a GM who can turn stuff back on for you quickly.

I know that the mechanism for breaking a coalition has been broken and that I have seen a workaround /slash command, but I never had to use it, so I have forgotten it. Hopefully someone else will show up soon to answer more definitively for you.

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The raids WOULD be temporary. The only way they would extend past the time of the initial raid is if no one ever stood up to them. As it is, the raids invariably have 20 or more heroes fighting. I don't forsee many occasions when no one would try to stop the Rikti.



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Actually, since I sometimes play at odd times (like 10 a.m. Eastern) I have seen raids where only a few heroes show up to fight - even in Talos Island on top of the hill. And redside at those odd times of day - even worse.

Granted, there are very few finishing up an LGTF at those times, so the main days when it would happen that there would be very few players on redside or blueside would be mainly during Rikti Invasion weeks or weekends (how many people are on some of the lower pop servers, or even Freedom & Virtue, at 7 a.m. Sunday morning?)- but your suggestion would mean that I am blocked out of playing for up to 2 hours because there weren't many people on, say, Triumph, at non-standard hours.

You seem to be assuming that everyone is only playing at times when this wouldn't majorly disrupt their play for very long - but you would be wrong about that.

Clearly you aren't the only one this has happened to, just by looking at how quickly we had the answer for you!

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And just for general use in the future -

Click the wiki link in my sig, and bookmark it

(Since the wiki does have the current salvage info.)

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Ummm well I just tried to builld a new telepad. I used the first recipe - the one with the luck charm. Know what I got? Not the nice tech telepad I could use - but instead some honkin big RAID telepad that I couldnt use. There went that expensive salvage! There are 3 recipies - do they make different things?

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I would like to know this too. There are 3 telepad recipes listed at my table , the standard tech and arcane and a third one for higher level salvage. What does that make?

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Not trying to be rude - but did you check the guide Tripp had in his post earlier in this thread?

There's also the entire stickied thread Snow_Globe posted consolidating Base Guides:

Base Guides & Resources

The guide in Tripp's post is written by CaptA, and it's very helpful.

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.....wow. I honestly didn't expect this amount of replies.

I posted this to see what people would say about what I thougth was a "good" strategy. I don't ALWAYS want to play like this, its just what I do when I play the ATs

Also Turbo_Ski, I don't really play redside nor reply to posts that seem exteremely and potentially insultingly sactastic! :P

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If that's how *you* "play the ATs", then you have missed out a lot of the potential for just about all of them (I use the qualifier because for some powersets in some ATs, you may have a point). I really don't care to team with players who are so stuck in "roles" as you laid out - the team will go slower than it needs to go.

To have the Blaster always stay at range means ignoring most blaster secondaries and therefore cutting their damage significantly.

Others have pointed out missing bits for other AT/powerset combinations, like Lumi's observations about a TA defender.

What most of us are saying is that to come in and make a bald declaration that "here is how ATs should be played" definitely rubs people the wrong way, especially when the proclamation missed the mark by so much.

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The Other part you guys seem to be missing is I said that the GMs would have to support them and choose them.. and I'm not saying give them GM powers that would be completly insane yes..I just mean like helping them out.. err kind of like uhhh a step up day in high school where you stay withsomeone for a day to see how they do there job and you get some experiance or something..

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But I still don't see a need for them. What additional value would they bring?

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More people play on freedom that aren't farming than actually play on the other servers total. Freedom badge and freedom tf global channels as well as the right supergroup can find people that play the game.



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Hyperbole much?

Freedom has a lot of players, but more than the total of all other servers? I think not.

That's not bashing Freedom, but although it has a high population, there's really no way it has that many more.

OP, lots of suggestions how to find a team. They work.

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How is not having to have to deal with Kalinda or Burke "all screwed up"?

I would pay cold hard cash for the ability to never have those two on my contact list.

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Except that would make it a bit difficult to get your Cape & Aura missions.

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Funnily enough, *I* play every AT like a Defender.

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Eh, I play everything as a scrapper....... my defenders dont like it

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Whereas I play most things like a Blaster. Definite tactical shift to play my Brutes, Scrappers and Stalker - and I know I can't play a Tanker worth a damn.